The Clean Eating Results

At the beginning of January after we returned from our holiday travels, we started on a clean eating journey to help discover what might be some triggers for Josh's annoying heart burn and I was just also very curious to see how eating better would change the way we felt.

We officially ended our initial phase of eating better on Super Bowl Sunday and I'm eager to share what we have discovered. Now, I wasn't 110% die hard sticking to any particular plan. It was vaguely whole 30 and kinda paleo, but not completely. For instance, hummus. I think hummus is good for you. But it is not whole 30 or paleo compliant. Also on whole 30 you are not supposed to create a dessert "substitute" - even if it is only made of nutritious and healthy things. But you know what, life is too short to not have healthy dessert alternatives. So yeah. We weren't perfect, but we did really well for ourselves.

Here's what we discovered so far:

(1) Josh misses bread the most. I miss sugar the most. So we found our emotional eating triggers, lol!

(2) Josh's heart burn was significantly reduced. So far we think the culprits are sugar, chocolate, and sadly for josh (because he loves it) peppermint. We don't think that tomatoes are a huge problem for him, nor do we think dairy or gluten is overly horrible for his heartburn.

(3) My energy levels have been amazing eating cleaner. I used to drag through the mornings and want an afternoon pick me up. I really have good energy levels all through the day, but I'm always ready for bed time, lol. Josh didn't feel a difference in the mornings but he said he noticed the most difference in how he felt during the afternoons. He just didn't feel that after lunch lull that you can experience sometimes.

(4) I lost about 7 pounds and josh lost about 12 pounds. That's all sugar and carbs. We didn't do any additional exercise during this time (I'm still figuring out what is our best work out plan for 2017). That's pretty good for just change in diet over the course of 4 weeks.

(5) Our taste buds have pretty much re-adjusted. It doesn't take much salt or flavor to really pack a powerful punch. I think one of the most shocking snacks I fell in love with was raw almonds. They are absolutely delicious. I like them better than roasted and salted almonds!! It's amazing how good simple food can taste when you cut out all the excess stuff.

(6) I um...well...I pooped less. I know, TMI. But it makes sense. If one is eating more stuff that can be used and less excess crap, well then there will be less excess crap, ya know?!

It's our goal to continue to eat cleanly but have one cheat day we allow ourselves. We also won't go nuts if we go to dinner at someone's house and everything isn't paleo/whole 30 menu wise. It's about balance for us, not being sticklers. That being said, since the flu hit our home this past week we have not at all stuck to it. However, we have also not eaten much of anything other than chicken soup and saltines, lol. So we will hopefully jump back on the bandwagon this week, as our stomachs are finally back up to the task of eating.

I greatly encourage anyone to look into trying out a diet like this just to see how your body does with it. I was always super skeptical when people said they felt better when they ate whole based foods. I thought - well I don't feel bad, so why even bother? And yes, I didn't feel bad - I didn't suffer from any ailments from the food I was eating, but I also didn't realize that I could feel even BETTER! And with two little people full of energy constantly needing to be attended to, I need every ounce of energy I can get!

The Best Chili I Have Ever Made

So we are on this healthy and clean eating journey. And I am always looking for recipes that comply. I was in a chili mood so I went on the hunt for a good chili that used sweet potatoes.

I found one from this site but I didn't have all the ingredients or I didn't want to use what she was listing. So here's the site that I made my recipe modifications from:

http://www.cottercrunch.com/crock-pot-sweet-potato-chipotle-chili-paleo/

Now here's what I did with that recipe...

Sweet Potato Chili
1 lb lean ground beef (I used 90/10)
2 medium sized sweet potatoes
1 medium sized onion
2 cups chicken broth (organic)
1 tbsp olive oil
1 can of diced fire roasted tomatoes
1 large handful of fresh spinach (that's how much I had left, you could add more or omit if you want)
1 tsp minced garlic
1-2 tsp of chili powder (depends on the spice level you want, I did 2)
1/2 tsp of smoked paprika
1/4 tsp of black pepper
1/4 tsp of cayenne pepper
Salt to taste

I did not make mine in the crockpot though I am sure you could. I just did it all in the pot and it was all done in about 30-45 minutes.

