Post September 1 2013 Whole30

[Marjan]

So TimTams a LOT better than Penquins..but good enough?

 

I never liked TimTams, I preferred Toffee Pops...

probably would not like it anyway.

 

I have no reintroduced at all yet, did not feel the need to. Made another birthday cake yesterday and this time I did not even feel like licking fingers or spoons.

[amberino21]

Not good enough IMO......I'd much prefer a homemade biscuit made with real ingredients! Warm, fresh from the oven, slightly crisp on the outside but soft in the middle....

[misshannah]

amberino21 I'm glad you're around in here, I have a question about workout fueling: Why is it (or, is it) important to eat a post WO meal if I don't feel hungry?

 

Will my body not signal when it's time for me to eat food?

 

I have no objection to the post meal, but I'm trying to figure out how to fit it in. I'm just starting lifting/crossfit. What I'm trying is a hb egg before-hand (about 30min) and then we get home from exercising kind of late, so we're eating our dinner, which is baked chicken w/some greens and steamed white sweet potatoes.

 

But sometimes that's not coming until an hour or so after we get home. Should I be cramming something immediately after the workout even if I don't feel hungry? 

 

What do other people think? I'm with you, alex, the workout meal stuff is strangely confusing!

[alexasaurusrex]

@misshannah I managed to figure it out today. I think I was imagining having to put hours between the pwo and the next meal, or hours between a meal and a prewo snack. What I think I'm doing is if I eat lunch within an hour and a half or two of a workout I don't need a prewo but immediately after my workout I eat some lean protein. With crossfit I'm doing lean protein and some carb, but not a lot because usually within thirty minutes of eating my post workout snack I'm ready for another meal. I think if you bring an extra piece of chicken in the car for your workout. Like finish your workout eat a piece of chicken and a small carb (I'm going to make those sweet potato chews and eat 2) and then when you get home eat dinner.

I just had my second on ramp course. I cannot believe how much you sweat in such a short amount of time. I work out for an hour at a time with a trainer and we do 30 minutes of six different exercises (lifting or squats or step ups) straight and then another fifteen minutes at a slower pace and then the last fifteen we go super slow/stretch. I sweat during that, don't get me wrong, but I do not have this feeling of utter exhaustion mixed with jubilee. Today I learned the proper movements for power clean snatch (I cannot remember the names haha)with a PVC pipe and then with a 15lb barbell for 45 minutes. Then my workout of 5 rounds of 5 of each clean and jerk and snatch or whatever they are called (it was 2 different movements) and I finished in less than five minutes and feel now like I could take a nap. I love it.

Yesterday I bought those EZ Squeezee pouches Melissa and Dallas did a blog post on. I have wanted them for half marathon training so I don't resort to Gu to fuel. I'm going to try making baby food essentially. Like nutribulleting a piece of chicken, bone broth (small amount), and sweet potato or butternut squash and filling the pouches with that. @misshannah you could also get those pure baby food pouches that have chicken in them and just do that.

Last night I had very strange dreams. I woke up feeling the guilt of having gone off track, but I haven't. I mean, I haven't reintroduced things but I don't have the same strictness. Yesterday I forgot an avocado so I put an extra tbsp. of coconut oil on my compliant shepherds pie and it wasn't enough to hold me till dinner like an avocado would have. I also don't know if I'm hungrier because of working out whereas the first month I worked out four times and they weren't muscular at all. So in the afternoon I had maybe two small handfuls of lightly salted almonds. I could feel them being a no brakes food so I took the five year old outside and as far away from the house as possible. For some reason my subconscious determined this to be non compliant. I know I have food issues and I need to keep powering through for my mind to remap itself. I will always thank @angela for her thoughts on "this too shall pass." I recite it a lot.

I found almond meal and coconut meal but I'm going to return them. I don't want to make anything non whole 30 (other than the paleo pancakes I'm making this weekend)until my mind resolves itself. I want to really see certain things as an occasional treat, not something I need to have more than a few times a year. Wooosaaah! Oh and this morning I really wanted a pumpkin spice latte from starbucks but instead I made coffee with coconut milk and a dash of vanilla (also non compliant but it was less than an eighth of a teaspoon and did nothing for the coffee so I won't put it in again), and a good bit of pumpkin pie spice. It hit the spot. I want to make coconut whipping cream and use that but that might be no brakes for me also.

I am really enjoying having a place to share and getting to hear everyone's own struggles/successes. Thanks for listening guys!!! We should have a potluck someday haha

[sdoucette]

@misshannah & Alex. I'm curious to see the scientific benefits behind the pre and post workout food too. I am never hungry post workout. If anything it puts off my next meal another couple of hours.

 

@alex, That's funny you mention a potluck. I was actually thinking about you this morning. The whole group of us actually. It says you're in Massachusetts and I thought how neat it would be to meat up regionally with people who are on the whole9 bandwagon. I don't know anyone in my personal life as of yet. Would be nice to make those connections though.

