cahliah Posted February 18, 2017 Author Share Posted February 18, 2017 Meal 3 was pretty good - made up for the disappointing meatballs. Leftover chicken strips and carrot & potato "fries" with chili, plus celery with cashew butter. My midget is passed out on my futon with a fever of 101, but she won't take anything for it. Though, she at least tried some (canned) chicken noodle soup. And she has claimed for years that she hates soup, but apparently, she liked this. Maybe eventually I can change her mind about soup in general - though that would likely take pasta, as she's a total pasta fiend. Today's condensed food log: Meal 1: Cheeseless chicken parmesan w/ spaghetti squash Snack 1: Celery w/ almond butter Meal 2: Swedish meatballs, mashed potatoes, banana Snack 2: Celery w/ almond butter Meal 3: Chicken strips, carrot & potato "fries" with chili, celery w/ cashew butter ...maybe I need to lay off the celery & nut butter, but it's been a long time since I've eaten raw celery, and this is pretty much the only way I can eat it. At least, I can try to eat it with meals instead of snacking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JenHZ Posted February 18, 2017 Share Posted February 18, 2017 sorry for the sick family members Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cahliah Posted February 18, 2017 Author Share Posted February 18, 2017 Tired today. Been having a toothache that only pops up when I'm trying to sleep, but goes away if I sleep in my recliner. Guess I need to get to the dentist. Blech. My mom broke a rule last night and weighed herself. Apparently, less than 2 weeks in, and she's lost 10 lbs. She's super focused on the weight loss potential with this (even if it's not a weight loss diet) so she's very happy. Keeps asking if I think I've lost weight, and I just shrug. (TMI Warning!!!) Told her that I'm having more... movements... during the day than usual, and she said she is, too. Like, 3-4 per day. Now, for me, while unusual, this isn't a big deal. I've been regular almost my entire life (IBS-D - sometimes I've wished I wasn't so regular!) but my mom has been reliant on Miralax for quite a while now, so this is a major NSV for her! Anyways, first meal today was the last of my leftover chicken strips, leftover carrot & potato "fries", and ranch dressing. Got a roast in the slow cooker for dinner tonight - hopefully it turns out without the onion soup mix we usually dump in there, but I added onion & garlic powder, salt, pepper, bay leaves, and onions, so that should help. I hope. Oh, and potatoes and carrots, of course. Still need to work on getting more vegetable variety, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cahliah Posted February 19, 2017 Author Share Posted February 19, 2017 Dinner today was kinda blah. We had a roast in the freezer, so I put that in the slow cooker with potatoes, carrots, and onions. Added seasoning, but not enough, apparently. There wasn't much taste to it. Oh well - it was food, and I'm sure there's something I can do to spice up the leftovers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cahliah Posted February 19, 2017 Author Share Posted February 19, 2017 Forgot to mention the celery & almond butter I had between my 1st & 2nd meals, since dinner was taking so long to cook. 3rd meal today was the last of the leftover cheeseless chicken parm, fritters made of leftover spaghetti squash and an egg (as much as I liked the spaghetti squash, I didn't think I could force myself to eat it yet again - at least, without changing it up a bit), and a banana. Much better than the roast was. Though, I think, I'm now out of good leftovers. Going to have to do some extra cooking tomorrow! Finalized the plans for meals next week. Of course, as always, they're subject to change when I realize we don't have something, or I don't have the energy to cook (though I've been really good about that so far!) Monday: Shepherd's pie (going to do a double batch so we have enough for a lot of leftovers - this was a favorite last week) Tuesday: Japanese sea salt grilled chicken with okonomiyaki (Japanese cabbage & veggie fritters) Wednesday: Pork chops w/ apples, roasted red potatoes Thursday: Soutzoukakia (Greek meatballs in a tomato sauce) with mashed potatoes and green beans (another favorite from last week - will be making extra!) Friday: (Unsweetened, soy-free) Teriyaki chicken skewers with salad (and probably mac & cheese or rice of some sort for my daughter) Saturday: BBQ Ribs w/ potato salad Sunday: Chicken pot pie soup (no crust, just the filling) w/ salad Today's food log: Meal 1: Chicken strips, carrot & potato "fries", ranch dressing Snack: Celery & almond butter Meal 2: Roast beef, potato, carrots, onions Meal 3: Cheeseless chicken parmesan, spaghetti squash fritters, banana Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cahliah Posted February 20, 2017 Author Share Posted February 20, 2017 Spent the entire day making sure my daughter got her chores done so she could have a friend over for a sleepover. 