Starting September 9th looking for support

[cortner1195]

Hello all,

So far so good, and why am I so nervous?   I guess I'm afraid of failure.  Had eggs, with fried onions, peppers and fresh tomatoes from my garden and coffee with coconut milk for breakfast.  Had lunch at 11:30 - huge salad with veges, 1/2 avocado, cashews, with olive oil and sea salt. Of course, I feel satisfied, although I'm used to eating snacks in between meals, and I know that snacks are not recommended on Whole30.  Just wondering if anyone else is used to between meal snacks like I am?  Also, I'm off today so life is not hectic.  Tomorrow I'm back to work so things will get a little crazy.

I usually live a Weight Watchers life of no processed food, 5-6 small meals per day.  I have fallen off track, and using Whole 30 to reset and cut the cravings.  I am half way through day 2.  I am not hungry until I am, then it's too late.  Shaking and difficult to fix something.  So I am trying to stick with the clock to make sure I eat in a timely manner.  Today is way better than yesterday.

[cortner1195]

I dropped my first time around due to a medical problem... I was put on a low residue (BRAT) diet for several weeks before I was finally found to have a muscles injury instead of possible GI problem. I made it to day 13 and was starting to really be in the groove, except I started to really not enjoy sweet potatoes... so this time I am ready to mix it up...

 

I also forked over 15 bucks for the emails... and I convince my mom to give this a try... she has been paleo for almost a year, but started getting back into her old habits...

 

I did just pruchase some macademia oil, coconut oil, and more ghee from Amazon with Prime shipping... little package deal they had going, so I figured I would give it a try. This time around I want to try and make my own mayo, even though it is not always my favorite. I got some compliant spices at the market over the weekend, so going to try and make some fun flavored mayos!

I have avoided mayo in my weight watchers diet for so long that this was a shocker for me.  I made a batch last night with hubby looking on, full of doubt.  We both loved it.  For lunch today I added cumin, cayenne, and lime juice.  Super yummy.  I followed the recipe for mayo on www.clothesmakethegirl.com  Then I used a suggestion I found in the comments.   I purchased a cheap condiment squirt bottle for about a dollar.  I measured my one cup of oil in, then marked the outside of the bottle.  Now no measuring in the future, and it made it easy to go slowly with the oil.

 

Is anyone else a former Whole 30 dropout?

 

I had some wine on day 19 of my last attempt. That was a little over a week ago, and now I'm ready as I'll ever be to do this thing for real!

 

This time around, I'm REALLY trying to quit eating as I'm preparing food. You know - a spoonful of sauce, a nibble of chicken, a couple pieces of roasted vegetables as they're being dumped into the serving dish. I'm also going to focus a lot more on getting my 8 hours of sleep in.

 

This go around, I went ahead and forked over the $14.95 for the daily e-mails. Anyone else doing that, too? So far, so good. There's a goals worksheet included on Day 0 that really helped me set some achievable goals. That said, I'll feel better when I'm past Day 19!

I purchased the daily program.  I need to be better about following it.  I am spending too much time trying to find things that I want to eat.  And how to fix them.

[Ruby]

I love, love, love the daily e-mails. I used them for my first go around and signed up again this time. They're packed with great motivation and ideas. I read them first thing in the morning and I think they really help set my intention for the day.

[mgm5175]

I started today too.  So far so good, other than a slight headache probably from no coffee or sugar? Good luck everyone!

[Cushy]

I just started today, too. I've attempted to do a Whole30 twice this summer and was unsuccessful, but for a number of reasons need to do this. 

[lovinlife013]

I'm on day 3 today. So far it's all good - just keeping strong when I feel like a snack and having herbal teas galore. I made it only to day 17 earlier this year, when I caved with a paleo treat. And then one I caved with that, I dropped the lot. So this time around I'm telling everyone what I'm doing, joining this forum, have signed up to the daily emails - all plans in place to prevent a slip! Good luck everyone!

[carrot_flowers]

Day 1 is coming to a close! Everyone celebrating?! I can't wait to click the "I did it!" link at the bottom of my Whole 30 e-mail.

