What Inspires You?

It's been Halloween since we last spoke.  And the question that has been stirring in the minds of my followers, "Did she have Halloween candy? Did she allow her children to trick-or-treat? And worse, let them EAT the candy??"  Well, a little over dramatized, but to answer: no, yes, and yes.  I'm proud to say I didn't give in to any Halloween candy, treats or goodies.  My husband and children on the other hand? Splurge!! I don't mind splurges every once in a while, and Halloween is one of those times.  I did want to treat myself somehow, so I decided to get on Pinterest and find a Paleo approved recipe for cookies.  So I did, made up a batch, tweaked it a bit and had myself some Paleo chocolate chip cookies.  I realize there are a slew of recipes out there for paleo baked goods, but I haven't wanted to give in to them as I'm trying not to eat all the "comfort foods" even under disguise.  But, I figured those paleo cookies could be my Halloween splurge, and they were yummy! Did I take pictures? I thought so, but I can't find them.  But Thanksgiving is rapidly approaching and I'm sure I'll have to "splurge" again:)
Was it hard to turn down all the Halloween treats that came to the door? Definitely.  Especially those home made ones.  And we're just warming up for the Christmas ones yet to come!  So I need to remember what inspires and motivates me.  Once upon a time it was those girls in magazines, you know the ones.  The size 0 ones with the perfect shape.  Sad to say, I spent most of my teenage and young adult life thinking that's what health and happiness looked like.  And that's what I needed to look like.  Well, being 5'2" and pear shaped, no matter how hard I tried, I wouldn't make the magazine cut.  It has taken me time and some self reflecting to realize I can be happy, I can be healthy and I don't need to look a certain way to do so.  So what does inspire me?

We'll start with these cuties.  Delia, the one on the left, keeps me on my toes.  She's fascinated by her ability to climb and her own speed.  And Stella, the one on the right, she recently learned how to ride a bike.  I ran next to her up and down our street a hundred times as she was learning to balance.  On one particular ride, when it finally clicked,  I ran right next to her as she so proudly exclaimed, "I'm doing it! I'm doing it! I can do it and I'm good at it!"  I wouldn't trade that moment for all the chocolate in the world.

Then there's this guy.  My best friend.  My life mate.  The one that sees me, who has always seen me and has loved what he's seen.  We do everything together, we snowboard, we rock climb, we camp, fish and hike to name a few.  We appreciate being outside and everything available to us.  In this photo, we had just finished a 500 ft straight to the top hike with no switchbacks, carrying 50 lb bags on our backs so we could do this...

Fly fly fly.  We flew for an hour this night.  There is a certain feeling of awesomeness that I'm never able to explain.  All anyone sees is a fear of heights. All I see is quietness, freedom, and letting go of all the crazy down below.  I wouldn't trade these moments for all the bread in the world.  

 

So that's me, some of the things I think about in moments of weakness.  How I want to stay healthy to be around these angelic creatures for as long as possible and how I want them to be healthy so they can experience life's most fascinating gifts.  I sat in one of my favorite yoga classes last week and my instructor spoke of "appreciating your inner teacher"  This really struck me.  I have an inner teacher? And as I questioned who my inner teacher was, it was almost as though she knocked me upside the head and said, "Hey dummy, glad you finally recognized I was here!"  I'm learning to appreciate the inner desire I have to be better, and listening not to the world's jumbled jargon, but my inner self, my intuition, my promptings.  Because that's where inspiration comes from.    

Want to see pictures of food now??

Spaghetti Squash

 

Have you all enjoyed this season's veggie of choice?  Spaghetti squash is one of my ultimate go to favorites and it's so easy to prepare.  This is what I do, pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees.  Cut the squash in half length wise and lay face down on a foil covered baking sheet.  I usually start jabbing it with a fork around 40 minutes to see if it's done, it usually is.  Let cool until you can handle it, flip it over and scrape out all of the seeds.  Then the magic happens, take that fork and start scraping away at the sides until the strings of spaghetti present themselves.  I serve it just like noodle spaghetti, pour prepared meat a spaghetti sauce over the top and voila! Easy dinner.  My family of four only uses half of the squash for one meal leaving the other half for another night of creativity.

Zucchini noodles with halved snap pea, broccoli slaw, shredded carrots and anything else I could find to use in the fridge.  I know I know, I way over do the peanut noodles, but we really do have them once a week.  Peanut sauce + fresh lime wedges + crunchy veggies and protein of choice?  It's never failed me.

