Starting January 4!!!!

[jrzyjane]

Middle of day 4. I feel like I am hungover. Foggy and stuffy nose and a weird icky feeling. I take this as a good sign of detox. Looking forward to a lazy Saturday. I'll be making steamed artichokes with a Hollandaise dipping sauce and then lazing around all day.

[Stegner]

21 hours ago, ArtFossil said:

Hello all! This is an interesting group!

Today is Day 1 for me. I arrived home last night or rather this morning about 12:30 AM to four inches of snow and an unplowed airport parking lot. I was in Floriday on Indian Rocks beach near St Pete for seven days with my youngest daughter, so today is my reentry into Whole30 and also my first day back at school for the spring semester of teaching (university/art-foundation design-creative thinking).

I'm just glad I got up when I needed to this morning and that I actually ate breakfast within one hour!

As for the rest of my food day, all you need to know is that I WON'T be posting photos of beautifully plated food or regaling you with complicated recipes. Don't get me wrong, I love to cook because I love to eat, but for now, I'm just focusing on the simplest meals possible and on fueling my activities, especially my studio work.. My weekly "prep" consists of mayo, clarified butter and the occasional frittata, and I am the master/mistress of getting home from water exercise and getting dinner on the table in 30 minutes, tops. Sometimes 20.

Before I left town I used a WholeFoods gift certificate and stocked up on some things including TWO of their "Tuesday chickens." Tuesday is the day their rotisserie chicken is $2 off and I bought two of the suckers, hacked them in half and froze the four halves. One of the halves has been thawing today, so dinner is practically done.

I was thinking this morning about "appetite" and how easy it is to mistake what we are really hungry for . . . . Yes, this can apply to food and to life. 

And yes, I drank NO water today. I guess I'll go drink a couple of glasses and try my best to hydrate this evening.

 

So you're not photographing them, but I think those dinners you're getting on the table in 30 or 20 minutes are probably pretty photogenic.  Purple cabbage, carrots, zucchini... vegetables are so beautiful. Glad you're part of this group - I've always appreciated your insight.

[ArtFossil]

39 minutes ago, Stegner said:

So you're not photographing them, but I think those dinners you're getting on the table in 30 or 20 minutes are probably pretty photogenic.  Purple cabbage, carrots, zucchini... vegetables are so beautiful. Glad you're part of this group - I've always appreciated your insight.

Right back at ya.

And I do enjoy the game of seeing how many colors I can eat. I cheated last night with rainbow carrots (3 for 1!) and kale.

[ArtFossil]

1 hour ago, jrzyjane said:

Middle of day 4. I feel like I am hungover. Foggy and stuffy nose and a weird icky feeling. I take this as a good sign of detox. Looking forward to a lazy Saturday. I'll be making steamed artichokes with a Hollandaise dipping sauce and then lazing around all day.

OMG, artichokes with hollandaise. So jealous. Why am I not making this????

[Tashaskye]

On 12/31/2016 at 1:09 PM, jrzyjane said:

. Speaking of addiction, I am freaked out about my morning coffee. I know cream is out, I have tried coconut cream in the past and didn't enjoy it. I was wondering if ghee/coconut oil (blended and whipped up) would be okay. I have had coffee this way and truly liked it. Can't find anything on the forums about this in my coffee. I feel like it's all that I can think about.

I am a coffee addict, and had gotten to the point where I would stop at the Starbucks drive through every night in the way home "as a treat" and get a holiday drink. Hello, sugar and dairy bomb! I was literally freaking out about black coffee and discovered that Califia unsweetened almond milk is ok and found a brand of coconut creamer at Sprouts without weird additives or sweetener... sorry I'm not there right now but the container is green. I've been doing a tiny bit of each and I'm doing ok! I think the creamer is narrowly accepted, which is why I'm doing just the slightest amount. I don't want to miss the benefits of getting over that creamy, sweet coffee addiction, but I also know I won't complete my Whole30 without drinkable coffee. 

[ArtFossil]

On 12/31/2016 at 2:09 PM, jrzyjane said:

I'm starting on January 3rd! I'm looking forward to kicking my sugar/wine addiction. Speaking of addiction, I am freaked out about my morning coffee. I know cream is out, I have tried coconut cream in the past and didn't enjoy it. I was wondering if ghee/coconut oil (blended and whipped up) would be okay. I have had coffee this way and truly liked it. Can't find anything on the forums about this in my coffee. I feel like it's all that I can think about.

