Whole30 I Love You

[Emma]

Whole30 works for me.  It doesn't magically make everything go away, but my body is sure in a better space than it was back in March.  I did Whole30 in April and then again in June.  Last week I caught a fairly nasty cold which was a drag, but ended up being a wonderful gift.  That cold was the first virus I've ever had that did not lead to asthma attacks afterwards.

 

My poor system has probably been so inflamed for all my life that it never stood a chance - till now.

 

Tonight or tomorrow we go out to dinner with a friend to our local pub.  I plan to have a beer.  I'm not sure what else I will have - a burger?  with a bun?  But I hope that I can do that and then just jump right back in to eating well while at home.  The positives benefits of eating well couldn't be much more clear.

[GFChris]

Will the beer be gluten-free? 

 

Seriously, glad the W30 has gone so well for you. Have you done any sort of reintro so you know what bothers you and how?

 

Enjoy your dinner out!

[Emma]

@GFChris - No!  And I should!  And yet, in all my humanness, I somehow still manage to not always do the things that would be best!!  

 

The beer wasn't gluten free, but it was good.  I had two.

The burger wasn't really that great.  I took off the top of the bun, but after hanging out and chatting and talking and being all social, I just started picking at that too.  I did not eat my fries.  I did eat a skinny slice of pizza.  Yeah, I know.  

 

So instead of a reintroduction, I introduced wheat, sugar and dairy into my system.  My husband (who hasn't been totally Whole30 in June) had a buffalo chicken salad which means a salad with great spicy vinegary chicken on it.

 

The kids had some pizza.

 

Now the good thing about the evening....my kids didn't keep eating like they used to.  They had a piece or so and then stopped.  That's huge!  We had a good time with our friends.  That's huge.  We enjoyed the paleo cupcakes I made for my friend's birthday.  That was a nice sweet treat that kept things somewhat in line .

 

But that night...wooey.   We fell asleep fine.  Then I noticed my stomach hurting, but I tried sleeping through it.  Then I noticed my husband was up with crazy bad cramping - the kind so bad that I was googling appendicitis even though I knew it had to be the foods.  He was unable to stand upright for a couple hours.  And then, my little boy woke up!  He used to struggle with falling asleep and staying asleep as a baby, but in recent months has been sleeping fairly well, till the other night.

 

I went in to be with him and he was wide awake and unable to fall asleep for several hours.  He sat in the dark and read and then tossed and turned next to me and finally we (because I also couldn't fall asleep) fell asleep around 5:30 in the morning.  I'd been up for FOUR hours, my husband TWO and my three year old son, THREE.  

 

Could it have been the foods we ate?  

 

But of course we have no clue WHICH thing caused what.  My kids never complained of stomach upset and my little girl who is the carb queen sugar dragon lover slept just fine.  

 

We did fall right back into Whole30 eating the next day and we have all slept quite well the past two nights.  Later in the week, I think I'll introduce some plain yogurt and see how that goes.  That's one thing we liked having around our house.  And more dairy?  We've never had milk in our house so it would really just be yogurt and cheese - try more or am I opening up doors for things we don't need?  Hmmm - guess I should do some reading on this reintroduction thing and actually try it out a bit.  Will certainly make it better to navigate food choices when traveling with the in-laws.

 

And what would I do differently if I were going out to dinner again?

 

Well - I should admit that last night I had another beer and it seemed just fine.  I slept well and feel fine.  So if I were to go out again, I think I'd have the beer?  I feel like this is a trick question and I'm about to answer everything wrong!    It's funny how poorly we learn from our ways.  I'm certain my husband would have all the same things again.  Sometimes when the writing is right there on the wall, we still manage to ignore it.

 

But I do think it calls for some serious thinking about reintroducing small things so we can at least know what works and what doesn't.   

[pjena]

Sorry about the reintro pain.  Part of the problem for me is that little bits of one thing don't seem to cause a reaction big enough to notice.  It's the multiple bad foods that now seem to cause a worse reaction than pre W30.  And then you add other factors like sleep and weather and allergens.  It's so hard to tell. 

[Emma]

@pjena - That must be very frustrating and I hope that's not the case with us, but I wouldn't be surprised.  Seems like part of the issue for many must not be just the food item, but also the quantity.  Oh, how I wish there was something simple I could avoid that would make things easier.  You mentioned allergens and so far I've been pretty free of them because I've been living on allergy pills, but I think I'm going to end that today or tomorrow.  All hell might break loose, but I'm going to see how it goes.

