WholeChristina

Last day! I have no particular plans post-W30. I LOVE the philosophy of Food Freedom Forever and will use it again going forward - is it worth it or not? I'll skim the book tonight to refresh and re-inspire. I finally got the MEGA sleep last night. 11 hours and 20 minutes. Lordy I was stiff rolling out of bed, but it feels good to have slept. Tonight will be the Goldilocks sleep - not too much or too little - just right. I won't weigh myself tomorrow. I gave up the scale after my second W30. I thought the number didn't mean anything to me, but when it was higher than I thought, I was really upset - it put a damper on all my success that W30. Stupid, I know. But I decided it wasn't worth it - so I haven't weighed again. My clothes fit fine and I feel slimmer. That's enough. Turns out that number held too much power (for me). I have a workout class scheduled at noon and I'll do my grocery store loop after. Time to restock. I planned to have some non-food rewards tomorrow, but my main AC is getting replaced and it's an all day job. Rewards will have to wait until later. @Aurora Blue I'm glad you are finally having some relief of symptoms! Good on you for handling the party so successfully!!

@SugarcubeOD The recipe burned a hole ... had to try it. I ran (sans shower, but I changed out of my PJs) to the closest store. I was up against the clock of contractor time and needing to eat! I did it!! Delicious. Something different to try! I ate my green beans on the side and it was a good breakfast!! Enough to have again tomorrow!! Thanks

@SugarcubeOD Thanks for the breakfast idea. I'll be making it this week - added to my grocery list!! And thanks for reading too @Miss Kitty The Instant Pot is a pressure cooker - lots of safety, easy (or so I've heard). Crockpot on steroids. Glad you had a good time out! Adoption went fantastic (she's a happy little girl). House got cleaned and reassembled after puppy-proofing. Brunch was good too. We ended up having our son and his girlfriend over to watch Game of Thrones (their free HBO trial ended that morning - HBO is no dummy ). I put together a small spread of snack stuff for them. It actually didn't tempt me - sweets and cheese - that's a win. I did have an evening snack though- watermelon. I planned to stay away until W30 ended, but hubby bought one for me so I'd have something too. Sweet man. I ate a few pieces of chicken with it for a little balance. Overall, considering everything, I'm happy with the way the evening went. There is a little bit of watermelon leftover today. It was a small one with only the middle being yummy enough to eat -- that's good - built in portion control. Today is another contractor day - 3 coming this morning. We are under some strange cloud of broken EVERYTHING - it's almost laughable. I was able to get them all here around the same time! If they finish early enough, I'll start making grocery store rounds. I'm ready to do some cooking! And learn my Instant Pot! Sleep was good last night, but not long enough. I stayed up to watch Game of Thrones and am up earlier than I wanted to be for the contractors. Still, it feels good. (Staying up was my own dumb doing.) Tonight will be the mega sleep night - can't wait. Bed early, no alarm. @SugarcubeOD I'll be focused on non-food rewards this week. I like to reward myself during a W30 especially, but life got hectic and that went by the wayside. Pedicure is first up on my list! Thanks for the reminder.

Today is ADOPTION Day - praise be to all that is good!! It will be a great day but probably one of the harder nights this W30. I will want to celebrate, relax, reward. I'll be a little sad too (I love this sweet pup). All my emotional triggers to eat wrapped into one night. I need to stay focused. Day 28. It would be a shame to stop when I'm so close - a promise, commitment to myself is important. Plus, falling off tonight will be a BIG fall if it happens. Not good. Being prepared for the triggers is half the battle for me. I'm looking forward to how I feel after some sleep - it should be awesome!! I made sweet potato hash, shredded crockpot chicken and vegetables for a quick cook yesterday. Blueberries are perfect right now. The combination of blueberries, sweet potato and cauliflower made for interesting stomach-mates last night. The "dogs" were really gassy Green beans and some "easier" vegetables are probably wise today!! Hubby and I are going out to brunch after the adoption this morning. I try to stay clear of eating out on a W30, but this place is a doable choice. I'll miss the slice of homemade grain bread with homemade jam and the bite of hubby's banana pancakes, but I love EGGS! Poached to perfection and I never poach at home - so it will be good too. I feel like I'm sort of talking to myself lately but I hope everyone is doing well. P.S. My Instant Pot (I had the name wrong) came yesterday. It's still in the box. I'll try it later this week -- can't wait!

It's super quiet on this thread!! I hope you all are doing well and busy with some fun stuff I like the routine of posting, so here's a quick one. Yesterday was terrible but it's over. So crazy and stressful, I got in bed and realized I forgot to eat dinner. I was too tired to do anything about it. I had a pre/post workout snack, breakfast and a late lunch ... so not ridiculous, but not good either. I was really hungry this morning. Today is grocery store day and a quick cook up. I haven't decided on anything yet - something basic I'm sure. Dogs are barking ... got to run. Have a good Day 27!

Today is (hopefully) the last tough day. The exterior doors are getting painted and need to stay open to dry - fun with two dogs. AC (on it's last legs) will be shut off since new one is on order and I don't need it to break completely. It will be in the 90's, high humidity. Yuck all around. I have some of my lunch ready but I need to cook vegetables before the lock-down begins. I'm going to try to get a quick interval run before everything gets going. It's more a mental need than a physical one. My legs would be happy with rest, but my mind needs some zone out time. That's my Day 26 in a nutshell. Freezer stash for dinner again. I should be able to cook this weekend.

