Jump to content

Death of the Dragon - 30 days of carnage (July 25)


emilyelowe

Recommended Posts

1 hour ago, emilyelowe said:

@SugarcubeOD Look at these beauties! Thanks so much for the great tip! 

IMG_0021.JPG

Eggalicious!  Mine were scrambled this morning (which I don't seem to get tired of, but SO prefer over easy).  I'm pretty good at the flip technique, but do experience the occasional fail, so must try the steam trick @SugarcubeOD.  

NSV (which does translate into a huge scale victory too) - buying new pants 2 waist sizes smaller :) 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 372
  • Created
  • Last Reply
15 hours ago, diamonds422 said:

Hello all, sorry to not have participated more in the thread this month. Things have been crazy! We closed on the house today and are moving tomorrow and this weekend. There was candy and cookies right under our noses the whole closing, but we didn't touch a thing. The past two days I've really wanted to quit. Like, really. Still do. Feels so silly with only one week to go. I need words of encouragement! 

You will feel so much more accomplished if you go all the way to the end! Trust me, I've quite early before and it's just not the same. PLUS, often the best results don't happen until the last day or two. Wait for the Tiger Blood! You can do it!

Also: everything that @SugarcubeOD said.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 hours ago, Laurie said:

I was thinking of giving up nuts/nut butters but instead I messed up with Rx bars.  I know that are for emergencies only but I ate them anyway and I overindulged on them.  Yesterday, I was super depressed and bought a box of four and ate all of them.  Earlier in the week, there were two days that I ate two Rx bars.  Obviously, I can't eat them.  I know they are technically compliant but totally against the spirit of the W30.  To me, eating so many of them counts as a failure.  Today should be day 19 but I should not be given credit for the days I screwed up with the Rx bars.  Thinking of starting over today as day 1 or just adding another 30 days or could I just count today as day 15 (which means I don't count M,T,W, TH of this week - since I ate rx bars on three of these days).  I really don't deserve to be on day 19 when I ate so many rx bars.  My head says just start over today as day 1.  Advice needed and appreciated. Thanks.

Hi @Laurie. First, I think you are being pretty hard on yourself here. I mean, this program is all about brutal honesty, but it's not about beating yourself up. Frankly, you're still giving food too much power. You are letting Rx Bars tell you what you "deserve." Well, what do they know? They are mooshed up fruit and nuts. What you "deserve," is to be happy and healthy and comfortable in your skin. And YOU (not Rx Bars) get to decide what you need to do next to accomplish that. 

I also think the fact that you are recognizing this as an issue and thinking about it and discussing it here is a bit of a victory in itself. Your awareness of your choices and why you eat the things you do is part of the battle to ultimate Food Freedom. 

I believe the technical rules state you don't have to start over for not following a recommendation, as long as you were following the rules (mods can confirm). Just that you need to do better going forward. I'm not starting over just because I've been eating potatoes twice per day pretty regularly for the first 17 days. I do know that it might impact my outcome, though, and now that I know that, I'm going to make better choices going forward. That's my choice. YOU are the only one that can decide that for you, though. If you feel it's hindered your progress, if you feel you're selling yourself short if you don't start over, then by all means, do it! And we will still be here to support you. But if starting over is going to set you up for failure in your reintroduction or make the program unbearably more difficult, then do what you can with the remaining 11 days you have. Like I said, up to you - not me, not the mods, and certainly not Rx Bars. ;) Good luck with your choice - you're taking strides for your health either way. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Day 18!

Hubby was feeling a little sick earlier in the week and now I am feeling it, too. A little painful to swallow on the left side of my throat. NOT happy about it and I'm really hope it passes quickly and doesn't become actual sickness. :( I believe the recommendations elsewhere in the thread were coconut oil but please let me know if others have immune-boosting, throat-soothing recommendations that I am not remembering!

Dinner last night went great! Everything was really yummy. We made this coconut crusted chicken, these poppers, and these green beans. This had me wondering - does the coconut on the chicken linked above count as fat for that meal? I kind of felt like they needed a dipping sauce, but my purpose in making them with the coconut was for that to be the fat so I didn't prepare a sauce. The poppers were not quite as "WOW!" as I hoped, but still yummy. I mean, bacon, so yeah. We also had an arugula/green apple/walnut salad with olive oil and balsamic and some cucumbers in olive oil and rice wine vinegar with salt and pepper.

M1 today I had left over salad with two potato muffins (no more potatoes today!) and 3 PERFECT eggs, featured above. :) 

M2 today will be left over chicken and green beans and I brought mayo just in case I need an additional fat. 

