First Thirty

[di0spyr0s]

So, I've been largely paleo for about a year now, and had been doing really well on it, but my new job involves staring at pastries for 8-13 hours a day, four days a week. Combine that with unlimited coffee/chai lattes/bubble tea and a suddenly sedentary lifestyle (I was working with a string of polo ponies until they all flew south for the winter and I got a job in a cafe) So I've packed on a ton of weight and needed some help getting it off again.

 

Step one- cut back hours at cafe.

Step two- get back into more physical work (I'm studying to be an equine massusse. Devoting more time to the practical side of that.)

Step three- Fix my eating habits.

 

It Starts With Food was delivered on the 18th, and on the 19th I started.

 

Friday:

coffee with coconut oil, plate of broccoli with clarified butter and spicy beef with broth.

Salmon and sauteed kale with sunflower seeds

handful of cashew nuts, kombucha, two dried nectarines (This, at an event that involved unlimited free beer, pizza, poptarts and chips. Wasn't even tempted. Huzzah!)

walked about two miles

Insufficient sleep between a late night and the cats being rowdy, I managed about five hours.

 

Sat:

Coffee black, coffee with coconut oil, half scotch egg (hard boiled egg wrapped in spiced ground beef and baked), bowl of broccoli.

tuna salad with homemade mayo, mustard, ketchup and a pile of green beans

(yet to come, but has been in the slow cooker all day and smells delicious) coconut ginger pork. With kale and garlic cauliflower.

walked about a mile.

 

Planning to start making my own kombucha, beet kvass and coconut milk kefir in the next week or so and joining a local CSA tomorrow. (veg, eggs, chicken and beef. will have to source pork/duck/lamb/venison/fish etc elsewhere)

 

My boyfriend was willing to do this with me if he could have an exception for whiskey. I don't think he quite gets the point. He'll eat what I do anyhow, and the beer/diet coke/gum/hummus will just happen at work. When I met him he was living off ramen, poptarts, beer and sushi. So I count it as an improvement overall...

[Colleen Roy]

I think if you can get your boyfriend on board with everything food wise and he still chooses to indulge in an occasional whiskey it is still a win!  Especially if he was eating pop tarts when you met him! He will figure out that eating this way is awesome and helps him feel better and he'll make the choice to get rid of the whiskey for 30 days on the next go 'round!

[amberino21]

any change on his behalf sounds like a change towards a healthier him people have to be ready to do things on their own, so small steps in the right direction are awesome. at home it will make it so much easier for you as well!!

 

make sure you're getting enough protein and fat per meal - I have no idea how big your scotch egg actually is, but i'd imagine a whole one would be the right amount of protein? lots and lots of vegies too!!

[di0spyr0s]

Thanks for the replies guys

 

The Boy's pretty easy to start with, he'll eat (nearly) anything I put in front of him. He has allergies to seafood, nuts and some fruit/veg (spinach, mango, avocado, eggplant) but he's happy to eat bone marrow, liver, pate etc. The scotch eggs come out bigger than I expected- larger than a fist- so I think that's plenty of protein, but I have been struggling to eat a whole one with breakfast. Today I had half for breakfast with a huge pile of greens and a coffee with coconut oil, and the other half for lunch with another huge pile of vege. I think I could have used a little more fat with lunch though, as it's not quite 3pm and I'm getting peckish again.

 

Joined the CSA today and picked up a bunch of vege, pastured eggs and chicken and grassfed beef. Very happy with the selection. Even managed a pile of beets and a huge bunch of basil. AND there was live music at the farmers market so the Boy didn't think to complain about the walk

[amberino21]

some people mention that adding some starchy carbs to their meals helps keep them satisfied for longer - perhaps consider adding some in to your breakfast or lunch if you're getting hungry?

