Hey there! The party went well. I had fun making a cake and then got to give it all away, and I stuck with my ETL menu. They boy feels like he got enough sweets, and has asked to wait until later in the week for apple cake.

Yesterday:
B - blended green drink (cauli, spinach, blueberries, cashew milk) with spices (turmeric, pepper, cinnamon), side of almond butter & goji berries
L - savory baked tofu; cooked lentils & mushrooms; zucchini, tomato and onion bowl; steamed turnip greens with diced turnips (got in my pound of green leafys!); steamed butternut squash and apples with a little cashew milk and cinnamon
S - walnuts & apple slices
D - kale, romaine & roasted beet salad with a green goddess dressing (avocado, lemon, tarragon, green onion, cilantro, spices); steamed butternut squash and apples with a little cashew milk and cinnamon

@Mihani - Your picnic dinner sounded so fun! I hope it was tasty!
I am so glad you are starting to have less of a load, with the new gal being there!

@magic71755 - You sound super busy with the start of your week. Hurray to your awesome eating plan!

magic71755 wrote: »

Yay for a great birthday celebration. And look at your son, realizing he has had enough sweets and asks for a delay on his cake...wow...that is a first for me. Nice work, @AustinRuadhain (mom).

Well, @Mihani at least there is not that much longer (relatively speaking of course) to deal with all this catching up to do. Sounds like you're halfway there...or more, really. Phew. You sure were buried in overtime.

This is going to sound really crazy, but the weekend Sat/Sun (and you can even include Friday in there) goes really fast, still...even with me working it. And MY weekend Mon 2PM to Fri 7AM kinda takes its time. Just the it always has been for regular working folks. I mean, it sure makes me happy...cuz you guys...IT'S MY WEEKEND AGAIN!

Not taking too much with me since it is my short day:

Black Coffee
Oatmeal
Green Juice
Lara Bar
Carrot Apple Ginger Juice

Dinner: Stir Fry veggies with noodles

Dessert: Good pop.

Have a great day everyone.

@magic71755 - Thank you! He's an amazing young man. I have been careful not to tell him or my husband that they need to eat the way I do, but both are choosing to eat more carefully as time goes on. He genuinely just paid attention to his body, noticed he had plenty of sweets (Scouts lock in Friday night, movie night Saturday) and decided he would like to wait!

Enjoy your short day!

I got up today and did a Classical Stretch session. It's a show that our local PBS station airs, and the workouts are a little like yoga. I feel looser and lighter afterwards, and am taking that feeling into my Monday!

Hey @Mihani -- thanks for checking in during the midst of your busy week!

I found a recipe I want to try. I'll be skipping the butter and using veg broth.
https://www.kcet.org/food/weekend-recipe-red-lentil-soup-with-north-african-spices

It has been a good ETL day -- good food choices and more exercise in the evening.

B - blended green drink (cauli, spinach, blueberries, cashew milk), side of almond butter & goji berries
L - savoray baked tofu; steamed mushrooms; zucchini, tomato and onion bowl; steamed turnip greens with diced turnips; steamed butternut squash and apples with a little cashew milk
S - almond butter & apple slices
D - kale, romaine, tomato, red bell pepper & roasted beet salad with a green goddess dressing (avocado, lemon, tarragon, green onion, cilantro, spices); zucchini, tomato and onion bowl; steamed butternut squash and apples with a little cashew milk

LizLovesVeggies wrote: »

Hi All - Reading all your updates. Busy work week so I'll make it brief.

Today I passed on a bunch of donuts & cake that I would have LOVED to eat. Same bakery as did my (vegan) wedding! But I said to myself, "my health goals are more important that eating this right now" and passed. More for my office mates who can try vegan desserts for the first time!

BTW Austin - I LOVE this Italian apple cake by Chef Chloe. (for future apple cake adventures!)

Happy Wednesday to all,
Liz

Liz -- Happy Wednesday! So lovely to see you!

A huge CONGRATULATIONS on forgoing the vegan donuts & cake. That took willpower.

