Starting October 1st

[jbutts654]

So as I posted earlier, this is my second Whole30. I did wonderfully on my first round but I didn't have many temptations. Yesterday (Day 2), I went to a "wine and cheese" dinner at a friends house. I had hoped to stay on track and even thought ahead to bring La Croix and compliant guacamole... and then... they brought out the baked brie wrapped in a crescent roll. So, it looks like I will be starting over. However, the reason for my post is to encourage everyone else - I may have given in and enjoyed the wine and cheese but I went home with a bellyache and feelings of defeat. So, words of advice: Hold strong and remember that a few moments of yummy food doesn't compare to the feelings of success if you just shake your head and say "No Thank You!" Here's to Day 1 again!

[Robert2014]

jbutts654 - Better to restart on Day 3 than on Day 23!  Thanks for the veteran words of advice.  This is my third W30.  Completed the first two in good style.  Temptation is at every turn.  I weathered many party storms during my first W30 -- a housewarming party, Halloween (with our two children), a few dinner parties/BBQ's, a trip to Disneyland etc.  Some party tips: eat a full W30 meal before you go; prepare to eat compliant while you are there (smuggle in a bag of carrots if you have to); always have full hands at a party -- a cocktailish looking glass of sparkling water with lots of umbrellas and lemon wedges, a plate with some crumpled up napkins on it; go covert -- if you announce at a party that you are doing this crazy W30 thingy you make yourself a target -- everyone tells you that this is crazy and in short order you start to believe it.  Honesty is always the best policy but at some point you may just have to tell a fib, "Oh my gosh, the food and drink are so incredible, I am stuffed and could not possibly eat or drink any more" or "My stomach is feeling a bit rumbly and I feel like I might throw up all over you."  If things get really nasty, go hide in the bathroom and hammer down your bag of smuggled carrots.    Hang in there everyone!  Blink blink, we are 10% forward.  

[Walker7]

Hi, everyone! Days 1 and 2 went great. Day 3 is going well, too, except I'm *hungry*. But...I'll survive! 

[ChiggerCane]

Day 3 down - heading into the weekend and hoping things don't derail.  Went shopping today and did some food prep, will finish that tonight and tomorrow so I am prepped for the week ahead. Fortunately where I am, grilling season never ends - I'd be in serious trouble if it did.  Hope everyone is doing well so far.

[qbattle]

First three days went great. I think the primal eating helped a lot in preparing for this.

Meal 1 today, chicken/zucchini patties with home made guacamole.

Meal 2, turkey, cauliflower and green beans curry, which I made yesterday evening. It tasted great, so glad nobody else likes curry, so it's all mine:)

Meal 3, beef köftes with a mixed salad, guacamole and sweet potato/parsnip purée.

Drank 2 litres of water and no snacks! Looking forward to a lot of cooking and preparing food for next week, saves a lot of time and keeps me from eating the wrong things.

I take pictures of my meals and place them on Instagram, if you want to take a look, kaatje64 is my account name

Sounds delicious!  Do you share your recipe for chicken/zucchini patties?

[qbattle]

First day just 3 meals today!  I'm thinking about calling this my Day 1 since this is really my goal this go-round.  Breakfast was enormous, which I think helped.

[Clarabelle]

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Sounds delicious!  Do you share your recipe for chicken/zucchini patties?

I'd like the recipe for the beef koftes!

[Clarabelle]

So cold here today in the upper Midwest. Wore my winter coat to work...but I had three great meals and now looking forward to the weekend when I can have some more time to cook up more food for next week.

One of my favorite gadgets is my spiralizer - I love spiralized sweet potatoes! Tonight I made the prettiest dinner with steak, roasted broccoli, some spiralized sweet potatoes all piled up high on the plate and a handful of grape tomatoes for another color! My mom always said you need to have lots of colors on your plate and it just makes me happy when my meals are very colorful!

I love hearing what others are eating - it gives me some good ideas! Thanks!

[NazzaB]

How is everyone going?