[di0spyr0s]

Interesting thought on the carbs. I generally find they increase my appetite, so it might help me finish my breakfast in the mornings? My first CSA haul included a couple of summer squash. Might make some squash or sweet potato hash tomorrow. Made beet kvass this afternoon. Very excited to see how it turns out!

 

Finished day three with a walk and a huge pile of cucumber salad (cucumbers, onions, splash of apple cider vinegar, loads of dill, salt and pepper) and a scoop of tuna salad (with home made mustard, mayo and tomato sauce) at about 4.30. It was going to be a snack but got kinda out of hand (I made waaay too much, even for two of us) and so it was dinner instead. It's 10.30pm and I'm still satisfied and heading to bed.

[di0spyr0s]

Day 4:

Monday! Huzzah! A sleep in! Got up just before 9, ate a handful of cashews and headed to the gym. Have come to an agreement with the Boy that we can work out every weekday morning, even if it's only 15 minutes. We've split our old three day a week program in half and just do half a work out every morning. Or at least that's the plan. Today was overhead press and chin ups.

Got home around half past ten and sauteed a huge pile of kale and green peppers and onions in olive oil. Finished it off with a black iced coffee and a beef sausage.

Spent the day cleaning house, making condiments and running erands. Walked about 5 miles, half of that carrying groceries in a back pack (cans of coconut milk, anyone?) and some how managed to forget about lunch. Oops. Ah well, breakfast was splint in two parts and the second part may as well have been lunch.

Dinner was a grass fed ribeye with a huge stir fry of summer squash and six kinds of pepper. I served it with mayo, spicy tahini, mustard, tomato sauce and pesto (without the parmesan) All home made. Turned out the steak was so fantastically flavourful we didn't need any sauces. The Boy is still suitably impressed with my condiment making skills, and even tried the mayo, despite misgivings about raw eggs and salmonella.

Went for a walk after dinner in the hopes of making enough room for the rest of the veg. Sadly, we failed to finish it all. Ah well, filling for omlettes tomorrow I guess.

It's now 10pm and I'm about ready to fall asleep. Still have to sew up a hole in the crotch of my gym pants before squats tomorrow!

Also noticed this evening that the spots on my chin are fading away. Not gone yet, but much less red and painful.

[di0spyr0s]

Today started so well..

Small handful of cashews before the gym.

Came home and had left over veg, egg and sausage scramble with mayo and pesto.

walked to the train and headed into the city for a doctors appointment. Tetanus and HPV vaccine in my left arm.

Biked 30 blocks uptown and had lunch - three hardboiled eggs mashed with an avocado, mayo and salt and pepper. Huge bottle of water.

Went into the stables to start on some equine massage case studies and realized I couldn't lift my left arm above shoulder height, or use pressure on my left hand.

Biked 30 blocks back, bought some underwear (Here's hoping they still fit at the end of the month, but I really did need more!) and headed home.

The Boy was offered free sushi for dinner at work and I had to promise him tuna salad to get him to come home. So dinner will be green beans and tuna salad.

He's been having major jaw pains the last few days and the dentist finally dug some popcorn shells out from behind his last molar. Now that the novocaine has worn off, he feels like he's been punched in the face.

Just another reason to stay off grains, huh?

[di0spyr0s]

Day 6:

So, left arm still out of commission, plus squats on Tuesday have totally killed my quads. Non functional today. Can't even walk like a normal person.

Skipped the gym in favor of more entertaining morning activities. Broke a sweat, that counts, right?

Had no appetite this morning. Made stirfry veg, sausage and an egg. Ate less than a quarter of it.

By 2pm I still wasn't hungry but needed to eat something before meeting mum and dad at a cafe specializing in crepes. Blended up half a can of coconut milk and half a banana with cinnamon, nutmeng, cloves and ginger. Delicious. Probably the sweetest thing I've had in the last 6 days.