 

Last night, oh mylanta, I was gassy. It must have been the bread from lunch. So today, eating compliant again. Oh, and even having paleo treats around, not good. Had apple crisp again last night even though I was still full from dinner. I brought the rest into work. Our sales rep looks right at me and says "Is there anything healthy I should know about before I eat this?"  This is coming from a guy who thinks banana bread is healthy because it has bananas in it and adds cheese and butter to everything. No joke. Like half a stick on a single roll or slice of bread.

 

Female Stuff, just FYI to the men.

 

@Marjan, I hadn't had a period since before I conceived my daughter who is almost 10 months old. I actually got it back on the Whole30. I'll be interested to see if it continues.

 

Another reason I want to carry on with this way of eating is because I want another child and I would love to exclusively breastfeed that child. For whatever reason my body did not make nearly enough milk for Lil this time around. I have no symptoms of PCOS. I don't have diabetes. Yes I'm overweight. My breasts are not tubular which is indicative of IGT (insufficient glandular tissue). But, I didn't have huge breast changes during my pregnancy. I had a beautiful home birth. I was positive that breastfeeding would come naturally. She latched 20 minutes after her birth and suckled for a few hours. That evening she started to cry. The cries escalated. 2 in the morning and nothing would soothe here. This carried on for 4 days, but started earlier every night. I didn't know she was starving. I was told starving babies don't have the energy to scream like that. I was also told that for the first two weeks babies eat, sleep, poop repeat and rarely cry.  I still have so much guilt surrounding that time. Then I broke and gave her formula. She was peaceful. I cried. A lot. I couldn't feed my baby. I had great support from my midwife, doula, and LC. My body just couldn't make the milk. No one knew why. My thyroid levels were fine. On a good day I got an ounce while pumping. Bad day, less than 10 mls. I tried supplements: goats rue, mother's milk special blend, mothers milk tea, all the milk producing galactagogues (sp?) you could possible think of. I even had Domperidone shipped in from New Zealand because it has to be compounded in the US and a 30 pill (10 day supply would be 100 dollars). Before all of this I was one of those people who thought that if you tried breastfeeding and it didn't work for you, than you just gave up too soon. You weren't nursing enough, or hell, you plum didn't really want to. But I guess its just like birth. Not all bodies can safely birth a baby. Sometimes (rarely) you need an intervention.

 

So I'm curious.  I wonder if I have another child if things will be different the second time around. I wonder if I can fix my body through food.

 

Thanks for listening. I've been wanting to share my story with people, but it's so hard to find the right place to do it. I don't want to discourage pregnant women, nursing mums, or the people who support them, but I also want them to know that there are some people who weren't able to feed their babies. It's important to know that you're not alone.

[helen]

amberino21 I'm glad you're around in here, I have a question about workout fueling: Why is it (or, is it) important to eat a post WO meal if I don't feel hungry?

 

Will my body not signal when it's time for me to eat food?

 

I have no objection to the post meal, but I'm trying to figure out how to fit it in. I'm just starting lifting/crossfit. What I'm trying is a hb egg before-hand (about 30min) and then we get home from exercising kind of late, so we're eating our dinner, which is baked chicken w/some greens and steamed white sweet potatoes.

 

But sometimes that's not coming until an hour or so after we get home. Should I be cramming something immediately after the workout even if I don't feel hungry? 

 

What do other people think? I'm with you, alex, the workout meal stuff is strangely confusing!

I think an hour or so is totally cool.  Like today I had 2 fried eggs for breakfast and did a two hour power yoga class and then went to the library to pick up a book and then Earth Fare to pick up some groceries and am just now sitting down to lunch (about an hour and fifteen minutes later). 

 

I DO think your body will signal you and I think it is really important to listen to your body personally.  I cannot eat much before yoga but if I don't eat at all I'm almost shaking hungry after so the eggs work for me. 

[alexasaurusrex]

@sdoucette thanks for sharing your story! The same thing happened to my mom when she had me. I was a formula baby because she couldn't produce enough milk and by three months she stopped trying. She had a really unhealthy diet when she was pregnant with me. The joke is she went from a vegan to a meat eater when she got pregnant. She ate ding dongs and ho hos. When she was pregnant with my brother and sister she ate a lot more veggies and fruits. I'm sure she ate some crap but it wasn't as extreme. She nursed both of them till ten months old. I'm sure your body will have an easier time with the next pregnancy as most of our issues come from our hormone imbalances on a SAD. When hormones are working out bodies are doing exactly what they were created for and I hope having children and that primal area wouldn't be any different.

