B n B 2.0!

Welcome to the newest "upgrade" to  Blueberries and Blessings!

Borrowing a phrase from Daniel, I decided to call this phase of my blog 2.0, as the balance of focus has shifted from scrapping to survive, to recovery and beyond. Definitely an upgrade!

I plan on looking back on the previous year each day that I post my new "A YEAR AGO TODAY" posts, and comparing various aspects of my quality of life, or lack thereof, just to help me focus on how far I have come, and never forget where I have been. I never want to get into a position of taking my life for granted, and I'm hoping by remembering these daily struggles, I will remain as grateful as I am today, if not moreso.

I have some vivid memories of tomorrow, so these posts will start then, but my excitement to watch myself continue to develop into all that God wants me to be is so thrilling. I am so happy to be able to share it with all of you, or at least those of you who might be still around!  

Two Weeks Down

Short and sweet...

Randall started at 283 - after one week: 271.  This week: 267. He lost 4 pounds, a total of 16 pounds.

I weighed in at 358 .8 --  after one week: 344.8.  This week 339.8 I lost 5 pounds a total of 19 pounds.

I've got some sort of stomach thing going on. Feeling rather icky. Hope to be back on soon.

RECIPE: Chicken Pesto Pasta Salad {Whole30, Paleo, Low Carb}

On our third day of following Whole30, I decided to make a salad, but didn't want your run of the mill salad. I found one in a magazine and got so excited about it. 

The original recipe had a few extra ingredients, and called for the zucchini to be spiralized. Naturally, I couldn't find my spiralizer, so I pulled out my veggie peeler and made ribbons instead,.  

 

It was the best meal we had all week! It will make regular rotation for us, during the Whole30 and beyond. It was refreshing and oh so flavorful, not to mention easy to throw together. Randall already told me that the next time I make it I need to double the recipe.

 

I figured what better day to share a lovely green dish than on St. Patrick's Day? The pics aren't the greatest - I took them with my phone just seconds before the entire bowl disappeared. I promise you you'll love it!!

Chicken Pesto Pasta Salad {Whole 30, Paleo, Low Carb}

Ingredients:

1-2 large zucchini, cut into thin ribbons or spiralized

2 c. cooked chicken, cubed / shredded into chunks

1 bunch fresh basil

1 bunch fresh parsley

2 cloves garlic

3 tbsp olive oil

2 tsp lemon juice

1 c grape tomatoes, cur in half

salt & pepper to taste

Instructions:

Place chicken and zucchini in a bowl

Add Basil, Parsley, lemon juice, garlic, salt and pepper to a food processor

Pulse until you achieve a pourable consistency, adding a few tablespoons of water if needed

Pour over chicken and zucchini and toss until coated

add tomatoes and fold in carefully

adjust seasonings and serve immediately or chill first

adapted from Paleo Magazine

 

Whole30: One Week Down...Our Progress So Far

Here we are starting our second week, and what a difference a week makes!

In case you missed the day one post, here is our comparison:

Randall weighed 283 - THIS MORNING: 271. He lost 12 pounds

I weighed in at 358 .8 -- THIS MORNING: 344.8. I lost 14 pounds!!

My fasting blood sugar was 157. THIS MORNING: 114. Down 43 points!!

My overall feeling right now is some slight nausea, definite gas, and joint pain especially my knees. I look forward to seeing all of these things change this month. THIS MORNING: I haven't felt this good in years - no nausea, no tummy issues at all, and my joint pain is GONE. Not lower....GONE.

Randall feels better too. Both of our moods have improved.

I decided to take a progress pic yesterday, just for historical sake. When I first looked at it I thought "Aw man, look how huge I am....I look no different." Then I looked at the only "before" pic I had. To think it wasn't even the heaviest I got. Wow.

Now I'm at 109 pounds lost - the most I've ever lost in one "try". I hit 100 lost in 2009, and immediately started going back up. Speaking of most....who loses 14 pounbds in one week? The lost I've ever lost in one week is 6.5.

I prayed for weeks asking God to help me find something that would be healthy for me and help me lose the weight and I know He guided me here. I am so happy and so blessed! Daniel is going to finally have the parents he deserves. It can't get any better than that!

I'll summarize the rest of the week's foods in another post later today. In the meantime, please, join me in a happy dance!!

Whole30: Day Four

More progress! I'm now down about seven pounds Randall's down 8.

