Starting tomorrow, April 24

[SaraBethJ37]

Hello!

This is my first time doing whole 30 and I start tomorrow!  I am joining to slay the sugar dragon!  I am a sugar fiend and I have tried a no-sugar diet many times before, but never through getting rid of processed food and checking ingredients.  I am hopeful that this will be way more successful because I literally went be consuming any sugar!  

[britgirl]

Hi SaraBeth there's at least 4 of us starting today ( there's another thread going). This is my 4th round and I don't think I'd survive without the forum so please keep posting. We need each other to get us thru this!

Had green earl grey tea ( no milk. I'll get used to it.)About to make day one breakfast frittata. Here we go......

Good luck and goodbye sugar dragon. Let's fight it off together! 

All the best

jenny

[DomProf]

Hey everyone!  I am also starting today. This is my first time. I normally eat well but fell off the wagon over the past few months. Got busy with work and the junky prepared foods started to take over. Going nuts at Easter just pushed me over the edge... really feel like I need a reboot to get control again.

Am most nervous about snacks and beating the sugar/caffeine combo. This is my big challenge.

Good luck to each of you.  see you on the forum.

Dom

[TriciaBC]

My husband and I started today -- our first Whole30.  We are looking to make cleaner eating a regular part of our lives and we hope to see some of the physical benefits from it, too.  Sodas and carbs (as in chips, bread, pasta) are our dragons.

We prepped a little last night -- salad items, protein salad, made the basic mayo and some ranch dressing. 

[Dee-Dee]

Hello, Today is my first day on Whole30!!  The W30 is new to me, but really intrigued me because it's more lifestyle than dieting to me, and really want to change my way of eating and looking at food as grab and go.  Additionally, I want to feel better overall!

I wish you all the best ~ Have a good day!

[TriciaBC]

Day 1 is in the books folks!! Yay!!

I ended day 1 with a sinus headache (mold is high in my area right now) -- on Sunday, I could feel a cold coming on (sneezing, dry, scratchy throat, etc.).  I started today with the same headache, so my hangover day may be a mixture of sinus/allergies and carb/sugar/grains/dairy withdrawal.

How is everyone else doing?

[85MotherOf4AK]

My family started yesterday as well! We are excited! This is my 5th W30. Family has done it mostly with me. Hubby 100% one other time. Ready to feel all those great results. Restful uninterrupted sleep

clearer skin

thicker stronger hair and nails

clothes fitting better(always nice after having a baby)

loving the taste of Real Whole Foods! 

Here we go! Good luck fellow W30ers!

 

[Gail Tea]

Hi All,

My husband and I started Whole 30 on Monday, 24th, so we're start of Day 3. Glad to have this forum of folks on the same timescale journey to talk with and learn from! I think we're pretty fortunate because we learned about Whole30 from my cousin who did it first time in November 2016. Her motivation was pain (various locations) that she didn't want to chalk up to 'getting older'. Her story about how rapidly the pain diminished (Week 1) and nearly vanished by Day 30 made a huge impact on me as I've been struggling with 'frozen shoulder' and a lot of arm pain since January.  Anti-inflammatories left my stomach in ruins and I was really struggling with sadness and hope. Visits to the physio were having very little effect. So my big motivator is health more than weight loss, although getting my weight and fat percentage back within recommended range is a big draw too.

My husband is also motivated by inflammatory pain (knees mostly) and low energy. He'd tackled a borderline diabetes diagnosis three years ago via diet & exercise, and successfully scored just below the diabetes level after six months. So we've had some experience with making good choices and going through a sugar detox! But it's easy to slip back into a more indulgent lifestyle (wine, desserts) over time (a two-week cruise is a sure fire way to do that!) and never really re-set.

The elimination of dairy was the most daunting idea in this adventure, but we spent a good week reading and mentally preparing by accumulating lots of good recipes that are W30 compliant. AND my cousin sent a copy of the spreadsheet she made for her meal planning/tracking from her first W30 and that was a major help!! Can't say how much that helped! I needed a good visual plan to help manage grocery shopping list & prep ahead cooking. I just did the first ten days, using some of her favourite meals and changing a few toward our tastes. Thank heavens, because I might not have been able to do it in under two hours if I'd had to start completely from scratch.

I've found that making both lunches while I'm doing breakfast is the key for me. I'm happy to put extra energy/time into organising our menus & food supply, but I don't want to spend most of my day on it. This way I'm busy in a.m. with breakfast (a PackedD smoothie first thing, 6:30 a.m.; packing sausage-egg-pizza muffins for his 7:15 work breakfast; packing fruit and our own homemade RX Bars) and making good lunches (mine goes in the fridge) and then get on the dinner creation about 5:30 works for me. Do some more cooking in the am or after dinner for things I want made ahead for the next day or two.  

Plannning is the biggest help! As they say, "fail to plan means plan to fail!"  We also took weight & fat percentages, wrote them with our list of goals/hopes, then put the scale away in the garage for 30 days. Good move for me, because I can tell I'd be tempted today to check it. Better to keep me focused on the non-scale victories and health.

 Biggest food helps:

1. My 'gin & tonic' at end of day is an apple cider vinegar & fizzy water. I love this! If I'm feeling a bit of a sugar low, I make a 'wine spritzer' from tart cherry juice (good inflammation fighter) and fizzy water. Really good.

