Thread: MissM's first P3

Originally Posted by mrsstrong

That is just wonderful, Yvonne! What an awesome friend you are.

Truly. And you're so right about gratitude and being thankful for what we have because you never know. I've been keeping a gratitude journal this month with the intention that energy flows where attention goes, and I swear I am at least 10 times happier for deliberately writing down what I'm grateful for. I'm going to keep it up after the month ends.

And I believe what you said is true, Yvonne, that buying this house is the best thing I could have done for myself. It actually occurred to me today that it goes as far as being the best possible thing I could have done for my health alone. I am sleeping better, more relaxed, happier, eating better because I love my new kitchen, getting more exercise because it's a safe neighborhood in which I can walk at any given moment, and on and on. I am infinitely grateful for the comfort and safety of a home I love and the infinite ways it has improved my life.

I still am not eating green beans. Maybe because I ate them for half of P2 not realizing they weren't protocol. And I detest the green bean casserole everyone in the United States seems to love to serve at Thanksgiving. Canned green beans smothered in cream of mushroom soup sprinkled with fried onions from a can. Blech. It's a crime against vegetables, imho. But I didn't grow up eating it, so I shouldn't judge.

Well, we certainly all agree on a strong preference for roasted veggies as well as the vast benefits of having an attitude of gratitude!

Two weeks ago today I began P3, and I really couldn't be happier with how it's gone thus far, so I'm infinitely grateful for that. A big part of that has been the support of this forum, specifically Yvonne, mrsstrong, Leez, and Coco. Thank you so much for your input, help, and support through community. I can't imagine what it would have been like to do HCG in isolation. I really appreciate all of you.

My weight is holding steady at 143.8 for the fourth morning in a row. Last night I felt I really indulged in a ribeye steak (prepared with a spiced coffee-cocoa rub and pan seared in ghee in a cast iron skillet) and creamed spinach (made by thawing a bag of frozen organic spinach, squeezing out the liquid, and mixing in fresh garlic, homemade mayo, a little grating of nutmeg--my mama taught me to always do that with anything spinach--and some chives). It felt seriously indulgent. I thought of it as date night for one, a steakhouse meal at home on a Friday night. Anyway, I thought for sure my weight would be up this morning, but no. Cheers to stabilization!

No doubt there will be fluctuations eventually. Most definitely next week as I navigate my boyfriend's arrival (either Monday night or Tuesday) and his terrible influence (though I'm curious to discover if he stops trying to tease and tempt me with terrible food when he finally sees how my body has changed thanks to my efforts); my birthday on Tuesday; and Thanksgiving on Thursday. It very well may be easy as pie, so to speak. I think I've finally learned this major lesson: I am in charge of myself and my body. Period. I never have to eat or drink or do anything I don't really want to or that doesn't speak to my highest good just because someone else is disappointed or wants me to do something else. They can adjust.

This is power, my friends. Such a gift of doing HCG in the ways that I have. Major life lesson I pray I continue to know in my core and practice deliberately.

So, I am going to make the keto chocolate cake for my birthday, just a single layer 8-inch round with chocolate coconut frosting. Boyfriend will help me eat it, or I'll freeze part of it if need be. I'm also going to make mrsstrong's against all grains pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving. I don't think I've mentioned how much I love pumpkin pie. It was my responsibility to make the pumpkin pie from the time I could make things in the kitchen, and back then I didn't like anything with a custard texture. But somewhere along the way I came to love it so much, I would sometimes have pumpkin pie instead of cake on my birthday--and then have it again for Thanksgiving! Anyway, that's all to say it will be a tremendous treat to recreate it in a P3-acceptable way along with the rest of the Thanksgiving meal.

And here's the plan for that: turkey, mashed cauliflower, gravy made/thickened with xantham gum (is that allowed in P3? Seems to be a keto mainstay) roasted kabocha squash, and some kind of cranberry concoction--either a raw relish or a cooked gingered sauce made with swerve. Very excited about all of this--and experimenting for the first time with these sugar and baking substitutes. It's all a wonderful adventure as far as I'm concerned!

Off to the farmers market soon for lamb and eggs and kale. Then a bit of work before zoom yoga at 11, then lunch and some cleaning before my dear friend comes over in the afternoon. I'm not sure what/how she's eating these days, but I'm sure we'll figure something out. She's a former ballerina and very mindful of food and health, so though she may be vegetarian or pescatarian, I'm quite certain I can throw together something good for both of us if she wants to eat.

Happy weekend, friends!

Thank you both so much! I feel like I'm in a really good place.

