Reboot Day 5

Starting Weight: 150       Current Weight: 145
Starting Waist: 33"          Current Waist: 32"
Starting Hips: 42.5"         Current Hips: 42"

Yup! That's right folks! 5 days in, 5 lbs. down. I haven't weighed under 148lbs. in quite a loooooong time so you can imagine my excitement at being 145! *does a happy dance* Headache came back a little last night a few hours before I went to bed, but gone this morning, so yay for that. :).  Was pretty tired this morning when I got up for church, but 1/3 through my morning blend and I'm feeling good now. As much as I love my coffee, I think I may have to give it up in favor of juice drinks. Before I started this, I was drinking a juice of 4 carrots and an apple every morning and that seemed to wake me up WAY better than coffee ever did. Imagine that, fruit and veggie juice gives me more wake up than roasted beans run through with water and (admittedly) loaded with flavored creamer and 2 tbsp. of sugar.  Yea, I'll admit it.  I'm a sugar fiend.

So 5 days in and honestly I'm not missing meat that much.  I mean yea, a slice of pizza or a burger sounds good every once in awhile, but honestly overall, I'm doing good. Chocolate can still be a bit of a weakness if presented the right way, but again, resisting the urge to eat anything not on the diet is getting easier each day. Cravings are momentarily fleeting.  Last night and went to my room and there was a candy cane sitting on a desk.  For a split second I almost reached for it, but then remembered I couldn't have it so I just shrugged it off and continued walking.

One thing I've noticed while doing this is how often I reach for snacks or food when I'm not hungry at all.  I reach for it because it tastes good and I'm there.  That could just possibly be an contributor to my weight.  You know, maybe. *snort* I've also noticed how much processed foods I feed my kids which makes me cringe insanely. The good thing is though that they're still young so I can still influence the way they eat now, before they get too old and set in their ways. :) I plan on bringing way more fresh fruits and veggies into this house as my time through this goes on, and serving them as sides for dinner, and juicing for snacks. Thank goodness also that my kids all seem to really love the juices.
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Breakfast at 9am
Great Green Fruit Blend
2 cups Beet Greens, Red Swiss Chard, Kale, Spinach or a combination, roughly chopped and packed into the measuring cup
1 Banana
1 Golden Delicious Apple
1/2 Comice Pear
10 Strawberries, green tops cut off
1 cup Coconut Water

Make sure to set the blender on the liquefy setting for this recipe.

Calories: 337 kcal
Protein: 9 g
Fiber: 18 g

I was a little apprehensive of this one because of the greens in there, but I have to admit, it was really yummy! Aside from the pulpy nature of it because it was blended instead of juiced, I rather enjoyed it quite a bit and there was barely a hint of green flavor, despite the color of it overall. Even better, my memory worked enough for me to put all the stuff in the fridge the night before! Which made it that much more like drinking a fresh smoothy, and less like drinking a fresh smoothy that was made 5 hours prior and left on the counter.  


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Mid-Morning Juice at never
Refreshing Fennel-Pear
2 Comice Pears
2 medium Fennel Bulbs

Calories: 306 kcal
Protein: 7 g
Fiber: 3 g

I somehow miscalculated the amount of pears I needed at the grocery store and completely ran out.  That plus I never did find the fennal at the store either made it just slightly difficult to make this juice.  I'm sure it was lovely though.  Maybe?
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Lunch at 12pm
Baked Zucchini with Tomatoes and Herbs (from Day 4)

Per Serving:
Calories: 153
Protein: 1.5 g
Fiber: 1.5 g

Reboot Green Salad
Customize it! Your choice of dark greens – at least 2 cups and veggies to top it. Choose at least 1 red, 1 orange, 1 green and 1 white veggie to top your greens. Dress with Mustard Vinaigrette.

Mustard Vinaigrette
1/3 cup Apple Cider Vinegar
1 1/2 Tbsp. Grain mustard
2/3 cups Cold Pressed Olive Oil
Sea Salt & fresh ground Pepper to taste
Puree the vinegar and mustard in a blender. With the blender running, slowly pour in the olive oil. Season to taste with the salt and pepper. Keeps up to 1 week in the refrigerator.
For Honey Mustard Vinaigrette – Add 3/4 Tbsp. Raw Honey
Makes 8-9 servings

Salad and 2 Tbsp. Mustard Dressing:
Calories: 278 kcal
Protein: 3.5 g
Fiber: 9 g

Ok! So, tip for downsizing your meals?  Don't downsize the ones that say "Save some for tomorrow." Of course the first meal I remember to downsize, I shouldn't have as I was supposed to have some of it the following day. Not a problem as you can just make up another batch and it's FRESH! Except I sorta ran out of zucchini and tomatoes last night. At least I had vegetable soup left from a few days ago so I just made myself a big 'ol salad and ate soup with it instead.  I rather would have liked the zucchini more, but in a pinch, whatever works. 

