It is 7:54 pm, and I survived Day 6 of the Whole30. I felt really great this morning...full of energy, happy, not terribly hungry, and not craving bad foods. Even when I cried a little about Craig while walking in the yard with the other dogs this morning, I was ok.
I have been walking the past three mornings with Booney and Myrtle, something we used to do religiously but have slacked on the past several months. I load them up and we drive to Tubac for a nice excursion. I have also been swimming a lot. The increased activity and getting used to the Whole30 probably explain why I was blindsided by a raging hunger today at about 3:30 pm. I got so hungry so fast that I was kind of nauseous. Good times! I wanted to eat everything and then puke it back up! I was convinced for a while that I had accidentally food poisoned myself.
According to the book, this is the "Eat all the things" stage, and boy were they right...about the wanting to eat, that is. They didn't mention the nausea. I couldn't find enough calories to eat without woofing down an entire jar of almond butter. I had taken some hard boiled eggs to work in addition to my lunch as an emergency snack. Thank goodness I did! I ate three of those, a few berries I had left, a few nuts, and a spoonful of almond butter. I figured out I need to keep more fast, convenient vegetables at work!
I got home, played with the dogs, ate an early dinner and now I finally feel normal.
I had a pretty good lunch and had a lot of vegetables with my breakfast protein. I also ate lunch late, which made this hunger all the more surprising. So, more vegetables at the office, in addition to replenishing my protein stash. All in all, not a bad day, and I learned a few things, which is good.
Monday, August 10, 2015
Sunday, August 9, 2015
Day 5: Mayonaisse, Pesto, and Kale. Whole30 Gourmet Life.
It's 8:05 pm, and I survived Day 5. I'm actually feeling pretty good. I went to the grocery store for a few additional things I had forgotten, and I was so tempted by the smells of the bakery. It was a true test of will to not shove 17 muffins in my mouth all at once. After I gained some composure and kept shopping, the urge for baked goods passed rather quickly.
While walking the dogs this morning in Tubac, we saw a bunch of people sitting on the patio of the local coffee shop. They were laughing and enjoying coffee and baked goods and egg sandwiches and such. I almost pouted, "But I want to sit at a coffee shop and sip coffee with cream and eat croissants and cheese danish until someone has to move me off the patio with a crane. I do! I do! I really, really do!" Part of it is wanting or craving a baked good, but part of it is just the ease with which these people go out, order food, and shovel food into face. Here I am making my own freaking ketchup for a lamb burger, no bun, so that my fat ass won't be so fat anymore and so that I can be healthy and active, but for a split second this morning, I just wanted life to be easier. I shook it off and moved on, and I actually feel better tonight that I am cooking and taking care of myself and planning and being prepared. So, I have been developing mental strategies for getting over those pity parties and cravings.
Here are some other things I learned today:
1. I can't follow a recipe. I was all excited about making mayonaisse. I'm not sure why. It's not like I'm eating a sandwich and need to put mayo on the bread. For one..no bread! For two...try finding lunch meat without added sugar! Fuggedaboutit. I'm making chicken salad later this week, and I do need mayo for that, but that doesn't really justify the excitement I felt at whipping up my own condiment.
I put part of the oil and the egg in the Ninja blender. I added a bit of mustard powder and salt like the recipe said. I slowly started to put in the remainder of olive oil while the blender blended, and it all worked! It worked like a charm. The only problem is it tasted like a crap biscuit covered in crap.
This can't be right! Everyone said the mayo tasted like heaven! Creamy, mayonaisse heaven! I'm doomed! Everything in this book is going to taste like garbage, isn't it? Everything!!!! My life is a lie!
Oh, what's that? The paragraph before the recipe saying don't use extra virgin olive oil because the flavor is too strong and will make nasty mayo? Oh...ok. I see. My life isn't a lie. I just didn't read all the directions. Back to the mayo drawing board tomorrow with a lighter Whole30 approved oil.
