Take Two: Lady M's second Whole 30

[Physibeth]

Yes, they are. Have you made them? I didn't have jalapeno, so I omitted that and upped the red pepper flakes just a tad. I found them underwhelming. I'm going to try WF2's spicy salmon cakes and compare. These kinds of portable foods are handy, but more like fuel than super yum, in my experience.

 

I didn't love them either. I don't like to handle jalapeno so I used a little hot sauce instead. I used canned sweet potato. Something about the texture of these just didn't jive with me. I think I made the ones from WF2...I'll have to go check my log again. Ha! I made the spicy tuna cakes from Quick and Easy Paleo Comfort foods this week for the 2nd time and I think they are still my favorite. They are pan fried and oven finished so have a great texture.

[LadyM]

Thanks for the tip! It's nice to have interesting things to do with canned fish. Do you think that cookbook is worth investing in?

 

Michelle does say that pan frying when reheating those spicy tuna cakes gives them a nice crispy texture. I just don't know how often I'll make the effort to dirty my muffin tin. It was a beast to clean. Maybe I could try them again but pan fry and oven finish them. i don't know. They were a little too sweet for my taste.

[Physibeth]

I cooked mine using silicon liners and that was a snap to clean up. On the cook book...I've liked everything I've made from it so far, but that hasn't been a lot. Their recipes are very Southern which isn't what I usually crave (and their recipe is for Salmon cakes as well now that I think about it) but when I do theirs are spot on. I have their regular Paleo Comfort Foods book as well but those recipes are more complicated and I haven't attempted one yet.

[LadyM]

Good to know. Thanks for the mini review. I decided after looking at it on Amazon to spend more time experimenting with WF, WF2, and NomNom. For the most part, the recipes are extraordinary.

[LadyM]

Day 15

 

M1 chopped chicken liver, chicken thigh, carrots, 9 am.

M2 WF2 Turkish Donner bangers, creamy Middle Eastern cuke salad, last of the belly dance beets, 2 pm.

M3 Roast lamb, roast veg, 7 pm.

 

Slept long and hard last night. Had a rough time getting going this morning, but that's OK. I still made it to the markets and stocked up on all kinds of goodies. Cooked up a storm and I'm not stopping yet. This week I'm back to ruminants and offal--and expanding my horizons with fish and veggies. I cannot say enough good things about Melissa Joulwan's recipes. I haven't come across a bad one yet.

 

Not sure if I'll do my long run today or tomorrow. It's lovely out, so I might as well push through so I can fully rest tomorrow. My glutes and hammies are sore, but that makes me happy because it's tough for me to get at these muscles.

 

All right! Back to the kitchen for more fun with cooking!

[LadyM]

Oh, and wanted to add that I got my bike from the shop yesterday. It's almost cycling season again. WOOOOOOOT!

[LadyM]

Day 16

 

M1 last cracklin chicken thigh, red cabbage/carrot/radish salad with paleo ranch, spoonful chopped liver, 9 am

M2 fish en papillote and veg soup, 2 pm

M3 leftover lamb with veg and gravy adapted for W30, of course, romaine with green goddess, 6:30 pm

 

Well, I am certainly eating like an effing queen over here! Funny how what I remembered from my first W30 was how sick I was and how miserable I was to not be getting the results I wanted. What I didn't remember right off the bat was how I never eat better in my life than when I'm doing a W30.

 

So, in addition to delicious lamb proteins (roast shoulder, fried liver and onions, and bangers from WF2--not to mention non lamb proteins chopped chicken liver and hard boiled eggs) and veggies (mashed root puree, soup, and cukes salad), I've whipped up quite a few dressings and sauces to have on hand. So far I've got ranch, citrus vinaigrette, green goddess, chimichurri, pesto, and the luscious gravies from the lamb roast and Korean shortribs a while back. I am set for crazy deliciousness!

 

Honestly, I feel sorry for people who don't know how good it can be. The ones like I used to be, wandering around eating protein shakes and "bars" thinking I was being healthy. I am sad for my former self who was so very lost, but also so grateful to have found this new way of living. And to have time right now to dedicate to cooking.

 

Aside from shopping and cooking, I was otherwise a slug yesterday. Just felt physically wrecked. And when I realized my new GPS HRM needed to be charged before I could use it, it was all the reason I needed to put off my seven miles. Feeling a bit more energized today, so I will head out for that run this afternoon. It's looking beautiful out there already, so I hope the sun holds for me!

[LadyM]

Day 17

 

M1 lamb banger, two poached eggs, cuke salad, 4 am

M2 cod, pureed veg soup, 8:30 am

snack hb egg, sauteed greens, 11:45 am

M3 corned beef, boiled carrots, sauteed kale and cabbage, 5 pm

 

 

Very pleased to say I went for a 9-mile run yesterday outside with my new running buddy and it felt great. We were supposed to only go 7, but went 9 by mistake. I am thrilled to know that I'm in good enough shape to do that. Today I'm feeling sore, but not I can't move sore. I was exhausted last night and went to bed before 9--and that has me up long before dawn. And hungry. So I ate. It's all good.