Brown the ground meat on medium heat and cut the sweet potatoes into small chunks. Place the sweet potatoes in a large microwave safe bowl with a little bit of water and microwave for 90 seconds. After the meat has browned you can drain off the fat or leave it depending on how much you have in there (mine was minimal so I left it). Combine the rest of the ingredients into the pot and bring the chili to a boil. After it has been brough to a boil lower it to simmer for 30 minutes or until sweet potatoes are nice and soft and flavors have had time to get all tasty in there together.

This was JUST the right amount of spicy for us and so incredibly delicious. I have tried several home made chili recipes, always looking for the perfect one. DONE. SOLD. DROPPING THE MIC.

Normally I have to load up my chili with shredded cheese and lots of corn chips to make it magical. This one was absolutely perfect plain. We both had small second portions and were full and super satisfied. Josh said I was allowed to make it every day, lol. And that is saying something because he is not in love with our current dietary changes!! I say healthy eating isn't as horrible as it sounds or looks sometimes!!

Eatin' Good in the Neighborhood!

So once we got home from our Christmas travels in Kentucky, the Watkins started a dietary journey. Josh has had some heartburn issues...nothing like he has to take prescriptions or anything, but it is bothersome to me how often it is an issue.

I do believe that diet can be used to help our bodies, so I did a little research on what diets are helpful for those that have heartburn. I saw plenty of the typical foods to avoid, but I knew we needed to try something better than that. I found several accounts of people going paleo/whole 30/gluten free, all with good effects for heartburn issues.

Now let me just say, we love our carbs. We do ok on trying to keep our meals balanced and not horrible for you, but we don't normally eliminate anything in particular from our eating habits. Our biggest downfall by far is sugar. That being said, I decided to start us on a paleo/whole 30 type deal, but please know, I'm not following anything super duper strict. Nor have I read any in depth literature about it. But we are avoiding processed sugar, grains, dairy, and gluten. In terms of sugar intake, we use some raw honey or 100% pure maple syrup here and there, but try to avoid it everywhere else.

Guess what. That's hard. Do you know how much sugar is on things that it doesn't need to be on?! I found it in a spice blend which was called "Garlic and herb grill spices"...number one ingredient? Sugar. SERIOUSLY?! Should have been labeled "Sugar spice blend for your chicken."

Anywho, we started on Wednesday January 4. By the time I actually post this we will have completed 1 week.

Here's what I've found:

(1) I have SO MUCH MORE ENERGY!!!!!!!  I can't say that I felt bad before. Lots of people say that. I wasn't plagued by anything necessarily. But I noticed very quickly how much more energy I had. And we cut our caffeine intake in half (we have young kids, we will not torture ourselves with zero caffeine.)

(2) I have been full longer inbetween meals. I still snack, don't get me wrong. But they are better snacks, and I don't feel bad about it.

(3) Almond milk in tea or coffee is pretty tasty. I even made some Paleo hot cocoa with water and some almond milk and it was really nice.

(4) Food tastes better. I was marvelling at the amazing taste of plain celery tonight. And earlier today I couldn't believe how sweet my carrots tasted, plain! A honeycrisp apple was so sweet it tasted like candy.

(5) I still need dessert. But dessert doesn't have to be key lime pie or cheesecake. It can be paleo fudge or skillet bananas. But life is too short not to give yourself a healthier option of dessert. I have adjusted to these "desserts" and am satisfied. Josh is not convinced, although he is kind of liking the paleo fudge.

(6) Josh's heartburn has already decreased in a week's time. It is not totally gone, but it is better. We have to give it more than a week to see how it goes though obviously.

(7) In one week's time I am down about 3 pounds. Josh is down about 4-5 pounds. Weight loss is not our goal necessarily. Josh is glad to lose some, but I was already pretty much at my body's happy weight. I just want to be healthier and I think it is helpful to see how cutting down on sugar and over processed carbs can affect your weight. It's just a nice experiment to see.

(8) Eating well is expensive!!! I hate that about being healthy. Really wish we could all get our act together so food that is good for you doesn't cost so much more. However, we don't have lots of easy options for eating out, so our "Restaurant" budget will go towards whatever extra we need for groceries during this experiment month.

We are going to try and maintain the eating plan through the end of January. Maybe even round it off for a full 30 days and wait until Feburary 5. After that we will see if we try a couple food groups which I still believe are fairly healthy (for example, brown rice...or using small amounts of cheese) but checking to see how they affect Josh's heartburn levels. Then we can pinpoint what might be some specific triggers.

Wish us luck!!