 

PS can we please have regional potlucks?? I was in Bar Harbor before I started W30. I ate soooo much. We had lobster the first night and I think that was my only healthy meal. The next day for lunch I had a lobster roll and fries, dinner was clam chowder, steamers, and fried clams with fries (my sister and I shared all of that lol) and then the next day we had pancakes and bacon and crap for breakfast. I was so full it would be hours and hours before I could eat anything. When I came back I tried to eat better but I was still ordering out a lot. I came across a photo of lard and a recipe for how to make it, and that led me down the rabbit hole where I found W30. Yesterday the mom who's husband does crossfit and I were out playing with all the kids. She put her baby down and we ended up putting cones around him because all the kids were riding bikes and scooters too close to him. She took a picture and showed it to me. I was in the background and before I even knew what I was saying I shouted "OMG my belly's almost flat!" She smiled and gave me a hug and I nearly cried. The other mom just stared at me haha but I'm not close to her so I don't care. The Crossfit mom has been super supportive and I'm loving having her family in my life. 

[amberino21]

amberino21 I'm glad you're around in here, I have a question about workout fueling: Why is it (or, is it) important to eat a post WO meal if I don't feel hungry?

Will my body not signal when it's time for me to eat food?

I have no objection to the post meal, but I'm trying to figure out how to fit it in. I'm just starting lifting/crossfit. What I'm trying is a hb egg before-hand (about 30min) and then we get home from exercising kind of late, so we're eating our dinner, which is baked chicken w/some greens and steamed white sweet potatoes.

But sometimes that's not coming until an hour or so after we get home. Should I be cramming something immediately after the workout even if I don't feel hungry?

What do other people think? I'm with you, alex, the workout meal stuff is strangely confusing!

I think postWO is much more important that preWO - I haven't been having a preWO recently, as I eat about 2-3 hours before training and feel fine without extra food. That's an individual thing though. PostWO is more important, especially if you're doing weights/lifting or high intensity stuff. Your body needs the help to recover and refuel, and the best time to get the protein in to the body is right after you exercise. It has something to do with the chemical processes your body goes through during exercise - it becomes better equipped to absorb what it needs to recover.

What Helen suggested is a good idea - taking a piece of chicken or other lean protein (meal sized) to the gym to eat immediately after, then having your meal when you get home is probably the best option. Carbs aren't overly necessary, but with your postWO (or waiting until your meal after if you're trying to lose fat) is probably the best time to have them to help refuel your glycogen stores.

[awg828]

Well, I'm guessing by the fact that our normally verbose group hasn't had a comment in 5 days, that most of you lost the forum too!  Hoping you can all find your way back. 

 

Saturday was my Day 31.  I cannot believe I made it!  I was very excited to step on the scale but saddened to learn I only lost 5 pounds.  I

was hoping for more!  However, I can definitely see a difference in body composition on my before and after pictures, especially the side and back photos.

 

My re-intro of dairy is not going well!  Had a little milk in my coffee on Saturday and felt just dreadful (brick in stomach, slightly nauseated). Also had ice-cream at the end of the day. Starting to feel a little better today but super sad if I can't have ice cream anymore!

[Marjan]

Yay! We are back. Read somewhere that they were moving to another provider.

I had a busy social weekend this weekend, managed to stay on track. Was not easy, but easier than I expected.

Even had lunch out....chicken salad, pretty good.

 

Have had bacon in the past few days, pretty sure it was not compliant but do not seem to have any problems.

 

 

@awg828 well done. Welcome to the other side ;-). There is always the coconutmilk icecream you can make yourself. So much nicer than milkbased ones.

[helen]

So, this week I did not gain any weight but I did not lose any weight.

 

What I learned:  I can tolerate hummus and blue corn chips no problem but if I eat them for lunch I consume TWICE as many calories than when I eat animal protein to feel satiated so that is going to be rare treat or out to lunch experience.

 

I've kind of decided to do 4 days a week 100% compliant and see how that goes with weight loss.  I'd like to be down 5 more pound on January 1st (I'm doing another Whole 30 either in Jan or Feb depending on mood).  

 

I had an Omission IPA (gluten free beer) and liked it!  So going to pick up a 6 pack to keep around.

 

Have had a few greek yogurts and that was good (20 g protein, 6 g sugar).  If I do offroad I want to keep my carbs under 100 g for weight loss which means that I can't really eat much in terms of processed foods.

 

Happy to be back on the forum!  How is everyone?

[alexasaurusrex]

@awg that's awesome! don't worry about the pound number, all in due time. And yes, I lost the forum. I missed you guys! I think I replaced my food addiction with this forum because I was jonesing for you all  

 

@marjan good job! I also had bacon, starting today, and I think as long as there's no sugar in it. Mine was brined in sugar but has no sugar in it. It was awesome haha. 

