Off the rails

Speaking of identifying challenges: sickness is one for me. I get sick and I crave things and I don’t have the same drive for doing the right thing. I slip into the familiar, the easy.

It turns out that Saturday was the first manifestation of what has turned into a full blown sinus infection. Give me a few days to get through this, and we will start over.

I feel like maybe some day... maybe if I can make this more of a lifestyle. A lifestyle has comfort foods. But honestly a lifestyle doesn’t have cheating - it just has choices. I just wish I craved things that would be good choices in times like these.

It is progressive though, right?

W30/AIP days 4-5

Day 4: Menu was wxactly the same as Day 3, watermelon after dinner.

Day 5: Normal scramble for breakfast. Leftover Cauliflower Pork fried “rice” for lunch, Lamb burger for dinner. But... I cheated. I went to Starbucks in the early afternoon for a Serious Strawberry Frappuccino. I do no whip and substitute coconut milk, so the only cheating was the sugar, but I did cheat. I own it.

Here is what happened: we were doing a garage sale at my mother-in-law’s. I did a good job of bringing my meals so I wouldn’t cheat. I ate breakfast as normal. But then I was outside in the Texas heat for 6 hours and I think I simply didn’t drink enough. I had water but it wasn’t enough. When I went in for lunch I could only eat a bit because I didn’t feel well. But I was CRAVING this smoothie like beverage. Probably because it was cold. And sweet. Water just wasn’t doing it for me, which is rare, but I think it is because I let myself go too far. So - no beating myself up. This was a learning experience. I’ll do better next time. Water early and regularly.

W30/AIP Day 3

The scale ticked down the first bit this morning.  It is early days but of course encouraging. I do believe I can already see a difference - I think this diet de-bloats you quickly. I just look a bit leaner. I like it.

Today’s menu:
Beef Veggie Scramble with Egg on top (Myers)
Salmon over Butternut Squash with Kale Pesto (Myers-ish)
Grapes
Pork Fried Cauliflower Rice (Blue Apron: https://dlink.blueapron.com/YWrT1DaXZP)
Cantaloupe

Btw, last night’s post dinner fruit was an apple instead of watermelon.

Thoughts/challenges: I’m hungry but not starving, and I know it will pass. My colleague offered to bring me Starbucks today and I wanted it very much. I did decline. And I was moving books around within the system and I saw a book of 100 chocolate recipes and I was full on salivating. I’m coming into the craving time of the month. It will be a challenge for sure.

W30/AIP Day 2

Last night my dinner fruit was watermelon. It was hummu. I craved chocolate but did not cave.

Today’s menu is exactly the same as yesterday’s. Things should get a bit more interesting when the Blue Apron box arrives tomorrow, but fair warning - I cook for leftovers to maximize my time. I did encounter an obstacle this morning - my mother. Tonight is the night we go over to their house to eat. Last weekend I warned her that I was starting a strict diet and while we would still come to eat, I’d be bringing my own food. This morning she asked if she should do more shrimp without spice than she did last time, and I said no because I wouldn’t be partaking so Zoë can have it all. She looked super disappointed and I reminded her about the diet. She said, “Well isn’t this compliant?” I said no because she bathes the shrimp in melted butter. I asked about side dishes and she said mashed potatoes and at that point I was able to firmly tap out, but it was frustrating and difficult at the crack of dawn on day 2.

Oh, I forgot to mention yesterday: starting weight is 142 even.

Whole 30/AIP

Mega-update: shortly after my last post I was diagnosed with Hypothyroidism. I began medication immediately, but has taken months of fine tuning to get the dosage correct, and even with that I’m going to ask for another change at my next appointment. I had a friend warm me that as my body went through the adjustment, I would change. Boy howdy, was she right. I was not myself in a very epic way in February and March and April, in particular. She says I may never be the same but it seems the worst of the foggy apathy as mostly lifted.

One of the things I did following diagnosis was read everything I could get my hands on. I read The Thyroid Connection by Amy Myers and I decided in April to follow her diet plan, even though my hypothyroidism isn’t caused by an autoimmune issue. Her diet is basically an Auto Immune Protocol (AIP) diet. It worked. I lost 10 pounds and began feeling much better. I wanted to blog it but I couldn’t remember my password and at that time that was too much of a barrier for me - that’s how bad off I was.

Then summer happened and I ended up unsurprisingly off the diet, although I’ve kept most of the weight off and do eat differently than I did before. I knew that I wanted to go hard after summer ended, though, and the other day Blue Apron gave me the perfect excuse: they are doing Whole 30 compliant recipes during September! Whole 30 isn’t exactly AIP but they have a lot in common, most notable they are: sugar-free, gluten-free, ans lactose-free, and AIP is caffeine free. I’ve been essentially caffeine free (except for the occasional Excedrin) since April, so I will continue with that. My basic idea this month is to do AIP but substitute in some Whole 30 recipes. If any recipe is in compliance with EITHER diet, then it is acceptable for me this month.

And I’d like to blog how I’m feeling and eating.

So here we are, day 1. I plan to eat:
Breakfast: Beef and Veggie Breakfast scramble (Myers) with a Egg on top
Lunch: Salmon over Butternut Squash with Tuscan Kale Pesto (Myers)
Snack: Grapes
Dinner: Greek Lamb Burger with Coconut Tzatziki and Cucumber (Myers)
Post dinner: Fruit (not sure what kind yet)

So far I’m at lunch and I’m hungry but not starving. Frankly I love the breakfast which surprised me because I’m not usually a fan of meat in the morning. The Pesto is GOOD. Onward!