Death of the Dragon - 30 days of carnage (July 25)

[emilyelowe]

12 hours ago, jephrystanley said:

Howdy pardners... @diamonds422, that really stinks!  When I first started, I had a serious cough and some chest congestion (which I think is related to my recent move from Knoxville, TN to Norfolk, VA...from one serious allergy capital to another but very very different triggers).  The congestion is pretty much gone, but the cough kind of lingers.  It's super annoying to be sick AND doing the W30 AND moving.  Whew!  But you got this...

Day 15 for us.  PS.  Meatza, @Jim4884, is a brilliant idea..thanks for sharing.  Interesting that you should bring up what tempted you during your W30 because Hubs and I had this exact conversation walking to rent a movie tonight (yes, there is a locally owned little jewel of a spot right next to our house in Norfolk that still rent DVDs...it's the coolest!).  One of his colleagues has her last day of work on Friday so they threw her a going away celebration at a local restaurant this afternoon and served all those good, crappy foods that we (he and I, that is) love (used to love?  maybe we're totally out of the woods?  maybe not?), grilled cheese sliders, mac n cheese, fried pickles, the works.  And while we were waiting in line to check out at the video store (PS, the nineties just called), we were looking at our friend Tracy's Instagram; she started a W30 last week.  She posted a picture of cake at a work celebration today and how proud she was that she resisted without feeling tempted.  Hubs was like, "Good for Tracy...I am not there."  So we discussed how his afternoon of fried temptation went and I asked him if it was hard to resist.  And at first he said yes....and then he thought for a second and realized that it wasn't, in fact, really all THAT hard because he'd done it.  He didn't break down, he didn't indulge.  I was so proud of him.  We then discussed the things that we thought we'd miss that we haven't and then some things that we do miss but know we shouldn't.  I am so interested to see where this takes us on Aug 19 (our first non W30 day).  We're going to Aspen to celebrate a friend's 40th over Labor Day weekend and I think THAT will be the ultimate test.  I'd be lying if I said I don't miss any of the food I know are bad for me.  What I am trying to do is really analyze why...why do I miss them?  What did they give me that seemed impossible to obtain from any other source?  Did that work?  (I mean, obvs, no, but if I just landed on that easy answer, what would I talk about with my therapist?) It's thought provoking.  And I'm on a learning kick right now in hopes of not continuing to predict how I am going to feel about something before actually feeling which, to me, translates to living in the moment rather than always just a few steps ahead of myself.  

Today was a bit harried.  I made Melissa's chicken hash for breakfast and repeated it for lunch because the day just got away from me.  But DAMN, it was delicious.  I think I could doctor the recipe around for kicks but it's definitely a post W30 keeper.  We made the garlic shrimp with romanesco sauce and zoodles tonight (first go on the spiralizer...love it) and also delicious (and another keeper). The food definitely doesn't disappoint.  My parents come up from Atlanta the weekend of the 17th...and our norm is eat all the grilled stuff we can, burgers, fish, etc.  It will be...interesting...to see how they react, may dad especially.  My mom is fairly open minded but my dad eats like four things, most of the red meat of some kind.  It will be the weekend heading into our W30 finale...

I love the way you are thinking about this @jephrystanley! I think one of my favorite parts of the W30 is the BRAIN work, you know? Like it took me doing a W30 to realize that I put way too much emphasis on food at certain celebrations or when making plans. I had to really take a good look at myself and face the fact that I was placing more emphasis on food than people. Like, what the what? When you start to think about why you want things (and how you behave when you don't get them), it can really put things in perspective and I think it has helped me mature as a person, as ridiculous as that may sound to some people.

Just roll through the weekend like nothing is different. Say "This is what's on the menu. Any other requests?" and let everyone choose what they want to eat. The hardest part about doing the W30 in social situations is usually the way other people react, not the temptations you're actually facing. It's so important to just, like, play it cool and put the other people at ease. You'll have been eating this way for 3 weeks so it will be normal to you. Try your best to just make them comfortable and not put too much emphasis on it. Generally, the less you talk about food and the W30, the better the weekend will go. 