 

I went to Whole Foods (I had a $10 off coupon) on Friday and bought a ton of meat I needed. I also got 100% cacao. I tried it after eating dinner and it was sooo bitter. Definitely cured my curiosity of chocolate. I blended it with some frozen strawberries and banana for "ice cream" and I had such a sugar rush and felt gross afterward. I also had eaten brunch out yesterday and had a salad, eggs, sausage, and bacon so that could have been why I got sick in the afternoon. 

 

I bought a ticket to fly home on Saturday. I'm supposed to train for a job that is based in Miami but I can do up here. I was a bit nervous about it but my mom asked for a shopping list and explicit recipes for at least the first two days so she could make sure there was food there for me. I basically wrote a novel on what I can and cannot eat and what needs to be in the house. I also offered to cook extra for them so they could do it strict for a week (right now they're eating grains still). I got a bit more comfortable and excited and started to think of things I could eat at some of my favorite restaurants (mostly Cuban!) and also realized my time home isn't going to be about the restaurants it'll be about the training and seeing my family. I found out today that my great grandmother (she's 98) is probably going to die this week. I completely crumbled. I was driving to workout at the gym and I had to eat macadamia nuts on the road. All I kept thinking was I didn't want to eat while I was upset. I didn't want my brain to think that it needed food when I was upset. And then it hit me, I finally kicked that habit. I'm better. Or almost better, but I'm definitely getting there. I rationally thought, I'm not eating these because I'm sad, I'm eating them for fuel to get me through my workout. I bought those EZ Squeezes. They are awesome. I made sweet potato and chicken and blended them and put them inside. I ate one after working out while driving home and was able to shower and then cook dinner without feeling super rushed. I definitely recommend them. 

[Angela Poliquin]

The first photo was taken in January, but it is exactly how I looked, but fatter, before starting Whole30.  Notice how my eyes are so puffy I can't open them all the way.  If you click on the thumbnails, the pictures will get bigger.

 

The second photo was taken on day 18.  I'm not wearing makeup in either picture.  I personally think it is obvious from the photos how much better I feel in the second one!

 

Today is my dairy re-introduction.  I had a sugar-free white chocolate 2% latte.  It was delicious and rich.  I'm feeling a bit nauseated, but otherwise, not too bad.  

 

 Dairy - bad for me!

 

It took three days to recover from my dairy intro.  Sluggish, headache, sinus, and water retention.

 

I was supposed to intro grain two or three days ago, but dairy got me scared.  I don't want to feel bad!  

 

I'm going to Arizona in a few days and don't know how long I am going to be there.  At least a week.  It's for work.  I've decided I am just going to stay on plan so I can feel as good as possible.  Flying hurts and adding inflammation to it for the sake of experimentation sounds like not a good plan.  I'll try intros again when I get back, but I'm just not interested.  I already know dairy, wheat, and legumes make me feel bad. That leaves non-wheat grains, and I don't need them.  Instead, I'm focusing on cleaning things up a little further because I'd really like to completely heal my gut.  So nuts are occasional.  Maybe once or twice a week.  Fruit is limited - a piece of fruit on some days, but not all.  I think I'm sensitive to the additive in coconut milk, too, so I don't eat that every day anymore.  I think it has helped.  I can get away with ghee, thank goodness, because I love it so much!  I still eat out so rarely, but that's where the loosening up comes in.  For example, having something with bacon in it, a dressing that has some dairy, not worrying about the fat something is fried in.  That's as far as that has gone, though.

 

I have never gotten around to buying bacon!  Sugar and nitrate paranoid.  However, I have a frozen pork belly out in the freezer in the barn that I am going to home-cure.  It's from the happy half-hog I purchased.  I have lots of lard to render, too!

 

I was thinking that if I can forget about honey and half and half in my coffee, that I should be able to apply the same discipline to forget about coffee, too.  I won't know if it is making me feel bad unless I break from it.  Still working on that.  It seems like the one thing I'm still being stubborn about.

 

Working out is going well, but not hardcore like the Crossfitters.  With my injuries, I'm worried that I'll cause myself trouble.  Even jogging... started too soon, sciatica flared up.  But I can walk up a hill, and so I did that yesterday instead.  I found something called "foundational training" and I think it might help strenghten the body systems that will allow me to go forward with more vigorous excercise without re-injury.  One of the things that I am learning is to actually take it low and slow, even when I feel like sprinting.

 

Long check-in, I know, but I also was Jonesing for this forum.  In the days with the forum down, it was a lonely Whole world.  I really don't think I could have made it to the magic without this group.  Thank you!!

[TDC]

Yay! Back on track! Although it has meant I've spent less time at work reading the forum and more time doing, you know, real work. Been checking in on a daily basis since the fora went down to see if we were back to business but forgot yesterday and now it's exploded! So much to respond to!

