Paleo banana bread

Ingredients:
3 eggs, separated
5 tbsp honey
4 tbsp olive oil
2 mashed bananas
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 cups almond flour or finely grounded almonds

Directions:
- Preheat the oven to 350F.
- Cream the egg yolks and honey in a large bowl until light and fluffy.
-. Add the oil, vanilla, mashed banana, cinnamon, baking soda and almond flour and combine well.
- In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form.
- Fold egg whites into the banana mixture to pull it away from the sides before gradually folding the rest of the egg whites into the mixture.
- Line a loaf tin with coconut or almond oil and pour the banana mixture into this.
- Place in the oven for 40-45 mins


i borrowed this recipe from wheatfreeandglutenfreebreadrecipe.blogspot.com. It was delicious - totally and completely. The taste and texture was almost like regular banana bread.

coconut bread

Coconut Flour Bread

Ingredients

• 6 eggs
• 1/2 cup melted coconut oil or butter
• 1-2 tablespoons honey (optional, I usually leave it out)
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 3/4 cup coconut flour

Directions

1. Mix all ingredients together and pour into a small buttered loaf pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.
2. Turn the loaf out and cool completely on a rack before serving. That’s it! Enjoy.

I found this recipe from nourishingdays.com. I really made it because I'm craving french toast, and i plan to make it with this bread tomorrow. I will update . . . hoping its good!

my favorite breakfast

breakfast is my favorite meal, and with paleo, it is sometimes a challenge - because a lot of the yummy breakfast foods I love aren't paleo. But, my new favorite breakfast is quinoa with coconut milk, honey, cinnamon, and pecans. mmm. So delish!

80/20

So, although I will consider paleo a success (a 4 pound weight loss for me is huge - and I think it probably would have been more had I not cheated so badly around Halloween). The problem is, I miss some of the foods that I cannot have if I eat a strict paleo diet. Funny thing is, the dairy and grains haven't been as difficult for me as have been giving up legumes. Maybe its because I can find paleo substitutes for pretty much everything else. But there is no substitute for a bean. I eat a lot of beans, and I really miss them. So, I think I'm going to try a modified (by me) paleo diet - one in which I can eat beans. And maybe cheat once in a while on some of the other stuff (some days I want cheese - although giving that up hasn't been as difficult as I had anticipated).

Tonight I made a giant batch of split pea soup, and I put it into serving-sized containers for lunches this week. I also have lots of pulled pork and homemade chicken nuggets. I've found the key to success is preparation. If I already have all my meals pre-planned, I do much better. Lucky for me, I can eat the same meal every night for dinner for a week and not get tired of it. So giant batches of food work great for me.

I have decided too that instead of a weight goal (which has been my previous plan) I am working on a body fat goal. I would like to be under 30% fat by 2012. Sort of a New Year's goal, only in reverse. I have a little over 3% to get there, which is totally doable if I can work hard and stay away from the holiday treats. Wish me luck!!

one month down

I haven't forgotten to blog - I have just been busy . . . applying for a new job amongst other things . . .

but, I did want to post an update. I took my pictures, and had my weights and measurements taken today. Although I haven't had an 'earth shattering' change, I have lost: 4 pounds, 1 percent body fat, and 1 inch of my waist. The pictures aren't too striking, but you can tell in my belly and legs:
October 1, 2011:
November 1, 2011
The front and rear pics weren't significant enough to post, but they are slightly different . . .

The flesh is weak. . .

. . .and halloween sugar cookies are too damn good. . .

Yep. You guessed it! I cheated on paleo. The cookie tasted soo goood. Every last crumb. Right up until the time I got a migraine from all the sugar.

Demotivation

I got asked today when my baby is due. First of all, the number one rule with dealing with women is: unless you see the baby coming out, never assume there is one in there. But second of all, what a slap in the face after how hard I have been working. I considered skipping lunch, but hunger won out over vanity. I suppose I will have to work "that" much harder at the gym tonight.