Munkers

Vegetables that cook down (like spinach and other greens) are less satiating that veggies like broccoli or potatoes which maintain most of their volume after cooking. One cup of spinach, with a meal, is almost nothing in terms of plant matter. Three cups is better, but still likely to leave you hungry after a few hours if you don't add other veggies to the meal. You may want to focus less on the 1-3 cup measure and focus more on filling your plate with vegetables. Put your protein on a dinner plate and then cover the rest of your plate in vegetables.

Here's an article on how to encourage weight maintenance while on the Whole30: http://whole30.com/2013/12/keeping-weight-whole30/ Also, take the time to review the meal template (found here) and make a mental note that you probably need to eat on the upper end of the template. That means aiming for 2 portions of protein and fat per meal or even more as your appetite allows. More frequent carbohydrate portions will also help you maintain weight, but you'll have to experiment a little with how often and how much to figure out makes your body happy. The meal template has lots of examples/ideas for incorporating fat into your meals. You can also look into recipes for mayo and fat-based sauces which will add some fun and interesting flavors.

If I'm worried about my husband or me snarfing up dinner leftovers and not having anything for lunch, I'll pull my lunch portion from the skillet/pan/whatever right after it's done cooking and then stick it in the fridge. If it's out of sight, we never miss it.

I absolutely feel depressed and mopey when I've missed a meal or haven't eaten enough, especially if I skip breakfast. I have depression which, for the most part, is controlled and I'm okay most of the time. A few weeks ago, I thought I was hitting a major depressive period. I was despondent, had zero motivation, and was just struggling in general. This coincided with several days in a row when I was running out of the house without breakfast. When I started eating breakfast again, I realized that my depression was still stable. Since you're doing competitive Crossfit, I would echo the other mods in encouraging you to eat on the upper end of the template. You'll need lots of protein for muscle repair and lots of fat for energy and hormone regulation. Fat helps to support your thryoid, your adrenals, and every other hormone in the body so I really can't overstate it's importance for energy, hormone balance, and overall well-being. Experiment with different fats and see which one is most friendly to your gallbladder. You might also consider using bile salts to help support your increased fat consumption.

Pederson's makes a sugar-free bacon, but it's not something my local stores consistently stock. My Whole30's are usually bacon free or we just sub in prosciutto.

Wine varieties are named after the types of grape that go into creating them so there are chardonnay grapes, merlot grapes, etc. If the package referenced "chardonnay grapes" then I'd say that you're in the clear and they're just referencing that a specific grape variety was used. With it being listed as just "chardonnay" then I would assume that they use wine.

I love it because I pretty much always have the ingredients already in my pantry. A bonus is that it fits the dietary needs of ALL my friends (vegetarian, dairy-allergy, celiac, and soy intolerant.)

I did pork ribs in the crockpot with just a dry rub of cumin, LOTS of paprika, and salt/pepper. They were really good and super quick to toss together before I left for work.

Anything that you can cook in bulk will work. Ground beef, chicken or steak on the grill (switch up serving whole vs. in strips vs. chopped into cubes), whole chickens, pork roast, beef roast, etc. A batch of chili can be eaten as chili, used as a potato topper, turned into taco salad, etc.

It's coming, I promise! I just keep forgetting to actually pull out my receipts and put the summary together when I'm at the computer.

Yes! I'm glad you like it. I made it for the first time months ago when my husband was on a fishing trip and I was home alone and needing comfort food. This totally hit the spot and I loved having a few raisins sprinkled on top. Hubby loved the leftovers when he got home.

I get the most bang for my kitchen time when I focus on prepping components instead of prepping recipes. So instead of making salmon cakes and casseroles and very specific meals, I cook a big hunk (or two) of meat, chop and roast vegetables, hardboil some eggs, and maybe make some mayo or a sauce. I pretty much always do the meat in the crockpot. When I'm done with my prep, I'll have a big container of meat and an assortment of vegetables that can be made into different meals and changed up with different spices or prep techniques. My pot roast in the crockpot can be eaten as pot roast with broccoli and sweet potatoes, tossed in the skillet for stirfry with coconut aminos and rice vinegar, or mixed with some tomato sauce and served over green beans for an Italian-style meal. When you have the components already cooked in your fridge, all you have to do is warm them up and season them for meal time. You'll have food on the table in 5-10 minutes.

Here's a partial write-up of mine and my husband's Whole30 budget experiment. We went without nuts for the 30 days because of the cost. They would have been nice to have, but they weren't going to keep our tummies full and happy like meat and veggies would. Same story for fruit. We did a little bit, but if I had to choose between vegetables or fruit, I chose the vegetables. Our meals were built around whatever meat or produce was on sale that week. Cabbage is usually a good, affordable option for veggies. We also did broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots. When frozen vegetables were on sale, I would buy bags of frozen spinach. I also opted to make my own coconut milk because it was cheaper than buying cans and because I could use the leftover pulp to make coconut flour. My biggest tip is to just get in the habit of watching the sale ads each week and try to focus several of your meals around the hot plates concept. More variety generally equals more cost so look for vegetables that you can use in multiple ways and for multiple meals. Also check the coupon policy for your Albertson's. The one near my home still offers double and triple coupon deals which is REALLY helpful when buying pantry items like canned goods, oils, nut butters, etc. Do a web search for "couponing" and your town name. There are tons of blogs that track the local sales and then show you how to match coupons with what is already on sale so you can maximize your savings.

This is a really personal decision. For some folks, it's more important to be able to do things quickly and risk a less accurate read on what specifically they're reacting to whereas others what to know for absolute certain what their trigger foods are. There's always the option to start out on the slow roll option and then accelerate to the fast track OR start out on the fast track, realize you don't feel so hot and return to Whole30 eating until you feel better and then carry on with the slow roll approach.

I've found compliant smoked salmon at Sprouts and Whole Foods, but they were exorbitantly priced and not worth it for me to purchase. Depending on what you want to use it for, you may just be better off with canned salmon.