Accountable Again: A Joint Post-W30 Journey

[Higgles]

For those reading this, this is my second attempt at an accountability system to make successful life changes. My first W30 journey was in February where I made it to day 22 but off-ramped due to a business trip. I tried to live within the W30 principles, but started my successful event on 25 May... I lasted the entire 30 days and most of the reintroduction, but then fell off the wagon again, and never quite got back on. During those several months I lost approximately 10 pounds, felt lighter, my skin felt better, and several other NSV's. I want to get to a place where food is no longer my obsession and I can easily make good choices.

 

Right now, my goal is to eat within w30 standards knowing that I am about to embark on my 4th business trip in 2 months. When I return on 1 November, my plan is to start the holiday season following w30, taking it one day at a time. Today I will take measurements, and think about my goals and what I need to do to meet them.

 

Today is a fresh start!

[Higgles]

So new Day 1 was a great day.

 

M1: Egg Sharshuka w/chopped zucchini/peppers/onions and a coffee with Coconut Milk

M2: Egg salad w/avocado

M3: Paleo Tex-Mex Casserole (http://popularpaleo.com/paleo-tex-mex-casserole/) with a salad with olives and balsamic dressing

 

The time change was this weekend in Europe so we woke up a little earlier than typical for the weekend, so I chopped up some veggies for my eggs, something I used to do a long time ago but got lazy. The only thing missing from my M1 was a fat... I dont' think there was enough coconut milk in my coffee to count. Lunch was thrown together but I made it work. Typically we do leftovers for lunch, but we went out to eat the night before and previous leftovers were all non-compliant. The salad was a big bowl of romaine with some cut up veggies and avocado. My downfall on the egg salad with the mayo.. it had soybean oil in it. I've made my own mayo before and it was great, but I'm leaving on a business trip on Tuesday so I did not want it to go to waste. I used about a Tb of the mayo and then used some mustard to give it some more flavor. If you throw anything on top of lettuce I'll eat it. Dinner was pretty good, my husband makes dinner for us now and he is such a good cook. His take on the recipe was that it was pretty long and complicated, and so he was expecting something a lot better then what it was, so we probably will not be making it again.

 

We didn't work out today, I was hoping to go for a bike ride but it was pretty dreary out. I do know that if you don't go out when its rainy in Germany you'll never get out, but we stayed in today. I had to pack for my trip, but mostly I stayed on the couch watching tv. Just one day of work and then its off to another trip, here's to making it through Monday!

[22twelve]

Aaaand here's the second person in desperate need of some accountability! Similar to Higgles, my first full Whole30 in summer was a roaring success, but life happened, my willpower took a vacation, and here I am again. I'm finding it very hard to get back into it again, making it through a few days and then simply giving up. I've tried the it's-a-strict-Whole30-mindset, I've tried the taking-it-one-day-at-a-time-mindset, but I think as I'm not putting as much effort into planning my meals (because hey, I know how it's done now...not) neither worked very well. Unfortunately this time around I also have to eliminate all things coconut, as they've turned out to be the cause of some rashes and itchy skin. I will miss Mel Joulwan's Pina Colada Chicken!

 

Today is an accidental Day 1 - it's a public holiday, no supermarkets are open, and all the food at home is compliant. It's not an ideal meal plan, but to be honest, as long as I feel like eating it and it works with the rules, I'm taking it! Last night was the first night in a long time where the thought of a compliant meal was actually appealing instead of off-putting, so hopefully I have finally reached the point where my body tells me that it wants a change. Instead of insisting on pizza. Later on I'll make some almond milk and will plan tomorrow's lunch and dinner. It'll be a very late night at work, so something needs to be ready to eat by the time I make it home. I also need to make sure I drink enough. It was easy last time because of the insane summer temperatures, but now I have to pay more attention.

 

M1: 1 egg, 1 pork sausage, 1 cup of sauerkraut, 1 cup of bulletproof coffee with ghee

M2: Kalua Pig fried in ghee, 1 cup of sauerkraut 

M3: Leftover Kalua Pig from M2, Potato rostis (shredded potato, 1 egg, arrowroot powder) fried in ghee with homemade apple sauce

 

I'm doing well with the fat and didn't feel hungry between meals. I don't feel like eating much in the morning, but I hope this will change again and I'll be able to add another egg and some more veggies. Sauerkraut isn't really the typical veggie side, but I always have a lot in the freezer and love it. It's a German cliche for a reason. M3 is very carb-heavy without much protein or vegetables, but I want it. I really do. Also, my potatoes are going soft and I didn't have the foresight to defrost meat.

