Be Gentle With You

48 and I are glad to report that we have had no headache or crabbiness or anything. That’s the first thing to report because I’m feeling so vulnerable to it, like at any time a giant headache will descend and stay for a few days – and I will deserve it because 47 and I filled my body with chemicals and sugar, and this is what happens with you are having withdrawals. But, so far, I’ve been spared from anything like that.

(Let’s be honest. I pee and poop more these days. Getting rid of the junk (we’ll call it junk), I guess.)

So, today I ate at Subway with some friends – it was fine. I googled “Whole 30 at Subway” and up popped a thing that said, “no Subway meats are Whole 30 approved,” but I had a giant veggie salad with oil, vinegar, salt, and pepper. It was not what I wanted at Subway. I wanted a giant sandwich with lots of mayo and cheese and non-Whole-30 meat on the asiago cheese bread. But, the salad was easy to order, and it was plenty tasty. I had a serving of cashews with me, so I ate those, too.

Visited a woman in the hospital and another in her home as she recovers from surgery. It kept me busy and distracted, so I didn’t feel any of the feelings I was expecting to have by now, namely: deprived and crabby.

On Whole 30, we consume an awful lot of meat. I’m not crazy about that. Wait. I’m crazy about meat. I love to eat meat. BUT, I’m becoming increasingly aware of the moral and ecological issues regarding meat production in our country. So, it’s just weird right now to be eating meat/eggs at pretty much every meal (no bowls of cereal for breakfast anymore). I’m sure one can complete a Whole 30 as a vegetarian, but that’s some kind of superhero – and not our kind. We are superheroes in different ways.

Speaking of meat, this ribeye was on sale (like sell it today, so mark it down!), so I snagged it and did the thing I’ve been seeing where you sear it on the stove, then put it in the oven for the rest of the cooking. It was fantastic, by the way. Eleanor Rigby wanted to lie down right by the steak searing station. This is the look she gave me when I told her she needed to move, that it wasn’t safe for either of us to have here right there.

I also made some egg cups with some veggies in them, to see if we like them heated up to make mornings easier. They look wonky because their bottoms absolutely stuck to the bottom of the muffin tins. I had to pry those babies outta that pan. (Yay! A more difficult pan to clean! Did I mention the mountains of dishes when you are cooking everything from scratch? Pizza never does that to me.)

And I bought some Hint water, to see if the zany love of this stuff is deserved. I opened the Pear flavored one. It tasted like water when I was drinking it…but when I swallowed it, it was a LOT like the sour apple hookah I smoked long, long ago. I couldn’t taste it with my taste buds, but I could taste it when I breathed or burped…for a couple days. (Okay, in case that just blew your mind that I casually mentioned smoked hookah, let’s be clear that hookah is regular old tobacco that they flavor. 20 years ago, a friend of mine and I were walking in downtown San Diego, and she suggested we go into the hookah bar we were walking by. My guess is it was way more expensive than the Jolly Rancher I could have eaten and had the same effect.)

So, Hint water: tastes fine, but the flavor is probably in my mind!? But, not being a coffee drinker, I’m down to tea and water in the non-sugar, non-dairy world…so even if I’m just imagining the pear flavor (it says right on it: contains no juice), I’ll take it. They did, after all, name it Hint, not Abundance!

I learned: For the next 26 days, I will not be afraid of Subway. Also, I’m kind of afraid to say this, as it is likely too soon, but my arthritic fingers that couldn’t make a fist on Sunday, can do so now.  They still hurt a lot, but they seem more flexible.  We’ll see if it lasts.