Fridge is starting to run low so not sure what we'll scrape together for dinner tonight prior to grocery shopping tomorrow. Next week I am hoping to make the meatza everyone was talking about, paleo running mama's chicken sausage and white chicken chili, and possibly @Delicacious's chicken wings! Hubby requested plantains but I'm going to hope he forgets so that I'm not tempted! I really want to get this digestion situation under control before the end.

I've been sleeping REALLY well, but I'm sleeping so deep I'm having a bit of a hard time waking up. This morning when my alarm went off, I felt SO TIRED (at the first alarm I had already slept 8-8.5 hours I think). Once I sat up and made a decision, I felt alert and rested pretty quickly, but the initial transition from sleep to waking was sloooowww and I felt so heavy. That decision I made that "woke me up," also happened to be to change my alarm and not go to the gym. Haha. We took the dog on a 40-minute walk instead and I can just do leg day tomorrow, so all is well, but I'd really like to be alert upon the alarm going off. 

I was also reflecting a bit on my drive today as I was thinking about what I had read from some of you on the forum this morning and I am just so grateful that I have not been struggling very much during this Whole30. I think a lot of it probably has to do with time, as my husband and I have intentionally NOT been making very many plans, but I'm also hopeful that it means the habits are starting to stick. I haven't struggled with food boredom or really even wanting anything I can't have and just feel really grateful for that. We'll see what the final week (+ 2 days - it's kind of like a marathon - it's the last .2 miles that'll get ya) throws at us but today, I'm just going to settle into the gratitude. 

Have a great day everyone!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, emilyelowe said:

I also think the fact that you are recognizing this as an issue and thinking about it and discussing it here is a bit of a victory in itself. Your awareness of your choices and why you eat the things you do is part of the battle to ultimate Food Freedom. 

@Laurie, @emilyelowe has expressed my sentiments exactly. You've not had an easy time the past two weeks and you've not given up but kept going. Rx bars may not be the best compliant food but you did not go back to binging on snacks, sweets etc. Personally, I think Rx bars to you could be what fruit is to some of us, or potatoes for that matter. It's the awareness that leads us to make better choices for the last two laps. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Administrators
1 hour ago, emilyelowe said:

 

Dinner last night went great! Everything was really yummy. We made this coconut crusted chicken, these poppers, and these green beans. This had me wondering - does the coconut on the chicken linked above count as fat for that meal? 

 

Not really, it wouldn't count for the fat. Coconut as a fat serving would be 1-2 heaping handfuls. My guess is you didn't get that much per crusted chicken piece. Go ahead and add another fat. Even just a mayo with extra lime juice stirred probably would have been nice. :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hey @Laurie, I was recipe surfing and saw this quote on a site. 

“You will not be perfect. Don’t even try to be perfect. No one is judging, no one is keeping score, and there are no penalties for acknowledging that you are struggling. Be kind to yourself, be patient with yourself.” -Whole9.com

A reminder for myself too. Have a great day ahead. 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

14 hours ago, SugarcubeOD said:

DON"T QUIT!  There is nothing that you're going to eat that is going to reduce the stress, make the happy feelings happier or that is not going to be there in one week... don't do it! When you finish in a week you will have the added glory of having done it during a trying time in your life... don't let junk food win!

 

2 hours ago, emilyelowe said:

You will feel so much more accomplished if you go all the way to the end! Trust me, I've quite early before and it's just not the same. PLUS, often the best results don't happen until the last day or two. Wait for the Tiger Blood! You can do it!

Also: everything that @SugarcubeOD said.

 

16 hours ago, Delicacious said:

You can do it @diamonds422! You've come sooo far! Sending lots of good vibes your way! 

Re cauliflower rice, another tip is to make sure the cauliflower bits are about the size of rice, or even slightly larger. I started to grate them instead of using the blade in my food processor as it tends to get a little too fine and when it cooks it becomes mush. If you're eating it fairly plain, you can season with some pepper and salt, and toss with some herbs after it's done. 

 

Thanks, guys. With your support and my husband's, I have not quit!! I am giving myself a bit of a break being super food preparer woman, though. Last night I got Chipotle and this morning I went to Snap Kitchen to get some of their Whole30 meals to get me through this move. Not all are template perfection, but it's the best I can do right now. Still being under the weather, having movers come today and having to work a special event for work tomorrow, I just can't fathom cooking for the next couple of days. But I'm determined to make it to the end!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

44 minutes ago, ladyshanny said:

Not really, it wouldn't count for the fat. Coconut as a fat serving would be 1-2 heaping handfuls. My guess is you didn't get that much per crusted chicken piece. Go ahead and add another fat. Even just a mayo with extra lime juice stirred probably would have been nice. :)

Great suggestion - that will be lunch! Thanks!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Moderators

You guys are all just amazing!  Really, this group just makes my heart happy!  Sorry I haven't been around, the new building at work is taking up a LOT of my normal Whole30'ing time and when I"m at home, I have a new pet project - I'm crocheting a blanket for myself... Kind of doofusy to start that in the height of summer but by the time it's big enough to sit under while working on it, the temps should have cooled off!

