Moluv

Just thought I'd share a pic of my 2 1/2 gallon SCOBY and brew, Denver, started by a dear friend and jazz musician several years ago from a bottle of GT's. He passed it along to me when he moved to Denver to pursue his music. I have passed out many babies from this one.
To make 2 1/2 gallons I use 15 bags of organic oolong tea, 2 1/2 cups organic sugar. I bottle in Grolsh bottles, usually unflavored, but leave it out for a day or two to get fizzy before storing in the fridge. I always brew my sweet tea the night before I bottle so as soon as I bottle I can dump in room temp tea and start it fermenting right away.

In regards to your "puffy belly"- if it's uncomfortable enough to keep you awake at night- That's not normal. Something you are eating is causing irritation and inflammation or is not being digested properly. As I recall from the hormone chapter- that is enough damage to keep your hormones out of whack.
Do you have digestive disturbances prior? Adopting the IBS (not the AIP) protocol has resolved my tummy bloating and tenderness. Just food for thought.

Oh. You're trying to WIN something- that's cool. I'm not a scientist either but here is my two cents about how to optimize your shrinking potential- this is based on my own experience and may not relate but, dang, winning stuff IS fun.
1. Don't weigh again till the end. No selfies either. A watched pot never boils.
2. Follow the meal template protein+fat+veg. Dont skimp on the fats, ever. That will not make you lose weight it will just screw with your blood sugar- the exact opposite of what you want
3. There are a few foods allowed on the plan that I find unnecesary for my nourishment and which cause me to feel heavy or bloated and those things are: caffeine, coconut (except oil), nuts and seeds so I just leave those out.
4. There is nothing in fruit that you can't get from vegetables so for the sake of the competion you could remove that too. But I (and lots of others) think you still need a little starch by way of sweet potatoes and squashes, but other non-starchy vegetables have carbohydrates so if you feel ok without the starchy ones, it's YOUR whole30.
4. Sleep a LOT. take melatonin if you need help.
5. Poop a lot. Use natural assistance if you're not pooping enough.
Another thing- it sucks the only way to win your
competion is by weight loss, there are so many other, more valid markers of health which the
Whole30 addresses and I hope you experience those too. Keep us posted on this thread- I'd love to hear how it goes! Good luck!!

I just realized my husband has been taking Zyrtec with cornstarch the entirety of his W30. How likely is it that this has skewed his results? He is gluten intolerant for sure and we were both curious what effects going off all grains would have- is the small amount in a pill enough to keep him in a continued "grain state"?

OMG you guys Melissa Hartwig talked to me!!! My health guru! I have read her post now like a dozen times. The reason I "told on myself" was not because I was worried that using my vaporizer would be a harmful choice for me, because I knew it wouldn't. I've come so far into the w30 process that I'm not sure I'll ever use anything in an out of control way again. Maybe, but something has changed deep inside me. There is no self loathing- only love. So I felt secure in using my vaporizer to relieve myself of menstrual cramps as pain relief is one of the best documented medicinal uses of the plant. And vaping is a better choice than smoking- something I will never do again. The real reason I told on myself, and the real reason I chose to not do it- even though I was all set to do it- is that I knew it would make me a hypocrite on the forum. This forum has been the single biggest contributing factor in my w30 success next to the constructs of the program itself. I love coming here and learning, encouraging and being encouraged. I would lose any credibility as a w30 cheerleader if I had to cop to breaking my w30 in order to use a non-compliant pain relief for PERIOD CRAMPS. Sheesh. So ya know what, March 28 is my day 31. I'm planning to cel-e-brate. I marked it on my calendar, took half the day off of work and already booked myself a facial. My postw30 bike may take a leisurely cruise with Puff, or not, it's hard to say. But I feel a deep sense of satisfaction knowing that Puff is there on the shelf ready to play when *I* choose to, not him.
Thank you Melissa for your thoughtful response and everyone else with your cheech and chong hilarities for not casting me out of the beloved forum! This has really been a helpful learning experience that makes my heart swell with gratitude. And thank you self for having the courage to be vulnerable, it worked out.

