I had dinner with a friend last night...she started Carnivore about a year ago when we first met and lost a bunch of weight. She's was pretty consistent the first half of 2023 and maintained it until she went pretty "off the wagon" for about 3 weeks this summer. In those 3 weeks she gained 18 pounds. She got to the point where she just felt sick all the time and got tired of feeling uncomfortable again. She also started getting scared she would gain it ALL back again. She has been super strict now for several months but just now finally lost that 18 pounds she so quickly gained.
We commiserated a lot last night about how quickly the weight goes on but how slowly it goes off. She also kept saying how NOT worth it the whole thing was, and most of the food choices she was making were just terrible and for no reason whatsoever. She knows now she feels so much better when she's on track and not giving in to temptation.
She has two teenage kids who both just had birthdays, she said this is the first time ever she's made it through those birthdays without treats! 💪 Next month is her birthday and she's feeling super confident now she can stay on track for that. And by then she will be feeling so awesome that she KNOWS she can make it through Christmas. 🙌🙌 In the past she would always be on some diet but by her kids birthdays she basically gave up for the rest of the year and would restart in Jan. That setback she had this summer and ALL THE WORK it took to get back right again was the wake up call she needed to not let that same cycle happen again this year.
Some might call her 3 weeks off track and that weight gain a failure, but it inevitably led to her being successful during her hardest time of year.
Sometimes we have to fall down in order to learn how to get back up stronger. We have all been knocked down this year and had setbacks...It's not a failure if you use those situations to make your stronger. 🤎🤎🤎
Pictures from the beautiful meal they made for me last night.
I don't typically love cooking with cast iron, despite the excellent results they can bring. It's messy and smells up the house. Add to that, the one we have is super old and not very good. We were recently gifted a really good one from Lancaster Cast Iron so today I decided to give it a try. We have a side burner on our Weber so I could do it outside. I sous vide a steak, then seared it in tallow on the new pan. Man it was incredible. What a difference it made from our old one. Super easy clean up too. Below is the pan, of course I forgot to take a picture of the steak haha.
Do you love using cast iron? What are some favorites you make in them?
Yesterday we surprised the kids and brought home a puppy!! They have been begging for one for years and we felt like the time was right to bring one home.
Meet Angus 🐕 He's a Golden Retriever/King Charles Cavalier Spaniel mix. He's 11 weeks old and currently weighs about 8 pounds, he should be around 35 pounds fully grown. I know it will be an adjustment for a while as he gets potty trained etc but we are so excited. 😂 Wish us luck! 🤪
Cheese is good! I ate a block of chipotle oven baked cheese with lunch yesterday and it was divine. I love it, but know that it halts any progress I'm making, and will even trigger eating in excess to where I'll gain weight. It's sad but I have accepted it. If I eat it in small quantities with a meal, it's ok, but I really have to work to keep it in check.
What's your favorite cheese? How do you incorporate it? Do you see negative results when eating it?
Happy Friday!! We are supposed to have a VERY rainy weekend here in Arizona, which is very rare for us. It might even mean that trick or treating is cancelled. 🎉😂 I always trade the kids for their candy anyway so fine by me if we don't even have to go out. Plus Penelope said she's too old for trick or treating and said she'll just skip it and take the money. 🤪😂
Other than that and church we have no plans this weekend, which I am excited about after a busy week. I might go get a day pass at a new gym that has a fancy steam room/sauna and cold plunge.
What are your plans for this weekend?
Happy Friday Evening Family!!
(Oh No! she's back!!) Sing some praises with me; the 2026 harvest is out of the field!! Farmer Hubby finished the corn today, the end in the rain. He ended up leaving a few rows in the field due to wet spots and steep new terraces; but the rest is out, including where the creek flooded and left logs/limbs. He got those picked up today.
You have no idea how grateful and relieved we are. This harvest kicked our behinds. We are getting older and the push and stress were something else. But now we're done. He'll clean up the combine and grain cart and truck and store them away for winter over the next few days/week. Then we'll concentrate on getting the cattle home and then winterizing what needs to be winterized.
Anywho... just wanted to report in that I'll be more "here."
Accountablility
Fresh air/sunshine/exercise/sleep
Not much/none (rain)/walking while doing errands/terrible with leg cramps for several hours.
Food
M1: Coffee and a chicken meat stick
M2: Carnivore...
Good Evening Y'all!! Day 30 of dairy free except butter and no eggs. Day 20 of no coffee. I have almost made it through my first goal. Starting a new goal Sunday. Y'all today was hard. I don't know why I craved so many sweets today. But I stayed strong because I don't want to botch my progress. I forgot to log my 6 little snackum' dill pickles tonight with dinner.
Here's my stats for the day.