In the interest of honesty I have to share something personal.  I was diagnosed with Bipolar, PTSD, Major Depressive Disorder and Generalized Anxiety Disorder last year... It was mostly managed until about April of this year when I decided that I was 'better' and went off all my medication... hahah, not better. Nope, not at all.  The symptoms went from manageable to WHOA in the last three weeks or so... I just went back to the doctor this week and confessed to going off the meds and am now BACK on them, but one of the things that happens to me when it's not managed is that I stop eating... No three meals a day... One day this week all I ate was one scotch egg and coffee... The reason I'm saying this is because I"m starting over.  For me, not eating three proper meals a day is in direct contrast to the spirit of the Whole30 and I"m nothing if not married to the spirit of the program because I know that's where the magic is.

So if you don't mind, I"m going to keep up with you guys till you're all done and I'm obviously still going to stick my moderator face in wherever needed but I just wanted to share this so that you know why I"m not also celebrating Day 31 with you guys!

Keep up all the amazing work and recipe sharing and encouragement, tough love, soft love, personal discovery and the lighthearted banter!  It's been a real blessing to be part of this group of people! :wub:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for sharing @SugarcubeOD! I'm sorry about your health issues but you mentioned mental health was one of your primary motivators for doing another Whole30, so it seems like starting over is a wise decision. I really hope that the control and structure helps you feel like you are back on your feet again! :wub:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@SugarcubeOD Thinking of you and hoping you get things back under control and feel better soon. I have a brother who was diagnosed many years ago with bipolar disorder and he too has tried at times to stop the meds but that never ended well. Thank you for your honesty, we need to do more to stop the stigma of mental illness and help those who need it. Sending you hugs!!!

To all you slayers you are doing an amazing job and though I am not on this journey at this time I love reading your posts and following along with you. I am feeling so inspired to start my next whole 30 (after vacation probably around Sept 1).  

Keep up the great work!!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Moderators

Thanks for all your support you guys!  I'm expecting my appetite to come back shortly and then I"ll go grocery shopping - I still need to make that Vera Cruz style red snapper that I found... I just don't want to make it and waste it if it turns out appetite doesn't come back - I realize this may make me sound like a huge hypocrite because we always tell people to eat three meals a day regardless... the problem is that I AM hungry and I DO know to eat but I can't MAKE myself... it's a very strange experience but I know that in a day or two more at most, my desire to eat will come roaring back and then it's ON! 

@Susabella627 - I agree, there's so much stigma around mental illness that is so unnecessary... that's why I really don't mind sharing and talking about it... I have no shame in it, I did nothing wrong :)  It can be hard tho because even confident over-sharer me was thinking as soon as I hit post that maybe you guys would think I was a fraud or be scared of me... It was reasonably short lived but it was there and for someone that DOES feel shame around it, i imagine that feeling would be much stronger.  I hope your brother is doing well now - I imagine both he and I will try going off meds again in our lives, it's a pretty common problem but having supportive people around is so helpful!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 8/11/2017 at 0:10 PM, SugarcubeOD said:

In the interest of honesty I have to share something personal.  I was diagnosed with Bipolar, PTSD, Major Depressive Disorder and Generalized Anxiety Disorder last year... It was mostly managed until about April of this year when I decided that I was 'better' and went off all my medication... hahah, not better. Nope, not at all.  The symptoms went from manageable to WHOA in the last three weeks or so... I just went back to the doctor this week and confessed to going off the meds and am now BACK on them, but one of the things that happens to me when it's not managed is that I stop eating... No three meals a day... One day this week all I ate was one scotch egg and coffee... The reason I'm saying this is because I"m starting over.  For me, not eating three proper meals a day is in direct contrast to the spirit of the Whole30 and I"m nothing if not married to the spirit of the program because I know that's where the magic is.

So if you don't mind, I"m going to keep up with you guys till you're all done and I'm obviously still going to stick my moderator face in wherever needed but I just wanted to share this so that you know why I"m not also celebrating Day 31 with you guys!

