Day 5

9:30am
6oz glass of orange juice

Meal #1 10:15am
2 pasture-raised eggs
sauteed red peppers, zucchini, carrots, mushrooms



Comments:
This is the end of my pasture-raised eggs. I haven't decided yet what I'm going to do. I need to call a nearby farm and ask how much theirs are, otherwise I need to reevaluate the importance of eggs.

Snack #1 12:45pm
smoothie
only 1 tbsp almond butter
10 almonds



Comments:
So I finally measured the amount of coconut milk kefir I use in my smoothie. It's so much less than I would have thought. I measured out a half cup of kefir and it's more than I normally use. So it's probably only about 3 ounces. Also, I ran out of almond butter. This needs to be remedied immediately.

Meal #2 3:45pm
can of tuna with avocado and pepper slices



Comments:
I'm actually really hungry. So hungry, in fact, that I'm already thinking about how I'm still going to be hungry after I finish eating this.

eta: 4:15pm
4oz glass of oj
20 almonds

I gave myself some time to digest after I finished eating, but I was still hungry. I feel better now that I ate some more.

Random fact: I've been weighing myself every day for five months. It's gotten to the point now that, despite the fact that my weight fluctuates 2-6 pounds, I can still tell you the exact weight I'll be without fail when I step on that scale. I think eventually it'll be the same way with food. I'll be so in tune with my nutritional needs that I'll be able to prepare food accordingly.

eta comments:
That second glass of orange juice today is having the same affect on me as the extra strawberries and apples. I'm going to have to completely limit my fruit intake to smoothies for a week and see if that helps. Now I'm on a quest for other sources of Vitamin C.

Meal #3 6:45pm
4 oz sirloin
1/2 zucchini shredded with organic spaghetti sauce



Comments:
The picture shows about 6 ounces of meat, but I split it up and gave some to the kids who insisted they had to have some. The sirloin was freaking amazing by the way.

When I realized I couldn't put Parmesan cheese on my zucchini, I was really bummed, but figured I'd give it a try without. I always forget how good this spaghetti sauce is. I didn't need the cheese to mask it at all. Dinner tasted so good and was exactly what I needed to change things up.

It took a good couple hours to recover from the orange juice. I still don't feel great, but I do feel much better. I've found that these things take about four hours and then I'm good again.

Normally I would have eaten some crackers or bread to counteract the feeling from the orange juice. Sometimes I would have just munched on any old carbs. Today I contemplated eating some chips, but then I remembered yesterday and knew they would have their own reaction. Then I thought maybe I would have some of my son's gluten-free crackers, but that just seemed like cheating. Covering one reaction to food with another food wasn't going to negate the problem at hand, so I didn't have anything. It worked out well and I proved to myself once again that I have just as much willpower as I'm willing to permit.

Snack #2 10:15pm
Puffins cereal with rice milk



Comments:
Alright, I've had a bowl of cereal. It was completely unsatisfying, but now my desire for cereal is out of my system. On to bigger and better things.

Meal #4 10:45pm
Hamburger with red pepper slices



Comments:
I had to eat some real food after the cereal.

Day 4

10am
I still haven't eaten anything yet today. I didn't intend to making today an IF (intermittent fasting) day and I still don't think I will, but my body needed some extra no food time.

I woke up this morning and was still very bloated. My legs are also sore and it's not from working out, so I think I may be getting sick, or at the very least, fighting off getting sick. Both kids are snotty and congested and with school starting and the warm weather turning too crisp this week, it seems likely.

I'll increase my water intake today, drink some orange juice and eat if I get hungry.

I'm also going to have to nix the farmer's market for the first time in months. It's too chilly to take the kids and I can't leave them.

Meal #1 12pm
can of tuna with avocado and tomato slices



Comments:
I'm trying this meal again. This might be one of my favorite things to eat, but I wonder if some of it is giving me problems. There's less than a tablespoon of mayo in the tuna, but it could be the culprit. Could also be the tomato or the avocado. I started reading about lectins yesterday. I need to do more research. It's interesting.

I don't feel 100% yet today, but I am getting hungry. I'd rather eat than risk feeling sick because I haven't eaten anything.

eta: no ill effects from this meal!

Snack #1 2:45pm
20 nuts mix (almonds, cashews, pecans, walnuts)

Meal #2 4:15pm
hamburger with avocado and tomato slices in lettuce wrap
1/2 red pepper



Snack #2 5:30pm
smoothie

Comments:
I can't believe I forgot to take a picture again! It is the same exact smoothie I normally make though so it's a pretty boring picture anyway.

Taste test!!
Terra Chips- Exotic Harvest



Comments:
I got these in hopes that my daughter might like an alternative to crackers at school. She's not really on board with the Primal thing. It's a work on progress.

The chips are really good. I especially liked the carrot and kabocha ones. I did note though that I felt bloated and gross within 10 minutes of eating these. It didn't last long. An hour later I tried a couple more to see if I had the same reaction and I did. It might be the high salt intake or the oil or the fact that they're greasy and I'm not used to that. It's just something to note.

Also something to note is a realization that I might have a strawberry sensitivity. Awhile back I did research on oxalate-rich food and came to find that spinach, peanut butter and strawberries all have high oxalate levels. This week I've been eating strawberries again and I've felt sick. I don't know if it's related or not.

I also unconsciously increased my fruit intake this week and that may have affected how I felt too.

Meal #3 8:30pm
chicken with cauliflower, carrots and mushrooms
glass of orange juice



Comments:
Okay, so there is more cauliflower than chicken by a lot, but I'm starving and this is what I had for leftovers in a pinch. Orange juice is in hopes of fighting off the cold.

Snack #3 9:45
bowl of ice cream (3/4c) with pecans (7-8)



Comments:
I need to throw this ice cream away... It's ridiculously good and definitely not something I want to eat two more times to finish the pint. The thing of it is, if it weren't for the chopped pecans over it, this dessert would be nothing.

Meal #4 11:15pm
burger with slice of avocado
1/2 red pepper



Comments:
I know I've been eating this over and over...and over...but honestly, it's so good. I used to worry about a lack of variety or that I'd get sick of a food if I ate it all the time, but red peppers are my vice. They are my go to food. I've already had to eliminate so many foods I love...so many foods I thought I'd never ever be able to give up. I take comfort that there is still stuff I can have that I love.