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Norm and Donna's Post W30 Log - started July 1, 2015


DonnaB

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So cliche - but today is the first day of the rest of our lives!

 

We have decided to re-introduce specific items, rather than whole groups at a time, as we are interested in observing responses to the foods we reintroduce. Today is honey - just a spoonful in our tea. We don't use any regular white sugar in our home, but we do use evaporated cane juice crystals and honey, in addition to the occasional molasses (usually in home-made bread). We will wait a few days before adding anything else.

 

Day 31

M1: Sweet/white potato hash w/ lambsquarters, ground pork, and scrambled eggs. 

M2: Donna: leftover liver and onions w/ white potatoes, fresh cukes and kohlrabi, spinach dip w/ home-made mayo. Norm: leftovers from breakfast, ground turkey patty w/ tomato/avocado pico, fresh cukes and kohlrabi.

M3: Chicken stew made w/ 2 cut up chicken breasts, 1 chopped onion, 1 C chopped sweet potato, 2 sliced yellow summer squash, a fistful of green beans cut up, 2 C. home-made chicken broth, a jar of diced tomatoes, and seasoned w/ oregano, fresh basil, garlic, granulated garlic, pink salt, red pepper flakes, and fresh ground pepper. (Norm said it was just what he needed. We tend to like casserole-type meals, and I haven't been doing many during W30, so this was comfort food at it's best. We cleaned out the pan!). Muskmelon,

 

We both did a weigh-in this morning and I took my measurements. Norm has lost an additional 8 lbs, added to the 10 lbs he had lost since starting his new job 3 months ago that is more physically active. At this point, he needs to not lose any more weight, so he is definitely on 4 meals a day - especially since he is not able to eat big meals due to stomach surgery for GERD. I was a little disappointed to only be down 1 lb - especially since I have, since the first of the year, lost the 10 lbs I had gained over the holidays. Conversely: I have lost inches in strategic places - 2 inches at the waist and 1 inch at the hips (I'm not reporting the rest  ;) ). NSV's for me include a serious reduction in the number and intensity of my hot flashes - I went from having 20 - 30 a day that lasted 2-5 minutes each, to having only 2 "warm spells" for the entire month of June. That is a huge step forward. It also seems as though my hands aren't quite as dry as they have been in the past couple of years, and a couple of flat warts that tend to plague me next to my fingernails have disappeared (I know from past experience that this is related to the amount of potassium in my diet). I had a spurt of energy last Sunday afternoon, and wondered if it could be the start of tiger blood, but then Monday I was pretty fatigued, again. I'm inclined to graph my meals and take note of when I eat my starchy vegetables and how I feel the next day, just to see if they are related. I have also observed that Norm sleeps better the night after when he's eaten more during the day - that is a minor observation - no guarantees that he will continue working in that direction.

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Day 32:

M1: Donna: 2 hard-boiled eggs (I know - not enough - had a fasting blood-draw scheduled and a meeting immediately afterward, so there wasn't time for anything else). Norm: 2 hard-boiled eggs, cukes and kohlrabi w/ ranch dip, muskmelon.

M2: Donna: salmon salad, cukes and kohlrabi 2/ ranch dip, muskmelon. Norm: tuna salad, cukes and kohlrabi w/ ranch (not a work day so he wasn't as hungry)

M3: Grilled hamburgers, fried potatoes w/ conventional bacon, cucumbers w/ vinegar/oil salad dressing.

 

Norm had a meeting in the evening, and I found myself prowling in the kitchen, looking for something more to eat. This is the time when I would gravitate toward some corn chips or crackers. I even scoped out the fridge - but as soon as I opened the door, I asked myself if I was really hungry, and realized I wasn't, but that I was tired, so I went and watched a show, drank some water and some sleepy time tea to help ensure a good nights sleep, and went to bed early. I'm not sure if this was a reaction to having the honey in my tea the previous day, or from not having enough for breakfast. 

 

Day 33:

M1: Sweet/white potato hash w/ pork sausage, kohlrabi greens, and a couple of sunny-side up eggs. (Norm works noon - ~7:30 - so wanted a good breakfast to help him get through - he didn't finish his at breakfast time, but will eat the rest later)

M2: Donna: salmon salad, green salad w/ salad turnips, tomato, and fresh peas, w/vinegar & oil dressing. Norm: leftover hamburger and fried potatoes w/ bacon, green salad w/ salad turnips, tomato, and fresh peas, w/ranch dressing

Mini-meal for Norm: tuna salad, cukes w/ ranch dressing.

M3: Salmon fillets, roasted asparagus over greens w/ vinegar/oil Italian dressing.

 

Norm was gassed up this morning. While most of what we eat is organic, bacon is one of those things that we haven't entirely switched over. We ate sugar-free compliant bacon during W30, but the cost is prohibitive, so we decided to try the conventional bacon that we get from a local meat counter. We already know he is sensitive to some pork, but this pretty much tells us conventional bacon isn't going to work for us anymore. I'm going to try some bacon from the local organic butcher shop the next time I get my meat CSA (it isn't sugar-free), but in general, we probably just won't be eating bacon as often. I slept like a rock last night, and didn't wake up until 2 minutes before the alarm went off. Feeling better today, but after not losing much weight during W30, I'm re-evaluating a few things, including sleep, and making an effort to go to bed a little earlier, since sleeping later isn't an option most days. Oh, well!

