Make it Happen May

Mihani
Mihani Posts: 3,878 Member
Thanks for the great suggestion for the May thread title Carla! I also hope that your house sale will happen this month.

Anyone reading this new to the group, we just have a monthly thread to make it easy for everyone to check in and keep up with each other, and you are welcome to join in, or to start new threads. You don't have to be 100% ETL to hang out with us. We're all following Dr. F's guidelines to the best of our abilities, and we're realistic and honest about our struggles and victories.

My goal for this month, after a week of more strict ETL and feeling better, is to get back to some regular exercise. The treadmill and Harry Potter DVD's are beckoning me! So I'll Make it Happen. <3 y'all
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Replies

  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
    Best thread title ever!!!!
  • sloth3toes
    sloth3toes Posts: 2,212 Member
    25343508.jpg
  • tdh1991
    tdh1991 Posts: 511 Member
    Love the thread title.

    Day 1 of fast done on to day 2.

    Goals for this month: figure out other food sensitivities. After the fast I plan on omitting beans for 2 weeks. See what happens. I will incorporate some different grains in our diet instead. Make it to the gym 3-4 days a week.

    We are off to see my daughter perform her last chamber concert before graduating college.

    Have a great weekend.
  • Carla_wfpb
    Carla_wfpb Posts: 1,331 Member
    Off to a great start this morning! I got up early and my husband and I went for a walk down to the lake shore. Saw a momma duck and her little ducklings. They came right up to the shore beside us. Super cute <3

    Mihani, that Protein Power Bowl looks so good! Let me know how you like it. I will have to make a trip to the co-op to get spelt berries.

    Terri, hope you enjoy the chamber concert. You must be so proud of your daughter. I hope the fasting gives you great results!

    For Make it Happen May, I'm going to get back to ETL eating and exercise more. I'm aiming to do something every day, even if I just fit in a short walk.

    meals for the day:
    Breakfast - blueberry spinach smoothie
    Lunch - salad w/ sauteed tahini mushrooms and onions
    Dinner - red lentil cauliflower curry
  • tdh1991
    tdh1991 Posts: 511 Member
    Carla can you share the sauteed tahini mushroom recipe. Sounds delish

  • Mihani
    Mihani Posts: 3,878 Member
    I've been working all day and didn't have time to cook so no protein power bowl made yet. I'll get it made tomorrow or Tuesday. I do need to get salad stuff prepped tonight.

    B - cantaloupe and a clementine
    D - leftover spaghetti, threw the rest out so I can get off this mini carb kick... two days shouldn't set me back but need to stop before it gets out of hand

    Terri, how you feeling on the fast? I'm sure the concert will be wonderful, you must be very proud.

    Carla, love the red lentil cauliflower curry, so glad you clued me into that recipe in Veganomicon. I'm with you, I just want to get some sort of exercise every day. Something besides sitting at my desk.

    Hi Sabine! And Sloth... great picture for the thread!
  • GillianETL
    GillianETL Posts: 8 Member
    I'm loving hearing what people are eating and what you're doing to get active! It's also fun to just hear what interesting things are happening in life. My goal this month is to do my best with my ETL eating and meal planning and to otherwise just get through the month.

    I'm putting my kid in daycare for the first time which I expect to be somewhat traumatic for her and extremely traumatic for me! Was lucky enough to be able to stay home with her since she was born two years ago (I work from home) but I realize now it would be better at this point for her to be in a daycare setting. I never thought I would be such a mess over this! But I am. Going to focus on sticking to the eating plan and doing my best to get her settled into the new routine. If anyone has any tips/advice for the transition, I'm all ears!
  • Mihani
    Mihani Posts: 3,878 Member
    Hi Gillian.... ahhhhh that has to be hard to have your daughter start daycare. Settling into the new routine will be a challenge, but I'm sure you're up to it. She'll probably love having more kids to play with and surprise you how much she likes it.
  • liapr
    liapr Posts: 648 Member
    Hi guys, AWESOME thread title!! Woohoo :) hearing lots of motivated people

    Gillian, ahh good luck putting her into daycare! I hope the first week goes well. Did she start today? Is there any way she can start part-time as a way for you both to ease into it? Very hard, and I have no advice, but I do hear it's usually a quick buffer/transition period! Crossing fingers for you :)

    Mihani, woohoo sounds like you have been doing great with the food and ETL. So inspiring.