 

Day 4 here and I've been finding it surprisingly easy so far (especially considering I only fully committed myself the day before).

 

I do feel very sluggish today though. Had an amazing sleep but feel so tired. 

 

I have thought about it and I'm really hoping this W30 will help with the inflammation in my right shoulder. I injured my shoulder in Feb this year and I have had chronic neck and shoulder pain since despite physio.

[purplehaze]

Day 3 is done!

 

I had the same thing for breakfast and dinner - leftover stir fry with veggies and ground pork.

 

Lunch was only nuts and dried fruit. I was so busy working that I just grabbed the quickest thing I can find.

 

Days 4 and 5 are going to be harder for me, because of the weekend. But I will get through it.

[TonyaM]

Day4:

My 1st day to break my fast with eggs! a spinach & fresh tarragon omelete (4eggs)

Meal2 was leftover Chilli cottage pie & green salad with a mixed  handful of cashews & almonds

Meal3 was fish grilled in coconut oil & lemon with a big green salad (mesculin, capsicum, celery, tomato, cucumber) dressed with olive oil, cider vinegar & lemon juice

 

Not having any hassles with needing to snack 

 

I have made the scotch eggs from the WellFed recipe book - ground pork with herbs & spices wrapped around a boild egg   One of them is destined for Meal1 tomorrow

[NazzaB]

Yumm the scotch egg sounds amazing

[SharynF]

It's Day 4 in Sharyn Land and I am feeling ok. Just had a shower and am leaving my hair to dry naturally as my arms feel too heavy to cope with a hairdryer today. I have been up since 9 and only just eaten breakfast at 11 as I just wasn't hungry. I know this is wrong and I worked on it during my other W30s and I know I will get there soon. 

 

It is raining here in southwest England for the first time in almost a month and we are having an indoor day today. It's a shame as I don't work and hubby and I like to go out at the weekend. But tomorrow's weather is looking better so maybe the bikes will get taken to the seaside if my legs don't feel like lead in the morning. 

 

Day 4 food:

B sausage and egg bake, tomato, mayo

L prawns, grapefruit, cucumber, mayo

D turkey and pork made into something yummy served with this wonderful recipe idea for sweet potatoes and apples. 

[nowiswhen]

Hello All!

 

My 1st W30 was inspired by my awesome SIL (Yellow Daisy, you've met her).  It ended Sept 30 and we rolled over for another W30 to get maximum benefits.  Her daughter & SIL are joining us for this coast to coast family event!

 

Results from my 1st Whole30:

1.  Chronic joint pain is GONE!  Neck, shoulders, upper & lower back & knees.  I have terrible arthritis in all of those places on xray (mostly old injuries) and sometimes have 3-10 day periods where all joints hurt including my wrists, hands & fingers.  Been taking Celebrex for years but it doesn't come close to covering the pain.  Had to give up gardening years ago.  Just cleaning my house, and other everyday activities can aggravate the joints and keep me down for days.  My job requires getting in and out of my car and going up and down stairs 3-8 times a day with prolonged sitting in between.  Most of my energy had to go there.  During the 3rd week, the joint pain disappeared (it took me a day or two to notice!--Like Hey! My neck doesn't hurt & neither does the rest of me!).  I've been out in my garden for the past 3 days getting reacquainted   Bringing in groceries is no big deal.  I can do what needs to be done and have my life back 

2.  More energy & stamina

3.  Better mood....chronic pain was making me anxious and depressed.

4.  Crazy cravings and the intermittent junk food parade in my head have disappeared

5.  My skin is clearer with better healthy color

6.  I HATED water since all I drank was Crystal Light and sweetened tea with heavy cream.  Within 2 weeks, water tasted fine.  During the last week unsweetened tea with coconut milk started tasting OK.

 

Rookie errors probably slowed my weight loss (5 pounds gone):

1.  continued chewing "sugarless gum"

2.  tried to fight the Sugar Dragon with fresh & dried fruit

3.  didn't always have 3 regularly spaced meals a day and still have trouble NOT eating after dinner

 

A few days before the W30 was over, I found how to convert the sweetener in my sugar-less gum and all of the fruit carbs to teaspoons of sugar www.sugarstacks.com   I was averaging 33.5 teaspoons of sugar per day during my W30!!!!  

