Looking for a support group!

[sfzak]

Here's 2 questions that I forgot 2 ask.  

1. Where can I find acceptable substitutes.  Organic foods are not cheap but I prefer to use them.  My choice.  I bought Almond flour from my shopping list but can'f find coconut flour.  Can I substitute the almond for the coconut?  Is it a taste preference or?

2. In one recipe it tells me to "crust the garlic".  Then it says to saute it.  

sfzak 

[Mountaingirl9]

Day 8 for me and it's going well so far...The biggest challenge is that my partner isn't doing Whole 30 - which I totally understand. it's just tough to watch him eat all the things I'm choosing not to. He's being supportive in my efforts, but the smell of popcorn he made last night while we watched a movie was a bit tough to resist especially since the pre-Whole30 me would have been right there chowing on popcorn or candy while watching a movie. I made it through and just had some Rooibos tea, but it sure wasn't the same. Watching him eat pasta and toast has also been a little rough, but i'm staying strong for the moment. I know today is only day 8 though and am hoping my willpower can remain strong for the duration. I guess i'm not really asking for anything - just wanted to say thanks to you all for sharing and for being an inspiration as we take this challenge together! Have a good Sunday. 

[sfzak]

12 minutes ago, Mountaingirl9 said:

Day 8 for me and it's going well so far...The biggest challenge is that my partner isn't doing Whole 30 - which I totally understand. it's just tough to watch him eat all the things I'm choosing not to. He's being supportive in my efforts, but the smell of popcorn he made last night while we watched a movie was a bit tough to resist especially since the pre-Whole30 me would have been right there chowing on popcorn or candy while watching a movie. I made it through and just had some Rooibos tea, but it sure wasn't the same. Watching him eat pasta and toast has also been a little rough, but i'm staying strong for the moment. I know today is only day 8 though and am hoping my willpower can remain strong for the duration. I guess i'm not really asking for anything - just wanted to say thanks to you all for sharing and for being an inspiration as we take this challenge together! Have a good Sunday. 

I hope this is how I reply to Mountaingirl19.  I want to let you know that I have the same problem.  You sound like you've been handling your situation very well.  Listen!  If he can eat popcorn and you didn't have any, you're way ahead of the game.  Maybe next time your husband could buy ready made popcorn so you won't have to smell it as much.  

[Mountaingirl9]

Thanks @sfzak! Good to know I'm not alone. Feel free to reach out if ur tempted by something delicious ur partner is eating and I'll do the same. Being In this together makes it easier for sure. 

[sfzak]

2 minutes ago, Mountaingirl9 said:

Thanks @sfzak! Good to know I'm not alone. Feel free to reach out if ur tempted by something delicious ur partner is eating and I'll do the same. Being In this together makes it easier for sure. 

Can you tell me how to post without  the quote part?  :O)

 

[jmcbn]

45 minutes ago, sfzak said:

Tuesday the 25th will be a week for me and I'm doing really well. I've been "chatting" with Customer Support but I decided to give them a break and see if I can get my answers here.  

I've made quite a few od the recipes and used "4 servings".  There are only two of us but I wanted leftovers.  I'm doing this for 2 reasons.  I'm 60 (a mentally young 60 ).  I want to feel better and lose weight.  I don't see W30 as a weight loss program but it helps me to cut down on eating all day.  

Having said that, there are a few things that I just don't get.  The biggest issue I have is vegetables.  Why aren't vegetables in the Food Group choices?  This isn't explained anywhere and I would think it's one of the most important issues.  I printed out all the "resources" but they listed veggies that are acceptable to W30 but I don't see anywhere that I can include them in my Meal Planner.  I only see ways to exclude items.  I know that by using the Meal Planner I would get a variety of recipes with veggies but there are some I'm not crazy about.  If I dried to "exlude" any it would take me forever since I would have to enter all veggies the eliminate certain ones in each individual variety.  So that's not going to happen.  