Keep up all the amazing work and recipe sharing and encouragement, tough love, soft love, personal discovery and the lighthearted banter!  It's been a real blessing to be part of this group of people! :wub:

Thanks for sharing Sugarcube - I have 2 of those 4 diagnoses and that's more than enough, I feel for ya.  I self medicated much of my life with alcohol pre-diagnosis - fortunately now, mine are well under control with actual prescribed medication.   I don't think was going to fall into the trap of "well my new eating habits got me off of my blood pressure medication, maybe my other meds..." but you never know where my head can go - I think your experience will help keep my thinking straight on that topic.

I think this thread is stuck with stragglers and hanger-ons because it has such a cool name :D  I'm in re-intro phase and still feel the need to chime in here, now and then.  Speaking just for myself I hope to see you around...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Moderators

Here's what looks like a delicious fish dish if anyone is getting food boredom... now's about the time for that but I can't imagine with all the flavors in this dish, that you'd be bored at all and it appears to be a chop chop dump dump bake recipe which means not a lot of prep!

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/228046/veracruz-style-red-snapper/

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Lovin' all the love, Dragon Slayers. :wub: Day 21 over here - the countdown is on!

I had a good weekend and managed to stick to compliant foods at a baby shower (I brought my own La Croix - it was a celebration, after all :)) so we are still trucking. I ate a small-ish lunch (MEATZAAAA) before the shower, so I just had some nuts and fruit when I got there and others were eating. Technically, I probably should have avoided "snacking," entirely, but I did stick to an appropriate serving size and don't feel like I OVER ate (which I normally do at parties - people make me nervous), so overall I'm OK with it. Similar to this, I do find myself wanting to "bend," the rules a bit, which always happens as I go into the final weeks, so I will need to watch myself there. It's little things like "One piece of dark chocolate won't hurt my results," or "I'm sure the regular ketchup will be fine," so luckily hubby and I don't have any special plans for the rest of the Whole30 - hopefully that will keep the temptations to a minimum. I also always seem to want to bow out early, "In the name of reintroduction," so you'll have to keep me accountable. I can be quite the trickster. I think for reintroduction I am just going to do a Slow Roll anyway, because we have so many events immediately after the Whole30 that it would be really difficult to do a proper reintroduction. I do need to introduce gluten by itself, though, so I think I might just do that first and just get it over with. It will be good to put it in a super clean system, too, so I can really see/feel the effects, if there are any. I just hope this Slow Roll doesn't become a barrel roll into a cream-filled donut like the last time I tried to Slow Roll. #facepalm #donutface

I'm also finding myself having fruit by itself/before/after a meal (not PART of the meal) because IT'S ALL SO FRICKIN' DELICIOUS RIGHT NOW. I'm still trying to stick to 2 fist-size servings per day, though, so I'm pretty OK with that. It's summer, so I'm not going to pick on myself too hard about it. I hope these are all reasonable conclusions that I am coming to. Haha.

My hubby made paleorunningmama's white chicken chili yesterday for meals this week and IT'S SO FREAKING DELICIOUS. Like it wasn't done until bed time last night, so I just had a taste, and now I've been looking forward to it ever since. It's 9 a.m. and I am just counting down until lunch, man. Mm.

Other items on the menu this week: roasted sweet potatoes, sweet potato/bacon hash, maybe another meatza, little bits of real food's spaghetti squash chow mein, nom nom paleo's roasted green beans again, this butter chicken, and paleo running mama's spinach and artichoke stuffed potatoes

As you can see, I once again will need to be super careful to only have one serving of potatoes per day. I also have some frozen peppers and green beans if I'm in a pinch. 

Workout this morning was really good and I am sleeping well. I feel really good in my clothes, so curious for next week to see if I lost any weight. 

We're hosting brunch with my in-laws this Saturday after family pictures, so I'm excited to do some recipe hunting! Breakfast/brunch is my favorite. My nephew is allergic to eggs and my father-in-law and brother-in-law are both super picky, so it will be a challenge. Has anyone perfected sweet potato toast? I would really like to incorporate that somehow but I need a way to make a bunch of it perfectly and all at once. All suggestions welcome!

Have a good week everyone!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

29 minutes ago, emilyelowe said:

 Has anyone perfected sweet potato toast? I would really like to incorporate that somehow but I need a way to make a bunch of it perfectly and all at once. All suggestions welcome!

Have a good week everyone!

