Tigers and Turtles - 2016

[misslindy]

Hi all

Have not been around for a few days, I seem to have picked up the car bug. When I was at the library on Monday, in a workshop, my lovely car was in the parking lot and minding its own business when a vehicle chomped on it. The man was so upset, but left his name, number, etc. and when I was there he actually came back to leave more information re his insurance--I told him, no one died, cars get fixed it is inconvenient but move on. So the end result is we are waiting on parts, approval etc and then have to have the car fixed. So that should be the end right--today, back at the library parking lot, I was going in and a car pulled out in front of me nearly slamming into the passenger side, then when I left the lot another car nearly backed into me. Now, I have to say, I drive a full size car and it is not that hard to see. Perhaps the Universe wants the car totalled so I get a new one, I would prefer an accident without me in it!

My W30 days have been going well. Am not doing the September one, but a day to day one for myself. I think I have to back off fruit even though I don't eat a lot of it  even a couple pieces might be too much. I have now decided I can have an apple or blueberries, but not every day. I am sticking to simple foods and to some probably boring but I do like it and am feeling better.

Hope you are all doing well.

Vozelle, do you need someone to carry your bags in Germany? Enjoy your travels.

Nancy, hope your packing and moving is going well.

Cynthia: hope your work is settling

Susan sounds like you are in the right place and going well. 

Enjoy your weekend everyone. L

 

[Crimsann]

Okay, no question I probably overshare when it comes to my nieces....but I sort of have to share this.

Their cousin is sort of a celebrity on You-Tube, well he is at least if you are into fishing videos/tutorials, and last weekend he took Eliana and her Dad out fishing with him and then posted a video about fishing with family.  I'm totally cracking up that thanks to his audience it already has close to 120K views which I realize has less to do with her than with his following, but still...I sort of insist on making everyone I know watch it. 

Please try not to notice she isn't wearing a life vest, not sure her Mom knew about that either but if they are fearless independently...it's nothing to what Daddy and Daddy's girl are together so I'm sure he had some story about how it messed up her casting or something.  (eye roll)  And all ended well. 

 

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zDk67lKn8h0

[vozelle]

13 hours ago, misslindy said:

Vozelle, do you need someone to carry your bags in Germany? Enjoy your travels.

Haha, I wish I could take some stow-a-ways! Thx.  :  )

[vozelle]

1 hour ago, Crimsann said:

Okay, no question I probably overshare when it comes to my nieces....but I sort of have to share this.

Their cousin is sort of a celebrity on You-Tube, well he is at least if you are into fishing videos/tutorials, and last weekend he took Eliana and her Dad out fishing with him and then posted a video about fishing with family.  I'm totally cracking up that thanks to his audience it already has close to 120K views which I realize has less to do with her than with his following, but still...I sort of insist on making everyone I know watch it. 

Please try not to notice she isn't wearing a life vest, not sure her Mom knew about that either but if they are fearless independently...it's nothing to what Daddy and Daddy's girl are together so I'm sure he had some story about how it messed up her casting or something.  (eye roll)  And all ended well. 

 

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zDk67lKn8h0

She is so cute! "Kiss the worm", LOL.

PS The 7 minute workout app is AWESOME... thanks so much for sharing that awhile back.  : )

[Crimsann]

On ‎9‎/‎10‎/‎2016 at 1:02 PM, vozelle said:

She is so cute! "Kiss the worm", LOL.

PS The 7 minute workout app is AWESOME... thanks so much for sharing that awhile back.  : )

Yeah, I need to have a heart to heart with her about taking boys up on dares. 

I admit, I have a love/hate relationship with that app...I've been skipping it when I do the longer walk nights so I haven't progressed as much as I wanted to be able to say I've done but it is slightly easier now even when I skip nights.  A couple of times I've been in the shower when I remember I haven't done it, I think my brain is actively blocking my memory to get out of it.  But I still love that it feels like it's effective even though it's so short and I love that it doesn't require anything equipment wise. 

Okay, so as promised...I tried to upload the before/after shots.  It felt great to get the extra length off my hair today so I'm glad I waited to do this.  I took a series of pictures and tried to match up the one that was the closest to the same size and head angle, but the lighting is different.  They were both taken outdoors but I couldn't simulate April in September, lol!  Oh well, this isn't a scientific before and after anyway.  The thing is, no matter what I've tried the site is telling me there is a problem uploading the image.  I know it's a small enough file size, and it's a standard image file type...so I'm kind of at a loss.  My best guess is there is just something going on with image uploading right now.  I will try again later this week!