    Terri, how was the fast??! You survived I hope!

    Hi Sloth and SAbine!

    Carla, great start yesterday morning! The walks are so nice, especially in this spring weather and even just for the fresh air. Interested in hearing about the Morning Miracle you mentioned

    My husband and I have resolved to start an exercise routine together as well. We started last week and it was really good actually, just a matter of rejuggling our hours and nightly routine a bit. But I think it will help, I genuinely miss exercise. We still haven't found our dream home yet but I do hope it's soon. Living with my parents is becoming a little more stressful each week lol. Happy May, guys :)
  • Carla_wfpb
    Carla_wfpb Posts: 1,331 Member
    Feeling pretty good about myself this morning! My husband and I got up at 5:30 this morning to go for our walk. The lake was so peaceful at that hour. Today is supposed to be a hot one, so it was nice to get out there while it was cool.

    Also, some good news about our house - we got an offer on it yesterday! It's a better offer than the last one. Hopefully this one goes through.

    Terri, my Tahini mushrooms aren't much of a recipe, they just evolved from getting lazy and avoiding doing the caramelized tahini onions recipe I posted in our recipe section.

    Lazy Version:
    1 package/box sliced mushrooms
    1 onion, sliced
    tamari
    lemon (optional)
    water

    Rinse mushrooms then saute with 1 tbsp low sodium tamari (or whatever quantity you want). In a small cup, mix 1 Tbsp tahini with water and/or lemon juice to thin out a bit. Once mushrooms have cooked down a bit, add onions. Add water as needed. I cook these for maybe 5 minutes. Add tahini sauce and mix well.

    I put these on top of my salad and then I don't need any kind of dressing.

    Mihani, we ended up having spaghetti last night too. We didn't have the oomph to prepare our curry. One more night of spaghetti to go, then on to the curry.

    Gillian, I hope the transition goes smoothly for both you and your daughter! Keep us posted on how it goes.

    Lia, The Miracle Morning is a book I'm reading. The gist of it is that you get up earlier and start your day off with S.A.V.E.R.S. Silence (mediation or prayer or breathing), Affirmations (Stuart Smalley anyone?)
    Visualization, Exercise, Reading (1 to 10 pages of something inspirational), and Scripting (Writing...nothing major, write down in a journal something that went well for you the previous day, a good memory, a lesson learned, whatever) You can do the whole routine in as little as 6 minutes if pressed for time, or take up to an hour. The idea is that getting off to a good start like that leads to a better and more productive day. The order you do it doesn't matter, it is just that way so the acronym spells something.

    Breakfast - blueberry spinach smoothie, 1 cup coffee
    Lunch - salad
    Dinner - whole wheat spaghetti with veggie meatballs and vegetables
    Snack - fruit salad (grapes, pineapple, strawberries, blueberries)
  • Mihani
    Mihani Posts: 3,878 Member
    Lia, excellent job fitting in some exercise. Sometimes it is hard to find time and commit. Have you been looking at any more houses?

    Carla, hooray for an offer on the house!! Is the house you were interested in still available?

    I had a long day, the boy kept me up half the night… there was a thunderstorm and he gets so stressed and anxious. He was lying in the bed panting and trembling until I gave up and gave him a chill pill that the vet gave me for him. He was drooling so much I had to get up and change the pillowcases after he finally settled into sleep lol. So I did a little work tonight but I just want to go to bed so I have more brain and energy tomorrow. I just don’t function at peak when I’m tired, and I’m also more hungry!

    B – sprouted grain toast, cantaloupe
    L – Amy’s pad thai, apple
    D – steamer bag of veggies (added some nooch, lemon juice, pepper, kidney beans), clementine
    S – coconut milk yogurt, some almonds

  • tdh1991
    tdh1991 Posts: 511 Member
    Hi all,

    Carla, congrats! Hope this offer works out for you.

