Monday Motivational 3/31/14

Here's this weeks quote!

Have a wonderful week!

Day 21!

Well here it is day 21 of my Grain free 21 day challenge! I survived! I'll admit the first couple of days I had dancing cookies in my head. But again I survived!

Tomorrow I'm planning on adding some grains back to my diet. Going to start with oatmeal. I have a wonderful recipe for oatmeal cookies using oat flour. They are yummy!

In the last 9 days my husband was off work. We tried all kinds of new ways to eat without grains. My husband is an excellent cook so he really helped come up with ideas. In fact he has  been absolutely fabulous in helping me change our recipes to become "Megan friendly."

We had grain free leek rings. We used coconut and potato flour. Yup I tried coconut flour again.

French onion soup, used tapioca flour.

Chocolate lava cake, again used coconut flour.

Spaghetti with spaghetti squash and sheppards pie using tapioca flour in the gravy.

I'll post recipes later.

I do feel better physically! I'm really glad I did it and stuck it out the 21 days. Now my focus is to see what I can add back into my diet without pain and run!

Meet Lucy

Lucy is my treadmill. She and I are going to be BFF's over the next several months.

It's no secret my running hasn't been the greatest, but after this latest issue with my body I have zero speed and not much endurance. It's very frustrating to say the least, so far this month I've run 30 miles. March 2nd I ran a 10 mile race, so 20 miles for the rest of the month. Very very low. 

Enter my treadmill Lucy. Yes I named it. I figured if I'm going to be running on it ALL the time, I figured we better be on first name basis. Don't get me wrong,  I love running outside, but I can control my speed better on the treadmill. Unless I'm constantly looking at my Garmin I'm not very good at speed control.

When I really got back into running in 2011,  I ran outside. In the summer of 2012,  I refused to run in the humidity, so we bought a treadmill. I did almost all my training for my second half marathon on the treadmill and I PR'd! I also just a few weeks prior to the half I PR'd in a 5k.

Since November 2012, I have not PR'd. I've come close a few times but never got faster. I have 1 two miler and 8 5k's planned over the next 220 days. My next big race is a half marathon in 221 days. In the next 221 days I need to get my speed and endurance back. I WILL PR this year. My 5k time will be under 27:55 and my half marathon time will be under 2:14.

It's tough starting over. I forgot how hard it is. I keep telling myself that a 10:34 minute mile is better than no miles. I did run a 9:45 mile, BUT it just about killed me. I did however do it after I ran 3 miles. 

Monday Motivational Quotes

Going to try something new here on my blog. I'm going to post a motivational quote every Monday. Somedays I need motivation. Oh who are we kidding everyday I need motivation to workout. 

Have a wonderful week!

Day 11 Grain Free!

So here it is day 11! I've made it half way! I've never felt better. I have ZERO pain! AND I'm pretty sure what I thought was environmental allergies was really food problems. I am no longer taking 7 allergy pills a day. Yes somedays it was 7. Minimum per day was 3. I am now taking 1 allergy pill a day.

I thought it would be difficult to adjust to not eating grains. But so far as long as I have snacks and planned meals it's easy. Since the Paleo diet is very popular I've found great recipes on Pinterest.

For breakfast I have eggs, tomatoes and fruit. I've been putting cilantro in my scrambled eggs and it's AMAZING!!

One other change I've made to my diet is cutting out processed foods. I used an avocado as mayo in my chicken wraps one day. It was yummy!

We bought a food dehydrator earlier this week! So far I've made beef jerky, apples and pineapple. Apple chips have become my new favorite snack!!

In the last 11 days I've tried many new things. Some have been wonderful, some not so much. I tried making cauliflower pizza crust. Not the best thing I've ever made. Still working on the recipe to make it better.

Also I've been trying to get back into running. I've run twice in 11 days and boy do I miss it. Both times were only 3 miles. I went slow and didn't try to over do it. I'm trying to get ready for a 10k Saturday!

Thank You RECOVERYbits

I'm so glad I discovered RECOVERYbits & ENERGYbits. WHY? Well, when I eat certain foods it causes inflammation in my joints. Pain so bad that I have fallen over while trying to walk. I have laid in bed crying because the pain was so bad and I couldn't move. Taking over the counter pain pills only dulls the pain. The only thing I have ever found that completely took the pain away was tequila. Lot and lots of tequila. Ok who doesn't want to HAVE to drink a margarita. Oh and did I mention the pain lasts usually 4 days.

So rewind to a week ago. I had joint pain. It wasn't too bad on Monday. When I had to drive to the airport to pick up my husband, I used my heated seats to help. Tuesday I started taking RECOVERYbits by the handful at least twice a day. The pain was there but it was tolerable. I took handfuls for six days. Of course I'm still taking my RECOVERYbits, just not two handfuls a day.

I'm not a doctor or an expert, but I really think that because I was taking the RECOVERYbits everyday prior to my flare up it was the reason I didn't wake up one morning in crippling pain. Taking handfuls of bits, in my opinion, is WAY better than me taking lots over the counter pain meds. And as much fun as it is drinking all the margaritas, RECOVERYbits again are way better for me.

If you haven't tried RECOVERYbits or ENERGYbits you really should! And when you order your bits use my code 'MEGAN' and save 30%.

Yes I am a brand ambassador for ENERGYbits, but everything I say is my opinion. I am NOT paid to write this AND yes this really happened to me. 

Day 5 of the Grain Free Challenge

Well here we are day 5 of the grain free challenge. I was hoping I'd feel a little better but had a couple of set backs.