 

Regarding pre-/post-workout: I try and have a handful of macadamia nuts before Crossfit but as I usually have butterflies in my stomach beforehand (although this is getting less and less as I get used to the WOD class, I ALWAYS enjoy it and have no problems at all during!) I find I don't really want to eat very much at all. Post-workout I always have some sort of carb-y veg (sweet potato or beetroot) and either a couple of slices of frittata or half a tin of tuna with mayo. I find that I make about one frittata a week which is sufficient for a breakfast and two workouts. I made little meatballs this week to have in the fridge for emergencies (e.g. I had NO TIME yesterday to get a lunch together for today so I made a quick tomato sauce and chucked the meatballs in to reheat later) so they'd be a good post-workout fuel. It does take preparation to have a post workout meal and it does mean I have to sit on the tube eating so as to ensure I get it in me within 15 minutes, which (as I mentioned before), makes me feel a bit self conscious and can be a bit awkward.

 

@awg828: I had the same disappointment when I found I had lost 2kg (4.4lb) after the Whole30. It's hard not to when everyone else is dropping weight like flies! But that's when I found this article: http://www.whole9life.com/2013/04/repost-break-up-with-your-scale/ I think the point about sleep is probably the MOST pertinent thing for me: I get probably 7 hours sleep a night and I'd like at least 8 so that's what I need to work on now. My boyfriend thinks my body looks slimmer and he says some of my clothes seem looser. I can FEEL that my body shape has changed. I don't think it's obvious from before and after pics or in the mirror but actually what matters more is how I feel. I've vowed not to get on the scales until 1 November anyway because I think the Crossfit will really have kicked in (so my body will probably look different yet the scales may stay the same) and it will also be interesting to see how things are going one month after Whole30. Nevertheless, I found that I'm not that interested in the numbers. I can feel that I'm on the right track nutrition and exercise wise so I'm quite happy to watch the transformation in the mirror rather than on the scale.

 

@alexasaurusrex: I'm sorry to hear about your great-Grandma, this must be so hard for you *big virtual hug* You're fortunate to have had the chance to have her in your life and I'm sure there are many many happy memories to think of to make you feel better instead of comfort food when you get sad. My mum died last year and I'm sad that I'm not able to share this Whole30 journey with her but then I think about how proud she'd be of me if she knew what I was doing and that cheers me up.

 

As an update on my progress, 9 days on from the end of the Whole30: I tried a couple reintro days; for the most part I didn't have major issues. I didn't LIKE the taste of dairy but body didn't complain. I felt bloated and very full after eating rice (I realised I hadn't felt stuffed after eating throughout most of the Whole30 month, but never felt like I hadn't had enough food). I ballsed it up a bit on the rice day because it was a Malaysian food festival and I had something that had wheat in so I don't know if the food baby was rice-related or gluten-related but I'm happy to accept avoiding both. On Sunday I went to my grandparents for dinner and it was roast lamb; I had the gravy and stuffing (flour and bread) and some potatoes and parsnips and the chocolate pear pudding for dessert, and again had that super duper full feeling. Later that night I found this: http://whole9life.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Whole9's-Guide-to-Nutritional-Off-Roading.pdf and worked out that the gravy, stuffing, potatoes and parsnips were not worth it (I know parsnips are OK but they weren't cooked that well so I could have just done without them and enjoyed the meat and the homegrown vegetables a lot more) but the choc pear pudding was definitely worth it. This chart is useful, though, if nothing else as a way to force myself to stop and think a little bit, take my time over working out whether or not I want something. Even my boyfriend (who didn't do the W30 with me) used the chart to work out whether or not he should have a chocolate bar when he was frustrated at taking the wrong train (he didn't have it). Today I'm meeting a friend for dinner and we're going to a south Indian so I'll have a dosa (made from lentil and rice flour). It'll be a sort of legume-ish reintro but I think I'll probably be fine in terms of how I feel.

 

I think I've learnt what I need from the reintro sessions: I'm not overly wild about the food I gave up during W30 so I'm happy on a day-to-day basis just keeping on as I go. Just because they don't make me feel bad, the stuff I've read in ISWF makes me wary of putting them back in my diet too much. If I'm eating out, or going to someone's place for dinner I probably won't make a big deal about it. I'll use the flowchart and work out what whether or not I should have something, or have an alternative if it's easily available.

 

I'm planning on doing another Whole30 in January! I think it says a lot about what I've got out of it that I'm already planning a second one. This time I'm determined for my boyfriend to join in.

[misshannah]

AAAHHH the forum is back! I didn't realize how much I looked at it during the day until it was gone. 

 

After my "crazy with family" weekend, things are pretty much back on track. We're eating mostly chicken thighs or homemade roast beef with a bunch of veg, both raw and cooked, for pretty much every meal. It's working for us, and I'm trying to figure out what ingredient is causing me some stomach upset. I *think* I've narrowed it down to cooking with too much coconut oil. I don't do well with heated oils, so cooking with less and then adding more fat after the cooking may be the solution. Also, chicken fat seems to be ok to cook veg in.

