Spring "Cleaning", Paleo-Style!

Spring Break broke me...

I ate a cupcake.  A gluten-free wrap (which still contains grains).  Some delightful (and deadly) frozen 'snow' concoction that I'm pretty sure contained dairy, but I thought it better to not ask...  Some rice.  And TWO orders of sweet potato fries that I did not share. 

Not enough veggies.  Not enough fruit.  And definitely not enough lean protein. 

I did drink lots of water.  I had fresh fruit every day.  I stayed away from cheese (thank goodness). 

And now I am ready to clean up my act!  My body was screaming at me yesterday and the day before.  And then last night after watching game after game of March Madness, we gave the remote to Peanut and she landed on "Momma June, From Not to Hot".  Like a car accident...I somehow couldn't look away.

And she was binging.  And hiding food from her family and friends and support group.

And I was reminded of a time when I was addicted to food and had a very low self-image because of my choices and my body.

And I don't ever want that again.

I will never be model-thin.  I love food too much.  But I am proud of myself.  Never ashamed to go out in public.  Able to wear jeans and a t-shirt comfortably.  Okay putting on my swimsuit to swim laps.  Shopping in regular stores and departments.  Pretty much the size I was in high school again... with some laugh lines and scars to document a great life!  And, I have a healthy relationship with food...something I didn't think was possible and it's all because I have been able to rid my diet of things that are addicting and toxic.

So, anyway....

Monday I am doing another CleanLeanMean15 to get back to my proud, happy place.

15 days (which is nothing in the grand scheme of things) of squeaky clean eating.  No gluten.  No grains.  No dairy.  No soy.  No peanuts.  No legumes.  No sugar (refined or other).  And absolutely no artificial sweeteners!

The first day is easy.  You will be driven.  You will be excited.  Hopefully you will be doing this with a buddy or family member and you will congratulate each other.

Day 2 will be stressful.  Day 15 will seem so far away....

Day 3, 4 or 5 will be your biggest challenge. 

Depending on how much junk you are giving up and how much you "go out with a food bang" this weekend - you will go through sugar or dairy or gluten detox...or all of the above.  You will have a headache.  You may be a bit shaky.  You will probably be very snack-y and want to eat everything.  And you will probably experience REAL hunger for the first time in a long time because you have taken out all the stuff that messes with your receptors and metabolism and insulin.

You will survive it if you are prepared.

I will be helping you with that throughout the process.  Thursday I posted some easy meal ideas (some that you can order in restaurants) and the weekly menu (that is entirely CLM15 compliant) and today I am going to post a shopping list to help you get ready!

Make sure you like Wildflower Kitchen's Facebook Page to keep up with recipes, meal ideas and some "how do I navigate a restaurant menu" ideas along the way!

I have to hit the farmer's market, so I will end now with more coming later....You CAN DO THIS!

Sweet Potato Toast...what a good idea!

I think it's safe to say that I am in the Paleo Groove.  I've been eating this way for nearly 2 years, feeding my family this way for nearly 2 years (with 2 teenagers!) and preparing meals and doing meal prep and catering events for 18 months.  It's second nature.

I no longer grab for the loaf of bread or the bagels or get out my rice cooker to fill out a meal or make it more convenient.

As a matter of fact, until yesterday, I had my toaster wrapped in plastic and stored away in my garage.  Who needs a toaster when you haven't purchased a single loaf of bread or English muffin or bagel in 2 years?

And then I watched, as I do every morning, the Today Show and saw a segment with Joy Bauer that featured sweet potato toast.  Her's was covered in peanut butter, which I don't eat, but it got me thinking.

And the thought that ran through my head first and then again and again was "I miss avocado toast...sigh..." 

Sprinkled between my longing for avocado toast were thoughts about the convenience of toast, of tuna melts and breakfast sandwiches and after school snacks and things the kids can hold in their hands and eat on the way to their many activities.

And so, I braved the cold of the garage and dug out and unpacked my trusty toaster, sharpened my chef's knife and decided to experiment with sweet potato toast.

I did not want to go to the market, so I only used things I had in my fridge and pantry for my first trio of toasts.  Sadly (or not), I was home alone, so there was no one to test my creations on.  On the bright side, every last drop of mashed avocado was MINE!

I love the ease of sweet potato toast and I loved the results of my first 3 creations.

The most difficult part of this was deciding how thick to slice the sweet potato and how long to toast it in the toaster.  I decided that my favorite sweet potato toasts were cut to just under 1/4" thick and were toasted 2 1/2 times on high.  That got them done in the middle with just a touch of brown crispiness around the edges, but left them sturdy enough to pick up to eat.  No utensils was a must for this experiment!

I made a breakfast toast of scrambled eggs, salt and pepper, topped with a bit of parsley for pretty.

I also created a lunch toast of tuna salad with line-caught tuna, hard-cooked eggs, dijon mustard, homemade paleo mayo, celery and pickled cucumber, salt and fresh cracked black pepper.

