Best and Worst of Whole30

You probably don't want to read about everything I put in my mouth for breakfast, snacks, lunch, dinner, and dessert for 30 days, so I'll just give you some highlights - and lowlights. All of these recipes mentioned are on my Whole30 Pinterest page if you're interested. I've linked some of the faves here too.


Here are my favorite breakfasts:
1) Bacon and eggs
2) Non-grain oatmeal
3) Fruit smoothie

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Here are my favorite dinners:
1) Coconut Curry Chicken Soup
2) Chicken with Mustard Cream Sauce
3) Indian Beef Stroganoff
4) Loaded Sweet Potato
5) Tuna Tacos

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I experimented with all kinds of new vegetables. I am really loving sweet potatoes for the first time in my life. One bummer was that I could not find spaghetti squash for all of the low-carb recipes that use it to replace pasta. I tried butternut squash, but it didn't really have the same texture, and I felt really strange eating it when it wasn't autumn. 


Here are my new favorite ways to eat veggies:
1) Cauliflower Mash
2) Swede Mash
3) Sweet Potato Mash
4) Cauliflower Rice
5) Parsnip Fries
6) Carrot Fries
7) Lettuce Tacos

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Here is my new favorite salad: 
1) Leafy lettuce, cucumber, tomato, onion, avocado, basil, EVOO, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper

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Here are my favorite desserts:
1) HOME MADE ICE CREAM! My favorite flavors were mango, almond, and banana. 
2) Frozen grapes

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Here are my favorite random things to eat:
1) Homemade Salsa
2) Laraballs (made from the Larabar recipe)
3) Dried Fruit and Nuts

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Here are some of my favorite key ingredients:
1) Avocado
2) Limes/Lemons
3) Fresh Herbs (sage, rosemary, parsley, basil, cilantro (coriander), mint)
4) Coconut milk

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And now, just keepin' it real... here are the recipes that were a big fat fail:
1) Pot roast (weird texture)
2) Pulled pork (weird flavor)
3) Paleo lasagna (too labor intensive to be worth it)
4) Chai latte with coconut milk (nothing added to sweeten it... blech!)

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 I hope you don't mind me documenting this for posterity. Thanks for at least looking at the pretty pictures. :)

On (Almost) Turning 31

In the weeks leading up to my birthday every year, Nathan has a habit of singing and dancing to a little song he likes to call "I Know Something You Don't Know." I like to annoy him by not  biting the bait. However, I get really excited on the inside knowing that he's got something up his sleeve. He's really good at gift giving, and I just struggle... really struggle.. except maybe Christmas last year.

My birthday wasn't until Sunday, but on Friday Nathan had something special planned. I had invited a college student over for lunch, and he came downstairs and told us both to get in the car before we had a chance to eat our mango ice cream. I felt really embarrassed thinking that he was kicking her out too early, but luckily he had already forewarned her. He dropped her off in town and drove me up the cobblestones and stopped just before the road to the cathedral. 

"Happy birthday, sweetie," he said, and handed me a little paper folded in half. It was a gift certificate for an afternoon at a salon: a back and neck massage, a manicure, and a haircut. Wow! What a thoughtful gift! I teared up immediately, like any normal woman would.

The experience was... different, but I seriously think it was just cultural. I compared notes with Pamela afterwards, and she noticed the same things when she got a pedicure in York on Valentine's Day. Just dumb girl things... like in America you always soak your hands before filing your nails when you get a manicure. Not so at this particular salon. The manicurist started sawing on my nails with an old looking file and made shivers go down my spine. In America there are hundreds of nail polish colors to choose from. Here there were only 18, and only one light pink color. It was a little too 4 year-old princess iridescent, but oh well. There were other things too, but if I tell you I'll just sound more spoiled than I already do as I re-read this.

Anyway, after my afternoon at the salon, Nathan picked me up and then we cut his hair at home. After that, we got dressed up and went on a date! He took me to Bistro 21, and it's by far the nicest place we've been in Durham. It kind of reminds me of Canoe in Atlanta.

Pamela played photographer. She also played stylist by letting me borrow her top and some jewelry.

The restaurant was so, so nice, and the food was delicious. I ordered the halibut special (I'm SO my mom!), and Nathan got steak and potatoes... and fries. I think he's really happy that the Whole30 is over. I forgot to take pictures of our entrees. Sorry!

Dessert... I mentioned this before. :) Nathan's sticky toffee pudding was outstanding. My chocolate melting cake with mint sorbet was good too, but that sticky toffee pudding.... wow.

My love is an excellent celebrator. That's one of the many things I appreciate about him. Thanks for such a fun day, Nathan!

Whole30 Wrap Up

I finished my Whole30 on Tuesday, and I'm just now getting around to blogging about it. You can read all about my reasons for doing it on this post. It's probably for the best that I'm writing today instead of right at the finish line, because now I can give you a before, an after, and an after the after.