Rochellerella- I think a lot of us on here find ourselves with "extreme internal weirdness" and sadly, won't ever find someone else to give us a meal plan that works over time because our biological landscape changes by the minute. I also notice that some days I can eat something and feel great and another time not great- but I do keep a food log and can usually trace it back to an irritant from a day or two prior. I get frustrated reading paleo blogs- even the ones for autoimmune or IBS because the recipes always contain at least one thing I am avoiding (citrus, spices, fodmap) and I start thinking things like, "well if so and so is eating _______ and healing maybe I can too" and that hasn't worked out so well for me. What has worked is having a running list in my head (should be on paper) of my safe foods- these are things I never ever react to and that I feel good after eating. It's a pretty short list right now of grassfed beef or lamb, butternut squash (or other starchy squash) and green beans. I never run out of these foods and I eat them quite often and especially after I've had a reaction to something my next meal will for sure be beef and butternut squash. I think that helps me recover faster from GI distress than I used to when I kept irritating myself. Then I have a longer list of ingredients I'm pretty sure are good for me and I just make my food from that list. I make it tasty but following a recipe is just not something I can do right now.
The part about needing nuts and fruit to be snacking options is a little concerning, especially since you posted in an IBS thread, which seems appropriate given your history with stomach problems. Nuts are wildly irritating to the gut of people who already have gut issues and I don't think even a small amount is safe. Fruit also may give you too much sugar at once for your small intestine to comfortably handle and (along with raw veggies) could be prolonging your troubles. Have you read ISWF? There is a section (small section) for IBS/IBD which explains this more and for the kind of healing you need you will likely have to follow the IBS protocol (if not the autoimmune as well) for a month or more to get relief. Once I cut nuts and coffee out of my diet I stopped reacting so much to fodmaps, and that has been a huge relief.
While I am probably eating some things that you can't, you might get a few meal ideas from my food log, as well as from some others who follow it. And plus, we talk a lot about various reactions to things and offer support. It's here:
http://forum.whole9life.com/topic/8478-moluvs-aip/

A few years ago I read a pretty cheesy 80's diet book from the thriftstore called "Intuitive Eating". While most of their food selections were dead wrong (read: lowfat) I just ignored all of that (I already knew better) but took away from this book what I still view to be one of the most helpful pieces of advice I've received and it is this: Love yourself exactly where you are. Love yourself so much that you will only allow the very best for yourself. Don't say, "when I lose x amount of pounds I can get some new clothes"- get the new clothes now for the size you are. Wear really comfortable undergarments and shoes. Don't buy cheap crap because you don't like your size. That is basically sending the message to yourself that you don't deserve nice things, that you are not worth the effort or expense. It is from that place of loving and caring for yourself that good decisions flow from. So yes, loving self=changing self, but not in a linear equations, it's more of a neverending spiral.

While we are on the subject (again) can someone clarify why blended soups don't warrant any kind of warning against liquid calories. I have had many alongside my meals, sometimes AS my meal. Is it a fruit issue with the smoothie or is drinking soup just as "dangerous"

The smoothie thing is a suggestion, not a diehard rule like "no sugar". No one would say you are not compliant because really when it comes down to it compliancy is about the ingredients not the delivery. If you read the emails and other threads on this topic, many a moderator has said smoothies are discouraged but not non-compliant. If you ask a bunch of members they are going to say "don't do it". You are fully capable of making your food choices within the boundaries of the program. There are no gold stars either.

He just changed the course of his life with food choices. That's fantastic.

Come to think of it, when I make a list and send my husband to do the shopping he spends about half of what I normally spend. I always pick up a bunch of little "treats" like black garlic and $15 boxes of tea that I never drink.

