Where the h-e-double-hockeysticks did summer go?? 😯 I can’t believe I am doing the monthly wrap up post already.
John asked me to get him up when I got up so we could get an early start on the day because we both have a lot to do today. I requested no whining when I did so.  It was a gorgeous morning, nice and cool. We headed out on the path, which was so quiet in the early morning. We actually saw 3 deer on the path! They bolted before I could get a picture, though. I said to John, “See how nice it is to get up this early?”. His answer, “No.” 😈
After 6 miles, we arrived at our destination.
Check out the temperature before 8 am:
I had a wheat bagel with cream cheese and a cuppa joe!
The weird thing? Chewing the bagel. I have not had any bread product in 3 weeks and there is no other food that has the chew of crusty bread or bagels.
I’m happy now. 😀
So let’s review goals, shall we? I had 2 goals for this month.
1. Begin C25K. In progress. This is a 9 week program, so obviously I am not finished. I am uncertain as to whether I will finish the program. The run intervals have been short and I notice little niggling things with my leg, but I have completed the first 4 weeks without incident.
2. Go grain-free for 21 days. I did it! I might have ingested some accidental grain products, like when I had a few marshmallows (corn syrup), but other than that I did stellar. And you know what? It was not that hard. The hardest thing was eating out. And let me tell you – going grain free is a lot harder than going gluten free! Corn is in everything. Everything!
I did find out some interesting things about me going grain free. It eliminated pretty much all my cravings for bread products and for sweets. Not that I didn’t eat sweets, but it really curbed my penchant for over snacking. Which is a good thing. When I did snack, it tended to be on nuts pretty much. I ate a *lot* of nuts. Sometimes fruit as well (especially dried pineapple 
).
I also found I didn’t need grains to get in my fiber. I averaged 25 to 30 grams of fiber a day. Coconut flour, flax,nuts, and fruits and veggies gave me what I needed.
Was the food I ate boring for 3 weeks? You tell me.
And now, the part I know you all reaaalllly wanted to know. Did I lose any weight? Yes. I did. In those 3 weeks I lost 6.5 pounds. 😯 Now, I do take 2 pounds of that with a grain of salt because I weighed myself after a long bike ride, which always results in a couple of pounds of water retention. So even if it was 4.5 pounds, that is an enormous amount of weight for me to lose in 3 weeks!
I have decided I am going to keep grains lower in my diet for the time being because to not have the cravings for food is really so, so nice. It pretty much took care of PMS cravings as well. They were minimal at best. I am definitely using this strategy for the holidays and letting the grains I eat during that time be the treats and such.
I am so pleased that the no-grain challenge did exactly what it was supposed to do, which was to get me on a better choice path because I was veering off it a little bit. Weight loss was a bonus.
Now I have to come up with some new challenges for September!
Very happy to see that you got the results you wanted! ‘I’ can’t even imagine no grains…
It’s something I thought was going to be really, really hard and I still don’t understand why it wasn’t LOL.
I’m already looking forward to a cupcake ride 😀
I have been eagerly awaiting your results and I have been rewarded!!! Congratulations on your loss.
I think challenges like these are wonderful for instilling a sense of awareness!!! Great work!
That’s why I like doing my challenges. I may not always succeed, but I always learn something.
Awesome! I LOVE the mornings too, except that they come so early! 😉
Food looks great!
Dawn
Hi Lori! Thanks for the ending analysis and pounds loss on your grain-free challenge. Very useful.
🙂 Marion
Dear Lori,
If you are wanting summer, come to Texas – we will have it for the next two months, minimum.
Signed,
Hot in Texas
P.S. Nice loss with the grain-free challenge – way to kick start your metabolism!!!
I’ve noticed it’s gotten really cool here in the a.m!
Glad to see that your experiment worked well and resulted in a nice loss.
I have to agree with John though, early morning just aren’t my thing!!
Kudos on a great month!
I love early mornings and try to never miss a sunrise!
Your food photos look like they should be in a magazine! Congratulations on accomplishing your grain-free challenge. Now on to the next one!
There has been so much talk about grain free lately, I just bought Wheat Belly, a book talking about going grain free. I may give it a try after I read the book
Lori, this is so very very interesting. Because you are saying the same thing the paleo/primarian camp says. I believe them and I believe you. The thing is, it seems very few people can continue on that path in this world FILLED with grains. I also wonder if eventually you (not you specifically) wouldn’t eventually find enough substitutes of other types of food that you would eventually be eating just as much. Nevertheless, it is an impressive challenge with an impressive result.
And, you are right, there is no substitute for the chew factor of good bread/granola/baked goods etc.
Thanks so much for sharing this with us. I have much food for thought (LOL.)
Oh, you certainly can eat as much pretty easily. Hello nuts! It was a very interesting challenge, I have to say.
Lori that’s a fantastic weight loss in a month: congratulations! This no grain challenge worked really well for you. I’ve said it before and say it again: what I like so much about you is that you have good goals every month and you stick to it too.
Guess you and I should go for the early bagel and let John and R. sleep in. Seems we’re the same, I’m an early morning person too but R. likes to sleep in a bit 🙂
Summer is over here too, well not quite yet it seems next weekend is going to be warm if not hot but after that it’s over. I don’t mind as fall is my favorite season of the year.
Terrific job! I’ve noticed when I go gluten-free for an extended period that the scale appreciates me efforts. What a great weight loss!
Can’t believe summer is over. I want to cry now in a corner and not come out until May. Ugh. But here’s to a fantastic September and a really, really long Fall!
Hello Lori! I tried the 21-day grain challenge and loved it. My body had interesting response when I ate my first grain product. How has your body responded?
Thanks, Judith
I actually have not notice much, though I am having 1 serving a grain a day. If I ate more I would probably get the cravings back. I am not sure if the cravings are wheat related or grain related, but I tend to think it is more wheat.
Great job on the challenge! I suck at challenges like that, the second you tell me I can’t eat something, the more I want it!
And the weight loss was a nice bonus too! 😀
Great to hear those results Lori! I love reading about your challenges cause I don’t do them!;-)
I don’t know.. something about all the years I have been doing this & now close to 54, I am at a point where I will only do so much! 🙂 You know me, I do work hard at it with the way I do things BUT I don’t want to go like 3 weeks without things I want BUT I do understand why you do it! Good job!
Love the temp in the morning there & how nice is that! Deer too! 🙂
Great job on the grain challenge. That must have been the best bagel ever.
I try to limit my grains because they do cause me to crave more and more. I know I could lose those last few pounds if I cut them out but, like Biz, as soon as I tell myself I can’t have something that is all I want. I’ll then overeat everything else until I breakdown and have the forbidden food. It’s a vicious cycle I’m trying to stay out of.
Can’t wait to see your goals for September. Enjoy the nice cool weather.