Caught up with mum and dad at 4.30. Traded a taste of beet kvass, a small jar of home made pesto, and a letter for my brother for a book and lunch- tuna steak with sauteed spinach and a green peppercorn sauce. Delicious. Watched mum and dad drink beer with their lunch and was only slightly jealous. Had beet kvass and turned my teeth pink. Mum and dad almost Paleo now- no bread or potatoes, and they've never been much for adding sugar to anything.

 

Staggered out of the Cafe (2hours sitting down did a number on already stiff and painful quads) and headed home again. Was sore and hot and sweaty and gross and some how unsatisfied. Finished the can of coconut milk around 7pm. Same smoothie as before minus the banana.

 

Cleaned the house, started a pot of chicken stock and de frosted a hamsteak for breakfast tomorrow. The Boy got home about 9 when I was half way through mopping the floor and encouraged me to come out for a run. Ran 1.23miles at an average pace of 12.30. First day of couch to 5k. Only did half of it as The Boy wore himself out lapping me repeatedly and decided we should walk home to cool down. Fine with me, I was pretty exhausted.

 

I should note here that the Boy and I have a backwards kind of exercise relationship- He makes me do cardio, I made him take up weight lifting so I'd have someone to spot my bench press

 

And it's 10.30 now. Way past time for bed.

[amberino21]

I think you need to try and eat something more than coconut milk and fruit. if you try and eat proper meals, you may start to get your appetite back?

 

if you're experiencing DOMS, you obviously need the help to recover your muscles!!

 

(and I think cardio is over rated....go the weights )

[di0spyr0s]

I've had the lack of appetite happen before when I've been more primal and self experimentation shows that upping carbs is the best way to get it back again. Smoothies may not be the best way to do it but the appetite was back this morning- green beans and hamsteak for breakfast. Planning on coconut ginger pork with kale and green peppers for lunch.

 

My usual habit has been to down a protein shake immediately after work outs, but my protein powder is whey based so I've been skipping it. I'm also much more keen on weight lifting, but my doctor suggested adding some cardio and it makes The Boy happy if I come out and run with him. (We've also been really slacking off lately. Tuesdday was our first squat/deadlift work out in over a month. Took it really easy, but you know you've been away too long when an easy workout leaves you unable to sit down for two days!)

 

In the past my cardio has largely been taken care of by working physical jobs (polo groom, arborist, interior plastering) or a 10k each way bike ride to work or picking up after my own horse and keeping him exercized. Currently I work a sedentary job, 5 minutes walk from home, in a city where keeping a horse is impossibly expensive so my all time favourite form of exercise is out.

[di0spyr0s]

The end of day 7! A whole week in!

Meals didn't go entirely as planned- Hamsteak and green beans for breakfast. Chicken leg out of the stock pot, mixed up with mayo, pesto and green beans again for lunch, and some beet kvass, more hamsteak and kale sauteed with olive oil and balsamic vinager for dinner (Kale is crazy good with balsamic. must do this again)

 

Walked about 2 miles all up, plus a good work out this morning.

 

Spent an hour after dinner in the bath with a book and a pot of tea. Very nice end to the day.

 

Tomorrow is my first 13 hour shift at the cafe since I started the W30. Me vs. Pastry Temptations. 13 hour cage fight.

 

Wish me luck.

 

(I'm packing enough compliant food for a three day seige. Sometimes feeding the sugar dragon so much kale he can't stomach the idea of pastries is the only winning stratagy.)

[di0spyr0s]

I'm calling this one a success.

Breakfast: 2 coffees with coconut oil. Large handful of sunflower seeds.

Lunch: coconut ginger pork with kale

Snack: garlic cauliflower

Dinner- chicken, bacon and avocado, salad. Chicken had hot sauce on it. Not entirely certain it was compliant but it tasted vinagery not sweet.

 

Wins today:

No pastry eaten

made many many many bubble teas and never even tasted the excess left in the blender. Ditto cooking tapioca.

Drank no milk in coffee, chai or other.

