A Random Weekend in Pictures

I was putzing around with my camera this weekend. Matthew said it's time to drop our projects and take a trip outta town, so out of town we went.

V-day sprucey spruce on a Friday night.

Leaving Houston, Galveston bound!

One of my fave places

Surprise! It's Mardi Gras. Whoops we forgot.

Random Darth Vader siting

Galveston Pleasure Pier

240 feet up we went.

The only thing I could find to eat, Sans the cocktail sauce.

What I thought was a sign that the 49'ers would win. Apparently not.

Over and out. Bye bye Galveston.

Then we came home and cooked a ton of YF items. Like this spinach and artichoke dip. And I watched the game in my robe, holla! But more about my progress (or lack there of) in the diet department later. I also FINALLY blogged my New Years Resolutions. If you're nosey and like to read other people's resolutions, like me, well then you can read them here.
 

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!

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