[emilyelowe]

12 hours ago, 22Poodles said:

Hello everyone! Has anyone else ever struggled on the third and fourth week of the program? I am on Day 24 and suddenly am hungry all the time! The first two weeks I was so satisfied and "happy" with my food and the freedom from cravings and snacking, but now I am hungry between meals and find myself eating a tiny snack here and there and fear I am returning to old habits even within the Whole30. Was also in an awful mood for the first time...cause I was hungry maybe? I'd appreciate any thoughts on how the last week of the program has felt to folks. I've adored all the wonderful benefits up to now and want them back! 

Usually the first and last week are the hardest for me. My brain seems to start thinking about what we're going to do after the W30 is over and it triggers old cravings and old habits as I start to consider my reintroduction and all the things I "can," do now that I'm so close to being "free." My brain also loves to think that 28 is the same as 30, as if that is some sort of actual math (it's not). So those might be some psychological things you are experiencing.

From a more practical perspective, you also might not be thinking about it enough. Are you still making sure to follow the meal template, or have you gotten lazy with your portion sizes? Are you exercising more now that you have more energy, perhaps requiring more fuel than you did a few weeks ago? Are you still making it a point to try new and interesting recipes, or is your menu on repeat leading you to Food Boredom? Are you actually hungry, or just bored because something else in your routine has changed? I think these are things that can also commonly trip you up at the end. Plus, there's a reason the program is 30 days and not only 25. Your body is still changing! Both now and during your Food Freedom, you'll continually need to make adjustments. I wouldn't worry too much about it. Just increase your meal size slightly until you stop getting hungry in between. 

[ldmcniel]

Today is day 14, and I have been struggling. My husband was gone for a week, and I didn't realize how much I rely on him to help me stay on track and just to vent if I'm having a bad day, even though he's not even doing the w30! I hate cooking, so when I don't have the energy to do it, he does it for me. Not having him around has made it very difficult to keep up my motivation. I have stayed compliant with the rules, but not necessarily the recommendations, so I'm not feeling super great (achy, tired, grumpy). But today or tomorrow I'm going to the store to make sure I have GOOD food in the house that I can easily prep. I want to feel better, I want more energy, and I want to be free from this nonsense. I think I just lost sight of that...

[emilyelowe]

Day 16 in Columbus!

Overall, things are going pretty well but I'm still struggling with two items that I'd like some advice on.

1. I'm still getting headaches pretty regularly. Last night I had one on my way home from work and then again when I was going to bed. I drank a 25 oz. bottle of water + a can of La Croix + a glass of water with dinner + half a bottle of kombucha + a glass of water with the Natural Calm. That should be more than 50 oz. of liquid, which isn't that far off from half my weight (I'm probably 112 lbs?). Other than the carbonated water, I can't seem to figure out if something else could be triggering the headaches. Any ideas? I skipped the La Croix today so I'm going to try to stay away from that for a couple days and see what happens. I'm wondering if it actually might not be food related at all but I'm just noticing it because I'm more in tune with my body. When I used to get headaches it was usually pretty easy to figure out that it was from sugar and dairy, so it was never a mystery where it came from and now it is feeling like a mystery. I'm wondering if it's a combo of staring at a computer all day + myneckisahotmuscleymess. 

2. Digestion. I know people don't like to talk about poo, but I'm going to anyway. Between the steady stream of nutritious foods (with an attempt to not overdo it on the leafy greens), and incorporating the kombucha and natural calm into my routine, I was really expecting to be smooth sailing by now. What the heck?  I'm having irregular (sometimes every day but sometimes I skip a day), difficult to pass, tiny poos. Tiny. Not reflective of how much I am eating. SO WHERE IS IT GOING? You know what I'm eating so wondering if anyone has any suggestions here, too. More kombucha? More Natural Calm? Fewer potatoes? More water?

M1: everything potatoes, 3 eggs, and mayo.

I really need to work on incorporating other veggies into breakfast. I am going to keep saying this to myself until I actually do it. 

M2: chicken, mayo, okra, sweet potatoes.

M3: should be grilled chicken caesar salads. 

I think I mentioned that I don't like the brand of mayo I bought, so I am REALLY adding some spices to it and BOY is it garlicy.  I feel like I should be wearing a sign to warn all of my coworkers. 