The Italian Apple Cake looks great! I will have to try it!


@magic71755 - I was so inspired at your making the meal at the assisted living place work. I can only imagine how slim the pickings were. And I love it that nobody said anything! You made it work!!

Hi All, still scrambling with work but caught up with everyone's posts. Everyone seems to be doing great!!! I did manage to get a bunch of veggies steamed last night and roasted some mushrooms so lunches will be easy peasy now through the weekend. Salad and beans for dinners. Oats for breakfasts. Some fruit here and there. This is the only way for me to stay on track when I'm this busy. Keep it simple and have it prepped.

Hello, all!

Red Lentil Soup with North African Spices is easy (if these are spices in your cupboard) and excellent.
Changes I made: cook the onions in water; substitute water for broth; double the amounts of ground coriander, ground cumin, ground ginger, ground cinnamon, cayenne; skip making the spiced butter. Adding fresh cilantro and lemon juice at the end is likely great, but I forgot. I'll do that tomorrow when I eat it again!

Dinner was a zucchini, tomato and onion bowl and a large kale & romaine salad with a tomatillo and spice dressing. Steamed squash and apples for dessert.

@Mihani - How great that you are caught up on prep! I am imagining you as a blur!

@magic71755 - Have fun choosing dinner, and enjoy that Good Pop!

Off to do some walking!

The soup sounds delightful Austin. Yay for being all prepped Magic! Way to go staying the course in the face of temptation, Liz!

Just making a quick stop lots to do yet tonight so I can spend the weekend in the office. I keep thinking this is going to come to an end, but in all reality it is likely going to be months before we catch up the backlog from the years of being way too busy and not having enough help. It's pretty discouraging.

On the bright side, having lots of steam/sauteed veggies and roasted 'shrooms has been wonderful the last couple days at lunch. Just have to add 1/2 cup of beans and some fruit and lunch is complete. I need to make sure I do this every week.

Hey @magic71755 !
I hope your juice days go well for you!

I am doing well, thanks!

My Saturday:
Water: plenty
Exercise: platform stepping (45 min)
Food: a smidge under my calories goal, all good ETL choices. I packed my dinner salad etc and took it to a potluck. Nobody minded or even mentioned it.
B- green smoothie, coffee, side of goji berries and almond butter
L- small helping of red lentil soup with a splash of lemon juice and a bit of cilantro; zucchini, tomato and onion bowl with spices; steamed turnip greens with diced turnips; steamed mushrooms with nooch; steamed butternut squash and apples, with some blueberries and cashew milk
S- almond butter and apple slices
D- (took to potluck!) zucchini, tomato and onion bowl with spices; large salad (kale, romaine, roma, roasted beet) with a tomatillo-based dressing; steamed butternut squash and apples, with some cashew milk

Sunday plans:
Similar food and water
Exercise: platform stepping, plus I may try a workout DVD I checked out from the library yesterday

Hello @sloth3toes ! Welcome!
I hope we can support you as you work to get healthier! I have lost all the weight I set out to lose (140+ lbs) and am much healthier after close to a year of ETL, so I can certainly say this has worked well for me. I hope it can for you as well!

@magic71755 - If a juice fast helps you reset, that's great. I have done a couple in the distant past!

My ETL day:
B- green smoothie with spices inspired by (I think) Mihani (broccoli, spinach, blackberries, cinnamon, lime juice, turmeric), side of almond butter and goji berries
L- small helping of steamed mushrooms; North African Red Lentil Soup; Red Cabbage and Mango Slaw; steamed turnip greens; zucchini, tomato and onion bowl; steamed butternut squash; apple slices
S- apple slices, almond butter
D- huge salad (massaged kale, romaine, roma tomato, roasted beet); avocado lime tarragon dressing; Red Cabbage and Mango Slaw; zucchini, tomato and onion bowl; steamed butternut squash with cashew milk
Exercise: midday walk, resistance training at the gym in the evening (date night with husband!)

Have a great Tuesday, all!