OMG you guys Melissa Hartwig talked to me!!! My health guru! I have read her post now like a dozen times. The reason I "told on myself" was not because I was worried that using my vaporizer would be a harmful choice for me, because I knew it wouldn't. I've come so far into the w30 process that I'm not sure I'll ever use anything in an out of control way again. Maybe, but something has changed deep inside me. There is no self loathing- only love. So I felt secure in using my vaporizer to relieve myself of menstrual cramps as pain relief is one of the best documented medicinal uses of the plant. And vaping is a better choice than smoking- something I will never do again. The real reason I told on myself, and the real reason I chose to not do it- even though I was all set to do it- is that I knew it would make me a hypocrite on the forum. This forum has been the single biggest contributing factor in my w30 success next to the constructs of the program itself. I love coming here and learning, encouraging and being encouraged. I would lose any credibility as a w30 cheerleader if I had to cop to breaking my w30 in order to use a non-compliant pain relief for PERIOD CRAMPS. Sheesh. So ya know what, March 28 is my day 31. I'm planning to cel-e-brate. I marked it on my calendar, took half the day off of work and already booked myself a facial. My postw30 bike may take a leisurely cruise with Puff, or not, it's hard to say. But I feel a deep sense of satisfaction knowing that Puff is there on the shelf ready to play when *I* choose to, not him.
Thank you Melissa for your thoughtful response and everyone else with your cheech and chong hilarities for not casting me out of the beloved forum! This has really been a helpful learning experience that makes my heart swell with gratitude. And thank you self for having the courage to be vulnerable, it worked out.

You deserve pretty and comfortable clothing that fits you well at the size you are now and makes you feel great. They exist in every possible size and price point imaginable. It's common to say to ourselves that we can get new clothes when we are such and such size, or I don't want to waste $ on ____ size because we won't be there very long, but I think that sets us up to feel bad about our bodies and then to treat our bodies badly, i.e. bingeing.

1 1/2 gallons- pot of hot water, dissolve 1 1/2 cup of sugar (or little less), then steep 9 tea bags. I make this the night before and leave it on the stove to cool to room temp (take out tea bags after a while). In the morning add to scoby jar and fill the rest with room temp water.

I mix it into ground beef for making meatballs or meatloaf and it makes it juicier, I presume by holding the vegetable and meat juices together. I also add it to broth and brothy sauces. I tried it in a beverage once but I didn't like the smell. Savory foods hide it.

My husband would probably do it like that too. He already gave up gluten months ago and his sleep apnea totally disappeared. But talking to him about the other grains, legumes, dairy, sugar and alcohol- it's too much loss to bear. I think what he is really afraid of is the reintroduction phase where he might discover he needs to avoid something long term. This is a man who reintroduced gluten 15 times "just to be sure".
As far as your husband goes, kudos to him for doing it and at least sticking to the compliant foods. I put my kids on w30 a couple of weeks ago and advice I got in the kids forum was don't worry if they eat more fruit and nuts- just keep them compliant. The first week they ate so much fruit, dried fruit, and nuts it drove me NUTS. But by the second week their sugar/junk dragons had chilled out and they were eating more meat and veggies. They started asking for sauerkraut and eating salads. They eat a mini sweet bell pepper with almost every meal.
Long story short, maybe read through the kids forum for tips on helping your husband eat his veggies.

Wow Whole30. Just WOW. I can't believe the changes in me and I am only on day 15! The first week I lost my belly bloat and that was awesome because I typically had been measuring my self worth by waist girth (in an inverse proportion). That first week I struggled more with not weighing myself than avoiding off limit foods. I have a good bit of paleo eating under my belt before starting and had been off gluten for months, though the rice and corn I'd been dabbling in were problematic as well, I just couldn't stop harming myself with them. That's what led me to Whole30. I digress. The second week was pretty blah, ho-hum, low energy and GASSY. I was losing hope and thought my stomach was just broken for good. But then a couple days ago, the MAGIC hit me in a profound "I'll never be the same after this day" kind of way. I wasn't tired all day. Or hungry between meals. Or gassy. Or stressed. I was actually HAPPY in a calmly contended way. Just magical. I tried to invite my sugar dragon out by having some daterolls after dinner but...no sugar dragon. Then today I just lost all interest in weighing myself. Like ever. Like I really could just not care less about my weight. Thats a major attitude shift for me and so freeing. And there is also a lot of freedom in finally knowing what and how to feed my body to nourish it deeply and to not really have to try to figure it out meal by meal anymore. Talk about freeing up some energy and mental space! I am so grateful for this program and supportive community. Thank you Whole30 and fellow Whole30-ers. I look forward to reporting back on my full 30 day success story- I just couldn't contain my joy until then. Rock on everybody!!