Can someone answer this or help me with this?

sfzak 

 

The three food groups (or macros) are protein, fat & carbs - all vegetables fall under the carb group. Each meal should be made up of 1-2 palms of protein (tat's the length, width & depth of your palm), 1-3 cups of vegetables (or actually just fill your plate with them) and a generous serving of fat - half an avocado, an open handful of olives, or a Tbsp or two of mayo for instance...

36 minutes ago, sfzak said:

Here's 2 questions that I forgot 2 ask.  

1. Where can I find acceptable substitutes.  Organic foods are not cheap but I prefer to use them.  My choice.  I bought Almond flour from my shopping list but can'f find coconut flour.  Can I substitute the almond for the coconut?  Is it a taste preference or?

2. In one recipe it tells me to "crust the garlic".  Then it says to saute it.  

sfzak 

1. What are you planning on making that involves coconut flour? Coconut flour is probably a little more dense than almond flour so it will depend on the recipe.

2. I'm guessing this is a typo and it should say 'crush' the garlic, then saute.

 

If you want to reply without quoting just start typing in the reply box at the bottom of the screen, and if you don;t want to tag a member in your post drop the '@' before their name.

Hope this helps!

[sfzak]

@jmcbn.  Thank you so much.  You'r replies did help.    I didn't see this reply box last time.   Anyway, are you thinking the recipe is a typo?  I thought so too but I wanted to be sure.  Crush makes so much more sense.  

The flour is for coating shrimp for coconut shrimp.  Does it matter which flour I use?

I'm all good with the food groups and what's on my plate, I was hoping that I could pick and choose for the Meal Planner.  If there is no way to do that then I'll stick with the ones I like and try new ones that I might like.

One more question.  Are all olives acceptable?  I usually choose the ones with the least amount of salt.  Are there any other guidelines? 

Thanks again.  You were truly helpful.

sfzak

[jmcbn]

@sfzak - so long as there are no off plan ingredients added to the olives then they're all okay, and a great source of fat.

There is no need to stick with any meal plan. Feel free to sub any vegetables (or recipes in general) that you don't like for ones that you do - we want you to really enjoy the food on your plate.

The almond flour should be fine for coating the shrimp, although there will obviously be a slight difference in flavour.

[sfzak]

I'm enjoying the Whole thing!  I think I feel better and I think I lost some weight.  I don't weight myself, except when I go to the doctor every month but I can get an idea by how my clothes fit.

Thank you again.  I'm off to make an egg, sausage and veggies casserole then later the shrimp.

 Thanks@jmcbn!!!! 

[Kallista]

@Rockinred- yes, I think it's turned into a couch weekend! I've always had such a hard time letting myself just chill out, so using this as an opportunity to listen to my body and not push it. Bummed that I only went spinning once this week, as 3-4x is my goal, but I guess that's part of listening to what my body needs too  This is definitely where the mental component comes in, as I'm really seeing the ways I tend to always push myself and stress out when I'm not perfectly on top of all my errands/chores/tasks, so trying to remind myself that I am more important than anything on my to-do list and it can all wait.

@Mountaingirl9- so impressed by you!! That is awesome- way to hang in there!!!

Welcome @SabaiGuy and @sfzak  

 

 

 

[kboe]

I may have made a mistake yesterday... I cook with teens as part of my job. One of them gave me a potato wedge to try and without even think had a bite. I didn't really think about it until this morning. First, it was deep fried in vegetable oil. And I can't remember if it was seasoned already but if it was the seasoning has both dextrose and MSG. I'm kicking my self for it. Recommendations on if I need to start back at 1 or not??

[sfzak]

@kboe.  I know I'm pretty new to this, but I say no.  I think that if you weren't even thinking when you ate the wedge it doesn't count.  You didn't consciously eat something that wasn't "acceptable".  I don't know how long you've been on W30 but I think going back to day 1 will have adverse effects.  But like I said, I'm new.  What do I know?    Hope this helps.  

[Rockinred]

Welcome to the newbies in the group!