Blended ghee and coconut oil is just fine and gives you needed fats.  But don't add dates to it--that gets you into the creamers disallowed as SWYPO (sex with your pants on) and too much of a recreation of a non-compliant food. 

[Stegner]

This is also called "bulletproof coffee" if you want to look up instructions for making it.  It's delicious but I've only made it a few times.  I've always been a black coffee girl.  

[ArtFossil]

Hello all! How's everyone doing?

Today is making-deviled-eggs-day for me, so it's a happy day indeed! I'm even going to go wild and make a second jar of mayo to take to my studio for lunches. 

As for drinking water, I've had ONE compliant day.  Baby steps?

I went to Trader Joe's yesterday and bought a boatload of eggs and veggies and also am trying their sparkling water and also got their frozen grass fed beef patties (great for those fast dinners) AND flowers for both home and studio. The bill was ridiculously cheap and I believe I won the prize for healthiest basket. 

[Stegner]

I marinated some matchstick size pieces of pork tenderloin in coconut aminos, ginger, garlic, 5-spice powder, and pepper flakes, par-fried it in coconut oil and have been making asian noodle soup out of it.  I'm using chicken stock, zoodles for noodles, and carrots, celery, mushrooms and cilantro paste. Since I have the vegetables pre-sliced, this goes together very fast and it's a great winter supper.  

I'm feeling a boost in energy lately and I hope all is going well with everyone else. I'm going to try to check in about 5x per week - It helps me to feel I'm part of a group effort.  

[ArtFossil]

1 minute ago, Stegner said:

I marinated some matchstick size pieces of pork tenderloin in coconut aminos, ginger, garlic, 5-spice powder, and pepper flakes, par-fried it in coconut oil and have been making asian noodle soup out of it.  I'm using chicken stock, zoodles for noodles, and carrots, celery, mushrooms and cilantro paste. Since I have the vegetables pre-sliced, this goes together very fast and it's a great winter supper.  

I'm feeling a boost in energy lately and I hope all is going well with everyone else. I'm going to try to check in about 5x per week - It helps me to feel I'm part of a group effort.  

Oh, that sounds delicious! It's time I got some coconut aminos!

[Bluetrav]

Happy Monday everyone! Things have been going pretty smoothly for me and my husband. We definitely have to plan our meals in advance -- like at breakfast we talk about what we'll do for lunch and dinner. Then we kind of take turns prepping and cooking during the day. We both work at home, so this works for us. It definitely helps to have leftovers, so we cook extra when we can. According to the calendar I should be tired today, and I am! So I guess that means we're on track. I had a sudden thought about chocolate cake as I was out walking yesterday, and I don't even like sweets normally, so that was a little weird. Have a great week everyone!

[jrzyjane]

Day 7. So tired!! I am on my feet all day (as I am a chef) and I just don't have any energy. My body is in full on lethargy mode. Ugh. 

[Bluetrav]

Hey everyone, how's it going? I made it to the second row of the calendar! I'm sleeping better, and hopefully I'm out of the tired phase. My meals are going well and I feel like this morning I wasn't as hungry as I had been. I was kind of dreading the next couple of weekends, so I invited a couple over for dinner this weekend -- they're also doing Whole30, and I'll travel the following weekend to visit my sister -- who's also doing Whole30! When I previously got together with my friends and sister the wine flowed freely  so it'll be interesting and fun to spend time being compliant. We also committed to doing some kind of activity, so that should pass the time for the next two weekends. As I learned in my previous Whole30s, Saturdays are my hardest days, and I'm trying to stay a lot busier this time around. Hope everyone is doing well!

[Stegner]

Going well here, but I can't hike because of the icy conditions and it sounds like it's going to get worse. Big sigh. I'm glad I've gotten to the point where I'm thinking a lot less about food. I'm still planning meals but just not thinking about food between the meals.  So, I'm catching up on my reading and just took a long sauna.. I have a small infrared sauna in my house and use it a lot in the winter. 

