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Starting June 19th


Aurora Blue

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@EJSmadhatter pesto!  Your dinner looks delish. I will put this in rotation for my next week of meal planning.  Thanks for reminding us of another meal option.  

@lilakay Thanks for your encouragement!  I just love to cook and to make my food look presentable.  I'm worth a garnish, you know?  And the pizza restaurant?!? Yikes.  Way to bring your own dressing, girl.  

@Aurora Blue the sweet potato toast made no mess in the toaster at all! Made it again today and it was delish.  

I made a tasty mocktail that I loved: muddle some limes and mint and then add ice, coconut milk (I like the Thai Kitchen cans), and a lime la croix.  So tasty!  I follow the Whole30 instagram page and this recipe was posted a few weeks ago and I knew I had to make it.  

Also a restaurant win to report!  Check out the WHOLE30 MENU below! This place is in Saint Louis and has color coded menus for several dietary plans.  :)  

@AlpineViking some slivered almonds on my curry, some dried coconut on my sweet potato, and just raw veg are the best crunch options I've found.  Oh!  And crash potatoes.  Dip them in dump ranch and you will be so happy you did. 

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/crash-hot-potatoes/

 

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Today is my birthday (#47).  It's one of the "events" that had me on the fence about starting a Whole30.  My original plans were dinner, cocktails and cupcakes.  But, with a little rework, it's a hike, picnic and watermelon (my favorite fruit EVER!).  I'm up prepping fun food for the picnic.  The family still gets the cupcakes (cake is my favorite dessert EVER), but that's okay.  Funny enough, everyone is more excited about this "W30 day" than they were about dinner, etc.  Changing up my focus, doing things a little different, stepping out of my box - another NSV for W30.  

The hike is a good one.  We did it about 4 years ago.  Steep long climb up the mountain, then the reward of the longest waterfall in GA as you descend 600 stairs alongside the water.  By the end of the staircase, your legs are jello -- it's a great leg workout!  Well worth doing again.  The only downfall is it's too much for my dog (and the metal stairs are a big no-no) -- he loves to hike with us and I will miss him today (dog mama guilt).

@EJSmadhatter  Your cook-up sounds epic, but try not to stress too much about it.  I know the feeling being behind the 8 ball!!  That said, I wish I was eating at your house this week!! ;) 

@Another Melissa  I love that drink you made!  It looks so delicious.  I'm going to add it too my list of things-to-try!

@Nshansen5  I know W30 recommends if you are hungry between meals, have a mini-meal, not a snack. For me, a benefit of following this recommendation is I break the snacking habit - eating when I'm not actually hungry.  I feel a lot better on 3 meals than grazing all day.  I think it's worth trying to change.  It's an adjustment to eat larger meals and it takes some time (especially my 1st W30) to get the balance. 

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@Another Melissa, that mocktail looks GOOD... and that is so stinking cool that you found a place that's w30 compliant!! 

@WholeChristina HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! 

Day #6- Let's just call this day "The Temper Tantrums of my Inner 3 year old". Lordy, did I unleash. I went to the pizza place. Luckily, the chef and waitress did not pass judgement when I asked for meatballs and a salad. I held my head high and I poured on my salad dressing. Went to Church with my husband and my brother in-law and his family and came home.. That's when it happened. I snapped and I mean SNAPPED! My husband wanted to go out to eat for our weekly date night and I flew into an Academy Award winning presentation of "I don't want to go out to eat. All Im eating is lettuce and meat and you get to have cheese and sugar" Y'all, I started crying and sobbing and I'm pretty sure if It didn't hurt getting back up, I would have thrown myself on the floor.  After about an hour of "do not talk to me", "death stares", and arms crossed as if in a straight jacket, I tried to pull myself together.  My ever so patient husband went and grabbed food for us that was w30 compliant.  Lucky to have him... 

Ya'll I can't believe I did that. Its embarrassing.  I guess its the sugar's hold on me or something. Trying to lure me back into temptation. Don't get me wrong, prior to this, I was like "y'all,  i know the short cut to temptation! follow me!"  The evening was salvaged and  I got over it. We ended up staying home and watching a movie. I'm offering an 'w30 olive branch' and making myself and my husband and really big breakfast.  He can add his bleeping cheese (maybe not fully over it) and I'll be okay. It's almost a week down. I can do this. We can do this. 

This week's menu includes  'Hawaiian chicken kabobs, garlic avocado burgers, and 'pizza potato boats'. I had to research for substitutions to make everything so compliant but it's worth it. I know it is. About to get my grocery shopping on! 

