Day 3 and A Cleaned Up Jambalaya

Today is day 3 of my detox/cleanse and so far everything is going great. My stomach and digestion issues are still floating around, but a friend of mine said it can take up to two weeks to resolve after I stop eating dairy. I'm secretly hoping they don't resolve because I DO NOT want to be allergic to dairy. We'll see. 

Last night I made jambalaya for dinner. Jambalaya is rarely considered a health food but I cleaned it up a little bit and it was delicious! The only thing that was a little unhealthy was the chorizo sausage I used: it had dextrose in it. You can improve that by using extra chicken, shrimp or a different sausage that's not so processed. 

Doesn't that look delicious? It's so easy to make, although slightly time consuming. 

My recipe wasn't necessarily authentic. Rogier can't eat tomatoes so I didn't used diced tomatoes.

Recipe: 

Ingredients (serves 2-3) 

2 chicken breasts 

1 cup chorizo sausage- cut into pieces (can sub for more chicken, shrimp or a different sausage)

250g (1/2lb) mushrooms

1 red pepper 

2.5 cups chicken broth-divided 

1 cup brown rice 

1 tbs cajun seasoning-divided (more or less to taste)

cracked black pepper 

oil (use your preference- because I was cooking with chorizo I chose to use a spray coconut oil because when the chorizo warms it realizes a lot of grease. If you're not using chorizo use 2tbs of the oil of your choice)

Method

• Cut the chicken into chunks 
• Heat a large frying pan and spray with oil- cook chicken until done (7-10min)
• Add the chorizo pieces to the chicken 
• While the chorizo and chicken are cooking cut the mushrooms in quarters and dice the pepper 
• Add the mushrooms and pepper to chicken and sausage 
• Sprinkle about 1/2 of the cajun seasoning and some cracked black pepper onto the mixture and cook for 3-5 minutes until the mushrooms begin to soften 
• Remove the mixture and set aside (you can simply place it in a bowl or you can set it on paper towels to absorb some of the extra grease)
• Add the rice to the pan and mix it in the left over grease 
• Add 2 cups of the chicken broth to the rice, add the remaining cajun seasoning to the rice and water, stir thoroughly, cover, and bring to a boil and then let simmer until 1/2 to 2/3 of the water is absorbed 
• After some of water has been absorbed by the rice add the chicken mixture back to the pan with the remaining 1/2 cup of chicken broth 
• Cover and cook until the rice is tender- add more chicken broth or water if needed 
• You can add more cajun seasoning at this point or extra cayenne pepper if you like your food spicier 

This recipe is made healthier than a regular jambalaya because I used homemade chicken broth and homemade cajun seasoning so it doesn't have any additives, and by using brown rice. This is the cajun spice recipe that I use. It's delicious. Homemade chicken stock is also ridiculously easy. You can easily google a recipe, but all I did was take the remainders of a picked whole chicken and put it in a stockpot covered in water. There were enough spices from what I had covered the chicken in that I didn't even need to add any to the water! Next time I will probably try and add more vegetables to the pot. Maybe I'll try some onion, spring onion, or even some broccoli.

One of my favorite parts of this journey is all the things I'm getting to try and experience, especially adapting delicious recipes to be healthier. 

Yesterday I went to the market and picked up some fruit and vegetables. 

One of those containers of strawberries is already gone..whoops 

I desperately wanted to by the cherries too, but I decided to wait until next week because I still have tons of fruit. 

Rogier and I also made homemade beef jerky yesterday. Seriously the stuff is addicting. I can't tell you how to make it because that's Rogier's project, but I can tell you that it's possible to do without a dehydrator and that it's more delicious than the crap you buy at the store. 

Tomorrow I have plans to go to body combat. It's a martial arts class. Thursday is usually an off day but I'm going to try and go 5 days a week to the gym during my detox/cleanse. 

Day 2

Yesterday's first day of detox/cleanse went pretty well. I did find myself being rather hungry after dinners so I had an all natural popcorn rice cake. I'm thinking I was hungry just because it was the first time I've worked out in nearly two weeks and my calorie count is back to a normal range, not the outrageous amounts I was consuming over the previous weeks.

