I'm doing it again?

A new Paleo challenge is starting at the gym. Am I going to do it?
Of course I am... I need someone breathing down my neck to make good food choices.
Not that I'm normally a terrible eater by modern North American standards, but some days I am pretty gross.

Read the details here.

And get ready for 60 days of food pictures.

Cashew Milk with cinnamon and agave

Makes just under one quart of milk:

• 1 1/2 cups raw cashews
• 3 cups of water for soaking
• 2 cinnamon sticks ground to a powder or 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 3 cups filtered water
• 2 tablespoons agave

 

Place raw cashews in a clean bowl and top with 3 cups of water.  Cover with plastic wrap and let sit overnight, or for 8 to 12 hours.  Once soaked, place the cashews in a fine mesh strainer and run the softened cashews under cool water until clean and the water runs clear.  Set aside.

 

In a spice blender (mine is a clean coffee grinder), grind cinnamon sticks, one at a time, to a fine powder.  Place in a small bowl and set aside.  If you don’t have a spice grinder, measure 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon into a small bowl and set aside.

 

Combine cinnamon, cashews, filtered water, and agave in the bowl of a blender.  Cover tightly and blend on low speed, increasing to high speed, until smooth.

 

Place a fine mesh strainer over a large bowl.  Pour half of the cashew mixture into the fine mesh strainer.  With a spatula, work the liquid through the strainer.  The harder you press the cashew mixture, the more liquid you’ll release, and the more cashew bits you’ll get in your milk.  I happen to like this milk to be thick and slightly chunky.  Continue to strain the milk until all of the liquid has passed through the strainer.  Place cashew meat mixture in a bowl and set aside.

 

If you’d like a smoother milk, feel free to pass it through the strainer once more.

 

Store in an airtight container (I used an old one-quart milk jar) and place in the fridge.  Shake well before enjoying.

 

Milk lasts, in the refrigerator, for up to 4 days.

 

Inspired by this recipe.

Get your shit together

The Whole30 was like a fad diet for me. I ate well before I started, went hardcore for 30 days, and then fell into a bottomless pit of gross eating habits.

It makes me feel sick, but it's like I'm defying authority or something - a weird thrill? To hurt myself?
Gawd, what's wrong with me?

I sit here, typing this, as my gut churns and bubbles from the crap I ate at work today.

So I need to get my shit together. I need to do the Whole Ariane. Meaning, my whole body will feel good if I eat whole, good food. Makes sense right? Not complicated, no rules to abide by. Just whole food. Plain and simple.

I am really good at following a plan. I like the challenge, but I also like to break the rules.
Hence the failure of Whole30.
I did awesome, and then snap, terrible - breaking the rules is fun, right?

So I'm cooking.
I'm having a glass of wine if I want to. Because if I have a few drinks at a birthday party, I'll have fun, be happy, and won't want to break the rules! Magic.

This is the plan. It's a good plan.

Starting now, I'm Whole ArianeTM.

Butter chicken - again.

I made a butter chicken recipe while on the Whole30, but modified quite heavily and made some silly decisions along the way. It turned out mmm-okay. (see original original post)

Because I cut up the chicken it ended up over cooked. Because I used whole spices and hand-ground them, I had to strain the whole thing.

But this time. Oh boy - it's good!

• 2 Cool Springs Ranch chicken legs & thighs - whole
• 2 onions diced
• 1 clove garlic minced
• chunk of butter
• dollop of oil

In a slow-cooker with:

• 2 tbsp curry powder
• 1 tbsp mild cayenne powder
• 2 tbsp tandoori masala
• 1 can coconut milk
• 1 cup full fat yogurt
• 1 small can of tomato paste

 Mix gently and cook on high heat 4 hours.

I was on fire last night and also made a potato and leek mash and blanched some rainbow chard with kale.

I have 3 prepared meals with all of the above, plus an extra serving of butter chicken.

lunch!

I'm pretty proud of myself.

Whole 30 Results & Conclusions

Well, this is it. I completed my first Whole30.

I can't say that I feel all that much different. I think the success of this program banks on incredible transformations, but those are experienced by people who go from McDonald's to this -cold turkey.

That was not my case. I've been Paleo for approximately 18 months, at some times more lax than others, but it wasn't a big change to strictly live by these few rules:

Eat real food;
Do not consume added sugar of any kind, real or artificial;
Do not consume alcohol;
Do not eat grains;
Do not eat legumes;
Do not eat dairy;
Do not eat white potatoes.

In addition, no Paleo-ifying dessert or junk food choices.

The last point is the only one that I broke a few times. I don't really think that my apple muffin recipe should be considered "junk food", but for extremists, maybe it is.

I will get my calliper measurements done this week and compare them to my last test. The numbers don't lie, right?

Before & After pictures up soon. I can't really see a difference; maybe the gut has shrunk a bit? I'm still wearing the same clothes in any case.



Before Whole 30 - February 6, 2012

After Whole 30 - March 6, 2012

My main goal was to work my way down to the 63kg category, and in that respect, Whole30 was an epic fail. I stayed at pretty much the same weight.

Sigh.

Whole 30 Day 30

March 5 - Day 30:
I guess it's my last day?
It makes me feel old when I think gosh, time sure does fly by.

Breakfast: eggs and decaf coffee
Lunch: butter chicken with rainbow chard
Supper: more butter chicken and... kale? (and rainbow chard; steamed)

The last supper.

Thirty days are done.

Whole 30 Day 29

March 4 - Day 29:
Brunch with Grandma, snacks at work (yes, that's overtime on a Sunday) and leftovers for supper. Lady gang supper; Blair is an amazing cook and she whipped up some delicious soup and salad for us all to enjoy.

Brunch: scrambled eggs with salad
Snacks: nuts, clementines, coconut water
Supper: kabocha squash, ginger and apple soup and garden salad with spinach, avocado, cucumber, tomatoes and walnuts.

1 day until March 5.