Padre = Pooch + Pounds

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Last week we spent a much needed week at South Padre Island. We had a blast! Izzy loved the beach and being with family every day.


While I made sure that Izzy stayed on her strict diet, I took this opportunity to go on a diet vacation. I ate toast with my breakfast, potato chips for a snack and even had fried food for dinner on the way home.


The first negative change I noticed was the reappearance of my pooch or muffin top, if you will... you know, the little bit of belly that hangs over the top of my shorts. This was the thing I was so excited about losing on this diet! I remember when I noticed it was gone... I stared in the mirror for fifteen minutes straight, just looking at my flat belly. I hadn't had a flat belly for about four years, and I gained it back in one short week. Not only did I gain my pooch back, but I also gained weight... seven pounds to be exact.

Even though the pooch and the pounds really bothered me, I felt drained of energy, not wanting to do anything. It's amazing how much different I felt by indulging in "normal" foods. Of course, the first few bites tasted great, but after that, I would almost immediately start feeling sick.


So since we've been home, I've been on a mission to get back on track. It's been pretty easy, actually, because our kitchen is full of great paleo food choices. And I've started experimenting with food more. I made my own breakfast sausage this week and bought nori at the sushi counter at HEB to wrap meats and veggies.


I've realized that while we are eating paleo, we're not eating enough vegetables. It's easy for me to eat meat, fruit, berries, (good) fat, and nuts, but the veggies are a bit harder.


I've decided that we will try a new vegetable each week. Change it up a bit, and incorporate more vegetables in our diet. This week it was kale. I've never had kale before, but I've heard a lot of people talk about it and seen lots of recipes online for it. About an hour ago I made a batch of kale "chips". I just tasted them, and they are... different. Maybe I need to find a different way to cook kale.


Kale Chips

One bunch of kale


1 Tbsp. olive oil


1 Tbsp. vinegar (I used red wine vinegar)


Salt


Wash kale and dry good with paper towels or salad spinner. Tear into small potato chip-sized pieces. Place in a ziplock bag (or a bowl if you don't mind getting your hands oily) and add half of the oil. Move the kale around so that all pieces are equally coated. Add the rest of the olive oil, and coat again. Sprinkle vinegar over the kale and work in to coat each piece. Cook in a 300 degree oven for about 30 minutes. Remove and sprinkle with salt. Serve immediately.


All of the reviews for this recipe were great, so I'm wondering if I overcooked it... or maybe I just don't like kale... or maybe I was expecting it to taste like potato chips... yeah, whatever!

Comments

Jenni (Mac) D said…
Lora, have no fear! I was not a big fan of kale chips either :-\. But I hear you on the veggies thing...prior to February the only veggie I really ate was green beans. I now eat broccoli, some salad stuff, and sweet potatos (can we count that as a veggie?). Bell peppers and onions are good too. Otherwise I'm pretty much in a veggie rut. But good luck with starting over on the clean eating. If you have any questions at all just shoot me an email b/c I might be going through the same thing!
July 7, 2011 at 7:59 PM
Lora said…
Those are pretty much the same vegetables that we are eating! I eat a big a** salad for lunch every day, and we have either broccoli or sweet potatoes with every meal and bell peppers and onions when we have "mexican" food. I've got to change it up! Greg informed me that kale is a salad bar decoration... what?! When he worked at a restaurant they used it to line the salad bar... I thought kale looked familiar!
July 8, 2011 at 4:29 PM
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