What's in my fridge?

So a lot of people ask me this so here it is....

Also here is my wine fridge                    This is my ripening fruit

I also have a fruit bowl with organic bananas, kiwis, avocados, dates, jicama and more tomatoes.

So now you know see the wonderful bounty I have to choose from, which keeps me true to my vegan ways!

One day I will show you my cupboards and show you all my nuts, seeds, grains etc....

Tools of the trade

I wanted to show you the tools that have basically replaced my stove...

It took me a long time to be able to acquire such machines, and I want to stress that it's not necessary for a healthy lifestyle, but man-oh-man, does it help!!!!

When I first started I had the very basics a $30 dehydrator, a $29 juicer, a ninja blender, but as I used these products more and more, I began to realize that I needed to go from the honda of appliances and upgrade to the Porsche of machinery and kick this healthy stuff into high gear!!!

I'm still waiting for the appliance that will allow me to have an extra three hours per day to be able to dedicate more into my food prep, but for now I'm still juggling with the old fashioned techniques for time management.

I've realized that as my biggest obstacle to staying true to my diet has been poor time management.  I know that I have to make my health TOP priority, which means keeping fully stocked on organic fruits and veggies, having them properly rotating, so they don't all ripen and go bad at the same time, and so I always have fresh ripe food to eat when I'm hungry.  Also, having the right kinds of staples available to make the recipes I love.  Taking the time to wash, peel, chop, etc.  Oh there's so many other things that this topic could be it's own blog post, so I'll keep it simple.  The point is- not taking the time to do these things means not having the right kinds of food easily accessible, and having to turn to the outside world for food choices- and let me tell you that's pretty much going over to the DARK SIDE!

Ok, all kidding aside.  I wanted to write this post because as you can see I've really made an investment here.  Not just a BIG financial investment, but also a personal and psychological investment to stay true on my journey.  I'm still trekking along this path, making choice, mistakes and victories, and I am so happy to be sharing all of these- with all of YOU!!!!

New Start and juicing!

I took a week "off" the diet and by off, I just mean that I wasn't monitoring (strictly) what I ate, and basically acted, as I would have had I reached my goal weight.  I'm happy to report that I did not put on any weight even with the additions of some questionable foods.  I tried to make healthy choices even when I wasn't logging in my food.  I was staying at a friend's house for a week, so I didn't have my scale, my sneakers (to workout) or my DUKAN-ready fridge.  I tried to as best as I could, and for the most part it was as though I was on the consolidation phase.  I didn't eat any breads, pastas, rice or potatoes, BUT I did have about 3 bites of a chocolate lava cake (dinner out), 2 tablespoons of greek yogurt ice cream (work birthday party) and drinks (about 2- either wine, diet cokes, or vodka martinis) through out the week at various social gatherings.  Other than that I pretty much stuck to my modified-dukan (all PV).
To be honest, although I was doing really well on the diet, I guess I felt I needed some time "off" - not because of the food, but I just didn't want to think about anything.  There were a lot of things going on, and I was on full avoidance mode, but I am proud that for the most part I was honest with myself about the whole things, which kept me from binging or eating anything that was "too" bad.  This gave me some confidence for what it will be like, after Dukan.
Today is Saturday, and I need to really catch up this weekend to get back on track.  The diet is not difficult, but it is time consuming to do it right.  There's a lot of prepping that needs to be done in order to avoid any pitfalls.  On the bright side- I ordered a juicer and a food dehydrator.  Obviously, I can't have fruit, but I will maybe sneak some in from time to time to see how my body reacts to the sugar, but not till I drop about 2lbs to get to 30 lbs lost.  When I get to 35 lbs lost (MIDWAY POINT) I will introduce fruits back in.  I find that this way of doing the dukan works well for me, and helps me make active choices about what I put into my body.
Above you can see my groceries for the week!!!  I still have a freezer stocked with Salmon, chicken breasts, and turkey ground beef-- Can't wait to get back into my Journey-- sorry for the detour!