2. My cousin sent us some RX Bars from the States which were great, but prices in the UK are ridiculous. So motivation to find recipes to make similar. I can't remember where I found the first recipe for baked bars (we couldn't find egg-white powerder here), but we are in love with the recipe! Major help for mid morning with a black coffee, or 'just gotta have a cookie after luch!'  Made first batch with a friend who's now decided to do W30, so here's our recipe:

20 dates; 2 cups chopped almonds; 1 cup chopped pecans; 2/3 cup chopped pistacios; 1/3 cup Linwoods flax seed with pumpkin, sesame seeds& goji berries; 2 Tbsp cinnamon; 1/2 tsp ground cardamon; 1/2 tsp nutmeg; 5 egg whites (180 ml)  We pre-cut & chopped everything to mix in Kitchen Aid mixer, then spread on parchment paper in baking tin, baked for 15 min at 350 degrees (F) 170 degrees (C) fan assisted oven.  

Next want to try https://fitfulfocus.com/copycat-chocolate-coffee-rx-bars-paleo-no-bake/ for a coffee/chocolate hit!

3. Basil, mint, coriander, garlic, cinnamon (not all together, as appropriate for recipes) . . . generous use of spices has meant we really feel like we've improved our food and not missing a thing!

Must go! This was more than an intro . .. .bit of a testament to how positive we're feeling & grateful to all the research and insight from the Whole 30 gang!

[jmcbn]

6 hours ago, Gail Tea said:

20 dates; 2 cups chopped almonds; 1 cup chopped pecans; 2/3 cup chopped pistacios; 1/3 cup Linwoods flax seed with pumpkin, sesame seeds& goji berries; 2 Tbsp cinnamon; 1/2 tsp ground cardamon; 1/2 tsp nutmeg; 5 egg whites (180 ml)  We pre-cut & chopped everything to mix in Kitchen Aid mixer, then spread on parchment paper in baking tin, baked for 15 min at 350 degrees (F) 170 degrees (C) fan assisted oven.  

 

Next want to try https://fitfulfocus.com/copycat-chocolate-coffee-rx-bars-paleo-no-bake/ for a coffee/chocolate hit!

Sorry, but these are out for your Whole30.

Compliant bars of ANY kind are approved for emergency use only, and a coffee/chocolate hit is NOT an emergency. In fact you're not doing yourself any favours giving in to those sort of cravings as this is about changing your relationship with food.

Recreating baked goods even with complaint ingredients is also specifically called out in the rules.

These bars are LOADED with nuts which are recommended to be eaten in moderation as they are notoriously hard on the digestive system. They are also high in inflammatory omega 6 fatty acids, and packed with sugar, albeit naturally occurring. Medjool dates have around 70g of sugar per 100g - and anything over 20g would be considered high.

And here's the official stance on cacao:

Cacao (100%): Yes

Cacao (or 100% cocoa) is great when used as a savory spice (our Mocha Steak Rub, found in It Starts With Food, is a great example), but you can also feel free to add it to your coffee or tea, or brew it Crio Bru-style. But per the rules of the program, it’s not okay to add cocoa to dates and other fruits to make chocolate-y confections.

Honestly, keep them for after your Whole30.

 

[Gail Tea]

 

6 hours ago, jmcbn said:

Compliant bars of ANY kind are approved for emergency use only ... 

   Thank you for the reminder!  We knew to be very judicious with them for all the reasons you mentioned.  

They are also high in inflammatory omega 6 fatty acids 

   Really appreciate this as I was unaware and fighting inflammation and pain is one of my key goals  

 

Cacao (or 100% cocoa) is great when used as a savory spice (our Mocha Steak Rub, found in It Starts With Food, is a great example), but you can also feel free to add it to your coffee or tea, or brew it Crio Bru-style. 

   Thanks for these tips, very nice  

Honestly, keep them for after your Whole30.

   Yep!

 

 

[Gail Tea]

Day 6 and we're super happy with our experience so far! 

All three of us are feeling noticeably better in digestive tract. My husband and I are having a nice, slight upturn with more energy in the afternoons and evenings. 

My husband has praised the quality of food for evey meal, but particularly dinners. He loves the avocado salsa . .  the mango salsa . . . jalapeno turkey burgers . . . sweet potatoe gratin, all as sides to nicely grilled fish, lamb steaks and flat iron steak.  Plenty of other veggies along: courgettes, mushrooms, sauteed onions (probably every meal), tomatoes, green beans, broccoli, etc. to make nicely coloured and quite full plates. 

Whole 30 is so simple, but powerful and it does make me wonder, "why haven't we ever thought of this before?!" I'm wondering how much of the better feeling is from the reduction of preservatives and additives in the food or the elimination of foods that I might be intolerant of, or react with inflammation. How brilliant to do it all at once and 'give your body a chance to heal.'

Have found how powerful my psychological marker of the 'after work cocktail' is, but am completely satisfied with the apple cider vinegar and sparkling water combo. I think it's more about a strong, interesting taste, carbonated than the sugar or alcohol, which is good to know, but still interesting to notice.

Travelling this weekend to see godson at university - cooking up a turkey chili to take and have for dinner together and leave him some portions for during the week!

Would love to hear about other folks' results/notices for Week 1 so far!