[Higgles]

Good job making it through a new Day 1, even if you were forced by the store closures We're still gettting used to supermarkets being closed on Sundays so we run into that problem a LOT on the weekends if we didn't plan correctly. I find that although I'm not the biggest potato fan, I need them in my diet to avoid reaching for other sweets after dinner. I know they're not good for those of us who want to lose weight (I'm looking at approx 23 lbs to go), but I also understand that my weight loss just won't be as dramatic. I'm sorry you need to do this without coconut... In the past I could care less about coconut but since changing my way of eating I've included it mainly in milk and oil.

 

I'll still call my day a success even though I veered off plan.

 

M1: Scrambled egg with some of the leftover tex-mex casserole mixed in

M2: Salad with Grilled chicken and dressing (chicken and dressing probably non-compliant) PLUS some of my leftover tex-mex casserole

M3: Red thai chicken curry over cauli rice with green bean/onion saute.

 

I have a problem where I can't say no when people ask if I want to go to lunch. I've had a hard time making friends since moving here... I don't work with a lot of people my age, and so when a friend asks if I want to go out I say yes even though I had a compliant lunch packed. So i convinced him to go to this small restaurant where I knew I could get a fairly clean grilled chicken salad, even though I was not sure of the seasonings. However... I then picked on my lunch leftovers later in the afternoon so I ate too much and I shouldn't have. On the bright side, I stayed away from the snack bar which we have in my buildling... its conveniently located in the office next to mine so in moments of weakness I pop in for something sugary. I think that is the biggest demon I will have to battle, so for now, eating extra compliant food instead of a sugar snack is a win.

 

Today I'm flying back to the US for yet another work conference. I just ate a compliant breakfast but I don't have much choice in meal selection on the flight over... I will definately be off plan this next week at this conference, but I'm determined to make the best choices I can in the circumstances. I won't name the non-compliant food I'll eat so not to cause triggers, but I'll still post about any successes.

[22twelve]

I hope you have a good flight back home, and that it won't be too hard making good choices! But please feel free to also post your indulgences, especially if they are delicious and worth it! Enjoy what you can, because once you're back we're doing this properly! There is one way to be compliant on long haul flights though: Pre-order the fruit platter. If you want to starve and be miserable

I know exactly what you mean by socializing making it hard to stick with the program, I haven't lived here for too long either and going out usually revolves around food and/or drinks. Rather than being a hermit, I sometimes just go along with it, knowing very well that it'll throw me back another week or so. By now I've figured out a few places where I can order somewhat compliant food, but there's always something in the salad dressing or the way it's prepared that gives me some stomach issues. To be honest though, I'd rather have a few pounds extra than being a skinny loner, and not going overboard during these situations will hopefully make it easier to find a good and healthy balance in the future (aka clean eating at home, being more generous when going out). Or sometimes I just tell them I'm doing this nutrition experiment and want to see if I can make it through, usually people are quite interested and begin to think about other things to do or restaurants that have food according to my restrictions. 

 

Work isn't really much of an issue for me. Although we have a vending machine with sweet and savoury snacks, it's on the lower floor where only seminar rooms are located, so I can pretty much ignore that they're here because I don't pass them at all most days. Also, we're a bit off the beaten track - no supermarkets or fast food joints to fall back on, no going out for lunch, no temptations, no options. Basically I have to bring my own lunch or starve, so I might as well be prepared in a compliant way. Lucky me, it's a lot easier to ignore temptation when it's a 5 minute drive and 2 Euros worth of parking fees away! And the only person bringing cake to work is usually me, that's actually my major weakness. I love to bake and I love cake. I can resist pasta, cheese, rice, everything, but put a slice of cake in front of me and I'm done.

 

Today was another good day! My evening language class was cancelled, so I had enough time to actually shop and cook. I also choose to ignore the cancer warnings re processed and red meat. I don't care. I'm finding it hard enough as it is. Apparently everything kills you nowadays, so I might as well enjoy the process. 

 

M1: 1 egg, 1 pork sausage, 1 cup of sauerkraut, 1 cup of bulletproof coffee with ghee (my breakfast is always the same, without routine I don't make it out of the house on time)

M2: Green veggie curry with chicken (coconut milk, yes, but it was still in the freezer from a couple of months ago and is delicious)

M3: Steak topped with fresh herbs and ghee, spinach

 

Is it just me or is everyone else setting off the smoke alarm when cooking a really good steak?

[22twelve]

I'm on my own this week, so just for the record: A busy day at work, too busy to make wrong choices. I was tempted to put regular milk in my coffee when I ran out of almond milk, but didn't want to admit to failing for something that unimportant. Yay for the accountability system!

 

Day 3

M1: The usual

M2: Leftover green veggie curry - a very small portion, not even remotely close to the template, but I wasn't hungry and didn't have much time

M3: Michelle Tam's cracklin' chicken with spinach

[Higgles]

Today is a new Day 1..... again, haha.

