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Tigers and Turtles - 2016


Crimsann

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Hey everyone!!  It has been so long for me that I couldn't get my old password to work and had to sign in thru Facebook, so I look like a newbie....me, the old lady....well, I have welcomed back all the weight I lost thru W30 several years ago and also now find I feel both chubby AND tired/toxic....so, hoping to start a 30 tomorrow....any good solid structure will help.

i know about BLE and have a good friend who did it and lost tons.  She also runs an online coaching program on a life without sugar and wrote a book: Candy Girl.  I would recommend her.  JIll Kelly.

I am linking up on the forum w a newbie who is just starting her first tomorrow, but I feel as though I have found true north finding you all still here. Will try to check in more regularly.  I took a temporary promotion at work, so havebbeen busier than usual, but plan to retire when it is over by early next summer....time for some serious self care.....plus my hubby is getting older so I need to be with him more as well. 

Hoping for the very best for each of you,,

merg

 

 

 

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  • 4 weeks later...

As promised, sporadic check-in!  I think I'm always sort of inspired the day a W30 email comes (or the day I get to open and read it, which is not always the same day!)

I'm in a slightly better place than last month, I have made meal plans for the work weeks now through the end of the year.  They are not all W30, but I wanted to ease back in that direction by getting back on the "prep the meal, eat the meal" train.  I decided to focus on the work week because packing is so much easier than scrambling for lunch no matter what I pack, and the freedom on the weekends is going to make the holiday season a bit less stressful since I don't have time for a full reset before.  Not perfect, maybe not even entirely my ideal...but something. 

And an interesting thing happened...I went into it with no specific intention regarding what type of meals, other than that they be primarily whole foods and something I cooked rather than packaged and processed to death.  When I got to the end of the year I realized only two weeks were actually not W30.  It gave me an odd little sense of hope, as far off course as I have felt for large parts of this year, I have made some real changes that are sticking.  When I sit down to list out a dozen or so quick, easy, tasty, doable meals...they are predominantly W30 meals without me having to wrack my brain for them.  Even the two recipes that are not compliant are rather close, one is easily adapted in fact though I do prefer the non-compliant version given the choice...and the other one only contains one thing that is not on my extended allowed list.  The list I came up with as my long term food list. 

So there is that. 

I am also pleased to report that my attempt to pre-start my New Year Resolution of keeping a short diary as daily as possible has been going well.  I picked the app Momento as something to try, and even though I don't fully utilize it's features (I sure wish it would sync with Apple's activity tracker and track my daily workout stats!) I am finding it to be a good solution for me.  It's handy on my phone, I can add pictures right out of my email, text messages, or my phone's camera...and the reminders in the morning about "what did you dream?" and "how was your day?" usually do prompt me to jot down a line or two.  I'm working really hard on not caring what I say, it doesn't need to be earthshattering news, profound, amusing, or even particularly interesting...some of that will come with time and habit...so it's more important to me to just encapsulate the day even if it's just a "feels like Monday"

I have also decided on my "real" resolution for the first of the year...I want to go a year without using any of those plastic bags that are so ubiquitous.  Easy enough to avoid in grocery stores where it's pretty common practice to whip out a reusable bag now (just not common enough in my life yet), though it's going to be a bit trickier at the mall maybe.  Then again, what is life without a challenge and a few less shopping sprees probably wouldn't hurt me none.  ;) 

Anyone out there have a "love it" style or brand of market bag?  I'm try to do some research and experiment a bit with some different types to make that easier come January. 

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  • 1 month later...

Hi all, 

Still here! Just popped in to see who's still around. I've been enjoying the Medical Medium material, currently on Day 7 of a 28-day detox cleanse. Author says Streptococcus Virus is the root cause of SIBO, so I'm following the recommended protocol to see what happens! Willing to try anything at this point.

Hope everyone's doing well out there.

V

PS @Crimsann those plastic bags were outlawed here awhile ago, so I always take reusables when shopping. My local health food store gives out free cloth bags whenever you spend over $50, so needless to say we have far too many in our closet! Can't remember the last time I spent LESS than $50 at the grocery store!!

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Me!  Sort of...in the still around category.  I was actually thinking about posting the very night you did @vozelle but didn't get around to it.  It's been a tough week or so for a lot of reasons.  My friend is dealing with something right now that would probably put me straight into a mental breakdown.  I'm not even involved directly, but being close to it indirectly is enough to freak me out about every five minutes.  I'm usually pretty chill, but I can tell that being off my game eating wise is making this feel more extreme than it would have. 

