madness

There's a couple of 10/16 start date threads. Hopefully we all join into one! This one had the most replies/people, so I'm posting here. This is my third round. First one was last year, and I ate pretty well for much of the time afterward. I kept the weight off (I lost 30 lbs over 80 days on Whole30) and it took a long time for any issues to crop back up. So I went back to Whole30 in August. On day 31, I went TOTALLY off the rails. I tried to clean up a bit and do some reintroductions, but it wasn't happening. So I'm back to the full plan. I started earlier, sometime last week. But I'm not sure what day. My plan was to start on the 16th (and in the meantime, eat non-compliant foods/leftovers to get rid of them). But I found myself eating fully compliant maybe 5 days before my official start. But I'm starting the timer on 16th. So it's Day 4. I won't be following the timeline since I not only just finished another round but also started eating compliant early. I *think* I should be in the nap phase but I'm guessing that since I was only off plan for about 3 weeks, I'm going to have lesser symptoms. Nap phase hits me HARD usually! How's everyone else doing?

HAHAHA! I didn't buy coconut aminos for my first Whole30 last year. I just did without any of that flavor. But this time I was determined to have some Asian food that tasted *right*. I was HORRIBLY disappointed with the coconut aminos too! So I played around with recipes and made different things rather than my usual Asian dishes. It was fine in some things but severely lacking in others. So I hear ya!

Looks like you guys are doing well with those introductions! I'm back on the full blown plan - have been for a few days. I actually don't even know exactly when I started. I had made the decision last Monday that I would eat the non-compliant leftovers but stick to Whole30 when cooking. Once leftovers were gone, I would officially start. But by Friday, I realized that I was throwing out leftovers that hadn't been eaten. My subconscious made the decision for me! So I'm maybe 5 days in, but today is my super official Day 1 of Round 3. Any of you having trouble with dairy might want to look into raw cow milk or goat milk. We get raw cow milk from a nearby farm. It's soooo good. When our farm is producing it, we drink raw goat milk. I love it but one of my kids is very sensitive to any off flavors (the taste is slightly variable depending on what they are eating, but none of it is offensive to me). Goat milk at the grocery store is usually very strong tasting and pretty dang gross. See if you can find a nearby farm.

Hey everyone, I'm one of those that started earlier but stayed for the party! I'm here to give you a bit of advice...DO REINTRODUCTIONS. I know. You are all planning on doing them properly. But REALLY. Do them. First time around, nothing bothered me and I just went straight to 80/20 and was totally fine for months with no lapses in NSVs (or weight!). Took nearly a year for some of those NSVs to finally fade away (and the weight never came back!). This time, I went straight to eating anything at day 31. But then back to Whole30 for a few days. Then on to "whatever". I've been on the "whatever" wagon for a week now. I FEEL LIKE CRAP. I'm gearing up for another full round. I thought I would just go Whole30 for a week and then do reintroductions. I'd probably still learn a lot from that, but might as well go full on. Half my family is doing it this month already, and many of my friends are so used to me eating this way. So really, I have no excuse. What do I have to lose? Another 8 pounds? Arthritis pain? Insomnia? Sign me up!

I only go once a week. But I guess that's kinda misleading because I get vegetables other times during the week (from my family farm). But almost all of the meat I buy is frozen, or I buy it fresh and freeze what I won't be using in the next 2 days. As for veggies, I do try to use up the more perishable ones first. Mung beans sprouts seem to go bad the instant I bring them in my house. Sigh. Any processed vegetable you get (like the riced cauliflower) will go bad faster than just getting the whole vegetable. If you really want to stick to only shopping once a week but are having issues with vegetables, save things like carrots, turnips, beets, winter squash, peppers, cabbage, and celery for later in the week. Leafy greens, green beans, asparagus, and any processed or damaged vegetable should be used sooner.

I hadn't yet heard of the Whole30 when I was pregnant, but I DEFINITELY went through thinking all food was gross. Pregnancy is hard on you, both physically and emotionally. It could be too much stress to keep up the diet. On the other hand, you only have 7 days left. I can almost guarantee that if Whole30 foods are grossing you out, probably anything will. That cracker might sound good now, but it will probably not be very satisfying. Oddly enough, I did actually eat mostly whole30 when pregnant with my second. All I wanted was mashed potatoes and broccoli. I knew I needed protein so also had some eat. I ate tons and tons of that for a meal. Mashed potatoes, or some other potato dish might satisfy the "want a cracker" craving. Oh! I can't recall where this advice came from, but in order to satisfy a pregnant woman's cravings, we read that she should say the qualities of the food she was craving, like "salty" or "crunchy" or "hot" or whatever it is. Then let someone else (husband, etc) figure out the food to get her. We made it into kind of a joke and I would randomly yell out "COLD, SWEET, AND CRUNCHY!" or something and see what he would come up with. BUT, if you figure out what it is about that cracker that you want (is it the crunch, the salt, the bland flavor, the nostalgia of crackers for an upset stomach?), you might be able to come up with a Whole30 alternative. Many people get over these food issues in a short period of time. Almost everyone is finished by the end of the first trimester. Hang in there!

