Day 3

Day 3 was successful, we have continued to survive on our limited diet. 

For breakfast, I heated up a crust-less quiche I'd made the night before.  It was pretty good, made of sweet potatoes, green onion, fresh side, eggs and nutmeg.  Jesse had suggested a side of sautéed mushrooms and sliced tomatoes for veggies, and at breakfast, said, "I don't know that mushrooms really count as a vegetable here."  To which I said, "that's ok, tomatoes are a fruit anyway."  It's the little things that amuse us.  

The girls and I ran around again all morning and got home in time for lunches.  My biggest struggle yesterday was not making myself a grilled cheese sandwich like I made for them.  Instead, I had another sausage and gigantic salad.  Now that I'm putting in the open what I eat, you'll be able to judge how repetitive my meals are.  But it was good, and after a banana with almond butter, I was content. 

I started prepping dinner early.   I briefly discussed with Erin that I have a distinct advantage with this, because I can really make everything the day of in time for dinner, instead of others who have to be way more organized and prepped so they can still make their dinners without spending hours getting ingredients together.  I'm working towards that, but that's why I'm doing this "ish" for 2 weeks as a learning curve. 

That being said, we tried a delicious salmon recipe I'd found on Pinterest, topped with homemade guacamole.  As sides, we had a pile of fried carrots, brussle sprouts and salad with a new dressing I made.  Which was terrible, by the way.  

The girls both inhaled the carrots and salmon, and I'd out one sprout on each of their plates.  Emma went for that first and I was a bit surprised.  She chewed on it for awhile before spitting the rest out, but she'd tried, and really eaten most of it.  Lily and I had a battle of wills over her bite though.  Lots of tears, explanation of only needing to try one, a few bribes, letting Emma be excused and watch a few of Lily's favorite videos on YouTube, and eventually, holding her and feeding her a bite of brussle sprout covered in Parmesan cheese.  We hugged, and I told her it was ok not to like it, but when I put something new on her plate, she must try it.  I didn't ask her to like it, just to eat it even still.  She told me she didn't like it, and then asked if I would squirt some Reddi Whip in her mouth and if Jesse would replay,  "Let it Go" on his tablet for her to sing.  I told her I loved her and she said she loved me, so all is well. 

For the record, Jesse said the sprouts weren't his favorite either, but he ate them anyway.  Last time I made them, I drizzled maple syrup on them and he was sad I couldn't do that this time, haha so close to diet friendly. 

My book came yesterday, so I started reading, "It Starts With Food," and am very encouraged.  I got a little frustrated with the fact I want the answers to all my confusion and questions now, but know they will be addressed and covered later on.  The trials of reading books.  I did find a recipe in the back for homemade mayo and Ranch dressing, that are diet compatible, so that's the task for today.  Also, I need more celery.  In our 6.5 years of marriage, this is the first time we've ever eaten an entire thing of celery, as it normally goes bad before!  That was weird.  Anyway, I'm a bit discouraged right now, morning of day 4.  I have been making good enough meals, and it isn't the meat that's the problem: I just seem to not be hitting the mark and understanding yet how to handle all the veggies.  I guess I need to read more, but that's where I am right this minute.  I know the goal is about a hand sized portion of meat and the rest vegetables, but figuring out the hows and whats are currently annoying me.  I'm going to look some recipe ideas up and then go to the store, I think. 

Last thought: Jesse explained that with this diet, what we are eating for meals is enough that we shouldn't need snacks.  We feel snacks and hungry because of the type of food we are eating, and our bodies process and digest it faster into fats and such.  With this diet, our bodies take longer to figure out what to do with the meats and vegetables, so we aren't as hungry as quickly.  Does that make sense?  I will return to this when I've gotten there in the book, but I really paid attention to that and if I was actually hungry or not, and aside from a small handful of nuts in the afternoon, I didn't snack!