[Emma]

I was all set to stop my allergy meds last night and then I chickened out.  The pollens are in the air.   I had a weird rash on my leg that looked like lyme disease.  Lots of excuses.  (We have no ticks so the chance of lime disease was pretty small.  I'm pretty sure the red ringed rash was a mosquito bite.)

 

Today I woke up sneezing and glad I still had the protection of allergy pills.

 

Tomorrow we are going to reintroduce dairy.  I certainly don't need to have two changed variables going on in my body so I'll stick with the meds till I get through a few of these reintroductions. 

 

I bought plain yogurt, cheddar cheese and goat cheese last night.  They are sitting on the top shelf of our fridge looking downright delicious.  The cheddar cheese is really the one tempting me the most.  I miss goat cheese in recipes.  I like plain yogurt, but not sure what we'll eat it with since our normal fare is out.  But cheddar cheese was always something just to slice and eat and then slice again. I almost hope we can't have it around our house because I think it leads me astray.  Though, I'd like to discover that nothing actually produces bad reactions.

 

Normal breakfast of eggs and sweet potatoes

Lunch grass-fed hotdogs, smidgin of sweet potatoes, raspberries, almonds

Dinner Chicken adobo with zucchini, onions and mushrooms

Neighborhood birthday party tonight at the park so paleo cupcakes or cookies for a treat

 

I'm still hungry - well, not hungry, but I can feel my brain wanting.  Must mean my lunch wasn't particularly fulfilling.  I'd best go fix up something that will get my brain onto things other than the possible foods available in our kitchen.

 

Oh!  I dreamed I ate a bagel and as I was eating it, I realized it wasn't okay and was bummed out, but not quite willing to stop.  And then later I was just munching on a bag of pretzels!  Craziness.  SO glad it was all in a dream and not real life.

[Emma]

Plain yogurt with our sweet potatoes and eggs was deeelicious.  We also had no side effects that we're aware of.  It's been nice living dairy free, but I do miss the sweet bitter taste of plain yogurt and the idea that it might support my gut bacteria.  For lunch we had some nitrate/sugar free salami with a bit of cheddar cheese.  That too was nice, but felt a bit like opening a Pandora's box.  When I was slicing it, I had a huge desire to just pop it in my mouth right away.   Dinner will be salmon and vegetables with goat cheese or maybe some more cheddar cheese.  I picked up the dairy the other day thinking I was doing things right, but then last night I started reading some and thinking and had an Oh No moment where I wondered if I was doing it all wrong.  Shouldn't reintroduction just be butter and whole cream - paleo stuff?  But then today I tried to tell myself that no, we are trying to also find out what works or doesn't work in our bodies.  But shouldn't I really be buying cheese that comes from pasture fed cows?  Oh - so many little things that are so easy to forget until you're right in the learning space!

 

As for the good news: I jogged a bit with my kid outside and my knee felt just fine.  My foot pained up once but then eased up and was okay.  I keep telling myself I'm going to watch some of the Chi Running videos online and learn how to walk and run differently.

 

Oh - last night reading, I was reminded about why everybody is trying to avoid snacking on almonds.  I'm a pretty skilled almond snacker.  I entered my foods yesterday into my old Fitness Pal app and looked at the totals of carbs, proteins and fats.  Wow - those almonds do add up fast.  I've been enjoying life maybe losing a little bit of weight while eating generous portions and filling breakfasts of sweet potatoes.  I'm going to try to shake that up a bit.  I'd like to be eating healthy AND get myself into a healthy BMI zone.  I'm pretty darn close, but I think I need to start refining how I eat.

 

Fewer almond handfuls for me is the plan, as well as much smaller sweet potato portions at breakfast.  I was also stunned by how little calcium I ingested yesterday and can guess that it's pretty indicative of most days so I'm going to seek out some calcium rich foods to incorporate.

 

I think I might also up my digestive enzymes from one twice a day to a couple.  Either that or start sipping some apple cider vinegar.  My digestive system still seems to send things through my system non-solidly and I'd like to firm that up.  (hee - catch that pun!)

 

And what else?  I guess that's it.  Overall things are pretty good.  My energy feels more solid in the evenings and I can get more done than a few months back when everything felt like drudgery.  I'm sure there's lots of room for improvement, but already what I've got is a zillion times better than before Whole30.

[Emma]

We had goat cheese inside our stuffed bell peppers last night and it was wonderful. I love goat cheese.  We then took the kids to the playground and once we got there, I thought, "Oh crap - I need to go to the bathroom".  Luckily the feeling passed so we were able to stay, but then about ten minutes later, my little boy announced he had to go poopy.  There's no bathroom there.  Last time when he said he did and I said we'd have to go home, he decided he could keep playing.  Last night he didn't so we drove home and he went straight to the potty.