This morning at the gym I did 30 minutes of cardio: 10 minutes on the treadmill (6 walking, 4 running) 10 minutes on the bike (levels 3/4) and 10 minutes on the stair climber. I then did my legs routine. I had to cut it short to make it to yoga at 9, but got through all of my squats and step-ups. I did 2 less sets of lunges and side lunges and 1 less set of sumo squats and narrow squats. Yoga went well. It was challenging. I definitely need to work on my flexibility. I'm going to try and add yoga into my regular rotation. I'm going to do virtual body combat on Thursday. I think I would rather do body pump but they don't have a virtual class and I don't pay for the live classes.

My eating is going well. Yesterday I had a slice of bread with ham before the gym. When I got home I had whole grain cereal with almond milk. Lunch was two eggs fried in coconut oil on toast with ham. Afternoon snack was carrots with peanut butter. I had chicken breast, broccoli, and potatoes for dinner.

Today's eating has pretty much been the same so far. I'm making jambalaya for dinner. Not 100% clean because I'm putting sausage in it, but nothing too bad. As clean as possible.

I promise to have pictures of that for tomorrow. I'm looking forward to making it!

I'm happy to be getting back on track. Today's goal is to drink more water because I think I'm dehydrated.

Day 1 of 7 (Times 3)

I know it's been awhile since I've blogged. Things have been incredibly busy here and I've had injuries and have been eating to my heart's content.

The week my Grandma and Aunt got here I had a back injury. When I first injured my back in September of last year I was told by my physical therapist to avoid the elliptical because of the way it moves my hips. That can cause my back pain. When I injured my ankle and my back was fine I thought that the elliptical would be a good compromise, but it wasn't. Apparently the elliptical is completely off limits for me.

I went out to eat 3 times in the week I had family here, twice to the same italian restaurant. It's amazingly delicious but not kind to my calorie count.

I won't go into details because we'd be here all week but I ate and I ate badly.

So today is my first day back on track. I'm doing a 21 day detox/cleanse. I didn't buy any products to do it. I'm doing it on my own. I generally think that if you eat healthy detox and cleanses aren't needed. I'm skeptical, but I am planning a tea-tox in July. More on that later.

Over the next 21 days (or 3 sets of 7 days as I'm calling it because it seems a lot shorter than 21) I will be restricting myself from:

Diary- milk, cheese, ice-cream, yogurt, quest bars :( and chocolate
Sweets- cookies, granola bars, granola (because as much as I like to call it a health food it's not in the quantities I consume), stevia, anything with added sugar (in reason) I will be doing my best to read ingredient lists and make sure that what I'm eating does not have ridiculous amounts of added sugar, which is difficult. I will be trying to eat real sugar and nothing that has added sugar substitutes
Alcohol- this won't be difficult because I hardly drink but I figured I'd throw it in for good measure
Grains- white bread, pasta, rice and other carb sources except for white potatoes- I'll give you my rant on why white potatoes aren't the enemy someday- in short it's not the poor potato it's the cheese, bacon, sour cream and butter that destroys it, or deep frying it.
Read to eat foods- nothing that comes from a box- in certain cases something that comes from a box that only has all natural ingredients will be allowed.
Snacks- no salty snacks, anything overly processed. I will try to eat only whole food snacks. Also my goal is to not eat after dinner. If I'm uncontrollably hungry I will eat a piece of fruit.
Meat- as far as deli meat for lunch I will only be eating ham, turkey or chicken breast. They seem less processed to me than salami and the others. I will be less strict on myself with dinner meat, sausage will be fine, but in moderation- once a week.

I think that's everything I decided on.

Tomorrow will be my first day at yoga. Last week I had family here and the week before that I was injured.

I made it to the gym this morning: 15 minutes on the treadmill (6 running, 8 walking), 15 minutes on the bike (level 3) and 10 minutes on the stair climber. Arm routine and abs.

More on my plans for the gym tomorrow. I'm sure I've bored you enough for the day.

The Good and The Bad

The good: my weight is 90kg
The bad: my weight is 90kg

I didn't lose any weight this month, but I also didn't gain any, so I'll take that as a win.

I weighed myself yesterday and this morning. This morning when Rogier saw me he said "again babe, really?" He's very much against weighing everyday and has threatened to hide the scale from me, something I asked him to do in the beginning of April, when I was in Amsterdam, and wanted to not weigh myself for 30 days.

My conclusion is that skipping the scale doesn't work for me. I haven't figured out how to change my mindset and let the scale control me, but on some level I think it does encourage me and help me, even if it also discourages me.

