Gin's 2nd Whole30, For Real This Time

[ginsinnot]

Last year, after my first W30 around September, I felt amazing and maintained pretty much right up thru the holidays, feeling good about the choices I made to indulge over the holidays but not going crazy.

Then the holidays were over and the dark Michigan blah-ness of January and February combined with some marital strife got me. And I went so far off the road, I'm pretty sure I ended up in the Pacific basin.

 

I've attempted a few Whole30 since then, and have very very slowly been coming back around to general Primal/Paleo. And while I didn't complete them, I think I learned something each time.

 

On the super amazing awesome side, despite not putting the best food into my body, I'm on my first drug-holiday in over 10 years. I have Crohns disease. And if we haven't met on here before, suffice it to say that it was super-bad enough that I spent 5+ years of what should have been my glorious late 20s and early 30s on disability. To be off all my meds (it's been 3 months now, and still no problems - excuse my while I engage in a lot of hocus-pocus superstitious protections to not jinx myself after typing that).......it still makes me tear up a little.

 

My first day was August 12th, and I'm on day 5 now. It's been a great week. My sister came over to my house last Sunday, before we started, and we did a lot of batch cooking: Beef Chili, Julia Child's Ratatouille, NomNomPaleo's Tandoori chicken, Carrot Breakfast Souffle and Blueberry Pork Sausage from the site "thingsImakemyhusband" (thanks to the Avoid EPS blog post), and regular pork sausage for my husband.

The cooking was fun and got me excited about all the good food I'd be eating. And it's made it easy this week, even when I've woken up late or been super tired (I've been a little down the last week or so because my 17 year old cat-baby passed away last week).

My husband is doing this with me this time and he's helping with the cooking, which is actually kind of a relaxing way to spend time together after work.

Even got fancy-pants on Tuesday and made pan-seared lamb loin chops with side of kale and roasted sweet potato slices.

 

Triumphs of the week: Took my mother-in-law out to dinner, had a great visit and a totally compliant W30 meal, and just visited while she ate her free dessert at the restaurant (it's amazing how acute your sense of smell can be in a restaurant full of smells. I swear I could smell each component of that dessert, and I'll tell you, it smelled like temptation)

And I have such a great group of girl friends that on our weekly Girls Night, we made a totally W30 dinner: spaghetti squash with meat sauce; kale chips; and a veggie bake of zucchinie, cherry tomatos and bacon with garlic. Ended with some fresh strawberries.

 

So far no withdrawal/hangover type feelings. I'm just focusing on enjoying my whole healthy foods and looking forward to the bags under my eyes disappearing over the next few weeks (dairy is not kind to my sinuses or under-eyes).

 

I'm logging my daily meals on my tumblr space, so I won't be doing that here. But I'll be checking in:)

 

 

[ginsinnot]

Goodmorning, it's Day 8 and the start of Week 2.        And why so many happy faces on a Monday morning? Well, I went up north this weekend. As in camping and boating and campfires and... This sort of trip generally involves all kinds of non-W30 fun (I'm not sure I've ever gone camping and not had a s'more). But I kept on my W30. Ate a few more nuts than I have been at home, but I'm calling it a resounding success.

 

Being gone over the weekend means I'm not quite prepared food-wise for this week so I'll be playing catch-up tonight. I treated myself to the Nom-Nom Paleo app for iPad, so I'll be picking out a few new and exciting recipes this afternoon. This morning was the last of my homemade blueberry breakfast sausage with some sweet potato slices, so I'll need to make some more of that. Plan to grill burgers tonight. My favorite way to eat a burger now (even off the W30): with romaine lettuce as the "bun" with guacamole and bacon and onion and tomato. Serious yum.

 

Last week brought some lessons/reminders home. I don't really use food as a reward, but it is a knee-jerk stress crutch (bad stressful day at work: chocolate pops right into my brain). There are a few things that trigger my wanting to eat not related to hunger, just the thought of going to the movie theatre or a outing for a sporting event with friends. I've avoided the movie theater so far until I'm stronger (which is really hard because my husband would go the theater 2-3 times a week in a perfect world). Last night watching a movie at home, I craved sugar and so I avoided the strawberries in the fridge (my first thought was berries with coconut butter) and grabbed a few pistachios and a sparkling water instead.

 

Sugar is more my crutch than salt. Other than the up north weekend with some mixed nuts and pistachios (no peanuts in that mix, bought the expensive stuff:), not really eating nuts. Still going strong from my first W30 last year, which pretty much nixed my snacking habits. When I'm truly hungry, I don't "snack", I grab a balanced mini-meal. But that's pretty rare, generally only once a week as long as I get the fat I need in my meals. And I'm again truly and happily surprised by how easy it is to not eat sweets (I'm eating fruit with meals only, given my sugar issues).