The short version is that it was hard but worth it.

For me, here's what was hard:

1) Spending lots of time meal planning, shopping, cooking, and thinking about the new lifestyle. It took up a lot of space in my head at first.
2) Having bad breath. I think my stomach took way too long to get balanced out! Gum and mints were forbidden because of the fake sugars, so I just brought my toothbrush and toothpaste and mouthwash to work with me. I'm definitely back on gum and Altoids now.
3) Being tempted by no-no foods wasn't really that bad until about halfway through, strangely enough. But when I fell, I fell hard. What really helped was removing the temptation from the pantry and fridge. I kept all of the naughty foods upstairs in the guest room for Nathan to raid when he needed to.

Here's what made it worth it:

1) The best part was seeing immediate results with my diabetes. Unfortunately, the blood sugar meter that talks to my pump went kaputz about two weeks ago (I have a backup meter, but it doesn't communicate with the pump), so I don't have all of the information I'd like. However, here are some quick facts if you care to know. All of the numbers are before vs. after.

Average blood sugar reading: 170ish vs. 113
Average high/low: 110/210ish vs. 86/146
Average insulin intake per day: 18ish units vs. 10 units
Percentage of Basal vs. Bolus: 30% vs. 70%ish vs. 65% vs. 35%
Average grams of carbohydrates per day: 125ish vs. 40

2) I noticed that my skin looks really nice and healthy.
3) I slept soundly, although I had some craaaazy dreams for the first week. I woke up a few seconds before my alarm every morning (does that freak you out as much as it does me?) feeling fully charged. I was more awake and alert during the day. I stopped my usual perpetual yawning from 1-4 p.m.
4) I also lost some weight. For 30 days didn't feel guilty for overindulging (okay, once - blasted Magnum bar!) or suffer consequences of bloating, goopy-headedness (Nathan's word for when I have high blood sugar) and feeling generally pretty yucky.

Since Tuesday I've let some foods slide back in. On Thursday I went to a conference, and for lunch they served us almost exclusively things I could not allow two days before (little sandwiches, pizzas, sweet and savory pastries, cakes and cookies, etc.). I felt horrible all afternoon and came home with a blood sugar of 286, even though I thought I bolused enough to cover it.

Last night Nathan took me out to dinner for my birthday (more on that later!) and after I had a healthy entree, we each got a dessert to share. In addition to a blood sugar of 220 at bedtime, my stomach was so bloated afterwards I could have passed for six months pregnant. It was sooo tasty though - sticky toffee pudding and chocolate melting cake with mint sorbet. Mmmm...

These two experiences are telling me that my body just does not respond well to unhealthy food. DUH! But it makes me really sad. I love unhealthy food. But I love feeling good too. And the two just do not mix.

Okay... this is getting really long. I'm going to have to split up the results show. :)

Next time I'll pass along some of my favorite recipes and tips for doing a Whole30 yourself  if you want. Actually, I just have one tip. Get a good blender and/or food processor. Okay, the next post will just be recipes. Until then!

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A Plea for Visitors

Come see us! We love visitors. We LOVE visitors. WE LOVE VISITORS! I cannot emphasize this enough. If there was a sixth love language called "visits," that would be my #1, and "acts of service" would be bumped to #2.


Last summer was choc-a-block (as the British say) with people coming and going, and it was awesome. Our next visitor is Allison, who is coming next Sunday for two measly days, but she is coming on my birthday, which more than makes up for the brevity of her stay. Next on our calendar are the Heths of the Joey and Heidi variety, who are passing through after a family wedding in late August. Then, we have Nathan's brother Philip - not to be confused with Nathan's look-alike Philip - who claims to be coming in October but has not made firm plans. *cough*


And then no one. Waaah!


Hello, people!!! The Queen is celebrating her Diamond Jubilee (60 years on the throne), and the Olympics are in England this summer, and we don't have anyone coming in June or July?! What's wrong with you? Get over here and come see us. You can use us for a free bed and breakfast!


Here is a little visual aid in case you did not understand our desire for company.

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If you're still not convinced, see the smiling faces of visitors past.

Alex Burton came between the LeCraws and the Ledfords, and I have no photographic evidence. Shame on me!

So whose picture will be next?

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Do you remember when we said goodbye back in 2010 and you said, "We'll come see you!" Is there a special occasion you can celebrate? A birthday? An anniversary? A new job? May I remind you that we have only a year to go in this PhD program? You clock is ticking, friends. Get in touch with me about dates. Go to vayama.com to look for cheap international tickets.

I'm serious.

Off the Wagon

Last night it went down like this...


I was about 20 minutes away from finishing dinner when Nathan said, "I'm going to Tesco to get some eggs."


"Okay. Can you get a few things for me, too?"


