Whole 30 Challenge Results

Here's 30 days of cleaning eating by the numbers:

• Weight: dropped 9.6 pounds
• Inches: dropped .35 inches around my arms, .62 inches around my waist, and .75 inches around my hips
• Exercising: exercised for over 1,000 minutes
• Points: came in 3rd place overall, but my team won!

These numbers only tell one part of the story. As I proclaimed early on, I feel really great after every meal. Gone is the bring-on-nap-time, sluggish and kind of sad feeling I had after really indulgent meals. These were usually ones that contained a lot of grains. Now I feel energized after eating; that makes a lot more sense.

I also feel much more informed, but that's isn't something I can measure. I wrote throughout the challenge that there are some parts of paleo that are not for me. And that's okay. The major lesson learned over the past month is to make the better choice and eat real food. I'll probably never choose bread, but I will choose beans. I'll rarely choose white potatoes, but I will drink wine. I predict dark chocolate will satiate my sweet tooth in a way that only milk chocolate had in the past.

You've probably gathered that I really love my work and the people I do it with. Aside from being intelligent and talented, there's a spirit of constant improvement there that bleeds to all parts of our lives. I'm really grateful that folks at my school started this challenge and that we supported one another while doing.

To a lifetime of better choices!

Shrimp and Broccoli Recipe - Whole 30 Challenge - Day 29

It's hard to believe tomorrow is the last day of this challenge. I'm looking forward to getting my physical results--inches and pounds lost--but the health results are already known to me. I feel really great and I've already learned the lesson for me: eat real food and always make the better choice. The better choice will never be processed, packaged foods, weight-loss shakes, or the latest fad. Everyone looking to lose weight and get stronger knows that, but quick and easy is a tough message to resist.

I'll start reintroducing some foods in the next few days and see how I feel. In the meantime, here's a very simple recipe that's a take-out fake-out. Mr. Crying Cook cannot eat peanuts, but you can add that to this recipe to make it more Thai-like. Brown rice is also an option for those not eating the paleo way.

Ingredients & Tools

• a crazy ton of broccoli or 3-4 large heads
• 1 lbs. shrimp
• 1 can of coconut milk
• 2 tablespoons of chili garlic sauce or to your taste
• salt
• large pot with lid
• large bowl
• potato masher or large slotted spoon
• cutting board
• chef's knife

The wonders of coconut milk. I've made this many times and it took me too long to realize that I needed to make sure that the coconut milk was well mixed before adding it to this dish. The fat from the coconut milk separates in the can, so you'll open it and realize there's coconut water and very chunky/solid coconut. 

Empty this out into a large bowl and mash or mix it really well. Shaking the can won't do the trick and skipping this step results in separated coconut milk in the dish. It doesn't affect the taste, but it's isn't visually appealing.

Add the chili garlic sauce. You can find this with Asian foods in your supermarket. As you experiment with this recipe, determine the precise amount for your taste. For me, 2 tablespoons is the perfect balance for the sweet coconut milk and the huge amount of veggies.

Stir well.

Speaking of vegetables, this is a lot of broccoli, but there's no rice in this dish and more vegetables never hurt anyone. There's no portion nitpicking on paleo and no calorie counting. Go nuts with the vegetables!

Add the now mixed coconut milk and chili sauce combo to a large pot. Add the chopped broccoli, season with salt, and stir.

Cover and cook over a low flame for 10 minutes.

In that time, prep the shrimp.

Add the raw shrimp to the tender broccoli, cover, and cook over a low flame for 10 minutes. I like to give the pot a good shake with the cover on about half way through.

A super simple and really healthy, not all Thai, dinner.

Soft-shell Crab Recipe - Whole 30 Challenge - Day 28

Last summer, I ate this salad for the first time. It's a bit bizarre to crunch through the entire crab at first, but it's incredibly tasty and, again, accidentally paleo without the flour.

Yesterday, I featured my father-in-law's swordfish and today it's my mother-in-law's soft-shell crab. Of course, it helps when you have great access to local seafood.

These are not the most attractive guys,

Ingredients & Tools

• 3-4 soft-shell crabs per person
• Romaine lettuce
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1-2 tablespoons Old Bay seasoning 
• 1 lemon
• 2 tablespoons butter
• tartar or cocktail sauce (your preference)
• large plate
• large pan
• tongs

Mix the flour and Old Bay seasoning. Adjust the amount of the Old Bay to your taste. If you're father-in-law Crying Cook, the more seasoning the better.

Dredge each crab in the mixture and shake off the excess. The objective is to lightly coat, not smother. My mother-in-law was nice enough to indulge my 30 day challenge by not dredging mine. 

Heat a large pan over a medium heat and melt the butter. Cook 3-4 minutes on each side.

They should look golden and crispy.

We had ours with shrimp over Romaine lettuce.

My lunch, sans the flour and the sauces, but it was still delicious with a squeeze of lemon.

Swordfish with Garlic Tomato Sauce Recipe - Whole 30 Challenge - Day 27

My father-in-law has been making this dinner for a few years and it's simple and tasty. By eliminating one thing, it's suddenly paleo. They had it with pasta, but the sauce and fish were a substantial dinner for me.

Ingredients & Tools

• 5-6 cloves of garlic
• 5 pints of grape tomatoes
• 1 1/2 - 2 lbs of swordfish
• olive oil
• salt and pepper
• spatula
• large pan
• grill pan

Add olive oil to a large pan and place over medium low heat. Chop and add the garlic cloves. Cook for 3-5 minutes until fragrant, but don't allow the garlic to brown.

Add all of the cleaned tomatoes. There's no need to cut them. Sauté for 20 minutes.

Some may have popped--this is a good thing. Use a spatula to squish the tomatoes to create your sauce. Season with salt and pepper. Lower the heat.

Prep the grill pan with a little olive oil over a high flame. Cook the swordfish for about 4 minutes on each side.

I was absolutely useless in cooking this dinner. My father-in-law did all the heavy lifting while I drank tea and took pictures. He's a really good guy and this is a really good dinner.

Banana Pancake Fail - Whole 30 Challenge - Day 26

A few days ago, I was inspired to make some paleo foods like this chia pudding. While that recipe was a success insofar that the result was what it was meant to be, it's not something I'll eat regularly, especially considering how expensive chia seeds are.

I also found a two-ingredient recipe for banana pancakes. The pictures on paleo blogs of this grain-free breakfast classic were beautiful. Surely, I could do the same thing, right? No such luck. They stuck to a cast iron pan prepped with butter and a nonstick pan with Pam. They were flat like crepes and not worth the effort. I don't even have pictures of this failure because after photographing the prep, I was too frustrated with the stickiness to remember to shoot this kitchen disaster.

Nutrition
Breakfast: More paleo granola with almond milk and this time strawberries. I had left over zucchini "pasta" with sausages in a red sauce. For dinner, I had a spinach, tuna, and avocado salad. I also ate the sad remains from this banana pancake adventure.

Exercising
Somehow, I got in 10 minutes because I was really exhausted yesterday. I did this Tank Top Arms workout and felt pretty triumphant.

Mobilizing
It didn't happen.

Drinking
Two points.

Lifestyle
I read more of Justice Sotomayor's autobiography.