2. Don't eat breakfast too far in advance of a big swim workout. I swam for over an hour today, and I was hungry for a good 45 minutes of that swim. I had eaten breakfast too early and dawdled at the house before getting to the pool, resulting in hungry swim. No fun. I was smart enough to pack bonus, post-workout meal because I was leaving for errands right after the pool, though. So, I wasn't a total failure this morning. I was just a hungry, partial failure.
3. It never ceases to amaze me that 10 cups of spinach and kale can cook down to 1 cup of food in less than 10 minutes. It also makes me wonder what would happen to me if I ate the whole cup of reduced spinach/kale mix in one sitting. I would never eat 10 cups of that in one sitting in a salad, for example. Would some gastro blasto happen if I ate it all after it cooked down? I'm not going to find out today, but I do wonder.
All in all, I'm feeling good. I'm having fewer Craig cry fests. I feel way more prepared food-wise to tackle this week, and I have a couple of good fall-back items I can always order from my local diner if push comes to shove and I need food fast.
While walking the dogs this morning in Tubac, we saw a bunch of people sitting on the patio of the local coffee shop. They were laughing and enjoying coffee and baked goods and egg sandwiches and such. I almost pouted, "But I want to sit at a coffee shop and sip coffee with cream and eat croissants and cheese danish until someone has to move me off the patio with a crane. I do! I do! I really, really do!" Part of it is wanting or craving a baked good, but part of it is just the ease with which these people go out, order food, and shovel food into face. Here I am making my own freaking ketchup for a lamb burger, no bun, so that my fat ass won't be so fat anymore and so that I can be healthy and active, but for a split second this morning, I just wanted life to be easier. I shook it off and moved on, and I actually feel better tonight that I am cooking and taking care of myself and planning and being prepared. So, I have been developing mental strategies for getting over those pity parties and cravings.
Here are some other things I learned today:
1. I can't follow a recipe. I was all excited about making mayonaisse. I'm not sure why. It's not like I'm eating a sandwich and need to put mayo on the bread. For one..no bread! For two...try finding lunch meat without added sugar! Fuggedaboutit. I'm making chicken salad later this week, and I do need mayo for that, but that doesn't really justify the excitement I felt at whipping up my own condiment.
I put part of the oil and the egg in the Ninja blender. I added a bit of mustard powder and salt like the recipe said. I slowly started to put in the remainder of olive oil while the blender blended, and it all worked! It worked like a charm. The only problem is it tasted like a crap biscuit covered in crap.
This can't be right! Everyone said the mayo tasted like heaven! Creamy, mayonaisse heaven! I'm doomed! Everything in this book is going to taste like garbage, isn't it? Everything!!!! My life is a lie!
Oh, what's that? The paragraph before the recipe saying don't use extra virgin olive oil because the flavor is too strong and will make nasty mayo? Oh...ok. I see. My life isn't a lie. I just didn't read all the directions. Back to the mayo drawing board tomorrow with a lighter Whole30 approved oil.
2. Don't eat breakfast too far in advance of a big swim workout. I swam for over an hour today, and I was hungry for a good 45 minutes of that swim. I had eaten breakfast too early and dawdled at the house before getting to the pool, resulting in hungry swim. No fun. I was smart enough to pack bonus, post-workout meal because I was leaving for errands right after the pool, though. So, I wasn't a total failure this morning. I was just a hungry, partial failure.
3. It never ceases to amaze me that 10 cups of spinach and kale can cook down to 1 cup of food in less than 10 minutes. It also makes me wonder what would happen to me if I ate the whole cup of reduced spinach/kale mix in one sitting. I would never eat 10 cups of that in one sitting in a salad, for example. Would some gastro blasto happen if I ate it all after it cooked down? I'm not going to find out today, but I do wonder.
All in all, I'm feeling good. I'm having fewer Craig cry fests. I feel way more prepared food-wise to tackle this week, and I have a couple of good fall-back items I can always order from my local diner if push comes to shove and I need food fast.
Saturday, August 8, 2015
Day 4 of the Whole30. Prep Day!
It's 8:41 pm, and I survived Day 4. It should be "Day 4, and I'm poor." I went to Tucson to stock up on some essentials and food for this week. I kind of panicked and bought 3 jars of clarified butter in case I can't get back to Tucson soon. I also purchased some other random things that I wouldn't normally buy.