 

I don't miss soda pop. It's always a problem for me. I'll give it up and not miss it, then ease back into drinking it too much again. Even when I don't think the diet stuff is that tasty, I'd still find myself grabbing them at work. So it feels really good to just say NO.

I'm excited about cooking again, but I think that's partly the time of year. It's nearing the end of summer and I'm totally a fall/winter girl, and it always makes me want to cook. I'm so looking forward to pot-roast weather!

 

In the first week, I've already noticed a significant improvement in my emotional state. I'm just calmer and happier when I'm eating like this. And if I notice that I'm getting aggravated, it's usually a sign my last meal wasn't balanced with enough fat and protein and I'm now "hangry". My sleep could still use some work, but I'm blaming a small ongoing funk from losing one of my cats after 17 years for that issue and not the W30.

My skin is already better. I give up dairy and the little bumps that aren't quite pimples disappear off my forehead and cheeks. I'm hoping the under-eye circles are gone soon too (definitely a dairy issue for me).

 

I feel good.

 

My plan, since starting, is to complete a clean Whole30 but to continue it beyond the 30 days until I make a conscious decision to indulge in something that's worth it. And while I know that Whole9 doesn't endorse/promote the idea of the 80/20 or "twice a week" off-roading plans, I think I'll be using some sort of weekly structural limit once I do go off. Those will be my training wheels, like an up to 2x/week off road. That's just what I'm thinking now. Because I did learn last time that while I feel amazing when I'm W30 and even for weeks-months after, it's easy to start indulging more and thinking less about food choices. I'm hoping to move more towards maintaining a Whole9 lifestyle well after this W30.

 

Have a great week everyone

[ginsinnot]

It's Day 11 for me:)

 

I waited to do my measurements until Monday of this week, which was Day 8. I was hoping that some of the water weight from the SAD would be gone by then and I'd have better measurements for monitoring my progress. My plan is to be as close to W30 as I can manage even at the end of the 30 days. I'm hoping to be in the best health of my life at 3 months and even better at 6 months from now.

 

Right calf 13.75"  Left calf 13.5"

         thigh 22.2"         thigh 21.9"

Hip bones 38"

Belly 33.7"

Waist 28.75"

Ribs 32.2"

Chest 37.5"

Underarm 36"

R biceps 11.76" L biceps 11.5"

 

I have no idea what my weight is. My first W30 successfully broke me of using the scale (I only step on them at the doctor's office and ask the nurse not to tell me  )  I know I've got some weight to lose because my clothes haven't been feeling good. But already this week I feel better about that.

 

Awesomeness: Had a Whole30 BBQ with friends last night. It's SO important to incorporate this life-change into our social interactions. Our couple friends are super awesome and down with the W30  .

 

We grilled pork loin chops. We grilled snow peas tossed in Tessemae's (did I spell that right?) Ranch. We grilled diced red onion and bell peppers. Our friends brought a giant veggie tray (they had dip, we passed on it), a giant bowl of fresh Cherries and cantaloupe. Drank iced tea. Sat outside til late and talked with music on, even had a fire. Gorgeous peach-colored moon.

 

And this morning, because my sister is super-fantastic, and despite my sleeping late: ate a super tasty Italian brunch bake just now. My sister met me on my walk to work to share the breakfast bake she made last night.

 

Feeling pretty fantasticly happy today.

[Snow]

Sounds like your doing fab! Your BBQ sound lush!

Good luck with the rest of the whole 30 xx

[ginsinnot]

Half way point, but who's counting? My work calendar is telling me it's day 15. But really I haven't been counting the days and that makes me happy.

My husband is doing great, he drank water at his Fantasy Football draft yesterday (took a lot of ribbing from his guys) and had naked chicken wings. Then we went and picked up fajitas (steak, chicken, shrimp) at our fave Mexican place to go and enjoyed that on the couch, watching some True Blood on DVD (just ended season 5 I think). Amazing how you don't even need all the "filler" foods that usually come with fajitas. Love the meat/pepper/onion/tomato mix on a bed of lettuce topped with some pico. Not hard at all to pass on the rice, beans, sour cream or cheesey stuff (we ordered without all of that). I do miss tortilla chips and salsa though.

My husband's main motivation for this was losing some weight (about 10 pounds) and be healthy for a knee surgery he's going to be getting in the next 6 months. Two weeks in, I can already tell he's lost weight. Oh, to be a guy!

I'll say my clothes are fitting better. And I feel happier and calmer in general (although it's Monday morning and I've encountered a few frustrations already today). My energy is better but wouldn't say it's "Tiger Blood" yet.

I've noticed I'm eating more fruit this time around, but it is high summer and there's an awful lot of super delicious fruit in season locally so I don't feel too badly about that. Mhmmm, blueberries:)

 

This has been a very rambling post today. Hope everyone has a fab week.