Wednesday night we went to the store and picked up a few things that I was so excited about. 

One was tomato juice as I'm getting really tired of drinking only water. Another was some sausage that did not contain anything we shouldn't have.

Breakfast consisted of two of those sausages, along with a few baby heirloom tomatoes and some avocado along with a big ol glass of tomato juice. I was so full I felt like I had just eaten 

Thanksgiving dinner. It was crazy.

 

Lunch I also got some ground chicken breast and I made some homemade sausage and had two patties and an apple for lunch.

 

Dinner was tomatillo chicken soup. I really liked it but it wasn't a favorite of Randall. I think the acidity of the tomatillos didn't sit too well with his taste buds.

 

The only snacks I had or handful of sunflower seeds and a few plantain chips.

I've realized that the true Whole30 does not want you snacking. I told Randall This and like he said right now things seem to be working well for us so why change it as long as we're both happy and satisfied? So we decided unless we hit a plateau will keep going as is.

 My blood sugar was 118 again today and I'm good with that.

As day five is nearly over I'll be reporting on it tomorrow, but going into the weekend has me thinking. It's usually when we always cheated on our other diets. We're also so busy, it's sometimes hard not to just grab something somewhere. I know we can do this. Can't wait to report what happens!

The Anatomy of a Cheeto

With all the focus on processed foods  I looked at the ingredients on a bag of Cheetos the other day.

 Just to look at the list,  it seems not so bad. I mean after all, there's four ingredients: cornmeal, oil, cheese seasoning and salt.

But you need to delve into it a little deeper. First of all, I don't understand why we take whole grains and strip them of all their God-given nutrients then enrich them by adding synthetic nutrients back into them. Such is the case of the "enriched" corn meal used as you will see in the broken down list I have below.

 Then let's look at the cheese seasoning. The sheer number of ingredients is flabbergasting.But I also added the research I did on the individual ingredients to show you just how ' healthy' they really are.

Hopefully you'll be as disgusted as I was.

This is one measly little snack food. The shelves in the grocery stores are filed what foods just like these. So many chemicals... so many things that our bodies just don't need.

I'll never be able to look at Cheetos the same way again.

 

INGREDIENTS:

Enriched Corn meal

• Corn Meal
• Ferrous Sulfate
• Thiamin Mononitrate
• Riboflavin
• Folic Acid

Vegetable Oil

• Corn
• Canola
• Sunflower 

Cheese Seasoning

• Whey
• Cheddar Cheese
• Milk
• Cheese Cultures
• Salt
• Enzymes
• Canola Oil
• Malodextrin - The consumption of maltodextrin has similar side effects and health risks as most food additives. These side effects include allergic reactions, unexplained weight gain, bloating and flatulence. Specific allergic reactions associated with the use of maltodextrin include rash, asthma, itching and difficulty breathing.
• Salt
• Whey Protein Concentrate
• Monosodium Glutamate - Over the years, the FDA has received many anecdotal reports of adverse reactions to foods containing MSG. These reactions — known as MSG symptom complex — include: Headache, Flushing, Sweating. Facial pressure or tightness, Numbness, tingling or burning in the face, neck and other areas, Rapid, fluttering heartbeats (heart palpitations), Chest pain, Nausea,  and Weakness.
•  Natural and Artificial Flavors, Lactic Acid
• Citric Acid
• Artificial Color - Yellow 6 - Yellow dye # 6 contains known carcinogens and contaminants that unnecessarily increase the risks of cancer, hyperactivity in children and allergic reactions.

Salt

Whole30: Day Three

Another awesome day in the books with more progress both felt and observed.

First...both Randall and I weighed...we are both down five pounds! I also took my fasting blood sugar again...it went from 157 to 131 to....118!! I'm absolutely thrilled. I also had much less joint pain yesterday.... Virtually none in the morning and only mild pain in the evening. I can't believe the difference in just three days!

But I digress...on to the food...

Breakfast: two over easy eggs on top of minimally processed turkey lunchmeat with grape tomatoes on the side.

 

Lunch: Egg salad with celery, canola may, Dijon mustard...with a side of black olives.

 

Dinner: Chicken pesto pasta salad. The pasta was ribbons of zucchini. This was amazing....I'll share the recipe soon!

 

Snacks were a banana, a few slices of uncured salami, one handful of plantain chips and some pickled okra.

Looking forward to tomorrow!!