Hanging with the girlfriends went really well last night - 0 temptation for me. In fact, I think they were jealous of what I brought! Haha. It didn't take away from the experience/conversation at all, so I was really happy about that. I also slept AWESOME. So, so good. I'm going to cut out the fish oil for a while and see if my forehead clears up (though I'll probably need to wait until I get my normal moisturizer back to really know for sure anyway).

That's all I've got. Happy Hump Day!

[emilyelowe]

14 minutes ago, ldmcniel said:

Today is day 14, and I have been struggling. My husband was gone for a week, and I didn't realize how much I rely on him to help me stay on track and just to vent if I'm having a bad day, even though he's not even doing the w30! I hate cooking, so when I don't have the energy to do it, he does it for me. Not having him around has made it very difficult to keep up my motivation. I have stayed compliant with the rules, but not necessarily the recommendations, so I'm not feeling super great (achy, tired, grumpy). But today or tomorrow I'm going to the store to make sure I have GOOD food in the house that I can easily prep. I want to feel better, I want more energy, and I want to be free from this nonsense. I think I just lost sight of that...

This is really common, @ldmcniel - you are not alone. Melissa actually writes about it in FFF I think - how our expectations of ourselves completely change when we're alone. It's really interesting. Good for you sticking to the rules - there is no such thing as a perfect Whole30. You are still doing really good things for your body.

I don't like cooking either, but find it easier with the right motivation. Find some simple but interesting recipes that make you excited to eat them and get all the ingredients you need to cook them. Have a nice glass of sparkling water and turn on some music while you cook. Take yourself out for a treat for making it to the half-way point! Make it fun and all those things will come back into view.  

[diamonds422]

15 hours ago, 22Poodles said:

Hello everyone! Has anyone else ever struggled on the third and fourth week of the program? I am on Day 24 and suddenly am hungry all the time! The first two weeks I was so satisfied and "happy" with my food and the freedom from cravings and snacking, but now I am hungry between meals and find myself eating a tiny snack here and there and fear I am returning to old habits even within the Whole30. Was also in an awful mood for the first time...cause I was hungry maybe? I'd appreciate any thoughts on how the last week of the program has felt to folks. I've adored all the wonderful benefits up to now and want them back! 

Yes. I always get hit with meat fatigue combined with no Whole30 foods sounding good during the third week and that's when I struggle most to stick with the template. This is my third W30 so there is less meat fatigue, but I am still bored with all the food. Which makes me not stick to the template as well. Which makes me, you guessed it, hungry!! I find that it passes in a few weeks and then the fourth week is easy breezy. Keep going! You've got this.

To everyone who offered me sympathy, thank you so much. I'm feeling a little better today after getting a good night's sleep last night, and we're set to close on the house tomorrow! Fingers crossed. Today's day 21 for me and I want to fight my way through to the end! Let's go, team!

[CPerez]

Thanks @emilyelowe, I will look for GTS.  I'm having some problems with constipation, but I will keep in mind to go slow. 

Going to bed at 8 or 8:30 would be tough. Hubby would think I lost my mind  LOL  

Thanks for your help.

 

[CPerez]

21 hours ago, Jim4884 said:

The recipe is Mel Joulwan's - she's a whole 30 cooking genius and entertaining blogger: https://meljoulwan.com/2010/02/16/dinner-and-a-movie™-meatza-pie-and-the-vancouver-olympics/  Enjoy!

 

Thanks!  I'm going to give this a try.  

[CPerez]

8 hours ago, emilyelowe said:

2. Digestion. I know people don't like to talk about poo, but I'm going to anyway. Between the steady stream of nutritious foods (with an attempt to not overdo it on the leafy greens), and incorporating the kombucha and natural calm into my routine, I was really expecting to be smooth sailing by now. What the heck?  I'm having irregular (sometimes every day but sometimes I skip a day), difficult to pass, tiny poos. Tiny. Not reflective of how much I am eating. SO WHERE IS IT GOING? You know what I'm eating so wondering if anyone has any suggestions here, too. More kombucha? More Natural Calm? Fewer potatoes? More water?

I'm having similar poo issues.  I figured my body would have adjusted by now (Day 11).  To help with the constipation, I've been adding a teaspoon of coconut oil to my coffee as someone suggested in a previous post.  I thought it was working but that was short termed.  Today, for lunch, I had a hot dog (boar's head, W30 compliant) with some sauerkraut (the fermented kind).  I thought I read that fermented foods were supposed to help with constipation.  

