At just past 3 weeks in I lost about 7 lbs. One of the most popular questions I’ve been asked during these past few weeks is about cheat days. Do I have them? Days when I can eat and/or gorge myself on whatever I want so I can make it all the way through to my goal?  My answer has been an unwavering no. I have always thought that cheat days were counter productive to the purpose and when I started this mission I decided against them. I don’t plan them into my schedule so I can look forward to Spaghetti night (I miss Spaghetti) or a big bowl of fried rice. (Miss that too).  I can’t say that some days haven’t been hard, because there have. Times when I whined via text and IM about how yummy a piece of Bananna bread sounds. Or a few cookies. While this hasn’t been as hard a journey as I thought it would be 20 some days ago, it’s definitely not a simple one. There have been many, many times where I have been tempted. Like when a coworker brought a COSTCO sized Red Velvet cake to a potluck. Or when I went for chinese with my aunts and favorite dishes just didn’t taste the same without rice. But like with my Marathon running, I have discovered that I am more stubbon than this diet is hard.

There’s still lots of things to read and research. Paleo Hacks has seen me to be a constant visitor as has Punchfork via their iPad app. I’m learning to move past the anxiety attacks I was having in the first week or so when I didn’t know what to cook or what sides to make with my hunk of meat. My broiler pan and frying pan has gotten more use in the past few weeks than it has in the year prior. It’s also now easier for me to eat less fruit than when I started. It was suggested to me that using Mark Sisson’s website Mark’s Daily Apple, but I decided the primal format he suggests is too loose for me. Not enough structure and too many opportunities to cheat and fail.

What am I making?  Simple sides like Carrots and Cabbage sauteed in Butter with a dash of salt and pepper. Simple, yet so so flavorful.  I’ll also sautee just the cabbage and use it as a presentation background for my meat. After adding random veggies to the plate, it finishes out the food trifecta I always try to have. (For some reason I have it stuck in my head that there should be three things on the plate). I’m learning to pre-slice the carrots, peppers and cabbage so all I have to do is toss it into the pan or the salad or where ever I want it. I’m still learning to get off my but and do that. Roasted brussel sprouts are another favorite in my house only to be made more yummy when we discovered a yummy recipie for Brussel Sprout chips. (Again at Nomnompaleo.)

But I won’t lie. There are still many, many days when I feel lazy. Days when I don’t want to cook, much less clean up the mess from the night before. There are also nights when we commit ourselves to events with friends. Part of dieting is not just to hibernate yourself until you’re at the weight you want. It’s learning how to make those same choices in public. Thanks to the internet, it’s possible to plan ahead for ideas of what you might want to eat later. Giving you more time to make your menu decision as it were. Doing so has made eating out fairly simple. Still, there are occasional hiccups. Like going to a baby shower and feeling pressured to eat a cupcake becuase a well intentioned attendee is pushing them on you. Or making a restaurant choice with out actually reviewing what your choices are only to find there are no feasible options other than not eating. And most especially, not carrying around snacks that I know are acceptable to help in those situations.