Sweet dreams, y'all.

[Ruby]

In the bag! I found myself eyeing desserts that never looked good before, but I filled my cart with delicious and compliant foods. Only 29 days to go. Bam.

[Kellyf882]

Hello Everyone! Today was my first day and I would love to keep in touch with you for ideas and advice!

 

Thanks!

[SharynF]

Day 2 starts now for me in UK. It's 8.30 and I'm showered, lunch is made to take to work and I have just found out I have a delayed start as boss won't be in til 10 and I don't have keys to the new locks. RESULT! 

 

What did we learn on Day 1?

 

I am a Whole 30 virgin so expected to make mistakes. But not with my first meal! No veggies with breakfast, oops. Thanks to a moderator for putting me right on that one.

 

And I also learnt that I should have served myself half of my Taste of Greece lamb last night and cooked extra veg. The other half would have made a good breakfast with some lovely ripe tomatoes and homemade mayo. 

 

Portions off kilter last night means not very hungry this morning. So I am having a smaller breakfast but I know I shall be lunching in less than four hours and I have a substantial lunch to look forward to. 

 

Day 2 plan

 

B proscuitto ham (pork & salt), one huge tomato and 3 ripe plums, a tablespoon of mayo. 

L large mixed salad, 1½ fillets of peppered smoked mackerel, home made mayo

D sirloin steak with green veggies (and maybe a baked sweet potato mashed with olive oil and pepper). 

 

Good luck Day 2ers

[An_marcach]

Congrats on getting through day 1 everyone! I didn't post my finish last night so I'll do it now as I enjoy my day 2 coffee after a veggie mini frittata and cashews (I made four of them to get me through this week, cooking in the morning isn't an option as our tiny tiny tiny kitchen is jammed with everyone making lunches and breakfasts as I am the only one to do them the night before.)

Monday nights are a bit mental as I have one hour between the work day and five hour apprentice class, so it's rush home, shovel in food, and run out the door. Meal 3 yesterday was spare rib with roasted beets and asparagus. I did have a pear after I came home, mainly because my time of month showed up and I had cramps and didnt want to take ibuprofen without eating something with it.

So what to say about day one? I'm not sure. It came and went because Mondays are my crazy day due to class. That being said, halfway through class I usually get hunger pains - no such thing this week.

I feel a little chaotic and irratable today and just a bit gross / icky feeling, which could be from any number of things (period, sugar dragon, not enough sleep, this heat and humidity wave we're getting, figuring out how much and what to eat, my dad rushing me this morning, etc).

Good luck today all!

[MadscienceM]

Made it through day 1!

 

Busy day for me last night, work, straight to gymnastics gym where I coach dance, then to teach dance at my studio for a teacher who is out. Luckily it was only me for the last class (and my better half), so we went home and cooked some dinner stuffs.

 

I made ground turkey with some yummy stir fry veggies and lots of spice. I also cooked up 8 egg muffins with mushrooms, peppers, onions, and spinach for the morning, so I can just reheat them this week. Hard boiled some eggs for emergency protein and put my lunch together for today. Feeling better for day 2 because I prepped everything last night. I am going to cook some more goodies tonight to get me through the busy week!

 

I am looking forward to a run this evening and then have my first day of bootcamp class at a local cardio place tomorrow morning... should be good!

 

Hope everyone's day 2 goes well!!!

[Bethie]

I successfully didn't late night snack. That's a huge thing for me. Usually, either healthy or not, I want a snack before bed. Mentally overcame the habit. Hope I can keep that up. And I also only woke up once during the night (usually its a few times) woohoo! The daily eating isn't very difficult for me... I've been about 70% paleo since the spring. The hard part is noticing the sugar or fake sugars is the seasonings I have and haven't noticed. Good luck today, everyone!

[carrot_flowers]

@Sharyn: Leftovers are great for breakfast! I myself has fajita leftovers this morning with extra sautéed veggies. So good.

 

I'm feeling great on Day 2. This past Sunday I did a ton of prep work in the kitchen - chopping all the veggies that I use in my breakfast hash and grilling chicken breasts for salads - it's made this week a breeze so far!