[Delicacious]

21 hours ago, emilyelowe said:

2. Digestion. I know people don't like to talk about poo, but I'm going to anyway. Between the steady stream of nutritious foods (with an attempt to not overdo it on the leafy greens), and incorporating the kombucha and natural calm into my routine, I was really expecting to be smooth sailing by now. What the heck?  I'm having irregular (sometimes every day but sometimes I skip a day), difficult to pass, tiny poos. Tiny. Not reflective of how much I am eating. SO WHERE IS IT GOING? You know what I'm eating so wondering if anyone has any suggestions here, too. More kombucha? More Natural Calm? Fewer potatoes? More water?

Well, I don't have constipation but my hubby is suffering from it. And yes, the poop amounts seem relatively little compared to what we're eating. I'm wondering if it means the body is generally absorbing more nutrients out of the food we're eating? After all, we poop out what cannot be digested by the body like roughage. 

[Delicacious]

Day 16 is a wrap! We ended the day with some delicious homemade seafood green curry with roasted cauliflower rice. So I'm feeling pretty chirpy now. Bought a nice slab of pork belly and I'm going to marinate it and throw it in the sous vide overnight. We shall have roast pork for dinner tomorrow. Looking forward to the pork crackling.  By the way, roasted cauliflower rice is likely my favourite way to prepare cauliflower rice from now on. The stove method and microwave method doesn't quite cut it. I just mix in some olive oil with the grated cauliflower and roast it at 205C for about 15 minutes. This results in fragrant but slightly al dente cauliflower. Yummy.

And yes. I've finally blogged the recipe of the oven baked crispy lemon wings. If you're interested in the recipe, you can find it here.

Tomorrow's meals will be simple: 
Breakfast - homemade chilli with avocado
Lunch - left over dinner plus some grilled zucchini maybe?
Dinner - Roast pork with... something. 

Have a great day ahead everyone!

[emilyelowe]

15 hours ago, CPerez said:

Thanks @emilyelowe, I will look for GTS.  I'm having some problems with constipation, but I will keep in mind to go slow. 

Going to bed at 8 or 8:30 would be tough. Hubby would think I lost my mind  LOL  

Thanks for your help.

 

Oh trust me, I've been doing it for a year and my husband still goes, "You're going to bed already?" Same time every night, bro. So yes. Haha. 

[emilyelowe]

28 minutes ago, Delicacious said:

Day 16 is a wrap! We ended the day with some delicious homemade seafood green curry with roasted cauliflower rice. So I'm feeling pretty chirpy now. Bought a nice slab of pork belly and I'm going to marinate it and throw it in the sous vide overnight. We shall have roast pork for dinner tomorrow. Looking forward to the pork crackling.  By the way, roasted cauliflower rice is likely my favourite way to prepare cauliflower rice from now on. The stove method and microwave method doesn't quite cut it. I just mix in some olive oil with the grated cauliflower and roast it at 205C for about 15 minutes. This results in fragrant but slightly al dente cauliflower. Yummy.

And yes. I've finally blogged the recipe of the oven baked crispy lemon wings. If you're interested in the recipe, you can find it here.

Preparing cauliflower that way seems genius! Thanks for sharing! I had some the other day that I just warmed in a pan and it was not good. Hopefully this will help!

Thanks for sharing the recipe!

[emilyelowe]

Day 17 and feeling good! Thanks for the support on the previous post - glad I'm not alone. 

Last night we were out of propane so I ended up having fajita veggies with eggs and guacamole and sweet fried plantains for dinner. I LOVE PLANTAINS. They are definitely food with no breaks for me, so going to have to portion those out if I make them again. I cooked two large plantains and my hubby and I ate most of them before dinner was even done. I finally just put them in the fridge out of sight and made a comment about how fast we were eating them and my husband goes, "I think I've eaten, like, four." So apparently I ate most of them. Whoops. 