Zucchini noodles with mushrooms chicken and Pesto sauce recipe from Well Fed.  

Kiddo Approved!

Handsome shaggy devil peering over pad thai delightfulness.

Eat Happy, Be Happy

I consider myself observant.  I love to observe behaviors of my children, my husband and those around me.  I'm not trying to find faults, I just simply enjoy watching and figuring out why things are the way they are. Three years ago this week I graduated from massage therapy school, one of the greatest years of my life!  In school I learned to turn those observations inward.  Focus on what I was feeling, dig deeper and question why I feel the way I do.. This could mean emotionally, physically or spiritually.  I found out so much about myself in that year, most of which I was pleased to discover.  I found talents and I'm working on many I would love to fine tune.  I've had the opportunity to observe how I've felt physically and emotionally over the last two months while we did a complete overhaul on our nutrition and I'd like to share that with you now. 
Like an infant, if I go unfed, I'm cranky.  Very very cranky.  But that doesn't take much observation so we'll move on.  After each meal I've prepared, sat down and enjoyed eating with my family (especially dinners) a  certain sense of joy is felt.  Many of you may be thinking... well ya, you stuff your gut with food you (emotionally) love and everyone is happy! Let me clarify.  There is a difference. There is a specific, deeper appreciation that is felt when I consciously make good decisions on what I'm cooking, how I'm preparing it and sitting down to enjoy it because I know I'm feeding myself and my family with nutrients to fuel our bodies, not work against them.  It's euphoric.  After meals, in the past, I'm too bogged down to get up and clean the kitchen, or do anything for the rest of the night.  So yes, maybe I could eat a carb-a-licous meal and feel somewhat happy because I fulfilled an emotional need deep inside, but energy? Gone. Emotional needs? Temporarily met but nothing sustainable.  I'd bottom out, go to bed, get up tired and try functioning on what little nutrition was offered the night before.  Being tired, I'd make another lazy meal, and another and another until the downward spiral plummets into the darkness.  After finishing meals now I not only have the energy to get up, get out and get going, I have this inner accomplished, guiltless happy feeling. Not feeling guilty about what's in my gut is euphoric all on it's own, but knowing my family is benefiting too is the cherry on top. I think I've established a good healthy relationship with food, and that's a balance to do cartwheels over. So yes, eat for your health, but eat for your happiness too!

I had a funny conversation with my older sister the other night after I sliced a chunk of my finger off.  I told her how suddenly uneasy around knifes and everything sharp in my kitchen I became after the "incident".  In a silly voice she said, "if you fall of the horse, you have to get back on!" Silly, because I was bucked off once, tried again, bucked off again, tried one last time and was thrown off.  So horses and aren't friends.  And I've never been back on since.  I stood next to one once, had to pose for a picture, and that was about all my little heart could handle.  So, I had to get back on my "mandolin horse" and I'm happy to report all limbs are in tact.  In fact I made my first batch of zucchini noodles, where have these been my whole life???  I julienned them, cooked them in coconut oil for only a few minutes and served them with my favorite peanut sauce, broccoli slaw, shrimp, scallions and lime wedges.  Sometimes I get so excited to eat my food I forget to take pictures.  This was one of those times.  But aren't those noodles lovely??

My paleo spin on a good old American classic.  Chili fries!!  I made chocolate chili...yes, CHOCOLATE.  Unsweetened cocoa powder is on the approved list! Simmered ground turkey in an array of spices and cocoa powder, tomato paste, a can of diced tomatoes (juices and all) and water.  It had such a deep textured flavor to it, almost like a mole'.  Then I decided (since I'm trying not to be afraid of my mandolin) to julienne up some sweet potatoes and bake them in the oven to serve with the chili.  My 5 year old had 3 bowls.  My 2 year old had 2 bowls.  My husband never admitted how many he had, but I can only imagine.  The sweet potatoes added just the right sweetness to the chili...my mouth is watering just thinking about it.

I'm not sure how many of you are actually reading this, but I do appreciate the feedback.  I love hearing your ideas, your favorite meals, how you incorporate veggies into child friendly meals and your successes too! Thank you for sharing!

Eating Healthy Can Be Painful?