1. Cheesecloth (for future clarified butter making at home). 8 yards of cheesecloth to be exact.
2. Ground lamb. I made lamb burgers with garlic and rosemary to have for lunches for the next few days. I didn't even know they made ground lamb.
3. Canned sardines and anchovy filets. I have no idea why. Don't ask. Maybe I'll eat it as a fast, easy protein/fat? On a salad? If you have good ideas about how to use these things, please share!
4. Rainbow colored radishes. I don't even like radishes, but I felt like I had to mix it up.
5. Spaghetti squash. I buy these sometimes but not often. Tonight I made my own spaghetti meat sauce and roasted the spaghetti squash. That is dinner for the next several days and maybe a breakfast, too.
I think that's the last of the random stuff. Everything else seemed fairly rational. Canned tuna. Crushed tomatoes. Pomegranate seeds. (ok...that's a random one, too.) Salad stuff.
I cooked the lamb burgers, spaghetti squash and tomato meat sauce, and cooked a bag of sweet potatoes. I'm in a good place for food for a few days. I'm going to make mayo and ketchup tomorrow. I'll use the mayo to make a chicken salad with grapes and walnuts for lunches later in the week and the ketchup for my lamb burgers.
I went out for lunch at a fast "healthy" Mexican food place next to the Trade Joe's. You can pick your salad or burrito or tacos. Once you pick an item and a protein, you pick all the other stuff they put on it, and honestly, that was all food that I can't eat. Beans, rice, ranch avocado dressing, crispy tortilla strips, cheese, AAAAAAA. I spent 5 minutes moving down the line as the prepared my salad saying, "Oh! no! Not that. Oh! No cheese. Uhm, no rice. Yes...salsa. No!!!! Drop the tortilla strips!"
The couple in front of me was incredibly slow and indecisive and strange...yes, more strange than me, the weird girl ordering chicken and lettuce and salsa and saying "No! Not that!" for every other additional option. The woman at the register felt so bad about the slowness of the weird couple that she reached for a homemade chocolate chip cookie and said, "You've been waiting so long. I want you to have a free cookie."
I might have shrieked, "NO!!" I cookie panicked. Then I tried to act a tad more rational. "Uhm, I mean, no thank you. I don't need a cookie. It's fine. I didn't mind waiting." I really wanted that cookie.
Bonus: I officially made it longer than some in my family thought. :)
1. Cheesecloth (for future clarified butter making at home). 8 yards of cheesecloth to be exact.
2. Ground lamb. I made lamb burgers with garlic and rosemary to have for lunches for the next few days. I didn't even know they made ground lamb.
3. Canned sardines and anchovy filets. I have no idea why. Don't ask. Maybe I'll eat it as a fast, easy protein/fat? On a salad? If you have good ideas about how to use these things, please share!
4. Rainbow colored radishes. I don't even like radishes, but I felt like I had to mix it up.
5. Spaghetti squash. I buy these sometimes but not often. Tonight I made my own spaghetti meat sauce and roasted the spaghetti squash. That is dinner for the next several days and maybe a breakfast, too.
I think that's the last of the random stuff. Everything else seemed fairly rational. Canned tuna. Crushed tomatoes. Pomegranate seeds. (ok...that's a random one, too.) Salad stuff.
I cooked the lamb burgers, spaghetti squash and tomato meat sauce, and cooked a bag of sweet potatoes. I'm in a good place for food for a few days. I'm going to make mayo and ketchup tomorrow. I'll use the mayo to make a chicken salad with grapes and walnuts for lunches later in the week and the ketchup for my lamb burgers.
I went out for lunch at a fast "healthy" Mexican food place next to the Trade Joe's. You can pick your salad or burrito or tacos. Once you pick an item and a protein, you pick all the other stuff they put on it, and honestly, that was all food that I can't eat. Beans, rice, ranch avocado dressing, crispy tortilla strips, cheese, AAAAAAA. I spent 5 minutes moving down the line as the prepared my salad saying, "Oh! no! Not that. Oh! No cheese. Uhm, no rice. Yes...salsa. No!!!! Drop the tortilla strips!"