I can not say it enough. This group has been amazing. Thank you for such a supportive forum to freely voice my thoughts, feelings, ideas, etc. I get excited reading what everyone has to say. THANK YOU!! 

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Happy Sunday everybody. Trying to rush and get stuff cooked and get out of the house and not be 20 minutes late to work like I was yesterday. But this is breakfast. Scrambled eggs with chopped breakfast sausage, steamed cabbage, and sautéed beat greens in ghee. Give you an update about yesterday soon. Otherwise have a great day

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@Another Melissa  I found the recipe for the mock-tail on Instagram - THANK YOU!  I'll make it over the 4th for our BBQ.

Day 8 is already here.  In some ways, the days are flying by ... in others, well, I'm an impatient person.  I WANT all the good stuff immediately!  :P  It's true what they say, when you know how good you can feel, everything else is unacceptable.  I'm ready for ALL the GOOD back!

My birthday hike, picnic and family dinner was a lot of fun.  I had a few moments of "wanting" and "wishing" for wine, but it passed quickly and (as always) I'm glad for my resolve this morning.

It's left-over day today.  Lots of good stuff, but it won't last long.  I need to hit the kitchen this week to restock. I'm sticking to some easy basics to fill the refrigerator.  Next weekend is a big one and I'll be doing lots of cooking, so I'll give myself a break this week.

I have lunch and shopping with a friend today.  Eating out is possible (of course) but I prefer not to when I'm on a W30.  I'll eat my lunch before I go, and stick to a green salad at the restaurant.  My girlfriend knows I'm on W30 and "gets it" -- she's a good friend!

Hope everyone had a good weekend!  

 

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Day #7- is in the books. Felt much better than yesterday. Breakfast was the same and for lunch I had boiled shrimp and a nice salad. For dinner, I had probably, my all time favorite meal.. The Garlic Avocado Burgers. Here is the recipe... https://www.pinterest.com/pin/AesH47tohJdWkLlCzQYY1X3qMRDvWfajxBaDQdlgfQz6eA5T-RsPNVQ/  I used my dump ranch, no bun, and a side of sweet potato fries and a salad. It was delicious. I didn't even worry that our propane tank went while grilling. We just simply moved the burgers to be finished in the cast iron skillet. All of the flavors worked so darn well together. The basil in the burger really was highlighted, the bacon added that extra crunch, and the avocado on top was just the perfect bite.  I didn't even care that my husband had smothered on cheese. That's a good step in the right direction.  My husband grilled some extra turkey burgers for lunch for me. I'm extremely thankful that I won't have to think so much about what to eat for lunch today.

Day #8 - I'll make the usual breakfast. Lunch will be a turkey burger with lettuce wrap, fruit, and a salad. I'm not sure about dinner, but I got a lot of options. 

@WholeChristina, glad you had a great birthday!! :0) 

 

Hope everyone is having a fabulous start to their day!!! 

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@WholeChristina Hope you had a fabulous birthday!  Sounds like a great day!

@lilakay OMG.  Thank you for sharing your tantrum the other night.  Seriously.  I've had like .. three.. of those. :huh:  That sugar dragon is fierce.  Really fierce.  Thankful for understanding husbands..  Also, your burger sounds amazing.  We had burgers on the grill last night too, and I added Primal kitchen mayo and an avocado on top and it was so good. Will definitely try it with bacon next time! Yum!

Today I had 3 eggs, green peppers, and spinach fried in ghee with a side of avocado.  Lunch was a big chicken salad with spinach, hard boiled egg, and olive oil for dressing.  I made this casserole again (http://paleomg.com/easy-breakfast-casserole/),  which I love and will be having for dinner tonight.  

 

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Hi everyone it is day for me. I have been so busy I have not been able to read the daily. I am hoping to catch up this week. It is amazing how those who have husbands, wives, partners, and children who are not eating whole30 are killing it. To have to make no compliant food and not eat it hat off people. To me that is a HUGE NSV and you all should celebrate that accomplishment!!! Do something nice for yourself today.

@WholeChristina happy belated birthday and well done!! I didn't make it through my birthday.

@lilakay I so understand that tantrum. I am waiting for mine to occur.

I got some but not all of my meat prepared yesterday and am hoping to get the rest done tonight and Tue morning. I was cranking yesterday at work so I couldn't post. I did really well being able to ignore all the yummy noncompliant things out at the end of the day. I didn't have a problem saying no to fruit. The roasted & than fried fingerling potatoes where another story so I moved by those quickly

I have not been able to get any exercise in because of my schedule so I am hoping to get some in this week. My food for yesterday was

scrambles egges w/ breakfast sausage, sautéed beet greens and steamed cabbage

Salad w/ applecider vinaigrette and chicken

Tandoori chicken with bok choy

Here is a recipe from http://nomnompaleo.com/post/3251876576/super-easy-tandoori-chicken

 

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Finished day 8! I can't believe how relatively easy this has been so far, I'm just waiting for the bubble to burst!

