End of first Whole30 results!

Today I am finished with my first Whole30 experiment! Whoo I made it! I say experiment because I went into it as a test to see if I could do it honestly. I know a lot of people go on it for food allergies or weight loss and granted I was curious about those things too. What I found was that my skin did clear up some, I lost about five pounds, I think my sense of smell has improved, and I have a fructose sensitivity. I certainly never thought dried fruit was the enemy but hey that's good to know. I'm not the type outside of whole30 to chow down on trail mix so I'm not terribly concerned about that. I have learned some other habits which I hope to keep like using less sugar in my drinks, staying away from the processed junk, and adding more vegetables to my meals (even breakfast). I had a pretty clean diet before whole30 so it wasn't a huge change except ridding myself of all sugar.

It made me cook every meal except when eating left overs for lunch which made me get really creative. I have cooked and eaten more sweet potatoes in the last 30 days than I have in my entire life, and I learned to really love them! Pinterest is your friend, but you have to check the ingredients to make sure it's truly compliant. I tested probably twenty or so recipes from Pinterest and some were huge hits (chili with sweet potato celery and carrots), and others were not so great (chicken thighs with fennel). I definitely recommend making weekly meal plans! Keeping organized really helped me from panicking and having to make last minute trips to the health food store.  

I wish I had stayed away from dried fruit more but it was hard to do with nothing sweet at all. I also wish I had taken measurements before I started. I can fit in jeans I haven't worn in two years so I know I have lost inches off my hips and waist. From what I can tell my bras still fit the same so that's good lol! My face looks thinner. I can see my belly is tighter and my arms seem smaller. I was doing yoga everyday during this process so it certainly helped me gain muscle and tone up.

As you can see above there is definitely a difference!

From here on I am going to reintroduce some foods and see how they make me feel. First up will probably be dairy when I eat my celebratory chocolate bar, then soy, corn, and eventually gluten. I am looking forward to my birthday cake next week, and some drinks with friends. I have already bought some new ginger beer I want to try! It's all about balance though. I don't plan on overindulging or going back to bad habits right away. I do plan to continue on a real food paleo diet that focuses around what foods work for me. I will also probably do another whole30 or maybe even whole45 in the foreseeable future. Either way I will keep blogging about my experiences!

Valentine's Day Chocolate Berry Smoothie Whole30 Paleo Compliant

Happy Valentine's day! This morning I woke up craving chocolate covered strawberries which is a big problem since I have only two days left on Whole30. I thought I would start the day right with a tasty smoothie. This smoothie captures the essence of my favorite treat by adding fresh fruit and raw cacao nibs along with some healthy spinach for good measure. What is great about it is it's low in sugar and a huge boost of antioxidants, vitamins, and fiber. I realize that Whole30 doesn't really recommend smoothies as a suitable meal but honestly if you keep the fruit in check I personally think it is a healthy breakfast. Eggs get old and sometimes you need a treat! Am I right?!

I love using spinach in my smoothies because it's such a mild green it doesn't add a gross green taste or bitterness like some others *cough..cough... kale*.  I don't prefer juicing because you need the fiber to fill you up and keep the sugars from being absorbed as quickly. Juicing just doesn't do that for you. I also try to stay far away from super sweet or fruit heavy mixtures. Obviously you can tweak this as much or as little as you'd like that's the great thing about smoothies! It is also a wonderful way to use up the huge bin of organic spinach I get from Costco lol! Another great green add in is Spirulina powder you can get it online here. It adds a ton of vitamins and a little kick of protein without changing the flavor.

I recently got an a new blender after my cheap old personal blender's motor conked out.  It was a scary couple of weeks there. I spent a lot of time looking up what blending system would work best for me. I really only use it for a smoothie or protein shake so the high powered super expensive ones were overkill. I don't need a huge pitcher of margaritas so the super large family ones weren't for me either. The last one I had was a cheap black Friday special and while it was alright it only lasted a year. When I found the Oster Blend-N-Go My Blend it was perfect! The reviews were good, the price was right, and you blend right in a sports bottle! How cool is that?! It really has worked great for me. My boyfriend even ordered his own bottle to use for his daily protein shake before the gym.

To start you are going to need organic spinach, frozen or fresh blueberries, frozen or fresh strawberries, unsweetened almond or cashew milk (homemade preferred), *date paste or honey , and cacao nibs. Add them to your blender and blend until smooth. Since fruits vary in taste depending on the season you may need to adjust proportions up or down.

Ingredients:
1 c. Spinach
4 large Strawberries
1/2 c. Blueberries
1 1/2 c. Unsweetened almond or cashew milk
2 Tbsp. Raw organic Cacao Nibs
1 Tbsp *Date paste (for Whole30) or Honey (for Paleo)
1 tsp Spirulina powder (optional)

*Date paste should be made ahead by adding an equal amount of hot water over your dried dates and mashing with a mortar and pestle or the back of a wooden spoon. Don't try to just blend or you'll end up with chunks. For an even smoother consistency you can use an immersion blender once the dates have softened.