The couple in front of me was incredibly slow and indecisive and strange...yes, more strange than me, the weird girl ordering chicken and lettuce and salsa and saying "No! Not that!" for every other additional option. The woman at the register felt so bad about the slowness of the weird couple that she reached for a homemade chocolate chip cookie and said, "You've been waiting so long. I want you to have a free cookie."
I might have shrieked, "NO!!" I cookie panicked. Then I tried to act a tad more rational. "Uhm, I mean, no thank you. I don't need a cookie. It's fine. I didn't mind waiting." I really wanted that cookie.
Bonus: I officially made it longer than some in my family thought. :)
Friday, August 7, 2015
Day 3 of the Whole 30. Workout Bonus Meals Rock
Well, I'm still alive. I actually feel pretty good today. I had breakfast and lunch at Nickel's Diner. You have to love a restaurant where everyone knows you are doing an eating challenge and talks to you about it when you order. I even got to see the recipe for the balsamic vinaigrette to make sure it was compliant. Thanks Vickie and the gang!
I was really hungry this afternoon. I'm not sure if it was that I didn't put enough fat on the salad or the limited amount of vegetables I ordered at breakfast. I ended up eating dinner at 4:30 before I left the office. So, I will be adjusting my breakfasts to make sure I have enough vegetables and maybe more fat in addition to the protein, which I'm sure I'm getting enough of...at least I was sure this morning. steak and eggs...that's enough protein.
Today I partook of a little thing I like to call the post-workout bonus meal of happiness! The Whole30 encourages eating 3 meals a day and no snacking, but if you workout you get the bonus meal! It is supposed to be an easily digested protein and a higher carb vegetable like a sweet potato or taro or pumpkin and very little or no added fat. You eat it right after a workout. So, after my swim, I opened a can of pumpkin, heating some up in a saucepan with cinnamon, and for the protein, I picked chicken because it is what I had cooked. What protein ISN'T easily digested? I should probably google it before I start trying to eat bison or lamb or something after a workout.
So, no crying in my cookies today, partly because I can't have cookies on the Whole30 and partly because I felt good. I had a few Craig moments talking to my friends at the vet office, but that was all purely Craig related and not starvation related. I'm looking forward to tomorrow. I have planned a Tucson trip to go and stock up on ingredients! Clarified butter and cheesecloth here I come!
I was really hungry this afternoon. I'm not sure if it was that I didn't put enough fat on the salad or the limited amount of vegetables I ordered at breakfast. I ended up eating dinner at 4:30 before I left the office. So, I will be adjusting my breakfasts to make sure I have enough vegetables and maybe more fat in addition to the protein, which I'm sure I'm getting enough of...at least I was sure this morning. steak and eggs...that's enough protein.
Today I partook of a little thing I like to call the post-workout bonus meal of happiness! The Whole30 encourages eating 3 meals a day and no snacking, but if you workout you get the bonus meal! It is supposed to be an easily digested protein and a higher carb vegetable like a sweet potato or taro or pumpkin and very little or no added fat. You eat it right after a workout. So, after my swim, I opened a can of pumpkin, heating some up in a saucepan with cinnamon, and for the protein, I picked chicken because it is what I had cooked. What protein ISN'T easily digested? I should probably google it before I start trying to eat bison or lamb or something after a workout.
So, no crying in my cookies today, partly because I can't have cookies on the Whole30 and partly because I felt good. I had a few Craig moments talking to my friends at the vet office, but that was all purely Craig related and not starvation related. I'm looking forward to tomorrow. I have planned a Tucson trip to go and stock up on ingredients! Clarified butter and cheesecloth here I come!
Thursday, August 6, 2015
Day 2: From Bad to Better to Clarified Butter
It is 8:30, I finished dinner, and I survived Day 2 of the Whole 30. I will tell you right now that I am a bit behind the curve because I didn't spend Sunday shopping and planning and cooking to have a strong start to the week. Instead I spent Sunday crying and moping and feeling horrible and missing Craig while trying to keep it together for my other dogs. Starting this on a Wednesday...not my best idea in the grand scheme of ideas.
