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Look ma, no hands!


Beets

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Might change my super dorky title but time to get this party started.

Finished my W32 on Friday. Started yesterday compliant but finished with a husband's birthday dinner at a wonderful farm-to-table restaurant. All the meat is grass-finished, pastured, and the menu changes daily depending on what's available. post-19355-13677185297177_thumb.jpg

M3: sorrel julep mmmm; pan-seared scallops with creamy sauce and mustard with a glass of excellent Sancerre (one of my faves), grilled pork with braised cabbage, fermented mustard seeds, puréed carrots; buttermilk panna cotta with tiny flame-crisped sections of citrus. :wub:

I didn't eat the shortbread that came with the panna cotta and we rejected the bread and delicious butter at the beginning of the dinner. (Thanks DH!) I felt boozed up enough after my two beverages and decided not to get a second glass of wine even though weren't driving. I wanted to be not tired and hungover today. I rarely make good decisions out. I'm always "screw it, we are out and having fun!" Go me.

This morning I woke up and my monkey brain was running to all the things I could eat now that my W30 was over. But I ate my brisket instead. No major effects from last night's food (sugar and alcohol off plan, and dairy). Definitely felt bloating during dinner from creamy sauce and panna cotta, milk in decaf coffee (didn't drink much).

M1: brisket with red-leaf salad, mayo-based gingery dressing

Pilates class! My oasis of calm and joy and self-care. Felt awwwwwwesome.

M2: some pork shoulder I had cooking all night, yet more of this brisket I can't stop eating, raw carrots in anchovy mayo

Chowed four dates before I left. Can't keep this sugar dragon down, especially after last night. Stopped to grab a few groceries and bought an 82% Scharffenberger chocolate bar. Had a small piece: Eh.

Before dinner I cleaned some junk out of the fridge, picked the rest of the brisket from the fat blobules, picked apart my overnight roasted pork shoulder (another NomNom), roasted a chicken. Meat was handled.

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M3: chicken roasted with lemon, garlic, marjoram, thyme; mashed pots (just ghee no cream), pan roasted carrots in ghee

And a mint julep for Derby Day. Eh. My friend wanted to go out for wine tonight but I decided against it. I felt ok today but tired and I can't let that "now we can eat whatever we want!" voice win.

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Don't you love the feeling of having plenty of good options prepared already? So satisfying!

Today is my day 30, and my thoughts occasionally turn to the 90% dark Lindt chocolate bar in the freezer. Not in a desperate craving way, more of a casual curiosity... Ok, a persistent curiosity... :)

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Today is my day 30, and my thoughts occasionally turn to the 90% dark Lindt chocolate bar in the freezer. Not in a desperate craving way, more of a casual curiosity... Ok, a persistent curiosity...

You know what? Not worth it. I love chocolate. But it tasted chalky in my mouth and wasn't satisfying. And it's good chocolate. I'm sure I could've pushed through that feeling of disappointment but why?

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You know what? Not worth it. I love chocolate. But it tasted chalky in my mouth and wasn't satisfying. And it's good chocolate. I'm sure I could've pushed through that feeling of disappointment but why?

Absolutely no point eating something if it doesn't even taste nice.

Sounds like you're doing really well so far :)

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I think I gave this log an inauspicious name. It does feel like I'm riding with no hands. Scary and I'm seconds away from crashing. Though I guess I could ideally be coasting down a hill?

Forgot to log/describe/fondly remember my snack yesterday. We went to a school fundraiser in the neighborhood next to ours. They have a bunch of the best Brooklyn food carts. I saw Kimchi Taco and I had to try. I got a fish taco (fish battered in rice flour and sweet potato flour--not perfect but the truck is wheat-free) with some very crunchy, fresh bright tasting kimchi. No tortilla. Loved it.

We are having pork tacos tonight and I am so adding some kimchi to mine.

M1: brisket, sautéed cabbage in CO and ghee.

Made the mistake of having a Larabar while running errands. Ugh! I feel so tired, down and depressed. Terrible idea.

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I heart kimchi.

Larabars are the devil, it seems. After reading so many horror stories about them here, I won't touch them. Same goes for dates. Talk about food with no brakes!

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How nice to see you in the post world Beets! The log title drew me in :).

Larabar question - was it the fact that you chose to eat one that made you depressed, or the ingredients themselves? When I eat one, sometimes it is the pangs of guilt that get me. From an ingredient standpoint, I am fine.

I have a date suggestion, and you may think I am nuts. When I have a date (the food kind ;) ) I remove the pit and stuff that bad boy with almond butter. Because of the richness of the combination, I find I am okay with just one. Disclaimer: I also find dates extremely sweet and am okay with having one plain. I don't want anyone trying this at my suggestion only to have you tell me later you are strung out on nut butter and dates :o .

Kimchi taco sounds fantastic!

Looking forward to more of your entries here!

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how come you didn't call us to go to dinner with you and hubby for his birthday?! that sounded amazing! I know there are some amazing restaurants in my area like that...and MY hubby's birthday is coming up...I think I see a celebration coming on!

right before I was done with my whole100 I did a major cook up. I think it was the smartest thing I ever did so I already was prepared to "continue" eating how I had been and it stopped me from giving in to the "I can eat whatever I want now because that's over" because I had so dang much food I didn't want to waste it! :lol: :lol: :blink:

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Yeah, I did have a big pile of meat to cook at the end of last week and a bunch of wilty salad greens in my fridge. Stocked up on veg this weekend and I'm good to go.