1st meal was egg muffins made with eggs, coconut milk, salsa, spinach, and chicken. They weren't bad, but I don't think I'd make them again. Plus, celery with almond butter. We're going through a lot of celery here - good thing it's not too expensive! 2nd meal was chicken, broccoli, potato soup. This turned out so much better than last week's soup, but my mom didn't care for it, so it's all mine!!! Hah!!! Feeling alright today, other than minor aches and pains, and a few cravings for things I can't have, but I remind myself that it's just 30 days (plus the reintroduction period) and I'm fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cahliah Posted February 20, 2017 Author Share Posted February 20, 2017 3rd meal tonight was soup again, with a few meatballs on the side for (hopefully) some added fat. Had to munch a celery stalk with almond butter again about halfway between the 2nd and 3rd meal because my soup has very little fat in it and, even with eating 2 bowls, it wasn't enough. Need to work on that, but I've decided, if celery and almond butter is the worst of my sins while I'm on this, I'm doing damn good. It's not like I sit there and eat it mindlessly - I'll eat one stalk with a tablespoon or two of almond butter, and that's enough for me. (My mom, on the other hand, had 5 stalks the other day, with a bunch of cashew butter - but I've noticed her appetite is a LOT bigger than mine pretty much all the time.) Trying a more complicated/frustrating project at work tonight, with the aid of a Runa "energy drink" (aka guayusa tea, with sparkling water and a little bit of flavoring - no sweeteners.) Still don't like tea, and don't really enjoy the flavor of this, but so far it's given me just enough focus to work without being super pumped. And, if my pre-Whole30 trials are right, I won't crash, but it'll only last a few hours, which means I should sleep just fine tonight. I hope. If it doesn't work... I have a sister who loves tea and might be interested in a case of little cans of it. It's funny... I started this with a backup plan - I have a little plastic drawer cart that I keep stocked with snacks - none of which are Whole30 compliant. I figured, if I couldn't do it, I could at least put on a good show for my mom, and secretly munch what I needed from the cart when I was working or whatever. And I've looked through it a few times, more to see if there was anything compliant in there (there wasn't.) But, honestly, aside from a couple brief "oh, that'd be nice" moments, I haven't had the desire to get anything out of it at all. Even after my daughter decided to steal my dark chocolate covered almonds and munch them in front of me. For as hard as W30 is supposed to be, I'm finding it way too easy so far. Maybe I'm doing something wrong? Either way, I'm going to make it through, cheat-free. And I'm probably unloading most of that snack cart on my brother when I'm done. Especially my 'emergency meal' drawer. And the sour jelly beans - even if they're organic. Today's condensed meal log: Meal 1: Egg muffins, celery, almond butter (every time I type that, I almost type 'peanut' instead of almond... And I know that peanut butter screws with me, so I avoid it like the plague!) Meal 2: Chicken, broccoli, & potato soup (loaded with veggies! Woot!) Snack: Celery & almond butter Meal 3: Meatballs, leftover soup Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JenHZ Posted February 20, 2017 Share Posted February 20, 2017 I don't' think you are finding it Too easy. I think you are working it and listening to your body Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cahliah Posted February 20, 2017 Author Share Posted February 20, 2017 I'm trying! 1st meal today was egg muffins and a couple meatballs. Not a huge fan of either today, but the gravy from the meatballs helped make the egg muffins a bit more palatable. Tonight, though... Shepherd's pie, and I've got a couple pounds of mushrooms to cook up. Which nobody else will touch - hah! Talked with my mom a bit about reintroduction. Her plan was to eat 1/2 sleeve of Thin Mints on day 31. *facepalm* She thought they were just sugar... I told her, no, they're sugar, grains, gluten, and dairy corn & soy - if she eats those right off the bat, she's not going to know what's making her feel like crap the next day. I'm trying to convince her to let me guide her reintroduction, but she's skeptical about it. Says she doesn't have any food sensitivities... But, if that's the case, why was she getting constipated so often, but now that we're doing Whole30 she's having no issues? But, she's an adult, and she can make her own choices. I'm going to go slow, at least. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cahliah Posted February 20, 2017 Author Share Posted February 20, 2017 Thought I should mention... I didn't like the taste of the "energy drink" from last night, but it worked. Kept me able to focus all night, and still let me fall asleep easily when it was bedtime. No caffeine-induced anxiety, either. If anything, I got more done last night than I have in a long while... So this tea thing might not be all that bad, if I can learn to like it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cahliah Posted February 21, 2017 Author Share Posted February 21, 2017 Day 15, and tonight is the first night that I've actually wanted alcohol. I'd kill for some rum tonight. Was a long, tiring night, filled with 3 hours of cooking (dinner was shepherd's pie and balsamic mushrooms - that kinda sucked), complaints about the food (potatoes were too lumpy), and 13-year-old daughter (and 64-year-old mother!) drama. ...did I mention I could really use a drink tonight? Or chocolate. I could really go for some chocolate. Instead, I'm going to pull out my ukulele, with my new multi-colored strings, and try to distract myself a bit. It usually helps - and if it can get me through the death of my best friend, it can get me through one rough night. And, if that doesn't work... Early bedtime. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cahliah Posted February 21, 2017 Author Share Posted February 21, 2017 3rd meal was leftover shepherd's pie and a big wedge from a "personal" sized watermelon. I was very tempted to make dessert - have some pears that aren't as ripe as I like them, and was thinking I'd bake one. But it would have been one of those "I deserve it" things, and I need to stop rewarding myself with food when things get rough. I did, however, get a watermelon today, and I haven't had fruit in a couple of days, so that was a nice treat. Even if it wasn't a great watermelon. Somewhat disappointed that my acne isn't clearing up. Just got a big one on the edge of my eyelid. Ouch! Today's food log: Meal 1: Egg muffins, meatballs Meal 2: Shepherd's pie (w/ carrots, celery, onions, garlic, & potatoes), mushrooms Meal 3: Shepherd's pie, watermelon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JenHZ Posted February 21, 2017 Share Posted February 21, 2017 thought of you and your mom last night when I couldn't' sleep for coughing and took a throat lozenge. good to know AI am not the only one thinking of these things Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cahliah Posted February 22, 2017 Author Share Posted February 22, 2017 10 hours ago, JenHZ said: thought of you and your mom last night when I couldn't' sleep for coughing and took a throat lozenge. good to know AI am not the only one thinking of these things They're non-compliant, and I wouldn't take them... But sometimes you really do need one! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cahliah Posted February 22, 2017 Author Share Posted February 22, 2017 Today sucked, big time. Drama, whining, complaining, crying, yelling... It's like I have two teenagers instead of one! Ran errands today, which meant my sleep schedule is all out of order. But, I did have one victory! Had some soup less than an hour before bed, didn't get enough sleep, woke up to an alarm, and then ate within an hour of waking up. Usually, any one of those is enough to put me through hours of tummy toilet torture time. I usually wind up taking pepto preemptively, and still tend to have issues. Not today. No pepto, and still no problems! Makes me wonder just what was causing the issues... Still wanting rum. Or chocolate. But it's not the rum or the chocolate I want, it's the effect they have on me. Chocolate is a little piece of happy when things are going wrong, and rum takes away the stress for a little while. (It also kills my anxiety, and makes me feel normal.) Anyways, 1st meal today was leftover shepherd's pie. Had a snack between 1st meal and 2nd meal, because 1st meal was early and 2nd meal was going to be late - we're talking 10 hours between (which, granted, included a short nap.) Snack was celery & almond butter. 