 Hello fellow health eaters!  I hope this week found you happy, healthy and satisfied.  Last weekend I had to put my self control to the test as it was my sister in law's wedding and all that was served was hot chocolate and a smore's bar.  I won't even go in to the details of each morsel that was served...but I did it, I passed it all up.  Seems as though, once I had already made up my mind before the reception even started, It wasn't all that hard to avoid the table of refreshments all together.  My 5 and 2 year old on the other hand...?? Each time I saw them they were in the presence of someone new, eating more chocolate.  What are you going to do? It was a night of feasting on treats for them, once in a while can slide I suppose.
     Last week we invested in some new kitchen gadgets.  If your family is anything like mine, they snack and snack and snack until the cows come home.  I'm tired of feeding my kids the high fructose versions of fruit snacks and frankly haven't found any home-made version of them on pinterest that have worked.  Buying dried fruits are expensive, so we decided to by a dehydrator and do it ourselves.  Our first go at it, I was suppose to slice everything in perfect uniform slices but failed to do so.  It wasn't too big of a deal, I had to keep taking pieces out as they were done while leaving the other fatter sliced items in to dry a little longer...

(Notice my little Stella's art piece in the background? It's my new favorite, It makes me so happy when I see it, so in the kitchen it'll stay.)

So we decided to get one of these as well.  Pretty nifty, especially since it tells me what thickness I'm slicing exactly.  And I can also make my zucchini noodles and David's favorite baked sweet potato fries!

Unfortunately, my first use with my first veggie, I learned my first very important lesson.  Use the veggie holder, not your hand to hold the food!  (This picture was taken 2 days after the incident, it's looking quite a bit better) Side story:  Picture me in the kitchen late Saturday night, slicing sweet potatoes, sprinkling them with cinnamon and dreaming about how delicious they would be coming out of the dehydrator the next morning.   And then, slice! Me (calmly to David watching the soccer game) "And there goes my finger"  He honestly didn't believe me.  Then he saw the amount of blood dripping down my hand, arm, kitchen counter and floor...then he believed me:) How much did I slice off? 3/16 of an inch, aren't I glad I have the nifty dial on the mandolin to tell me so? David found the slice of finger, so don't worry, no one digested it.  I wasn't so smart in wrapping it that night.  I just stuck cotton on it and wrapped it in co flex.  The next morning I tried pulling off the cotton to change the dressing and the wound scabbed right on to the cotton.  I soaked it and tried peeling it off but it hurt so bad!  I'm a little ashamed to admit this, but the ordeal made me so sick to my stomach, I started blacking out, knew I was going to pass out, and laid on the ground to do so.  When I lost consciousness, Stella was telling me a story, when I regained, she was still telling me a story so I know I wasn't out for too long ...or was I? Her stories can go both ways. Anyway, wimpy I know, especially coming from a gal who worked in nursing homes and hospitals all those years.  And some of those years as a phlebotomist!  Not my finest hour.  I've been a little funny in the kitchen this weekend,  knives and graters make me cringe.  I'm just a little more cautious to say the least.  Also, David follows me around the house saying "chop chop"

Now that I have burned that image in your head, let me share some of the food we've enjoyed.  This is what we've been eating for breakfasts.  My rendition of green eggs and ham!  I buy turkey ham, dice it and grill it in the the pan until it starts to crisp on some of the sides.  I add the scrambled eggs to the pan along with some thawed out frozen spinach from a box.  I add a lot, because honestly? You can't taste it...at all.  Scramble until cooked through.  We enjoy ours with pico de gallo on top but any salsa would work great. 

Rogan Josh From Well Fed with Cauliflower mashed taters, tomatoes and pineapple. 

Pizza Frittata.  Go nuts here.  Start by scrambling a lot of eggs and poor into a pan.  I let mine cook until set about halfway.  I added Italian flavored sausage, mushrooms, olives, onions, sun dried tomatoes and anything else I needed to use up.  Finish cooking by placing in the oven set at 350 for at least 20 minutes.  There are so many variations to fritatta's, and they're easy, so give them a try.

My pomegranate guacamole!  In this particular dish I added the following:  2 large ripe avocados, 1 cup pico de gallo, 1 cup of pomegranate seeds and salt to taste.  That's it! We wolfed it down in 10 minutes...maybe less.  You don't want to eat it by the spoon fulls? Sweet potato or zucchini chips work great:)

A little added energy.  It wasn't recommended in my Whole30 book to drink a lot of juice, even if extracted on my own.  So I don't use it to replace meals, however, I do use it when I feel a cold coming on, or if I feel a little tired and need an extra boost.  My favorite combo's are orange carrot ginger and apple beet lemon.  Again with the combinations, endless!