 

 

[NancyW]

Oh my gosh, Crimsann, that video of your niece was so cute! But as she's standing near the front of the boat, I could hear my inner mom yelling about a life jacket. Yikes!

Vozelle, have a great trip! 

misslindy, hope your car is back together soon!

I'm still hobbling along. I saw the orthopedic surgeon last week. Got a cortisone shot (can't remember if I told y'all this before), and it's helped. I keep reminding myself to take it easy and not overdo it. That won't help anything. I'm not sure what the next step is. I'm waiting to hear from the doctor, since the MRI wasn't sent ahead, as it was supposed to have been and he still needs to review it. Food is proving to be difficult these days. I have some soup and some turkey meatballs with sweet potato in the freezer, so that's ok, but my stress level is outta this world so I'm craving junk like crazy. 

My daughter is coming on Friday to help me move some boxes. Her SUV will be a lot handier for that than my Mazda 3! It'll all be over in a few weeks--at least the move part. Then time to get this knee healthy so I can go about my life! This is the first time in all my 59 years that I actually feel my age. And I don't like it, not one little bit. So there's some motivation for me...

Have a great week, all!

[Crimsann]

Has anyone else stopped getting email notifications of updates here again?  Seems like this happened once before and I sort of forget how I fixed it or if it just resolved itself. 

I sent an email to them yesterday about not being able to upload pictures...still having that same problem all week.

Funny you mention turkey/sweet potato meatballs Nancy, that's on my meal plan for next week too!  I'm trying to pick some things I can make smaller servings off since it won't be a full week for me.  I want to go out strong though.  I've struggled some this week after rocking last week.  The weekend took me down hard.  Last night I pulled my workout short with some lame excuse about new perm/don't want to wash hair yet/so can't get sweaty.  Pathetic.  LOL!  I'm hoping I get my feet back under me today.  I was so close to my vacation goal last Friday, so I'm super frustrated with myself for not kicking these last days into high gear.  I'm trying to let that go now though, what I don't want to do is try to cram two weeks into ten days in an attempt to make up for the lost time.  There is a difference between going out strong and pushing too hard and going into vacation susceptible to everything under the sun!   

My solution is a well-crafted meal plan.  If I make a tight one, hit all the right notes, and stick to it...meaning no skipping it and no supplementing it with pumpkin donuts...I should be setting myself up as well as possible.  Then I'm going to turn my brain off as much as possible for two weeks and regroup from there. 

Anyone who signed up for the September emails have anything interesting to share?  I noticed Tessemae's is making their weekly meal plan email all compliant for this month which has been nice.  I feel like I didn't get in much food experimentation this summer and now it's time to think about autumn type foods. 

[NancyW]

The meatballs were really good, Crimsann. They called for Craisins, which I did use. When I made something similar while on a W30, I used frozen cranberries that I tossed in the food processor. That worked, but the extra tang from the Craisins really worked well. Hey, enjoy your vacation!

[Crimsann]

Hmm, where did you find that recipe Nancy?  It sounds really good!  I found a similar sweet potato free version from Well Fed just now which includes some really interesting information on using cream of tartar and baking soda in place of bread crumbs to tenderize them....weird science stuff, probably going to have to try that to see what kind of difference it makes.  I can always make the sweet potato on the side this time... 

http://meljoulwan.com/2013/11/14/turkey-cranberry-meatballs/

 

 

[NancyW]

Hmmm, I can't find the meatball recipe. I used 2 pkgs. of ground turkey breast, one of ground turkey, mixed with 3 eggs, salt, pepper, sage, and a mixture of onion, celery and the dried cranberries that had been sauteed in oil and cooled before mixing in. The recipe didn't include the sweet potatoes, I just plopped that (it had mashed cauliflower mixed in--I love that combo!) in with the meatballs in single serve containers and tossed in the freezer. Interesting about the cream of tartar and baking soda. I like to experiment in the kitchen, so maybe I'll give it a try!

I like the idea of orange zest in the Mel Joulwan recipe too.

[NancyW]

And I found the meatball recipe I started with...

http://sillylittlecavegirl.blogspot.com/2014/03/tangy-turkey-meatballs.html?spref=pi

 

[Crimsann]

I only snuck one of the turkey meatballs since I think I made a bit less than I should have to cover lunches.  I was trying to be smart and not make a gob since I only had 3-4 days worth of lunches to pack, and probably ended up making only about two servings...pffft.  It was really good though!  I made it pretty much exactly following the Well Fed recipe I linked above although I didn't use compliant unsweetened cranberries.  I had hoped I would find some at my regular store and didn't think it was worth making a second stop to try and find them when I didn't.  I will put this on my list for sure for this fall and will try an unsweetened version then but I think this was a winner. 

