What the Yeast Free diet Looks like

Yay you're here! Which means you are interested in the yeast free diet, or losing weight in general, and I have great things to say so far - so keep reading. If you are not interested in Yeast-Free, I should be back to regular programming tomorrow! I hope this post will be a series of posts, including what yeast-free feels like (absolutely great I might add) and *hopefully* some results pictures down the line!

So far I've lost 6 lbs, which is a lot when you are 5'4'' - and can fit back in my pants!  I am loving the challenge of cooking normals things yeast free, but I have to admit it takes a lot of time and preparation.  Here is a peek into the life of yeast-free dieter:

Saturday morning, feeling like a champ with my waffle made from almond flower. That organic blue agave vanilla may or may not be allowed. Still debatable ;)

Papasitos, a YF approved Mexican restaurant. I eat the salsa, the beans, the chicken and lemon butter sauce.

Not being to able to find my favorite almond butter for a week. Apparently everyone is eating healthy.

Steak marinated with chives ans seasonings. No Worcestershire sauce!

Lots of reading this book for recipes.

That would be a pattern swatch. Totally unrelated. But my never ending search for curtains continues.

Lots of natural ingredients to season your food, ie. fresh garlic, onions, tomatoes. Even if a recipe doesnt call for it, I throw one of these ingredients in for flavor.

That would be YF catfish Gumbo... So delicious

Gumbo recipe:

{catfish gumbo recipe - 2-4 catfish fillets, 1/2 a cup of each: green pelpepper, celery, yellow or white onion. a bag of frozen okra. 1/2 tsp of salt,oregano, thyme, and cayenne pepper, 2 bay leaves, or 2-3 gloves of garlic, and 4 cups of chicken or beef stock. saute the half a cup of green pelpepper, celery, yellow or white onion in olive oil. Then dump in everythign but the catfish and cover on low for 25 -30 minutes. Then put in the catfish for another 10. I put in 2 table spoons of oat flour on the last five minutes to 'thicken' it.} found on page 52 of this book}

That would be me last night. Crazy woman in the kitchen. Cooking 3 things at once so I can have leftovers and spend time anywhere but the kitchen for the next two days. ie. the GYM. Or baby shower shopping for Jennifer!!

Included in this crazy picture you see: pot to make turkey bacon, pot to boil eggs, pot for gumbo, not pictured: BBQ pork in oven, curry pork in crockpot. Avocados! Oranges, total dessert ;) lots of ingredients, oh hey stripe wall hey! Some chalkboard labels for a future project, oh and a haggard cook! That would be me :)

Picture below: lots of meal planning

Lots of meat.

So whats really interesting about this diet: My cravings have seriously gone to the wayside. I used to get a mexican food craving about 2 a week. Sometimes 3 times a week. And I just had to have it. I didnt care about cost, calories, lard, or any of those things. I just wanted to faceplant into a bowl of chips and queso. Now that I am in week 3 of YF, I seriously have no cravings. Sometimes I forget to eat. I ate 5 strawberries and a handful of cashews yesterday at work. I had nothing to eat, but wasnt even hungry. It's sort of unreal!

But I am fresh out of time! If you have any other questions just shoot me an email or comment below! I may have missed something, or missed a lot!

HmmmmmKKayyy??

It’s ok that the day started off super bumpy. One of those days where you really just don’t want to crawl out of bed. But you know you have to, because a mountain of work is waiting for you at your desk. So you throw your hair in a bun, (don’t forget the dry shampoo), your fave turtleneck, (because those are the only things that make buns look good)and rush out the door. You don’t have your diet approved lunch packed either. And then, woo hoo parking lot traffic! The freeway is down to 1 lane and it takes you 45 minutes to move 4 miles. FUDGE.

Just breathe. It’s totally ok to.. head to starbucks. Crap,  on this day, no matter how much time I don’t have, I am going to Starbucks. Point for Tess, for bringing her own cup and almond milk.

It’s ok to be in between clothes… half are too big and half are too small. No biggie, going to work looking like an assclown is totally OK when trying to lose the newlywed 15. (hmm.. maybe not)

It’s ok to read Mant’i Teo News when you should be working diligently. I mean really, how bizarre is this story???

It ok to feel like I’m in a blog rut, more on this later. If I ever decide to really open up. Lets hope this happens.

And lastly, it’s NOT ok to ride around on a little donut tire for a week. Those things are approved for 20 miles only, get it together Tessy Poo!

But really it’s ok people, It’s ok. you know why. Because it’s Thursday. And tomorrow is Friday, Friday. Gotta Get down on Friday. Says Rebekah Blue. Or whatever her name was.....

I promise I'm just trying to be self deprecating. Peace out bisshes!

Baby Shower Fever

The time thief paid my visit these past couple of days, ie. Tessy's been in frantic land the past couple of days.

and what's been keeping me busy??