@WholeChristina happy belated birthday, well done on your birthday achievements, sounds like the perfect day to me!

@Another Melissa that mocktail looks amazing, we don't get la croix in the U.K. so I'll have to find an alternative (prob just soda water & add extra lime) but I'm so going to make that!

@lilakay loved the story of your tantrum. I had a bit of a strop on Friday and Saturday and ended up going out for the morning on Saturday to give the hubby a break from me (and me from him). Oh and the burger does sound good, another one to try!

@EJSmadhatter well done on all your food prep, you'll be so glad you did it. Thanks for sharing the tandoori chicken recipe, definitely doing that as it so easy

I love that all your partners are so supportive, mine is but he just doesn't quite get it, he thinks this is another one of my fads :) tonight for the second night running he was having a glass of sloe gin (I love sloe gin) and told me to try some, I of course declined but he persisted, ended up him saying "a little sip won't hurt and don't worry I won't tell anyone" so I had to explain again how this all works and that yes a little sip will hurt, a lot. So he said he'll buy a bottle for me to try once the 30 days are up. Bless him, I had to laugh as he still doesn't get it but it was sweet of him to offer lol

Apart from the fun and games with the hubby I've had a fairly relaxed couple of days, starting to feel better and less grumpy although didn't realise I was grumpy until today.

I'm also noticing how much I'm enjoying little no food related treats, yesterday I went to the park with my son, feed some geese and then had a little picnic in the sun and I really noticed how much I enjoyed our time together. Then yesterday evening one of my fav bands was live on tv and I spent 2 hours singing along and dancing and just felt amazing by the time I went to bed. So I'm writing all these things down to remember :D

One question for you all before I go, how much mayo are you eating? I'm going to have to make my 4th batch tomorrow! Do you think I might be eating too much? I am using it as my fat if I have it. This is the recipe I use if anyone needs it http://www.whole-sisters.com/whole-mayo/

Hope you're all having a great day!

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 So I forgot my dressing for my salad and really wasn't looking forward to eating mixed greens with nothing on it. I just happened to throw in a Gallo squash just in case I got hungry as an emergency food. So this is my creation with my tuna salad the tuna has celery, chopped black olives, chopped homemade pickles, compliant mayo call on top of yellow squash  and cucumbers with the seeds taken out. It's actually quite tasty

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25 minutes ago, Another Melissa said:

Day 9 and I'm noticing a smaller appetite ... dinner was just a pepper with guacamole and an apple with some almond butter and coconut.  Anyone else experiencing this?

 

It can happen... make sure to keep eating template meals... leave off the fruit, nut butter, nuts etc... if you can't eat much, you should be eating protein and fat and nutrient dense veggies :)

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56 minutes ago, SugarcubeOD said:

It can happen... make sure to keep eating template meals... leave off the fruit, nut butter, nuts etc... if you can't eat much, you should be eating protein and fat and nutrient dense veggies :)

Good reminder.  I forgot to mention that I had some grilled chicken also - whoops!  So with a serving of chicken, Guacamole, and a whole pepper I thought of it as a mini-meal with protein, fat, and a veg represented.  Would it have been better to leave out the apple? Or is the bit of almond butter the issue?

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2 hours ago, Another Melissa said:

Good reminder.  I forgot to mention that I had some grilled chicken also - whoops!  So with a serving of chicken, Guacamole, and a whole pepper I thought of it as a mini-meal with protein, fat, and a veg represented.  Would it have been better to leave out the apple? Or is the bit of almond butter the issue?

Well the fact you had protein in there does change my thought slightly... neither thing was really an 'issue' persay, but fruit and nuts/butters shouldn't be eaten in place of veggies... if you're having trouble eating enough due to lack of appetite, then replace the fruit and nut butter with veggies and a better fat... that's all.  Often people say they have no appetite but they can eat fruit and nuts/nut butter and other sweet comforting foods, but that's just your hormones talking... :)

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Today is grocery store day - 3 stores - all different directions.  I wish I could find everything I need in just one!  I never can, Whole30 or not! I travel to one store just for their decaf coffee selection :wacko:  And the kicker is, I'll have to shop again for this weekend.  (That IS classic W30!!)