 

I arrived back from the states early Monday morning and planned to jump back in on Tuesday, the problem being of course that my house wasn't completely in order. My husband is currently the "domestic engineer" of our house, and went shopping yesterday to stock up on mainly eggs, but everything else as well. I absolutely ate like crap this past week, there were not a lot of compliant choices at my conference. For example, the "breakfast" provided for us was different types of pastries and a fruit yogurt. If we chose to get our own breakfast we could a) go to the starbucks or go to the hotel restaurant where the breakfast buffet was $28!!!! I know I could have probably rented a car and went to the store to make things easier and have stuff in the room, but I was pretty much surrounded by unhealthiness, I was actually craving salads pretty bad by the time i got back.

 

Anyway, I did what I could yesterday while trying to adjust and feel pretty good about today and this week. I have to make my breakfast better... I do eggs every day and I like them but I'm always in a rush so I don't prep veggies with them and I don't have a fat. Wednesday are long meeting days so I just need to avoid running to the snack bar for a pick-me-up. I have tea in my office so I may need to sip on that this afternoon.

 

How have things been for you over this weekend?

[Higgles]

Day 2:

 

Yesterdays Meals:

M1: 3 eggs fried in tomato sauce w/coffee and coconut milk (no veggies and not enough fat)

M2: Side salad with black olives and balsamic vinegar with leftover spiced pork with mustard sauce, and steamed broccoli

M3: Side salad with black olives and balsamic vinegar, Roast beef with a mustard caper sauce, baked asparagus and 1/2 sweet potato with ghee

 

Overall I need more fat in my diet. I forgot to tell my husband to grab avocadoes at the store so the olives are really all I've got for now. I'm also trying to up my veggies... I don't think I do too bad, we always have a salad with dinner and at least one veggie; for lunch we have leftovers and I try to remember a salad as well, but breakfast is difficult. For right now I'm giving myself some leeway as I did just get back from an exhausting trip, but I think this weekend I'll do a little veggie prep and set myself up for the week.

 

Yesterday I felt alright... I did get some sugar/carb cravings in the early afternoon which i was expecting. I made some tea in the office to hold myself over and that worked pretty well. Today I'm bringing a hard-boiled egg to work in case I need it this afternoon. I know once I add more fat to my diet it'll be easier to overcome the cravings. Even though the hubs does the food shopping, I may run to the store at lunch to get some more tea for my office and grab some avocados for home. Dinner last night was pretty filling so I'm hoping that the leftovers will carry me through the afternoon and the sweet potato will reduce the carb cravings.

 

Have a great day!

[Higgles]

I was on the boards yesterday and realized someone new had posted to a thread of mine. In it the member mentioned that saying "starting over" after a mistake or a conscious effort is discouraging, and he/she said they will now say today I'm choosing.... and I really like that. Not because I also get discouraged by saying starting over, but I always number my days and feel less-than if my numbers are low. I'm not going to be 100% whole 30 every day for the rest of my life, what I'm trying to do is live a healthy life that I can manage, so I'm stopping numbering my days. My goal is to be as compliant as possible, but ensure that my decisions have been consciously decided upon.

 

Yesterday:

M1: 3 eggs scrambled w/coconut milk and some green salsa, coffee with coconut milk

M2: Side salad with black olives and balsamic vinegar, Roast beef with a mustard caper sauce, baked asparagus and 1/2 sweet potato (leftovers)

Snack: Hard boiled egg

M3: Nomnompaleo's green chicken, with green bean/onion saute, roasted cauliflower w/balsamic, and 1/2 cup rice (gasp, I know)

 

Yesterday wasn't too bad. I was hungry for lunch too early so I made some tea and that helped tide me over. I also developed a headache in the afternoon which I would have liked to curb with a snack of chips or sweets, but instead I pulled out the hard boiled egg I had and that helped. Last night the hubs made rice, and I chose to have some of it. Rice does not bother me, I learned that from reintro, but at the same time its more carbs/grains then I care to eat. I had a spoonful and enjoyed it and that was it, no extras. Hubs also pulled out these pretzel crisps after dinner while we were watching tv, but I resisted!

 

Today is going to be tough...1st, my office does a thing every Friday called, "Friday Surprise." Its supposed to be a morale booster. Everyone signs up for a week and then brings in something on their chosen day, most people bring in breakfasts, sometimes people do lunches or a late snack. Rarely is there anything compliant. There is one woman I work with who is not W30 but is paleo and she is much stronger than me. She'll pop in the conference room to chat and won't eat anything, and she'll look at what I'm eating and give me a look because she knows that I'm trying to be good. Most of the time I'm not that enticed by the options anyway, but even though I'll already have had breakfast, I always want to try it. 2nd, we are having a going-away at the macaroni grill today. I'm bringing my packed lunch just in case, but since we'll be out of the office for so long for it I don't really have time to wait and eat my lunch in my office when we get back, and I"ll be STARVING by then anyway. I know i'll order a salad, and maybe a chicken dish? Since its in Germany the menu is not normal, so I'll have to see if I can find the options out ahead of time. 3rd, we're going over to a friends house to celebrate a birthday. They are making coq au vin, which isn't too unhealthy, as I obviously don't know the ingredients, but they're not unhealthy people so I'll stay away from the bread (which ironically we were tasked with bringing). I'll need to stay away from the birthday cake too, somehow without looking rude... if its homemade then I really don't know how to say no. I can probably get away with "sharing" one wiht the hubs and just let him eat it instead