On day 1 I made blueberry muffins with coconut flour. Looking at the ingredients I should have been able to eat them. I guess my body doesn't like coconut flour. I ate one and didn't feel great BUT they were so good that I figured maybe I'll eat one more. Maybe not the best idea. But I was determined that it wasn't the coconut flour. I had another one the next day. Ok after the way I felt I should have stayed away.

Day 3 no muffins, felt great!

Day 4 feeling much better. I even went for a 3 mile run! After my run I was laying by the pool and thought of those muffins. OH NO... Yup I ate another one.

Day 5 which is today. Feeling tired and sore. I've already taken a handful RECOVERYbits.

I found the recipe on Pinterest. Here's the link to the recipe.

Grain Free "Rice" & Beans

My first grain free meal! We had planned on having tacos for dinner, but since I gave up grains I had to rethink how I was going to eat.

Here's how I made grain free "rice" & beans.

I started out by spiralizing two potatoes.

Then chopped them up into small pieces.

Chopped up some onions.

I sprinkled some sea salt and baked for 12 mins in an oven set at 350. After 6 minutes I flipped the potatoes and onions. After they were baked I added the beans.

Finished product! I'm thinking next time about adding more spices and maybe even some cilantro.

Here's a look at my grain free tacos. It's just romaine lettuce leaves, taco meat, "rice" & beans, salsa and cheese.

Update on the 21 day challenge

Yesterday I wrote about how I was going to cut wheat from my diet for the next 21 days. And I wrote about how I tried to make brown rice tortillas. After I made the tortillas I ate one and started getting dizzy and started having all those bad feelings that go along with my food intolerances. OH NO..... Back to Dr. Google. I googled all about grain intolerances and realized I had symptoms. SO..........

The Wheat Challenge is changing to the grain free 21 day challenge.

I'm very lucky that the Paleo Diet is very popular right now. I have an abundance of food options! I guess my new favorite food is going to be coconut. I'll be eating coconut flour, coconut butter and coconut oil.

I'm really torn because I want to feel better, BUT I don't want to give up all grains. 

Brown Rice Tortillas

Brown Rice Tortilla

(More like what not to do)

Earlier today I wrote about how I was going to go wheat free for 21 days. I really wanted to try to make tortillas. For the last couple of months I have been making my tortillas from scratch. But of course they contain wheat. After some googling I found a recipe from Bob's Red Mill. Since I was using that brand of flour I figure why not try it.

I measured out the flour and water and started stirring. 

After it was combined it looked like this.

It was very wet and didn't feel like wheat tortillas, probably cause the texture of the flours are so different. After trying to divide it up and rolling it out it crumbled. 

I knew that the tortillas should have some fat in the recipe so I decided to add butter. I melted it be cause I had already had the dough made.

I think adding the butter was a bad idea.

Luckily I had Tapioca Flour, so I added a 1/3 cup.

The dough got much better! Felt more like pie crust.

I divided it up into equal parts. Used my tortilla press to flatten them.

They looked and felt more like a tostada shell. Next up to cook them. I had no idea how long to cook or what they should like. 

I'm really thinking that they shouldn't look like the photo above.

My husband suggested after using the tortilla press to roll it out with a rolling pin. Well it doesn't look pretty but it was better.

They don't taste the best or look the best but I have a start. Next time I think I'll make it more like a pie crust. I've even thought about adding avocado instead of butter.

Anyone have any suggestions?

21 day challenge "The Wheat Free Life For Me"

Today marks day 1 of the challenge I made for myself. Lately (the last few months) I have been having more bad days than good. Meaning I have been sick a lot. Not like a cold or flu sick, but not feeling like myself days.

Three days ago I was feeling just fine when I woke up, but as the day went on I went downhill. My entire body started hurting just like when I eat the wrong foods. Enter me wanting to scream from the top of my lungs ARE YOU KIDDING ME NOT ANOTHER FOOD ISSUE.

As of today March 5, 2014 I am giving up wheat for 21 days. It's just a challenge I set up for myself. No prizes at the end of this 21 days, just hoping to feel better. And if it's not wheat that's making me feel bad then it's back to the bland diet and we start all this over again.

I'll be posting how it's going and any new recipes I try. Today I'm going to attempt to make brown rice flour tortillas. I've tried this before and failed. So if I fail or it's successful I'll post about it.

Anyone want to join me? There's no prize but hey we can try to make it fun!

Do you have any wheat free, corn free, nut free, sesame free, sunflower free recipes?

Excalibur 10 Miler

March 2nd I ran the inaugural Excalibur 10 miler. As soon as The Running Zone announced this race I knew I had to do it! Anymore I've been getting really picky on the races I run, and if I'm running in Brevard County I only run with The Running Zone. They are the best race management company! No they did not pay me to say that!!!

At the start line we were divided into 2 "teams." When you registered you picked a color, blue or maroon. Both "teams" were lined up facing each other. After we watched a sword fight, the national anthem was sung, then we "charged" at each other. Right before we met, we turned and ran for the start mat. I have to say it was my most memorable start so far. 

The one thing I wished I'd done before this race was train better. My running in the last few months hasn't been going well. I did do the Princess 1/2 the week before, but that was for fun. 

The first two miles I ran with a friend. I had so much fun, wished I could have kept up with her for the entire race. After mile two I started my run/walk/run Jeff Galloway method. My goal was just to finish. If it was under 1:50 that would have been better! 

Considering I didn't really train for this race, I thought I did pretty well. Not disappointed with my time at all.

We didn't get regular race medals, we got crowns! Ok that may have been the entire reason I did it. Who doesn't LOVE a crown!!!

Later that afternoon I went to the Kennedy Space Center. And of course I had to bring my crown.

Did you run the Excalibur 10 miler?