"Yeah, sure."


"You want to write this down?" I motioned to a pencil and scrap of a receipt with my wooden spoon.


"Pshht! I've got a great memory."


*a look* 


His memory is quite selective. He remembers long quotes and passages from books, but he has a hard time remembering pretty basic things sometimes (e.g. asking me no less than seven times who is coming for dinner or what we're doing this weekend or the name of someone we know quite well). He claims it's a listening problem rather than early onset Alzheimer's disease, which is what I thought it was when we first got married. The good thing is he knows he's not the best at remembering things, and he tries really hard to concentrate when I tell him something is important. 


"No, seriously. Try me! With my special memory trick I bet I can remember everything... up to five things."


"Okay... bananas, coconut milk in a carton - not a can..."


"Wait... where would that be?"


"On the milk aisle. Next to the regular milk. It's by the almond milk and soy milk and all that."


"Okay. Bananas, coconut milk in a carton. What else?"


"Cilantro. Shampoo. I think that's it."


I saw him muttering to himself for a little while, creating a crazy story using the items on the grocery list as a cast of characters. Then he said, "Where would the coconut milk be?"


I know he doesn't repeat questions to annoy me on purpose, so I usually repeat my answers just the way I did the first time, with the same inflection and tone and everything.


"On the milk aisle. Next to the regular milk. It's by the almond milk and soy milk and all that."


"You just said that, didn't you?"


"Mmhm..."


"Sorry. Okay. I'll be back in a sec." He walked out the door muttering, muttering, muttering the story.


The dinner was nearly done when he was back with everything I asked him to get, plus some sausage and grapes that were on clearance.


But no eggs, the single item he was going to Tesco for in the first place.


We laughed, which was good. We needed a good laugh. The weekend was a hard one. One where I was particularly difficult to live with. Monday wasn't any better. The weight of grief that came with Mother's Day surprised me. The grief wasn't surprising. The weight of it was. I suppose it was understandable. Next month will mark three years of waiting for a little one. Forty two cycles of hope and disappointment. I've been keeping track.


My first Mother's Day this year (the UK celebrates in March) I did okay. I teared up at church, but no spill-over tears. This one was different. I was angry, irritable, weepy, hypersensitive, pessimistic, perpetually annoyed. But then Nathan forgot the eggs, and I caught a glimpse of sunshine after four days under a dark cloud.


After dinner, I said, "I'll tell you what. Let's go back to Tesco with a fiver. You can buy the eggs and get a treat with the change. We'll make it a date."


We went. We picked out eggs. He contemplated buying - and I'm not kidding - Posh Birds brand duck eggs, but we stuck with the cheapest pack of 15 caged chicken eggs, as usual. Nathan's like Gaston from Beauty and the Beast. He eats a lot of eggs.


He took me by the hand and walked me over to the flowers, saying he wanted to spend the change on me, but the ones in our price range were dying and/or ugly. So went went toward the beer. So much for love! However, just before the beer is the ice cream. On an end cap was a glass case full of Magnum bars, which were half off. We had enough for a 3-pack of Magnum bars and a Heineken. 


I hemmed and hawed and danced around saying I couldn't break my Whole30 diet, I just couldn't. And that he wouldn't be leading well as the head of our family if he brought those quality creamy chocolatey dreams into the house.


Back in the kitchen, he poured his beer into a glass, we tore open the plastic packaging, "cheers"ed the Magnum bars, held them aloft, and toasted to freedom in Christ before the first delectable bite.

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Regret did settle in fairly quickly. I was on Day 22 out of 30 without a single cheat for crying out loud. But I didn't die of a sugar overdose... or happiness for that matter. I think it was worth it just so I could tell you this story. 


Back on the wagon today...

Nathan in Romania

Nathan went to Romania last week. I didn't publicize this on the blog because I didn't want anyone to break into the house while I was home alone. JK... kinda. Another bonus about living with the McKenneys is that I didn't have worry so much about the whole robbers thing. And my bedroom window is on the third floor, so that helps. Anyway... I'll get started.

My husband, the cheapest man alive, chose a journey that included a night train from Durham, an overnight stay at Gatwick, an 8-hour layover in Frankfurt, and a midnight arrival in Bucharest the following day. He's cray-cray.

Nathan didn't want to stay at a hotel between the hours of 1 a.m., when he arrived in London, and 10 a.m., when his flight departed. Oh no... He took a picture of his resting place at the airport, a.k.a behind the pagan high altar of the multi-faith chapel.

I'm not sure what the two blocks between the cross and the star of David represent. You?

During his layover in Frankfurt, he took the same amount of pictures as he did for the rest of his time in Romania.

Cool German buildings

Some more cool German buildings on a river

A classic German meal. I think it's safe to presume that he was off the Whole30 wagon during his trip.