 

I'm also doing two crock pot meals this week: Chicken Chipotle Soup and Balsamic Pot Roast. I'll let you know how they turn out - eating the soup for lunch today.

 

Major meltdown at the grocery store yesterday - EVERY SINGLE KIND OF BEEF BROTH OR STOCK has sugar or honey in it (at my grocery store). I checked every can - generic, name brand, organic, you name it. I even checked the bouillon cubes/granules/pastes. SUGAR, SUGAR, SUGAR. I'm also completely bummed that my grocery store doesn't carry any sugar-free bacon. Even the organic has some sugar in it. I can't get to a Whole Foods for a couple weeks, so I guess my diet will be bacon-less for the majority of these 30 days. 

 

Just curious - what goals have you all made outside of food/eating goals?

 

I'm going to share mine:

 

1. Continue working out 6 days a week.

2. Stop picking and tasting while preparing food, eat only when seated at the table.

     (I'm letting breakfast be my exception to this rule - sometimes sitting down at the table with a three-year old AND leaving the house

       by 6:45 just can't freaking happen.)

3. Learn more about meditation and practice daily.

4. Play outside with my daughter for at least 30 min, 3 times a week.

5. Set aside time for my hobbies (sewing, ukulele, or crafting) every weekend.

6. Be in bed by 9:30 every week night.

 

I am trying to focus on these goals AS MUCH as I'm focused on the food and eating portion of this diet. At the end of these 30 days, I want to feel better than I ever have in my entire life!

 

Happy Day 2, comrades!

[carrot_flowers]

@MadScienceM Freaking sweet! I miss dance so much. I was taking a Barre Blast class for a few months last year and I loved it, but ultimately my schedule was getting too crazy, so I stopped going. I NEED to go back. That class was good for me physically and mentally.

 

@Bethie No late night snacks is HUGE! Congrats. Like you, I've been mostly Paleo for a pretty long time, but those little habits are the hardest to tackle.

 

 

... sorry I'm a chatterbox this morning, but I forgot to mention that I had a "cheating" food dream last night! In the dream, I was eating chicken nuggets dipped in honey, and after a few bites, I thought to myself "Oh, crap, honey isn't on my plan. Oh wait, either is breaded chicken. Damnit!" I probably haven't had a chicken nugget years - not sure why my psyche chose that!

[lilangel4824]

*carrot_flowers

 

Does your local grocery store have a "health food" section. Like the gluten free/vegan isles? That is where I found my compliant beef and chicken broth!

[Revived]

Do you guys know about the magic that is bullet proof coffee? There's tons of posts around here on the topic bit basically it's coffee with butter or in the whole30 world - ghee. I also add coconut milk and sometimes some raw cacao and blend it up in the blender. It's good! My first whole30, I completely went off caffeine as well which was a huge accomplishment for me but the caffeine withdrawal headache is no joke. I think mine lasted almost 2 full weeks! I'm just not ready for that yet. I really really want this to be a long term commitment so I'm taking this one step at a time. My only real goal for the first month is to stay compliant. I'm not even concerning myself with exercise at this point. I've been dealing with low energy for so long now, I'm not expecting anything resembling tiger blood. Keeping the expectations low this time around! Next month I'll focus more on light cardio and strength training and maybe even cutting out starches to help with fat loss but I completely reserve the right to change my mind if I feel like I'm getting frustrated and focusing too much on results.

So far, so good here on this bright, sunny day 2 morning. I do find that once I commit to this, and keep my mind off it, the sugar cravings don't bother me that much. And I think after the first week they completely went away. Last time, I was about 2 and a half weeks in and we had a birthday party for my daughter and I was hardly tempted by the cake. So I'm pretty confident as far as that goes.