 That's all the excitement for this post.  It seems like I mentioned a lot of  kitchen appliances that may not be in most kitchens.  Don't let that stop you from eating well.  Eating healthy has to start somewhere, let it start in your kitchen, fill your fridge with fresh fruits and veggies and learn to incorporate them into every meal.  It's easy to over consume on carbs, sugars and dairies... but you can never have too many greens!

 Bet you thought I disappeared, called it quits and was gorging on french fries and donuts.  Good news, not the case!  We've been a little stressed and distracted in our household the last couple of weeks.  David works on the base and was furloughed last week.  I put in extra hours at the spa and we both committed ourselves to projects to keep us busy and distracted from the underlying issue of "will we get paid?"  I have to admit that I am a stress eater, but that's just not an option anymore.  I'm also a stress shopper, and, well, not knowing if/when we'll get paid, that's not an option either!! What's a girl to do?  Go to the kitchen and get the creative healthy juices flowing.  So that's what I've been doing.

My own take on Pad Thai.  I'm getting more comfortable with what to cook and how to cook it.  What in the the beginning took hours of preparing at times, has dramatically lessened to quick dinners.  What a relief!  This certainly wasn't as fancy as the peanut sauce recipe in my trusty Well Fed cookbook. But it was still delicious and perfect for a fast meal.   For the peanut sauce I took about a fourth of a cup of almond butter, a splash of coconut milk, a few chugs each of coconut aminos, redboat fish sauce, and rice vinegar, stirred it all together over low heat and taste tested often to adjust seasonings.  It became rather thick so I added a couple tablespoons of water and let simmer until I was ready to pour it over my sauteed cabbage, sugar snap peas, garlic, ginger, onions and shrimp.  It was awesome and approved around the dinner table.

Char Siu (Chinese BBQ Pork) with "Fried Rice" from Well Fed.  Oh the glaze, oh the aroma, oh so good!  Ps.  Melissa Joulwan, Author of Well Fed has come out with Well Fed 2 available end of October.  This makes me giddy.

Quick dinner night.  Steak and garden tomatoes with homemade Italian dressing.  

So we made it through our Whole30 cleanse.  30 Days without grains, sugars, legumes and dairy.  We are currently in the phase of reintroducing some of these foods back into our diet and experimenting with what they "do to" us.  In the book we are instructed on day 31 to add yogurt to our breakfast, cheese for lunch and have a dish of ice cream after dinner.  While David was doing cartwheels over the ice cream, I was dreading it.  I already know what effects  ice creams and heavy dairies have on my system.  Then we eat as we have been the previous 30 days for the next 3 days and scope out the long term effects of our introduced food choices.  David didn't experience anything abnormal, maybe an extra trip to the bathroom, but I'm sure it was worth it to him.  I won't get into my issues.  It's best just to rule out dairy for me in general, ha ha! (That's the beauty of this cleanse, you are your own physician, you will find out what foods do what to you and what to stay away from).  Yesterday we gave grains a go.  I had a half of a bagel in the morning and felt like I had a brick in my stomach most of the day.  I didn't eat grains for lunch, however David had a side of pasta with his lunch and we both had bread with our Waldorf tuna salad for dinner.  He was dragging, I was dragging. We were sluggish and tired, It wasn't fun.  Bread won't be missed.  I've loved how we've dined those 30 days, I've already made up my mind to continue eating in the same fashion.  My taste buds have awakened, my energy has improved and I don't feel like I'm missing out on a thing. Oh, except 5 pounds! Although I want to add, losing weight is not why I chose to change my life style.  I worked hard in the past to lose weight and I don't have all that much to lose now...but hey, who doesn't like stepping onto the scale to a few pounds lighter? So it's a choice, satisfy that sweet tooth for a moment and put a drag on the rest of your day, even days!  Or put nutrient dense foods on your plate and be an energizer bunny.  These are only the immediate effects of course, I won't get in to the dangers of inflammatory diseases and everything that follows, obesity, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes, congestive heart failure...oh look I'm going in to it anyway.  All dangerous and all VERY reversible...just by what you put on your plate.  What's on your plate??

Steak wrapped veggies! Carrots, bell peppers, green onions and zucchini cut into matchsticks and wrapped in thin cut steaks.  I found the recipe on pinterest and we had them before we started Paleo.  The Well Fed cookbook has a recipe for homemade Italian dressing, we dipped these little puppies in the creamy dressing and savored every last bite.