I will definitely be doing the plan, shop, prep this weekend to set myself up for an easier time next week. I think I will also make a couple of versatile sauces to have on hand. All I can say is thank goodness I cooked a million pieces of chicken and mountains of steamed broccoli last night. That will at least carry my dinners until the weekend. I anticipate being sick of chicken pretty soon, though. GOBBLE GOBBLE! Oh wait...is that what the turkey says or what the chicken says? Bock Bock? Whatever the chicken says, I will be tired of hearing it pretty soon.
In addition to not having a lot of things already precooked, I also had a working lunch meeting today at a Mexican seafood restaurant. Remember...no beans, no cheese, no joy. That is what was going through my mind trying to decide what to order. I ended up with a seafood soup in broth and a green salad. I asked the waitress for oil and vinegar. "Oh. I'm not sure we have that. I'll check." Really? You don't have olive oil and vinegar? After a few minutes she came back and said, "I'm so sorry. No oil and vinegar. You want ranch instead?" Yes! Yes, I want ranch instead but I can't eat it!!!!! It ended up that they did have olive oil, so I used that and squeezed fresh limes. I also asked for a side of avocado to help make the salad taste like something. TIP: Travel to restaurants with my own salad dressing.
I am getting a little tired of olive oil, so I tried to make clarified butter tonight. It seems the milk solids in regular butter are forbidden on the Whole 30. Also, the words and concept of "milk solids"....pretty gross for some reason. I'm not sure why anyone would want to eat something called "milk solids." Clarifying butter seemed easy enough. If Scientologists can do it, so can I! Oh wait...that's a different clarifying. Anyhoo, my task was to melt butter, skim milk solids off the top, strain in cheese cloth. Piece of cake...that's what I wanted as a banged my head against the wall struggling with the clarifying process. A big huge piece of cake...mmmmm....with ice cream.
See, not having cheesecloth really is kind of a pain. Trying to strain hot butter through a coffee filter is NOT going to work. It just isn't. Take it from me. Coffee filters and clarified butter do not mix. So, I learned a lesson...buy cheese cloth and more paper towels and grease-cutting cleaners to get the butter off my counters. Once I have the cheese cloth, etc..., I will then go to Tucson and buy clarified butter in the store and keep the cheese cloth as a backup for those emergencies where I need cheese cloth for something and can save myself from doing stupid things, like trying to strain hot butter through a coffee filter.
The bonus is I started my morning sobbing into the sink while I was trying to brush my teeth and get ready for work, but this evening I haven't cried once. The Whole 30 says it is normal to be kind of moody and emotional and hungover feeling the first few days. Unfortunately, I can't tell if I'm a basket case because of the food changes or because I miss my dog or both and how much each one is the culprit. Not crying tonight, though...I'll take it because it is pretty difficult to brush one's teeth while crying and sobbing without choking on toothpaste.
I'm looking forward to Day 3! Yippee! Oh, and my awesome cousin, Erin, sent me a blog her doctor just started on plant based cooking, so I will be checking out this page as I move forward, too. Cooking with Dr. G.
I will definitely be doing the plan, shop, prep this weekend to set myself up for an easier time next week. I think I will also make a couple of versatile sauces to have on hand. All I can say is thank goodness I cooked a million pieces of chicken and mountains of steamed broccoli last night. That will at least carry my dinners until the weekend. I anticipate being sick of chicken pretty soon, though. GOBBLE GOBBLE! Oh wait...is that what the turkey says or what the chicken says? Bock Bock? Whatever the chicken says, I will be tired of hearing it pretty soon.
In addition to not having a lot of things already precooked, I also had a working lunch meeting today at a Mexican seafood restaurant. Remember...no beans, no cheese, no joy. That is what was going through my mind trying to decide what to order. I ended up with a seafood soup in broth and a green salad. I asked the waitress for oil and vinegar. "Oh. I'm not sure we have that. I'll check." Really? You don't have olive oil and vinegar? After a few minutes she came back and said, "I'm so sorry. No oil and vinegar. You want ranch instead?" Yes! Yes, I want ranch instead but I can't eat it!!!!! It ended up that they did have olive oil, so I used that and squeezed fresh limes. I also asked for a side of avocado to help make the salad taste like something. TIP: Travel to restaurants with my own salad dressing.