 

Tonight is the last crossfit fundamentals class (they call it "preheat") and I am really looking forward to it with excitement and dread. I wonder how long it will be before I stop feeling so nervous and scared about this kind of exercise. I know we'll only be working with pvc pipe since we're getting the bars over our heads. 

 

Re weight stuff: on 9/19 I went to the Dr and, as per usual, got weighed. I turned my back as I always do. I've been very fat for very long, and I stopped thinking about that number a long long time ago. In some ways, I feel like that's great for me, because I'm not mentally enslaved to it...or SO I THOUGHT. I got a copy of the notes from my visit to take to a specialist. And right there on the top of the sheet is the number. That number. The number that so shocked me (since I was on about day 50 of super strict whole30) that it has psychologically derailed me since the day I saw it. When I think about the number I want to see there, and how faaaar away that seems now, I just want to lie down and, I don't even know what...drown in junk?

 

It is *so* disheartening that it has made me feel miserable in spite of changes to my body that I can feel and see with my own eyes. 

 

I want to give a rousing pep talk to all of us, but I mostly want to never know that number again. It can't be the measure, it just can't. It can't measure my worth or value, or even my level of fitness and my health. It's a stupid number and it doesn't mean anything. Even my pants' size number means more, and that's so totally arbitrary that in some pants I'm now a 2X and others a 4X. 

 

I'm just putting one foot in front of the other, one forkful in after the next, and knowing that I'll never again be as unfit as I am today, because each day I'm getting better. And I'm serious about that number, I want to strive for a life where I don't know it and don't care.

[awg828]

Yay! We are back. Read somewhere that they were moving to another provider.

I had a busy social weekend this weekend, managed to stay on track. Was not easy, but easier than I expected.

Even had lunch out....chicken salad, pretty good.

 

Have had bacon in the past few days, pretty sure it was not compliant but do not seem to have any problems.

 

 

@awg828 well done. Welcome to the other side ;-). There is always the coconutmilk icecream you can make yourself. So much nicer than milkbased ones.

Do you make the coconutmilk icecream with an icecream maker?  I purchased one that was on super sale at Target this weekend but it has dreadful reviews so I'm trying to decide whether I should try the non-machine methods or make the splurge on a heavier duty one. 

 

So glad the forums are back!!  That was a cruel trick - leaving us forum-less. They took away our carbs and then our friends!

 

I reintro-ed wine on Monday and was having hay fever like symptoms the next day.  However, something is in the air here so it could have been unrelated to the wine. I had pizza and cookies on Tuesday (a neighbor brought it over - it would have been rude to decline) and it was fabulous.  No bad effects.  I was starting to think I had broken myself!  However, it is not all lost.  I've been eating fairly compliant (except I'm very happy to be reunited with vanilla extract) and don't feel like I'm going to go completely off the rails.  Actually, I'm sort of losing interest in eating except as a means to fuel my body. I actually think that's probably how **normal** (ie not emotional eaters) feel most of the time

 

Happy Thursday all!!

[awg828]

 

@awg828: I had the same disappointment when I found I had lost 2kg (4.4lb) after the Whole30. It's hard not to when everyone else is dropping weight like flies! But that's when I found this article: http://www.whole9life.com/2013/04/repost-break-up-with-your-scale/ I think the point about sleep is probably the MOST pertinent thing for me: I get probably 7 hours sleep a night and I'd like at least 8 so that's what I need to work on now. My boyfriend thinks my body looks slimmer and he says some of my clothes seem looser. I can FEEL that my body shape has changed. I don't think it's obvious from before and after pics or in the mirror but actually what matters more is how I feel. I've vowed not to get on the scales until 1 November anyway because I think the Crossfit will really have kicked in (so my body will probably look different yet the scales may stay the same) and it will also be interesting to see how things are going one month after Whole30. Nevertheless, I found that I'm not that interested in the numbers. I can feel that I'm on the right track nutrition and exercise wise so I'm quite happy to watch the transformation in the mirror rather than on the scale.

 

 

 

Thanks so much for pointing me to that article!  I think I'm with you on the sleep.  I have such a hard time just turning off all the electronics and going to sleep after my kids are in bed.  I'm actually trying to find a great - can't put it down book so that I can have something to encourage me to go to bed and read.  Once I start reading, I'm good for about 15 minutes and then it's night night.  Anyone have any recommendations?  Books I've enjoyed recently are The Language of Flowers and The Other Typist. 

[Marjan]

@AWG828 I try to make it in the icecream maker, mind you my icecream maker is not so good. I think you can make it by hand as well.

This is my pinterest board with interesting Paleo recipes: http://www.pinterest.com/drksecret/paleo/

 

This icecream on it is just divine, even if it does not set it is nice over fruit.