Managed to get up at 5 a.m. for yoga this morning and am still trucking at 10:30 so am feeling positive energy vibes today. I couldn't bare to eat another HB egg before yoga so I ate half a banana (they are so ripe they fell off the hanger and opened themselves, so it had to go) even though that's not the best pre-WO snack. It wasn't super intense yoga, though, so I felt OK just having something in my stomach. Due to the broken banana situation, I had the other half of it with coconut at breakfast - the rest of meal 1 was hash and 3 eggs.

I am really struggling to get my eggs right. I like it when the whites are totally cooked but the yolk is still runny and I have just NOT been able to get it right lately. Does anyone have a surefire way to cook eggs this way every time? I would love some tips. 

M2 today is fajita veggies, steak, guac, and the rest of the plantain chips. These fajita veggies were a bit of a fail, so glad they will be gone. I'm meeting a friend at Panera for lunch so hopefully they are appetizing enough that I am not tempted. I'm not worried currently. There is also a going away party for someone at work today, so there will probably be tempting things there, too, but I'm not feeling anxious about it at the moment, so that is good. Who needs store-bought, whyisthatshiny? lemon cake anyway? 

M3 will be coconut crusted chicken, roasted green beans, squash/sweet potato stuffed jalapeno poppers, and possibly some sort of arugula salad dealio just because I am having a harder time eating the arugula than I thought I would. We're having friends over, so I am very excited for these new recipes.

We're starting to figure out clothing for the trip to Europe in September and I am definitely fitting better into some things that haven't been worn in a while, so that is very exciting! We're going shopping tomorrow.

No headache yesterday, but am feeling one a bit now. This makes me think it may just be related to sleep rather than food or work. They come and go so I'm never really sure. This might just be how getting old feels? 

Oh! And I forgot to share a small NSV yesterday! Typically, my dandruff is the worst around my temples right after I wash my hair, which means leaving the house with wet hair is generally not an option. Thus, I typically only wash my hair at night or when I'm not doing anything/going anywhere. Yesterday, I took a risk and washed it right before work and there were very minimal flakes! Whoo hoo! I don't remember it improving in previous W30s, though it would certainly make sense if it did, so I hope that is the case and it is not just some weird fluke. The medication is very expense and the symptoms are embarrassing, so the less intense it is the better! 

All I have for now! Have a good day everyone!

[SugarcubeOD]

13 minutes ago, emilyelowe said:

Day 17 and feeling good! Thanks for the support on the previous post - glad I'm not alone. 

Last night we were out of propane so I ended up having fajita veggies with eggs and guacamole and sweet fried plantains for dinner. I LOVE PLANTAINS. They are definitely food with no breaks for me, so going to have to portion those out if I make them again. I cooked two large plantains and my hubby and I ate most of them before dinner was even done. I finally just put them in the fridge out of sight and made a comment about how fast we were eating them and my husband goes, "I think I've eaten, like, four." So apparently I ate most of them. Whoops. 

Managed to get up at 5 a.m. for yoga this morning and am still trucking at 10:30 so am feeling positive energy vibes today. I couldn't bare to eat another HB egg before yoga so I ate half a banana (they are so ripe they fell off the hanger and opened themselves, so it had to go) even though that's not the best pre-WO snack. It wasn't super intense yoga, though, so I felt OK just having something in my stomach. Due to the broken banana situation, I had the other half of it with coconut at breakfast - the rest of meal 1 was hash and 3 eggs.

I am really struggling to get my eggs right. I like it when the whites are totally cooked but the yolk is still runny and I have just NOT been able to get it right lately. Does anyone have a surefire way to cook eggs this way every time? I would love some tips. 

M2 today is fajita veggies, steak, guac, and the rest of the plantain chips. These fajita veggies were a bit of a fail, so glad they will be gone. I'm meeting a friend at Panera for lunch so hopefully they are appetizing enough that I am not tempted. I'm not worried currently. There is also a going away party for someone at work today, so there will probably be tempting things there, too, but I'm not feeling anxious about it at the moment, so that is good. Who needs store-bought, whyisthatshiny? lemon cake anyway? 

M3 will be coconut crusted chicken, roasted green beans, squash/sweet potato stuffed jalapeno poppers, and possibly some sort of arugula salad dealio just because I am having a harder time eating the arugula than I thought I would. We're having friends over, so I am very excited for these new recipes.