Served along side our steaks was this dish, also found on pinterest.  Boil 2 beets, slice them up and put them on the bottom of the pan.  Shred a large sweet potato and fry it up in a pan with coconut oil.  The directions called for a special seasoning spice that I don't have, so I put cinnamon on the papas while they were cooking... can we say, Hello Autumn?  The two combined have got to be my new favorite.  Add the hashbrowns on top of the beets and create holes to crack your eggs into.  They cooked up in about 30 minutes at 350. You could do less if you want a runny yoke but I have a 5 year old with texture issues so I cooked them through.

So yummy, and so good for you too.  I love making dishes that look interesting to my 5 year old and this was one of them.  She couldn't get over the eggs in the hashbrowns, she thought it was the coolest thing ever.  She also didn't mind her beets because they turned everything a special shade of pinkish/purplish.  So she had no problem eating those either:)

Moroccan Meatballs with Rice Pilaf from Well Fed, was what we dined on last night.  The colors may look a bit bland in the picture (all of my pics are taken from my phone) but the taste was (insert opera voice here) *awesome*! The rice pilaf was made from cauliflower with yummy spices, apricots and raisins.  The meatballs I rolled by hand were made from pork and a plethora of spices boiled to squeeky perfection in a home made tomato sauce.  Who ate the most meat balls you ask? My 5 year old.  She ate up the rice and licked her plate too.  After dinner we went for a walk and she learned how to ride her bike.  It was an exciting day for her :) After a walk/bike ride, in the rain I might add, we came home, cut up some mango's and served them with the left over coconut cream whip cream from my 2 year old's party the night before.  Mango's and Coconut Whip cream have got to be my new favorite tasty treat. Sorry, no pic.  I ate it too fast.  

 Something has happened to me when I enter the kitchen and I love it.  Now that I'm understanding new ways of cooking, discovering combinations and admiring the beautiful colors of these nutritious veggies...a creative force is beginning to take over.  As well as a self proclaimed Italian opera singing voice.  It's safe to say this new way of eating has boosted my energy and has possibly made me a little nutty:) Here is another weeks worth of delicious meals.  Most of these meals come from my trusty cookbook, "Well Fed", so I'm sorry I don't post the recipes.  However, I do hope you look at these, somehow get a whiff of the aroma and tingle in you taste buds and are somehow inspired to eat just a little healthier too. DIG IN!

Are those mashed potatoes? Close. In fact so close my family couldn't taste the difference.  The famous cauliflower mashed potatoes had me at the first bite.  Steam your cauliflower until tender, then give em a whirl in your food processor with a splash of canned coconut milk and some chives. I've always seen this method on Pinterest, but never gave it a go.  So glad we tried them.  Top with more chives, salt and pepper and hello yum! We ate them with Cinnamon Beef Stew & Orange Gremolata from Well Fed. I had no portion control.

Moroccan Chicken from It Starts With Food served over a frozen stir fry veggie mix.  I gave the veggies a dash of coconut aminos just to offer extra flavor.  Delish.

HELLLOOO Sunday Dinner.  Do you feel bad for my family and my forcing new habits on them by looking at this picture?  First time ever steaming a lobster tail and it was a success! I love shopping at Smith's and walking straight back to the discounted meat section.  I find great deals on their shrimp, scallops and yes...lobster tail.  Also served were the scallops, cubed sweet papa's cooked in a bit of EVOO and sprinkled with cinnamon and a side of broccoli. 

Just a simple salad, with a simple ranch dressing recipe found in both of my fave books. Simple yet I'm licking the plate when I'm done.

Asian Beef and Broccoli.  I love it when my husband uses the phrase "horked it down", as that's what I associate this meal with.  My family, namely my kiddos, horked it down.

This was the winner meal of the week.  Pad Thai made with spaghetti squash.  The creamy peanut dressing was made with real almond butter and I added extra cabbage and carrots to the "noodles".  I topped ours with shrimp (our family refers to it as "poppy shrimp" when cooked correctly), scallions, toasted almonds and extra lime wedges because you really can never have too many limes.  Come to think of it, cilantro would have been good on top as well..mmm.  So good I made it twice this week.