[ArtFossil]

2 hours ago, Stegner said:

Going well here, but I can't hike because of the icy conditions and it sounds like it's going to get worse. Big sigh. I'm glad I've gotten to the point where I'm thinking a lot less about food. I'm still planning meals but just not thinking about food between the meals.  So, I'm catching up on my reading and just took a long sauna.. I have a small infrared sauna in my house and use it a lot in the winter. 

I want to come to your house! I had a sauna when I lived in Alaska. Bliss!

[karene]

Hi everyone!  I'm starting to perk right along and getting into the routine better than I had hoped!  Those first couple of days were emotionally rough.  The one problem I'm having is waking up in the middle of the night and tossing/turning for quite awhile till I fall back asleep and then waking up exhausted and not feeling rested at all.  Anyone else?  Any suggestions?  (I tried the natural calm and that didn't seem to help any.....)

[ArtFossil]

3 hours ago, karene said:

Hi everyone!  I'm starting to perk right along and getting into the routine better than I had hoped!  Those first couple of days were emotionally rough.  The one problem I'm having is waking up in the middle of the night and tossing/turning for quite awhile till I fall back asleep and then waking up exhausted and not feeling rested at all.  Anyone else?  Any suggestions?  (I tried the natural calm and that didn't seem to help any.....)

I think that getting your food and hormones in balance and changing or sticking to an eating schedule can certainly disrupt your sleep temporarily. If you're under stress, that contributes too. But it's early on still in your Whole30 and it WILL even out. 

Sleep doesn't come easily for me and hip replacement surgery disrupted it for months. What saves me is listening to audio books. I listen to them to fall asleep and if I wake up in the middle of the night and can't get right back to sleep, I start listening again and boom--out like a light. I only listen to fiction and I pick books that will, in some way, transport me to another world.

[jrzyjane]

 

Wow. Day 10. Feeling great. My clothes feel a bit bigger on my body. Which is great because they were tighter the other day. Have been wearing yoga pants for 9 days, today it's jeans. I have been making so many dishes from the Whole30 cookbook. I just made the tomato-coconut curry with chicken over cauliflower rice for lunch (see photo below). It was amazing. I have a dinner delivery service and will be tweaking this recipe a bit and putting it on my menu next week. It's that good. 

Looking forward to the weekend where I have planned three awesome dinners:

Cider brined pork tenderloin with apple-sauerkraut slaw (have made this once already, it's so delicious)

Carnitas

Moroccan Spiced Shredded Beef over Moroccan Cauliflower Rice (have also made this once already, it's a crockpot recipe, perfect for Sunday dinner).

What is keeping me so dedicated to this program are these amazing recipes and also the fact that for the first time in a very long time I really like the fact that I don't have sugar, flour, dairy or alcohol in my body. I don't believe that I have ever given up all three at once, not ever! 

Hope everyone is enjoying the program as much as I am, if not I suggest you head to the kitchen!!!

On 1/8/2017 at 7:19 PM, ArtFossil said:

 

 

[Stegner]

Wow that looks great! And why haven't I thought of apple kraut slaw before?  I always have kraut in the refrigerator. 

I didn't have a great day today - I was bored, restless and wanted to eat for entertainment. So I ate the pumpkin seeds I had toasted and intended to put on my soup... and then I ate some more of them, untoasted, and then some walnuts. But then I stopped, ate my soup, brushed my teeth and went to my room to write about it.  I'm happy.  I could have gone off the rails but didn't. This is me, making progress. 

[Bluetrav]

Progress, I think. I only woke up 1 1/2 times last night. Yesterday seemed to be a difficult day to get through, but I just put my head down and refused to give in. I'm so happy to be in double-digits! I definitely agree that finding new dishes to cook helps. I've been cooking things I've never cooked before. Not only does it make the time pass, as you're keeping busy and focused on something new, but my meals have not been boring. Hope everyone is doing well, and enjoy your weekend!

[ArtFossil]

2 hours ago, Bluetrav said:

Progress, I think. I only woke up 1 1/2 times last night. Yesterday seemed to be a difficult day to get through, but I just put my head down and refused to give in. I'm so happy to be in double-digits! I definitely agree that finding new dishes to cook helps. I've been cooking things I've never cooked before. Not only does it make the time pass, as you're keeping busy and focused on something new, but my meals have not been boring. Hope everyone is doing well, and enjoy your weekend!