[helen]

I'm enjoying getting caught up with everyone!

 

Sleep is divine and SO important.  I make myself go to bed most nights so I get 8-9 hours.

 

@misshannah~~Scales.  Sigh.  So relate.

 

awg828~~The Interestings, The Holy Man by Susan Trott (Buddhist Novel), The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao (loved), Breakfast with Buddha (and the follow up novel Lunch with Buddha).    Can you tell I love to read too

 

I am doing okay.  After having my wallet stolen a few weeks ago (and canceling everything) I was in line at Trader Joes with a full cart and realized I didn't have my wallet.  I searched through the car and started getting pretty upset.  Called the husband who called our Y and turns out I dropped it in the parking lot (dropped it, I am losing it) but someone turned it in.  When the clerk at Trader Joes told me my husband couldn't use his credit card over the phone to pay for the groceries I burst into tears.  They said they could hold them for me but I wouldn't have had time to fetch wallet and return in time to fetch kids so I (embarrassingly) had to ask them to put them all back.  Feel so lame about this.  But the bursting into tears seemed to have been a nice cleanse as I am so zen right now.

 

I had two beers last night and popcorn.  No ill effects but no positive ones either.  Trying to be mostly compliant.

[helen]

I'm enjoying getting caught up with everyone!

 

Sleep is divine and SO important.  I make myself go to bed most nights so I get 8-9 hours.

 

@misshannah~~Scales.  Sigh.  So relate.

 

awg828~~The Interestings, The Holy Man by Susan Trott (Buddhist Novel), The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao (loved), Breakfast with Buddha (and the follow up novel Lunch with Buddha).    Can you tell I love to read too

 

I am doing okay.  After having my wallet stolen a few weeks ago (and canceling everything) I was in line at Trader Joes with a full cart and realized I didn't have my wallet.  I searched through the car and started getting pretty upset.  Called the husband who called our Y and turns out I dropped it in the parking lot (dropped it, I am losing it) but someone turned it in.  When the clerk at Trader Joes told me my husband couldn't use his credit card over the phone to pay for the groceries I burst into tears.  They said they could hold them for me but I wouldn't have had time to fetch wallet and return in time to fetch kids so I (embarrassingly) had to ask them to put them all back.  Feel so lame about this.  But the bursting into tears seemed to have been a nice cleanse as I am so zen right now.

 

I had two beers last night and popcorn.  No ill effects but no positive ones either.  Trying to be mostly compliant.

[TDC]

@awg828 urghh went to bed at 1015 yesterday excited at the prospect of a solid 8 hours Sleep only to Wake up sometime in the middle of the night with a splitting headache! I'm just about to finish A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. It's fabulous and I don't want to finish it! Highly recommended.

[TDC]

@awg828: Right there with you with the realisation that perhaps I'm losing interest in food except as a fuel. In some ways I'm a little bit sad about that: I'm half Malaysian and Malaysians are OBSESSED with food. I met up with a friend a couple of nights ago for dinner and within a few minutes we were talking about food (while eating dinner!), swapping tips and recipes, talking about her upcoming supperclub, where to get the best nasi lemak in London, etc. It's not uncommon in Malaysia to be eating breakfast and discussing where we should go for dinner that night. I don't think it's a terribly unhealthy thing, it's just a reflection of the awesome food you can get in Malaysia (first question my dad asks when I go back to Malaysia is what's your first meal going to be? and what should I cook you for your last meal?). But I realised that I'd sort of lost that obsession with food because I've cooked or eaten out a few Malaysian meals while on the Whole30 and post-Whole30 and I don't have the same degree of excitement and sense of how delicious the food is. I think mostly it's a good thing: I can appreciate the food is good but I can easily just do without the rice. Or do without having Malaysian food too often (you need a lot of oil to cook most Malaysian food and I'm not willing to use the expensive coconut oil/ghee to cook it in.). The main realisation, though, that I had lost interest in food is in this re-intro period. While on the Whole30 I kept walking past food shops and thinking 'Ooo I'll have that when I re-intro wheat/dairy/grain'. Today is wheat and originally I was fantasising about how to fit in pasta/sandwiches/porridge into one single day. But now I'm there I'm not too bothered about what I'm having. Every Friday we have breakfast together as an office and the departments take it in turns to go out and buy stuff: usually it's bread (fail) with cured meat (fail because we can't get nitrate/sugar/preservative free stuff easily in the UK; where you can it's expensive), hummus(fail), cheese (fail), egg mayo (fail because of sugar in commercial mayo). During the Whole30 I was bringing in my own stuff, usually frittata, homemade mayo, sunbutter, avocado, whatever I had. Anyway, today I'm going to attempt to have some bread with the meat. And I've got a lunch meeting at an Italian restaurant so I *might* have some bread with olive oil. What's weird is I would have thought I'd be excited to have pasta as I always LOVED pasta and it's the one thing I was strict about not allowing in my flirtations with paleo because of my weakness. I'm just not sure I can handle a plateful of pizza in my belly! The thought of it makes me feel full and lethargic immediately!