Baby showers!! 

(And a huge event in t-minus 20 days .. but thats not as fun to chat about. oh and planning every single meal I eat.. also not as fun of topic )

WARNING: sappy baby post coming..

First up, we showered a co-worker with tons of girly gifts on Friday! I don't have any pictures of this, but they got so many cute outfits and onesies. I think shopping for little girl clothes may or may not have become a new hobby..seriously. Anything for a little girl just makes my heart go pitter patter!

Then on Saturday we celebrated Erika's twins, Keegan and Noelle, with a "Two peas in pod" themed shower! look at these cupcakes. So cute. AND guess what? I didn't thave a single bite. Not a one people! Yeast-free and going strong!

The Mother-to-be and her shower hosts, Mrs. Debbie, her MIL, Marci and Amanda

 All the girls, thats a lot of estrogen right there!

I actually had a basket full of 'useful' gifts for Erika's, and chunked one out of cart to slip in a baby girl outfit. No joke. Couldn't even help myself. It just happened.

You can mosey on over to Erika's blog, shes been updating throughout her pregnancy, twins sounds like so much fun.. AND .. if you like crafts you'll have extra fun reading her sister's recap of her showers.

OH and I got to watch this little guy oooh, and ahhh. Little baby Lucas seriously makes the cutest faces. I think he had about three looks. Charming half smile, serious scowl, and a confused "who the heck are you and why are you holding me??" look.

So now, today it is Wednesday, weare meeting up to plan Jennifer's shower, for a little baby girl!! So freakin' exciting ya'll! I have a ton of ideas, so we shall see! I found some pins that I am swooning over, but I'm only posting one so I don't ruin the fun!  

Balloons with streamers.

Gotta run. BYE.

Oh and if you are wondering if I have baby fever... the answer is no! I actually have a baby-fever-meter, a little device  I like to refer to when discussing this topic.  I am steady at a 3 out of 10. Meaning.. I'm curious, but still waiting til I have the fever bad, which has not happened yet. Or in other terms.. breast milk bags still make me gag. Just a tad - in my mouth. So I definitely take that as a no, I do not have baby fever. But I could get used to this "hold me for a few seconds then give hand me right back to my mommy stuff " :)

Alright over and out!

Yeast Free Diet Check in!

Ok so it's Thursday, and I haven't posted since Monday. But let me esssplain. And also bear with me, this post will be lengthy. But a lot of you are also doing YF, and  I think these check-ins are good and I hope you all will post how you are doing too!

As Day 1 of yeast free ended, I felt AMAZING I was snapping a bunch of pics, super giddy, and ready to lose some weight (see below) This is what we ate for a majority of Day 2 as well.

waking up early for coffe with almond milk, and eggs with cherry tomatoes and pelpeppers. (I started adding  adding cinnamon today)

Apparently I'm late in in my spaghetti squash discovery, but you would have thought I found the moon on Monday! if youre looking for a good how-to watch this video

I ate avocados with salt and pepper as a snack. If I had a lime that woudl have been included too.

Ingredients. I used a little more garlic than usual.

My favorite spaghetti sauce recipe, sans carrots and mushrooms. Don't forget the bay leaves!

YUMZZZ.

and THEN.

Day 2 and 3 came... I got tired. Like really tired. Like I can't keep my eyes open or finish my sentences tired!! And some headaches. Thats why this portion has the least pictures. But I knew from reading this blog post, that this was all pretty normal, and part of the “yeast die off” or detox part of the process. Essentially, my body is releasing toxins, and they are making me feel yuckeeee.

I came home from work on day 2 and literally couldn’t stop thinking of sweets. “Cake. Chocolate. Cake. Cupcake. Hmmm. Thos cupcakes on IG looked fabuloussss” at about 1 second per thought for 2 hours. Walked by subway and actually thought it smelt good. C'mon we all know subway stinks like butt! I  really thought I was going to lose it. And THEN I discovered almond butter. And holy Toledo I devoured a whole can in a day. I sat at my desk eating it out of the jar, that's how incredibley desperate for something sweet I was.

That’s probably not the best thing, since it’s a monosaturated fat that I am to have in moderation, but my cravings were just too intense. Day 3 was by the worst. Thankfully my boss has done the yeast-free challenge and understood why I couldnt keep my eyes open, or why I was rambling with one eye open about our next event  …LOL. And then she lent me the ‘yeast-free bible’ And that thing was read over my lunch break. I came away with a MUCH better understanding of the diet. I seriously recommend reading it BEFORE you start. Apparently I was supposed to wean myself off carbs for two weeks, not 2 days before we started to minimize the ‘yeast die off’ symptoms.  