I also had to turn down a rather interesting opportunity that came my way, and while I know I'm making the right choice, I'm again kind of sad about knowing two parts of my life are not that compatible anymore.  Earlier this year, mostly on a whim and with no thought that anything would ever come of it, I signed up to be a recipe tester for a very cool food blog.  A few weeks ago, they sent me the contract and the non-disclosure agreement I would need to sign to be accepted.  Wah!  It would mean testing and reviewing one of their recipes at least every two weeks though and while some of them may be compliant it's not like I would get to tweak them and taste testing certainly isn't optional.  If I'm going to be serious about next year, there is of course no way I could sign on for that.  And I'm sad, but not sad.  I've had time lately to experience me on and off of a healthier eating plan and I know which me I prefer...I'm just having a hard time coming to terms with me as that kind of cook when I've spent years thinking of myself as a rather different kind entirely.  It's not that I don't realize there aren't lots of things to explore and experiment with in a more Paleo kitchen, it's just funny how I feel far more limited in cooking than I actually do in eating.  Maybe I will find my way to a balance at some point, I will definitely keep trying, but I know what I need to concentrate on right now.

So that being said, still planning on going back full steam in January and trying to cut back now to make that less stressful but with full realization of the holidays.  I don't know if I'm going to say out loud that I'm thinking about that "full year" thing again only with a better kick off, but it's on my mind.  Maybe it's better if I let that evolve on it's own instead of staring down the tunnel. 

And I've been in this funk all week, so rather than drone on about it, I'm going to stop here for now...just wanted to say you guys are rarely far from my mind.

 

Also, I so wish they would outlaw the bags here...I would be right there with you on that bag collection if we had something similar.  It's harder to go cold turkey with plastic bagging when they are as ubiquitous as sugar though.  LOL!  I'm still planning to try.  I look like the worst offender right now .  Before our last work bake sale, I had a raffle to get people to bring them in so we had some to use and I got WAAAY more than I anticipated.  I brought the rest home to recycle but haven't got them dropped off yet.  It's probably what got me thinking about this as a goal.

Stay safe, stay healthy everyone...I'm sure I will check in again before next year but have a wonderful holiday season.  And get your tushes back here for January.  ;) 

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@Crimsann, I have a whole collection of the reusable bags from the grocery store. HEB here in TX uses artistic design, movie characters, and photographs on their bags. I have 4 of the bluebonnet bags in 2 different sizes. :D. They double as my carryon "personal item" - My purse, kindle, charger, and bottles of water all go in th smaller version. Sprouts has some nice canvas shoppers but they're a little more expensive than the HEB bags.  I have to say, my favorite to carry anywhere else are a couple of matching pink Minnie Mouse "cloth" bags I bought from HEB. They left the store brand off and they are soft enough to fold up and put in my purse.

@vozelle, am definitely interested to see how your cleanse works for You. Hopefully good results.

@mergthemagnificent, welcome back, I feel your pain (post Harvey food was NOT good for me) and You Can Do It! :)

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  • 2 weeks later...

Where is everyone else?  @NancyW, @misslindy!

I'm on Day 20 of the Medical Medium 28-Day Detox Cleanse and everything's going well. Yes, that means I'll still be on it during Thanksgiving, ack! Poor planning on my part, oh well. I'm feeling great, so it's totally worth it.  : )

Happy holidays to you all!

V

Info about the cleanse: https://www.healyourlife.com/a-28-day-detox-diet-plan

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  • 3 weeks later...

Hi all! I did something I thought I'd never do. I went back to Weight Watchers! They've made changes that bring them more in line with the way I've been eating lately, and I'm totally on board. It's been a few weeks, and I'm down 12 pounds almost effortlessly. I credit my experience with Paleo, Whole30, and IF. It's changed my way of thinking about food enough that I can follow the plan and still fit everything in when it comes to special occasions. 

Big news: I move in two weeks! I found a 2 bedroom, 2 bath apartment with all kinds of perks (heated underground parking, swimming pools), that is cheaper than anything else I've looked at. It's an over 55 place, and has a kitchen I can hardly wait to start cooking in! Dec. 22 is moving day, and along with the apartment, I'm getting a whole pile of new furniture. I feel like such a grown-up! LOL

I hope all are well, I miss you guys!

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I'm so excited for your move Nancy!  My other friend who was in a similar co-hab situation just moved into a new place last month and it's been fun hearing about how nice it is to have her own space again.  

I'm crazy jealous about that heated parking.  Can I come stay until...like...April?

