Day 55 - Four More Weeks To Go!

I wouldn't say the first 8 weeks went by fast, but I am glad we have made it this far. It has been a struggle at some points, but overall we are doing really well. I didn't lose any weight this last week (other than the cheat day weight) but I think I am at that point where too much more weight loss and I wouldn't be looking healthy. I love the changes so far. I can really see my shoulders and the definition in my arms - very impressive! I have never looked this way before and it feels really good. I wish my upper legs were in the same shape but I think it will take time. Jason and I have already decided not to stop the eating regimen but we do plan on incorporating back in the dairy and a little more fat. Nothing too crazy, but seriously, I MISS MY CHEESE!

Yesterday was a relatively tame cheat day for us. We had bacon, fried eggs and pancakes for breakfast. It was lovely spreading butter again. Yum. I got to use my first harvest of my kefir grains (pronounced ka fear). I have been growing them in milk for over a week. I was reading how it eats the lactose in milk and leaves tons of really healthy probiotics behind. It helps with the digestive system and in this family, we need all the help we can get. I replaced the milk in the pancake batter for kefir milk and you couldn't tell the difference. Jason ate it all up. Course, he has already said that is close as he intends to come to voluntarily consuming it. Ian and I had some with blueberries and a teaspoon of maple syrup. He ate it up. Nice, since when we tried it before he wasn't too fond of it plain.  

For lunch we had one and a half tamales. We were saving up for dinner where we ate an entire small Chicago style pizza. Yum. Highly recommend Zachary's in Tucson if you are looking for an awesome hole in the wall place to eat some great pizza. We had a great time. Too bad we had to drive an hour and a half to get there, but no worries, it was worth it.

Today I felt so groggy and sluggish and I attribute it to overload cheat day puts on our system. We have decided for the next four weeks we are going to take cheat days a little easy. Maybe eat more of the good stuff but not so much high fat, high sugar stuff. We will have some but not to the extent we are now. Jason wants to be able to eat whatever we want but cut down the portion sizes. I am good with trying that. We also decided to make Friday a day of light eating, similar to the Lent season. Jason was hearing from a co-worker that fasting is really good on the digestion system sometimes. I figure it was worth a try.

Life got in the way of our workout on Saturday and I got up too late to work out this morning. I am ready to get back into it tomorrow.

So all this past week I have been using recipes from a cookbook. Unfortunately, with the copyright laws, I can't share them directly on this blog. I thought of it yesterday that I could have at least shared what recipes and in what book, so I will start doing that from now on. Good news, I made another Carey Concoction today!

Rosemary Pork with Braised Jalapeno Cabbage

1 lb Pork Loin, ¼" thick sliced with Rosemary Garlic Spice Blend from Spice Islands sprinkled. Let sit for a bit in the fridge while the cabbage cooks.

1 head green cabbage, chopped

1 jar jalapenos

¼ cup onion, chopped

3 garlic cloves, chopped

1 ½ tsp mustard seeds

1 cup chicken stock

1 tsp Garlic Pepper

Heat large pot with 1 TBLS oil over medium high heat. Add mustard seeds and stir until they start to pop. Add onions, sauté for a bit, then add cabbage and garlic. Continue to stir for a few minutes. Add the chicken stock and the jar of jalapenos. Sprinkle garlic pepper over top, and reduce heat to low.

After about 30 minutes, heat a heavy pan with 1 tsp oil and when hot, add pork. Cook until done. While that cooked I made some roti bread. The cabbage most likely cooked for about 50 minutes when it was all said and done. It was prefect and not too limp and gross. Jason ate the heck out of it. The heat was very sly, it snuck up on you but nothing too bad. It was fairly mild tasting. I took a bite and thought, hmmm no real heat, then after a second or two, it was ohh there is the heat. Nice flavor and if my husband eats it, it is good!