Larry Posted January 30, 2014 Share Posted January 30, 2014 I started researching Whole30 in early December. I'd done Low Carb and Paleo/Primal for years off and on before that and I honestly thought Whole30 was just another name for Paleo. Not until I started reading the guides on the website, did I really understand and really get the difference. I then downloaded ISWF and read that as well. I like to be informed about why I'm eating a certain way, not just trust that "it works." I was excited about starting but knew that I didn't want to put myself under the pressure of travelling for the holidays and having to maintain a Whole30 commitment, so I decided to start immediately on December 8th, but only to experiment and play with the plan in December and see how the holidays went. Well, it was a good plan because December flew by pretty easily and I only deviated from plan a couple times for family dinners and News Years Eve. Ramping up in December was also nice because my wife was loving the way I was cooking so she decided to join me in January to do it full on. We still have a 11 year old child who is not eating W30, but we are making headway with getting him to eat more fruits and vegetables. He actually wanted to try an egg the other day, too. Progress! I started on January 1st, just as I'd planned. She started a little later because she wanted to celebrate her birthday. (My birthday was also in January -- and yes, I was totally compliant for it all!) I can be a very disciplined person when I've got rules to follow. If it's not on plan, I don't eat it. Period. No discussion. Maybe that's why I like the Whole30 so much! If I'm given a little gray area, then things start to slide out of control. I recognize this and I hope that when I eventually get around to the reintroduction phase that those rules will be solid enough for me to hold onto. So here we are on January 30th and I am completing my 30th day, only I don't plan to stop here. I love this way of eating so much. Fresh vegetables and fruits and quality meats-- does it really get any better than this? I'm going to keep going until at least my wife finishes her 30 days and then we'll probably keep going even beyond that. I would like to re-introduce to find out if I am sensitive to dairy. The rest of the reintroduction foods I could care less about, but if I could have a little bit of dairy back, I would be happier. I don't like to exercise. I'll just get that out there right now. I certainly did not feel like going to the gym when I started in December. Now, I'm really looking forward to getting back to it soon. I have a lot of energy and I think that's the next phase that I want to work on. It's hard for me to remember what life was like before December 8. I do know that I ate out A LOT. This was probably a typical day of eating: Breakfast: Sausages, diet coke Lunch: McDonalds - 2 double cheeseburgers, no ketchup, no onions, no bun. Large diet coke. Dinner: Salad with store-bought ranch and shredded cheese, some kind of meat, and a vegetable with butter and cream sauce. Water. I actually thought that was a pretty good day. Completely low carb and "healthy." Enter Whole30. This is a typical day now: Breakfast: 4 eggs, scrambled with ghee and ground beef/pork/chicken/turkey (whatever I have fried up), a ton of veggies (whatever is cut up and ready. I dump it all in.) and water. This will hold me over until 1 or 2 in the afternoon usually. Lunch: Leftovers. I love leftovers. Dinner: A protein meat (usually, but not always grassfed), a ton of veggies, sometimes a salad with homemade dressing and nuts. Something is usually prepared in either coconut oil or ghee. I don't use olive oil except in cold foods. I do miss bacon. I can't find sugar-free bacon anywhere near me and I even have two different Whole Foods on the lookout for it now. I miss it, but I don't need it. I don't crave it anymore. Results so far: I'm down 21 pounds since I started roughly 8 weeks ago, but that's only the icing on the cake. I feel better, I sleep better, I breathe better. I dropped two pants sizes and some of my clothes are starting to feel too big to even wear. As I round out my 30th official day, I have a massage scheduled for this afternoon as a reward. I no longer reward myself with food and this will be even better than a bowl of ice cream anyway. So why did I post this in the Whole30 Log section as opposed to Success Stories? I guess I don't want to say that this is the end. My success story isn't finished and I'm keeping on because I love it, not because I'm afraid of reintroduction or anything else. I just don't want it end right now. I'll post more when I can. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bpositive59 Posted January 30, 2014 Share Posted January 30, 2014 I feel the same way. I finished my first Whole30 on January 24. I plan on continuing at least for another 30 days. But honestly I don't miss much of what I can't eat. I don't have crazy uncontrollable food cravings anymore. This week I had a couple of times when I really had a strong urge to eat brownies ( I had made them for the grandkids) and ice cream, (my husband was eating a bowlful). But it was so easy to say to myself, it won't make you feel better, in reality it will make you feel worse. And that was that, I did not think about it again!! Major Accomplishment!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kw 30 Posted January 30, 2014 Share Posted January 30, 2014 Congrats, Larry! I have an inside tip on bacon.... during my first Whole30 I splurged on some sugar-free bacon that I bought online, I still cringe at how much I paid to have 1lb of meat ship to me on dry ice. About a month later I discovered that you CAN buy sugar free bacon at Whole Foods - ask the butcher for plain old pork belly, and they will even slice it up like bacon for you! We season it with a good amount of salt and pepper (and sometimes cinnamon). It is delicious and MUCH cheaper than buying it online. Hope that helps and kudos on your Whole30 success! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Posted January 30, 2014 Author Share Posted January 30, 2014 About a month later I discovered that you CAN buy sugar free bacon at Whole Foods - ask the butcher for plain old pork belly, and they will even slice it up like bacon for you! We season it with a good amount of salt and pepper (and sometimes cinnamon). It is delicious and MUCH cheaper than buying it online. Pork belly! Really!? I'll have to give that a try. Unfortunately, I'm not on the same side of the city as BOTH of the Whole Food stores, but when I get over there I will definitely ask about that. Do you have to call ahead or do they usually have it in the case or in the back? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roots Posted January 30, 2014 Share Posted January 30, 2014 Larry- Try baking some proscuitto on parchement paper in the oven until almost crip and then let cool on a cooling rack. I don't think I will ever but bacon again! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kw 30 Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 Pork belly! Really!? I'll have to give that a try. Unfortunately, I'm not on the same side of the city as BOTH of the Whole Food stores, but when I get over there I will definitely ask about that. Do you have to call ahead or do they usually have it in the case or in the back? Pork belly is actually just uncured, uncooked bacon! It's usually in the case by the pork, but if not they should have it in the back (because they cure their own bacon). Good luck!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sapresic Posted February 2, 2014 Share Posted February 2, 2014 There is a brand of bacon at my Whole Foods in Dallas called Pederson's Natural Farms that offers a sugar-free variety. It's not always in stock, but when it is I always buy 3 or 4 packages. It's very good and completely Whole30 compliant. Maybe your Whole Foods can look into carrying it:). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Posted February 4, 2014 Author Share Posted February 4, 2014 There is a brand of bacon at my Whole Foods in Dallas called Pederson's Natural Farms that offers a sugar-free variety. It's not always in stock, but when it is I always buy 3 or 4 packages. It's very good and completely Whole30 compliant. Maybe your Whole Foods can look into carrying it:). I've tried to find this at several stores in the area with no luck. One of the Whole Foods managers did tell me that there is some kind of bacon shortage?! He's having trouble getting even the 'normal' bacon right now. Kinda scary times we're living in. Bacon shortage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Posted February 4, 2014 Author Share Posted February 4, 2014 Is there any way to get this topic moved to the Whole30 logs section? That's where I meant to post it because I want to keep amending to it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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