biancadonk Posted December 31, 2013 Share Posted December 31, 2013 My husband and I were doing pretty well on a Primal diet for the first half of 2013 and we were both doing great with exercise, going to our local CrossFit box 3x a week. Then we went on a trip to CA in August, and both got off track with eating and my husband injured his wrist pretty badly. Since August, we've been trying to get back on track but things have just gotten worse and worse. That brings us to early December. I knew it would be really hard for us to start the W30 plan in Dec., what with the holidays and both our kids' birthdays falling one after another. So here we are on New Years Eve and I'm DETERMINED to get back in a healthier groove. Neither of us is significantly overweight, though I would definitely like to lose 10 - 15 lbs. of fat and replace with muscle. I know that I probably won't reach this goal in one W30, but I'm hoping that if I get my sweet tooth under control, I can start to move towards it. My plan...breakfast will usually be either fried eggs or an omelette with peppers and spinach. My weakness overall with the paleo/primal thing has always been trying to fill up on meat and not getting enough veggies, so that will be a big focus for me this time around. Lunch will ideally be leftovers from dinner, some quick sausage, or a big salad with tuna or hard-boiled eggs. Planning to experiment with making my own mayo, since that's key in tuna salad and hey, I do have that awesome Vitamix! Dinner has been really tough for the past few months. I have two young kids, and by the time they're in bed asleep, it's usually 8:30 and I'm exhausted and cooking is not something I'm in the mood to do. The husband and I talked through some strategies to make that go more smoothly, though, so hopefully it'll all go well. The plan is pretty simple...some form of beef, lamb, pork, or chicken and lots of veggies (ideally in season). So there you have it. I'm nervous about craving sweets for the first week or two, but I know from experience how that gets easier after a while. I just hope I can make it through the 30 days on the first try. Bianca S. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
biancadonk Posted January 2, 2014 Author Share Posted January 2, 2014 Okay, so yesterday was Day 1 and I'm pretty sure that "party" my husband and I had (read pre-whole30 binge) for New Years Eve made that a lot worse. Yikes! But we made it through the day! I'm a little shocked, because I was feeling pretty bad. Anyway, here's how it looked: Breakfast - 2 soft-boiled eggs and half an enormous sweet potato with olive oil. I picked up some ghee this morning, which I'm really looking forward to. The olive oil is great for salads, but the flavor is overpowering for a sweet potato. Skipped my usual cup of black tea, which I typically have with cream and stevia, which may have contributed to the headache. Lunch - Salad with spinach, mixed greens, pear, pomegranate, and tuna. Dressing was lemon juice, (compliant) Dijon mustard, and olive oil. Super yummy. I didn't even miss mayo in the tuna, so I'm glad for that. This was around 1 or 1:15, and although it seemed like plenty of food then, I was really hungry just a few hours later. Dinner - take out from the local Bareburger. I normally would get cheese and bacon, but skipped those of course and instead just did lettuce, tomato, onions, and avocado. Obviously no bun either. Ate a few soggy sweet potato fries, but they weren't so good. After dinner - the scraped remainder of my almost empty jar of coconut butter and a cup of licorice root tea. This tea normally has a sweet aftertaste, but I guess I'm really desensitized to sweets from the last month of way too many indulgences, because I couldn't taste the sweetness at all. Impressions: I felt pretty terrible all day. My husband and I both had headaches and at the end of the day we were both feeling like we weren't hungry but wanted something. Kinda glad to feel bad though. Hopefully that means we're on track to start getting all that badness out of our systems. I'm hopeful! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tina R Posted January 2, 2014 Share Posted January 2, 2014 Okay, so yesterday was Day 1 and I'm pretty sure that "party" my husband and I had (read pre-whole30 binge) for New Years Eve made that a lot worse. Yikes! But we made it through the day! I'm a little shocked, because I was feeling pretty bad. Anyway, here's how it looked: Breakfast - 2 soft-boiled eggs and half an enormous sweet potato with olive oil. I picked up some ghee this morning, which I'm really looking forward to. The olive oil is great for salads, but the flavor is overpowering for a sweet potato. Skipped my usual cup of black tea, which I typically have with cream and stevia, which may have contributed to the headache. Lunch - Salad with spinach, mixed