I measured today too, but they're a little funky, I've lost everywhere except my waist and my chest. I've gained there, but we ate a very salty dinner last night, chicken teriyaki so I think I might be a little bloated. I'll measure again tomorrow and see what happens, but I have lost 3cm from my hips (love handles).

I went to the doctor Tuesday for my ankle. He's as stumped as I am, but if the swelling comeback I need to take pictures and email them to him, but while I was there I had no swelling, no pain and full range of motion. Typical.

I've been taking it easy at the gym this week. Yesterday I did 40 minutes of cardio and 1/3 of my leg routine. I have family getting in tomorrow and we'll have guests for a week straight and I don't want to risk my ankle acting up and not being able to walk around with them. I skipped today and will go to the gym tomorrow and then again on Monday.

I've been cleaning like a mad woman today trying to get the house appropriate for company so I've worked up a sweat that way and have probably gone up and down the stairs as many times as I usually would doing 10 minutes of the stair climber.

I can't wait for my birthday so my parents hopefully get me a fit-bit 1 (hint hint mom).

I'm very excited to see my Grandma and my Aunt tomorrow and my Mom and Dad on Sunday!

Up, up, up.

I finally got back into the gym this morning and I'm feeling great. I did the bike for 15 minutes and the elliptical for 10. Only 25 minutes of cardio, but I wanted to take it easy on my ankle, which is still giving me problems. I completed my arm routine, and did some abs and called it a day.

I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow to get my ankle checked out. I have no idea what's wrong with it. I don't remember rolling it, and it's just been swollen and painful on and off for 5 days, not including the first day it happened. Walking seems to make it better, and it gets worse when I sit. Who knows, I just hope he doesn't tell me that I can't exercise for a period of time.

Last weekend my eating was good, nothing spectacular but good. Friday went well, for dinner I made pizza, but then we went to a birthday party. I ate more snacks than I wanted too, but didn't go completely overboard. Saturday was King's Day so after brunch Rogier and I went into the city. We sat on a terrace and had a few drinks, I had a cola and a coffee, no beer. It was around 3pm when we finally started to walk home and I was feeling hungry so we stopped at the snack wall.

This is what a Dutch Snack Wall looks like. It's all kinds of fried, unhealthy goodness. You put your money in and open the slot and get a snack. I had the bami snack, which is bami noodles (Indonesian Lo mien) that gets fried into a nice little ball. It's delicious and spicy and as far as snacks go not horrible. It's got about 200 calories. For dinner Saturday we had salmon. Saturday was a meatless day for me. I've decided to do one day completely meatless (no fish) and one day pescatarian. 

Yesterday was another so-so eating day, we were out and about and ended up having Ikea Hot Dog's for lunch (they're chicken, not beef). 

Last night's dinner was delicious. We had Argentinean style steaks, fried potatoes, white asparagus and sautéed mushrooms and onions. I oven fried the potatoes in coconut oil, and marinated the mushrooms and onions in an all natural garlic vinaigrette. It's my favorite salad dressing/marinade ever. It's also all natural. 

Doesn't that look delicious? It was and super satisfying. 

Today was the first day I got to try out my new eating plan for gym days: small snack before the gym, breakfast after the gym, and then a late lunch. 

This was my post-workout breakfast. One scrambled egg with salsa, peanut butter and a banana, and greek yogurt with strawberries. It was packed with protein and delicious. I'll give you a progress report tomorrow about how my appetite is in the afternoon, that's what I'm trying to curb. We'll see. 

Things are looking up and I'm more positive than I was during my last post. Hopefully this positive streak stays around longer. 

Health > Weight

I made this photo very big so it didn't get lost. I needed to see this today. I found this picture on a wordpress blog and seriously needed it. Logically I know that the scale doesn't and shouldn't define me as a person, but knowing that and believing it are too completely different things. I'm still struggling with the believing part. 

How are you supposed to believe that you are more than your weight in today's world? A world where stick thin models and actresses are glorified? Now, I'm against body shaming. I think it's just as bad to call someone too skinny as it is to call them too fat, but the fact is that, yes some of these models are "born skinny," but the other fact is that some of them starve themselves, and that's not okay. It's not okay to glorify anorexia, but it's also not okay to shame someone for being too thin, just like it's unacceptable to shame someone because they're overweight. 

How are you supposed to every feel good about yourself if you don't look perfect? Or what society deems perfect?