I am getting a little tired of olive oil, so I tried to make clarified butter tonight. It seems the milk solids in regular butter are forbidden on the Whole 30. Also, the words and concept of "milk solids"....pretty gross for some reason. I'm not sure why anyone would want to eat something called "milk solids." Clarifying butter seemed easy enough. If Scientologists can do it, so can I! Oh wait...that's a different clarifying. Anyhoo, my task was to melt butter, skim milk solids off the top, strain in cheese cloth. Piece of cake...that's what I wanted as a banged my head against the wall struggling with the clarifying process. A big huge piece of cake...mmmmm....with ice cream.
See, not having cheesecloth really is kind of a pain. Trying to strain hot butter through a coffee filter is NOT going to work. It just isn't. Take it from me. Coffee filters and clarified butter do not mix. So, I learned a lesson...buy cheese cloth and more paper towels and grease-cutting cleaners to get the butter off my counters. Once I have the cheese cloth, etc..., I will then go to Tucson and buy clarified butter in the store and keep the cheese cloth as a backup for those emergencies where I need cheese cloth for something and can save myself from doing stupid things, like trying to strain hot butter through a coffee filter.
The bonus is I started my morning sobbing into the sink while I was trying to brush my teeth and get ready for work, but this evening I haven't cried once. The Whole 30 says it is normal to be kind of moody and emotional and hungover feeling the first few days. Unfortunately, I can't tell if I'm a basket case because of the food changes or because I miss my dog or both and how much each one is the culprit. Not crying tonight, though...I'll take it because it is pretty difficult to brush one's teeth while crying and sobbing without choking on toothpaste.
I'm looking forward to Day 3! Yippee! Oh, and my awesome cousin, Erin, sent me a blog her doctor just started on plant based cooking, so I will be checking out this page as I move forward, too. Cooking with Dr. G.
Wednesday, August 5, 2015
Day One Fun
It's 8:30 pm, and I survived day one of the Whole30 Challenge. Actually, it wasn't that bad since I've been trying to eat well and successfully lost 20 pounds over the summer. However, I'm coming off a vacation week with the family (imagine banana pudding, key lime pie, tomato sandwiches, pizza, pasta, ice cream cake, ice cream cake, yummy, yummy ice cream cake). I'm also in the middle of a pity party about losing Craig and am trying not to comfort myself with all the foods I would want to comfort myself with.
Before vacation I had been doing ok on the healthy eating front at home for a few days at a stretch. However, I have been having one day or two days where I do something stupid, like eating a burger and fries. Now I have to go a Whole30 with no stupid. Period.
I had a small meltdown in the afternoon. I was tired and sad about Craig and felt hungry. I sucked it up, though, and stayed on plan. I skillet fried chicken breasts (a bunch of them) and steamed a whole big bag of broccoli. That's dinner for a couple of nights.
Only 29 days to go. By the way...I was reading the ingredients on my dried garlic this morning and was a bit discouraged that it isn't Whole30 compliant because it has some soybean oil in it, and I started feeling like NOTHING was compliant. Oh, the pre-crushed fresh garlic...not compliant either because it has whey. NO WHEY! So, I determined that I need a grocery store visit for herbs and spices and garlic so my taste buds don't shrivel up and die.
Before vacation I had been doing ok on the healthy eating front at home for a few days at a stretch. However, I have been having one day or two days where I do something stupid, like eating a burger and fries. Now I have to go a Whole30 with no stupid. Period.
I had a small meltdown in the afternoon. I was tired and sad about Craig and felt hungry. I sucked it up, though, and stayed on plan. I skillet fried chicken breasts (a bunch of them) and steamed a whole big bag of broccoli. That's dinner for a couple of nights.