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Day 34 (July 4th) - Reintroduced wheat, today. I know it's out of order, but given that it was a holiday, we opted to reintroduce what we wanted, and that was it.

M1: Two boiled eggs (went early to Farmers Market, so no time for anything else)

Snack: Jelly-filled donut from my folks bakery. 

M2: Invited to a picnic by a friend. Did some off-roading, but hopefully nothing too serious. There were fresh veggies (skipped the dip), a fresh fruit salad, and had a grilled chicken breast. I also took a green salad and home-made dressing, that I ate some of, and a grilled chicken breast. Our friend is an avid hunter, so he also had a few varieties of wild-game - any or all of which could be non-compliant - but decided to enjoy in small quantities and not ask. We also had a small serving of a berry pie. It appeared to be sugar-free (we do know the difference on that one). The only thing that might have been off-plan on the pie was whatever kind of oil/shortening that was used to make the crust - but again - we did not ask, and just decided to enjoy in small quantities. 

M3: Shimp kebabs on the grill w/ summer squash and mushrooms marinated in a compliant lemon basil marinade. Fresh cherry tomatoes that were so sweet they could have been called candy - but they weren't!  ;)

 

Day 35

M1: Bacon and eggs over-easy, 

M2: Leftovers from previous couple of days.

M3: Mexican turkey burgers, simple avocado/tomato/kalamata olive pico, fresh cucumbers in vinegar, watermelon - first one of the season, and it was perfect! Fresh bread from the bread machine - guaranteed in this case that the wheat flour was the only thing that was non-compliant or that had not already been reintroduced, w/ clarified butter. Wildberry fudge - Norm brought some home from work (Cabela's).

 

We did more off-roading than anticipating, but with the awareness that we will need to come back and re-visit eating habits. We are intending to reintroduce dairy tomorrow. I did forget to bring my lunch to work today (a rare occurrence, but had a few appointments that distracted me from my usual routine) so bought a sandwich in the cafeteria. Not my first choice. I would usually pick a salad, but when I was looking at the salad dressing labels, the first ingredient on all of the packages was soybean oil, and I'm not ready to reintroduce that, yet. In fact, it could easily end up being something I avoid generally. Norm and I talked about soy, and I really want to be intentional about knowing when I am eating it, and reserve it for  tofu and soy sauce, and not for things like salad dressing.  Anyway - back to the sandwich - yeah - don't want to forget my lunch again. I couldn't eat all of the sandwich - but the good news was that I recognized when I was feeling full, which has not always been the case.. I had also bought an apple, but I'm not hungry for it, so will save it for later. We are going away next weekend, so are feeling some pressure to work through the reintroductions so we are ready for some more off-roading.

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Day 36

 

Just came from the Dr. Triglicerides are down significantly, and while LDL's are still high, the ratios between LDL/HDL are good, so there is some improvement. My liver levels are also the best they ever have been, and totally within normal ranges.

 

M1: Scrambled eggs w/ kohlrabi greens, crumbled mexican turkey burger, topped w/ simple pico. Piece of fresh bread w/ butter. 

M2: Sandwich from cafeteria. Bread was okay, but just realized it had cheese on it. So much for waiting until tomorrow to reintroduce dairy!  :mellow:

M3: Kimchi soup. Guess we are reintroducing soy tonight. Our son is cooking. I'm not complaining. [Edit to add: we also reintroduced white rice, and frozen custard, and beer. Oh, well!]

 

So - interesting thing - so far the hot flashes have not returned, so apparently the items that have been reintroduced so far are not at the root of the cause. At this point, I can see that eliminating processed foods of all types is making a big difference in how I feel. I think I will be going through my vitamins (the ones I have not been taking this past month) and reintroducing the ones I can, and start switching over to ones that don't contain non-compliant ingredients - depending on if I still feel like I need them. I ate a lot more cold-water fish during whole 30, and I suspect that is a major contributing factor in reducing my triglycerides.  

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Day 37


M1: Bacon, eggs over-easy, bread.


M2: Salad w/greens, tomato, radishes, scallions, crumbled turkey burger. Aged cheese. Watermelon.


Snack: rainbow popsicle at the zoo.


M3: Sushi and Chinese food at the local buffet.


 


Day 38


M1: Scrambled eggs w/ kohlrabi greens, crumbled mexican turkey burger, and mushrooms. Watermelon


M2: Salmon salad on greens.


M3: Turkey w/marinara over zoodles. Green salad.


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  • 7 months later...

Observation: In reviewing the first few days of re-intro in my first W30, it is VERY apparent (I knew it at the time, but it's even more evident now), that our re-intros were very haphazard, at best I am preparing to start another W30 on February 15th, and this time intend to be much for  disciplined about re-intro's. The hot flashes have returned, but not to the degree that they were before W30, so it would be helpful to be able to clearly identify the culprit(s). 

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