I pre-made some chicken tenders using coconut flour and almond meal and they are so dry! And I made a ton so I'm disappointed. It's gonna be hard to get through them. I think I'm going to make some marinara sauce and see if that helps. Anyone have a better recipe? I baked them instead of fried which I'm sure is partly why they're so dry but when I tried to fry them last time, all the breaking came off. I can't win! I also chopped up a ton of sweet potato fries and baked them. The first batch I made I didn't bake long enough, even though some of them were getting brown, most of them were not cooked through which I didn't realize until I was actually trying to eat them. So the second go around, I left them in a bit longer and burned the crap out of 80%. Argggghh! You'd think I've never cooked before. I can easily obsess about stuff like this because I'm so broke. We can not afford to waste food! But.... I guess there just a learning curve with getting back into the swing of things. I'm persevering.

[lilangel4824]

@bethie

 

I am the same way, especially if I eat an earlier dinner. Last night I jumped into bed around 8:30/9 and I immedietly got that craving for a snack. I went to the fridge, took 3 sips of apple cider, and my craving was gone! Not snacking at night is huge for me!

[Revived]

On the bacon topic - it's easier to find no sugar when you look at the low sodium bacon. But it's still tricky to find nitrate free. Most people here will tell you not to bother with bacon if its commercially raised because the bad stuff is in the fat but I certainly can't afford to spend $16 on the good stuff so I don't know... I didn't do any my first time around and I'm still on the fence about whether I'll get the conventional stuff this round. There's lots of posts on the topic here.

[cortner1195]

Day 3 is starting for me now. This is the first day that I will be out through a meal time. My plan is in place and my lunch is made. I roasted a whole turkey last night. I cut up one leg portion and made a turkey salad with celery, curry spice, halved grapes, and homemade mayo. I will add some cashews at meal time. That with a huge salad and some raw veggies with homemade hummus. Lots of options. There is more food than I can eat, but I want to have choices so I have no reason to look elsewhere.

[MadscienceM]

@ Carrot- I take Adult classes for Hip Hop, Ballet, and Lyrical. I teach the 3 young levels of our ballet/tap combo and levels 1 and 2 of our hip hop classes. I sometimes sub for the level 3 and the adults for hip hop depending on who needs help. I was a late comer to ballet, so the barre always kicks my butt, but I like the challenge. i am trying to be careful until the end of the month, since I am healing torn intercostal muscles... so I cant do any heavy weight lifting, but can dance, run, and do cardio, as long as take it easy....

 

You inspired me to put my non-food related goals out to everyone too!

 

1. Get myself up in the morning before work to run/cardio.

2. eat while seated in kitchen, not in front of TV

3. in bed by 1030 every night

4. stretch on my non-dance nights before bed

[kitty08]

Hi everyone, mind if I join you? I'm a total newbie to whole30; I started my first yesterday. My boyfriend is doing it with me (I told him it might help his chronic insomnia, and he was immediately on board) and I was hoping to find some support from other newbies and veterans here too.

 

I'm battling a ferocious sugar dragon; prior to whole30 I was eating sweets all day--not in huge amounts; I could have half a cupcake or one mini candy bar and be done, but still I was used to having a little sweetness with every meal. So right now my sugar cravings are killing me. Nothing to do but wait them out and stay strong!

 

My protein sources are rather limited as I was pescetarian before starting this. It was only after long thought and much internal struggle that I chose to eat chicken just for these next 30 days, only because I was concerned about the effects of eating nothing but eggs and fish fish fish for protein every day for a month. I never ate anything more than fish before, because I love animals and hated supporting the cruel practices of factory farming. But I was able to find free-range, animal-welfare certified chicken at Whole Foods, so at least I know it lived a good life before it died to feed me (I know there's a modified plan for vegetarians, but I'm trying to identify a soy and legume allergy so I couldn't have done it). So, since I have no idea what I'm doing with chicken, does anyone have any favorite chicken recipes? Thanks!

 

Yesterday I had 2 eggs in olive oil with veggies and half an avocado, salmon cakes with mustard over spinach, and for dinner my boyfriend and I cooked kale, stuffed mushrooms with pecans and currants, and seared salmon fillets with pomegranate balsamic (all compliant, I checked). Lots of salmon but I'll mix it up with chicken today.

 

Happy noshing, everyone!

[carrot_flowers]

@lilangel4824 We have a health food section, but alas, there were none compliant. I will check again, though, at the other grocery store in town. Thanks for the tip.

