Starting today!

[nonnie]

Hi everyone, My name is Nemours. I'm a 60-year-old woman, morbidly obese, and a vegetable-virgin. Really. I grew up hating vegetables, and didn't even manage to eat a salad (read lettuce) until I was in college. Since my teens, I have been either on a diet or off a diet - nothing in between. I have never fixed a balanced meal for myself unless I was following a diet. Even when I gave up on diets and tried to just eat when hungry and stop when full, a balanced meal wasn't part of it - I generally stuck to one food for a meal (meat or salad or ...) Thinking about, shopping for, prepping, cooking and eating veg has always seemed like a huge chore. I've never established any easy, quick veg sides I can throw together quickly. Opening a half-gallon of ice cream has been way easier for my brain to deal with (but that will change, right?).

My eating lately is low carb (very successful at this for about a year then went to hell) or binge on sugar, fat and carbs (and protein as long as it's enveloped in bread and mayo), to the exclusion of anything healthy for months or longer. I'm surprised all my teeth haven't fallen out.

Any advice on shopping, cooking, etc., for a single person would be appreciated. (I have avoided socializing most of my life - I was waiting to be thin.) I see that there are many, many recipes and blogs by successful Whole30'ers. In the *PAST* I have read and read and copied other people's great ideas, totally overwhelmed myself, and headed for the ice cream with a promise to start the next day. I saws the link to "Eating for Idiots" and thought, that's me!

All this sounds pretty depressing, but I'm still optimistic about changing my eating. I've been incredibly lucky to have stayed disease-free all this time. I'm starting today; however, I'm sitting here getting hungry so I better head to the grocery and get something (not ice cream).

Thanks for listening. N.

[Ann]

Nonnie, welcome! I'm only 7 days in and not an expert, but here are a couple of super quick throw together meals I enjoy that require little or no cooking:

DINNER OR LUNCH:

• Roast beef - sliced really thin from Whole Foods deli counter (delicious warm or cold, would probably be good with some some W30-friendly mustard). This roast beef doesn't have any sugar or "baddies" in it - it is expensive ($15/pound), but you can use your ice cream money for this. (I'm using my "wine" money) [ingredients: Top round beef, black peppercorns, salt, rosemary, thyme, parsley]
  

• A pile of broccoli (or whatever veggie you like best) - throw it in a bowl with a little bit of water, cover with plastic wrap, and nuke it for 2 minutes or til it's cooked - season salt & pepper, and maybe some clarified butter)
  
• 1/2 avocado, or a small handful of macadamia nuts
  

BREAKFAST:

• Large handful of spinach - toss it into a frying pan with some ghee or coconut oil and cook until just wilted, remove from pan
  
• 2-3 eggs fried in the same pan - put them on top of the spinach and season w salt & pepper (I like Frank's Red Hot)
  
• Top with cherry tomatoes and some diced avocado
  

OR...

• In a pinch, how about 2-3 hard boiled eggs (Egglands Best sells boiled/peeled/ready-to-eat), and a can of V-8?
  

LUNCH:

• Big pile of mixed salad greens
  
• Top with cucumber, red onion, tomatoes, any veggie you like (and maybe a little fruit!?)
  
• Chop up 4-5 slices of Applegate Farms organic lunch meat (look for the ones w/o sugar)
  
• Drizzle your salad with homemade salad dressing (I make a big jar - 3 parts olive oil, 1 part balsamic vinegar, squeeze of dijon, shake it up good to emulsify.)
  

SNACKS (when necessary): Dried pineapple + nuts; banana w/almond butter; Larabar; carrots/celery/cauliflower w/ guacamole.

Stock up on good stuff and get the bad stuff our of your kitchen if you can - less temptation-filled trips to the grocery store, the easier it will be on you.

Good luck!

