Days 13-19

So... it's been awhile.  I cheated on St. Patrick's Day.  And then the next day as well....

Here's the good report:

I HAVEN'T HAD ANY SUGAR!!!  I really am proud of this.  Even on the two days that I cheated with other food, I never had any sugar.  That was when it got hard too, because I was already cheating, right?  The things I cheated with were fast food.  I hate even to say that because it's gross.  But when things get emotional, I want somebody else to make me something warm and yummy.  And boy have we had some emotional stuff.

My face is looking better.  It looks less puffy and inflamed.  Not much.  But a little.

I'm feeling mentally stronger and clearer and more able to take this way of eating on for good.  That is also big for me.  At the beginning of the year I was so down and lost and giving up sugar and eating only whole foods seemed so far away for me.

My blood sugar seems to have stabilized because I am not snacky during the day at all.  My appetite has decreased and I get fuller faster.  I'm not constantly thinking about food, which is helpful.


So that's my good list.

My menu for the week isn't really worth posting.  It's just a regurgitation of the last few weeks.  Thankfully Stephen is okay with this.  I have got to find some new things, but when you're just eating meat and veggies, it's just pretty repetitive.  Can I getta amen?

So I'm back on whole 30.  I want to say I finished a Whole 30, so like Karen I'm going to tack a few days on to the end :o)  But this is really just the way we have to eat for good.  The only thing I'm adding back in after the 30 days would be some corn products (tortillas and chips), some beans, occasionally some cheese and a little honey or maple syrup.  That's probably it.

Here's to finishing this!

Days 10-12

I guess I'm on par with the norm.  The last 3 days I have battled cheating and giving up.  Knowing that Karen is counting on me not to fail has kept me going.

I'm just going to tuck my head down and keep walking into the wind.  I'll look up around day 15.  Maybe I'll look in the mirror then too.

I'm scraping the barrel for menu ideas, but here goes:

Coconut Curry Chicken Meatballs - didn't have this last week
Spaghetti squash with meat sauce
Chicken sausage and roasted vegetables
Curry Chicken lettuce wrap - probably lunch on Wednesday
Lettuce wrapped burgers
Salmon and steamed veggies
Chicken soup
Breakfast for dinner - don't know what this will be yet, omelet, sweet potato hash, etc


There.  I did it.

Head down, press on.

See you on Day 15

Days 8 & 9

I guess it gets to the point where you don't have anything more to say about eating vegetables.

Stephen and I did our 'Kill all the things' Day on different days.  So that was fun.

I am still surprised about my ability to eat salad for lunch.  This is big for me.

I'm too lazy to make bars so when I need something I grab a date.  They're tasty.  Who knew?

My children have finally put down the protest signs.  Adrienne staged a hunger strike for dinner 3 days in a row.  That's commitment.  But she ate half her portion of sweet potato cauliflower mash tonight (thanks for the idea Karen) and all her green beans.

Tomorrow is day 10!

Days 6 & 7

We made it to Costco yesterday.  ( Here's a Calleigh funny:  We were practicing Counties and County Seats and I was trying to help her remember the county seat for Utah county.  I said:  It's about an hour away.....It's where we go shopping....  "COSTCO!"  she shouts.  We laughed and laughed.)

I contemplated packing a lunch to eat on the road and decided that I didn't want to bother with it because it was such a short trip.  And it was, but I came home so hungry!  I literally couldn't make dinner fast enough.  I didn't get the Mahi Mahi because it was more expensive than Salmon at Walmart.  But I got everything else on my list.  I bought their organic whole chickens in the two pack.  Have you heard you can make bone broth in 90 minutes in the Instant Pot/Pressure Cooker?  I found instructions for that on Elana's Pantry here.  I don't have one but I thought it was cool so it doesn't stink up your house for 2 days.

I bought plantain chips at the health food store.  They're okay.  Don't love them with guacamole, which is what I was planning to eat them with.  Oh well.  They'd be great after Whole 30 with hummus or a different dip.

Today's been great!  I don't know what's going on, but I don't crave sugar.  What?!  If I could cheat right now it would be on grain/dairy main dish stuff.  Like Malena's here makes a killer quesadilla with beef asada, rice and sour cream.  That's what I want, not sugar.  This is so weird.  I had a monkey salad tonight after dinner because I was still hungry.  But I hadn't had one for 2 days before today.  And I still haven't made more Mamabars.