In between food shopping, I have my barbell lifting class.  I usually run intervals before I go to lift, but I don't think my energy is up enough for the split workout today.  Maybe one more week ...

@EJSmadhatter  I love your food pictures!! 

I'm kicking off  Kombucha today too.  It's starting to be too much of a wine-in-the-evening replacement.  Eating well for 30 days is great, but if I want the full benefit of W30, I need to change some of those habits again.  That's the biggest challenge for me.  I'm drinking Kombucha, dreaming of wine.  Not good.

On a strange technical thing ... I can do one @NAME comment, and then it doesn't work again.  I have to post reply and go back in to edit to do another one.  Am I doing something wrong?  I do it the same way.

Anyway - have a good day everyone :)  Day 9.

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First of all, I just want to say Thank you for the support. It's embarrassing sharing that I threw a temper tantrum, but glad I had a safe place to share. I just wanted to share my truths, however bad they might be... 

@Aurora Blue, did you get your water back? While my husband is supportive, this is my second time. He felt it was just a fad too. However, this time around it's been different. He's been a fabulous cheerleader.  Instead of my inner voice he's been vocal and has  been the one who said, "remember last time? You had so much energy. You felt healthier than you ever have!". Once you go through it, you'll see the chances but your spouse will too. 

Day #8- Had a scrambled hash.. It was okay. Tried to use left over potatoes I had cooked and it was no bueno. I'll be getting up a little bit earlier to make it fresh. I was super busy yesterday creating stuff for my classroom, I almost missed lunch! I had some turkey,  salad and some fruit. Dinner was leftover patties and new sweet potato fries and a salad. I was pleasantly stuffed!! And also so so glad I did not have to cook. 

Day #9- I'll do the usual scramble today. Not sure about lunch but I have tons of options. Dinner is the potato pizza boat recipe I found. I'm kinda excited. 

 

Hope everyone has a wonderful Day # 9!! We GOT THIS! 

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Food shopping and prep is like a part time job that costs $$$!  

But day 8 and I have noticeably less swelling and overall bloat in my face. My belly fat- which I developed in the past 2 yrs like never before- was the motivating factor for starting w30. And I don't feel any change there- yet.  I have to admit I cheated the other day and couldn't resist getting on the scale and it showed me at minus 2 pounds from June 19th. I am not going to get hung up on this, though a party went off in my brain!

Everyone's meals look amazing. I find myself eating lots of fruit. I always ate tons of fruit so it is the hardest thing to cut back on, after wine and oh sloe gin- mmmm.  And I've been making a compliant almond milk chia pudding which I have with strawberries or compliant dried mango or both and almond slivers. It is yummy.  But how much should we be limiting these compliant "sweets"?  Like fruit, dried or fresh, chia puddings, etc?

Also I made a batch of w30 mayo and it tasted gross so I haven't used any of it. I'm sure the egg was good but I used light evoo. I am going to try avocado oil and just the yolk next time. 

 

Yeaterday i I found the website thrivemarket.com that sells lots of compliant sauces, etc. I don't know if I'll pony up the $59 for an annual membership going forward but they offer a free 30 day trial and free shipping on orders over $49. I placed my first order yesterday for things like the fish sauce, primal mayo, tessemaes ranch, etc. and the prices were better than Amazon. FYI. 

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Well I have been feeling good all weekend, then BAM! Started with a little tickle in my throat on Sunday eve during food prep, maybe stayed up too late and was stressed. But after Monday it grew more and more, and last night was MISERABLE! Today I have been drinking Throat Coat Tea, Apple Cider Vinegar, Lemon with Warm Water. Took some Zinc, and ate some oranges. Really wish I could have a cough drop, but they are all loaded with so many different kinds of sweeteners! I may break down and use some Cloroseptic throat spray, it's mostly complaint (aside from having very small alcohol content). Put a bone broth in the slow cooker yesterday, hopefully that will help later today also. Not sure what other remedies there are available right now, trying to power through, but I am a whiny, sneezing, sniffling fella right now. I have not been sick in a long time, I wonder if it is related to the diet change in any way. Thoughts?

I really hope it passes quickly so that I can get back on track for my goals, have not had ANY energy for exercise or food shopping/prep ect. Let me know if anyone out there has some good compliant home remedies! 

Almost 1/3 of the way there, way to go y'all!

 

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Finished day 8! I can't believe how relatively easy this has been so far, I'm just waiting for the bubble to burst!

@WholeChristina happy belated birthday, well done on your birthday achievements, sounds like the perfect day to me!

