NOvember.

No. That's not a typo in the title. I'm doing a diet challenge with my Beach Body Coach during the month of November, and along with the basic rules of the challenge, I'm going to also challenge myself to consume NO dairy, NO grains, and NO alcohol this month as well. We're starting on Monday the 4th, so it will be almost 4 weeks. I will, however, consider Thanksgiving a day off. The once a year day to celebrate FOOD will be celebrated in all it's glory.

The rules to the November Challenge are simple. Drink a "Shakeology" shake once a day, communicate with the group via Facebook, and exercise. I'm hoping that with the elimination of dairy, grains, and alcohol, I can drop 20 pounds this month.

I'll be having my shake either for breakfast, or for brunch daily. Lunch will be lettuce wraps, or leftovers from supper the night before. Suppers are almost always grilled or roasted lean meat and a green veggie. We also love cauliflower around here. Perhaps I'll experiment with a whipped cauliflower "crust" on a casserole of some sort. Chicken, onions, spinach, garlic, and the cauli-crust. May have to work on this. Sounds doable for sure. 

I have a few Paleo cook books, so I'll check out some of the ideas and meals they have listed to get more ideas. I'm not a fan of making something familiar out of new ingredients. I don't think gluten free bread is an equal substitute to wheat flour based breads. I do, however, love gluten free bread as a completely different food. When I eat whipped cauliflower, I don't say to myself, "It tastes JUST like mashed potatoes!" because it doesn't taste anything like potatoes. It not the same texture, and the taste isn't similar. But, I do love myself some whipped cauliflower, yes I do. And I love mashed potatoes, but I don't think they are the same, and I don't feel they are exchangeable. That's an insult to the two dishes as individuals. And you're not mashing the cauliflower, so it annoys me when people call it mashed cauliflower. You're whirring the shit out of it in the food processor or blender, not delicately mashing or even "whipping" with your hand blender. 

I'm not a low-carb newbie. I lost over 70 pounds in my late 20's doing the low-carb thing. My beautiful unborn son would only allow me to eat French toast for a few weeks, and when you're pregnant and your baby demands a specific food, you listen. Both pregnancies were close together, and my second was difficult and included bed rest for 7 weeks. Almost 2 months in bed does quite a number on your physical structure. But, GG is 3.5 now, and the magical skinny-fairy has not shown up and granted my wish of being thin, strong, and healthy with only the wave of her magic wand. Stupid bitch. I guess the Kardashians pay more than I do. 

Really, it's better this way. I'm way too much of a control freak. I'm sure the skinny-fairy would do something "wrong", so I should just do this myself. I don't like pissing off the fairy's, after all. Never a good idea.

So, wish me luck, stay hungry, and play with your food.