Amura

Mine was sugar. I used to have sugar in my tea. I never do that anymore. I've learned that when you order tea in a cafe it's likely to be left to over-infuse (while they serve the coffee for everyone else) so whenever I go to a cafe I only order mint tea (which I don't mind overinfused). Black/green tea when infused for too long taste bitter and I've learned I used sugar to balance that out. I've quit sugar from my daily life as it is. I might indulge in an ocasional treat, but I'm able to keep it actually ocasional and I'm proud of that.

I haven't posted in a while, I guess it's time for an update. At a certain point I started feeling worse. More tired, more foggy. At first I did not pay much attention to it (in fact I even posted here in February, and this started probably mid-January) because I thought it would not last. I had lost some weight during my W30, I was active, I was eating quite well... there might be another explanation, maybe stress, maybe my menstruation, whatever. But it kept going on and on. I started thinking that W30 had actually uncovered something. I did not feel that bad before my W30, but maybe after quiting something (something not so good but that my body had grown used to) and then going back to eating it, my body flat rejected it with an intensity it had never done before. I considered doing another W30 round. Maybe I could find the culprit and fix it. But after some consideration I decided I had to pay a visit to my doctor, see if there was something wrong. Probably my iron levels were simply low. Better check that out, just in case. So I asked a blood test. And my iron levels were perfectly fine. But other things were not. I had low vitD and levels folic acid levels. And my TSH was over the roof high! I was diagnosed hypothyroidism. Which just explains so much. Why I won so much weight in just two years, why I could not get rid of it, why I was always feeling tired, etc. My doctor prescribed me some supplements for my deficiencies, and suggested a complete thyroid test four months later. I asked him about dietary changes, but he said my eating habits were just fine. In this I did not follow his advice, I looked up usual eating recommendations for hypothyroidism and I went ahead and followed them anyway. Those recommendations included two which meet W30 criteria: quitting sugar and quitting soy. I've always used soy in moderation, but because it's not so important to my cuisine it's also quite easy to quit it completely. Check. Sugar is harder but I know I can because I've lived without it in the past. And I'm taking this very seriously, so something must be important to "be worth it". I did eat a bit of homemade cheesecake in my own birthday, for example. (That birthday I celebrated alone with my husband and son, because it was in the first days of our confinement, so they ate pie for four days ) Well, I'm happy I have a diagnosis, I still have a way to go but it's good to figure things out. Food is not a problem here, I do my grocery shopping every 10 days or so, so I can "comply" to my own rules without much problem. I've been intermitent fasting for a week. Although I've always been a breakfast person (which used to be high in protein, but I've learned to love adding veggies!) right now I think I don't enough to need as much energy as I normally do, and it seemed an easy way to cut down on the food I eat. Still testing though, I may change my mind at any time!

You can really add pretty much anything to a homemade mayo. Just add it and blend again. Done. For a Caesar salad dressing, this is what I would do: Make your own homemade mayo, the usual way. Add a little bit more oil afterwards (you don't want it as thick as a mayo), one garlic clove, 2-3 anchovies, and a teaspoon of mustard (I prefer Dijon, but you can use whatever you like or have at han). Also add salt, pepper & lemon juice to taste. And blend again.

I think my guidelines impact mostly in my meal plan and daily routines. I try to have a good amount of veggies in every meal, which is one of those things that everybody knows but hardly anyone sticks to. It has become increasingly easy for me. For example, we were eating out today - the menu was mixed grill with chimichurri sauce & fried potatoes, and that would be usually fine, but I made sure to also order a large salad to eat instead of potatoes. It's no big deal, but I would have never thought of it before. I'm also quite happy about eating little bread (which I still bake at home, but eat in tiny portions or even nothing at all) and dairy products (I've adjusted to using coconut milk when I want a creamy sauce). But that was not what really helped me during Christmas. It was my state of mind. The realization that I could say NO to many of those things made me feel in control. And that's something I owe to the Whole30.

It was the opposite for me. I was not used to sweet potatoes, and during my W30 I started to consume it more frequently and realized I really like them. Routines are changing and we need to adjust them, but there is a lot to be learned from that. Bored of sweet potatoes? Try something else!

Well, I survived Christmas after all Although I did gain a little weight, I'm satisfied because I managed to not fall into an spiral of self-shame and self-indulgence-after-the-shame. Of the 2kg I gained I have already shed one, simply following my routine, without any extra effort. So I'm hoping to lose the other one in the same fashion. That does not change the fact that I would like to get rid of 15kg more, mind you, but I'm glad my everyday eating-style is working well.

I don't think I had read it, Shannon, but it is very very useful indeed! Thank you very much. It somewhat relates to something @Angelia mentioned, her two-bites rules, but for me limiting to only two bites of something I really love sounded unsustainable. Waiting and judging whether it is worth or not, might be a bit hard the first time, might need some training, but I think that's something that could work for me long term. I'm gonna give this some more thought and maybe put it to test during the Christmas holidays.

I remember reading in the W30 book that you should tell everyone, your social media and all, that you are doing a W30. I was not sure at the time, and I did hesitate when it was time to get started. But I finally did. I even posted about it in my blog, because I wanted to reach everyone. And it worked for me. Because it somehow forced me to actually do the thing. You can't tell everyone about it, and even discuss whether this is healthy or not, and then give up. You just can't. So now I'm using the same logic in my daily routine. And hoping to stick to it! Christmas is complicated though. Here it is not just one meal - it's 5 to 6 lavish feasts within two weeks. Food will be ok, I'll just try to pass on the bread, but sweet treats are gonna be a real temptation. I do want to try them (because they are the kind of thing you'll only eat in Christmas time) but not overdo it, so I guess one small piece of each and then moving onto raisins and other dried fruits which will also be on the table at all times. So I guess I do have a plan. But even so it's gonna be testing.

