Squeaky Clean January, Day 2

There's just  something about a New Year!  Makes me feel like anything is possible.  Makes me think back and feel disappointed about the things I missed in the past year.  Deepens my resolve to not make the same mistakes in the coming 12 months.

I have never been a big New Year's Resolution-er.  I mean, I think about them.  I love to hear what others have resolved to accomplish or give up or improve in their New Years, but it just isn't a part of my past.  It wasn't something my family ever did or even really discussed. 

I toy with ideas and even make it a few months - but since it was never an "official" New Year's resolution - it usually just fades away.......  I don't even notice it's happening.

But this year...Not sure why!...This year feels like a year that might benefit from an official New Year's resolution.  And I think it's got to be about experiencing more things.

Last year I did such a good job of trying a restaurant that I'd heard about and visiting a place I had seen on Facebook or Instagram and watching a movie outside my comfort zone (think old 1940's musicals and romantic comedies) and then there was the Mother Daughter Meandering Vacation this summer where we saw the World's Largest Golf Tee and went into the World's largest Mailbox and braved the St. Louis Arch in a thunderstorm and went in search (successfully) for an eagle's nest and found murals and ate new foods and lived by a less-strict schedule.

So this year, I think I am going to try new things...no, make that TRY NEW THINGS!  Without too much thought - just TRY NEW THINGS!  Stop at new shops, meet new people, go new places, try new restaurants, take a new way to wherever I'm going, start a project I've always wanted to tackle.  TRY NEW THINGS.

My mind has gone there, because I am eating a kumquat.  Several kumquats.  The kids and I hit HEB yesterday while we were in Granbury and bought fruits and veggies and organic grainy mustards and sugar-free pickles and LaCroix (and not the Peach Pear that I always buy - but a couple of NEW flavors) and some grass-fed beef for a NEW recipe in preparation for Peanuts joining the rest of us in a Squeaky Clean 30 days of eating (a Whole30, if you will).

I haven't had a kumquat since I was a little girl.  I remember them as being sweeter, but I also remember my fascination with  eating them - skin and all.  You'll be glad to know - it's still pretty cool!

Anyway, there you have it - my official announcement of my 2018 New Year's  Resolution!  TRY NEW THINGS!

My other resolution is to do this 30 days of squeaky clean eating just like the very first Whole30 my family ever lived through.  We were perfection.  At least, I was!  I think everyone else was...except for Murph - I know he slipped on a couple of occasions because the guilt was just too much for him!  But it was life changing for me.  I began to feel 10 years younger.  I looked better.  I was finally able to play physically again - running and climbing and walking and swimming and hiking and yoga-ing.  I have stayed pretty true to a Paleo lifestyle.  My cancer was a big inspiration and motivation for that!  When you are eating to extend your life - it's easier!  But lately I have gotten lazy.  Gotten entitled - to what?  Good grief - I have been a big ole baby - I "deserve" this donut/cupcake/cookie/pizza slice/chip...ugh.  I deserve to feel great!  I deserve to honor my health!  I deserve to be in control of what goes in my body!  You are what you eat, right?

So, for the past 3 days I have been meal prepping.  I made chicken salad (a necessity for my husband and me during these 30 days), white chicken chili (perfect comfort food when it's cold outside), grilled, spicy chopped chicken (for salads or lettuce wraps or to top baked sweet potatoes), burgers, mayo, dump ranch dressing, lemon dill sauce (also works as a salad dressing, but is my favorite to drizzle over roasted sweet potato bites), chopped salad mix, roasting up veggies, baking sweet and russet potatoes and making a big frittata.  Later today - I am sauteeing up onions and mushrooms and making some homemade breakfast sausage. 

And then it hit me - Peanut goes back to school tomorrow and  I have to pack Whole30 compliant lunches and have snacks at the ready for everyone (because the first week of any super clean eating is plagued by hunger attacks as all the stuff that 'fake-fills' you up works its way out of your system....leaving your tummy rumbling!).  So, today I am snack prepping.  Strawberries (be sure and place a paper towel in the bottom of the container so your strawberries stay fresh longer), carrots,  celery, organic, nitrate-free hot dogs, portioned baked plantain chips, grapes, salsa (because it goes on EVERYTHING!), zucchini hummus and sliced peppers (not pictured, because I haven't gotten that far yet!). 

I hate to start something and not finish and when I am tired and kind of thumb-sucking because I "can't have" something that everyone else in the world is having...temptation can be powerful and tempt me right into failure.  So I meal and snack prep.  I can put together some pretty fabulous meals in no time as long as I keep healthy, clean, tasty food in my pantry and my fridge.

I was telling the kids this morning...the thing about squeaky clean eating (and even Paleo) that  I adore - not having to portion control or count calories.  I eat when I am hungry and I eat until I am full.  And I still lose fat, gain energy and feel fabulous.  BUT - it only works that way when you don't cheat.  When you stay on plan and cut out sugar (refined AND low-glycemic), artificial sweeteners, dairy, gluten, grains, lugumes (including peanuts), soy and processed, chemical-laden foods - you get to eat when you are hungry. You get to have healthy fats, lean proteins, all the veggies and a good amount of fresh fruits.  It's not a diet - it's a lifestyle change.  A lifestyle choice.  There is incredible science behind it - which I did read about when I was starting down this path and still refer to when I need a refresher. 