I really loved this smoothie and it totally fixed my craving for all things chocolate on a day like today! I hope you enjoy it too!

Probiotic Gingerade

Today I thought I'd share one of my obsessions. I LOVE ginger! I used to not like it. but after a really great ginger beer I quickly changed my tune. Ginger is an adult flavor it's hot and spicy with a crazy complex flavor that is like nothing else. Even better is it is good for you! Seriously ginger touts some major health benefits. Ginger helps with digestion, nausea, pain, and inflammation. The last time I went snorkling in Oahu a couple ginger pills helped keep me from major sea sickness! This is why I personally believe ginger beer is the perfect boating drink, but that's just me. Anyway all these great benefits get enhanced when you brew ginger into a probiotic powerhouse! What!!! I had no idea until recently you could brew ginger like kefir or kombucha! It's really easy and simple it just takes a few days to get started.

All you need is a big knob of ginger root, lemon, organic cane sugar (it's for the bacteria not you DO NOT add honey as it has antibacterial properties!) and purified  filtered water (distilled is best). You start by making your ginger bug... how cute is that?! A ginger bug is where you get your good bacteria from. Make sure all of your equipment is sanitized just like you would canning. That means all jars, grater, juicer, spoons are freshly washed and dried!

To make your ginger bug it will take about 5-7 days of feeding the little bugger. Each day you will grate an inch of ginger root, add 2 Tbsp of water, and 1 Tbsp of Cane sugar and add it to your jar and swirl or stir it around to combine. Cover your jar with a coffee filter and put a rubber band around it. Your bug needs to breathe! After about a week your bug should be bubbling up and look like it's lightly carbonated. It should smell really gingery and to me smells slightly like weed (trust me I'm not the only one who said that). Keep it out of direct sunlight and away from anything else you're fermenting or you might get some contamination. Once you're at this point you can start making your brew.


To create your probiotic gingerade you will need to first make a syrup. Start with a saucepan take 2 cups of water and add 1/4 c. of  organic cane sugar, and an inch of grated ginger root. bring it to a boil and stir until the sugar is totally dissolved. Remove from heat and add the additional 2 cups of water which should cool it to about room temperature. Add the syrup water combination to a quart mason jar and add 1/4 c. of ginger bug and juice of one lemon. *Do not add your ginger bug until it has cooled or you'll kill the good bacteria. Leave the brew out on the counter with an air tight mason jar lid. Depending on how warm or cold the room is the brew may take longer or shorter to get to the carbonated point. Once it has gotten bubbly and lovely just put it in the fridge and drink at your pleasure!

Note: You will still have some of  your starter bug left afterwards so you can make another batch or you can keep feeding it for your next batch in a week or so. If you don't want to feed it everyday after you get it to the carbonated state you can keep it covered in the fridge and feed it once a week. 

Equipment:

• Saucepan
• 1 liter canning jar with lid and band
• Wooden spoon
• fine cheese grater
• Citrus juicer

Ingredients:

• 4 c. distilled or unchorinated water (divided)
• 1/4 c. cane sugar
• 1 in. grated ginger root (2 in if you like it spicy)
• Juice of one lemon
• 1/4 cup of ginger bug (directions above)

Directions:

1. Take saucepan and add 2 c. of your unchlorinated water, sugar, and ginger and bring to a boil while stirring constantly. Leave on heat until the sugar is dissolved and it smells really gingery.
2. Take off heat and add the additional 2 c. of water to bring it to about room temperature. If it doesn't cool enough wait until it is.
3. Pour syrup into mason jar and add the lemon juice and ginger bug.
4. Cover jar with the lid and leave on the counter for a few days until the gingerade is nice and bubbly. After its nice and carbonated you can put it in the refrigerator indefinitely. Drink at your leisure and enjoy!  

Welcome!!!

Me in Hawaii catching up on some yoga!

Welcome Y'all! This blog is my place to share my favorite things raw paleo and travel! In the last year I have traveled enough miles to go around the world once (a huge accomplishment in my book!) and have started re-vamping my life to be healthier. It all started with a friend prompting me to go to a yoga class with her. What started as a favor became an everyday affair. After the first class kicked my ass literally I was determined to get back to my once flexible fit self. I knew I had been thrown in the deep end after the first three classes had me doing a head stand, hand stand and many shaky poses. Being the competitive person that I am I started doing classes on YouTube everyday. Yoga with Adriene was an absolute life saver! I just finished her thirty day Yoga Camp series which helped me focus on emotional and physical well being. That wasn't enough though.

About half way through the Yoga Camp I decided I was going to start Whole30. In an attempt to get my body in order and make sure my diet wasn't holding me back. I also thought this was the perfect gift I could give myself as I would be finishing six days before my birthday. As I write this I am twenty-one days in and still going strong. The only thing I crave still is chocolate and to be completely honest I don't think that will ever go away! The one thing that has really surprised me is I haven't been counting the days until I could break my diet. Far from it actually. I have considered extending my Whole30 and incorporating it into a total lifestyle. I want this blog to show other people that this is more than just a restart diet it is about eating and living the best quality life you can!