Oops, Sunday snuck up on me and I almost forgot about the check-in for those participating in the challenge. Last month must have overwhelmed folks as there are less than half as many signed up now.
Well, for those that are new, and those that renewed, how's it going so far? Did you stick to your goals? Do you have any questions or need help with anything? (No, I am not offering to weed your garden. I mean help with how to proceed with this challenge. My garden is an overgrown mess o' weeds. Why do you think I haven't posted photos of it lately?!)
On a totally unrelated note, I unthinkingly volunteered to make more watermelon rind pickles for the next CSA cooking demo. I forgot just how much work it is to make these suckers. Oh well, it's for a good cause. It helps CSA members realize they can do even more to avoid wasting food.
I'm late resigning up. The only part of the challenge I have struggled with is BUZZ. I have 5 kids that I homeschool. I need my caffeine! We ate out exactly once in August (it was to celebrate a birthday). It's amazing how much of an impact not eating out has cutback on our budget and our waistlines!
ReplyDeleteI managed to eat out ZERO times. That's great! Ditto on taking unnecessary seconds. The 50% sugar tripped me up with some goodies that arrived at my office, I hate it when that happens. And that sort of threw LITE out the window as well. This next week, with the kids all back to school and my family on some resemblance of a true schedule, I think I can improve!!
ReplyDeleteNo eating out so far; and only a peach pie for sweets. Yummy Colorado peach pie... made with local peaches and wheat. :)
ReplyDeleteCaffiene... still sticking to my 1/2 cup of tea (the reason I couldn't do 100%). But, I'm sticking there, and not allowing myself to drink more as it cools down here!
It's easier this month. I also made my goals easier and more attainable... that helped.
I start work tomorrow (late school start), so here's hoping i can keep it up! We planned a great menu to keep us on track.
Everything has been great this week except for a bag of chocolates given to me by a friend. Chocolate is a weak point for me to start with :S and I don't really want to think about how short their life was once they came into my possession.
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Held the status quo ... I think. Very busy exhausting week lugging boxes between two offices and down various stairs, it feels like I didn't think about anything.
ReplyDeleteWendy - good job on the eating out, and associated benefits to your budget and waistlines! I've got you signed up again...with your caffeine.
ReplyDeleteEco 'Burban mom - zero eating out and seconds? Wow! I don't suppose you could wear blinders at work to avoid the sweet goodies, huh?
Jennifer - now that's not nice to make us drool over your pie. It sounds great, though. Attainable goals that are still somewhat challenging are better than ones that are so impossible to reach we fail and feel guilty.
Kt - made short work of those chocolates, eh? ;-) Glad everything else went well.
Susan - sounds like a tough week! Hope the moving is over soon and you can think about the tasty foods you're eating.
BUZZ: I've been studying for my professional licensing exams lately, and the only quiet place I've found is a coffee shop near my house. The only problem is that I feel obliged to buy something when I'll be spending a few hours in an eating establishment. So, I've been drinking decaf and eating somewhat healthy zucchini and sunflower seed bread. That may fit the BUZZ bill, but I'm not sure.
ReplyDeleteLITE: Our next door neighbors also invited us over for ice cream yesterday. It was our first neighborly visit since we moved in two years ago, so we had to say yes. The ice cream was really quite good, and they sent us home with a small tub of it. So, the LITE isn't going as well as planned.
SOW: I haven't had seconds of anything, and I've been trying to stop eating sooner rather than powering through the whole plate of food. This is easier at home, when I can just put less food on my plate, but I'm getting better at gauging my appetite in restaurants as well. For this one, I feel like I'm making some progress.
Everybody liked Abbie's pie better than mine so I had to eat the loser pie! I couldn't bear to throw it away:( So, eggs, sugar and milk.
ReplyDeleteYesterday I had a migraine so I ate a bowl of Frosted Shredded Wheat.
I seriously need to go to the grocery store.
I think I'm doing ok so far - I feel like I've kind of copped out this month by doing less than I had been, but it is easier to not worry about a bit of coffee or milk or something here and there. I am finding I don't like coffee as much, now that I've gone back to it after not having it. Maybe that will make me give it up for good? I know I'm a day late commenting, and I've just read all the comments on the sugar post - in a way I really wish I had felt so much better on the strict vegan (or at least strict non-dairy) diet - I didn't really feel anything different. I think if I had it would have been easier to stick to it completely. I've got a stressful week coming up with a very overscheduled freshman in HS (once Thanksgiving is here and Marching Band is over we'll be way better!) and a sick 4th grader and a husband who is off golfing (oh - I mean at a scientific conference where there just happens to be 18 holes of golf every day) all week!
ReplyDeleteI think I'm about 75-90% for the week, except for the soda thing...that is one big battle. I did have one 3-soda day, which I am thrilled to report, followed by 2 not so great days.
ReplyDeleteLori - decaf is fine with the Buzz category. Don't worry about ice cream with your neighbors. Building community is important and it sounds like it was kind of a special situation. Sticking to the challenge too rigidly can be counterproductive in these kinds of cases...as you figured out already! "Powering through the whole plate" - why do I keep reading that as "plowing"? Must be how my mind works. LOL
ReplyDeleteIB Mommy - aw, you had to eat the loser pie? I'm so sorry. ;-)
Get to a store and do some shopping!
JAM - that's interesting about the coffee. And I'm sorry to hear the diet change didn't result in feeling much better. I know how much effort you've put into that.
RJS - hang in there and don't let a chemical laden beverage beat you. Time to do more research on the corporation that makes that stuff to give you more incentive to ditch it!
Well, I might have misspoken a bit. I never really felt badly in the first place, and I felt just fine being vegan, and I did lose 5 lbs which was fantastic. I didn't lose my one nagging symptom, which is a stuffed up left ear. I was really hoping that might have been aggravated by dairy, and would clear up, but it didn't. I do believe wholeheartedly in the health benefits, so while I'm not striving for 100% vegan right now, I'm still trying to head myself in that direction. It is difficult since my family is not vegan, and only interested in eating that way in varying degrees (from not at all to mildly!) However, I'm going to try to get more and more vegan (if one can say it like that!) and hopefully I'll lose a big more weight, and who knows, maybe my ear will clear up eventually. After being pretty faithful for 3 weeks and then having cheese pizza I had discomfort, so I do think that my body was negatively impacted by the dairy when I had not had any in a long time, but now, having had traces here and there, they don't seem to bother me. It would be a lot easier if I could be suddenly transported into a vegan world where that's all I needed to deal with - and a private chef like Oprah has wouldn't hurt either!!! So I'm not giving up, but I do think if my ear had miraculously cleared up, I would have a lot easier time sticking to things 100%.
ReplyDeleteJAM - it is hard to eat this way when it seems like the entire world is eating differently. Without family support, it can feel isolating, too. Kudos to you for continuing to stick with it!
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