2013-07-11

Carnivorous Husband Health Challenge (and My Gym Challenge) Day 1

Hello Readers!  It has been way too long since I have posted!  I realized I was on day 3 of week 5 of my 6-week Eat to Live health challenge the last time I posted, and for those of you who have been following.... To sum it up: I cheated and let things slip, I tried my best to stick with it, but then certain events came up including my birthday, having house (apartment*) guests stay for nearly a week, having a large basketball tournament downtown and eating on the go, eating out often with friends and family, and then a trip to the other side of the state for 4th of July weekend and staying with the in-laws. I'd like to think that I made the best choices I could in the situations I was in, but those choices ended up becoming further and further away from the Nutritarian lifestyle.  This is sad for me to admit, but we all have mistakes and setbacks and this was one of mine.  What do you tell yourself when you fall off the wagon?

In other news.... I have some pretty crazy news that I never thought I would ever hear: my very meat and potatoes carnivorous husband is going to try the Nutritarian diet.... For one week.... With a catch.... I will have to do everything he says at the gym for the week.  The reason this "deal" came about was when we had gone to our small apartment gym yesterday after not having worked out since all of the commotion that led me off of my 6-week challenge. I wanted to go because I was needing to read a bunch of blog emails and was going to power walk on the treadmill while I did. I thought I was being quite productive since I would normally sit my lazy booty in the back porch and do the same thing. Kevin, who went hard on the stationary bike, told me that when I go to the gym I should be dripping in sweat and pushing myself to work hard and improve. That is all fine and dandy, but not something I would normally do. 

Later on that evening Kevin decided to make me a deal: he would eat however I wanted him to for a week as long as I would do whatever he said at the gym for a week.  One week of hard working out to get my husband to seriously try eating Nutritarian?  I'M IN!  So this is what brings me back to blogging after my shame of not completing my 6-week challenge: documenting my husband's first tracks in Nutritarian shoes!


We started all of this today, and I have to say that it didn't go half bad. Here is how Kevin (and I) ate today:

Breakfast: Dr. Fuhrman Antioxidant Rich Breakfast Bar (find the recipe in Dr. Fuhrman's Member Center), 1 apple

Lunch: large romaine (me, spinach) salad with broccoli, cucumber, chickpeas and OMG Walnut Dressing (recipe from My Beef With Meat), 1 apple
Dinner: corn on the cob, Broccoli Mushroom Bisque (recipe in the Dr. Fuhrman Member Center), Better-Milk Biscuits (My Beef With Meat), sugar snap peas, and blackberries

Overall, Kevin was a great sport other than thinking the soup was way too bland, but he liked it with the biscuits I made. He said this was so much more food than he was used to eating (volume-wise), but that he liked the fruit. He was disappointed that today happened to be Free Slurpee Day and he wasn't allowed to have one. As for my hard work out, I was definitely sweating much more than I am used to at the gym, but feel energized and ready to go for tomorrow. 

I'm looking forward to the rest of the week and taking on new challenges at the gym and in the kitchen. My husband will not be the easiest person to cater for while eating Nutritarian, but I will make it work, and hopefully he has a longer list of vegetables and Nutritarian dishes that he likes by the end of the week.

Do you have any recipes you would suggest for a meat and potato guy going Nutritarian?  He loves broccoli, romaine lettuce, and cucumbers.... But not too many other veggies. 

Oh, and here are some fun pictures from our shenanigans over the last few weeks since I have posted:







7 comments:

  1. Hi I found you through the blog roll on Healthy Girl's Kitchen. I think it's so much easier to eat healthy when your partner eats the same way. Wishing you all the best as you move through this week!

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  2. I love this! Will you also share what your husband is having you do in the gym? What was your workout today?

    Thanks!
    courtney

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    1. Sure, I will include my workouts for the week from here on out! Yesterday he had me stretch for 10 minutes, go hard on the stationary bike for 30 minutes, stretch for 5, abs for 15, calf raises, then 5 more minutes of stretching.

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    2. Thank you! I am always looking for new workout ideas :-)

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  3. I'm so glad you're back! I have been looking for you as I found you on pinterest as I started my own first Eat to Live Challenge! I have missed you, and SOOO appreciate your honesty in what was going on! I get it! I dd finish my first challenge and will likely do another in the fall. I look forward to following you again! Good luck to you and Kevin this week!
    Amy

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  4. There are some awesome ETL recipes for bean burgers or "neat" loaf that might work. Check out Jeff Novick on Facebook for links to his basic recipes for those "meat" substitutes. Just leave out salt and put in more herbs.

    I make them with a can of drained no-salt beans, water sautéed mushrooms and onion, soaked oatmeal, tomato paste and lots of garlic and herbs. Chill the mixture and the make patties and bake in the oven or make a loaf and bake. Top with tomato near the end of cooking.

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