A few years ago I read a pretty cheesy 80's diet book from the thriftstore called "Intuitive Eating". While most of their food selections were dead wrong (read: lowfat) I just ignored all of that (I already knew better) but took away from this book what I still view to be one of the most helpful pieces of advice I've received and it is this: Love yourself exactly where you are. Love yourself so much that you will only allow the very best for yourself. Don't say, "when I lose x amount of pounds I can get some new clothes"- get the new clothes now for the size you are. Wear really comfortable undergarments and shoes. Don't buy cheap crap because you don't like your size. That is basically sending the message to yourself that you don't deserve nice things, that you are not worth the effort or expense. It is from that place of loving and caring for yourself that good decisions flow from. So yes, loving self=changing self, but not in a linear equations, it's more of a neverending spiral.

I made this recipe last night exactly as the recipe states, except I made sunshine sauce with cashew butter and added red peppers and zucchini to the stirfry. It was fantastic- my husband loved it so much he viewed it as an act of devotion that I let him take the only leftovers for lunch today. I loved it so much I made a quicky stirfry for dinner with all the same flavors but just thrown together in the pan. Yum. Yum. May have to get her book!

A few years ago I read a pretty cheesy 80's diet book from the thriftstore called "Intuitive Eating". While most of their food selections were dead wrong (read: lowfat) I just ignored all of that (I already knew better) but took away from this book what I still view to be one of the most helpful pieces of advice I've received and it is this: Love yourself exactly where you are. Love yourself so much that you will only allow the very best for yourself. Don't say, "when I lose x amount of pounds I can get some new clothes"- get the new clothes now for the size you are. Wear really comfortable undergarments and shoes. Don't buy cheap crap because you don't like your size. That is basically sending the message to yourself that you don't deserve nice things, that you are not worth the effort or expense. It is from that place of loving and caring for yourself that good decisions flow from. So yes, loving self=changing self, but not in a linear equations, it's more of a neverending spiral.

Start small and master something easy like scrambled eggs. Watch YouTube videos. Find suitable cookware (hello thriftstore). And watch more YouTube videos. Really, there is a teacher in the Internet who can show you anything you ever wanted to know.
If I were doing a vegw30 and didn't know how to cook I would probably eat a lot of frozen vegetables with ghee and scrambled eggs.

Wow Whole30. Just WOW. I can't believe the changes in me and I am only on day 15! The first week I lost my belly bloat and that was awesome because I typically had been measuring my self worth by waist girth (in an inverse proportion). That first week I struggled more with not weighing myself than avoiding off limit foods. I have a good bit of paleo eating under my belt before starting and had been off gluten for months, though the rice and corn I'd been dabbling in were problematic as well, I just couldn't stop harming myself with them. That's what led me to Whole30. I digress. The second week was pretty blah, ho-hum, low energy and GASSY. I was losing hope and thought my stomach was just broken for good. But then a couple days ago, the MAGIC hit me in a profound "I'll never be the same after this day" kind of way. I wasn't tired all day. Or hungry between meals. Or gassy. Or stressed. I was actually HAPPY in a calmly contended way. Just magical. I tried to invite my sugar dragon out by having some daterolls after dinner but...no sugar dragon. Then today I just lost all interest in weighing myself. Like ever. Like I really could just not care less about my weight. Thats a major attitude shift for me and so freeing. And there is also a lot of freedom in finally knowing what and how to feed my body to nourish it deeply and to not really have to try to figure it out meal by meal anymore. Talk about freeing up some energy and mental space! I am so grateful for this program and supportive community. Thank you Whole30 and fellow Whole30-ers. I look forward to reporting back on my full 30 day success story- I just couldn't contain my joy until then. Rock on everybody!!