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Afternoon Snack
Crunch & Munch
2 large Carrots
4 stalks Celery
1/4 large Cucumber
1/2 cup Broccoli florets
1/2 cup Cauliflower florets

Cut carrots, celery, cucumber up into stalks
Dip veggies in Honey Mustard Vinaigrette
Veggies + 2 Tbsp Dip:

Calories: 308 kcal
Protein: 4.5 g
Fiber: 9 g

We're heading out to Jungle Jims in a few to restock for the next 5 days. WOOT! Jungle Jims!! *picture hearts floating overhead* I'll be utterly psyched when the one right up the road opens, but it'll never be the original one.  It shall suffice though. *happy dances* So I figured I'd better have a snack before going.  Veggies are always good. I was out of cucumbers too. Really need that restock.
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 Dinner at 8pm
Garam Masala Spiced Collard Greens
2 bunches Collard Greens, ribs removed and chopped (about 2 lbs.)
1 1/2 tsp. Garam Masala
1 tsp. Turmeric
4 Tbsp. Grape Seed Oil or Olive Oil
2 Tbsp. Mustard Seed Oil
1 tsp. Sea Salt or Himalayan Salt
6 Tbsp. fresh Cilantro, chopped

Heat a large saucepan or Dutch oven over medium high heat. Add the garam masala and turmeric and heat until fragrant, about 2 minutes, stirring to make sure that the spices do not burn.
Add both oils to the pan, stirring to make sure that the spices and oils completely mix. Add the collard greens and salt and toss to coat in the oil. Cover the pan and cook until the greens are wilted, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and mix in the chopped cilantro.
A store bought spice blend, or use the recipe below to make your own:

Garam Masala:
1 tsp. whole Cloves
2 Tbsp. Black Peppercorns
1 small stick Cinnamon
Grind all ingredients in a spice grinder or mortar and pestle.
Makes 4 servings

Per serving:
Calories: 275 kcal
Protein: 7.5 g
Fiber: 10.5 g

Sweet Potato and Bok Choy Soup
3 Tbsp. Olive Oil
1 medium Onion, diced
2 Leeks, white part only, roughly chopped
2 cloves Garlic, minced
Pinch Red Pepper Flakes
2 medium Carrots, sliced into 1/4-inch thick rounds
2 Celery Stalks, diced
1 large sweet potato, peeled and roughly chopped
2 sprigs Thyme
2 sprigs Parsley
1 tsp. Salt
4 cups water
1 large Bok Choy or 3 Baby Bok Choy, cleaned and torn in pieces
1/2 tsp. fresh ground Pepper

Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion, leeks, garlic and red pepper flakes and sauté until the vegetables soften, about 3 minutes.
Add the carrots, celery, sweet potato, thyme, parsley and salt and sauté 3 minutes. Add the water and increase the heat to high. Bring the mixture to a boil, then return to a simmer and cook until the vegetables soften, about 30 minutes. Stir in the bok choy and cook for another 5 minutes. Stir in the pepper and any additional salt if necessary. Remove the thyme and parsley sprigs and serve.
Makes 4 servings

Per serving:
Calories: 215 kcal
Protein: 5.5 g
Fiber: 6 g

Ok.  Totally didn't make it to Jungle Jims. *wistful sigh* Hubby's not feeling so hot today, and also realized that my monthly produce co-op was doing a pick up on Tuesday and I thought it best to see what I get from that before restocking.  Instead I ran to the local store and snagged what I would need for Monday and Tuesday till afternoon. Hoping to get to Jungle Jims THEN to get whatever else I need. So for dinner tonight, I made a self rising crust frozen pizza that came with cookies for the fam, and tossed in some garlic bread with it.

I could have had this...

That looks so tasty.  So...horribly tasty.  I was inches away from grabbing some garlic bread.  BUT I RESISTED! Because I weighed myself today.  It was insanely hard to do so though. I just kept reminding myself though that I was down 5lbs. in 5 days BECAUSE I've been resisting.  Instead I had this:

I really can't complain too much. (...why did my font change? Ugh.) There? There. Fixed.  This is why I don't blog often. Darn technology.  As I was saying, I can't complain too much.  It really wasn't bad. It definitely wasn't pizza and....what..again?! *tweaks again* *AHEM!* It definitely wasn't pizza and lovely garlic bread and wonderful cookies...but it wasn't beet juice at least.  

The soup was actually really good. I would have never thought to put sweet potatoes in soup with bok choy and carrots, but I'm glad someone did.  This is something I could see myself making for the fam for lunch some cold winter day.  The greens were different.  For starters, I bought mustard greens on accident, but after googling, I saw a number of people say they preferred mustard greens, so I went ahead with it. I don't know what they taste like on their own?  But these came out super salty.  I halved the recipe, which means I only had 1 bunch of greens in there, and 1/2 tsp of salt, so I don't know if I overdid it, or if the greens themselves are naturally more salty than collard and hence, I should have lightened up on it.  As it was, I ate a bit, and taste-wise it wasn't horrible or anything, but I felt I had to have water close by since I suspected at any moment my mouth would go from normal mouth, to hundred year old desert. Dinner consisted mostly of soup.

I think I just pushed the greens around a bit to make myself THINK I ate more.

What I would really love right now is to follow this up with a cookie. I really want a cookie.


*chants*
5 pounds.
5 pounds.
5 pounds.
5 pounds....