Leeny's potluck party

Leeny had a potluck party to wrap-up the Whole30. A good group of people showed up for it.  I made some WLC cookies, beef in the slow cooker and Chimichurri sauce

Rare picture of Sam and me.  I had heels on and he's still way taller than I am!!!!  Also, I was drinking water!!!!

Prizes for the winning team

Another great Leeny challenge

Final results for Leeny's challenge

NUTS AND BOLTS

Total Participants:  35

Challenge participants (took before and afters and logged lifestyle points):  32

(9 non members, 23 members)

Participants who had afters taken:  30

Percentage of people fully completing the challenge:  94% (THIS NUMBER IS THE BIGGEST YET!)

Total lbs lost: 222.7

Avg lbs lost:  7.4

Total inches lost:  128

Avg inches lost:  4.3

Top Female Winners

1st  Jane McHowat  

Lost 6.7% bodyweight; 5.8% inches; 203 LSP) life style points

2nd  Karen Winkler

Lost 5.8% bodyweight; 5.2% inches; 193 LSP

Top Male Winners

1st Gus Haug

Lost 12.76 % bodyweight (35 lbs!!); 8.4% inches; 148 LSP

2nd  Terrence Griffin

Lost 6.61% bodyweight; 5.9% inches;  179 LSP

Leeny's Challenge-before and after photos

Weekend cooking

 We are moving into the last week of Leeny's challenge and I am still staying on target (apart from a sip of Sam's coffee on Sunday!).  I made a buch of food to last through the week because as usual I will be late home from work most days.  I made these chicken, sweet potato and kale patties.  I haven't made them in  along time.  We used to eat them all the time....

 I also cooked a bunch of beef short ribs in the crock-pot and I roasted these chickens for dinner on Saturday night.  I figured that I could use the leftovers in the week, but we ate more than I thought!!!!

I also have to take pity on the rest of the family and made mac& cheese for the kids (mostly Maggie).  I'm sure it won't last too log, even though I made a huge pot of it

 Sam and Maggie love this broccolini quiche.  I do too, but it's out for now

I made pizza for Sam and Maggie last night.  Funny, it doesn't bother me at all to make these off-program foods and not eat them.....

Creve Coeur 5K Snowball Series # 4

I think I am slipping in the rankings, but such a beautiful day for a run around Creve Coeur park

I had to run on my own because Sam thought he would not be able to walk that far.  Wish he could have gone with me because he hasn't made it 2 years in a row and it really is a perfect course.  I may even start going out there every week

Week # 2 of Leeny's challenge

So far, I have stuck to the challenge.  I am pretty much on track with my eating and haven't had any coffee (apart from about 1/2 cup with almond milk in the morning).  According to the bathroom scale, I have lost about 5 lbs in the past 2 weeks.  I haven't really tried any new recipes, but I have resurrected some of my old ones.

First week on Whole 30

I have made it through the first week of Leeny's challenge and have stayed on program for the whole week.  Surprisingly, it's been relatively easy.  However, I recognize that I have a different mindset when I'm doing a challenge as opposed to everyday life.  I am hoping by the end of this challenge and finishing WLC (which starts next week) that I will be on a good enough routine to stick to it.  I'm hoping that I see enough improvement that I want it to be a permanent thing.  After 10 weeks, I should be in a new routine, but it could also be one that I just can't stand any more!!!!
Along with the challenge of eating differently, I have also had a terrible cold (Sam and Maggie have already had it), an ice storm in St Louis on Friday so that we had a 4 day weekend (out of the work routine which always makes it easier to stay on track) and the challenge of taking the kids out to eat at Panera while not eating anything myself.  Ben's grilled cheese has never looked so good!!!!!

I have almost completely (apart from about 1/2 cup a day) given up drinking coffee and I have replaced it with Teavana tea.  This has the benefit of being able to choose some cool teas to choose from, plus to control the amount of caffeine I'm taking in.  The first few days were rough-not sure if the killer headache was due to the caffeine withdrawal or the cold!!!

I have gone back to some of our old recipes that I haven't made in a long time.  Even though the Internet is flooded with paleo recipes now, some of the original ones are still the best.  I made this cherry clafouti so that I could turn to something a little sweet if I needed it.  Funny, as soon as I made it, my sweet craving went away.  I think it's more psychological than anything else-once I knew there was something in the fridge I could turn to, the urge went away!!!!

I haven't made these paleo muffins in a while as there is so much fat in them, but I found a jar of marmalade in the fridge and though I'd better use it up, so I made a batch and it has been a nice change for breakfast

I also made a batch of paleo mayo and I mixed some with hot sauce and ate it with some chicken-simple, but good

I made some paleo eggs Benedict for breakfast, nice change too

And, finally, for now, our old stand-by, the chicken, bacon and avocado salad.  Still a great choice