Oh Lady! Your family is sounding more and more like mine. My 7 yr old is the skinny mini who already has a limited palate of foods. She is understanding the Whole30 more as she has seen me doing it on and off for a year and a half now. But I don't think she could take on the challenge of keeping herself compliant when not at home and offered off-plan foods. MiniMe has embraced that. I feel like there's an age range, maybe 5-10 or so, where your kids aren't with you all the time (i.e., in school) and they don't have much impulse control. This age range seems nearly impossible to keep a kid on Whole30 UNLESS they truly embrace it. So I feel you on not having Sissy on it full-time. My ex-husband (we have an interesting living situation and still live as a family unit) also refuses to go on the plan. But he is my biggest cheerleader and says I'm a completely different (meaning: wonderful!) person when eating this way. He has his own issues (high AC1, sleep apnea, allergies, ADD) and it's frustrating that he won't commit. I now have both of my brothers on board (one is just wrapping up his first round and the other is starting on Friday with his wife), and might have convinced my mom to try it as well. My ex *might* be coming around and willing to really do it. But he has started several times with me and ends up "cheating" by the 3rd or 4th day. He doesn't understand that there is NO cheating. You just screwed up and have to start over. He rolls his eyes at me and continues "cheating" when he feels like it. Sigh. My backpacking trip went amazingly well and I was fully complaint. Then I went to the conference. Drank wine, had pie...and threw up. I'm back home and still not feeling great after 2 days of non-compliant food. So back on the wagon!

I ate at the Silver Diner in Clarendon when I was there in Jan. I had a flat iron steak with a salad and potatoes. I had to ask them to make a few changes (I think it was just butter that wasn't compliant). I just looked at their menu online and that's not on it any more. It was GOOD. They probably would accommodate as well still.

There's a couple of restaurants near the riverwalk that are paleo friendly and source locally. They will probably be your best bet for finding something compliant, or easily making minor adjustments to make something complaint. 5 Points Local is awesome. Pharm Table is all vegetarian (or maybe vegan?) and does a lot of take out. It's just for lunch. It might be a good way to get the veggie portion of your meal, but bring along some protein. And Feast doesn't necessarily have paleo stuff on the menu, but it's a seasonal restaurant and they are usually more than willing to make accommodations.

I see that this is an older post, but I thought I would just add in that I've never used a thickener in my canned salsa. Let us know how it went!

My kids love meat sticks/jerky for hiking. I recently bought the Chomps on a whim when I saw they were compliant. Neither kid would eat them. We've tried all the flavors of Epic bars. I couldn't stomach them at all. One kid liked a few of the flavors but she's 5 and couldn't finish the bar herself. So I gave up on those. There's a South African meat stick called droewors. I found a compliant brand at Whole Foods in DC but haven't seen it again. IT WAS DELICIOUS. Just googling right now, I see some other brands that are compliant. If you like coriander, you have to try this stuff. Our favorite dried meat snack is venison sausage we get from HEB and Central Market. Not sure where you are located, so you might not be able to get it..hmmm looks like the ship them! We love the smoked and the jalapeno flavor. https://www.heb.com/product-detail/central-market-venison-semi-dry-sausage/1869608

The applegate uncured genoa salami and the sopresseta have dextrose and wine. Boar's head has a line of cured meats that are specifically no sugar added. They have a beef salami in that line. That's the only one I've ever seen at the grocery store. A local butcher/charcuterie shop might have some they've made themselves. There's one here that recently started making some cured meats without any sugar added.