 

Anyway, thats my outlook, at least I know my downfalls, and I have another hard-boiled egg ready to go to help tide me over as well. I hope your day is not as much of a minefield

[Higgles]

So, I'll start off and say yesterday was not a day to be proud of, so maybe don't read my meals if you don't want any triggers.

 

M1: 3 eggs scrambled with coconut milk cooked in ghee with green salsa

M2: Macaroni grill: Pomadorina soup (tomato) with the shrimp and spinach salad (without cheese), and yes, one zucchini fritter. BUT... no bread!!

Snack: Hard boiled egg

M3: 3 skewers of caprese bites (aka 3 small mozzarella cheese balls.... and I really wanted to avoid cheese!), Mashed potatoes w/Coq Au Vin, and.... wait for it... a giant slice of bday cake with a small scoop of ice cream, many glasses of wine, and a few bites of gouda cheese (by this time I was tipsy and forgot the no cheese rule)

 

So yes, I knew yesterday would be tough, I had some wins and some losses. First, we went to macaroni grill for lunch with the office. Like I said yesterday, since it was a big going away I knew I would be eating lunch there. I got the tomato soup, which I'm sure has some sort of non-compliant ingredients, but I thought it would be a safer choice to fill me up. I got the shrimp and spinach salad which i've had before and is pretty safe (outside of the dressing which I have no idea whats in it), but I knew the salad alone wouldn't fill me up so I got the soup. My losses at lunch would be that I broke down and had a zucchini fritter... it seemed like every person at the table got an order of these damn things and kept offering them to me. I told them no, and then I tried to justify it in my head, but I held strong. Until the food took forever to come out, and there was one fritter left and someone very nicely just put the basket in front of me. I had only one and enjoyed it, but I did feel a little guilt after the fact.

 

Dinner I also knew would be a problem.... the guest of honor brought appetizers, a bean dip with bread, and these caprese bites (mozzarella, tomato and basil with a balsamic drizzle). I abstained from the bread and dip, and was pretty proud of myself, but I did have 3 of the cheese bites. I knew I shouldn't have, because I'm trying to stay away from cheese since its a downfall for my waistline not necessarily tummy troubles. Dinner was fine, but then dessert came out. Our host was also tipsy by dessert and cut the largest pieces of cake ever, so much for the idea that I would split the cake with my husband. Plus it was homemade so I would have felt worse refusing. I did prepare myself mentally that I might have cake so I'm not beating myself up too much... but after cake when everyone was drinking my friend brought out some small pieces of gouda cheese to pair with the wine and not even thinking I ate a few. There wasn't much, and I savored them but then it hit me, What am I doing!?

 

Every time you make some bad decisions, conscious or not, you just need to get back on the bandwagon. We have lots of healthy food in the house right now so I'm not worried about this weekend at all, and I'm feeling good about the next few days. I hope everyone else has a more successful weekend

[Higgles]

Well... so much for staying on track the entire weekend....

 

M1: I slept through bc we were up so late the night befor

M2:  green chicken with green bean/onion saute, roasted cauliflower w/balsamic, and 1/3  cup rice (leftovers)

M3: Stuffed grape leaves (3), a mixed meat plate with roast potatoes (and tzaiki sauce) plus some bites of my husbands orzo, and wine

 

Downs for the day... we were not going to have any drinks with dinner, but when we got there the place was so nice and we had good service that the hubs thought a glass of wine would be nice, and I agreed. Win for the day... we didn't get dessert, and we have not touched the leftover birthday cake that we were sent home with the other night. Last night I really wanted it, but today I am SO happy I didn't cave.

 

The reason we ended up eating out last night was because we're redoing how our house is laid out (we rent in Germany) and needed to go to Ikea to get some things are we will be having house-guests around Xmas. Ikea is an entire undertaking (plus we started late since I slept in so bad), that we ran up until dinnertime and decided to hit a Greek place we haven't been to in awhile. Today we're finishing going around the house and doing anything... my concern is now we don't have leftovers for M2, so we'll see what we come up with... hmmmm

[Higgles]

This is what happens... I make a decision to go off plan a bit, and it derails me for days. It puts both me and my husband in the mindset of its ok to go off track, so then he makes slightly off plan meals and then I start to make non-conscious decisions about what I'm eating (like grabbing sweets or chips from the snackbar). I'm very disappointed, but today is a new day right? Today I'm at home because we have off for Vet's day, and we're going to use it to get things done around the house, so I have no real reason why I should eat crappy, so I won't.