 

Goat cheese effect?  Could have been.  He was also a bit gassy this morning and I may have been too.  His digestive system seems to be back to normal and no other ill effects so goat cheese is a go? on occasions?  I really did enjoy having it with some sauteed spinach this morning for breakfast.  I'd like it to be part of our life, but not if it aggravates our systems as far as healing.

 

I'm noticing that my ears are crackling also.  Now, my ears have always crackled when I swallow.  Always.  But it seems that I haven't noticed it lately.  I noticed it after our night out with lots of non-good foods and I'm noticing it today.  Is it possible that the time I wasn't noticing it, the ear crackles were gone?  I guess we will abstain from dairy for the next three days and I will try to note what happens.

 

I punched in my foods to My Fitness Pal again yesterday and today.  Amazing how I am packing in the calories by lunch!  Last year, when I was counting calories, I'd try to eat as meagerly as possible the first half of the day so I could save my calories for dinner.  Now I just kinda eat a lot all the time and it seems okay.  I was surprised however by the high carb content in fruit and even though I've read that, it didn't really hit home till last night when my carb numbers were again over 100.  I'm going to try to keep them in a lower range until I'm doing the exercise to really warrant it.  Hopefully that will get my body losing a little of this weight that it still keeping me out of the healthy BMI range.

 

Breakfast: salmon, spinach, mushrooms, goat cheese

Lunch: zoodles, ground chicken, tomato paste/coconut milk, tomatoes, mushrooms, onions

Dinner: salmon, something with spaghetti squash?  tbd

[Emma]

Not my best sleeping night last night.  I was vaguely aware of dozing in and out, but it must not have been too bad because I woke up at 6:08 and knew I was ready to get up.  THAT is a nice thing.  What was the cause of the poor sleeping?  Oh, I don't know.  My digestive system still feels a bit wonky.  I've upped the digestive enzymes to two at each meal and so there are changes going on inside at some level.  Or perhaps it's the ridiculous amount of paleo lemon meltaways that I ate?  They were good, but not THAT good, but they were still quite addicting - so easy to just pop in your mouth.   Still trying to find a quick easy sweet that would be appealing to non paleo folks and that as I could use as a quick go-to recipe to make.

 

The biggest news is hopefully no news at all, but I have this concern that I am pregnant.  My cycle went from 28 days to 21 days, but I think it only does that every other month. Hmmm.  I was certain the normal things were all falling into place last week but that was a no-go.  I'm certain things are gonna happen any hour, but I've been thinking (and feeling that) for a week.  It IS quite possible that all the signals I used to have regarding upcoming events are different, but this is getting a bit ridiculous.  It would not be a bad thing if I was pregnant, but it would mean I'd started something with things in my body that I don't want there - namely, allergy pills.  So....what a great motivator to finally just stop the allergy pills.

 

Luckily it's rainy so the pollens are down.  I won't know how life feels without allergy pills for a day or two, but I hope it's a smooth transition.  

 

It also brings up this desire to be thinner and fitter going into a pregnancy.  Ahhh, but I'm not.  I'm not in bad shape, but I'd like to feel healthier and stronger.  So...we shall see.

 

Breakfast:  salmon, eggs, spinach, 

Lunch: ground turkey with spaghetti squash

Dinner: salmon and not sure yet

 

Oh - last week, we made some cauliflower tortillas and I loved them!  It's the first cauliflower thing that I've really liked.  Yay for trying new recipes.

 

Goals for the day:

Trying not to snack (I've been pretty bad about that)

No nuts (aside from the nut flour in the cookies I made, I've been doing okay)

The must-get-done list of bills and stuff and visit to the DMV

A ten minute meditation session (haven't been doing it the last week and I think it was a good thing)

[pjena]

For what it's worth, my TOM has changed.  It goes from 0 to 60 with no notice and the cycle is longer than it was before.  But, it sounds ilke it's good news either way.  Very fun.  My baby is 9 today and I'm feeling nostalgic for babies.  Sorry the goat cheese may not be in your regular rotation.

[Emma]

pjena - Hope you had a fun birthday with your kiddo.  Nine year olds are such a fun age.

 

The kids and I just finished our sweet potato and eggs with plain yogurt.  That yogurt makes such a wonderful change and I think in a small quantity, it is a nice part of our home.

 

Yesterday I made green eggs for the kids by blending eggs and spinach together.  It looked horrible, but the kids both liked it and are ready for more.  If our darn spinach wasn't fifteen dollars a pound, I'd plan on it everyday (Or even if our store kept spinach in stock).

