It is week 2!! I am working on eating whole real food and cutting out processed food or added sugar. I’m more focused and determined this week.
I am keeping this food diary to keep me accountable and let you know what I ate in those weeks. Hopefully I can give you some gluten-free and gut friendly meal ideas as well!
So here we go….
Week Two
Monday, April 09
Morning: I woke up feeling terrible since my cycle had begun. Once the Tylenol kicked in, I felt that I could eat. I ate some Stoked Oats with banana and almond milk. It was very filling and held me until lunchtime! I put the laptop on my lap (yay heat!) and worked on my emails until lunchtime.
Afternoon: A late lunch was in order since I had worked into my lunch break! Not having planned ahead, I was overjoyed to see a leftover flaxseed bun and veggie burger in the fridge. I added tomato and avocado to it after heating it. Deciding that I needed a bit more, I added a side of quinoa with arugula, tomato and more avocado mixed in and splashed it with lime. It was very good and very filling.
I had a snack of Greek yogurt, walnuts and blueberries. I didn’t need it, really, but was light-headed so had a bite and was too full afterward.
Evening: Honey Garlic Chicken with the honey halved in the recipe, roast potatoes and carrots and a bunch of arugula with lemon and salt. Really filling! Ate yogurt,figs and walnuts as a dessert snack an hour later.
Tuesday, April 10
Morning: Woke up really hungry. (Any of you ladies also get extra hungry during your cycle??) I started my day with a mango kefir smoothie and scrambled eggs. My smoothie was just frozen mango, a teeny bit of spinach and kefir with an inch of fresh ginger blended together. Very bright and tangy! I added a side of scrambled eggs by microwaving them for a minute with almond milk and coconut oil. I was pleasantly full.
My stomach is off. I am not sure why but there has been an air pressure change and my son has a cold, so probably a combination of the both.
Afternoon: Oh man, was I hungry once lunch rolled around because I got working and ate late (again! I have to quit doing that). The pitfalls of working from home, I guess. I had leftover meatloaf that my husband made with ZERO processed ingredients (no ketchup, no gluten-free crackers, etc). I’ll ask him for the recipe if he remembers what he did, because it was amazing. With the meatloaf, I had an arugula salad and leftover cold mashed potatoes. Jeannette Hyde of The Gut Makeover says that cold potatoes are better for the gut. I drank water with apple cider vinegar as a side to settle my stomach from the coffee this morning.
Evening: I made the family cheese quesadillas. For myself, I made a quinoa and chicken spinach salad. I added the rest of the avocado, some hemp seeds, tomato and cold potato. It was an amazing way to use leftovers and was delicious.
Unfortunately, my stomach was still acting up, so the happy full feeling didn’t last long. I don’t blame the food- it is either the rapid change in air pressure or a cold.
Wednesday April 11
Morning: Because of my stomach and an oncoming headache, I went to bed really early last night. I wish I could say I woke up refreshed! Nope. In a haze, I made Stoked Oats (yes, again! no, not being paid to say that) with kefir mixed in. I ate it half-asleep and was ready for the day.
Yesterday, I thought it was the coffee that bugged my stomach but I had my one cup today and it was fine. I would like to cut back to none though, since my stomach feels better if I drink tea, but I just love the taste of coffee SO much. One cup won’t kill me….it’s just when I cave and drink more…and all of a sudden I’m drinking 7 cups a day (hello, ulcers!).
Afternoon: I made another salad- exciting, right? Salad is kind of my go-to when I don’t know what to eat. What a change from a few years ago when I hated salad! Today, I just threw leftover potatoes and chicken in a bowl with spinach with some olive oil, salt and lemon thrown on for dressing. It was a working lunch, which was bad, but I had a lot of emails to catch up on. Next week, I will eat mindfully and walk away from the computer. A promise to myself!
Evening: We had roast chicken! I used to think roast chicken HAD to be a weekend thing. But it is just as easy as throwing chicken breasts in the oven, although you have to plan for the time it takes to cook. Since I work from home, I went and got the kids from school and then ran to the kitchen to prep it. A drizzle of fresh lemon and olive oil, rub fresh herbs on top (sage, thyme and rosemary bought in a package at Safeway), shove the lemons inside and away we go. I just cooked it for two hours at 325F and it was ready! I made sweet potatoes with the microwave (ten minutes on high) then peeled and mashed them after they were done. Some greens on the side for a salad and supper was ready.
After supper I made banana nut bread and that was my snack. I also made sure to shove the chicken into my slow cooker with some veg to start a stock. It will simmer all night and already smells delightful in here!
I’m getting a handle on making things from scratch. It’s becoming more efficient and I’m slowly hating it less.
Thursday, April 12:
Morning: It is the morning of my least favourite day of the week. I hate Thursday. I always wake up thinking it’s Saturday and I’m always exhausted from the week. Enough, already!
I had my gluten-free nut bread for breakfast. I used dried cranberries in it this time, instead of frozen blueberries and it did. not. work. My son loves it but it tastes and feels like very dense, badly made fruit cake. I will eat it heated with melted peanut butter and see if that helps. And Hunter will help.
Afternoon: Another busy day so leftover chicken to the rescue! A bit of mashed sweet potato on the side with a spinach salad and I had a full meal. Now, off to work again! I had a date nut ball for dessert.
Evening: It is snowing outside and I just want to fall into a large bowl of gluten-free pasta with cream sauce. Which my tongue would love and my stomach would hate!
I resisted. We had basa fillets with basil and paprika, smashed sweet potato and Swiss chard. Swiss chard is one of my kid’s favourite vegetables! I had two helpings of fish and was off to my Ballet Barre Workout- I love my wokrouts there so much that I braved the snowstorm to get there.
A date ball after my workout saved me from overeating when I got home and a bit of peppermint tea before bed settled my stomach. Overall, an excellent day for the gut! Not bloated and gassy today, which was a definite win.
Friday, April 13
Morning: I had my fruit cake bread. It was supposed to be a delicious nut bread, as I said earlier, but it isn’t that at all. I choked down some of the thick, dense concoction because I hate wasting food. If nothing else, it was filling. Maybe Hunter will help me eat it.
Afternoon: Leftover fish, with British- style Heinz beans and greens made a delicious lunch today. Leftovers to the rescue!
Evening: Homemade bone broth from the roast chicken was the base for a delicious stew with chicken, carrots and mushrooms!
And then, since it is Friday, ALL the air-popped popcorn with oil and salt. OMNOMNOM….I live for popcorn.
I did a whole lot better this week and started to log my food into my Fitbit app to see what my carb, fat and protein ratio is each week. It will be interesting to see how consistent it is! I’m trying not to go tooooo… Type A about it since I could potentially slide into old bad habits.
So that was my week. I felt less cravings for sugar and fried food and felt the need to snack less. Maybe because my cycle is over?
Have a good weekend everyone!
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