[Snow]

Sounds like your both doing really well. My husband drops weight really easily too...it's not fair!

[ginsinnot]

Yesterday was such a MONDAY! And I was tired and cranky due to it. When I came home, I laid down for about 5 minutes with my cat to calm down. Then grabbed a quick snack of prosciutto and a few olives, just in case it was food cranky, but it wasn't  . When my man got home, laid down with him for my cat nap and his bear nap (he only can nap for like hours, whereas I'm a 15-20 minute napper). Then got up and had to mow the backyard and do some cleaning. I was being pissy and didn't fix dinner for us (why should I have to while he naps was in my head). But I got to chill some before he woke up and was in a better mood after checking off some of the To-Do stuff. So offered either scrambled eggs or heading out for a bunless burger, and we went out for the burger. Which wasn't as good as the burgers at home, but was filling and I didn't have to clean up. Felt pretty proud for sticking with my water at dinner (soda's siren call is still strong in restaurants, old habits die hard).

 

On the plus side, my energy is generally stable. And if I'm honest, my husband made my week when he pointed out my arms were looking slimmer and more muscley:)

[tinman57]

Happy Tuesday.  I had a Monday like yours it sounds like.  I'm on my day one of a 3rd (or 4th) retry.

 

Good luck with yours!

[ginsinnot]

Just ate my tasty Italian Breakfast Bake for breakfast, still sipping on my coffee.

 

I'm moody today, stayed up too late to watch a movie (went to the theater, drank just a water) and didn't get to sleep in like I planned because my husband set off our alarm system this morning. But of course I tried to go back to sleep, which probably made things worse. It's true moodiness, like where I get all teary about sad things (in a book I was reading this morning) and nearly approached rage levels with trying to come up with a new password at work today (Side note: I'd truly rather come in to work every day and poke my finger for blood for a DNA match on my computer than try to come up with a compliant password that I can(not) remember).

 

So I'll pull out my thankfulness/good things section from my first W30 log (thanks to Janette):

I'm thankful that...... I can walk to work

      I can take my breakfast and coffee to work and eat at my desk

      I found 2 love letters from my husband in a book yesterday, that he wrote when we were about 17. Took my right back to that age, and all that new love. Just typing that made me feel happier.

 

On a food note, made a tasty dish for dinner last night that was super easy. Found a compliant "Sicilian" red sauce (tomato paste, tomatos, capers, oregano, olive oil), simmered some frozen chicken breast in that and had it over a bed of sauteed kale and onions. Kale is a surprisingly tasty bed for red sauces I'm finding.

 

Hope everyone has (or had) a really enjoyable day

[ginsinnot]

I'm in a better mood today, though I'd say that's a focus shift rather than any vast improvement in my day....

 

Hectic today and meals aren't really complete. My husband slipped a disc at work yesterday and is off work for at least a few days, on meds and in pain. Good thing we're already fighting inflammation and promoting healing with our W30...

 

Breakfast was 2 sausage patties, 2 hardboiled eggs, some cherries and coffee.

Lunch: More like 2 separate snacks. Apple with almond butter at lunch time. Just choked down a Lara bar (they remind of fig newtons and I don't like it) with some cashews and a hardboiled egg cause I'm hungry.

 

Hitting the store right after work for easy supplies for a few days: burger patties and fixings, veggie tray, hoping for some junk-free bratwursts (it's hit or miss at our local health store).

 

Planning/thinking strong committed thoughts for tomorrow evening. It's opening football night for my husband's college team (He's MSU, I'm UofM, if you're from the Midwest you'll see the problem). We're joining some friends to watch the game. The initial plan was fajitas, so we can leave things out and stay W30. But another friend is visiting from out-of-state and they want to get the local pizza (which is honestly to die for). So we'll be eating guacamole bacon burgers before we head over there. And I'm thinking about making some stuffed mushrooms or NomNomPaleo's porkitos. I love football season:)

[ginsinnot]

Change of plans last night but Triumph:)

Grabbed takeout fajitas (we just eat the meat, onion peppers and salad with the guac and salsa) and a ground beef taco salad (trashed the fried shell they give you). Resisted the pizza and enjoyed the game with friends:)

This morning, taco salad leftovers made a tasty topping on my scrambled eggs.

Enjoying a lazy start to my Saturday, pondering painting my half bath (with all my energy, ready to tackle some projects) and shopping trip tomorrow.

[ginsinnot]

I think it's Day 23

 

Things I'm thinking: because it's summer time, I've eaten more fruit this W30 as there are so many tasty berries in season and honestly, I've just wanted more fruit this go round. I've avoided having "desserts" of fruit. But I don't think I've lost quite as many inches, and I'm thinking it's partly my fruit consumption preventing my really switching over to fat-burner mode. I'm not sad about that, because I think it's important to eat seasonally (blueberries, strawberries, raspberries Oh MY).