Wow Whole30. Just WOW. I can't believe the changes in me and I am only on day 15! The first week I lost my belly bloat and that was awesome because I typically had been measuring my self worth by waist girth (in an inverse proportion). That first week I struggled more with not weighing myself than avoiding off limit foods. I have a good bit of paleo eating under my belt before starting and had been off gluten for months, though the rice and corn I'd been dabbling in were problematic as well, I just couldn't stop harming myself with them. That's what led me to Whole30. I digress. The second week was pretty blah, ho-hum, low energy and GASSY. I was losing hope and thought my stomach was just broken for good. But then a couple days ago, the MAGIC hit me in a profound "I'll never be the same after this day" kind of way. I wasn't tired all day. Or hungry between meals. Or gassy. Or stressed. I was actually HAPPY in a calmly contended way. Just magical. I tried to invite my sugar dragon out by having some daterolls after dinner but...no sugar dragon. Then today I just lost all interest in weighing myself. Like ever. Like I really could just not care less about my weight. Thats a major attitude shift for me and so freeing. And there is also a lot of freedom in finally knowing what and how to feed my body to nourish it deeply and to not really have to try to figure it out meal by meal anymore. Talk about freeing up some energy and mental space! I am so grateful for this program and supportive community. Thank you Whole30 and fellow Whole30-ers. I look forward to reporting back on my full 30 day success story- I just couldn't contain my joy until then. Rock on everybody!!

Wow Whole30. Just WOW. I can't believe the changes in me and I am only on day 15! The first week I lost my belly bloat and that was awesome because I typically had been measuring my self worth by waist girth (in an inverse proportion). That first week I struggled more with not weighing myself than avoiding off limit foods. I have a good bit of paleo eating under my belt before starting and had been off gluten for months, though the rice and corn I'd been dabbling in were problematic as well, I just couldn't stop harming myself with them. That's what led me to Whole30. I digress. The second week was pretty blah, ho-hum, low energy and GASSY. I was losing hope and thought my stomach was just broken for good. But then a couple days ago, the MAGIC hit me in a profound "I'll never be the same after this day" kind of way. I wasn't tired all day. Or hungry between meals. Or gassy. Or stressed. I was actually HAPPY in a calmly contended way. Just magical. I tried to invite my sugar dragon out by having some daterolls after dinner but...no sugar dragon. Then today I just lost all interest in weighing myself. Like ever. Like I really could just not care less about my weight. Thats a major attitude shift for me and so freeing. And there is also a lot of freedom in finally knowing what and how to feed my body to nourish it deeply and to not really have to try to figure it out meal by meal anymore. Talk about freeing up some energy and mental space! I am so grateful for this program and supportive community. Thank you Whole30 and fellow Whole30-ers. I look forward to reporting back on my full 30 day success story- I just couldn't contain my joy until then. Rock on everybody!!

Wow Whole30. Just WOW. I can't believe the changes in me and I am only on day 15! The first week I lost my belly bloat and that was awesome because I typically had been measuring my self worth by waist girth (in an inverse proportion). That first week I struggled more with not weighing myself than avoiding off limit foods. I have a good bit of paleo eating under my belt before starting and had been off gluten for months, though the rice and corn I'd been dabbling in were problematic as well, I just couldn't stop harming myself with them. That's what led me to Whole30. I digress. The second week was pretty blah, ho-hum, low energy and GASSY. I was losing hope and thought my stomach was just broken for good. But then a couple days ago, the MAGIC hit me in a profound "I'll never be the same after this day" kind of way. I wasn't tired all day. Or hungry between meals. Or gassy. Or stressed. I was actually HAPPY in a calmly contended way. Just magical. I tried to invite my sugar dragon out by having some daterolls after dinner but...no sugar dragon. Then today I just lost all interest in weighing myself. Like ever. Like I really could just not care less about my weight. Thats a major attitude shift for me and so freeing. And there is also a lot of freedom in finally knowing what and how to feed my body to nourish it deeply and to not really have to try to figure it out meal by meal anymore. Talk about freeing up some energy and mental space! I am so grateful for this program and supportive community. Thank you Whole30 and fellow Whole30-ers. I look forward to reporting back on my full 30 day success story- I just couldn't contain my joy until then. Rock on everybody!!