Had dinner in a bar and drank no alcohol. (Boy wanted burgers after work out. Best burgers in our neighborhood are in the local pub.)

Went to the gym and uppped my overhead press by 5lbs. though I failed the last set. only made 3.5 reps out of 5.

Made it into bed before 9.30 (just. Still not sleeping.)

[GFChris]

Protein and veggies at breakfast?  For snacks, try to make them a mini-meal including at least a protein and fat.

[di0spyr0s]

Yesterday was interesting. Wound up with green beans and coffee with coconut oil for breakfast. Work days are always interesting. it's two days a week where I get up 3 hours earlier than usual and I find I'm just not hungry at 6am. Trying to eat something. In the past I've always waited til my usual wake up time to start eating when I'm hungry.

Finished work at 1.30 and headed into the city. Picked up a chicken, walnut, spinach, kale, egg and avocado salad for lunch with balsamic vinegar and olive oil.

Hung out and played board games with friends. Ate a small handful of almonds and a couple of dates. (I know, no snacking right... or better snacking. )

Yesterday was also a friends birthday so we went out for Thai food. I had half a duck in spicy coconut sauce. no rice or noodles.

[GFChris]

Did you confirm that the coconut sauce at the Thai restaurant was sugar free?
 

Is there any sort of protein that would appeal to you at breakfast?  Here is the meal template that each of your meals should be following: http://whole9life.com/book/ISWF-Meal-Planning-Template.pdf

[di0spyr0s]

So, day 10 was a bit odd as well. Spent nearlly the whole day in bed with The Boy, watching SGDQ. Everything I ate was compliant, and I don't think I over ate, but I certainly didn't have three meals and no snacks.

Over the course of the day I consumed a coffee with three egg yolks whipped up in it (good, but I still prefer coconut oil) 2 small peaches, nearly a punnet of blueberries, close to a quarter pound of sunflower seeds and about 26oz of home brew kombucha. The boy thinks this is seriously gross. He drank a bottle of chardonnay instead. I won't even mention his hissy fit about "raw eggs" in my coffee. He likes his yolks runny, seriously, what's the issue here?

Around dinner time I tried to fix it by finishing up with a bowl of green beans with butter oil, and some tuna salad.

 

Over all, did an excellent job of resting, had a surprising amount of exercise for a day spent largely horizontal (Huzzah! the BEST kind of exercise!) drank plenty of fluids, and didn't actually fuck anything up. I'm ok with that. But I can do so much better. On the other hand, days like that are so ridiculously good for stress reduction and for my relationship. Love love love snuggly days. Air conditioners are only useful for keeping the house cool enough for successful snuggling.

 

Day 11 is starting out much better. Had exercise this morning (the horizontal kind) finished the 32oz of kombucha I drew off yesterday, green beans again, an egg, a small peach, the last of the blue berries and a coconut oil coffee. Plans for the day include several miles on foot, the cleaning of the fridge, the carrying of groceries, and the hanging of a lot of laundry. Also, either a gym visit or a run this evening.

[di0spyr0s]

The ingredients for the coconut sauce at the thai place were: coconut milk, basil, lemon grass and thai red chili paste. I did only have a small amount though, as I wasn't sure of the ingredients in the chili paste. Also, the duck was excellent without it anyhow.

 

As for protein with breakfast, I think I may just make a large fritatta/crustless quiche type thing and heat a slice of that for breakfast for the next few days. Scrambled eggs or omlettes are also appealing, but omlettes just aren't the same without cheese I did really enjoy the sausage/egg/kale scramble things I was making last week. Might have to make some more sausage. Definitely need more variety in vege, I've been trying to free up space in the freezer by eating my way through the enormous bags of frozen green beans, Kale, and broccoli.

 

Thanks for the template GFChris

[Renee Lee]

it's two days a week where I get up 3 hours earlier than usual and I find I'm just not hungry at 6am. Trying to eat something. In the past I've always waited til my usual wake up time to start eating when I'm hungry.

