JJB

To clarify butter, you can just boil it until the solids separate out and then strain/skim them. To make ghee, you keep cooking it until it starts to brown and it changes the flavor (I think that's how it works). The taste and smell are VERY different to me. I have only had store-bought ghee vs. butter I have clarified myself though.

Clarified butter is compliant. You skim the mild solids out.

Just the smell of ghee makes me gag. But clarified butter is very close to regular butter and I have no issues with it.

What about coconut? Is that in your diet, and is it new to you?

15 baby carrots...10 olives...15 cherry tomatoes...I sure hope you were only counting everything because you were using that app, which you're going to delete! That just sounds way too calorie-county/diet-y to me. They don't give us exact portion sizes in the meal template...partly, I think, so we get out of the habit of weighing/measuring/counting every bite we eat. Enjoy your food! Stop counting!

What part of the W30 protocol is torture for you? I do miss sweets and pizza/burgers, and don't enjoy spending so much time cooking...but I also don't miss having headaches multiple times a week, feeling sleepy/tired/grumpy/lethargic the majority of the time, having unreasonable hunger/cravings every single day, etc... Have you and/or your family members noticed any benefits from your new diet that might motivate you to continue? If not, then I guess I can't blame you. Maybe you've been focusing on the fact that it's not helping the specific problem you hoped it would, and possibly overlooked other positive changes that have occurred? I no longer think of the SAD as "normal." I wish it had never became the norm in our society to eat so many processed and modified foods. I hope your son finds relief with the IBS protocol. I can't imagine having stomach pains on a daily basis, especially as a kid.

I'm struggling with this too. I never counted calories until a few years ago when I started on NutriSystem. That program worked great for me as far as weight loss, but I felt the worst I ever have in my life (not because I got too skinny; I think it was all the additives in the food). It left me with a serious calorie-counting addiction too. I just completed my first W30 and didn't really lose any weight. Now I'm trying to figure out where to make cuts...are my protein portions too large? Too many olives, nuts, fruit? I would love to have cut and dry portion recommendations...like 'eat 4 oz of protein at each meal.' I know they won't tell us that here, and I understand why...but I still find myself weighing my meats sometimes because I don't trust my eyes. If I could stop stressing about weight loss, it might come easier. But it's like saying..."don't think about a blue elephant." Of course that's all you're going to think about!