ChiggerCane

I am fine with you starting another thread. My presence here has not been what I intended - nor my effort. I wish you luck with your continuance through Lent.

I have eaten out more this week than the last 6 months! I have made the best choices I could, but think I am experiencing sodium overload. Today, everything has been home cooked. Much better. Tonight, I made pecan crusted trout and boiled, then roasted brussel sprouts. This week, I will focus on eating at home.

You seem to be going strong. Me? Struggling to get it together. The last week especially has been challenging. I'm hoping my mind will embrace the new month tomorrow to give me some will power to stick to my plan.

Thank you for trying. I figure it's fate to stay with this title as I am still rising from my failure to be 100% committed. I'll keep moving on, taking it day by day. I have allowed myself to be distracted, overwhelmed with life, and just plain lazy. Last night, I went to a new to me weight class at the gym. There was a woman in the class who has me quite envious. She seems a bit older than I am, so it's obvious, age can't be a valid 'excuse' for adding on weight as you get older. Just how to get back to 'being in decent shape'? And I know a lot of it is what I'm putting in my mouth. A new month starts tomorrow. I can get in my 30 days before Lent ends (thread I joined). I'm working on the calendar of meals as soon as I get off here. Still rising from failure...

Thanks Shannon. COuld you change it to"Chigger - Back Again". This week has been a hard one - which ones aren't? Work has been intense. I did well with food until yesterday. So - starting again tomorrow. I browse through other journals and view pics of meals and get inspired. When I eat 'this way', I enjoy it. I wonder why I don't eat this way all the time. Then, when things get busy, crazy, and wild - my mind seems to short circuit and I crave the 'bad stuff'. I feel so much better when I don't have sugar. So - why do I go back to it - mindlessly? Ours is not to reason why - just do it. Working on my plan for the week ahead. Making note of what I have on schedule and what could trip me up.

Confession - I will be starting Day 1 again tomorrow. I am hoping by the end of Lent, I will have 30 continuous days. Dinner was derailed by an errand we had to do. Ended up at a restaurant. We don't eat out that often, thank goodness. Working on my plans for the week ahead. A couple events for lunch I need to consider and plan out. One thing I remember from my 1st Whole30 was the vividness of dreams and how deeply I began to sleep. I had one night similar to that this past week. I wonder why this happens? Love the pictures you are posting. Hope you are doing better than I am.

Food looks wonderful -and on a beautiful plate! I have been fairly basic the last 3 days. Steel head trout, simply baked, has featured in my meals; also my basic cabbage soup with eggs. I have turkey tenderloins in the oven now which will get me through the next few days. Heading to the store later to stock up on more veggies. So far going ok.

Browsing through WellFed and WHole30Cookbook doing some prep work. I have such exciting weekend nights! Actually, feeling a bit of an adrenaline rush. My younger son, who is in town for the weekend from college, called about an hour ago - "Mom, can you come get me? Someone just ran into me." Turns out it's a fairly minor fender bender, broken headlight - guy merged into him. Glad everyone is ok and he's been through a wreck without injury and now knows what to do. Trying to get over the "my baby's been in a accident" fear. So - trying to use my energy to get ahead for the week. Pearlgirl, I have to admit I had to search to find out Lent starts March 6. When I read your first post, my immediate reaction was "Lent, already?" Starting the 18th should get me on solid ground so I can have an accident free Lent. And yes - I should read the fine print - you did say to the end of Lent. I looked up the recipe you list. Sounds good. My husband sounds similar to yours. WE tend to eat the same things over and over again.

Found my old journal. Read through. I am actually a bit surprised how many times I have done this. I guess my memory is failing as I don't remember the 4 (?) rotations. But - I don't think I made this journal up. Here I am again. Having the same issues. Feeling uncomfortable in my skin. Feeling disappointed in myself and how I have lost mental control over my eating habits. I logged on tonight and reacted to a post from an over 50, southern lady, and have become inspired again to try again. Even though I know years have passed, and some things are still the same, many things have happened since I last posted. Younger son has graduated HS and is in college a couple hours away from home. He seems happy and is doing well (I think) in his studies. My husband and I are enjoying the empty nest. We are full swing again into business craziness - and I have learned how to balance the anxiety of the craziness. My older son married and seems happy. We hosted the wedding, in the middle of nowhere on some property we own, which required an unbelievable amount of work for a long. long time. The morning of the wedding was very stressful, so stressful I told my husband I was going to have a heart attack....and 3 days later, I did. I am fine. My cardiologist calls it a 'non-event' in terms of impactful damage to the heart, and no intervention was required. He believes it was a one-time, stress related event, related to my high blood pressure. And honestly, I thought it was matter of stomach flu symptoms and if I had not gone to the ER, I would have been fine and carried on as if nothing had happened. (Until it happened again...) I am now on a very low dose of cholesterol med a couple times a week to prevent my 'puffy' blood cells from causing any issues. My arteries are clear, my cholesterol levels are good, my overall health is good. But - I am (in my opinion) 30 pounds over what I want to be (actually, 40), I eat too much sugar and flour, I drink too much coffee, and I have noticed that there are times I eat way too much - because the food is there - no other reason. I seem to have developed a need to 'eat it all' and I don't like that. I also seem to have gained an ability to GAIN weight very easily and lost the ability to LOSE ANY weight whatsoever, no matter how I eat and/or exercise. Exercise wise, I am doing a boot camp style class, SPIN, swimming laps, elliptical, rowing, walking, mtn walking, TRX, hand weights, occasional Yoga Stretch - but not all every week. I am exercising more than I have in years. I would like to get back to being able to slow jog again - but the knees and feet may not allow for that. So, until I get to that point, I will walk. I gave up the coaching class after 1 year. It helped at first - then fizzled on me. In the end, I realized it was not for me. Sadly. Cause I was really hoping I could find my backbone again. It just reaffirms that it is up to me. Totally. Ultimately. Me. Back to me. Rising again from failure. Changing my title again, though. Ready to get back at it again. This time for lifestyle change. EDIT- Can't figure out how to change my journal title. If anyone does know how to do this, please let me know. Thanks

HI from another southern lady over 50 - from GA and am 55. I am considering joining you - but only for 30 days. I may extend to 60 days. If you want company here for 30 days, I'll be glad to join in here. I have never completed a whole30. In my 1st and only attempt, I made it 15 days, I think. Intending to make it the 30 days this time. I have been unable to reduce/eliminate my sugar and processed carb intake as I need to. I seem to have lost my mental edge and I need to find it again. Hoping this will get me back to who I want to be - mentally and physically. I will prep my meal plans and get review the book and rules. Glad to join you. Deb

Failure is not a bad thing. Giving IN to failure, giving up, beating yourself up...THAT is a bad thing. But, experiencing failure - learning from it - and rising up - is nothing to be ashamed of. As I admitted in my last journal, I have failed at my last few attempts at this. It is time for me to restart, having learned from the past - while HOPING that life will calm down enough to let me expend a little more time and effort into this attempt. My start date is Wednesday, January 7. Tomorrow and Tuesday, I will be shopping, prepping, cooking, and mentally preparing. That part is critical to me. While I know that "You cannot plough a field by turning it over in your mind", I need to review and plan and think and so on. I do that alot - now I just need to follow through and DO! I received wellFed for Christmas - looking forward to trying many of the recipes. Looking forward to many things. The past 2 weeks were relaxing, but also very frustrating due to extended famly dynamics. The snide comments about my eating desires and plans got a little tiring. I just need to prove everyone wrong. Simple, right?