[alexasaurusrex]

@helen awe! that would have upset me too. I don't know why not being able to buy things (because of a lost wallet or not enough cash or a declined card) is so embarrassing. Glad you're zen now. 

 

@TDC thank you! 

 

I never thought I'd come home and be able to eat the way that we do and not feel like I was being deprived or missing out. But I made it! First day is out of the way. I ate breakfast at home (three eggs, avocado, and spinach salad) and then ate my lunch on the way to the hospital (chicken, peppers, almond butter, dried mango). My grandmother is very unhealthy, mentally and physically, and she had all these contradicting cook books on top of her fridge - sugar free, low fat, low carb, vegetarian, kosher, and chicken dishes. Very confusing. I told her the basics of Whole 30 and she stared at me like I was crazy, told me I needed to eat more, asked if I needed bread, and when I told her she was wrong on all three accounts she told me it wasn't for her and the second I stop eating this way I'm going to gain everything back. Fun grandmother granddaughter time. Whatever. I stayed strong. My momma was so helpful with the food she bought and took me out to dinner at my favorite Cuban place last night. I can agree that I wasn't that interested in food anymore. I had vaca frita and plantains and maduros and veggies and I was more interested in the broccoli than the sweet plantains (which used to be a no brake food for me). 

 

After dinner my mom and I went power walking. I somehow have destroyed my knees since starting the OnRamp course at Crossfit. I don't know if it was the squats or what, but my knees feel worse then when I was running eight miles a week. I took Wednesday off from working out and my knees felt better yesterday, then we went power walking and ran for two minutes and they are back to being in a lot of pain. I hope the food can heal it quickly though. We walked for over and hour and came home at 845 to find we'd locked ourselves out. My nine year old neighbor and I tried to pry the doors open like his older brother and I used to do when we were little, but our moms figured out how to open the front door with a screw driver...which is terrifying. 

[Marjan]

Oh we have gone quiet.

 

I am still pretty strict with my food intake. I only allowed myself one nibble of a Paleo cookie I made for my kids.

I have eaten Bacon which does not have added sugar but is probably cured in sugar and had sulphites.

 

The weightloss has stopped, I am a bit disappointed at that. Maybe I should look at portions and I probably should look at my sleep as well.

 

How are you all doing?

[raptah]

AAAHHH the forum is back! I didn't realize how much I looked at it during the day until it was gone. 

 

After my "crazy with family" weekend, things are pretty much back on track. We're eating mostly chicken thighs or homemade roast beef with a bunch of veg, both raw and cooked, for pretty much every meal. It's working for us, and I'm trying to figure out what ingredient is causing me some stomach upset. I *think* I've narrowed it down to cooking with too much coconut oil. I don't do well with heated oils, so cooking with less and then adding more fat after the cooking may be the solution. Also, chicken fat seems to be ok to cook veg in.

 

Tonight is the last crossfit fundamentals class (they call it "preheat") and I am really looking forward to it with excitement and dread. I wonder how long it will be before I stop feeling so nervous and scared about this kind of exercise. I know we'll only be working with pvc pipe since we're getting the bars over our heads. 

 

Re weight stuff: on 9/19 I went to the Dr and, as per usual, got weighed. I turned my back as I always do. I've been very fat for very long, and I stopped thinking about that number a long long time ago. In some ways, I feel like that's great for me, because I'm not mentally enslaved to it...or SO I THOUGHT. I got a copy of the notes from my visit to take to a specialist. And right there on the top of the sheet is the number. That number. The number that so shocked me (since I was on about day 50 of super strict whole30) that it has psychologically derailed me since the day I saw it. When I think about the number I want to see there, and how faaaar away that seems now, I just want to lie down and, I don't even know what...drown in junk?

 

It is *so* disheartening that it has made me feel miserable in spite of changes to my body that I can feel and see with my own eyes. 

 

I want to give a rousing pep talk to all of us, but I mostly want to never know that number again. It can't be the measure, it just can't. It can't measure my worth or value, or even my level of fitness and my health. It's a stupid number and it doesn't mean anything. Even my pants' size number means more, and that's so totally arbitrary that in some pants I'm now a 2X and others a 4X. 

 

I'm just putting one foot in front of the other, one forkful in after the next, and knowing that I'll never again be as unfit as I am today, because each day I'm getting better. And I'm serious about that number, I want to strive for a life where I don't know it and don't care.

 

MissHannah--i'm so sorry you were going through this.  I see that you have the other, more positive attitude at the ready, but I know how easy it is to go down the sad path where you let the scale or a pants size or a comment determine your value and worth.