greens, pear, pomegranate, and tuna. Dressing was lemon juice, (compliant) Dijon mustard, and olive oil. Super yummy. I didn't even miss mayo in the tuna, so I'm glad for that. This was around 1 or 1:15, and although it seemed like plenty of food then, I was really hungry just a few hours later. Dinner - take out from the local Bareburger. I normally would get cheese and bacon, but skipped those of course and instead just did lettuce, tomato, onions, and avocado. Obviously no bun either. Ate a few soggy sweet potato fries, but they weren't so good. After dinner - the scraped remainder of my almost empty jar of coconut butter and a cup of licorice root tea. This tea normally has a sweet aftertaste, but I guess I'm really desensitized to sweets from the last month of way too many indulgences, because I couldn't taste the sweetness at all. Impressions: I felt pretty terrible all day. My husband and I both had headaches and at the end of the day we were both feeling like we weren't hungry but wanted something. Kinda glad to feel bad though. Hopefully that means we're on track to start getting all that badness out of our systems. I'm hopeful! Have you tried sweet potato hash with fried eggs? I shred my sweet potatoes (either white or red) on a cheese grater and cook in a non stick pan with a little coconut oil until brown on both sides. I fry a couple eggs over easy and then serve them over the hash. I don't feel the need for added ghee or oil this way. For the full recipe check out Nom Nom Paelo's blog. I personally don't like the smell of ghee, I love butter so not sure what that is all about. Good Luck on your first Whole 30. I am on my second and am already feeling so much better than my first. I was in the Kill All Stage for 26 days. I had to quit because I couldn't take it any more. See more http://whole30.com/?s=stages+of+whole30. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GFChris Posted January 2, 2014 Share Posted January 2, 2014 Have you made homemade paleo mayo yet? Delicious on a baked sweet potato and in tuna, chicken or salmon salad! http://www.theclothesmakethegirl.com/2010/06/03/the-secret-to-homemade-mayo-patience/ Watch out for sweet potato fries when dining out. Many are coated with seasonings that contain gluten and/or are cooked in a non-compliant oil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek` Posted January 2, 2014 Share Posted January 2, 2014 Welcome, Bianca. I have small children at home too so I understand everything you're saying about hectic schedules and exhaustion and not wanting to prepare elaborate dinners. One thing that we do is on the weekends, make up a few casseroles that we can freeze for the week. Then during the week we will just pop one into the oven and dinner is done. It's annoying on the weekends and takes time and planning, but it makes it worth it during the week and prevents unnecessary offroading. Best wishes with your whole30 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
biancadonk Posted January 2, 2014 Author Share Posted January 2, 2014 Thanks for the tips everyone! GFChris - I didn't even think of the non-compliant oil. Thanks for pointing that out! One thing I'm finding challenging about the Whole30 is that I've done paleo-ish in the past, but this is stricter and there are hidden no-nos that I keep almost forgetting. I think might just try to completely avoid eating out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robotarmy Posted January 2, 2014 Share Posted January 2, 2014 Don't lose heart on eating out--depending on where you live, there may be an increasing number of restaurants that will offer grain/dairy/etc free foods. I know that's the case where I live, but your mileage may vary. Alternately: cooking all your meals for the next month would be rad. I cook a lot, but cook even more when I'm doing a whole30, and find that I become more creative in the kitchen. At any rate, good luck and I hope it goes so well for you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tina R Posted January 2, 2014 Share Posted January 2, 2014 Thanks for the tips everyone! GFChris - I didn't even think of the non-compliant oil. Thanks for pointing that out! One thing I'm finding challenging about the Whole30 is that I've done paleo-ish in the past, but this is stricter and there are hidden no-nos that I keep almost forgetting. I think might just try to completely avoid eating out. I just found out there is soy lecithin in some herbal teas and soy in some canned tuna fish. This Whole30 process really opens your eyes to all the "stuff" we are eating when we buy pre packaged food. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