 

I will post about my successes tomorrow

[J9er]

just read through your thread...nice to know j am not the only one who struggles to stay on track. I did a whole30 in July and stuck with it through a three week reintro into August. I went on a trip to Australia to visit a friend and that was it...a month of binging, major bread eating and completely overdoing it in every way.ugh. I've been struggling to get back on track ever since. I'm now on day 4 of clean eating/trying to do a whole15. I'm trying to be 100% whole30 while at home and not worry about added sugar or cooking fat if I need to eat out. I don't have any meals out planned except for brunch on Saturday, and I've scoped out the menu and have a plan....

I totally hear what you are saying and one little thing starting a snowball effect and derailing for days....I'm doing these 15 days and then going on a 10 day vacation/work conference trip. I am really hoping to not go completely bananas on the trip, but I honestly don't have true highest of hopes.

[Higgles]

J9er, I totally understand your story. Now that I live in Europe we travel all the time and its so hard to not want to eat every delicacy in each country, even though I feel god awful when I get home. I know that "they" say we shouldn't do shorter Whole 30's until you've had a few successful ones under your belt, but maybe smaller goals are good. Go for a 15, and then maybe extend it out, or only allow the addition of foods you know you're ok with after your original reintro. It sounds good in theory

[Higgles]

Well.... a lot has gone on since I've posted last. First off, I had hip surgery a week ago... I'm only 30 but sometimes I feel like I'm much much older. I had a tear in my labrum that is now fixed (pending my recovery of course) and its going to be a long journey back to normal but I know I made the right decision to go forward. There are a few unforunate side effects of this... I'm on crutches for 6 weeks and I'm currently non-weight bearing on my bad leg, so that means no walking around, no shopping, no cooking etc. The downside is that I can't really do anything for myself, the upside is that my husband is an awesome cook and is taking care of me, and cooking all my meals (more than he normally does!). The hubs eats very healthy as well, but he's not Whole 30 so he eats a lot of things I normally wouldn't choose for myself.

 

Since sitting on my butt for the past week, I can't say I've made too many terrible choices, but the big problem I have right now is snacking. And I can tell you right now, its not because I'm not eating enough at my meals, but because I'm bored. I'm watching Netflix like its my job, but if i have lunch at 12, and dinner closer to 7, I have 7 hours of just watching tv and hanging out that is killing me! Yesterday I didn't snack at all, I'm going to try to drink tea and a half glass of kombucha (to help me tummy regulate the drugs), but I hate constantly asking my husband for things that I can't get myself. I'm absolutely drinking enough, the hubs is always refilling my water bottle and helping me to the bathroom but its not enough for me to not crave snacks. Luckily, I can't grab my own snacks, if I could I would probably be eating a lot more. My husband knows how worried I am about weight gain during this time period so he's asking me if I'm sure every time I ask for anything, and he's made sure to give me a salad with all of my meals. Unfortunately the first few days was a lot of soups and stews bc thats all I could handle so it was a bit meat heavy and veggie light. I"m trying to fix all of that now because I'm getting a lot more worried about weight gain... its one thing to know that W30 will help in some way, but not moving is terrible!

 

End result... I'm watching myself this week, making sure I'm not overdoing it, and making a goal that from Thanksgiving to Christmas I'm going to stick to the W30 principles as much as I can. Also, I'm hoping that going back to posting my meals will give me a better idea of what I'm actually eating now that I have nothing to distract me!

 

BTW... Happy Thanksgiving!

[Higgles]

Let's just say I had a very un-Whole 30 Thanksgiving and this morning my stomach sure showed me why that was a bad idea. My stomach was making noise all last night, but this morning the sharp pains in my stomach were brutal. Ugh, lesson learned.

[Higgles]

Oddly enough, I've been doing pretty well on my plan considering I sit around all day and want to do nothing but eat. The hubs makes me breakfast every morning, typically eggs, but I feel like I'm a burden if I ask him to cut up veggies to go along with it. I will add some avocado but i need to find an easy way to get more in for breakfast without burdening my husband, trust me he is doing so much right now doing everything around the house and taking care of me.

 

Since I'm stuck on the couch all I want to do is snack and watch tv, but I can't get my own snacks so I pretty much don't eat. I did eat a bag of pita chips this weekend, but they were special ones I've been saving since September when I picked them up back in the states. Other than that, I've been ok (minus all the T-giving leftovers which are done now).