Had a sort of funny experience this weekend.  I was in line at the grocery with my pile of ground turkey, sage, oranges, cranberries, broccoli slaw, carrots, apples, cider, almond milk, another color of this sports bra thing I keep buying because they are insanely comfortable even if buying them at the grocery seems weird.....and holding a pumpkin spice iced latte with whip.  The woman behind me starts making all of these comments about "oh look how healthy all that is and then you have that dessert in your hand!"  Not entirely sure how to take her, or if one of you had managed to track me down to lay a guilt trip on me for sneaking in a 1000% non-compliant treat, I was none the less starting to feel a blush coming on.  She must have said the same thing three different ways while I was waiting on the guy to finish ringing it all up and the shame was mounting.

Until I started to walk away and heard Ms. Health Official request "a carton of Marlboro Light".....yeah, my eyebrows shot through my hairline and I felt a bit better about my vice which at least includes a vegetable.  Sort of. 

I've been trying every post to include the picture I promised but it's not taking it, or any other file I try, and I've had no reply from the site about what the problem is...I'm kind of giving up.  I did see a post about some work they did on the site two weeks ago so that's about when I started having problems and not getting email updates again but I don't know if that's related or not. 

 

[vozelle]

I haven't been getting email updates either, I wonder if they're going to fix that, or if there's something we need to do to reset our settings? Look forward to seeing your pics, Crimsann... however long it takes (i.e., You're not off the hook! LOL)

So after all this time eating Paleo, and certainly benefiting from it, but... I STILL have some chronic fussy gut issues (occasional constipation, mild bloating, gassiness, abdominal discomfort)… so I went to a functional medicine MD and had some major GI testing done. Will let you know what comes of it (I had to wait four months just to get into see her! Long waiting list.)

Meanwhile, I'm off to Germany for a family wedding, back Oct 1st. Doctor says stay gluten and sugar-free… good thing I've been to the old country several times before and won't feel deprived missing all of the baked treats. I swear there is a bakery on every corner there.

Take care, you gals.  : )

[ShannonM816]

For those of you not getting emails, you need to look for your Account Settings on your profile, and then Notification Settings, and then make sure you've checked email on everything you want emails about. I'm on my cell right now and the menu setup is a bit different, but try here: http://forum.whole30.com/notifications/options/  and see if that works. If not, someone pm me and I'll figure it out next time I'm on the laptop and give you better instructions.

[Crimsann]

Thanks Shannon...I checked just now and it does still show me following this thread and with "immediate notification" rather than the once a day or once a week...but I went ahead and toggled that on/off and saved it again to see if that refreshes things in the background.  I will reach out if it's still not working just to let you know. 

I promise I will keep trying on the picture...it is kind of funny timing, I didn't break the camera but I broke the forum?  You sure you want to see this hot mess?  LOL!

 

Enjoy your time abroad Vozelle!  We are leaving tomorrow morning (waaaay earlier than I wanted to) so I'm just trying to keep all the balls in the air long enough to make a dash for the door and try not to hear them all crashing to the ground behind me.

 

My own fault for letting the scales matter again, but I had this number in mind and while it winked at me over the weekend...as hard as I've worked I can't get it to stick and I'm letting that disappoint and frustrate me so I'm making a vow here and now NOT to check tomorrow morning before we leave.  Maybe not thinking I'm "there" will help me keep from thinking I'm free to indulge with abandon next week.  That's the faint silver lining I'm trying to see.  It is hard, when you have worked (and worked out) so hard not to see a tangible result and this is EXACTLY why the scales are not your friend so I know I need to look for results in another way.  I really do know that.  I guess I just need to remember that I know that. 

So in that spirit...one NSV for the road...I now own a full weeks worth of workout gear.  Because I actually NEED it in order to not be doing laundry every third day.  Because I actually sweat through a set on a daily basis.  And I'm even sort of mad about leaving so early tomorrow because it means I probably won't get a workout in.  Wow.  Who am I??!?  I might even go clear off the deep end and set my alarm clock to get up early just to do it. 