So this time, the Sugar Dragon is going DOWN and hopefully, my weight will too.

 

I highly recommend signing up for the daily emails.  They are awesome for educational, motivational  and Fun purposes!

I love all of the resources I bump into through the many many links in all of the articles here and on the Whole30 site.

Here are a few more that I found helpful:

 http://health.usnews.com/health-news/blogs/eat-run/2012/07/25/worst-diet-advice-only-eat-when-hungry

http://www.womansday.com/health-fitness/7-things-you-didnt-know-about-your-taste-buds-119709

 

Barbara

[raptah]

Day what? 4 is it?  That reminds me, for anyone who doesn't get the daily emails from Whole 9, they are really great, funny and inspiring.  Helped me a lot during my first Whole 30.  I've been doing ok so far on this go round.  But I find my mind, or should I say my dragon, playing tricks on me, trying to get me to believe things that aren't true.  Like it'll say, "you basically eat this way most of the time anyway, so is there really any reason to do a whole 30?"  Or, "I'm sure you can still do this without being so strict- one glass of wine isn't a big deal!"  I'm ignoring the dragon though because the reason I need this reset is because I started to slide down the slippery carb slope and almost landed in a bowl of buttercream frosting.  I feel very proud of myself that I didn't, in fact, go completely off the rails.  Instead, I'm committing to a whole 30 which always helps. Yay me.

So speaking of recipes (which I too enjoy sharing and learning about), my kids call one of my made-up standbys "Bear Chow",  because at the time I first made it we were camping in the woods and also because it's an omnivore's dream.  It's basically:  1 lb ground beef (grass fed) or turkey, a big bag of frozen organic spinach, big can of organic diced tomatoes (unless i have time to cut up fresh plum tomatoes), 2 cups of sliced baby portabella mushrooms, any other veggies on hand and a a lot of Trader Joes "21 Seasoning Salute".   I make up a big batch of it at least once per week and it's about 4 breakfasts or lunches.  My kids won't eat Bear Chow!

 

Oh one other thing, for the person who posted that they were hungry?  You really can do a whole 30 without being hungry for the most part, and still experience the benefits.  Make sure you are eating enough food- and especially that you have enough healthy fat with each meal.  If there is a little hunger between meals in the beginning, having a minimeal of protein/fat will help, and probably within a couple weeks, you will become a fat adaptive whole 30 machine, and bam, no more hunger!

[photomiss]

Hi, I'd love to join in here too, I am on day 5 of my 1st whole30. I started right before October but reading each others stories is inspiring and motivating to continue, especially reading those stories of those who have completed the whole 30 previously. 

I found I struggled a alot with cravings today. I look forward to following all of your journeys. 

[Kaatje64]

Day 4 and it's still going great. Breakfast this morning with fresh bacon and eggs with a little leftover bolgnese sauce.

Lunch was on the go, since we went shopping in Amsterdam. I brought the köftes from last night, together with some cucumber and a banana. For dinner there are burgers on the menu with a lot of salad, tomato, cucumber and fried onions. I'll post a picture on Instagram ( kaatje64)

@Clarabella, the köftes come from Jamie Oliver's "at Home" cookbook, but are basically ground beef mixed with chopped pistachios, chili powder, kumin powder and sumac. Knead everything together and make kind of sausages of it. Fry them in a grill pan. The chicken/zucchini paties are ground chicken with grated zucchini's, chopped cilantro, garlic and spring onions. Mix together and spoon the mixture is small heaps in a frying pan. (It is a very moist mixture!)

[raptah]

Both of those recipes sound really tasty @Kaatje64

Going to try them this weekend. 