The fact is that I may be overweight, but I'm healthy. I wasn't. Not 18 months ago, but I am now. My once borderline blood sugar levels are now perfect and on the lower end of normal. My once high cholesterol- normal. Being thin doesn't guarantee health, just like being overweight doesn't automatically make you unhealthy. Studies have shown that overweight people who work out are healthier overall than people who are thin but don't work out.

I started this journey for all the wrong reasons. Being healthy was at the bottom of my list of reasons for wanting to lose weight. Feeling beautiful, and being beautiful by society's standards, that was at the top. Feeling beautiful on my wedding day, in my dress, was at the top. Being able to confidently wear a bikini was at the top. But my health? No, that was at the bottom, when it should have been at the top.

I know all these things about my health and how much better I am now than a year and a half ago, but how do I change my mentality? How do I stop being defined by that ever irritating number on the scale?

When Do I Get My Epiphany?

It hasn't been an easy few days. My eating has been so-so. It's been better and it's been worse, but things on the exercise front and the losing weight front are not join as planned. The whole not weighing myself thing went out the window. Last time I weighed myself I was 90.2kg. That's about a 1/2 lb heavier than I was on April 1. And it's frustrating me.

Admittedly I've only gotten to the gym maybe 6 times this month and my eating although not horrible could be better.

Last Saturday we had people over for a BBQ. The weather actually turned out to be beautiful. I had two beers. They're white beers with a little bit of a fruity flavor. They're delicious and perfect for an almost summertime BBQ.

This is some of the food cooking. I made kabobs with yellow and green peppers, onions and mushrooms. I ate an entire kabob which was full of delicious grilled vegetables. The meat in the picture is marinated bacon. We don't have any bacon like this in the states. It's very thick and I can't really explain it, but it's delicious. 

At the BBQ I had 1/2 a chicken breast, 1 piece of the bacon pictures, 1 sausage, and a small portion of ribs. I also had salad, and potato salad. I also had 3 pieces of baguette. That was my biggest accomplishment. Usually I fill up on bread way too early and then seriously overeat, but I strategically set it on the other side of the table so that I had to ask for it if I wanted some, and honestly, I really didn't miss it. 

I also had dessert. A snickers ice cream bar. 

Sunday was Easter so Rogier and I had brunch around 11. 

I had a hardboiled egg and with some buns. It was delicious and very Dutch. 

Easter Sunday, Rogier and I went to Belgium to go to a market. While we were there I finally tried poffertjes. They're mini pancakes. Everyone says they were delicious and I had never tried them, but I've been wanting to and there was a stand at the market making fresh ones so I tried them. 

That's them being cooked. What you see is two portions. I got 14 mini pancakes. 

I had no idea the guy was going to put that much powdered sugar. Rogier says that if you order them in Holland they come with much less powdered sugar. Either way they were delicious and I was glad I finally got to try them. They were also served with a little mini easter egg, which I didn't eat. My chocolate snob self didn't want the milk chocolate. 

So eating hasn't been spectacular, but it's definitely been worse. 

I went to the gym on Monday and did 30 minutes of cardio and an arm routine. Yesterday I had my Dutch driving exam, which I passed! I had plans to go to the gym after the exam, but it didn't happen.

This morning I had a terrible headache and generally feel like crap so I skipped the gym and had plans to take a long walk, but my ankle is acting up again. It isn't swollen, but it definitely hurts to walk. So today I'm going to get out my yoga mat, and do some ab work and some arms, nothing that puts pressure on my ankle. 

I've also been having these feelings of dread about going to the gym. If I wake up in the middle of the night I think "what can I do to sleep in and not have to go to the gym today." Those are not positive or healthy thoughts. I think my gym routine is becoming a bit stagnant. It's always the same. So I have a plan. 

Next week I'm going to try a few classes in the morning. I have made a plan to go to Yoga next Tuesday and try to continue going every Tuesday morning. I'm also planning on trying an XCO, body combat, and something called burn. I'm going to pick two of those three to do with yoga so I'll take yoga and one other class a week and add that into my gym rotation. 

Hopefully that helps. We'll see. I'm still waiting for that great epiphany on this lifestyle change is worth it and when I'm feeling deprived it's all in my head and I'm not depriving my body of anything and that it's getting all of the nutrition it needs. 

So when do I get this epiphany I read about on other blogs? When does it finally click?