 

[misslindy]

On 9/22/2016 at 2:13 AM, vozellesaid:

I haven't been getting email updates either, I wonder if they're going to fix that, or if there's something we need to do to reset our settings? Look forward to seeing your pics, Crimsann... however long it takes (i.e., You're not off the hook! LOL)

So after all this time eating Paleo, and certainly benefiting from it, but... I STILL have some chronic fussy gut issues (occasional constipation, mild bloating, gassiness, abdominal discomfort)… so I went to a functional medicine MD and had some major GI testing done. Will let you know what comes of it (I had to wait four months just to get into see her! Long waiting list.)

Meanwhile, I'm off to Germany for a family wedding, back Oct 1st. Doctor says stay gluten and sugar-free… good thing I've been to the old country several times before and won't feel deprived missing all of the baked treats. I swear there is a bakery on every corner there.

Take care, you gals.  : )

Safe travels, Vozelle. Look forward to lots of stories when you come back.

 

[NancyW]

Hi all,

Moving day is coming (Thursday) and there's a lot to do before then. And yet, I'm at my daughter & son-in-law's house granddog sitting. And loving every minute of it! There are three of them, and they are great! Can't wait till the move is done and I can get back to normal...ish. I plan to do plain old paleo for the time being. I may even incorporate some paleo recipes that mimic non-paleo foods, to keep it interesting. I'm still battling this stupid knee injury, but I found some DVDs for seniors that are mostly seated. That should work just fine! And one of them is some boxing moves--slow, but I can live with that. My friend's basement is really big, so it won't be a problem using it for working out. It's a cement floor, but I won't be doing any jumping!

Gotta let the pups out. They think I don't know that they only go outside so they can come in and get a treat... LOL

[C_Cezeaux]

Hey, everyone! Been a really quiet time on here the last few weeks, how is everyone doing by now?  For myself, been busy trying to fit in getting the house situated to our liking while working 6-7 days a week.  Last weekend we actually took 3 days off and had a marathon painting/furniture moving session the day before my folks and my oldest son came to visit for the weekend.  It was a great relaxing two days while they were here.

On the food front, although we were being fairly careful what we ate due to my mom's allergies, I evidently got hold of something with an additive that didn't agree with me or the straight out sugar I let myself have when we took the folks out to dinner on Sunday did bad things for me.  My feet have really hurt this week, something I haven't had problems with for awhile.  Plus, I ended up sinusy again.  My two main suspects are the salad dressing and the cherry/oatmeal crisp I had at the buffet.  ...sigh...

However, since the "cooler" weather we've had the last week, I'm actually feeling energetic enough that I am getting ready to prep food for my breakfast and lunches at work this week.  Am patting myself on the back for working up the energy to look through the paleo recipes and finding portable foods that I can bag or box up and carry off to work with me.   Tomorrow I am having either avocado/egg salad or the pesto egg salad in the collard leaf wraps.  And a sweet potato/egg "muffin" for breakfast.  Will be completely staying with the good for me foods until the third weekend in October, when I will be having a glass (or two) of meade at the RenFest.

Oh! AND I finally talked the hubby into grilling some Portobello caps while we had the pit fired up last weekend. SO good! Sadly, did not have any leftovers to use as buns, but hey! That's why they keep them in the store, lol.

And a question - I have room to get working again and I really need to work on core strength and flexibility.  Have been checking out some stretches and yoga that I'm going to try but am curious if anyone has tried planking?  The links keep popping up, have read mixed reviews from "WOW, Amazing!!" to "never do this exercise, you will damage yourself."

[vozelle]

Hi everyone, I'm back from vacation. Nice to catch up on your posts. I made it through the trip to Germany without touching gluten or sugar, it was a bit harder than I thought (especially at the wedding I attended, which was an all-out gluten fest)... but it was doable. I'm glad to be home.

Big news:

SO, my lab tests came in, and it turns out I have several serious parasites (!!), SIBO (small intestine bacterial overgrowth), non-celiac gluten sensitivity, and mild yeast issues in my "leaky" gut. Also significant anemia. WOW. First, I was sad and in shock. Then I began rejoicing, because there is treatment available for all of this, AND it explains why I was still having GI symptoms after 18 months of nearly perfect paleo eating (and having been a "healthy lifestyle" person in general MY WHOLE LIFE).

Seriously, I wish I had done this testing years ago (but it is crazy expensive, all out-of-pocket). Could've saved myself a heck of ton of struggle and confusion. My functional medicine MD literally said, "It's wonderful that you've been eating so clean, and it absolutely has helped, and I want you to continue to do so... but with lab results like these, no amount of perfect eating was going to fix it. We need to kill the bad bugs and rebalance your gut flora ASAP." So she has me on anti-parasite medication for 30 days, then a 45-day anti-microbial protocol, then we'll do retesting...