 

Last night I cooked some salmon and spaghetti squash while waiting for my husband to get home.  The kids and I ate a little, but then we all went out to dinner because there wasn't enough for the guests that my husband was working with.  The kids and I had tuna rolls and bulgogi which is a Korean meat dish with rice, veggies and kimchi.  It was a good selection to have in a place that also serves burgers and pizza.  All of us slept well last night.   There was sugar in the pickled ginger and wheat in the soy sauce and plenty of white rice, but overall, it didn't seem to be a meal that takes us way off track and I feel more confident about going out to eat.

 

As for my system...still the same.  These digestive enzymes work wonders at getting rid of the bloat, but everything is feeling out of whack in a royal way.  

 

No allergy pills leaving me a bit foggy feeling I think, but I expect that will go away.  We have gray and rain in the forecast for the next week so that will aid this transition and keep pollens down.

 

And now, on to the day...

 

Breakfast: Sweet potatoes, eggs, yogurt

Lunch: Salmon and spaghetti squash

Dinner: Chicken meatballs ? broccoli?  What does one do with ground chicken???

[Emma]

Well I was and now I'm not.  No wonder my system was so wonky there for the last week.  It's a bit of a relief to have things getting back to normal, though I'm tired and beat and my husband is a bit disappointed.  I'm not.  Well, a smigin', but not a lot.  I didn't like that I'd had the allergy meds in my system and I certainly wasn't enjoying the crazy amounts of headaches, nausea and cramping that seemed a bit excessive compared to past experiences.   I'm now also off the allergy meds and glad to have taken that step towards a healthier system and will now perhaps start tackling the coffee addiction - or at least thinking about it.  Today, I'm having my afternoon cup of coffee.  If something is going to happen, I'd sure as heck like to get it off to a good healthy start.

 

I'm also hoping to lose that last three pounds I need to lose to get myself into the healthy BMI zone.  I know there is no magic number and I'd just be at the top end of that zone and my body could use more fitness more than anything, but it would still be nice to know I was in that zone.  And then if I leave the zone and gain weight, well I know I can get right back there again.  Last year it seemed so dauntingly far away.  Now it's right there.

 

I'm portioning myself much smaller amounts of sweet potatoes at breakfast and I'm doing just fine with that.  I'm trying to build in more calcium rich vegetables.  I'm avoiding the almond handfuls.  And that's about it.  Living this way has been pretty positive and pretty easy.  I have no desire to make things difficult on myself.

 

Breakfast:  Eggs and sweet potatoes and a date

Lunch: Grass fed beef, carrots, nori, a few almonds

Dinner: Grass fed pork, broccoli, onions, carrots

 

A snack?  salmon and a lara bar perhaps

[pjena]

Does "I was and now I'm not" mean m/c?  If so, I'm very sorry.  I had 3 and it sucks.  But, it sounds like you're looking at it as an opportunity to improve your health even more first, which is a great thing.  ((HUG))

[Emma]

Thanks, pjena.  Hugs back to you!  It really was so early on and I'd been feeling so lousy that it makes it seem like something that wasn't meant to be. 

 

It's been nice feeling a bit more back to my normal self.  I did some pilates yesterday and today notice my knee hurting a bit.  I did not have eggs for breakfast this morning.  It seems like many folks on Whole30 see their joint pains go away, and while mine have subsided and I attribute that in large part to the way we're eating, I think it's also because I'm not using my joints!  Since we've been eating fairly well since April and I still have foot and knee issues (though nothing like before), I'm going to start eliminating eggs and see what happens.  I'm not a big tomato person so avoiding nightshades isn't that big a deal, but I have eggs almost every day.  I do like them, but maybe I need to see if they contribute to inflammation or the bloatedness and G.I. stuff.

 

It's good to be off the allergy meds and so far it hasn't been much of an issue other than a general foggy head feeling.  I was worried I'd immediately come down with cold like feelings and then be sick, but so far, so good (ish).

 

Breakfast: salmon, spinach, sweet potatoes

Lunch: almond butter bread (with egg in it - oh darn!  how quickly i forget!!), chicken salad

Dinner: grass fed beef sliders, broccoli or bok choy or red peppers or something that looks appealing

[Emma]

Saturday I forgot about my no egg attempt and ate a frittata with lots of eggs in it for breakfast.  All day I had a headache and fogginess that was really a drag.  It could easily be from a cold or allergies, but it's worth noting.  

 

Yesterday I wasn't hungry in the least, but ate some anyway.  We did a nice hike in the morning with the kids and I felt just fine.  My foot was sore afterwards, but not my knee.  I wore my converse for the hike.  My pes anserine is tender to the touch, but that's pretty normal and feels like a good thing to have an isolated pain instead of an everywhere inflammation.

