Since starting...

Since we began this new lifestyle several weeks ago I have experienced an increase in energy...significant also as I have eliminated caffine and sugar from my normal eating/drinking.

The biggest cravings I've had have been for salty snacks such as chips, but those cravings have been short and infrequent.  When I began this diet, I weighed in at 178 lbs, and am already down to 168.  Ten pounds in a few weeks with an abundance of energy isn't bad at all! 

The few things that have been a bit problematic with the diet though are how in my opinion it was not an easy to start diet...in other words, we had to plan for this to be successful.  We also had to change our food shopping habits, and I have found that our grocery bill has gone up; more on that as I track our purchases etc. in the upcoming blogs.

As far as the meals go, they have been great.  I've attached a few pics of the meals we've enjoyed below.  One thing that has been great is that Kathy found a great way to make a fantastic chicken using coconut oil and nuts:

Recipe:
1-2 lbs of chicken breasts cut into "cutlets"
3 tbs of coconut oil
1/2 cup pistachios (unsalted)
1/2 cup almonds (unsalted)
fresh herbs (I used sage, marjoram, parsley and thyme)
2 Bell peppers
3-4 Portabella caps
Lemmon pepper
Black pepper
1-2 Tomatos
1 Cucumber
2 Tbs Flax Oil
1 Fresh Lime
1/2 cup dry white wine

Directions:
Prepare all cutting first!  I can't overemphasise this enough...I think too many people start cooking and aren't prepared to turn on the stove because all their veggies etc aren't cut!
-Cut the chicken into 3-6 cutlets approximately 1/2-3/4" thick
-Using a food chopper or processer grind/mix the nuts and herbs and pepper to taste
-Slice the vegetables as desired
-Pat dry chicken and coat with the nut mixture put onto cutting board or seperate plate
-Heat two skillet pans over medium
-Add coconut oil to both pans
-Place peppers and mushrooms into one pan, stir and then turn to simmer
-Pan fry the chicken in the coconut oil, approximately 4-5 minutes per side
-After turning the chicken add the wine to the veggies and stir, then cover again...season with pepper to taste.
-Meanwhile, combine flax oil, and lime juice and whisk until combined, pepper to taste.  Add any herbs you like to this.  Toss with the tomatos and cucumbers.

Enjoy!