We're starting to figure out clothing for the trip to Europe in September and I am definitely fitting better into some things that haven't been worn in a while, so that is very exciting! We're going shopping tomorrow.

No headache yesterday, but am feeling one a bit now. This makes me think it may just be related to sleep rather than food or work. They come and go so I'm never really sure. This might just be how getting old feels? 

Oh! And I forgot to share a small NSV yesterday! Typically, my dandruff is the worst around my temples right after I wash my hair, which means leaving the house with wet hair is generally not an option. Thus, I typically only wash my hair at night or when I'm not doing anything/going anywhere. Yesterday, I took a risk and washed it right before work and there were very minimal flakes! Whoo hoo! I don't remember it improving in previous W30s, though it would certainly make sense if it did, so I hope that is the case and it is not just some weird fluke. The medication is very expense and the symptoms are embarrassing, so the less intense it is the better! 

All I have for now! Have a good day everyone!

Okay so continuing on the poop discussion... plantains can make you EXTREMELY constipated in medium volumes even so you might want to dial that back given the current situation.  Are you eating a lot of starchy carbs?  Generally the recommendation is one fist sized serving a day which should not make you constipated but if you're eating significantly more than that, you might want to try cutting back and seeing if it helps the bathrooming situation.

Perfectly fried eggs are my specialty!  Make sure the pan and cooking oil are very hot before you put the eggs in... not like screaming smoking hot but you want it ready to go.  Eggs in, lid off and cook until the edges are done and the whites are white but still jiggly... usually the top of the yolk will also still be clear.  Get the lid ready and then put about 1-2 tablespoons of water into the hot pan and slam the lid on.  Don't wander off!  It takes about 45 seconds for the steam to cook the jiggly bits.

The other way you can do it is to do the same as above but instead of the water, just turn the burner off and flip the eggs over for about 30 seconds... that'll cook the jiggly bits but leave the yolk soft and intact.

[diamonds422]

20 hours ago, diamonds422 said:

Yes. I always get hit with meat fatigue combined with no Whole30 foods sounding good during the third week and that's when I struggle most to stick with the template. This is my third W30 so there is less meat fatigue, but I am still bored with all the food. Which makes me not stick to the template as well. Which makes me, you guessed it, hungry!! I find that it passes in a few weeks and then the fourth week is easy breezy. Keep going! You've got this.

To everyone who offered me sympathy, thank you so much. I'm feeling a little better today after getting a good night's sleep last night, and we're set to close on the house tomorrow! Fingers crossed. Today's day 21 for me and I want to fight my way through to the end! Let's go, team!

Oops, meant passes in a few DAYS, not weeks haha. Hope I didn't scare anyone!

[emilyelowe]

2 hours ago, SugarcubeOD said:

Okay so continuing on the poop discussion... plantains can make you EXTREMELY constipated in medium volumes even so you might want to dial that back given the current situation.  Are you eating a lot of starchy carbs?  Generally the recommendation is one fist sized serving a day which should not make you constipated but if you're eating significantly more than that, you might want to try cutting back and seeing if it helps the bathrooming situation.

Perfectly fried eggs are my specialty!  Make sure the pan and cooking oil are very hot before you put the eggs in... not like screaming smoking hot but you want it ready to go.  Eggs in, lid off and cook until the edges are done and the whites are white but still jiggly... usually the top of the yolk will also still be clear.  Get the lid ready and then put about 1-2 tablespoons of water into the hot pan and slam the lid on.  Don't wander off!  It takes about 45 seconds for the steam to cook the jiggly bits.

The other way you can do it is to do the same as above but instead of the water, just turn the burner off and flip the eggs over for about 30 seconds... that'll cook the jiggly bits but leave the yolk soft and intact.

Definitely overdoing it on the starchy carb then. I knew it.  Oh, for the love of potatoes... I'm going to have to work really hard on that. Like, I would kind of rather be constipated for the rest of my life than stop eating potatoes on the daily. But I know that that is not good for me, so I will work on it.  < This is my serious promise face.

OK, first, "jiggly bits," just made my day. Not sure if I'm just slap happy or what, but that is such a perfect description of what I don't want in my breakfast. 