We also celebrated two birthdays in our family this week.  My supportive husband, David, turned 31.  Isn't he handsome? We didn't cheat on our 30 day reset but I did want to make some kind of a "treat" for him.  We sliced peaches, strawberries, bananas and blueberries and topped it with coconut milk whip cream, toasted coconut flakes (seasoned with cinnamon) and almonds.  For not having sugar in 2-3 weeks, this really was a treat!  My youngest also turned two, I would have posted a pic of her with her mini personal cake, peaches and coconut whip cream but I'm making this blog strictly paleo and to show a picture of cake would just be mean. Don't worry, David and I didn't have cake, we relished in our fruits, berries and whip cream without complaint. 

This coming Tuesday will be our 3rd week mark of no sugar, legumes, grains or dairy.  I don't feel as though I've given these things up, I feel like I've introduced a new level of flavor, very guiltless flavor. My body has noticed a little bit of wiggle room in the waistline and over all I just feel really good about myself.  Quote from David, "I am one with nature, food is my fuel and my body a machine"  I asked for some input from him and how he feels about this last week and this was his response.  I guess he's feeling a little nutty too :)

Here we are, my 2 new favorite books.  My husband and I are dong a 30 day reset program that consists of eating only fruits, veggies and meats and cooking with healthy fats such as coconut oil, EVOO and using fresh herbs and spices.  We've completely eliminated sugars, dairy, grains and legumes.  We have successfully made it through 2 weeks now and I'd love to share with you the yummy meals I've created in my kitchen:)

Thai Curry Shrimp with coconut flakes.  Instead of rice I stuck a head of cauliflower in the food processor and chopped until it had the consistency of rice. Loved it!

Easy Salmon Cakes with home made tartar sauce.  Salmon, sweet papas, almond flour and spices all jammed into one awesome little patty.  I'm a huge fan on these on those soccer/ballet/rushing to everything nights.

This little number came out of the top of my head.  We have had soooo many tomatoes from our garden, I couldn't keep up!  So I made my own spaghetti sauce with them.  I hate to use the term "garbage" here.  But I really do just toss is all the left over veggies that I don't know what I'm going to do with to create a dancing taste bud sauce.  We eat this over spaghetti squash.

Salad me up!  In one of these books is a recipe for Avocado dressing and Ranch dressing.  I make just enough to last us the week (no preservatives, so I don't want to test just how long it'll last) Perfect to have as a side or as a meal. You can never go wrong with a plate of veggies tossed in these dressings :)

Asian Lettuce Wraps.  This is my own variation of a lettuce wrap.  I put close to everything in these babies, chicken i grind up with the food processor, carrots, peppers, cabbage, fresh ginger, garlic, apple chunks...another good use of the term...left over garbage from the fridge, haha! Add some Red Boat fish sauce, coconut aminos and voila!  I make a ginormous batch of this on Mondays for our lunches through out the week.  Beats PB & J!

Scallops and Oven Bakes Sweet Papa Fries.  Only thing missing is our greens.  Don't worry, side salad not pictured:)

Peach and Raspberry Omelet.  Every morning we have veggie omelets with fresh spinach, mushrooms, olives and tomatoes.  But sometimes we make these beauties instead and my mouth is watering just talking about them.  Dare I say they are better than crepes??? Did I mention I have 2 kiddos I cook for as well? I've never been a cook-to-order mom, so they eat what I make or they starve.  Sound harsh? Well before you call child protective services, know that they've loved everything I've put in front of them over the past 2 weeks.  My 5 year old calls this one a peach taco and requests it on a regular basis.  

 

So there you have it.  One weeks worth of Whole30 meals, I have the 2nd weeks pics as well, those will be coming soon.  I'd have to say the first week was the hardest. Both Davey and I were a bit crabby and had a "feed my now, dammit" attitude.  We had a few headaches from no sugar (I never knew it had that control over me!) Davey played a soccer game that first week in which he thought he would die and I work as a massage therapist and experienced a couple of nights I thought I'd fall over as well...but according to "It Starts with Food" that was all normal.  Now that we have started the 3rd week, those hunger pains and aches are gone and we're back to our activity level...and then some!  David quits sugar for 3 days and loses a whole inch from his waste of course, I wish I could give you those same physical results for myself, but I can't.  What I can tell you is how awesome I'm feeling.  I haven't been weighted down by a meal and I'm not passing out for a nap every day at 2 in the afternoon.  We've been finding our new routine lately with my oldest starting kindergarten/ballet/soccer.  This new way of eating calls for a bit more plan and preparation, but if you want to make that change for yourself, you'll find a way to do it.  I haven't perfected it yet, but I'm learning new ways to cook and incorporate all the good things we want into our nutritious bellies.