 

Today I do have a little congestion through my nose and I feel a little sluggy, but things are just fine. I'm struggling with breakfast now that eggs are out and my dried salmon is gone.  I guess I'll have to start planning better leftovers so there is something in the fridge to take out.

 

I think I might have hit the top end of the healthy BMI zone (also known as the BOTTOM) of the unhealthy zone!!!  I'm not really hooting or hollering because my weight can go up and down within the day and I have this sneaking suspicion that our scale at home is three pounds different than the scale at the doctor's office.  As well, it's not the best indicator of health, but it is one indicator and it's one that was far out of my zone for quite a while.  I did catch myself thinking about how fun it would be to go to the doc's office to get weighed - I just need an ailment so I can make an appointment!     (I'm not really planning on coming up with an ailment)

 

Tonight we go out to dinner with a friend who has been out of town and looking forward to coming home and going out.  I can feel a part of myself saying, "Go for the Reuben with fries", but another part of me is saying, "Stick to the sushi and rice and soy sauce scene".   The last time we went out, the kids and I had sushi and a meat dish.  It seemed to sit well in our systems and the next day we were right back eating like our normal dinosaur selves.  I guess the thing I feel most thankful for is that this is how we eat now.  It doesn't take much effort anymore and it sits well in our home and in our lives.  

 

Two nights ago I dragged our boxes of banned food from our bedroom (we'd put them there at the beginning of our April Whole30) and opened them up.  There was some quinoa, cans of black beans, crackers, trail mix from Trader Joe's, pasta, rice flour, brown rice pasta, sugared up tomato sauce, buckwheat noodles, etc.   I put things that we definitely don't need in our lives into a big box and dragged it off to the neighbor's.  The box included all the plain pastas.  I did keep the rice based things, the beans, the trail mix and the crackers - I figured they'd all be good if we were hosting a dinner for regular eating people and wouldn't be too bad if we ate them as well.  It's interesting, though, because I have no love lost for any of those things and no desire to eat any of them.

 

I would like to eat some oatmeal, however.  We have McCann's steel cut oats and I really like them.  My system was also feeling really bloated the other day and I yearned for something solid inside of me instead of my clear-out style digestive system.  So I broke out ISWF and looked up oats and read about fiber and re-learned (since I'd forgotten) that the veggies are pretty loaded with fiber.  It's good to see the numbers comparing oats to carrots and sweet potatoes.

 

When I get into the big city, I'm going to seek our probiotics.  They aren't sold in our town and can't be shipped in the mail.  I'd like to really be working on helping out my gut that still seems fairly discontent.

 

Breakfast: steak, few bites of sweet potatoes, two dates  (not my best breakfast)

Lunch: salmon, spinach

Dinner: eating out

[Emma]

Three thirty am and wide awake.  Five am and downstairs officially given up on sleep for the rest of the night.  Argh!  But I DO like the quiet house to myself.

 

We went out to dinner last night and the restaurant option we'd planned on which would have allowed for sushi was nixed in lieu of our friend's favorite burger and pizza joint.  Before going, the kids and I talked about our options and decided we would avoid cheese.  Last time we had breads and cheese and a lousy night afterwards.

 

The kids ordered burgers with fries and buns (oh how different we eat nowadays at home!).  I ordered a steak sandwich reminiscent of a Philly with chipotle sauce.  I also had two beers.  Our food was fine and nothing exceptional, but our dinner out was really nice.  I did find myself coveting a slice of chocolate cake at the end of the dinner even though I was full and would have gleefully eaten a paleo type chocolate sweet, but knew I didn't really want the ultra sweet of regular cake.  I also overate - I ate like I used to eat - just eating till the food was gone and my stomach was full.  I don't think I eat like that these days.  I did the first month of Whole30, but now I think I just kinda stop after a little bit when I'm eating our foods at home.

 

We came home and all fell asleep quickly UNTIL my boy woke up at 3:30 and wanted help getting tucked back in.  It shouldn't have been a big deal to tuck him in and fall back asleep, but I couldn't.  I lay in bed and tried dozing off, but just couldn't.  I think my digestive system needed to clear itself out a bit so I finally gave up, brewed some coffee, took care of digestive issues and plunked myself down on the sofa to read the news.  Everybody else is sleeping well and I think I might have also if I hadn't been woken up.  I also think the jalapenos in my food were probably more of an issue than the gluten, but I don't really know.

 

It is nice knowing that nobody had any major reactions to dinner last night.  There wasn't much nutrient dense stuff in our dinners and I'm sure that it is not as easy in our systems, but I am glad that we didn't have any big reactions like last time when we had cheese and spicy things as well.  Makes me hope that if we're eating well most of the time, it won't be such a big deal if we eat out here and there.