Thank you very muchfor the input! I guess my ultimate goal is feeling able. As I gained so much weight, I noticed that some (quite normal) things were becoming somewhat harder. My BMI was 31, and playing with my 4yo was sometimes exhausting. That brought a feeling of not being able of doing what I want. Now down to a BMI 29, I'm still overweight but I'm starting to feel able again. Able to play, able to run (how he loves to run!). And I'm positive that the better my health the stronger that feeling will be. My guidelines are some sort of rules, I guess, but I did not want to use that word. Because for me a rule is something that should never be broken - under any circumstances. And in this case I know there shall be exceptions, and I don't want to feel guilty about them nor treat them like "cheat days" - I just want to enjoy every bite of those exceptions. So guidelines sounded better to me Work is tricky for me indeed. There is no snack bar in my workplace which means we all share with our coworkers. And people tend to bring baked goods, because everybody loves them. Some are store-bought, others are homemade, but there is loads of sugar in them anyway. I brought cashews and also some mint tea bags, which are a good alternative when I feel tempted. But I think that what has worked better for me is telling everybody that I do eat a very large breakfast hence I don't need to snack at work. The mere fact of telling others encourages me to live up to the hype Eating out is not a big deal though. We don't eat out often, and our food choices are good quality. May or may not be compliant, but generally healthy. I don't even eat a whole dessert anymore - but sometimes I do share with my son. So I'm not worrying much about this. I know I talked about this, but it's because I want to record all the issues in this thread. At home, I'm less sure of how I'm doing. Quite well, I guess, but sometimes I overindulge in little details such as eating nuts while I'm cooking (I'm about to serve lunch, why am I grazing?) or snacking a bit of bread with butter (ok, it's not a croissant, but as close as it can get in my kitchen). So, I don't know, probably not a big deal but I want to keep things as clean as possible. And Christmas are around the corner! THAT is gonna be hard to navigate!

You are doing very well! These are the worst days, the most likely ones to want to give up - so congrats on keeping up! You mention calories. I don't know much about that. But your meals might be a bit light on proteins perhaps? I'm assuming salad smoothies are only veggies, and I'm not sure that bubbles & squeak dish (amusing name btw) have enough proteins either. Remember to have 1-2 palm-sized portions of proteins in your meals and don't forget about fats either! Also smoothies are not a great meal choices. Drinking your meals is not the same as eating them, so whenever possible choose eating your veggies without blending them. But, most important of all: Keep it up!

OK, the short reset was a failure Friday and Saturday were fine. On Sunday we decided to eat out to a new restaurant in town. We don't eat out often, and there was a dish that was just the kind of thing I love, so I decided to order it anyway. Eating out usually means sharing a dessert with my son (he loves them but they are too large for him). While I was ok with ordering my dish (Food Freedom after all) I must admit I'm not so proud of indulging in that half a dessert. Well - I thought - I can start the reset on Monday anyway, can't I? And that's what I did. But Wednesday night the little one was sick, we hardly slept a pair of hours, no time for breakfast... and I ended up snacking whatever was avaliable at work. Which was not compliant of course - nor healthy. And I also drank a lot of tea, I was so sleepy. But the surprise came when the scale yesterday said 84.1 kg. I have not gained any weight despite a poorly-eating week. Or what I was considering a poorly-eating week, which was probably "normal" by most standards, but not close to the reset I meant to do. Which led me to consider how my point of view has changed - what I consider now a healthy approach is more strict, and what I consider now a relaxed approach is perhaps healthier than it used to be. It's interesting.

Congratulations!! It's reassuring to see such good results. Keep up the good work.

One question, forgive if I'm too forward: Are you breastfeeding? If you are breastfeeding (maybe he drinks both formula/breastmilk? Cause you mention both) I would simply remove the formula. Breastmilk is by far nutritionally more interesting, and toddlers are much better than adults at knowing what they need - I'm sure he would ask you for more. Current WHO recomendations are to breastfeed at least until 2-years-old, and I think it give moms the peace of mind of knowing that if our toddler is getting a proper nutrition even if he does not eat everything on his plate. If you are no longer breastfeeding or you are planning on stopping any time soon, I don't think that any kind of substitute is actually required. If your toddler likes them he may eat dairy products, or cononut milk, or nuts milk. But he does not need any of them whatsoever. Keep offering him balanced meals, and you'll see that he'll be choosing/asking for more energetic food when he needs it. My son in those cases (he's 4 now) chooses highly-caloric fruit such as bananas, yours may be choosing sweet potatoes or carrots, but I'm sure he'll be asking for it.

I do love legumes, specially because I think it would be nice to eat less animal products. You know, the killing and all that. I'm not vegan or vegetarian, I do eat meat and fish and eggs on a regular basis, but I would like to increase the proportion of vegetables as much as possible without giving up on health nor taste. Also legumes are easy to cook, but take a bit of planning. For the soaking. I don't think I've eaten any peanuts recently, it's something that I did not even care to test because I hardly ever eat them. Gluten and sugar though, that's my battle too! Before my Whole30 I would have said my inmediate problem was sugar, but now I've come to realize that other things (such as bread) may be a bad influence because it leads me to grazing.

Also mayo recipes call for an acid (either lemon juice or vinegar), it's not for taste only. Acidic enviroments are safer. So do not skip it Low temperatures are certainly essential. But even so I would encourage you to eat your homemade mayo as soon as possible, preferably within 1-2 days. (I know my fellow whole30ers feel this is "extreme" but, in my opinion, it's because you've only been making mayo for a handful of years. In my country homemade mayo is traditional, a quite normal thing to do in every household - to the point where there are laws regulating mayo! And nobody would keep mayo for over 2 days. Just in case.)