 

I planned to make a fresh start this morning and do a "whole 22" until my parents get here on 22 Dec, but wouldn't you know, we ran out of eggs this morning so the hubs made me a waffle. Now that we've gone food shopping the house is well stocked for the next few days at least, so I plan on starting fresh 'again" tomorrow as I'm getting nervous with all of this sitting around I'm doing. Since i can't run my fitness test in January is going to be a waist taping, and there is only so much weight I can lose without doing any exercise.

 

I need to get back on my daily check-ins

[Higgles]

Yesterday didn't go exactly as planned...

 

M1: 2 eggs fried in ghee; kashi waffle and 1/8 avocado

"Snack": Pretzel

M2: Pork chop with Balsamic onion topping, broccoli, baked sweet potato, and a small side salad (w/olives)

"Snack": Gluhwein (German spiced wine)

M3: Rosemary and garlic pork roast with german red cabbage, asparagus, and a small side salad (w/olives)

"Snack": Kashi 7-grain crackers

 

So, I explained the waffle thing yesterday, but we had a bit of off-roading when it comes to doc appts. I had two appts at the hospital, but the first was so early we were starving by the 2nd (the timing didn't allow for us to go home in between). My husband went grocery shopping in between and I hung out in the car while I waited for him, and he came back with a pretzel for me because he knew I'd be hungry. He knows I try to stay away from that stuff, but I also didn't tell him I was trying to be strict about it right now so its not his fault. Of course, it is my fault for eating it. As for the crackers.. the hubs is such a huge after dinner snacker, and I don't want to be but its so hard to sit next to him eating and not eat too.... that requires willpower I don't have right now. The wine... well, that was another surprise the hubs did for me. He knew I've been having a rough time adjusting to being laid up and unable to do anything and since its cold here he thought it would cheer me up, and it did, even though I felt super guilty about drinking it.

 

I find ways to justify everything I eat.... I need to stop finding reasons to jump off and instead just stay on!

 

Everything else I was pretty happy with...

[Higgles]

Yay, yesterday was a success!

 

M1: 3 eggs scrambled with coconut milk; coffee with coconut milk; 1/4 avocado

M2: Leftover Rosemary and garlic pork roast with german red cabbage, asparagus, and broccoli

-- Lavender/Vanilla Tea

M3: Honey garlic chicken, cauli rice, sesame "soy" green beans, and a side salad w/olives

 

I made it through yesterday without any snacks, yay! I wanted to snack a bit after lunch, we had pork 2 days in a row due to a meal scheduling issue, so I was totally sick of it. Plus, I'm not a fan of steamed broccoli, but DH doesn't like it roasted so I suffer through it, blah. M3 had honey in it, but I'm ok with honey, and although I'm trying to eliminate sugars whereever possible, I'm not overly concerned that I'm OD'ing on honey. The "soy" in green beans was coconut aminos, but that makes the title far too long. The cauli rice was a win... we were going to make cauli rice and found out that the head of cauli was gross, so the hubs was going to make regular rice. Luckily I remembered that we had a package of frozen leftover caulirice in the freezer, so he had real rice and I had the cauli, I was so happy. Normally he doesn't like doing extra work for dinner (to make 2 separate things) but I think this was a win because it was premade. I prob could have eaten more at dinner but we were watching the documentary fed up about America's Obesity crisis and the idea of sugar in everything, so neither one of us got any more since dinner was made with honey, lol.

 

Like usual, DH snacked immediately after dinner on some tortilla chips. They smelled really strong... maybe because I was consciously avoiding them that they stood out more, I dunno, but I told myself I didn't need any snacks after dinner and I went to bed feeling pretty satisfied. Here is to taking it one day (or meal) at a time!

[Higgles]

Another successful day

 

M1: 3 eggs sauteed in tomato sauce (no sugar added) and coffee w/coconut milk

M2: Leftover honey garlic chicken w/cauli rice, and green beans

* Late afternoon Kombucha (homemade)

M3: 2 Beef fajitas with grilled onions/peppers, salad with black olives, 1/4 avocado

 

I had the hubs make a "sharshuka" today by cooking the eggs in tomato sauce, but i feel bad having him make me anything extravagent considering he only eats cereal for breakfast. I cannot wait until I'm off these crutches and can fend for myself, I think i have a new appreciation for being self-sufficient. Lunch was leftovers which did have honey as an ingredient, but oddly enough, I stopped eating when I felt full. I had DH save the rest for when I got hungry later that afternoon, but I didn't need it, I see that as a win!

 

For dinner he made the best fajitas, and I made the conscious decision to have 2 flour tortillas instead of trying to make it into a fajita salad. I felt satisfied but not overly full, but I didn't want to snack that night. Even though I'm choosing some off plan ingredients, they are rational decisions not made out of hunger or boredom. I'm trying to get through all of December with no snacks and no added sugars, trying to get back into a healthy mindset one step at a time.