 

Breakfast:  Salmon, spinach and mushrooms

Lunch: Bratwurst and spaghetti squash?

Dinner: Steak, bok choy....?

[Emma]

Bloating bloating bloating.  I think - I know - I used to get bloated frequently but it was just part of life.  Now that I've been taking the digestive enzymes and eating decently, I really notice it.  I also notice it because I'm wearing my old jeans that fit me just fine when I'm NOT bloated and are quite uncomfortable when I am.  What the heck causes it???  I did try switching digestive enzymes and perhaps the new ones aren't as good.  I've only taken them a couple of times so maybe I just need to adjust.  I don't want to wait so I went back to my NOW enzymes - hopefully in an hour I'll feel better.

 

I have also been amazingly NOT hungry in the mornings.  I've eaten, but certainly not a lot.  One would think I'd be losing weight, but with the bloat, I am most certainly not feeling it.

 

Of course, there has been some off roading - I had a beer a couple nights ago.  I had some pumpkin paleo coconut cake I made for a friend's party.  I had two small pieces of cheese.  But really, none of that is terribly off roading UNLESS I react much more than I realize to the glutens in the beer.  I wish we had gluten free beer in town and I know that no alcohol is ideal, but it is nice on occasion.

 

My knee is doing pretty well - I don't really notice it or think about it anymore.  My foot is still achy, but certainly no worse.  I'm curious if it will ever get better.  I'm also curious what will happen if I try to go run.  I'm not yet - I'll stick to pilates and gentle hiking and walking for now.

 

Breakfast:  steak, carrots

Lunch: salmon, carrots, dried apricots

Dinner: ground turkey, broccoli, onions ???

[Emma]

It sure is easy to start slipping into old ways isn't it.  Last night we went to dinner with friends.  We didn't have dairy or bready products, but we did eat quite a bit.  We had sushi and a korean meat/sushi dish along with some kimchi.  It's not bad off roading I don't think, but I was keenly aware that after dinner I wanted one of their soft serve ice creams....and I had one!  And then I ate a cookie mud pie treat they gave us!  There were no brakes - no desire for brakes - no anything for brakes.  

 

We did all sleep well and this morning we were right back to regular foods, but I wasn't hungry at all and barely managed to eat the most token of breakfasts - all with Whole30 people's words in my ear ("you must eat breakfast - hormones - adrenal glands - etc").  

 

We THEN took the kids on a four mile community walk over a hill.  The kids are almost two and three so this is really a pretty good walk for them.  My youngest was definitely ready to call it quits on the last mile, but stuck with it.  The weather was gorgeous and I love that this is what we did as a family. However, we did use food as a motivator.  We didn't intend to, but that's kinda what happens.  So every so often we'd pull off the backpack and munch on apricots, grass fed paleo beef sticks, and carrots.  We saved the Lara bars for the end.  We also said they could have their cookie mud pie treats from the restaurant once they got to the top of the hill and they did.

 

When we got home, both had upset stomachs.  Could have been all the walking or all the walking and snacking OR the chocolate/sugar/wheat/dairy creation they munched on with glee.   I think it might be the latter because my young was was complaining her tummy hurt soon after she ate it.  Good thing those types of things are not part of our normal life any more.

 

Breakfast: salmon, sweet potato, carrots

Lunch: beef stick, apricots, carrots, lara bar

Dinner: ground turkey, broccoli, onions....

[Emma]

Back eating well and sleeping well and appreciating it!!!  The urge for sugary sweets is back, but not at any terrible level.  Other than this obnoxious bloating that occurs all the time, things are pretty good.  I think I do need to be mindful that if I want to heal my gut, then I really need to be mindful about not putting glutens into my system since I do notice a difference.  

 

Trying to get lots done today in preparation for a productive week.  Glad for last night's sleep with no wake ups.

 

I also found a web site that has some good exercises for the posterior tibial tendon and I did some of those last night and my foot doesn't feel any worse for wear as a result.  I'm optimistic.

 

Breakfast: sweet potato with a touch of plain yogurt and a turkey stick

Lunch: ground chicken, tomatoes and mushrooms

Dinner: grass fed burgers, spinach, ??