*whew!* So that's what I'm focused on now. Wish me luck!

[vozelle]

: )

[C_Cezeaux]

On ‎10‎/‎4‎/‎2016 at 9:21 AM, vozelle said:

 

*whew!* So that's what I'm focused on now. Wish me luck!

Wow! Definitely wishing luck your way! On the one hand...parasites, ewww - but, actually good news, if killing off the parasites kills off all the awful symptoms with it.  Sounds like once that happens, the other issues should start healing up as well?  Keeping fingers crossed for some well deserved relief for you!

I got serious myself about sticking with the full paleo myself and have actually been looking through and using some of those recipes in all the paleo cookbooks I bought over the last month. Weird how they don't work by just sitting on the shelf....  I tried something new tonight while my protein muffins were cooking and made up a batch of stuffed collard leaves for lunch the next couple days. And... IT WORKED! Neat little rolled up bundles of avocado chicken salad - now to see how the flavor is tomorrow, lol.

[misslindy]

Hello

Nice to have you back home Vozelle (now why would I say that, I don't even live in the US or North America for that matter!) Glad your trip was good and your parasitic overgrowth was at least discovered so that has to be good. Now there will be massive wars internally to eliminate the wee strangers!

Cynthia I have had the same problem with cookbooks, the dinner doesn't just appear, look like the picture and taste heavenly. I guess I shall have to do as you have and  actually follow the instructions.

Hope your move is over and done with Nancy, sounds like you have your exercise sorted. I am still hoping it will warm up enough to get back in the ocean. Still so cold and rainy here.

I am not doing as well as I would like to be so don't know where to go next with this stuff. I am getting pretty sick of food, thinking, preparing and the only part I really am enjoying is eating. I guess that is progress for me. The biggest problem I think is overall stress so have been trying to combat that with music and relaxation stuff--mostly it annoys me to have to stop what I am doing to relax!!!

 

[QuilterInVA]

Today was the first time I've received notification of a post in a month! I should have checked sooner.

I've been reading "Food Freedom Forever" and it's like Melissa was talking to me personally. If you haven't read it, its worth your time. If some of you are reading it, maybe we could discuss it. I have been doing pretty well. Kelly over at The Nourishing Home (Paleo website - she sends out email with dinner menus every week) started a Whole30 yesterday so I joined. She has a month of menus and recipes for the Whole 30. I plan to read the book then go back and make notes and highlight during this time so I'll be prepared for the "eating season."

 

[ShannonM816]

@Crimsann I've seen people posting photos, so you should be able to do that now, if you're still wanting to. It seems most of the forum stuff is fixed, but if anyone notices anything else weird, definitely pm one of the moderators and let us know. 

[Crimsann]

@ShannonM816 thanks for the update!!!  I just started getting the emails again which was perfect timing...yesterday was my first day back to work so it was swamped but it was at the top of my list to check in here as soon as possible. 

It just feels like checking in is sort of my first step in "get back to business" food wise.  I was nowhere near as successful as Vozelle in completing a gluten-free holiday, but I also wasn't trying so no surprise there.  I did a post-vacation weigh in and it was negligible but I've struggled with getting back to working out.  I'm glad I gave myself the full two weeks off, but now I sort of wish I had started back last week with running at least.  This week I'm in full on PMS and already exhausted from going back to waking up in the morning (rather than mid-afternoon which is my first choice!) so sleep is trumping exercise until I get back on track there.  Not the end of the world I guess, this week I'm cleaning up food...easing back towards my plan of W30 weekdays and less W30 weekends...and that will give me an energy boost towards starting back on exercise next week. 

I'm also going to be checking out the new Food Freedom book since that seems like another great way to reconnect and get some solid ideas and strategies for handling the rest of this year.  I'm already considering another Jan/Feb/March Whole30 like I started this year with, those months seem to work pretty well for being a reset period without crossing over very many holidays or family events. 

But...that's all just chatter and what we are really long overdue for now is my promised before/during photo! 

I'm still a little taken aback by the change myself when I see this because as we all know while the face is one of the first places you see changes...but when it's all happened rather slowly and you are so used to seeing your own face...I think YOU can be the last person to realize it until you see some kind of before/after like this. 

Anyway, short post (by my standards) and I will try to make time very soon for a vacation picture or two.  Plus, I'm really wanting to do some more recipe exploration for the fall season so those of you who are nose deep in cookbooks right now...any fresh ideas I should look up?!