Gearing up for a January round, my plan is to stay on until at least April and then make a longer term plan from there.  I'm not heading into it with the 365 mentality I had this year which totally didn't work out for me but that is in the back of my mind.  This time around though I can start with at least a full 30-days completely 100% W30 before I have to start deciding how to do a modified plan.  (Since we didn't start the cupcake project until March last year I have a few make up people to do in February but that's mostly over now.)  I still think I had a solid list, I just had a less than perfect time to start and it made such a huge difference.  It really highlighted for me the benefit of a full 30 days to reset.

An elf (my sister) and a sleepy kitty (my youngest niece in a winter coat with ears) just dropped off a coffee as a surprise.  I will miss those coffee's...but I'm looking to make some positive changes in 2018!   ....and a black coffee is just as warm thank goodness.

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  • 1 month later...

Happy seriously belated New Year, just checking in because I had a free minute and wanted to say "hi"...it's been weird doing this round without any forum activity either here or in the official ongoing threads.  It's been a decent round for me though, very smooth start with little or no side effects at all which really surprised me because I was coming off my longest time being off W30 since my first ever.  I've done modestly well with breakfasts and eating all three meals, my usual problem areas, and I've kept up my daily workout activity.  I passed Day 365 earlier this month which doesn't seem possible.  Three weeks in and I'm seeing most of the usual early results, stable moods, clearer and less dry skin, pants buttoning up much easier.  Energy levels are still on the low side but I do believe that's largely weather related...the cold has been exceptionally brutal here this winter.  Not much snow so far, but weeks straight with the temps not climbing above freezing and that's unusual for us.  I'm trying not to complain because it is the snow/ice that I detest the most but the cold snap was starting to wear everyone thin.  

Full disclosure...I won't be able to call this a true W30, I tasted a spoonful of tea syrup for a punch recipe I needed to make for work.  Ironically at the time I thought I was staying compliant by tasting it before I added the simple syrup or the ginger ale...but I forgot that the frozen lemonade concentrate in the tea syrup part did have sugar in it even if the tea/mint/peach nectar were all compliant.  At this point in my W30 journey that just wasn't a big deal to me, but I acknowledge it was a slip!  I did get someone else to taste the final version then because I didn't trust my own taste buds on whether or not it was too sweet but at least I was confident that it was drinkable.     

I will be completing the thirty days and then the first week of February before cupcake duties call again.  I won't have a full 30-days free of that again until June when I'm totally done and I'm already planning an anniversary W30 then since June was my first ever a few years ago and it's still one of my favorite times of year to go clean.  

Hope you are all well...miss our chats...but I'm also finding I'm stronger and more confident each round and I owe so much of that to this group.  

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Hi ladies,  I'm still around and continuing to progress on my gut-healing journey. Finished the Medical Medium cleanse at the end of Nov with really good results, then continued the recommended protocols for healing SIBO and Chronic Strep infection... will stay on this path until my symptoms disappear completely. Giving it plenty of time and taking it gently. Planning to re-do lab tests sometime this Spring (nervous but also eager to see the results... I'm really curious to see if this protocol has been more effective for treating the SIBO than the modified Paleo plan my functional MD had me on before). 

I've been battling some cravings during the colder weather... remembering comfort foods liked mac-n-cheese, and baked potatoes piled high with dairy stuff. Missing the seasonal fruits of summer. Also, the sweets around me everywhere during the Holidays was not so fun. I made a few healthy treats to share with others, however, and they were actually quite impressed! That was cool.

@Crimsann, nice to hear your update, wishing you well. I did my first Whole30 in June too, and I agree it's a great month for eating clean and resetting our circuits! Like you, I am generally feeling really strong in my good eating habits too, but this group really helped during those early days on the path to wellness.  : )

Hope y'all are doing well out there, many blessings.

V

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  • 1 year later...

Is anyone still out there? I had some serious health issues last year and find myself in worse shape than ever, but ready to pick up and start again. Would love to find someone from our old group to plug along with. :)

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I made a Briam yesterday. It is a Mediterranean dish of potatoes, zucchini (or sometimes eggplant), red bell pepper, onion, garlic and olive oil baked in the oven. Thursday I made green beans, tomatoes, onions, potatoes, garlic and olive oil. So good and even better the next day. I had some for breakfast topped with fried eggs.

I still go to the YMCA 5 days a week. I love Yoga and a new water yoga class started this week.

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That sounds insanely good. I am going to have to look up a recipe. :) The water yoga sounds intriguing- I wish there was a place close to where we are staying that had something like it late in the evenings. For now, I'm only getting the walking I do at work and trying to lengthen my stride on the treadmill. I need to get lumbered up and toned again.

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