 

Yesterday:

Breakfast: pumpkin pancakes

Lunch: ground pork with broccoli, peppers, onions

Dinner: salmon chowder

[Emma]

Overall I think our family is still doing well and eating well, but I can see how some of the old ways can seep back in - not soda or cheese rolls from the grocery store or chocolate bars or chips, but little things like those paleo chocolate chips I ordered just in case I needed them to bake for a kid party or a lara bar secretly stashed in my pocket.  Or lunch out with my honey where I didn't order a burger, but I did get chicken teriyaki with rice and tempura.  Not BAD bad stuff, but it starts to add up.  I also don't like that I can't tell if my grumpy non-ethusiastic-for-life energy is because of my attitude or because of my food choices sneaking back in.  Energy wise, I'm actually okay - getting things done and doing good things with my kids and family.  I did some Pilates today and that's good too, BUT I realize I need to be alert to the ways in which the regular world seeps in.

 

Next week we have visitors for a week.  I have ordered meats and produce and, except for a bit of eating out, we should be pretty decent eaters.  The week after I'll be traveling with the in-laws.  That will be very hard to make good choices and I have to be prepared to recognize that maybe I don't want to make good choices.  

 

My husband and I will probably try to do another Whole30 somewhere between August and September - at least I hope we do.  We all feel better and the fall is going to be stressful so I think we should have our bodies cared for as well as we can.

 

Breakfast: butternut squash, carrots, grass fed burger

Lunch: salmon salad

Dinner: ground pork with broccoli

 

Yesterday:

Breakfast: butternut squash, pork meatballs

Lunch: chicken teriyaki with rice and tempura and soy sauce

Dinner: salmon, spinach, mushrooms, spaghetti squash with cilantro pesto

[Emma]

Allergies!  Sneezing and sneezing and itchy eyes - argh - it is so annoying and tiring.  However, it's also the first time in years and years and years where I've allowed myself to have all these clear allergy symptoms without a dire fear of asthma presenting itself front and center.  In the past, the allergy stuff and the inflammation and my regular life all just compounded and led to a body that couldn't even just sneeze and react in a simple way.  Now, at least, I'm doing what zillions of other people do - sneezing and being annoyed, but not triggering everything else.

 

I woke up, cleared stuff through (that couldn't always happen before either) and downed some apple cider vinegar with water and honey.  Who knows if it works but folks swear on the power of ACV and I'm willing to give it a shot.  I wish our honey was local, but it's not and I could have gone without, but the ACV and water wasn't really my cup of tea, so I added that sweetener.

 

It's a bit gray outside right now, but it will probably be a beautiful day.  I wish I knew what plant or tree was triggering this allergy response.  I didn't have any problems until two nights ago.  Or maybe it took that long for the old allergy meds to really clear my body.  Or perhaps it's the SAD food I ate a few days ago and that opened up the door for these reactions??

 

Breakfast: some type of leftover, maybe pork and broccoli

Lunch: turkey sticks and bananas and carrots (we're going berry picking and need easy food to carry with us)

Dinner: ground chicken with whatever vegetables we can muster up - oh!  Today we get our CSA box - it should be chock full of stuff.

 

Next week the relatives will be here.  Our quick and easy ways are going to be set aside with some actual interesting meal planning I hope.

[Emma]

Kimchi!  We finally were able to get some kimchi in our home via our csa box.  It's good kimchi too!  I mixed it into my bison and brocoli and onions last night and it was fantastic.  I had more for this morning's breakfast.

 

I'm hoping that with the addition of kimchi (some very expensive kimchi unfortunately) I'll really be doing something productive in my gut.  My gut could use it.

 

Allergies weren't so bad yesterday, but it was also fairly damp out.  My allergies aren't so bad today either, but it's raining so these are not good indicators.  I did not try the ACV today, but think I probably should try to be consistent with it for a bit.

 

I did wake up at 4:30 wide awake.  It was raining out so it was nice to be awake listening to the rain.  I was also super stuffy from the allergy thing going on and starting to cough so I got myself sneezing, cleared things through, and then fell back asleep around 5:30 for another hour.  In the past, I could never clear things through.  Once the congestion settled into my nasal passages, it just hunkered down and started low grade infections or triggering asthma.  This is a far nicer way to live.  

 

As for the sleep....I felt okay waking up but I can definitely see the difference in my energy on days when I have the full sleep and days where I just have adequate sleep.  Today is a day I will struggle to get as much done as I wish.

[Emma]

Good things and bad things...

 

Whether it was allergies I was hit with last week or just a cold with crazy amounts of sneezing, I recovered and never came down with the asthma cough I get.  I didn't use inhalers.  I didn't do anything but drink ACV.  It has been gray and rainy so I can't tell if it was pollens in the air triggering the reactions or a virus.  Regardless, I didn't spiral into crappier health!!!  YAY for my new life!