[Higgles]

Three days in a row... slowing making this a habit!

 

M1: Coffee with coconut milk; 3 eggs scrambled in coconut milk and 1/4 avocado

M2: 1 beef fajita with grilled onions/peppers

M3: Garlic-lime chicken, green bean saute, artichoke w/homemade mayo and a side salad with olives

 

I know I'm not eating enough veggies at breakfast so I've been trying to think of ways that I can get more veggies in without making it a lot of work for the hubs. I don't want him to have to chop and cook a bunch of veggies for my eggs, so I'm thinking of doing an egg salad with the homemade mayo, and having it with some lettuce, cucumber and tomato. These are veggies that can be easily chopped but not cooked, and the eggs he can do ahead of time... I'm going to be trying it tomorrow I think!

 

I did have 1 flour tortilla at lunch with our leftovers, and man those fajitas are amazing. To be honest, I would have liked to eat more at lunch, after we finished I did feel like I could eat more, but the hubs prepped lunch (obvi) and he typically has smaller lunches. I do need to get it in my head that I'm expelling practically zero energy throughout the day just sitting around and thus my body does not NEED bigger lunches, I'm just used to them. I would have liked some avocado on the fajita but I think I had finished it at breakfast, oops!

 

I made it through the afternoon, had a second PT session so that took up a majority of time. After PT DH went grocery shopping so I just hung out in the car. When he came back in, he had a box of Kashi crackers because he thought I may be hungry. I thanked him, but I told him I'm really trying to reduce snacking right now (my December goal), and I kept the box next to me the trip home without popping it open! He said he felt bad about tempting me when he didn't realize I'm on a streak right now. Dinner was on plan, and I didn't really feel the need to snack afterwards so I'm calling today another win!

[Higgles]

Well, yesterday ended my streak but I could have done worse.

 

M1: 2 eggs scrambled w/leftover beef fajita mix

M2: Garlic-Lime chicken breast with green bean saute and german red cabbage

* Red wine

M3: Sausage and Peppers w/1/3 avocado

* Homemade popcorn

 

The day started out well, lunch filled me up and I didn't have any cravings. In the early afternoon the hubs asked if I wanted to watch a movie and maybe drink some wine. Even though I've spent 24 hours a day for the past 2.5 weeks in this house, we don't spend a lot of time together. He sits mainly in his office and I get pretty lonely. I could have said no to the wine, BUT, I love wine... the only reason right now I really need to limit alcohol is 1) I still have weight to lose and 2) I sit around all day so extra calories and junk are not my friend. So over the afternoon/evening we enjoyed a really nice bottle. The part where I'm more frustrated is over the popcorn (made with coconut oil). DH made chorizo sausage and peppers for dinner but didn't make salads or any other accompanying veggies I do feel for him, he has made every single meal for the past 3 weeks so he's allowed to be lazy every once in awhile. But he didn't think that he made enough food at dinner so he offered to make us popcorn. Although corn isn't recommended, as far as snacks go its pretty clean, just corn, coconut oil and salt, so I said yes. At first I didn't think  we ate enough at dinner either, but after dinner sitting down I actually felt pretty satisfied. When he made the popcorn i was like, ok Heather, you're not really hungry, you don't need to eat your entire share of the snack. But I was wrong, apparently its a food without breaks because I most definitely ate my entire half. I didn't feel full or gross after, but I knew that I ate something that I didn't really need and that was disappointing. However, today looks to be a better day!

[Higgles]

Another successful day in my opinion

 

M1: 3 eggs scrambled with leftover fajita mix and 1/4 avocado

M2: Leftover Sausage and peppers w/1/3 avocado

M3: Large salad with taco meat, olives, and 1/2 avocado, and 1 corn taco shell

 

We almost had an issue at lunch, DH comes out of the kitchen with one smallish container and says, this is all we have for lunch. We use dinner leftovers for lunch every day so this should not have been a surprise for him, but I think he's so exhausted from doing the kitchen stuff that he didn't care the night before. We started brainstorming some fixes as there was barely enough for one person. One of the suggestions was to split the meal and then have soup with it. I had some leftover soups from last month when I knew I wouldn't want to eat real food after my surgery. The problem is, they're full of preservatives and probably other crap. I felt really bad for telling the hubs I didn't want to eat it. I told him he could make me some tuna salad, but he gave me the leftover meal and had ramen and a quesadilla. I have such a soft spot for ramen... its so bad for you, yet I love it. While we were eating he jokingly gave me looks that I had the better meal and I looked t him and was like I would eat that in a second... but I didn't, so its a win!