I've been lurking this thread (I'm on Day 12 myself, love reading about everyone's experiences!) and wanted to chime in with a suggestion. I've always roasted the "toast" in the oven on a baking sheet. You still slice them like you're going to put them in a toaster, but brush with melted ghee on both sides and bake in a 400* oven for about 10 minutes on each side, or until they get a little brown. You can do multiple pans at a time depending on how big your oven is :) 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi All! So glad to see you all doing well on your Whole30s. I had an interview last week (one of the reasons I would have had a hard time doing a Whole30 with all of you) and am in need of a reset now. My sugar dragon has started to wake up and my GI tract is all messed up. So, I'll come back and hang around here for a while to keep up with your inspirations and recipes!

@SugarcubeOD Thanks for sharing your experiences. The more people who talk about mental health issues the more we can start to realize how many people struggle with them and realize that we're not alone in our struggles. I'm training for a 5k right now and it's called the "Speak up 5k" with the goal of raising awareness of mental health issues. It's aimed at raising awareness in teenagers, but starting the conversation in one group can only help normalize talking about mental health issues in general. I saw your blanket on Instagram and didn't immediately register it was YOU who was making the blanket. I use Instagram mainly to follow crafty (knitting, crocheting, and handspinning) friends, so I assumed it was one of them posting a project they started.  Can't wait to see it when it's finished! I love the colors you chose. :) 

I made some chicken for lunch to go on a salad and I had a great compliant breakfast that was a mashup of leftovers from 2 different meals. One didn't have enough protein left to be considered a meal and the other didn't have enough veggies. Put them together and they were a complete meal! Yum. I'm out of mayo though and I'm not a huge fan of the Tessemae Ranch I have in my fridge (it's very lemon-pepper tasting), but I'll have to make do until I make more mayo. I have ground turkey thawed, so I'll probably do sloppy joes tonight with baked potatoes. I might need to make a stop to pick up some additional veggies though.

Have a great day all!

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Day 20's over!! I was really busy over the weekend and didn't have much time to meal prep. That translates to a lot of last minute prep for the next day just the day before. I just made a new batch of mayo - turned half into curry mayo which would be an interesting flavour for the week. Oh and I made cauliflower fried rice today. It's so awesome! Yet a new way to eat cauliflower. 

I don't know if I'm feeling tiger blood yet - slightly sleep deprived and another kid is sick again. I'd say I'm more energetic than usual and that's definitely a good thing. 

Hope everyone is doing great! 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi everyone.  Monday here and I am catching up after a crazy week of work and life last week.  Good news is that we are still going strong!!!  Day 22.

It's been a good week for eating.  Made the banger sausage and mashed sweet potatoes last night (DELISH!) and some friends had us over for dinner Saturday and they made the ENTIRE date meal of the blueberry scallops for us which was SO nice and also DELICIOUS!  Our only real disappointment was Friday night we made the soup version of the cold thai salad for dinner and it was blah.  No flavor.  I even added chicken and shrimp to the table as possible upgrades for us and it didn't help much.  The worst part was were entertaining friends and had been bragging about how delicious all the food on the program has been and then...womp womp.  It was edible just not as good as everything we've been making...that's what we get for bragging.

I am having serious cravings right now though.  I have to admit, I am beginning to look towards the end get excited about some things I can eat again.  We're going to try to eliminate dairy post Whole 30 as best we can (cheese will be tough).  Same with gluten.  I must admit that I am looking forward to a cocktail.  But the strength and confidence I am gaining through active and consistent participation has me feeling good.  I am certainly not working out as much as I need to be but I do see some changes in my body that are encouraging.  I need to be hitting the gym because I think the combo of good eating and working out would show some serious results and I know that would be motivating.  We've ridden bikes and walked a lot but that's not enough.  I've always hate the gym.

Today we went simple on breakfast: over easy eggs, sliced tomatoes, bacon and some fruit.  Lunch today is two HB eggs with a dollop of mayo on spinach and we're trying one of two spinach salads tonight, either seared tuna or peaches and prosciutto.  Whichever one we don't do tonight, we will have Wednesday.  Tomorrow night we're doing some chicken tikka kababs.  

Energy levels are good.  Headaches have come and gone.  And I think that I've identified the gas culprit: red onions.  I've eliminated them and the gas has significantly decreased.  I think cashews do it too.  I haven't had any in several days and very little gas.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Welcome back, @NoneOtherThanAmy! I hope your interview went well! 

I'm not a huge fan of the ranch either, so I usually mix it with Frank's red hot to make it more interesting and less lemon-y. I also think I like the Caesar better, if you want to try that next time. It's not anchovie-y at all and kind of reminds me of what I think of when I think of ranch. 

Also, I'm LOVING Primal Kitchens mayo if you want to grab some instead of whipping together your own. I'm all about easy over here. :) 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.


×
×
  • Create New...