 

The bad is that I've been eating out.  The rice I've eaten has actually felt nice in my system and my poops have firmed up.  The dinner last night feels to blame for today's foggy stuffy head.  I made relatively good choices given the options, but obviously not good enough - or I'm pushing limits a bit too much.  Along with my head and neck feeling a bit bleh, I'm not hungry and I feel horribly bloated and frustrated that I can't clear stuff out of my system.  The solution?  To eat of course.  Nah - but that did used to be the solution.  Now I just want my less bloated feeling body back.  I have a new normal and I like being there.

 

Cooking dinner tonight and all our foods at home are right on track.  It's not as good as being in weeks two and three of Whole30, but at least it will keep me moving in the right direction.  I foresee another Whole30 coming up the end of this month.

[Emma]

We had guests for a week and that went great.  We've figured out this healthy cooking thing so it was pretty simple to keep our tables and fridges stocked with an assortment of good foods.  We also went out as we knew we would, but that stayed to a minimum.  The great thing was that the grandparents saw first hand that what we were doing seemed a-okay and not some weird cultish fad.  Our kids were also pretty funny, going to the fridge to take out leftovers to ask their grandmother to heat them up for lunch.  Everyone was impressed by our "good eaters" which I do have to say really bothers me.  People say it in good spirits, but I think I'd much rather have my kids identify as "healthy eaters" instead of "good (clear your plate) eaters".  Details Details!

 

After their visit, we went on a road trip with them for a little over a week.  That too went really well.  We certainly didn't eat like dinosaurs, but we didn't stray toooo terribly.  In the car we had bananas, carrots, rolls and clean salami.  It worked well for long rides.  At restaurants, the only parameter was no dairy - or at least no obvious gobs of dairy like in pizza.  I'm glad I'd done the pre trip processing because during the trip, I realized that my kids were putting a lot of effort into the trip and being good travelers - they didn't need any stress when it came to meal time.

 

They chose pasta and burgers and fish and chips.  They ate oatmeal for breakfast and fries for lunch.  I know I could argue that good clean eating would help with their overall stress of traveling, but I think this was a-okay and it avoided all sorts of potential power struggles over food that would invariably happen and something I don't want to happen at all.

 

What we did notice though was that we MISSED eating like dinosaurs - even my kids.  My daughter's eczema flared up some on her legs (though it could be general stress from all the new situations or the different laundry detergent).  My kids didn't sleep as soundly.  I caught a cold.  I felt bloated.  I started to sneak in cookies.  

 

The good news was that I got through a cold in two days with NO asthma attacks afterwards. Really, truly, this has never happened before starting Whole30 back in April.  I did take Apple Cider Vinegar in the morning and evening when I started getting the cold and I'm pretty sure I can feel it helping in my system, but regardless, I've never had a system that could be helped.  Eating like a dinosaur works for me.

 

We're back home and we're eating our good meals.  We plan to begin a Whole30 next week after our child's birthday party.  We'll have paleo cakes and dinosaur foods, but we plan to also have beer.  I imagine we'll probably sneak out to eat tomorrow as well, but maybe we won't.  Once you start bringing in the old regular foods, it seems like our brains start figuring out ways to not be cheated of such glorious delights as too much salt and sugar and other crazy things.

 

Last night I finished off a bunch of fudge that I had in my bag from the travels but never ate.  I ate a little piece and then another and then another and I just didn't stop.  And then I felt super crazy bloated and my throat and nose felt congested and at bedtime I coughed a lot.  No more of that for me!  A small piece here and there if I'm eating well isn't an issue, but any excess really doesn't sit well with me.

 

My husband also has noticed headaches and a slight feeling of depression like he used to feel.  Nothing much has changed in our lives except we haven't been eating as clean.  It's a nice lesson in listening to our bodies and feeding them foods that work for them.

[pjena]

Traveling is tough.  I also want to avoid struggles, but also want to feel good.  My son does ok with his allergy foods in small amounts, but eating out 3x a day doesn't work for him.  We have had good luck doing breakfast and lunch from grocery foods (usually hit up TJs as soon as we get anywhere) and then letting him loosen up for dinner.  He actually didn't cough at night at all on our last vacation, which was good for all of us!  We just do our best, I guess.  It's great that your kids realize that they feel better when eating like dinosaurs.  My son knows which foods hurt his tummy, but when it comes time to say yes or no, he still struggles.  Maybe I'll check out that book and see what my son thinks of it.  The tough part for him is that eating like a dinosaur isn't the answer.  That covers the dairy, corn and peanuts, but he's also allergic to eggs, pork and cod, so cutting out grains (which he is not allergic to), too, just seems mean.  I just have to keep tweaking, I guess.