The goal and focus of Whole 30 is not suppose to be about losing weight, it's about learning to listen to your body's likes and dislikes, eating whole healthy food, and feeling great. But, for me, weight loss is one of the main reasons I'm doing this round. With the lost two rounds, I lost between 8-11 lbs in 30 days. I want to lose 10 lbs. for health reasons, but the non-scal victories will be most welcome. I am looking forward to feeling my very best again and getting off of gluten and refined sugar is the ticket.

Non-Scale Victories (NSV) is the term Whole 30 uses to put a name to things that are the result of being on Whole 30. Things that are more important than weight loss. Here's their list of NSV. Take a peek, and...

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Snacking is basically not allowed on Whole 30, it's not encouraged anyhow. We are suppose to be retraining our bodies to eat three meals a day and feel satisfied and our minds need to learn to ignore snacking cues that arise from habit or boredom. In my case that's watching TV at night. The minute I sit down my brain thinks chips, nuts, ice cream.

The following recipe is not awesome, but there's not much that is compliant to snack on. I don't consider raw veggies, olives or salami much of a snack, but that's about all you can have on Whole 30. Nuts are allowed and will help satisfy the snack urge. They're also good to have in your purse or car, along with a meat stick and a piece of fruit, in case you find yourself stuck someplace...

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A soak in the tub with epsom salts and eucalyptus essential oil last night got me through it, but it was a rough one. I went to bed hungry and pissed off at the world that I've gained 10 lbs. over the Holidays because I lack willpower.

Here's something that I know to be essential to staying compliant on Whole 30 - quick and easy meals, meals I can make for just myself, in a hurry because I worked late or I need to get to the soap shop and I'm starving. So I will share two of those meals with you today, in case you're thinking Whole 30 is too restrictive. Truth is Whole 30 IS restrictive, but with some planning and a list in hand before hitting the grocery store you can do it. If I can, you can,...

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Carb withdrawal is real, friends. The Sugar Dragon doesn't give up easy.

I woke up with an even worse headache than I knew I was going to have because I've done Whole 30 twice before. In fact, it was actually the headache the woke me at 7:00am.  I have zero energy and an entire days worth of work in front of me. My Whole 30 Day To Day journal (which I strongly suggest you get)  "Welcome To Day 2" chapter says 94.3% of us will have a headache, feel foggy, lightheaded and lethargic today because "the amount of suck you are feeling today will be in direct proportion to the amount of junk you were eating before you started Whole 30". I have a doozy because well, Carba-Palooza.

I don't have much energy right now to type, so I will...

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I don't make New Years resolutions, they tend to be grandiose ideas with unattainble goals that just set me up for failure. Instead I set realistic goals for myself throughout the year and try to stay on track. Living my best healthy-self life is one of those goals and clean eating is an absolute essential piece of that goal. However, since September my food choices and eating habits have been terrible, I am officially off track. When Johnny moved to college, my whole life and household routine was turned upside down. Eating well was the first thing out the door.

So I made up my mind in late December to start Whole 30 - this will be my third round. I'm thinking of this as a Control/Alt/Delete on my body, a cleanse and an opportunity to start over from scratch. I...

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Served up at basement card parties and corner bars for the last 100+ years, the Brandy Old-Fashioned Sweet is a Wisconsin classic with an intersting history. It's still the drink of choice of deer hunters and ice fishermen, before and after Packer games, and at supper clubs serving up another Wisconsin classic - the Friday night fish fry.

Growing up, my Polish/German parents and grandparents always had a 1.75L  bottle of Korbel brandy on hand. Family gatherings, holidays and celebrations like weddings, anniversary parties and multi-generational reunions always included the matriarchs mixing up big batches of the Brandy Old-Fashioned Sweet which they'd fondly refer to as "making soup" when us kids would ask what they were doing? No fancy muddling tool required, a tube of lipstick or a Bic lighter sufficed back in the day.

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This right here is the perfect Fall dessert! It's a delicious and simple cake that comes from my favorite cookbook author, The Barefoot Contessa, Ina Garten. Her recipes never flop or dissappoint. This cake erved warm with vanilla ice cream, it's to die for. But is's also pretty spectacular served at room temperature a dollup of real whip cream.

Cranberry & Apple Cake

12 oz. fresh cranberries, rinsed and picked over for stems
1 Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored, and diced
½ cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
1 Tbsp. grated orange zest (2 oranges)
¼ cup freshly squeezed orange juice
1 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon, divided
2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup plus 1 Tbsp. granulated sugar
1 stick unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
¼ cup sour cream
1 cup...

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In nursing school, I was taught that the number one way to prevent the spread of disease is frequent hand-washing. Although you may think you are washing your hands correctly, be sure you are following the guidelines, below. Soap is important, but what's actually most important is the action, the vigorous rubbing of all surfaces of your hands for at least 20 seconds to mechanically remove germs.

This infographic shows how the World Health Organization recommends handwashing be carried out:

If you're a liquid hand soap user, and want an all-natural soap, below is a DIY recipe that's inexpensive, easy, and a great alternative to the commercial gunk that you buy at the store. 

Amazon sells the foaming dispensers and Dr. Bronner's, and Avery sells labels with free templates that you can down load, customize, and print right...

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This year has been the best year I can remember in a very long time for tomatoes, and I have a bumper crop! I did water-bath can some of them as sauce last month, but honestly, it's an ordeal. So here's a super easy method for freezing diced tomatoes so that you have them all winter long to be used in soups, chili, stews, and sauces, any recipe that calls for a can of diced tomatoes. Roasting them first adds so much flavor!

Let's Freeze 'Em!

Preheat oven to 390 degrees.

No need to blanch and peel the tomaotes, they taste fine with skins on. This cuts your work into a fraction of the time it would otherwise take. Chop the tomatoes into 16th (that's in half, then half the halves and half again - got that?) You can add fresh basil if...

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