Not All Flowers and Rainbows

I had a GREAT experience during my first W30, and I told anyone who would listen (including anyone who would read my status updates on FB) about how great I felt. However, I want to make sure that anyone in the middle of their first W30, or thinking about starting one, knows that it's not all easy and wonderful. It's hard...not "I can't do this" hard, but rather, "I have to want this more than I want ice cream" hard. It's a lot of work, especially for someone who strongly dislikes cooking (my parents taught me that I shouldn't hate anything.) It takes a lot of planning, and when you have other things going on (work, kids, pets, a household to run), you don't have a lot of time to leisurely browse through cookbooks, or meander through the grocery store looking at exotic vegetables, or spend an hour or two each afternoon preparing a gourmet meal. The thing is, you don't need to do any of those things, but you do need to spend at least some time looking for new recipes, reading labels and cooking. This is NOT a fast-food friendly meal plan.

You will also not always feel great physically or mentally. Remember that I had a headache EVERY SINGLE Day 2. Bad headaches. You will be hungry, but the great thing is that, if you are, you are supposed to eat more! You are not expected to just be hungry because, well, you ate all you were "allowed" to eat. If you need to snack, do so, but then figure out what and/or how much more you need to eat at your next meal so that you won't feel the need to snack. You don't have to count anything or weigh anything. You just need to eat the proper things in the proper proportions, and adjust amounts as needed (within reason, of course.) You will be cranky. You will be tired. You will stare longingly at a bowl of Doritos at your nephew's birthday party, and then panic momentarily when you worry that maybe you ate some and can't remember (yes, really.) You will dream about food. You will feel sad when you realize that having a peanut butter shake float with vanilla ice cream every day of the year is not really a good idea.

The thing is, being overweight is hard. Not fitting in your clothes is hard. Not wanting to wear a bathing suit at the beach is hard. Not being happy with yourself is hard. Been there, done that. I'd rather have to spend a Sunday cooking, because the W30 will get easier. You will figure out what you can and can't buy and how much you need to eat. Your headache will go away, and one day you will realize that you are happy...for no particular reason. You will still be sad about the peanut butter shake floats with vanilla ice cream, but you'll live.

So what about today's food? Breakfast was a 3 egg omelet with onions, spinach and mushrooms. I splurged on an omelet mix of pre-cut veggies at Whole Foods on Saturday, and it has been totally worth it. The one mistake God made when He created the universe is that vegetables don't grow pre-cut. Lunch was leftover mushroom cauliflower chicken soup and a Lara Bar (I've decided that I should probably not buy Lara Bars anymore...they are REALLY good, and I could definitely get in trouble with them.) Dinner was my new favorite meal: my crockpot meatballs with cauliflower rice. This time I sautéed mushrooms with garlic and oil and dumped the cauliflower rice in...OMG!! I am in a bit of a panic because I am quickly running out of meatballs and cauliflower rice. Good thing I have a 5 day weekend coming up.

One last thing: I would love to know who is reading this blog, so please just leave a comment now and then, letting me know who you are and that you're there :)