Yesterday was a very good day, filled with so many of my favorite things: yoga, writing, farmers market, cooking, walking outside, and quality time with one of my favorite people. I even got to feed her, which made me oh so happy. She is very fussy about food, which I completely understand, obviously, and the crispy skin salmon (thank you again, mrsstrong!) and cauliflower rice I prepared were perfect. She cleaned her plate, though at first she resisted letting me cook for her.

I ate extremely well yesterday. In addition to the aforementioned dinner, I also had a banh mi bowl https://app.ckbk.com/recipe/well4342...8/banh-mi-bowl for lunch and sicilian cauliflower beef https://app.ckbk.com/recipe/well4342...ower-with-beef for breakfast several hours after having a bulletproof coffee with a teaspoon each of my new adaptogenic ghee, mct oil, and coconut milk, plus two scoops of vital proteins collagen. I though for certain my weight would be up today (especially since I weighed before BM--sorry, TMI!), but it was actually down .8 to 143.

What I'm observing is a phenomenon I have read about but hadn't fully believed: eating less can actually hinder things, and the old model of calories in-calories out simply does. not. apply. I've had a hard time letting go of IF to some extent, though I have let it go, and now I'm a believer that right now IF is a hindrance rather than a help. So I'm basically saying I'm going one level deeper to practicing what I preach and learning through experience. I'm a work in progress and this is definitely a process. But it's all good stuff I'm encountering. Very healthy shifts, I believe.

Today I'm going to make moroccan cabbage sauté https://app.ckbk.com/recipe/well4342...-cabbage-saute as I make my way this week through recipes from Well Fed Weeknights. It's wonderful to have a new diversity of such bright, savory flavors at my fingertips as leftovers in my fridge. Talk about abundance!

So, today I'm going to continue deepening my experiment in listening and responding to my hunger and satiety cues, eating when hungry, stopping when satisfied. What I noticed yesterday is though I ate more meals, more frequently, my portions were very reasonable, and smaller than what I tend to eat when I eat fewer times in a day. I have a really beautiful handmade bowl from a local artisan that I once thought was too small for anything except oatmeal. Well, funny thing, it turns out to be the perfect size bowl for appropriate portions of these nutrient-dense hearty P3 meat and veg meals I'm making. I'm learning so much!

Originally Posted by mrsstrong

Power to you, MissM!!!!


We are having ribs like last year. A bit of summer in winter. We will make a big batch and bring some to our neighbors. We had socially distanced BBQs this summer and they were awesome so hopefully, this will give everyone a cheer. Making some sugar-free BBQ sauce for mine

Thank you so much!!

I love that you're having ribs and sharing them safely! By the by, what's the sugar-free BBQ sauce you use? I stopped eating the bottled stuff for my Whole30 I started in September, and I made two different recipes (Mel Joulwan's and the Whole 30 cookbook version) and neither one was satisfactory. Of course they didn't use any sugar substitutes, just dried fruit in one and sweet potatoes in the other. Anyway, just curious. You've been a wealth of recipes for me--thank you!

Day 16 done

The Moroccan cabbage sauté wasn't as delicious as I'd hoped. Even with all those spices in it it's still kind of bland. Maybe it needs some fresh herbs which I forgot and some acid, perhaps a squeeze of lemon or splash of ACV. Maybe it's that I eat so much cabbage and I make it the way I like--which is with lots of vinegar. Oh well. It's an easy fix. Though tasting the lamb made me wish I'd made Shepard's pie. Lamb is quite difficult to come by around here, though. The local suppliers are sold out with no plans to process any more animals until February. I guess that's why we have lamb on Easter?

Dinner was another delectable ribeye. And I did it, y'all: I made cauliflower mash with my frozen bag of purple, green, and orange florets. The mash turned out gray. Not too terrible, but it was better to dim the lights and focus on the smell and taste rather than the looks of things.

Observation: after a full day of eating, like yesterday, I tend to have a day in which I'm not as hungry. Like today, I had two meals and that was plenty with my bulletproof coffee this morning. Though it's not truly bulletproof, because it includes collagen and coconut milk in addition to the ghee and mct oil. Anyway. Interesting to note and see if that's a continuing trend. It makes sense to me.

I've also begun food prepping for the week. I think I'll make the cake tomorrow, so I'm not making it on my actual birthday; and tonight I cleaned and prepared my kabocha squash for whatever I decide to do with it as well as cleaned and prepared brussels sprouts for crispy chips and roasted sprouts--and chopped kale to have it on hand for breakfasts with eggs. Sadly, though, I didn't finish the pork belly in time and it went off. I still have some in the freezer, but I think I'll switch to bacon this week.

I hope everyone has enjoyed the weekend. I'm looking forward to the week ahead, how about you?