[nowiswhen]

This is the biggest hit so far at my house.  It's really fast & really easy & is a great way to use up leftover dibs & dabs of veggies & meat.  Just leave out the cheese to make it Whole30 Compliant.  I now keep a container in the fridge for leftover stir fry, steamed or roasted veggies.  When the container has about 2-4 cups in it, dinner is a breeze!  Just heat some clarified butter or ghee in an oven proof skillet, toss in the leftover veggies to heat them and have 6-12 eggs slightly beaten ready to pour over veggies in the skillet.  Then follow the rest of the directions.  6 eggs is enough for 2 meals for two, so the leftover frittata becomes lunch.  It reheats well.  Great dinner in under 30 minutes.

 

 

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2013/12/sunday-frittata/

[Kelly733]

I started Oct. 1. So far so good! I'm liking the "just say no" discipline. Practically speaking, I'm working to figure out what to eat if not grains. We have made a lot of dietary improvements over the past several years, but actually giving up bread and grains completely is the hardest. Weight loss would be good, as weight gain has become very easy in my early 50s. I'm also all about reducing inflammation, what with seeing issues faced by aging parents, including dementia. I read Grain Brain and made some changes, but it wasn't as motivational as Whole 30. (I started eating more meat and coconut oil but didn't really cut back on grain. Oops.) Now on Day 4 I'm running into muscles cramping more readily than usual, so will add a multi vitamin and magnesium (think I eat quite a bit of potassium) and am also having a low carb headache. I shall persevere!

[purplehaze]

Day 4. I was really cranky today.My daughter forgot I was doing a Whole 30 and bought me some dill pickle potato chips, which are my favorite thing in the whole wide world. I didn't eat them though, and they are sitting in a bad in my kitchen. I also really wanted gluten free pizza for dinner tonight.

 

Breakfast - 3 eggs cooked in coconut oil with a side of berries.

 

Lunch - steak and fajita veggies with guacamole and salsa.

 

Dinner - Applegate organic hotdogs and broccoli.

[Clarabelle]

Day 5! I woke up early this morning and as I was getting out of bed I realized my ankles didn't hurt and weren't stiff....Whoo. Hoo! That's one of the main reasons I'm doing another whole 30. ..... This time I really want to focus on the reintroduction phase to see what it is that bothers me. (I think it's gluten, but not 100% positive)

Anyway, it's great to wake up ready to go with no aches and pains!

Going to be a difficult week as we had a death in the family and I suspect the funeral will be on Tuesday. We will probably take my in laws and drive up the night before and stay in a hotel. Either way, there will be several meals away from home that I won't have control over. At least the weather is cool enough I can bring some food with me, and my daughter who is also doing a whole 30 will be there. I'm not worried about the funeral lunch and not eating the sandwiches and cake, just worried about having food along for my meals. My hubby doesn't try to sabotage but he won't go out of his way to help - thinks I'm crazy because he loves his bread and beer and would never give it up. So I'm planning on packing some pepper strips, grape tomatoes, a couple packs of wholly guacamole so i can have some veggies with my meals. Last time I did a whole 30 I failed miserably while travelling so I'm anxious to see if I can make better choices in a restaurant this time.....I don't like raw carrots, so those are out....Any other suggestions?

[Chibubu]

This is Day5 of my whole30, I really don't know what exactly to expect at the end of it, but I'm totally committed and hoping to see results

[nowiswhen]

Clarabelle, isn't life so much better without pain & stiffness?!  For traveling food...most fast food places and grocery stores have some kind of pre-made salad bowls or bags with toppings and dressings on the side.  Bring a squirt bottle of your own salad dressing and off you go.

[Kaatje64]

Clarabella, maybe you could make some egg muffins? Just put some vegs, some bacon or ham in a muffin tin than pour some eggs inand bake them for 25 min. You can eat those either warm or cold. If you eat one or two of those before a meal in a restaurant, you can just order a salad.

Day 5 went well, a lovely breakfast of scrambled eggs with avocado and tomato. For lunch a had a bowl of curry and just had home made vegetable soup (from bone broth ) for dinner.

Drank 2 litres of water and lots of tea.