April 8 Start Date: Wish Me Luck

[Fimbrethil]

Well. I can't help but mention how absolutely terrible this sounds to me.

 

I'm sure I'm not alone here when I say I'm a huge sugar and carb addict. When I first did the research which convinced me that eliminating carbs is the only way I'll ever lose weight, I actually cried.

 

I've made it to a point in my carbohydrate addiction where I genuinely don't enjoy any meats or vegetables. I honestly would rather go hungry than eat a salad. I'm less averse to meat but it's still not what I want. So this will be an extremely major change for me and I do expect to be sick while my body adjusts to running without the usual high levels of carbs.

 

I'm not looking forward to having to cook just to get a meal, and I'm certainly not excited about the prospect of "make your own" stuff like mayo/clarified butter. I go shopping tomorrow and I'm sincerely hoping I will be able to find on-plan things at my usual big chain grocery store, because I'm pretty sure Whole Foods doesn't accept food stamps.

 

 

Ok, I think I got all the negativity out now. I promise myself and any readers that I'm done being negative from here on out. It's not going to help, and it usually does make things worse than a positive outlook.

 

I'm actually really excited to see how much better I'll feel when I'm done with this. I know it will be good for my family as well. I have 4 children ranging from 10 to 3, and the oldest is already overweight so I know I'll be modelling a new way of eating for her in particular. Luckily, I'll have lots of support from my family too.

 

This is going to end up being awesome. I can do this.

[michellelisa]

Yes- you CAN do this;)

[Fimbrethil]

Day 0:

Today I did my initial shopping trip. I wasn't surprised at the lack of options for butter since I just went to Kroger's. The local health food stores don't accept food stamps so they're out. I'm clarifying butter, but the best I could find was Land O Lakes brand. This is pretty much my only option for added fat other than oils since ghee and lard were, again not surprisingly, unavailable. I'm still debating whether or not to make my own mayo. It seems like a lot of work piled on top of all this other stuff I have to do in order to eat on plan.

 

I'm debating how to do mornings. On the one hand I certainly don't have time for anything beyond grabbing something on the way out the door and eating in the car. On the other, I'm actually going to have to cook things in order to eat now. It's a dilemma.

 

My schedule right now:

up at 7 am to get 4 kids dressed and ready to leave

out the door at 8 am to drop everyone off at school

at work at 9 am

leave work at 1 pm

pick everyone up from school

help with homework

hopefully a nap

make dinner

out the door at 5:30 pm

at work at 6 pm

leave work at 10 pm

home at 10:30 pm

sweet, sweet alone time

also cleaning

hopefully to bed by 1 am

 

It just doesn't leave a ton of time for cooking.

 

If anyone has tips for saving time, I'd love to hear them.

[melissaD14]

Don't fret!  I've always had a HUGE sweet tooth and I am currently on Day #24.   If I can do it, so can you!!!  Seriously!

 

I get up at 4:30 am for work and don't get home until 4:45 pm, and I'm ready for dinner almost the minute I walk into the door so having to cook meals wasn't that thrilling for me either.  The key has been a lot of meal prep, I do mine on Sunday.  Over the past few weeks, I hit the grocery store on Saturday (after planning my meals on Friday night or that morning), and I prep whatever I can on Sunday, to include making any condiments (yes, make the mayo, trust me on this).  I've spent on average of 2-3 hours in the kitchen on Sundays.

 

Roast or steam saute some veggies, cook up ground meat (beef or turkey) with some chopped onion and some garlic, maybe make chili or some meatballs for easy meals, and boil up some eggs.  Check out the blogs and get creative.  My super easy meal is taco salad.  The ground beef is already cooked, just add some seasonings and heat, add lettuce, chopped peppers, black olives, whatever you like in your taco salad that is whole30 approved and top with some salsa.  I was lucky enough to find salsa in my  local grocery store that doesn't contain sugar or any other icky ingredient.  Another easy meal is an egg scramble with those veggies that are already cooked.   If you can, invest in the Well Fed cookbooks - they are fabulous!    You can also make tuna or egg salad super quick if you already have your mayo made. 

 

Good luck!!