 

Dinner was tacos which is super easy, but I decided to fill a huge bowl with lettuce and dump my meat in there instead. I did have one corn tortilla to keep a crunch, but I didn't need any more than that. We had dinner a bit early yesterday so we watched more tv than usual last night, and DH snacked on pretzels. the. entire. time. Seriously, its because he eats the pretzel rods really slow, but it was killing me having them so close, but I resisted.

 

I'm coming to terms with the fact that I cannot judge my own fullness. I can judge hunger before I eat pretty well, but when I'm eating, I eat because my food is gone, or I think I've eaten enough, not because I'm truly full, or at least, I think (or want) to eat more. We'll finish and I'm sure I"ll be starving soon and want to snack.... but I don't. So I know I"ve eaten enough. But I don't want to not have that control. I want to go out to dinner and eat what a good portion is and stop, and not keep eating because it tastes good and I'm sure i'm still hungry. DH has always said my portion size was too big, even if it is healthy food, I don't know, I guess I'm still used to overeating....

[Higgles]

Yesterday was not a record setting day... I made some conscious bad decisions and just an outright bad decision...

 

M1: Coffee w/Coconut milk, 3 eggs in ghee with  1/4 avocado

M2: large Salad with taco meat, 1/2 avocado

*White wine

M3: ::sigh:: Italian pork schnitzel with french fries and cream-based dressing

 

So... this afternoon I was very unmotivated in life. I'm not in pain enough to need a pain pill, but enough that i'm uncomfortable, and I'm tired of being stuck on the couch, blah blah blah... Bottom-line- I was feeling crummy. DH tried to cheer me up and thought that maybe we could enjoy some wine. I used to love wine, and I still do, but I try so hard to stay away from it for my waistline. Of course, I'm not necessarily any thinner than I used to be so it seems like a lost cause. I decided that yes, I would like some wine and sipped on it all afternoon (this was my conscious bad decision). I don't regret drinking the wine, and its something I want in my life occasionally.

 

However, dinner was the problem. We were supposed to have my favorite meal tonight and i was pretty excited, but DH was pretty tired and cranky himself and didn't want to cook. I'm trying to support him at these times as he's doing so much. However, we live in a pretty small village and so the restaurants that offer take away don't have the best choices. He decided he would have pizza, which I shouldn't touch with a 10-foot pole. I decided to have a pork schnitzel bc it was their special. I chose one that had compliant like ingredients, tomatoes, peppers, onions.... basically it wasn't a heavy cream gravy like every other kind. Where I ran into trouble was the side salad it came with, they also put a container of their cream dressing (not quite a ranch but close). I am SO SICK of balsamic dressing on my salads. I asked the hubs to make me a paleo ranch but he didn't want to bc he spends too much time in the kitchen as it is. We did have a fight over this and this is making him sound more like an ass then he is, but I don't want to type the entire story. The point is, I saw a new salad dressing and decided to have it. This was NOT a conscious decision, this was an on the spot bad decision that I would like to avoid!! The second problem is, the meal came with french fries like every single meal here in Germany. The other options were rice or noodles. I stuck with the fries, but then started dipping them in the dressing. I felt so friggin awful after dinner, I can't believe it. I wish I could take it all back. I didn't just feel physically bad, but mentally I was a lot worse. I'll try to make good decisions and not eat "bad" things I think will taste good, but then I ruin all that effort by eating salad dressing? Seriously?  I need to figure out a way to be healthier when we eat out around here. The Germans aren't exactly known for their health food or vegetables.... I plan to not eat the leftover fries at lunch and just have a big healthy salad with the rest of the pork. .... sigh.....

[Higgles]

I fell slightly off the wagon this week... My meals themselves were healthy, however I did have wine on another occasion, and I started to snack on my husbands pretzels which have been sitting next to me on the couch ALL WEEK!

 

I won't bother recapping my meals from the past few days, but I'm not sure if me wanting the pretzels was from actual hunger, or knowing that they were there and within reach. I actually tried to take an alternate path and had a gigantic cup of tea but it wasn't satisfying at all. I'll say over 3 days I had about 10 pretzel rods, which for someone who isn't following our plan doesn't sound like a travesty but it is for me mentally. I also developed a slight headache on these days... I may attribute this to the pretzels.

 

My other issue is one I've spoken about and is feeling a bit of guilt. My husband is very supportive of me, but he gets frustrated that he gets stuck on my way of living when its not his choice. Yes, he can do his own thing (I've had several posts on the rice issue before), but he doesn't want to do separate things, he wants us to share them. For example, since we're both doing nothing but sitting around the house, he will occasionally ask if I want to open a bottle of wine. Yes, I'd love to, but should I? Absolutely no, but its really hard to keep saying no. I'm terrified that I'll gain weight after this surgery as I have to do a waist measurement next month, but the hubs has no worries at all about weight and just doesn't understand no matter how supportive he may be. Blah...