So, tomorrow - the entire family will be Whole30-ing through the month of January.  I feel better already after just a day and a half!  I hope  to be over-the-moon healthy by the end of the month! 

New Year, New Blog

It's that kind of morning...the kind that's quiet and doesn't have a "to-do" list.  The twinkle lights are lighting the rooms, the coffee is hot, Daisy, my rescue buddy, is warm and by my side and I am thinking of the new year.

What do I want to do professionally?
How can I get back to the peace I found near the end of chemo?
How can I make the world a better place to live?
Who do I want to draw closer in 2018?
What are my priorities?
What will I learn this year?
How can I make more time for reading!?
Will I ever remodel the master bath?
And what kinds of things will I cook!?

It all comes back to food!  I have strayed tremendously this holiday season.  And I am feeling it.  I have moved back to 90% Paleo - I still know myself well enough to not even try and avoid a home-baked cookie or treat!  But I am no longer buying any "crap" for my family and we are eating our fruits and veggies again.

We have committed to a January Whole30.  The hubs, the boy and I will be starting on January 2 and Peanut will begin on the 4th.  She has a 'thing' that would just make her resent the experience, so she will start when school is back in session.  Lucky for her, she is so active with dance and just being a teen that she sees and feels the effects almost immediately.

And I have talked to so many people who want more info about clean eating, and Paleo, and modifying recipes and shopping for healthy, real food - so I'm giving a blog another shot.  And let me apologize right up front!  I have learned that I cannot support and maintain and pay attention to two separate website, blogs, emails, etc.  So, I'm putting it all here.  I promise (from now on) only to share Paleo and clean eating info, tips, recipes, etc on my Wildflower Kitchen site - then if you want to read about anything else that I felt was blog- or photo-worthy - it will be up to you.

But I find it healthy and wonderful to journal and I find the process to be more positive and more thorough when I am sharing with others...and although I don't expect this to attract a million followers, I am always aware that others can see and read what I write.

I am also aware that I am the most average woman of a certain age (56) and I adore food and cooking and eating and experimenting and therefore will probably never be the super-fit, super-lean person that gets featured in Paleo Magazine.  BUT, I am a Paleo success story.  Yes, I have lost 80+ pounds and I look so much better than I did 3 years ago, but I also sleep like a baby, I have minimized joint pain (it actually nearly disappears as long as I stay strict to my Paleo diet), I no longer have headaches or migraines, I finally have a healthy relationship with food, I am no longer addicted to sodas and sugar, I have eliminated bloat (hallelujah!), I have energy to spare, I am okay with having my picture taken with my family, I can shop in the "regular size" departments, my skin is brighter and clearer, my hair (after 16 weeks of chemo) is coming in strong and curly and I know it shouldn't matter, but it does!!!  So many benefits and the only "trade-off" is not eating foods that I can't digest and once I gave up for a few months, I don't really miss.... easy for me to say, right?!

I know so well how difficult it is to sacrifice - even if the sacrifice is good for you.  Our diets and the foods that we are fed, given, served and offered at every turn are designed to make you addicted to them in many instances.  The people who manufacture them are very wise, are well-funded, have one common goal - to sell more of their products.  And the doctors who should be telling us about the true impact of certain foods - well, they are more comfortable with prescribing medications and touting new drugs and treatments instead of giving more natural, foundational treatments a try first.

(here is where I tell you I am not a doctor, have absolutely no formal training in diet, nutrition, medicine or really anything that makes me an expert!...heck, I'm not even a trained chef!  I am just a mom of  children I  want to live their healthiest life, the daughter and granddaughter of strong women destroyed by Alzheimer's, a breast cancer warrior - just one year out of treatment, and a proud citizen of this planet with hopes for less chemicals, less destruction, more nature and more community coming together)

So, this is the beginning of my 2018 - a few days early - as I prepare to get back to Paleo, get back to preparing healthy, real food meals for people who want a convenient Paleo option, get back to recipe testing and sharing and get back to joy and peace and health in the New Year.

Feel free to join me - you can like my Wildflower Kitchen Facebook page for menus, recipes and links  to blog posts that have to do with Paleo eating or shopping and some links to the super-experts articles that we all might need to read.

You can follow this blog as well if you'd like to just keep up with what's going on in this very average woman's/mom's/daughter's/wife's/volunteer's/creator's/painter's/rescue dog mom/DFWer's/Earthling's life!  (I promise to add pics in the future, but my phone is charging across the room and my dog is situated just perfectly on my lap and I don't have the heart or inclination to move her - perfection is rare and I choose (in the spirit of my New Year) not to disrupt it, but to embrace it!)

Happy Healthy Early New Year everyone!