 

@revived I've always wanted to try bulletproof coffee. I just pour coconut milk into my coffee now. It's great to find compliant items you love! I think that staying compliant as your only goal for this Whole 30 is plenty! Check out the recipes section for good chicken tender recipes. I do what you described, but I always brine my chicken first and pan-fry in coconut oil. They come out so juicy and delicious! Even my daughter loves them.

 

cortner: that turkey sounds amazing. I need to do that!  How did you make your hummus? zucchini? Eggplant? gentle reminder that chickpeas aren't compliant

 

Madscience: awesome goals! glad you shared.

 

kitty - welcome and best wishes! I'm a sugar junkie, too, but unlike you, my sweet tooth knows no limits! I recommend the recipe forum for chicken advice - there are so many great ways to prepare it! and, OMG, the description of your dinner last night practically had me drooling. sounds so yummy.

[cortner1195]

Do you guys know about the magic that is bullet proof coffee? There's tons of posts around here on the topic bit basically it's coffee with butter or in the whole30 world - ghee. I also add coconut milk and sometimes some raw cacao and blend it up in the blender. It's good! My first whole30, I completely went off caffeine as well which was a huge accomplishment for me but the caffeine withdrawal headache is no joke. I think mine lasted almost 2 full weeks! I'm just not ready for that yet. I really really want this to be a long term commitment so I'm taking this one step at a time. My only real goal for the first month is to stay compliant. I'm not even concerning myself with exercise at this point. I've been dealing with low energy for so long now, I'm not expecting anything resembling tiger blood. Keeping the expectations low this time around! Next month I'll focus more on light cardio and strength training and maybe even cutting out starches to help with fat loss but I completely reserve the right to change my mind if I feel like I'm getting frustrated and focusing too much on results.

So far, so good here on this bright, sunny day 2 morning. I do find that once I commit to this, and keep my mind off it, the sugar cravings don't bother me that much. And I think after the first week they completely went away. Last time, I was about 2 and a half weeks in and we had a birthday party for my daughter and I was hardly tempted by the cake. So I'm pretty confident as far as that goes.

I pre-made some chicken tenders using coconut flour and almond meal and they are so dry! And I made a ton so I'm disappointed. It's gonna be hard to get through them. I think I'm going to make some marinara sauce and see if that helps. Anyone have a better recipe? I baked them instead of fried which I'm sure is partly why they're so dry but when I tried to fry them last time, all the breaking came off. I can't win! I also chopped up a ton of sweet potato fries and baked them. The first batch I made I didn't bake long enough, even though some of them were getting brown, most of them were not cooked through which I didn't realize until I was actually trying to eat them. So the second go around, I left them in a bit longer and burned the crap out of 80%. Argggghh! You'd think I've never cooked before. I can easily obsess about stuff like this because I'm so broke. We can not afford to waste food! But.... I guess there just a learning curve with getting back into the swing of things. I'm persevering.

On the bacon topic - it's easier to find no sugar when you look at the low sodium bacon. But it's still tricky to find nitrate free. Most people here will tell you not to bother with bacon if its commercially raised because the bad stuff is in the fat but I certainly can't afford to spend $16 on the good stuff so I don't know... I didn't do any my first time around and I'm still on the fence about whether I'll get the conventional stuff this round. There's lots of posts on the topic here.

Just wondering, did you did the chicken tenders in beaten egg first? The recipe I saw was egg followed by almond meal.

If you find a brand of bacon that is compliant, please share. I am having a horrible time even finding sausage without sugar. I went to a spice market, and even the spice pkts without any sugars listed have either lkme juice powder, or vinegar powder. Both have either sugar or malt dextran. I am waiting to hear from the own to wee if he will mix me a packet without either of those things.

[SharynF]

Day 2 has gone well so far. I was in a cafe this morning and had peppermint tea instead of coffee (planning on a coffee free Whole30) so that was a success.

 

And I have signed up for the daily email - start date tomorrow which means I am in for a Whole 32 at the very least. I just hope they come through when I go on holiday later this month. Internet is flaky in a lot of the UK.