Eat, Sleep, Play

Our boys have kept us busy.  BUSY.  I knew life with two boys would be busy but I don't think I fully understood just how busy we would be.

Our boys only sleep between 9pm-7am and if we are lucky a 2-hour nap during the day.  The rest of the time they are playing, chasing, stealing toys from each other, pulling hair, throwing food, and eating.  To deal with this we try to leave the house as much as possible.  By 9am, we are usually heading out the door to preschool, gymnastics, zoo, playdates, the library and more.  It never ends.  When the boys do in fact finally fall asleep it is time for me to catch up on editing, sleeping, and eating.

Which brings me to my next subject: food.  Dale and I have been on a journey of becoming healthier and stress-free.  We quit our jobs, found new better jobs, moved into a smaller house (that saves us $$$$), and changed our diet.  We already eat very healthy, unprocessed, homemade food but we still weren't seeing the results we wanted to see.  After some suggestions from friends and a little careful research we decided to start doing a Whole30 diet with the hopes of staying Paleo.  What the heck are all these terms?  I encourage you to follow the links and do your own research but in short:  Paleo is often referred to as the caveman, hunter gatherer diet.  A high protein, high fiber, low carb diet that is lean meat and veggie centric and eliminates grains, dairy, legumes (peanuts!) and sugar.  Whole30 is a stricter version of Paleo and eliminates grains, dairy, sugar, legumes, pseudo-grains like quinoa, alcohol and more for 30 days.   Whole30 even eliminates making dessert-like food using paleo approved ingredients like honey or almond flour.

To begin this process I actually completed the Master Cleanse.  Yikes, I sound like a weirdo.  I used to laugh at people who tried doing this, until I became one of them.  For 7 days I drank only water, herbal tea, and a "lemonade" concoction of maple syrup, lemon juice, and cayenne.  Yes, 7 days.  Surprisingly, I only felt hungry on day 1.  The rest of time I just focused on the benefits.  I had a ton of energy.  I was sleeping better.  I lost weight.  I wanted to cleanse my body of any toxins or remnants of processed foods.  After the cleanse, I drank juice and chicken broth until my body could tolerate larger meals.  You really do forget how to chew!  One of the best parts of the cleanse is that food tastes different now.  I read that often your salt-palette is reset during the cleanse and I fully believe this.

After completing the cleanse Dale and I ventured into a Whole30 diet.  We ate our last meal of pasta and said goodbye to potatoes, cheese, and my beloved peanut butter.  We started meal planning to include our new changes and have been shocked at how wonderful it is.  We feel healthier, lighter, and have noticed how much food affects our mood.  We have been consuming three times as much vegetables than before and have started getting really creative. Our pantrys are empty but our fridge is bursting with greens. I have posted our meal plans under "our food".  For the most part it hasn't been difficult.  We eat a lot of salads with roasted beets, delicata squash, almonds, and homemade dressing.  We make a lot of soup like pumpkin coconut curry soup or sausage, kale, and parnsip soup.  Some of our favorites have been sweet potato fries and asian-spiced turkey burgers or lemon and herb roasted chicken with smashed spice carrots.  I would like to say I miss the bread, cheese, and sugar.  But I don't.  4 weeks into this whole process I have lost over 16 lbs and 2 pant sizes.  My face looks thinner, my jeans fall off, and I have way more energy.  

We still provide dairy and grains for the kids but they are even starting to taste more of our food.  Clark ate my entire salad (made with red chard and beets) yesterday.  Kannon devoured a bowl of pumpkin curry.  I am pretty proud of the decisions they are making.  I also discovered sunbutter which tastes way better than peanut butter and the boys LOVE.

Finally, I quit drinking coffee.  At least, I quit drinking coffee at home.  In a magical coincidence, my coffee pot died a few days after my doctor pointed out the effects of coffee on my blood pressure.  The problem of coffee at home is that I drink 6 cups.  I make a full pot and as long as the coffee is hot, I will drink.  Hell, I will drink it cold.  So, when the coffee pot died I considered it an omen and said goodbye.  Now, I still enjoy coffee a few times a week, usually on my way to work or church.

I don't know when exactly our life became so boring.  My college freshman self would laugh at me now.  We love it.  Since we don't gorge on carbs we have more energy to play.  Since we don't really drink anymore, we have more time to explore new places besides bars.  With holidays here it seemed like a good time to instill all these changes.  We have been able to keep ourselves busy with visits to pumpkin patches and tree farms.  Trips to Santa and shopping malls.  We went to zoo lights and saw the zoo wonderfully lit with Christmas lights.  For a long time, I drank coffee and Dale drank beer and we seemed on opposite sides of the earth.  Now, we both enjoy tea, talking, watching Top Chef, and settling in for a long snuggle before the boys wake up.  Its a good life.  I wouldn't trade it for anything else.  

Now that it is getting colder, I have to think about my exercise plan, so I might be asking Santa for a gym membership to a gym that has childcare.

I debated deleting this entire post because, well, it is pretty boring.  I know that there are lots of people that struggle with healthy eating and I want to share our journey.  So here is a start.

In the meantime, enjoy our playtime photos.  The boys have both celebrated birthdays, grown leaps and bounds, and continue to amaze me.  They are both extremely chatty and talk to each other long past bedtime.  I love these cuties :)