Carlaccini

Hi There! Welcome! I look forward to seeing your progress on this journey. As a person who was struggling with depression (undiagnosed - so no meds), anxiety and extreme moodiness prior to my first whole 30 - this for me was a game changer - even though it was not the sole reason why I pursued the whole 30. Truthfully I was in denial for years, and I didn't fully realize how bad it was until well after first my whole 30. I have noticed through the years (my first whole 30 was August of 2012) that certain foods for me trigger extreme moods and depression. For me personally I am extremely sensitive to corn and soy for this. Sugar usually lights the flame but the corn and soy provide the ammunition. But for you it could be completely different. But from what I understand, soy and sugar are apparently pretty common mood disrupters. So happy to see you give this a try. I totally recommend keeping your carbs in check. I find I have a happy place - too little and I'm in a bit of mess mentally and too much I am tired and lethargic. So you will need to play around to see what works best for you. Start with a fist sized portion of starchy veggie (think any root vegetable) and go from there. I came from a SAD way of eating that was tilting to be light on meat, almost vegetarian but not quite. The first 3 days of my whole 30 I craved red meat. (Probably because I found out later that my Vitamin B levels were crazy low - apparently I don't absorb B12 well). My advice is that your body will kind of tell you what it needs most of if you stop and listen to it rather than listen what the media tells you what you should and shouldn't eat. I had no real ethical concerns (although I completely understand the ethical argument as animals from the factory farmed system are not respected as animals) I just didn't *like* meat. (or so I was raised by the media to believe). So my suggestion here, if you can afford it, and if you can make it a priority, buy meat, poultry, fish from a ethical source. One that has respected the animal and raised it to be a happy, healthy animal. Basically in accordance to how it should be raised - outdoors, eating grass, wandering around in a field. Just my thought.

Hi CIAI This is one of those very grey areas that do cause a lot of controversy within the community. And I understand why. It has to do with your relationship with that thing that you are being asked to give up. And I get it. Let's say you have an addiction to coffee creamer - it's sweet, it's rich and its frothy. Yummy right? So one of the things that many people try to recreate on a whole 30 is their old foods that they have an addiction to. A date and almond milk is technically compliant right? Yep totally is. But mixing this together and putting it in your coffee is recreating an old favourite. Sweet - check. Rich - check. Frothy - yep if done with an immersion blender. But what you may not realize is that this is doing nothing for healing your relationship with food or your addiction to coffee creamer. Now I would agree with you it is a better choice than coffee creamer - but tell me why you have to recreate it? What is the real reason? I know you want to enjoy your coffee and you don't enjoy it black. I get it. But then why do you drink coffee? Do you drink it for the caffeine hit or because you really enjoy it? I asked a similar question many moons ago when I did my first whole 30. I was asking if I could make and eat paleo bread. I argued that I used it merely as a vehicle to get protein and fat into my mouth. I was asked why I needed it so badly that I could not live without it. And the truth was - I could live without it - I just didn't want to. I enjoyed baked goods too much and the thought of living without a baked good - even a rather tasteless one - scared me. So my suggestion is to examine why you feel you need it so badly. Best of luck to you!

Acne can be a symptom of your hormones adjusting - but it also can be a symptom of others things too. Foods that seem to affect skin: Nuts, (and nut butters as mentioned above) tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, potatoes, and eggs. Also crappy oils will affect your skin as well.(poor quality oils are not really on plan - but I thought I would throw that out there just as an FYI). I also have issues with pork giving me some pretty big and powerful pimples - so I have to watch my consumption of pork and make sure that all pork consumed has been well cooked. So if you are eating ANY of the above in large vast quantities - it might be time to scale back and see what happens.

How about the name Sabrina for the new baby?

Sorry I wanted to clarify by saying dried fruit.

Sorry to hear about your troubles. Think about cutting out the fruit and the nuts.for a bit. They have been know to cause a lot of diggestive distress for many (including me) Also remember raw veggies (aka salads) some people have some diggestive issues. For instance my body cannot break down raw carrots. They come out the same way they went in (Sorry for my TMI). That doesn't mean I don't eat salads or raw carrots. I do - just not everyday. I also find I have to consume a huge salad (think entire salad bowl) in order to keep satiated for hours.

I'm currently in mourning as I had to throw baby and mother out because of fruit flies and fuzzy blue mould - I was not a happy camper last night. Out to buy some plain GT's and start over.....

I also noted that although your fat consumption is relatively on the low side. This is really an important factor when you are breast feeding. I notice your morning meal contains them, but most of the time the rest of meals do not. Unless of course you are forgetting to mention them.

Question - I will be going away in a couple of weeks time for about a week. How would I keep Scoby happy during this time. I haven't made up my mind to give it another batch to ferment while I'm away or just let it rest. I'm thinking that if I give it another batch to ferment it might go to far to the vinegar side.

What I've read previously - it depends if you are doing a whole 30 or not. Vanilla beans if you are, and Vanilla extract if you're not.

I was so happy to discover my little scoby last night had completely covered over the top of my jar and is thickening up! I think she's almost ready to go! So excited.

Thank you PP! I've been reading this thread on and off a little and it looks like fun.... Now that I know things are "normal" I can relax a little. Now how big should little miss Scoby be in order to make booch? I would say she's a little smaller than my thumb at the moment.

Hey There, After getting impatient and excited to try this I started to attempt to grow my own Scoby. I'm about a week in. I checked last night and there seems to be a delicate white type flowery blob growing at the top of my jar (it's rather shy and likes hidding) but I also noticed a darker fuzzy layer forming on the bottom of my jar. I was certain that the white thing was my scoby but now I'm not sure. I'm sorry I'm a little bit technology defincient and don't have something to really take a good picture with so this is the best info I give out for now. So question 1) Is what I am explaining on top normal for scoby development and 2) which one is the scoby?

Nadia - Yes I drive mostly - but that thought made me giggle - I can only imagine..... Those teas sound phenomenal.... I have some wonderful Kasumi black and green teas that a friend of mine gave me. I am assuming that this would work well as a base?

Hi There - I'm kinda late to this booch brewing party.... Been considering to start making Kombucha for a while. I'm still not convinced that I have enough room to making it.... But with all the fantastic flavours I'm seeing listed here - I think I could get very excited about this.... Nadia - I read in a much earlier post that you have some Scoby babies.... If I make the decision to go through with this project would I be able to get some from you? I have a bit of a nomad lifestyle and live between Toronto and Montreal. So I am in Toronto often enough (generally 2 weeks out of every month). Plus I would like to get some possible pointers and hints if at all possible. Let me know..... Cheers