Congratulations to all of you on your Day 10! Huzzah!

I'm on Day 9 of the world's most uneventful Whole30 by the laziest Whole30-er ever. 

Had a great QUICKLY prepared dinner of grass fed ground beef patties (pre-formed and frozen! Thank you Trader Joe's), grilled (thank you George Forman) with frozen organic green beans (thank you Whole Foods) and sautéed onions, bell peppers and mushrooms. (Even bought the mushrooms pre-sliced).

I've had some challenges in my recovery from hip replacement surgery (user error(s) = iliopsoas tendon strain(s)) but am finally getting that situation resolved. I went to my private Pilates session this morning and my teacher (Mistress of the Dark) really challenged me! But I also feel like a million . . . clamshells.

[Stegner]

On January 13, 2017 at 0:06 PM, ArtFossil said:

Congratulations to all of you on your Day 10! Huzzah!

I went to my private Pilates session this morning and my teacher (Mistress of the Dark) really challenged me! But I also feel like a million . . . clamshells.

I consider Pilates to be a fountain of youth for women - there's something about the way it changes how we move and carry ourselves that is better than a facelift. But private pilates sounds so tough! You can't run and you can't hide. I take an exercise class that includes a lot of Pilates work. It can be excruciating, but there's an 80-year-old in it who is a poster child for the benefits of consistent work on the core.

Today has been a much better day for me - I started early so it's day 12 for me, I'm over that day 10-11 hump, and I was able to take a long snow hike with a friend. The streets were too icy to walk to the trailhead, so we drove. 

[jrzyjane]

Made it through another weekend. Happily heading into day 14! How was everybody's weekend?

 

[Bluetrav]

My weekend went pretty well. I finally felt more energetic yesterday, and even though it was raining most of the day, I took lots of walks. On day 13, so I feel like I'm at the crest of the hill! I'm still not sleeping that well, but I'm hoping it'll improve. That's really the only negative side effect I've seen. The food doesn't bother me, I'm not hungry, other than having sweet coffee I really don't miss anything. Let's knock this week out!!

[ArtFossil]

Hello @Bluetrav --you're almost halfway! I hope your sleep settles down.

@jrzyjane You are also almost halfway! I'm on day 12 and it's uneventful.

@Stegner I quite agree about the benefits of Pilates. I can't do a Pilates class as I need some assistance with certain exercises. But yes, the private hour is a challenge as it takes so much FOCUS. I started Pilates about a year+ before my hip replacement and it and water exercise were essential to keep me moving, build strength and manage the pain. 

Now, I'm still rehabbing and rebuilding strength and flexibility after the surgery. Pilates is so valuable for me in that it looks at the entire system of your body and equalizing both sides and all the muscle groups. We are working quite a bit just to rebuild my confidence that I CAN do things, as well as getting back my balance (boy did that take a hit after the surgery) and slowly getting the muscles that had to work harder to get back to doing their normal job and the muscles that were too weak or too painful to step up and do what they should be doing. Pilates has been especially helpful, both before and after surgery, with helping me work smartly and ergonomically in my studio, both when I'm sitting and sewing and when I'm standing.

It's the second day of our scheduled 3 day ice storm and I've been inside since Saturday evening. Sunday I was going CRAZY because of course I want to go to my studio and can't. (Yes, it's just a craving like any other. It's not that I don't have tons of things I can do here at home, both art and not-art. If I were playing hookey from my studio I'd be thrilled as its rare I have a whole day at home but . . . . )

I did watch a few videos on how to use my ''Fast Turn" metal fabric cord turning tubes. (Don't ask.) But got frustrated because I can't test it out.

So I decided to unpack my Instant Pot. I made bone broth yesterday (from the bones I've been saving from my Whole Foods Tuesday cheap chickens) and today I poached organic chicken breasts. I LOVE the pot and can't wait to make more things in it! So, another conceptual barrier falls . . .

Followed by my first curry. Using the chicken breasts and some of the broth, of course. I got to play the colorful vegetables game: red tomatoes, green bell pepper, purple onion, orange carrots and beige mushrooms. I do like that game . . . Even got to rescue the last of the cauliflower rice from its sell-by date. Can't wait for dinner!