@Another Melissa that mocktail looks amazing, we don't get la croix in the U.K. so I'll have to find an alternative (prob just soda water & add extra lime) but I'm so going to make that!

@lilakay loved the story of your tantrum. I had a bit of a strop on Friday and Saturday and ended up going out for the morning on Saturday to give the hubby a break from me (and me from him). Oh and the burger does sound good, another one to try!

@EJSmadhatter well done on all your food prep, you'll be so glad you did it. Thanks for sharing the tandoori chicken recipe, definitely doing that as it so easy

I love that all your partners are so supportive, mine is but he just doesn't quite get it, he thinks this is another one of my fads :) tonight for the second night running he was having a glass of sloe gin (I love sloe gin) and told me to try some, I of course declined but he persisted, ended up him saying "a little sip won't hurt and don't worry I won't tell anyone" so I had to explain again how this all works and that yes a little sip will hurt, a lot. So he said he'll buy a bottle for me to try once the 30 days are up. Bless him, I had to laugh as he still doesn't get it but it was sweet of him to offer lol

Apart from the fun and games with the hubby I've had a fairly relaxed couple of days, starting to feel better and less grumpy although didn't realise I was grumpy until today.

I'm also noticing how much I'm enjoying little no food related treats, yesterday I went to the park with my son, feed some geese and then had a little picnic in the sun and I really noticed how much I enjoyed our time together. Then yesterday evening one of my fav bands was live on tv and I spent 2 hours singing and dancing and just felt amazing by the time I went to bed

Hope you're all having a great day!

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I think I've just managed to submit my post from this morning again, think this page is having an early days whole30 moment so I do apologise lol

@lilakay yes our water came back on later that day so it wasn't too bad in the end. It's great your husband is cheering you on this time, I guess he must realise you are serious if you're willing to put yourself through the pain again! How has your second round been so far compared to your first?

@AlpineViking sorry you are feeling unwell, zinc and echinacea are good for a cold but probably just lots of rest will do you good, hope you feel better soon

Day 10 tomorrow guys, according to the book Day 10 & 11 are the hardest days and people are most likely to give up on these days, so stay strong, we can do this!

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On 6/18/2017 at 4:56 PM, JanaSandifer said:

Lots of soft boiled eggs, homemade mayo, cooked some plain chicken so I can use it in multiple dishes this week, meatballs without any kind of flour, even almond; I have found that eggs make them stick together just fine. Mashed yams with avocado oil, chopped a ton of veggies. I still need to buy some avocados and want to make some baba ganoush to dip said veggies in. Kombucha (without added sugar after fermentation) is my go to drink, along with black coffee, soda water, and tea. There's a "paleo-friendly" food truck in my town that takes homemade bone broth an mixes it with coconut cream (not milk) and spices. It's amazing and I'm trying to replicate it. 

Aurora-what's "dump ranch sauce"?

Dump Ranch:

1 egg, 1 c. light olive oil, 1 tbsp lemon juice, 2 tbsp red wine vinegar, 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp pepper, 3/4 tsp onion powder, 3/4 tsp garlic powder, 1/2 c. full fat coconut milk, shaken/stirred, 3 tbsp dried parsley (or small handful fresh).  Put everything but parsley into mason jar and blend with immersion blender about one minute.  add parsley and blend a few seconds.  if you want it thicker, you can add an egg.  The version here is fairly thin...dressing consistency, not dip consistency.  

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@AlpineViking I hope you are on the mend soon.  It's no fun to be sick when you are rocking a whole30!

@sojurabbit I just found thrive too!  Seems way cheaper aside from the fee to join after 30 days, so at this point I will just stick to the free 30 day trial!  Nutpods were way cheaper than Amazon has them.  Primal pantry items seemed quite a bit cheaper too.  

Today was/ is crappy for me.  I overdid it on hazelnuts tonight.  Literally after dinner I sat watching a show with my kids and ate half a bag of trader joe's oregon hazelnuts.  They are not even that good.  Seriously.  :(  Think I'm getting bored with my meals or something.   I have a hard time finding the time to cook with my 3 kids being out of school for the summer.  I'm usually throwing something together an hour before dinner and then it ends up being really not that great.  Anyone have any (easy) crockpot meals they really loved?

 @lilakay  How was the pizza boat recipe?  Maybe I'll give that go..

Breakfast was eggs with spinach, green peppers, avocado cooked in ghee.  Lunch was a giant chicken salad and dinner was sweet potato and beef hash.  

On a positive note, feeling WAY less bloated and definitely have less inflammation.  I have knee pain that bothers me quite a bit and I've noticed that has really improved  since starting whole30.

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