So why did Nathan go to Romania in the first place? Well, a two main reasons:1) to see the ministry that my parents helped found 20 years ago, called Children to Love International and 2) to support Jake (center), who is currently the main caretaker for Ramos (left).

****update: pictures of the kids have been removed until permission has been granted by the appropriate people. I jumped the gun! Sorry!***

Ramos was in hospice care until Jake came to be with him in April. He is doing much, much better, but he is still not expected to survive his blood infection. He has suffered much in his 16 years, including  horrific abuse in orphanages and the rehab center where he is now. He split his chin open a few years ago, and the wound never properly healed, leading to sepsis. Needless to say, it was/is such a sad story that only makes sense in light of eternity.

He also saw mangy dogs...

...and palatial buildings...

...and pretty flowers...

...and rusty old Dacias...

...and kept with tradition...

...and saw John Piper preach twice...

...and came home with some duty free German chocolate.

When I asked him what the highlight of his trip was, he said it was hanging out with John Piper in the airport for TWO HOURS on the way home. Can you imagine?!

John Piper's Desiring God website is here. You must check out Ian and Larissa's story on the front page. His biographical sketches are found here. Start with John G. Paton one, "You Will Be Eaten By Cannibals," at the bottom of the page. Ah-mazing. One of my favorite things too is the "Ask Pastor John" series. You could type it into YouTube. Here's one to get you started: What would you say to a man wanting to sleep with his girlfriend?

Mother's Day for Waiting Moms

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Thanks to my awesome mom for sending this to me. It's been helpful in preparing for yet another Mother's Day (my second this year!) with aching, empty arms. Happy Mother's Day to her, to all moms, and to moms in waiting like me. Joni and Friends Daily Devotional  May 6, 2012 Greetings!

Mother's Day

'Sing, O barren woman, you who never bore a child; burst into song, shout for joy, you who were never in labor; because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband,' says the Lord.  Isaiah 54:1 For years my husband Ken and I tried to conceive a child. I knew of other spinal-cord injured women who gave birth to children, and was convinced I could do the same. I planned to turn my art studio into a baby nursery, and my wheelchair into a 'stroller.' I could even envision holding my baby in a 'kangaroo carrier' on my wheelchair. But it wasn't to be. After many tests at an infertility clinic, Ken and I realized we would not be able to have a child. At first, I was devastated. But then we realized we already had a family. A worldwide family. We began to rejoice anew over the thousands of spiritual children - especially children with disabilities - that my story had touched over the years. Ken and I began to pray in a deeper, more specific way for these young people. Almost over night God took away the pain and emptiness of my barren womb. I almost plastered an Isaiah 54:1 bumper sticker on the back of my wheelchair!                            There's a reason for every woman to celebrate Mother's Day - even those who, like me, do not have children. Any woman, whether single or widowed, can enjoy rich relationships with boys and girls in their neighborhoods, churches, and extended family. If you have never given birth to a child, ask God to show you a young person whose life you can spiritually nurture - it'll be a reason to "burst into song and shout for joy." Look up Child Evangelism Fellowship atwww.cefonline.com to find ways you can share Christ with young people. Lord God, I'm glad you take delight when we provide spiritual 'parenting' to children in our sphere of influence. Use me to bring more boys and girls into your kingdom!

Blessings, Joni and Friends www.joniandfriends.org

My Hall of Fame Mom

I'm so proud of my mom! She was just inducted into her high school's hall of fame. What for? For being AWESOME. Taft High churned out an AMAZING author/interpreter/professor/non-profit organization founder/advocate for the orphans and disabled/daughter/sister/wife/mom. 

I'm bursting with pride and tears! I just wish I could have been there.

I love this picture of June taking pictures. :)

My sister and mom at the dinner

My mom in front of her "Princess Diana" picture. It was originally taken for a jacket cover for some ASL worship videos she did for Deaf Missions, but I think it looks royal. 

Woohoo!

My brother and sister

Go Wildcats! 

Here is the video of her speech. Thanks to my cousin Robin for recording it and to my uncle Bob for e-mailing it to me! The sound isn't that great but you can hear it if you turn the sound all the way up.

Leave a congratulatory note for her here in the comments. Or if you see her before I do, please give her a big hug from me.

On a Walk

We went on a walk. 

This picture makes Durham look like Tijuana, but these are just a few gardening allotments, which kind of look ghetto through the camera.

The cathedral through the haze

Sunshine for once. I think this was one of two sunny days since I've been back from my cruise.

I asked Nathan if I could take his picture. He took this to mean that I wanted him to pull up his sleeves and show his muscles.

And flex them.

But I LOVE this one. He just looks handsome and happy, like he always looks.

Cathedral in the distance

In front of the fields of gold

This crop has the unfortunate name of rapeseed.

A self portrait which, shockingly, does not include Nathan's open mouth. 

Enjoy your weekend!