And, of course, I made my favorite mid-morning or after-school snack - Avocado Toast.  I just mashed a ripe avocado, added a squeeze of lime (not even half the lime), a good sprinkle of kosher salt and cracked black pepper.  Then I drizzled on some homemade dump ranch.  It was heaven.  Then I made a tuna salad, mashed avocado combo with the leftovers...oh my!

The toaster now has it's place of honor back on my counter.  I think it is going to be getting a lot of work now that I have discovered the yumminess and ease of making Sweet Potato Toast!

What would you put on sweet potato toast?  I'm thinking taco meat and salsa, pulled pork with a little extra sauce, sliced turkey and bacon with roma tomato, chicken salad (of course), almond butter with sliced banana and a touch of raw honey....I can't wait to try them all!

Clean Eating for My Family v. Clients (aka everyone else in the world...)

Yesterday was a day. 

A beautiful day - it SNOWED in Texas!  Not much, but enough to fill this Midwestern girl's heart with joy!

A bit of a lazy day - I got to enjoy my coffee and the Today show and my iPad for a full hour before I had to get up and accomplish things.

A productive day - shopping for clean eating basics (I forgot how much ghee and eggs and organic almond butter we go through when the entire family is doing 30 days of clean eating!) at Trader Joe's (bonus!), walking the dogs in the crisp flurries, writing some way overdue notes and slogging through a webinar (ugh... I got scammed out of an hour of my life...).

And a challenging day.

The challenge was one I am SO familiar with...I spend a huge portion of my days talking to people about Paleo eating and its benefits.  And 90% of the time I get to hear all the reasons why they CAN'T.  Can't give something up, can't make it 30 days, can't get their family to do it with them, can't find the time....can't, can't, can't.

And, believe it or not - I get it.

I don't know what flipped my switch and made me able to accomplish nearly 2 years of clean eating.  To get through that first 2 weeks of super-squeaky-clean eating that changed my life.  To allow me to break up with sugar and heal a life-long dysfunctional relationship with food and lose 80+ pounds.

Maybe it was the cancer I didn't even know I had.  Maybe it was God.  Maybe it was timing, or losing my mom, or boredom, or logic, or the realization of what "I would do ANYTHING to feel better about myself...." meant.

Who knows?  Who cares anymore...no matter the stories I tell or the facts I site or the examples I share - if someone isn't ready - there is nothing I can say to convince them to give it a go.

I love what Melissa and Dallas Hartwig say in the Whole30 book....don't tell me giving up sugar and drinking your coffee black is HARD.  Battling cancer is HARD, birthing a baby is HARD, losing a parent is HARD....you've been through much harder things in your life than giving up sugar!  It's only 30 days...you can do ANYTHING for 30 days.

That phrase help me up during my first 2 weeks of "what the hell was I thinking" clean eating back in April of 2015!

But the reality is - if you don't want to - you won't.  You'll say you can't - but you can.  You won't.

Maybe I should push harder to help more people...but I don't.  I don't waver - at all.  I believe all the way down to my toes that this is the healthiest way to live.  The healthiest, most natural way to feed my body.  The key to longer, more vibrant life.  And I continue to preach, but I don't push.  I suggest.  I remind.

Except when it comes to my family!

I PUSH!

And yesterday - I had to push hard!

There has been more thumb-sucking than usual about this January's clean eating.  Poor me - there's nothing to eat.  Poor me - all my friends are meeting at _____ and having _____.  Poor me - I want a food reward and YOU won't let me have it.

Ugh!

But family is different than everyone else.

Strange at it may seem to some - I genuinely want good health and riches and joy and happiness for everyone.  I am a glass way more than full girl and want to share that with the world.  But I don't like to be pushed, so I don't push.  I absolutely want others to share their good fortune and secret tricks and opportunities with me, but I want to be the one to decide if I take advantage of them....so I don't push.

But with my family - it's more.  It's about quality of their lives.  It's about not falling victim to Alzheimer's like my mom and her mom and her mom.  It's about not getting cancer.  It's about not having old lady knees at 40.  It's about feeling good about your body and your appearance and in your clothes at any age.  It's about taking control of their health.  Knowing the power of "You are what you Eat".

It's about loving them so much I am willing to have them not like me a couple of months and probably a hundred other meals out of every year (most of the time, they are totally understanding, but sometimes there is a LOT of eye rolling and heavy sighing...). 

It's about wanting a better, easier, more passionate, sprightly (is that a word anyone uses anymore???) life.  It's about creating a NORM that is healthy.  A baseline that is lean and clear and full of vitality. 

It's the hope that they will be armed with this knowledge and power and these habits to take them through their lives.

Parents do it all the time.  We want a better life for our children. 

Why does that have to mean finances and material things?  Or a bigger city?  Or a more advanced degree?  Or a bigger house?  Fancier car?  Unlimited mobile plan with the latest phone?

Why not a healthier better?

And so I push.  And I struggle with pushing, but I believe in it and I believe in them - just like I do with grades and volunteer opportunities and rescuing pets and sharing kindness...

And now I feel better because I wrote it down.  I wonder what brings out the "PUSH" in you?