Way to go @Mountaingirl9!!! 

@kboe, I'd say keep going but make a note if the potato wedge in your calendar.  You may want to do 30 + days to potato wedge in the end depending on how your feeling.

@Kallista, good to hear you're listening to your body and resting.

We had a crazy weekend and I powered through but I'm terrified I'm going to crash this week.  I'm going to focus on a early bed time to keep my sleep in check.

[EmilyJR]

The wedding went well!  Thank you all for the well wishes.  They had some options that I could eat so I ate a little there and nobody seemed to care that a majority of the food was not on my plate.  I sipped on club soda and lime the whole night and wasn't bummed I couldn't drink alcohol.  I actually had my husband sip my drink because it tasted sweet to me and I was concerned it wasn't club soda, but he stated it was definitely club soda and it tasted bitter.  I take that as a good sign that my tastes are changing due to the elimination of sugar.

Today was a busy day of meal planning, shopping, some prep, and what seems like endless dishes.

 

@Rockinred I have been breaking the Whole30 in my dreams a lot too!  And for random things that would never tempt me in real life so I'm extra disappointed when I realize I have to start over.

 

@kboe I like rockinred's advise.  If you didn't feel any ill effects today and feel like you achieved the results you were looking for at the end of the 30 days, then there is no real reason to start over.

[Kallista]

Hallelujah!! My body is finally fat adapting and I have energy again on day 10. Thank you mitochondria! So relieved to feel energetic and enjoy my workouts again  I also discovered that when I was starting to feel gross and tired drinking a huge glass of water with a big splash of apple cider vinegar and some pink sea salt helped a lot. Thank you all for your support these last bunch of days, I appreciate it so much!

 

 

 

[Rockinred]

I definitely felt a lot better today too--although I'm still hit an afternoon energy slump.   Maybe I need to cut my coffee more.

How much coffee does everyone drink? and those of you who gave it up, how's that going and how do you feel?

 

 

[Kallista]

@Rockinred- I finally gave up coffee/caffeine a year ago after many tries- what worked was replacing it with kukicha tea (which has kind of a smoky, savory taste) and ashwagandha powder, which I swear by. I mix the powder into the tea which took a little getting used to but now I love the flavor of it- in addition to being energizing they're both also adrenal healers, which I really needed, especially after years of stress and too much coffee. I've also heard of folks who used toasted dandelion tea as well, which is a great detoxifier too. Hope this might be helpful!

[SabaiGuy]

Mod edit to remove weight weigh in today...  I wasn't expecting that!  I'm loving not counting calories but finding that I get hungry between meals and so eat a snack of chicken or beef and a wedge of cabbage or some carrots.  That seems to get me on through.

[ShannonM816]

16 hours ago, SabaiGuy said:

Mod edit to remove weight weigh in today...  I wasn't expecting that!  I'm loving not counting calories but finding that I get hungry between meals and so eat a snack of chicken or beef and a wedge of cabbage or some carrots.  That seems to get me on through.

Please don't weigh -- it's one of the rules mentioned specifically. If you're in a situation, like a doctor's appointment or something, where they need to weigh you, let them weigh you without telling you your weight -- stand on the scale backwards or close your eyes or something and tell them not to tell you.

If you're not getting 4-5 hours between meals without a snack, your meals are not big enough. If you just have a longer gap than that between meals, what you're doing is fine.

[SabaiGuy]

12 minutes ago, ShannonM816 said:

Please don't weigh -- it's one of the rules mentioned specifically. If you're in a situation, like a doctor's appointment or something, where they need to weigh you, let them weigh you without telling you your weight -- stand on the scale backwards or close your eyes or something and tell them not to tell you.

If you're not getting 4-5 hours between meals without a snack, your meals are not big enough. If you just have a longer gap than that between meals, what you're doing is fine.

I'm working with a personal trainer who is weighing me at visits.  I'll refrain from mentioning the weight in the future on the forum until after a 30 day result. I meant it to be an encouragement.

