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Starting Today Feb 10 - Newbies


Mark

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My wife, 4 year old daughter, and I are starting the Whole30 today. First timers, coming out of really really bad eating habits. We have no idea what we are doing as this is totally foreign territory to us, but it was quite clear that drastic change was needed. Hardest thing so far has been cleaning out the fridge and cabinets. Wow... hello in there? Echo... echo... Well anyway, only thing we know is that we WILL do this somehow someway. My family needs this.

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Oh my. Once I started Whole30-style eating, my refrigerator was more full than ever because most of my food requires refrigeration compared to before when it was in boxes and cans. Go shopping. It is good to know you have food waiting for you to eat.

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Yes, I went shopping last night. I just meant that there was pretty much nothing left before I went shopping, i.e. hardly any good foods we have been eating all this time.

 

I need some really basic recipes as I'm the one doing the cooking and I can barely boil an egg. The recipes I have found so far are pretty foo foo and over my head at this point. Need something really basic. Plus needs to be something a 4 year old will eat.

 

This is what we are starting with:

 

Chicken breasts

Eye of Round Steaks

Ground Beef

Ground turkey

Eggs

Red Peppers

Carrots

Baby carrots

Celery

Onions

Sweet Potatoes

Butternut Squash

Red Leaf lettuce

Spinach

Tomatoes

Bananas

Apples

Grapes

Pears

Oranges

Strawberries

Lemons

Raisins

Mustard

Spicy Mustard

Pacific organic vegetable broth

Crushed tomatoes

Classico tomato and basil sauce

Apple sauce

Balsamic vinegar

Apple cider vinegar

Extra virgin Olive oil

 

Now I need to learn how to put this together and make some meals! :-)

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Daughter freaked out that there was no cereal with milk this morning. But calmed down as soon as she was eating the scrambled eggs and veggies. I can tolerate my splitting headache (quitting coffee too) but the crying this morning was tough. She is helping me make sweet potato fries now. Hopfully SHE knows what she is doing! Grilled chicken, carrots and green beans, and hopefully sweeet potato fries. Wife took her lunch with her. If we can make it through this first day I think we can do this!

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How in the world? Zucchini noodles, wow. Ok I gotta go find out how that is done. Spaghetti and meat sauce has been a staple of ours and daughter loves it. Gotta try it. Thanks!

 

This is what I use to make mine: http://www.amazon.com/Paderno-World-Cuisine-A4982799-Tri-Blade/dp/B0007Y9WHQ

 

They have turned out best for me when I spiralize them, put them in a colinder and salt the heck out of them, leave for 30 minutes, rinse, wring them out with a towel (important) and then saute them a little or just add the sauce and noodles to a skillet and get it all warm.

 

This might be a helpful read for you too: http://www.theclothesmakethegirl.com/2013/07/27/whole30-week-1-food-plan/

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Mark, quitting coffee is tough, especially at the same time as starting with W30. I'll share my experience with you.

 

I attempted quitting coffee on Day 1 of my W30 last year and my headaches were intolerable (combined with the "hangover" headaches), so around Day 4 or 5 I added back in some caffeinated tea for my sanity and survival. It helped immensely, with just a fraction of the caffeine that coffee has. So don't be too hard on yourself if you find yourself needing to wean a little bit in this manner. If you can power through completely caffeine-free, well then you are stronger than I am. :)

 

Regarding the word "attempted" in my last paragraph - I made it a couple weeks then found myself at an outdoor training for several hours in the rain and a local restaurant donated us a giant vat of steaming coffee - I drank some to try and reverse my hypothermia, and I was hooked again. But this year was take 2, only this time I didn't quit until Day 14 of my W30, when I was past the "hangover" stage. I still drink 1-2 cups of green tea each day, but as I noted, that's a fraction of what coffee has (it helps that a teabag only makes one cup of tea, so the danger of guzzling a whole pot is avoided). Still I had ten full days of headaches, sleep disturbances, and an overall feeling not unlike severe jet lag. Ten. Full. Days. I also slept about 10-11 hours for the first few nights.

 

But the bad feelings did end eventually, and I feel utterly fantastic now. Like almost manically wonderful at times, sans caffeine-high. Getting through to the other side is totally worth the temporary pain!

 

ETA: I forgot to mention, my coffee habit was rather moderate - average about 2-3 cups in the day, in the morning. It's amazing what an addictive substance coffee is.

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@TrayS

 

Yea, I'm feeling it already. Mentally I have decided this is my punishment for having started drinking coffee to begin with along with such an unhealthy way of eating. Probably not the smartest thing to do to try and quit cold turkey right now but I'm committed. I may have to be "committed" before this is all done though.

 

Thanks for feedback and heads up!

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Sounds like the whole family is motivated and committed, that's great :)

 

I started also yesterday, but it's my 2nd whole30. On the first last August, I also decided to quit coffee and tea, and I lasted 10 days. Then it just got too hard to manage both issues (caffein withdrawal and all effects from whole30) and I decided to concentrate on the whole30 and start tea again!

So good luck with that :)

 

I think it's great you're doing this a family, my companion is very supportive but won't give up grains (we share most of the same meal, I just add grains for him or he has bread), and our 2 year old daughter also eats a "regular" diet for now (with lots of vegetables, no junk food, chocolate now and then!).

 

Regarding cooking : for lunch I usually have a big (very big) salad with grated carrots or shredded cabbage, with avocado and tinned sardines (in olive oil). It's very satisfying and filling!

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I honestly had no idea what caffeine withdrawals would be like. Duh. I started out all big and bad and said "sure I can handle it", and the first night the symptoms brought me to my knees and incapacitated me. I can not imagine going through days and days of that right now while we are changing our way of eating so drastically. So, TrayS I am NOT stronger than you! Not by a longshot. I didn't even make it without caffeine one day! ;-)

 

I'll deal with this at another time. And I WILL deal with it.

 

But good news is that I did not cheat and go off of Whole30, but boy did I want to. What a learning experience. I expect more in the days to come.

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On day 7. I have to say, other than missing dairy products, we are doing really good. No terrible symptoms. My hubby is really enjoying having a home cooked meal, AND sitting at the table to enjoy it. Looking forward to week 2. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Honestly, I'm not sure what that first day was all about. Maybe it was the combination of coffee withdrawals with all the changes we made at one time. I think maybe my body just freaked or something.

 

I tried all the different stuff to make unsweetened coffee tolerable but it was no go. Even switched to tea and mate cocido but they didn't float my boat either but I tolerated them. But one afternoon my wife asked me how the coffee thing was going. I told her that I don't know, hadn't had any coffee, tea or mate cocido in 2 days. No major side effects, didn't even notice much either.

 

I think drinking without some kind of sweetener was motivation enough for me to just quit completely and maybe I just ignored the side effects. Why get used to or learn to like it without sugar/sweetener if I really don't enjoy it? If anyone ever asks me I'll tell them to just hunker down and kick the habit, don't make the habit more entrenched by learning to drink coffee black, etc.

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