biancadonk Posted January 3, 2014 Author Share Posted January 3, 2014 Okay, so I'm on Day 3 and going strong, but I want to log about yesterday before I forget everything. Breakfast was scrambled eggs with my kids. I got some ghee and it was really tasty and smelled just like regular butter. I might be a convert. Again had a sweet potato on the side. Lunch was a giant piece of salmon, a cup of black tea with coconut milk cause I NEEDED the caffeine, and a few raisins. I was famished by dinnertime, which is almost certainly because I haven't been filling enough of my plate with veggies. As all of you people living in the Northeast surely know, the weather has sucked recently, so I haven't really stocked up on veggies very well yet. Dinner was lamb burgers with my ketchup substitute - I got a can in the store which they label as tomato sauce, but it's basically ketchup just with no sweetener and less vinegar. It didn't have that nice tangy bite of ketchup though, so next time I might try making my own. Also had about half a cucumber and a spoonful of coconut butter for dessert. I know, I know...where are my nutrient-dense vegetables? I need to work on that! My impressions - I was starving and ultra-exhausted by dinnertime, despite getting a ton of sleep Wed. night. I'm betting that'll go away in a week or so. Now I just need to figure out some quick and easy vegetable additions. Any ideas, peeps? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GFChris Posted January 3, 2014 Share Posted January 3, 2014 Quick veggie options: sauteed spinach, steamed asparagus or green beans, mashed cauliflower, sauerkraut. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
biancadonk Posted January 4, 2014 Author Share Posted January 4, 2014 Okay, well these posts are getting later and later in the day for me, but I'm still keeping it up. Breakfast on Day 3: Bad, bad, bad. All I had was an avocado. The one thing that felt good was that I took my kids on a playdate with another kid and got (gasp!) Dunkin Donuts for them, but I wasn't even tempted to eat it. Don't worry, I plan to get their diet a little more in check once mine is squared away. Lunch: Tuna fish with dijon vinaigrette and a sweet potato. Dinner: Chicken breast lightly breaded with almond flour and a whole bunch of brussels sprouts. Again, not a great vegetable day, but I got to Whole Foods this morning, so I should be good for a few days. This WF just opened near us, and I'm so happy to have so much more produce selection. The area around my house is seriously lacking. I know I'm supposed to be writing about Day 3, but Day 4 has been the worst for me so far. I've just been feeling famished and exhausted all day. I've also gone from having basically no cravings to wanting EVERYTHING BAD EVER. That one cookie left in the box from before Thanksgiving? So hard to resist. I actually forgot about the Whole30 for about 3 minutes and was going to suggest to my husband that we walk to get a cappuccino from my favorite cafe. I'm really glad I remembered in time, though, because I would've been really upset if I had to do days 1-4 over. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
biancadonk Posted January 6, 2014 Author Share Posted January 6, 2014 Days 4 and 5 are in the bag! Woohoo! I have to say, I'm ending this day feeling infinitely better than I was when it began. My cravings were really bad again all day, and I was feeling pretty woozy in the afternoon. I actually felt literally drunk, like head spinning, slightly dizzy, etc. I'd like to think that was my liver getting rid of some toxins, or something magical like that. So anyway, I lay down and took a short nap from 5:45 - 6:15 and woke up feeling amazing. Super energized like I had had some caffeine, happy and calm, all at the same time. It was an awesome feeling. Then ended the day with a yummy dinner of spicy sausages and fresh tomatoes. Totally simple, no fuss, but really delicious too. Here's my full log: Sat breakfast - can't remember. Might not have eaten til lunch...oops. Lunch - Amazing salad with butter lettuce, fresh tomatoes, and leftover chicken Dinner - Not so great beef shank stew made in the slow cooker with carrots, onions, celery, parsnips, and a can of crushed tomatoes. This was my first sort-of-failure in the slow cooker. The broth was overly sweet and the flavors hadn't really developed. The meat also wasn't very tender or flavorful. I've never used this cut before, it came from our meat CSA. The good news is, I left it in the slow cooker overnight and it was much better this morning! I also steamed some cauliflower in the hopes of making a mash, but I've never done that before and I couldn't mash it at all. Luckily cauliflower is delicious just with salt and ghee. Sun breakfast - Leftover, much-improved stew Lunch - Stew again Dinner - Spicy pork sausage and tomatoes. Snacks - haven't been doing much snacking, but I did eat a couple of Satsumas during the day and some kiwis this evening while my kids had dinner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.