Day 25 ... this is the real-deal final countdown to a completed W30! I'm happy I chose to do another full W30 round. I couldn't get back to a good rhythm doing a day or two ... or a meal or two ... I tried. Over and over. I'm back in control. Vegetables have made their way to my plate again. I feel better. All the good stuff is back in play. These final days are helping to secure the healthy habits as I head to Food Freedom. (If you haven't read the book, FFF -- it's my favorite -- highly recommend it!) I'm not doing the reintroduction phase, since I have before and I know where the culprits hide for me. I'm heading back to a Food Freedom that worked well until my vacations bowled me over! I'd like to hope this will be my last W30, but probably not Today I'm hitting some freezer stash. I have a late afternoon dentist appointment that will mess up my schedule. (Plus puppy, contractors - the usual complaints lol). I'll decide "what" on the fly. I'm using a FoodSaver now and it rocks! I can heat the frozen stuff in some water (the seal is that good) and it's perfect. P.S. I follow Whole30 on Instagram (I just joined) ... and I think my next kitchen toy is the InstaPot. Anyone have one? Do you like it? The spaghetti squash is enough to sell me on it. 7 minutes. Wow.

Day 24. I have contractors here all day (again) and today they need to be inside. Stress, barking, crazy-time, etc. It's going to be a challenging day. The timing of a week of painting and repairs just blows. My foster can't handle the strangers and noises - she's flipping out - and it's stressing the entire household. I'm trying to take care of her and everyone else. Keep the peace, help her to adjust ... I woke up feeling unwell again this morning. Sore throat, headache -- I think it's a pre-sick warning. Get more sleep or else! I'm hanging onto "healthy" by a thread. Sunday the foster will go to her new home and I plan to sleep for days -- or at least all night! I wonder if I can stay up for Game of Thrones Sunday? Winter is coming -- yea!! I need to cook my lunch and dinner meals this morning. I know this day is hectic and I need my eating to be planned ahead - even my vegetables. Control what I can control. Crazy starts at 10am. I might need to hit my freezer stash this week too. I'm so glad it's there!!

Not a lot to report today. I did my mini cook-up last night and my family ate the chicken ... I still have other left-overs so I'm okay. I hit the watermelon hard at dinner -- a bit too hard. A good watermelon gets me every time! It's gone today (thanks family for this one) and I'll take a break from it until W30 is finished. I got a reasonable night's sleep and I feel better today. I have a barbell lift class this afternoon. It's endurance month - hard, but good! Have a good Day 23 ... almost there!!

@Miss Kitty I'm not sure what you are asking about the message - I'm not tech savvy either!! If you mean showing someone else's words ... hit the + quote at the bottom of the person's post and it will let you respond. You can edit down how much of the post you want to quote.

@Ljoatl I hope you decide to stay with the group Today is leftovers day. I froze some of the chicken adding to my freezer hoarding stash. There are some must-goes in the refrigerator that will taste good -- flank steak, hard boiled eggs and last bit of chicken. I have vegetables to roast up and I'm all set. Either later tonight or tomorrow, I'll do another quick cook-up of hard boiled eggs, sweet potato hash and grilled chicken. I woke up last night with a headache and the feeling I'm getting sick. I hope not. If I am, I know it's from my lack of sleep. Today is a rest day for workouts and I'm glad. Out shopping with a friend later today. Day 22 - hope it's a good one for us all!

My world has been a bit frazzled lately BUT I just had such a great W30 lunch -- full belly makes it a-okay!! The WellFed West African Chicken I linked earlier, riced cauliflower and ripe blueberries. Topped off with my decaf cold brew in a fancy glass. Plus BOTH dogs sound asleep. Relaxing and delicious. I needed this today. P.S. My foster has been adopted!! I'm super proud of her. She'll be with us until the 16th and then off to her new family (she LOVES their dogs). The sleepless nights, hectic days, food shoved in standing at the counter, hole in my carpet ... all worth this little girl having a beautiful life. Here's a picture of the puppy ... not exactly W30 news, but look at that face

The chicken recipe I made today is here. WellFed is awesome! At first I thought I might not care for it, but after it sat - yum! Something different from my usual flavor profile - and spicy. It'll be great for dinner tomorrow. Tonight was marinated flank steak and cauliflower rice. Hoping to head to bed early tonight - I'm beat (broken record ) @Aurora Blue I'm sorry you haven't had any relief yet. My first go around with W30 was to figure out some stomach issues - turns out I need a probiotic and enzymes. W30 helped me figure it out since it never got better with a super clean diet, I figured something was missing. I hope you can find some answers too. @JanaSandifer I'm also sorry to hear about your struggles. My family has Hashimoto's (mom, grandma, aunt) and I know it's manageable but requires a lot of work and patience. All the best to you.

Day 20! The final 1/3. Something about staring with a 2 makes it seem so much closer. I hoped to make the short ribs this weekend, but Costco didn't have them. Flank steak won - I like it on the grill. I bought bulk chicken so I'll try the new chicken recipe soon. My refrigerator is too bare this morning. Time for more cooking. Today is a rest and recovery day - please, please, please! I need it. Grocery stores, some cooking and some chilling.

Happy Weekend! Yesterday was a tough eating day. The AC guy was here for 5 hours and I was up to my eyeballs in dog issues the whole time - someone "needed" me every minute it seemed!! I ate lunch at noon, but didn't get dinner until 8pm. And dinner was standing at the kitchen counter, shoving food into my mouth. Thankfully, I had some stuff on the ready in the refrigerator. Before I went to bed, I prepped more so this won't happen today. I have another day of people in my house and it will be hectic working with the foster. I found a couple of recipes to try - Korean short ribs and a crockpot chicken dish. If either is good, I'll share the links. Hopefully, I can get to the supermarket this weekend. I still need to try the dump ranch recipe. I'm pretty tired today. I think yesterday zapped me good. Maybe this weekend will be more restful. (Our foster is making HUGE improvements - she's a good little puppy and will be a great dog for a family - time and patience. It's getting better every day. I just need to hang on!!) Hope everyone is doing well!