    Gillian: my week goes better when I spend a day cooking for the week. I usually cook 2 soups and one main dish, usually on Sunday or Monday that gets us through most of the week. Then towards the end of the week I take out left over frozen food from prior weeks. Hope this helps. Your child will let you know if she does not like it. One daycare facility I picked my kids got in the car and said they never wanted to go back. Other, daycare they looked forward to going to.

    Lia: good time to start exercising before bikini weather.

    Mahini: I need to go in the opposite direction for the next couple of weeks. I am eliminating beans so I will be trying some different grains to get more protein in my diet.

    I made it thru a 3 day fast. My joint pain and swelling has come way down. It was little rough travelling while fasting but I made it thru it. Was really tough when we went out to dinner. At least they had Saratoga water I had that. Down 5 lbs from the fast but I know it is just temporary. Now I need to make sure I lift weights a lot until my next fast. 4 day fast over memorial day.

    Busy work week and since I did not cook this weekend dinners will be a little rough. But if I get home early enough from work I plan on making a carrot leek soup for dinner.
  • Mihani
    Mihani Posts: 3,878 Member
    Terri, I did some reading on the health benefits of fasts and it's pretty amazing. Glad that you are feeling better after doing the 3 day fast.

    I made the OSG protein power goddess bowl last night. It was very tasty. I added an extra cup of spinach and I added more water than called for (in the lightened up version of the dressing) because my food processor wasn't really getting it smooth. You need a BIG skillet, it makes a lot. I think it will be really good cold mixed with lettuce for a healthy filling lunch.

    Yesterday:
    B - raw fit (my cantaloupe was mushy)
    L - some wheat crackers (I wasn't feeling well yesterday)
    D - protein power goddess bowl

    Today's plan:
    B - silk yogurt
    L - steamer veggies with nooch and fresh ground pepper, apple
    D - leftovers of the goddess bowl over lettuce
  • Carla_wfpb
    Carla_wfpb Posts: 1,331 Member
    Terri, excellent work completing the 3 day fast and even while traveling! Is there something special about Saratoga water, or just more appealing since it's sparkling? I've never tried it.

    Mihani, thanks for the report on the protein power bowl. Our meals plans got switched around a bit but I'm going to add the spelt berries to my specialty shopping list.

    I'm enjoying the nice selection of fruits and veggies in the grocery store. My diet isn't perfect but any means, but it is for sure moving in the right direction. This was day 4 of getting up early to go for a morning walk.

    We reached an agreement for the price on the sale of our house with the buyers, and now just have to get through the inspection period. We also found a new place (yes, another one!) that we like and are trying to buy. Unfortunately, at least 2 other buyers are interested and so now we are in a bit of a bidding war situation. We determined our top price and won't go over that.

    Today's plan:
    B - blueberry banana oatmeal
    L - salad
    D - curry probably
    Snack - fruit salad or nectarine, earl grey tea steeped in coconut milk
  • tdh1991
    tdh1991 Posts: 511 Member
    HI all,

    Been really clean so far this week. Still feeling really great since the fast. I hope it will continue.

    Carla: congrats on the house and good luck with getting a new house. Very stressful.
    Saratoga: bubbly mineral water I was just happy they had bubbly water.

    Mahini: how did your power bowl turn out.

    Today I made a Millet, Amaranth Loaf w/ mushroom gravy, served it with the carrot leek soup and a salad

  • Mihani
    Mihani Posts: 3,878 Member
    Carla, I am happy to see all the spring veggies and fruit too! Happy to hear that the contract is solid now. Doing great getting those early morning walks.

    Terri, the power bowl was awesome, but it has far too much oil even on the lightened up version, so it will be a once in a while thing. I don’t think it would be as good with no oil although I may play around with the recipe a bit. I just had a little on a big bed of romaine tonight and it was a great salad topping. I love sparkling water, I buy a 12 pack every week.

    I stuck to the plan today other than adding a few wheat crackers to lunch.