 

And I think because it's been summer, I haven't cooked complete meals as much as I did the first go round in the fall. We've been eating more meals in the mode of "it's hot and I'm tired and what can we eat fast", which makes me wonder if I've leaned more towards 4 smallish meals or 3 meals with snacks more often this time.

 

My husband wants to keep going beyond our Day 30 on 9/10, so I'm going to work on tweaking these issues now that I've noticed them. Hoping that we have some more cool weather, that makes me want to cook! And my fruit eating generally limits itself to just apples once it's cooler out.

[ginsinnot]

I feel HAPPPYYYY, oh so HAPPPYYY....I feel pretty and witty.....

[Snow]

Feeling good? ! Lol! X

[ginsinnot]

My mood has been pretty great, that's one of my favorite W30 effects. I wouldn't say my mood is bad when I'm eating SAD, it's just that it's much better on W30:)

 

Enjoying some cooler mornings here as we move into fall, and that makes me want my favorite breakfasts. Had eggs and pork back yesterday, scrambled eggs with leftover fajita mix as topping today. And I seem to want less fruit when it's cold. That's a plus, because I think I ate a smidge too much fruit this W30, at least in moving towards my body comp goals. I know I've trimmed up a smidge, cause my clothes fit nicely. But I'd like to get further along with some fat loss.

 

Thinking I'll do some batch cooking this Sunday again. That makes the week so much easier, and leaves me with some actual free time on weeknights. It's amazing how much evening just goes "poof" into food prep and clean up everyday after work. And I enjoy the Sunday cooking. Just me and Dean Martin in the kitchen, chopping and simmering away.

[Snow]

It's been 29 degrees here in the uk we're all melting!

[ginsinnot]

It's been 29 degrees here in the uk we're all melting!

Our weather has been all over the place lately, one week I need my air conditioning because it's 90deg (fahrenheit) and humid. Then the next week it's jacket weather and you're going to bed with a fuzzy blanket and socks on!

 

It kind of makes it hard to meal plan!

[ginsinnot]

Day 29

 

Over the weekend, we ate at a friends house and there was a bit of non-disclosed dairy lurking in what looked to be a compliant veggie dish. I decided that because I'm already clear on the effects dairy has on me from my first Whole30 that I'm not restarting so close to the end.

 

This morning's breakfast: scrambled eggs with sausage-onion mix and guacamole with black coffee.

 

It's pouring outside and I generally walk home for lunch. So I'm pondering an emergency meal of Jimmy Johns Unwich delivered to work (no mayo as theirs isn't W30 or tasty and no cheeses).

 

Looking forward to cooking chili tonight. I'm also in the mood for roasts with veggies and it's supposed to be cool later this week.

 

My husband's really pleased with his foray into Paleo, it ended up more Paleo than W30 for him (outside of the house during work week, he diverged off the W30 path at times). He's lost quite a few inches off his waist, which was his only concern really. He's pretty darn healthy other than an old knee injury. But he wants to keep going with Paleo, and that makes me quite happy.

 

I've definitely lost an inch or two, not as many as I'd like to take off overall. I'm pretty confident that sticking with Paleo after day 30 with max of 2 non-W30 meals/items per week will get me there easily and happily in a month or two. My sleep is better and my skin is nicer with W30.

 

My goals going forward are more consistent exercise on a weekly basis. I'd really like to find some fun activities that my husband and I can do together. We're considering golf as an option, and maybe another salsa dance class this fall. I love yoga but need to make a habit of this.

 

For stress and general mental health, I've been meditating more again. I'd like to get back to at least 10-15min every day. I find I'm just happier and calmer. I think it's really important.

 

So, looking forward to Day30 tomorrow and going forward on the Whole9 path ahead:)

[ginsinnot]

I did it:)

 

And I'm going to keep going for now. No re-introduction this time around, I did it after my first Whole30 and I've got a pretty good handle on each food group (dairy in small amounts because I really want it enough to tolerate the unpleasant side effects; legumes I generally avoid as I don't really miss them thought the occasional bean may find it's way onto my plate when out visiting with others and honestly I love hazelnut butter even without chocolate so much more than peanut butter; gluten grains I pretty much avoid except for when my sister makes cupcakes as they're totally worth it and rare or the very occasional I-don't-want-to-resist french toast; corn tortilla chips are cool with me but I eat them less now a days)

 

My focus, really "our" focus in my house with my husband: is going forward Whole9/paleo on a generaly daily basis. We're going to work on off-roading, how that will fit in and how we'll make those decisions together as we come to them.

 

Good luck all