Oh yes, those are good ones too! I have hit or miss issues with nuts, so I prefer to leave those at home...don't need digestive issues on the trail! But I also usually bring dried fruit as part of lunch. Well, I just got back from a 2 night trip and thought I would share what I took! The short of it: M2: turkey salami with ghee, seaweed, fruit leather M3: pulled pork and mashed potatoes (with olive oil), beet chips M1: scrambled eggs with sundried tomatoes (added olive oil), topped with bacon M2: beef jerky, oily eggplant jerky, fruit leather M3: beef and veggie bowl with olive oil M1: scrambled eggs with sweet potato greens (added olive oil), topped with bacon M2: turkey jerky, green bean snacks, fruit leather The long of it: I make most of my own food. I started doing this originally because I felt like there weren't enough veggies in packaged food for hiking/backpacking. Then I realized how much cheaper it was! And finally, once I discovered Whole30 last year, it only made sense to make my own food. I'm not always 100% strict on a backpacking trip (usually sugar is the thing that slips, especially if I'm using commercially prepared meats), but this trip I was! I took 2 lbs of food for a full two days of meals, plus one more lunch. I knew this was below standard (1.25 lbs of a food day is good for ultralight) but I carry plenty of fat around with me everywhere, so I wasn't too worried. I frequently have low appetite the first 48 hours so just stuck with the meal template for this trip. First day lunch was super vinegary turkey salami from a local shop (which doesn't use sugar!). It's weird...but was expensive and I knew food always tastes better on the trail. I tossed some ghee in the bag for fat. The seaweed was 3 snack sized packages. I could have used 1 more but it wouldn't fit in the bag. The fruit leather was homemade from dribs and drabs we had left over (blackberries, cherries, banana, jack fruit...I think...!). I knew how many servings went into the pot, so I cut the strips to be a Whole30 serving each. Dinner was homemade and dried pulled pork. First time trying this on the trail. It was actually perfectly edible without being rehydrated! The mashed potatoes were commercially made. I drizzled olive oil over all of it. The homemade (and homegrown!) beet chips were super oily too...and delicious! I forgot to add seasoning to them at home, but just salt was perfect. Breakfast the second day was scrambled eggs. I've just started drying my own eggs (from my own chickens ) and am still figuring out the best way to rehydrate and cook. They are fairly different than commercially made stuff (thank goodness! blech...). I mixed in homemade sun-dried tomatoes during cooking and sprinkled bacon on top. Let me talk about bacon for a minute. I cure my own. Supposedly I should be able to take this as-is on the trail. But I cook it and then dehydrate it for a bit. It's more like bacon bits then - nice and crunchy. I've eaten loads of bacon with a first breakfast on the trail (or car camping when I don't feel like cooking it from scratch) and it's never been a problem. Your mileage may vary. Oh, and instant coffee. I buy it bulk and put it in baggies. Lunch was locally made beef jerky, my own eggplant jerky, and the same fruit leather recipe. The eggplant is AMAZING. I found this recipe maybe 5 years ago and I will stuff my face with eggplant now. Who'da thunk it? Slice thin and marinade in ume plum vinegar, olive oil and salt. The original recipe has honey added to it, but I haven't noticed any real difference leaving that out. Then dehydrate. It's really oily at the end and just perfectly chewy and delicious. Love it. I didn't quite finish this meal. Dinner was one-pot beef and veggies. I love this stuff. I brown a pound of ground beef and add to it ~4 packed cups of finely diced (as in, food processor) vegetables. I'll put ANYTHING in it. This one was carrots, zucchini, celery, cabbage and onions. I'll season it with whatever the veggies seem to suggest - sometimes it's taco seasoning, this time it was italian herbs. This is how I get rid of random veggies in the fridge and get my kids to eat all sorts of stuff. I usually serve this for dinner and freeze half for a quick dinner later. Or if I'm making it for backpacking, I'll add 4 servings of shredded potatoes while it's cooking. Then that makes 4 one-pot backpacking meals! Breakfast on the third day was another scramble - this time with sweet potato leaves. This was another first. I had several bunches that didn't sell at market and knew I couldn't use them before I left on my trip...so I dried them! They turned out great in the eggs - the leaves can be slimy but drying them removed that completely. Again, I crumbled bacon on top. This was the first time I've used the bacon beyond the first morning. But no ill effects! And my last lunch wasn't even needed. I made good time finishing up the trail. This is good because I'm leaving for a conference in about an hour and this gives me a meal to take along that I don't even have to worry about refrigeration or cooking for. It was turkey jerky, green bean snacks and the fruit leather. The green beans were a huge disappointment. Followed a recipe online and ended up with something the texture and taste of twigs. They are covered in nutritional yeast which is the only thing that makes them edible. So they are salty, oily, savory twigs... And now I have a few minutes to recover from 35 miles of trail before a 4 hour car ride. At least I'm not driving. Maybe I'll take a nap.

Keep on trucking everyone! I finished my official 30 days...and promptly had cookies and milk on Day 31. And it wasn't even that good. No ill effects, but I'm back on the program. I'm going on a three day backpacking trip tomorrow and I don't wan digestive issues! I'll be out of town until Wednesday...that'll be Day 17 for you guys! Go get 'em!

I had pretty major weight gain after starting an anti-depressant (for anxiety) years ago. I had also had major weight LOSS before starting it, as I couldn't eat much for about 6 weeks prior. So my body was not in a good state at all. But I felt like even eating a "normal" diet, I was gaining. That didn't help with anxiety. If it were me, I would give Whole30 at least 60 days to "work" - that's how long it took me on my first round to see those non-scale victories I was hoping for. I'm on day 29 of round 2, and again, I think I'm going to need more time. My scale number did drop in the first 30 days, but I was more interested in other things. So your body may just be taking the time to get things in order. Stick with it! You certainly aren't doing any harm.