What I learned from the book: I was not planning well enough, and not varying our foods. (You'd think grocery shopping on a Saturday, and waking up early to cook breakfast would be planned enough right??)Matt is still hanging on, by literally a thread, (He negotiated 10 cheetos last night), but I totally blame myself for not trying more exciting recipes, or following the ‘one beef, one turkey, one chicken, one pork, one fish’ rotation. Oh, and a list of Houston based restaurants that I can eat at, what what!!  I also need to consolidate meals to cook, because cooking every single night has left me drained, with a huge sink of dishes that I can’t seem to keep up with. Plastic plates will definitely be on my next grocery list J

So how much weight have I lost? I dont think I have lost anything yet, but my face looks slimmer and pants fit better. Kristen told me that sounded crazy, but matt and my coworker commented that my face looks slimmer. Matt has lost two pounds, MEN and their quick weight loss..but I plan to get to the gym very soon. I was just so exhausted at first I dont think it would have been possible.

But as for today?? (DAY 4) I woke up, and felt amazing again! Just full of energy! I'm dreaming of bikini season  (get outta here gloomy winter!) and chatting my little brain off at work! I'm ready to tackle my meal planning correctly this time, because frankly I dont think I was as prepared as I needed to be, looking forward to eating fruit (yes please!), and I have my eye on this recipe, and this steph's chocolate cake.

I know a lot of you are doing this diet! How's it going for you??
Lots of love - Tessy

A busy, busy weekend

Such a fun weekend! Minus the Texans losing, everything was go go go just like I like it.

Kristen and I went on some extravagant date. Accidentally I swear. We had no idea this italian place was so legit. We celebrated our last weekend as yeast eaters..

and finished the night off with donuts..

then met in the AM to yeast-free shop together!

Dieting is way more fun with a friend, for serious.

Then we headed out to Tomball for Emmy's (squeal!) first wedding shower! I have a few pictures but she should have a full recap on her bloggy soon. It was a fajitas and ritas theme, and stan's mom and aunt went all out with the decor.

Then we shot up to Austin. I saw my favorite little Austin girl.

then saw these two lovebirds get hitched!!!

Then woke up early on Monday AM to cook my yeast-free breakfast!!! Heck yes this diet is going well, I can't wait to tell yall all about it Manana!

Tessy

Gloomy

Kind of a pointless post, but I just wanted to check in. I'm procrastinating on posting my resolutions.. eeekkk and in super homebody mode. Probably because the past two days straight have been super gloomy and dark in Houston. As a Houston Girl, you really become accustomed to constant sunshine.. & I have to admit, gloominess can make me quite sullen. I've made a mental note to buy some vitamin d, because it supposedly helps with the winter blues... But yesterday I decided to get my butt off the couch and snap out of it. Take control of my own emotions. and Today, the sun came back! This girl was jamming B spears on the way to work, back to my usual self :)

Anywhoo..Here are some pictures I took this weekend playing with my zoom lens, but off I go to tackle a HUGE event for work. And buy Yeast-free ingredients for next week, and wedding presents for my Emilia and Casey! Tata lovers !! Told you it was a pointless post!

Fresh flowers

Birdies playing in the trees next door..

Finally caught the little feller

Painting a Stripe Wall part Deux - Tips and Tricks

A day late (a business day that is) but not a buck short! Here is the continuation of the striped wall; day two and our second round of taping with frogger tape.

I know there are a million blogs out there with a how to paint a striped wall post, but I just wanted to share how it went for us :) I also have to say, that tackling a major project right before the new year, somehow made me feel like 2013 would get a special blessing with more tackled projects! Me and my superstitions..

Our second go at this we decided to use only a one long strip of tape and instead of the "strip by strip method" we used the night before. We also used a string to guide the tape. Not the most conventional of methods, but hey it worked for us. I heard about a gadget called a laser level, but I did not have one and wasn't making a 15th trip to home depot. I also assume anything with the word "laser" in it = too much tessy moolah. so measured points and string it was. We used the credit card method to smooth out any airbubbles on the frogger tape, to make sure it was super stuck. Super duper stuck! And of course you peel the tape immediately, before the paint dries to avoid cracking.

Taping

ready to go- It's important to notice the bigger stripe and smaller stripes. Our wall was a total of 106 inches, which divided by 9 comes out to 11.77, so we rounded each stripe to 11.75 inches. The smaller stripe is the lighter stripe, and the tape is included in the lighter stripes 11.75 inches. This was the hardest thing for me to wrap my head around at first! (And if you dont get it reread this sentence until you do!) and remember, start at the TOP. One stripe will always be a little off, so its best at the bottom and out of visability. 

Pull tape immediately to avoid cracking.

husband slept through it all. remember that casino trip I mentioned?

and voila!

These two paint colors are: Alabaster by Sherwin Williams in flat finish, and Gray Moose by Martha Stewart in satin finish.

I'll post more pictures later, when the room is finished. Still have a few items to go!

-Happy Monday!