2nd meal was sesame-orange chicken skewers, and more celery with almond butter, because I didn't realize the other chicken I was going to make needed to marinade for 12 hours before cooking. Ugh. And I was too tired for okonomiyaki. The chicken was good, though. Going to take it easy the rest of the night, and try not to stress out about the millions of things that seem to be going wrong right now. Rum would be very helpful with that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cahliah Posted February 22, 2017 Author Share Posted February 22, 2017 Day 16 done - more than halfway there! 3rd meal was leftover shepherd's pie and 1/4 of a mini watermelon. Planning to go to bed early tonight - need to do one thing for work, but after that, I'm just going to curl up and read until I feel like sleeping. It's been too long of a day to keep pushing myself. Today's condensed meal log: Meal 1: Shepherd's pie Snack: Celery & almond butter Meal 2: Sesame orange chicken skewers, celery & almond butter Meal 3: Shepherd's pie, watermelon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cahliah Posted February 23, 2017 Author Share Posted February 23, 2017 Day 17 started out alright. Woke up, immediately headed to the kitchen to get pork chops browning for dinner, got everything in the slow cooker, got myself some lunch (leftover soup with a spoonful of duck fat for added fat, and a couple leftover chicken skewers.) Of course, once my daughter came home, it all went to hell. Once again, she had way too much homework, and a sour attitude about it, and that set off my mom, and I got stuck in the middle again. But I got through the night, even if it lasted 2 hours longer than it should have. Dinner was pork chops with apples, and garlic rosemary roasted red skin potatoes. Made some potatoes with just salt & pepper (and olive oil) for my mom, too. My daughter hated everything, my mom liked the pork chops after she scraped off the apples (and loved the potatoes I made her, even though she swore she hates red skin potatoes), and I thought it was all alright. Nothing amazing about it, though. Wasn't very filling - wound up going for seconds a while after I finished eating. Wound up snacking twice after dinner, too. I'll admit, it was partly because I was bored, partly because I was trying not to fall asleep, and partly because I wanted food - not so much because I was hungry. But at least the snacks weren't horrible. I spiralized a pear, just because I could, and munched on the pear noodles. Then, a couple hours later, I found myself really wanting one of my daughter's Nutella & Go packs (little single-serve packs of Nutella with hard breadsticks.) But I asked myself what I really wanted, and decided I wanted the crunch - so I got celery & almond butter instead, and I swear, it was better than the Nutella would have been. I'm not going to beat myself up for snacking today. Been feeling pretty fragile emotionally, after the past few nights, and while I recognize that it's not really healthy to eat my feelings, I also recognize that there are some times where I'm in situations where it's the only solution that I can handle. There are much worse things in life than eating a pear and some celery with almond butter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cahliah Posted February 23, 2017 Author Share Posted February 23, 2017 My mom texted me from work. She's been dizzy tonight. Checked her blood pressure (she works at a grocery store that has a scale & stuff in the pharmacy) and she said it's low, but still in the normal range. She has a doctor's appointment next week, but I suggested she call in the morning and see what they say. She's on blood pressure meds, and I'm worried they might be too much with this new way of eating. Would have skipped my 3rd meal today and just gone to bed, but it's laundry night, and I know that if I don't get it done tonight, I won't do it tomorrow, or the next day, and I'll have double the loads to do next week. And will wind up digging through the dirty clothes or re-wearing things that I shouldn't, just so I don't have to do laundry. So, I'm up at least until that's finished. 3rd meal was leftover pork chops w/ apples, garlic rosemary roasted red potatoes, balsamic mushrooms, and a small handful of cashews. I was back and forth on the idea of having celery & almond butter with dinner, and decided to see if the cashews would be enough to keep me until dinner. Right now, I'm still wanting the celery & almond butter, but I'm going to wait a bit and see if I really want it. Today's condensed meal log: Meal 1: Chicken, broccoli, potato soup, sesame orange chicken skewers Meal 2: Pork chops w/ apples, garlic rosemary roasted red potatoes Snack 1: Pear "noodles" (yay, spiralizer!) Snack 2: Celery & almond butter Meal 3: Pork chops w/ apples, garlic rosemary roasted red potatoes, balsamic