Second, I CAN'T WAIT TO TRY THIS. Using the lid will be super for 3 reasons - (1) hopefully they will be consistently right, (2) less splash, (3) no flipping (and breaking your yolks and cursing everything that is supposed to be good about morning). Yay! Thank you!

[emilyelowe]

Would squash fall into the "one fist per day," category also? 

[ladyshanny]

39 minutes ago, emilyelowe said:

Would squash fall into the "one fist per day," category also? 

Depends on the type of squash. The winter ones like acorn, butternut, kabocha etc would be a starchy. Zucchini, spaghetti squash etc are summer versions would just be considered veggies.

[diamonds422]

Hello all, sorry to not have participated more in the thread this month. Things have been crazy! We closed on the house today and are moving tomorrow and this weekend. There was candy and cookies right under our noses the whole closing, but we didn't touch a thing. The past two days I've really wanted to quit. Like, really. Still do. Feels so silly with only one week to go. I need words of encouragement! 

 

@Delicacious your recipe for cauliflower rice sounds amazing. I've made it a couple of different ways and haven't like it much, but I think your way will give it a better flavor. 

[Delicacious]

1 hour ago, diamonds422 said:

Hello all, sorry to not have participated more in the thread this month. Things have been crazy! We closed on the house today and are moving tomorrow and this weekend. There was candy and cookies right under our noses the whole closing, but we didn't touch a thing. The past two days I've really wanted to quit. Like, really. Still do. Feels so silly with only one week to go. I need words of encouragement! 

 

@Delicacious your recipe for cauliflower rice sounds amazing. I've made it a couple of different ways and haven't like it much, but I think your way will give it a better flavor. 

You can do it @diamonds422! You've come sooo far! Sending lots of good vibes your way! 

Re cauliflower rice, another tip is to make sure the cauliflower bits are about the size of rice, or even slightly larger. I started to grate them instead of using the blade in my food processor as it tends to get a little too fine and when it cooks it becomes mush. If you're eating it fairly plain, you can season with some pepper and salt, and toss with some herbs after it's done. 

 

[SugarcubeOD]

3 hours ago, diamonds422 said:

Hello all, sorry to not have participated more in the thread this month. Things have been crazy! We closed on the house today and are moving tomorrow and this weekend. There was candy and cookies right under our noses the whole closing, but we didn't touch a thing. The past two days I've really wanted to quit. Like, really. Still do. Feels so silly with only one week to go. I need words of encouragement! 

 

@Delicacious your recipe for cauliflower rice sounds amazing. I've made it a couple of different ways and haven't like it much, but I think your way will give it a better flavor. 

DON"T QUIT!  There is nothing that you're going to eat that is going to reduce the stress, make the happy feelings happier or that is not going to be there in one week... don't do it! When you finish in a week you will have the added glory of having done it during a trying time in your life... don't let junk food win!

[Delicacious]

A joke for the day. I woke up this morning and grabbed the container of chilli in the fridge, dumped it into two bowls and microwaved it. Sliced some avocados over it and threw in some extra zoodles from yesterday. Started eating it and wondered why there was olives in there. And so much vegetables. Where's my mince beef?! And..... to my horror, I realised that I had reheated my leftover chicken cacciatore SAUCE instead of my chilli. Husband ate up the bowl of sauce and vegetables while I found the real chilli and heated that up and packed it for us to bring to work. 

Lesson of the day: label all tomato-ey looking containers of food!! 

[Laurie]

I was thinking of giving up nuts/nut butters but instead I messed up with Rx bars.  I know that are for emergencies only but I ate them anyway and I overindulged on them.  Yesterday, I was super depressed and bought a box of four and ate all of them.  Earlier in the week, there were two days that I ate two Rx bars.  Obviously, I can't eat them.  I know they are technically compliant but totally against the spirit of the W30.  To me, eating so many of them counts as a failure.  Today should be day 19 but I should not be given credit for the days I screwed up with the Rx bars.  Thinking of starting over today as day 1 or just adding another 30 days or could I just count today as day 15 (which means I don't count M,T,W, TH of this week - since I ate rx bars on three of these days).  I really don't deserve to be on day 19 when I ate so many rx bars.  My head says just start over today as day 1.  Advice needed and appreciated. Thanks.

[emilyelowe]

@SugarcubeOD Look at these beauties! Thanks so much for the great tip!