Ann

[nonnie]

Thanks so much, Ann. I can't let vegetables intimidate me! Good luck to you, too. Nonnie

[Ann]

Vegetables are your friends. Roasted cauliflower is delicious - just toss it with a mix of olive oil and dijon (or whole grain mustard is particularly good, if you can find one w/o sugar), and stick it in the oven for 30-45 minutes or until it's soft and a bit browned on the edges, and EAT. Yum. You can cook up a couple sweet potatoes in the oven (just liked you'd do a regular baked potato), cut them in half, put them in the fridge -- when you want to eat one, just nuke it til warm, put a blob of clarified butter and some cinnamon on it, and it's soo good.

[Bebe]

Hi Nonnie -

Have you ever tried roasting vegetables? I think it makes them taste 10x better. If I'm doing a veggie mix, I always start with mushrooms, red or vidalia onion and red bell pepper (green works too) and then I add whatever other veg sounds good - broccoli, eggplant, zucchini, asparagus. Make some effort to get the vegs about the same size but don't stress. Pour over some olive oil or melted coconut oil, salt, fresh ground pepper and, if you like, some italian herbs. Mix it altogether. Roast at 425 for about 25 minutes. Yum!

I love to do the above mix with asparagus and then use the leftovers with fresh spinach and sliced steak in a super yummy salad topped with paleo ranch dressing.

Roasted baby carrots are delicious. If you go to Mel Joulwan's site (the clothes make the girl) you'll find a recipe for lime cumin roasted carrots that are super, super yummy. Or just roast them with salt and pepper.

I have also sauteed sliced purple cabbage in coconut oil, added in some toasted pine nuts, cubed cooked chicken and coconut flakes for dinner or breakfast.

By the way, today is day 1 for me too. I've made a few prior attempts but this is the one! Start a log so we can cheer you on. You can do this!

[LindaLee]

I second sauteeing vegetables in coconut oil. I personally love squash so it's easy for me to whip up some of that. I usually get a bunch on Friday and on Saturday I am a chopping and cooking machine. I also like spinach and cherry tomatoes...I make the Whole30 mayo (really easy) and use that for my fat lots of meals. Mustard, as long as it doesn't have sugar, also makes a lot of things palatable!

I think the best thing is to keep it really, really, really simple in the beginning. Pick one or two things you like for each meal and prepare a week's worth...then slowly add one or two different things in each week or so.

Best wishes!

[Derval]

Best of luck Nonnie, you've got some great advice above, we're all rooting for you!

[hobbitgirl]

I thought Larabars were out during a W30 because they are so laden with dried fruit vs. protien ratio.

[Ann]

They mention Larabars in ISWF in the section about "Slay the Sugar Dragon" --

"If you find yourself reaching for fruit after every single meal, satisfying those leftover cravings for dessert, you may want to stop and think. Remember, addressing your habits is the most important factor in making sustainable healthy eating changes -- and dessert just might be one of those habits you'd be better off shaking. ... you can't battle the sugar dragon outright--the only way to slay it is to starve it. So conscientiously avoid the fruit, nut butters, Larabars or anything else that may prop up your sugar cravings."

The ingredients in some of the Larabars are Whole30 friendly, although put together in a way which could be considered SWYPO (sex with your pants on) -- trying to mimic a candy bar. I personally consider them something to be used with caution, but not "out." (FYI - I'm personally not battling a very big sugar dragon.)

[Meridith Wolnick]

I just started on Saturday! Hurrah for making the commitment! I baked a great frittata yesterday (recipe here, halved it: http://www.btbfitness.com/recipes/breakfast-recipes/southwestern-frittata.html). In my experience, a frittata like this will hold for much of the week though it was delicious and might be gone sooner! It warms quickly or can be eaten col and is good for any meal. I have also made it in muffin tins. I'm new at this, too but I hope this adds to your resources!

[nonnie]

Thanks for all the great suggestions. Roasted vegetables always look very appealing, but I've never tried it. That's definitely on my list. Making a frittata to have for breakfast every day is a good idea. Anything that helps me get out of the house faster is great, because I don't want to get up any earlier than I have to. Hoping for some improvement in energy on waking (well, make that all the time) after my 30 days.