Thanks for the advice on meal size.  I'm just 6 days in, so making adjustments like that makes sense.

[EmilyJR]

Fun experience today.  I went to the butcher shop we usually get our meat from and asked if they had any sugar free sausage.  They did, and the lady who was helping us said they were starting a Whole 30 revolution.  Most of their sausage is sugar free now.

@Kallista so glad you are feeling better!

@Rockinred My sleep has been off since I took caffeine out and changed my diet, so I've been struggling with drowsiness in the morning.  But, I feel it's starting to get better so I'm optimistic that the morning energy will come.

[Rockinred]

Day 11--

Full confession, I fell off the tracks last night.  I'm taking it as a learning experience and moving on in my Whole30 towards food freedom.  I'm expecting my cycle(not an excuse-I know) and I was desperately craving a sweet last night after dinner.  It started with a hand full of a nut mix(macadamias, cashews and walnuts) and a sliced apple.  Then I closed the kitchen and my cravings were just so strong.  I had a la croix and that didn't help. I had a banana with almond butter which then led to another apple and more almond butter....and a slippery slope into an almond butter whole. I felt and feel terrible.  This is an old bad habit that clearly I need to break.   All nut butters are now cut from my Whole30.  I'll add them to the Emergency only list with larabars.

So disappointed in myself but trying to focus on the learning process of Whole30 and creating new habits.

I will be investing in some teas!  I need to start the after dinner tea habit and hopefully replace some morning coffee soon too.

@Kallista, thank you so much for the tea recommendations!

@EmilyJR, thanks for your feedback.

I see cutting my coffee as probably a good step to better health.  I'm going to start by buying tea and adding it in my routine.

Thanks everyone!  I hope you all have a good day!

 

[Kallista]

@Rockinred - You will figure this out, be kind to yourself! I have done the same many, many times with nut butter and can't let it in my house anymore except in the little packets! Do you have any idea what emotional piece it addresses for you? I'm a huge tea person, so here if you have any questions  I think right now my favorite is Numi's Rooibos Chai, which is a really good after dinner tea as it's sweet from the rooibos and a little spicy from the cinnamon, ginger, and cardamom. 

@EmilyJR- That's awesome   

Wishing everyone a good 11!

[ladyshanny]

On 20/10/2016 at 5:16 PM, Rockinred said:

Day 6, done!

Trudging along.  It's not easy but I made it.  

I'm starting to think about Halloween.  How am I going to make it through.  I've binged on candy every Halloween my entire life.  I found the bar below that I'm thinking of using as my Halloween treat. What do you guys think?  Whole30?  I'll ask in the correct topic forum but thought I'd throw it to you guys first.  

Just in case no one gave you the official answer on this. Nopity-nope-nope. Sorry. No chocolate as sweets/treats. If you do really want to use that, you might be able to grate it down and use it in place of cocoa in Mel Joulwan's chocolate chili?

Try to think of Halloween as a day that cute kids come over and knock on your door rather than a day that you used to get to go bezerk with candy. Since I stopped my own bezerk-itude with candy on Halloween, I make a hearty, comfort food dinner (hamburger soup, chili, stew etc) and make myself a pot of a favourite tea. To me Halloween marks the real start of winter so I like to celebrate it that way instead. Thinking about what I can't do or what I used to enjoy doesn't serve me at all....it's mentally easier to focus on a new tradition.

[ladyshanny]

On 23/10/2016 at 9:09 AM, jmcbn said:

@sfzak - so long as there are no off plan ingredients added to the olives then they're all okay, and a great source of fat.

There is no need to stick with any meal plan. Feel free to sub any vegetables (or recipes in general) that you don't like for ones that you do - we want you to really enjoy the food on your plate.

The almond flour should be fine for coating the shrimp, although there will obviously be a slight difference in flavour.

I think @sfzak is using RealPlans as a meal planner and the questions she has about excluding or including veggies might relate to the way that program works. Correct me if I'm wrong.