mushrooms, cashews Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gramma Susie Posted February 24, 2017 Share Posted February 24, 2017 I admire you Cahliah for your determination and all the hard work you've been putting in not just for your own Whole 30, but two others. I'm only doing for myself. I feel like an underachiever compared to you. I also noticed that you miss having chocolate or rum. I miss having chocolate and wine. It's a happy place. You're also right about the calm normal feeling. Have you tried deep breathing? I started that a few years ago. Taking in a long break through your nose and blowing out twice as long through your mouth. That helps me. Anyway, you're doing so well with all the obstacles. I hope everything is okay with your mom. Sleep well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cahliah Posted February 24, 2017 Author Share Posted February 24, 2017 My mom checked her blood pressure again before work tonight and it was higher, but still slightly low for her. She decided to skip tonight's medication, and see her doctor tomorrow morning for an official blood pressure test. She takes her meds before work every night, and we think, with this new way of eating, she might need to get them adjusted. Today was hard for me. Just wanted to curl up in bed and cry, but I made myself get up and do things. Was going to make a couple of Trader Joe's chili lime burgers for lunch, but even pulling them out of the freezer and cooking them was too much work, so I just microwaved some leftover pork chops & apples, potatoes, and mushrooms, and had a couple stalks of celery with almond butter. Didn't want to cook dinner, either, but I made myself do it. Soutzoukakia (green meatballs in a tomato sauce), but I forgot we ran out of potatoes, and didn't think to have my mom get some more before she got home from work, and I forgot to cook the fresh green beans, too... So I had mine over leftover mashed potatoes, and my mom and daughter had theirs with canned green beans. And, this time, they didn't like it, even though I did it the same way I did last time. Bah. I think I need to plan at least one day a week where someone else does the cooking, because this is getting to be too much. At least my daughter finished her homework in record time tonight - 13 minutes! And I might have gone a little overboard on a cheap Chinese junk site, and spent $15 (on 32 items total) - but at least I didn't snack. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cahliah Posted February 24, 2017 Author Share Posted February 24, 2017 Not really hungry tonight. 2 hours after my usual 3rd meal, making myself eat a handful of nuts and a cup of mandarin oranges (packed in juice - which I drained off) so I have something in my stomach so I can take some ibuprofen before bed. I'm really not in a good place tonight, so as soon as I get this down, I'm going to curl up and read until I pass out. Today's meal log: 1st meal: pork chops & apples, potatoes, mushrooms, celery w/almond butter 2nd meal: Greek (not green!) meatballs, mashed potatoes 3rd "meal": cashews, walnuts, mandarin oranges Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 24, 2017 Share Posted February 24, 2017 I was wondering what green meatballs are! Lol. I'm sorry you haven't been in a good place, I hope things get better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cahliah Posted February 24, 2017 Author Share Posted February 24, 2017 Yeah, I re-read that when I was doing the second post, and I'm like "Uh... Wow." Still tired and worn out, but it's not so much physical as it is mental and emotional. Been a long, stressful week, and it's not over yet. Sounds like we might need another conference with my daughter's teachers. Whee. Had leftover meatballs and garlic & rosemary potatoes, with celery and almond butter on the side. And decided I'm not cooking tonight. My mom has been talking about making meatloaf, and I'm going to let her. Doesn't matter if the veggies I bought for okonomiyaki are going to go bad if I don't use them up (my mom won't touch them) - a few dollars worth of produce are nothing compared to my sanity. And if my mom's willing to make a meal, I'm going to let her. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JenHZ Posted February 24, 2017 Share Posted February 24, 2017 enjoy your time off from cooking good luck with your school meeting Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gramma Susie Posted February 25, 2017 Share Posted February 25, 2017 The garlic Rosemary potatoes sound great. What goes into that recipe? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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