  • GillianETL
    GillianETL Posts: 8 Member
    Happy Thursday! Thanks to everyone for your support with my transition to having my daughter in daycare. We registered her this week and will start her next Thursday after two short visits early in the week. I'm holding it together so far but that first day of leaving her is going to be a doozy.

    Mihani, I agree, she's going to love it and being an only child it will be great for her to be around lots of kids. Did I read that you have a dog? What kind? I love animals and have a dog myself.

    Liapr, yes she is starting part time initially as there's no full time spot until June. Hopefully she'll start to get used to things two days a week and then be ready for full time after that.

    Carla, congrats on the offer, so exciting, crossing my figures it goes through!! The book sounds interesting, I would love to start my morning that way. Maybe I'll start with baby steps. Good luck with the house you like, sticking to a top price is a great idea.

    TDH, thanks for the tips, I agree cooking ahead helps everything! Thanks for sharing that story about your kids, very helpful to know that she'll be giving me cues on whether or not it's a good place for her. Very impressed by your fasting plan, I get so cranky when hungry, I don't think I could ever subject my husband to that lol

    I've been mostly sticking to the plan except I'm having more animal products and bread products than I would like. The weight is still coming off but it's likely a lot slower than if I did a better job on my food choices. I'm trying to get away from eggs, so I did a tofu scramble this morning for the first time and it is crazy delicious! I did this recipe but only used 1 lb of firm tofu and added paprika, garlic powder and onion powder as I do with everything. trainerisa.com/tofu-scramble/.

    Lunch will be leftover vegan chili and dinner will probably be a bean, kale and veggie stirfry with a peanut sauce. Hope the rest the week goes well for everyone! Anyone have any fun weekend plans? We are setting up our gardening beds and a friend is coming over with lots of seedlings. It's my first attempt to grow my own food but my husband is experienced so it should go well :)

  • Mihani
    Mihani Posts: 3,878 Member
    Gillian, I have one dog, a medium size black lab mix, he's a sweet boy but he's a handful. I had my oldest dog, a shepherd mix, put down in February :'( She was a really good dog and I still miss her lots. Also two cats. I love tofu scramble! I posted this in the recipes section a while back, but this is my favorite: minimalistbaker.com/southwest-tofu-scramble/ easily made ETL by leaving out the oil and it has lots of flavor from the spices. The one you posted sounds good too, I'll have to try it. Good luck with your gardening! I used to do that but I don't have time anymore. My neighbor behind me has a huge veggie garden though, and he leaves bags of goodies hanging on the fence for me all summer long. All the benefits, none of the work, how lucky am I?

    Today was hit or miss I'd say...
    B - a few spoonfuls of leftover power bowl, wasn't too hungry and running late
    L - a whole bunch of saltines (saltines? really?) and a steamer bag of broccoli/cauliflower with nooch
    D - going to eat the last of the power bowl on a bed of lettuce

  • liapr
    liapr Posts: 648 Member
    Hey guys! Just a quick note to say hello, happy friday, and that it sounds like everyone is hanging in there :)

    We bought a house! It's conditional, but cross your fingers... we could be moving in a month and our of my parents' place and into a healthier routine! In the meantime, I'm eating salads again. I actually cooked a giant amount of rice and mixed with pinto beans to each with salads for dinner. It's been so quick and easy and actually yummy too. Still too much chocolate but overall I'm improving which is nice.

    Mihani, saltines sound seriously dull in terms of a "bunch" lol. Find something more interesting! hehe <3
    Teri, great job this week!! You are an ETL master! (Mistress?)
    Carla, keep us updated!! What's the new potential place like, and did the bidding war end?
    Gill: I second Mihani, that southwest tofu scramble is sooo good. I always think it's such a nice treat on a weekend too.

    xoxoxo
  • Mihani
    Mihani Posts: 3,878 Member
    Yay Lia!!! So happy to hear you found a new home.

    Today was better...
    B - oatmeal with walnuts and blueberries
    L - steamer bag of veggies with nooch
    D - going to make OSG black bean butternut squash burritos... nom nom nom. Leave out the oil and they are pretty ETL friendly, although a little starchy carb heavy with the rice and the wrap.