Larabar question - was it the fact that you chose to eat one that made you depressed, or the ingredients themselves? When I eat one, sometimes it is the pangs of guilt that get me. From an ingredient standpoint, I am fine.

I have a date suggestion, and you may think I am nuts. When I have a date (the food kind ;) ) I remove the pit and stuff that bad boy with almond butter. Because of the richness of the combination, I find I am okay with just one. Disclaimer: I also find dates extremely sweet and am okay with having one plain. I don't want anyone trying this at my suggestion only to have you tell me later you are strung out on nut butter and dates :o

I didn't feel that guilty about eating it, though I did keep thinking of Tom's post somewhere about how they are processed garbage food. I felt actually depressed: lethargic, down on myself, and doubting I had the energy to get through the day. I do like the date + almond butter suggestion though! Eating something like nut butter can often halt a sugar pig-out for me.

Try soaking nuts, drying them and then making a larabar knock-off a little less sweet somehow and you'd be golden

I know! I have nuts to soak and homemade, less-sweet LArabars to make. I feel like in this case I should use larabars, lowercase "l." Or let's make another word?

Today is my husband's actual birthday. I still feel like having to work on your birthday is the harshest toke of adulthood. It felt like a grave injustice when I first entered the working world and it still feels like it's just wrong. Everyone should get to sit on a beach and read on their birthdays. And swim! Or whatever less awesome things they prefer to do. ;)

Anyway, I splurged on some NY strip steaks at my grassfed beef stand at the farmers' market yesterday. (And more brisket. Party.) There was a huge line at one stand for asparagus. I guess everyone is excited for something besides kale and onions. I think I will make hollandaise for the asparagus. I am also making my husband's favorite dessert: lemon cream [not compliant! but very yolky and buttery] with a little gingersnap crust for my his portion. I will experiment with reducing the sugar. We will have a little white wine and that will be it for the alcohol intake.

My psoriasis has continue to improve, despite my forays into dairy, alcohol and sugar. I think that's because skin has a lag with respect to diet. I am imagining it will get worse again next week. Maybe not.

Yesterday I ate:

-cabbage and brisket with ginger;

-scrambled eggs and bacon (the applegate kind with sugar that's been sitting in my freezer for month: kind of anticlimactic);

-Cinco de Mayo fest with Mexican surf music, slow-cooked pork taco meat over a red leaf salad with sauteed bell peppers, a bit of salsa and a 1/2 avocado. I made nachos for the kids and husband (they had pork quesadillas which looked really good but were on flour tortillas and I abstained) and I did eat a few corn chips with cheese crumbled over my salad.

I really screwed up the whole introduction thing and am regretting that. But I felt those corn chips. Or maybe it was the margarita? I only drank half because it was so darn sweet. I think it was the corn chips. My stomach turned like with nothing else I've eaten in the last few days. Still feels a little funky.

I also had a half cup of coffee (over my husband's protests) with coconut milk, which was utterly disappointing. I dumped it out and drank my green tea. I also kept thinking about the hell I went through getting off the stuff and while I am never one to learn from my mistakes or to let the thought, "this is going to make you feel really bad" stand in my way: I did. I stopped.

Breakfast: sautéed cabbage with the last of my cooked brisket, kimchi, green tea. My daughter was gobbling it up and even reaching for more kimchi from the jar!

Weak weekend cookup: roasted pots, carcass cleaning while watching Game of Thrones and chicken bone-broth, braised cabbage prepped to cook later today. Took me all day yesterday to clean my kitchen.

Oh--one last thing for this long entry: I started starting a photography business last spring. I've been gearing up for awhile but things were crazy with my non-sleeping darling daughter. Some family drama came up in the fall after the hurricane, and I got very depressed and anxious. I started getting so anxious about not doing my photography and not being able to make time to get on the computer that I couldn't even use my camera. It was a vicious cycle.

But yesterday I donated a photo shoot to a local playground fundraiser, forcing myself to update my website and get my head back in the game. For the first time in six months I feel ready to work again. Good things.

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But yesterday I donated a photo shoot to a local playground fundraiser, forcing myself to update my website and get my head back in the game. For the first time in six months I feel ready to work again. Good things.

If this is an effect of Whole30, I can't think of a better one. Congrats!!

And happy birthday, Hubs!

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Beautiful photos, Beets! If I lived in NY, I'd hire you. Good luck getting the venture back up and running.

THanks, Jen! You caught my link before I got cold feet and removed it. :rolleyes:

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But yesterday I donated a photo shoot to a local playground fundraiser, forcing myself to update my website and get my head back in the game. For the first time in six months I feel ready to work again. Good things.

Interestingly, my Whole30 had the exact same affect on me. I'd forgotten what it was like to feel motivated and confident enough to do what I want to do. :) Love the photos as well.

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Thanks. Deep down I think that was really what drove me to the W30. I was sick of feeling like a blob of sad jello.

I got really caught up in thinking photographing children isn't "real" photography and lamenting the fact that I can't afford to get an MFA (which would give me the Institutional Academic Authoritative Blessing I so desire, like the insecure person I am) and blah blah blah. But you know what? I really enjoy it and I do find it artistically satisfying, if I do it the way I want. I'll be 40 next year (ack!) and it's high time I let go of all the should be doing X in my life.

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