Only 29 days to go. By the way...I was reading the ingredients on my dried garlic this morning and was a bit discouraged that it isn't Whole30 compliant because it has some soybean oil in it, and I started feeling like NOTHING was compliant. Oh, the pre-crushed fresh garlic...not compliant either because it has whey. NO WHEY! So, I determined that I need a grocery store visit for herbs and spices and garlic so my taste buds don't shrivel up and die.
Tuesday, August 4, 2015
What's More Fun Than Home Ownership? A Barrel of Monkeys AND Healthy Eating of Course
This blog has previously focused on owning a home and all the stuff that breaks and drives me nuts. While that hell on earth is such a pleasure to experience and write about, I thought I should broaden my horizons with more adventure, more excitement, and more interesting and joyful things. I decided to write about a 30 day eating program on my blog as well.
I am embarking on a Whole 30 challenge. What's that, you ask? Well, it's 30 days of eating fruits, vegetables, and meats, and technically the folks that developed it don't call it a diet. They call it a lifestyle change or some other euphemism for the self-imposed era of suffering and sorrow...uhm, I mean chosen path to food freedom and enlightenment.
So on August 5, I start my own journey following "The 30 Day Guide to Total Health and Food Freedom." Actually, I am excited about the journey as much as I jokingly complain. You should check out the Whole 30 website. I was going to start on Monday, August 3, but my dog, Craig, died and that really was awful...more awful than giving up cheese, so I postponed for a couple of days.
I was talking to my family about this last week while on vacation at the lake. Everyone was interested in the parameters of the program. "What do you mean no cheese or other dairy, peanuts, soy, artificial sweeteners, sugar, grains, or legumes?" What I mean is none of those things, and also no butter. Just in case you thought that all happiness was gone, I bring up the exclusion of butter and THEN you know that joy died. How could I have done that and still be in shock from losing my Craig? Now that I'm just bone-crushingly sad, it seems like the right time to shock myself with a restricted food plan.
So, I will be focusing on the basics. Meats, vegetables, fruits, and healthy fats for 30 days. I will also not be getting on a scale (see...NOT a diet). I will be writing about it here because some of my family said to keep them updated. Actually, some said to keep them updated on "my 3 day diet". Oh ye of little faith! This seemed like the easiest way to keep them updated, and now I'm keeping you updated, whoever "you" may be. There we have it...if "it" doesn't mean dairy, legumes, grains, sugar, and sweeteners because we definitely won't be having THOSE things. Enjoy.
I am embarking on a Whole 30 challenge. What's that, you ask? Well, it's 30 days of eating fruits, vegetables, and meats, and technically the folks that developed it don't call it a diet. They call it a lifestyle change or some other euphemism for the self-imposed era of suffering and sorrow...uhm, I mean chosen path to food freedom and enlightenment.
So on August 5, I start my own journey following "The 30 Day Guide to Total Health and Food Freedom." Actually, I am excited about the journey as much as I jokingly complain. You should check out the Whole 30 website. I was going to start on Monday, August 3, but my dog, Craig, died and that really was awful...more awful than giving up cheese, so I postponed for a couple of days.
I was talking to my family about this last week while on vacation at the lake. Everyone was interested in the parameters of the program. "What do you mean no cheese or other dairy, peanuts, soy, artificial sweeteners, sugar, grains, or legumes?" What I mean is none of those things, and also no butter. Just in case you thought that all happiness was gone, I bring up the exclusion of butter and THEN you know that joy died. How could I have done that and still be in shock from losing my Craig? Now that I'm just bone-crushingly sad, it seems like the right time to shock myself with a restricted food plan.
So, I will be focusing on the basics. Meats, vegetables, fruits, and healthy fats for 30 days. I will also not be getting on a scale (see...NOT a diet). I will be writing about it here because some of my family said to keep them updated. Actually, some said to keep them updated on "my 3 day diet". Oh ye of little faith! This seemed like the easiest way to keep them updated, and now I'm keeping you updated, whoever "you" may be. There we have it...if "it" doesn't mean dairy, legumes, grains, sugar, and sweeteners because we definitely won't be having THOSE things. Enjoy.
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