 

You know, any progress you can make on getting more protein in first thing in the morning is probably going to help you on this front.

 

I could get more complex, but there are two cyclic hormones that run opposite of one another (one's high when the other's low, etc). When you first wake up in the morning, you should be alert and ready to get moving (high cortisol), but you should also be hungry (low leptin). It seems like your leptin signalling a little funky right now...but loading as much protein as you can in first thing in the morning is going to help you reset all that.

 

Good luck!

[di0spyr0s]

Yeah, 5 days a week I get up at 9ish and I'm hungry first thing. The other two days I get up at 6 and try to eat around 7 but don't usually have much appetite.

 

Also, some week days we get up a little earlier and work out before breakfast. A reliable routine would be really nice, but it's just not happening at the moment. I have freaky work hours, and The Boy sometimes doesnt get home til 11pm or stays in bed late and works from home or gets alerts at 3am and has to leap out of bed and make sure the webpage is still online and functioning.

 

I am waking up much easier now than I was a week ago though, so maybe this week will be better for breakfast?

[di0spyr0s]

Thanks for the tip Renee Lee. I'll try upping the eggs for breakfast.

Right now it looks like there may be steak to go with them as The Boy has yet to leave work. He's so much happier at this new job, but machine learning is apparently REALLY interesting. He works on weekends for fun now and it's hard to pry him out of the office.

 

So, green beans, eggs, coconut oil and coffee, blue berries and a peach for breakfast.

the tail end of the green beans and some coconut ginger pork for lunch

2 mile walk for groceries (3 flights of stairs with said groceries too! All in one trip this time! F@# Yeah!)

walked/ran to the gym to make yoga class but when I got there it was already full. Got a squat rack to myself though and hit a PR for my squat and overhead press. Deadlift and pull up much the same (though getting easier. Especially the pull up! Maybe I'm getting lighter?) walked/ran home again.

 

Had a handful of walnuts, and about a quarter cup of coconut milk with half a banana post work out and now it's nearly 10pm and The Boy is still at work and the steak is all ready to go but if I cook it before he gets here I will eat it all and he'll be pissy. He already had sushi at work though, so really, what's he got to be pissy about? No wonder my regulatory appetite hormones are all outta whack. I don't eat at regular times at ALL. Boy gets free dinner at work if he stays past 8.30. I should maybe abandon him to a future of sushi and thai food and just eat my dinner at a normal time, but I do like having dinner together. When I eat alone I usually fail to prepare anything exciting,

 

Contemplating putting the steak away and going to bed. Could have steak for breakfast... I wouldn't mind...

 

He swears he's just pushing and leaving now... soooo 10 mins to get out the door, 15 to walk to the station, 15-30 for the train depending on the wait, at 10 to walk home... roughly an hour all up... 45mins at best. I'm gonna put the beets in the oven and have a shower.

 

Dinner at 11pm... Steak and a green salad with roasted beets, fresh mint, and sunflower seeds.

[amberino21]

I'd really suggest regulating your meal times a lot better - eating dinner at 11 really isn't great! I perfectly understand liking eating together, I hate eating without my husband, but sometimes common sense and your health needs to take precedence!

[di0spyr0s]

Yeah, I'm thinking that. Maybe I just need to make a rule that if he's not home by 9 he doesnt get dinner. He got home at 10.40 last night and by then neither of us felt like eating. I've spent much of my life in jobs where regular meals/sleep just never happened. Waitressing and bar tending were the worst but working as a polo groom wasn't much better. Early mornings, missed lunches, meals on the road and really late nights. The horses were all on a schedule but not us! Oddly, the year I spent climbing trees and playing with chainsaws in remote rural areas was probably the most normal in terms of eating and sleeping regularly. I was also about 2 sizes smaller then, though not much lighter. Physical work and home cooking for the win!