Karen is the coconut aminos fairy and left me a cute box on her porch with 3 bottles.  So we're makin' stirfry this week!

Gotta go get buns out of the tub.

ttfn

Day 5

We made it to the end of the week!  Okay, so it wasn't a full week, but I'll take it.  I sent Stephen out the door tonight with his lunchbox packed with leftovers and a salad.  He swore he'd never take a lunchbox to Oxbow, so this is big for us.  He also is going to quit taking the 2nd medication and we'll watch his blood sugar closely and only add it back if we have to.

I'm going to Costco with the parents in the morning so I'm going to plan to make that our grocery shopping trip for the week as well.

Here's next weeks menus:

Butter Chicken - we never had it last week because we ate at Mom's
Costco Smoked Pulled Pork over sweet potatoes
Fish and Veggies - maybe Mahi Mahi from Costco
Coconut Curry Chicken Meatballs over cauliflower rice
Perfect Roast Chicken - I used this recipe last week and had an awakening.  I even tied the legs!  It was GOOD.
Zuppa Toscana
Stirfry with leftover veggies - if I can pick up some coconut aminos at the health food store

Lunches will be pretty much the same.  I'm feeling disinterested in finding other salads that I like.  Dump ranch is working for me right now.  I do the spices a little differently.  So if you're trying it and not loving the spices (which seem kinda mild to me) then try this:

A while ago I made my own Ranch Seasoning using all those San Francisco Herbs we got awhile back (anyone ready for another group order?)  So I think I cut this recipe in half, but this is what I used:

Ranch Seasoning

1/4 cup black pepper
1 1/2 cup parsley flakes - don't think I used this much, seems like a lot
1/2 cup garlic salt
2 Tbs sea salt
1/4 cup garlic powder
3/4 cup onion powder
2 Tbs dill weed

Then when I'm making Dump Ranch, I use one tablespoon of this mix plus an extra 1 - 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt.  Here's that recipe:

Dump Ranch

1 egg
1 cup light olive oil
1 Tbs lemon juice or 1 tsp powdered lemon from San Francisco Herb
2 Tbs Red Wine Vinegar
1/2 cup full fat coconut milk
1 Tbs RANCH SEASONING
1 - 1 1/2 salt

Blend in a blender or with an immersion blender for one minute.

It's been nice to have ranch seasoning on hand.  I've used it on roasted potatoes and I put it on my baked chicken tenders last week and they turned out tasty.

New week here we come!

Day 4

Today was the first day that I really struggled with temptation.  Still feeling super tired and sluggish and Aaron and Adrienne went ahead and got that cold I was trying to prevent.  So I held two feverish, cranky kids most of the day.  I was so glad I had already assembled my lunch salad when I did Stephen's the night before.  I'm not sure it would have happened otherwise.

But I'm still here, pluggin' along.  Karen, I loved hearing about your shopping trip!  I want to see that picture :o)  Knowing that you're doing this too helped me make it through today.  Truly.

Stephen has his first Oxbow shift since being on Whole 30 tomorrow.  I wonder how this is going to work.

I need to prep a few days worth of salads and veggies tonight.  And I need to figure out what he can take (and be willing to eat) that wouldn't require refrigeration for 6+ hours.

If we can figure this out we will be on the road to real improvement for him.

I'm out of Mamabars.

The end

Day 3

Today I just felt like a slug.  Everything was harder and my muscles were weak and sore like I had worked out (I had not).  Bending over was a chore.  I had Calleigh finish braiding my hair because my arms were tired.  weird.  I only had 1 Mamabar and still no headache.  So happy about this.  I am having trouble getting in enough water.  I will do better with that today.  I'm still really enjoying my Dump Ranch salad.  Today is the last day of that and then I'll try something new.  Keith came to visit the parents and so Mom made dinner.  It was a tasty chicken stirfry with cashews.  No rice for us!  It was so nice to not make dinner.

Stephen's numbers are coming down but he started a new medication the week before.  So we're not really sure if it's the food or the medication that's helping.  He tested a few times after he started taking it and his numbers went up.  And it makes him feel awful.  I am trying to get him to give Whole 30 a shot at his numbers without the second medication.  He says he's willing to try next week without it.  We'll see what happens.

I'm thinking of making a breakfast casserole thing so I don't have to cook breakfast for a few days.  It looks good.