BIG Announcement: Meet KateUpdates.com!

Happy Friday!

Have I told you how much I appreciate you lately? I really do. I’m so thankful to be a part of such a caring, supportive and inspirational group. Just wanted you to know 🙂

Well … Do you notice anything different about my site? Hmm … I’ll just tell you. I moved from that looong kateupdates.wordpress.com url to simply KateUpdates.com. I’ve set things up so that they will automatically redirect but there is one change you need to note: If you were previously following my blog through wordpress.com, you will now need to subscribe through the “RSS” feed OR simply subscribe via email to get my posts emailed to you (the box to your right). If you already get my updates sent to your email, you don’t need to do anything.

It may seem like a small change but it’s going to mean BIG things soon … It will give us more opportunities to interact, I’ll be able to offer special events and prizes and share freebies with you. It’s going to be really fun! Eventually, this site will have a completely different look but for now, we’re just moving the domain to KateUpdates.com.

That’s it! Just wanted to let you know what’s happening and to thank you for being so faithful in following me. I have so much fun and it’s amazing to have a community of like-minded health seekers who are on their way to Live. Happy. Healthy!

~ Kate

The Tale of the Creepy Cookie …

So, as you may have heard, this month I’m doing the Whole30 (aka Dirty 30) for the second time since August ’12. It’s been really challenging but I feel like I’m rounding a corner at this point. It’s day #11 and I feel like my sugar cravings are finally starting to subside. There was, however, an incident yesterday that I want to share with you …

The Tale of the Creepy Cookie

Yesterday I was in my kitchen preparing lunch after waiting WAY too long to eat. I should have made lunch sooner but I had gotten caught up in a work project that distracted me. Well, when you’re trying to eat healthy, it can be REALLY hard to make smart, healthy decisions if you wait until you’re ravenous. Unfortunately, that’s what I did and I found myself in a pickle. Well, a cookie.

As I was preparing my lunch, I opened the fridge to pull out some ingredients when I saw the frozen chocolate chip cookie dough that Daniel had purchased earlier in the week. I stood there, staring at the dough. Then, it spoke to me, “Daniel isn’t home to see you eat me,” it said in a sexy whisper. And, I thought about it.

First, that argument is completely stupid. Since when is my health dependent on who else is around? Who cares?! This is about me not someone else. The only person I’d be cheating on is myself. Think about that for a second! It’s simply ludicrous. Still … I did start thinking about chowing down on that artificially flavored, preservative-filled sugary stuff. But wait … it gets worse.

“You know, I’d go really great with the chocolate ice cream that’s in the freezer.” UGH. How did this cookie know me SO WELL?!?! OMG. OK, deep breaths. This whole interaction lasted about 5-seconds but it felt like time stood still. There I was, standing with the fridge door gaping and for a moment considering throwing caution and good sense to the wind when …

I exclaimed, “Heck no, you creepy cookie!” (OK maybe not out loud but still … ) and I quickly closed the fridge door and kept making my lunch.

The cookie didn’t win! I had overcome the creepy cookie and all its companions. That was really tough but I felt so strong and amazing afterward.

And you know what? It gets easier to say no the more you do it. It’s really hard at first but the truth is you’re only cheating on yourself.

Say no to temptation today. What you do when no one’s around can end up being the make or break to your success in eating and living healthy.

~ Kate

This Sugar is Bananas. B-a-n-a-n-a-s: A Natural Whole30 Sweetener!

Hi there!

Looking for a natural Whole30 sweetener? If you’re doing the Whole30, you know how tough it can be to let go of sugar. It’s amazing how much sugar we consume each day and it’s even more astounding how much we don’t even notice it. Well, completely omitting sugar of any kind (other than a small amount of fruit) for a whole month has a way of making you keenly aware of just how much sugar you’re actually used to.

The first few days of this challenge were really difficult for me because of this. Since this is my second Whole30 challenge, I thought it would be easier … it’s kinda not. Ha! Well, I mean it’s easier in that I already know what to eat/not eat and my pantry was already stocked because this diet is very similar to eating Paleo. But the purging of sugar has been simply painful. Yikes.

I knew I wasn’t where I needed to be, which is why I announced this challenge but I didn’t realize just how far off course I had gotten until I hit about day 2. I was grumpy and even gave into dark chocolate a couple times (I’m extending my challenge a couple days because of this.) It was ROUGH. But as long as I kept milking the sweet stuff I wasn’t going to move forward. So, I pushed through and removed all sweets (even Paleo-friendly options) from my diet.

This is day #9 and I’m starting to feel really good. I can tell my body is adjusting and I LOVE that feeling. Until you do the Whole30, you really, really, REALLY don’t know what you’re missing. Our bodies are so smart that they adapt to what we give them as much as possible. When we give our bodies unnatural elements that they don’t understand how to process, that’s when things get disrupted and backed up (literally!)

I wanted to share a true natural sweetener option that is compliant with the Whole30 and absolutely delicious: Bananas. I didn’t even think of this option before and I’m kinda kicking myself. I use bananas in my baking a lot and because they are so sweet naturally, you really don’t have to use much at all! So if you’re looking for something on the sweeter side to compliment your meal, give bananas a chance — I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

Here’s what I had for breakfast this morning. It’s a really easy and absolutely delicious meal. It gives you a nice, sweet option that has hardly any sugar at all. Let me know what you think! Want more Whole30 breakfast options? Click here.

Breakfast Gone Bananas

Ingredients

2 slices all-natural, nitrate-free bacon

2 eggs

1 c sweet potato, shredded

1/4-1/2 medium banana, sliced

1 T bacon fat

Directions

1. Preheat your oven to 425 degrees and bake your bacon (about 6 minutes a side.) Baking is KEY in my opinion for evenly cooked bacon.
2. Once your bacon is cooking, melt the bacon fat into a medium frying pan over medium heat.
3. Add the shredded sweet potatoes forming them into a disk (like hash browns.) These will cook as long as your bacon does or just a little longer. Flip the sweet potato cake every few minutes until it’s softened and browning.
4. Once your bacon is done, pull it out of the oven and lay it on your sweet potatoes.
5. Add 2 eggs and fry over-medium or over-easy, keeping the yolk intact.
6. Once the eggs are done, plate, break the yolks and tear the bacon into bite-sized pieces.
7. Mix it all together and bringing in pieces of banana to taste.
8. Enjoy! This dish will keep you full for hours.

If you’re doing the Whole30, what day are you on? Keep pushing through and you will discover a body, mind and spirit like you never knew you could have.

~ Kate