 

So steak for breakfast today with an egg and sauteed collard greens with onions, garlic and green peppers. Ate about half the steak, half the egg, and half the vege. Very sad, but the cats appreciated the remains of the steak, it was excellent.

 

Prawns and leftover collard greens and green peppers stirfried with onions, garlic and thai red curry paste and a drizzling of coconut milk for lunch. Very tasty, will be doing this again.

 

TMI WARNING:

 

Whole30 is doing a number on my bathroom habits. Days 1-4 I didn't poop at all. Days 5 and 6 I lost about half my body weight in poop and since then I've been pooping after every meal. As a habitual once a day pooper I'm finding this a little disconcerting. Also, it's kinda green? And exceptionally stinky. This may also be attributed to an increase in kombucha/kvass consumption and a dramatic decrease in my espresso habits...

 

/TMI

 

No coffee this morning, didn't need it. Huzzah! Just morning exercise and steak. I like it

 

I have also been weirdly over the top happy over the last two or three days. Productive and randomly grinning and skipping and running places I would usually walk. Currently I'm happy but kinda tired, have been ready for a nap all afternoon.

 

Work out this evening and burgers and salad for dinner I think. Must pick up an avocado. Also, making more mayo and garlic mushroom soup today. 

[di0spyr0s]

Worked out at 8.30 and managed dinner by 9.25pm. Better than yesterday. ground beef with an egg, salt, pepper, oregano and basil for burger patties. mixed green salad with roasted beets, avocado, balsamic and evoo dressing. side of cucumber salad (cucumbers, apple cider vinegar, salt, pepper, dill)

 

Seriously tasty. Only got half way through it all, so left over burgers and salad for breakfast tomorrow.

[di0spyr0s]

Day 13

Left over burgers and salad for breakfast this morning. Still excellent.

Biked half an hour and massaged 5 horses, then biked half an hour back. Stopped for lunch- salad with roasted beets, avocado and sunflower seeds. Side of walnuts and almonds. I know, I know, not enough protein... I was out of jerky, failed to make hard boiled eggs and still get squiffy about chicken at summer temperatures.

Got home, finished off the nuts left over from lunch, totally failed to work out, but you know... an hour of biking and 5 horses? Pretty sure I did enough today.

ground beef stirfried with collard greens and garlic mushroom soup for dinner.

 

Really stoked to have done 5 horses. I'm usually pretty exhausted after 3. Still had energy enough to bike to the furthest away train station ( about 50 blocks, instead of 18)

 

Also, in a really good mood again. So often I spend days... wallowing. for want of a better word. Where I have all the best intentions to get things done and yet nothing really happens... I suddenly realize it's the end of the day and the house is a tip and I havent even showered yet, let alone worked out/made dinner/studied/done laundry/got groceries/etc etc. I would say it's a kind of depression? Only I never feel sad, exactly, just incredibly unmotivated. It comes in swings and roundabouts, and I have noticed its better when I'm eating and sleeping well and getting some form of exercise. The problem of course, is when it's coming on, the first signs are not wanting to excercise or cook, and failure to sleep... Sigh.

 

So, here's hoping the high energy and motivation stick around. Finally made a couple phone calls I've been putting off. Fingers crossed I can get my foot in the door with some polo ponies soon! I am so ready to be qualified and doing the horse massaging thing instead of the $8/hour slow-death-by-pastry job.

 

The Boy would gladly pick up my bills while I finish my studies, but the job keeps me from sinking completely into apathy when the down times come. Despite the fact he makes 10 times what I do (literally, well, Ok, maybe 8 times.) I feel bad taking his money. We've already worked out a deal whereby he pays the rent and utilities and I pay for groceries and do the cooking/cleaning. (HAHA! He has no choice but to eat Paleo!) and that keeps things working fairly equitably I think.

 

I spent all day today covered in sweat, horse hair and hay and it was AMAZING. and potentially it could make me around $100 an hour, so... that's a plus.