 

Planning for bootcamp at 6 followed by a leisurely morning followed by an afternoon of self care including a massage. Happy Paddy's Day to me, right? This whole avoiding the bar scene on this day might not be so bad!

 

Off to foam roller my legs and hips. Enjoy your day celebrating all things Irish!

[LadyM]

Day 18 (Is it really day 18 already?)

 

PWO hb egg, 5:30

M1 lamb banger, slice lamb liver, cukes, awesome sauce, 7:45 am followed by tea with CM and MCT oil

M2 corned beef, kale/cabbage saute with carrots and green goddess, bone broth 12:45 pm

PWO hb egg with awesome sauce, 3 pm

M3 lamb roast/sweet potato w gravy, lo fish, veg soup, romaine salad 5:15 pm

 

OK, so yoga isn't really a workout and I usually just do it on an empty stomach, but I'm taking the "eat within an hour of waking to balance hormones" thing seriously. Therefore, I ate a hard boiled egg half an hour after I awoke and took my thyroid pill, half an hour before my 90-minute yoga class. Which I followed with breakfast. (Update: and then I had another pwo hb egg before my 4-mile run in the afternoon--followed by dinner.) Does this seem appropriate?

 

My body is achy. It's the running and the lifting and the excellent deep tissue massage I got yesterday. I need to rededicate myself to yoga and stretching. I'm very flexible, so I don't generally need to work at these things, but there are parts of my body that need extra TLC given the added physical stresses I'm putting on them. So, I'm working on it this week.

 

Yesterday I whipped up a couple more sauces from WF2. Kickass ketchup is pretty good, though I used raisins instead of figs as a sweetener and I think it could have used three instead of two tablespoons. Anyway, it's still a great addition and base for other sauces and recipes, so I'm happy to have it on hand. And the awesome sauce in WF2 is exactly that. Super delish. As soon as my fancy Spanish smoked paprika arrives in the mail today I'm going to make her go-to vinaigrette, too. No side veg is as easy as a chopped organic romaine heart tossed with a delicious dressing. And it's getting to be that season!

 

In less thrilling news, my digestion is not where I'd like it, and I fear the increase of animal flesh in my diet isn't really helping move things along, so to speak. I know a big part of it is my sluggish thyroid, and I sincerely hope things continue to improve as I work with my functional medicine doc. But it seems the cleaner my diet has gotten over the past few years, the tougher time I have with elimination, despite the mad increase of fibrous veggies and loads of water (I go through 10 gallons a week). And no amount of added chia or flax seems to help. I thought maybe the increased activity, especially running, would do the trick, but alas. I have a sneaking suspicion it has something to do with the reduction of soluble fiber in the form of starches. But if I up those, I fear the movement toward weight loss reverses. Sigh. Anyone have experience with this they can share with me? Do I simply need to be patient and let W30 do its magic in its own time?

[LadyM]

Day 18 update

 

Today's run felt terrific. I began it dancing out the door and almost did a Rocky double fist pump at the end of it. Four miles at a solid 10 minute/mile pace. Very happy with that.

 

Changed up the dinner plan because I felt like eating something lighter. Being tuned in to my body rocks.

[LadyM]

Day 19

M1 lamb kidney slice and banger with awesome sauce and cukes, 8 am

M2 roast lamb, WF2 tabouleh, kale/cabbage, kraut, mashed sweet potato, gravy, 1 pm

M3 bacon burger with avo and sweet potato fries, romaine with paleo ranch, carrots and asparagus, 5 pm

Another great workout this morning, though I went without my PWO egg just to experiment. It didn't seem to affect my workout though I did prefer having an empty stomach. Who knows? Anyway, bootcamp followed by 3 treadmill miles at pace followed by half an hour of stretching. Very good. I feel good.

Craving a (bacon cheese)burger (on a brioche bun) today, which likely means my period is due to be on time any day now. So I've thawed some GF ground beef and US Wellness bacon to make myself a patty to eat between romaine leaves for dinner. I'll forgo the cheese for mashed avocado and call it decadently compliant!

Ran into a friend I hadn't seen in ages and she observed that I looked great and had "really shed," which was her yogini way of saying I looked like I'd lost weight. It was nice to hear, and I do believe my body is changing for the better. Glad that I don't feel compelled to keep track of how it's looking, though.

It's rainy and grey today so I'm going to make some time to read and nap. My adrenals, no doubt, will be purring.

[LadyM]

Day 20

M1 chopped chicken liver, carrots, bone broth, 7:45 am
M2 bacon burger w guacamole, romaine w ranch, veg soup, bp tea 11:30 am
M3 corned beef, boiled veg, cuke salad, bp tea 6:45 pm

Woke up with my period today, so it seems my body's cues are on point. Slept in rather than yoga. Feeling very tired. Going to be a slug today and I'm fine with that. Is 10 am too early for a nap?

[Chocoholic382]

NEVER too early for a nap!

[LadyM]

NEVER too early for a nap!

I like it!

[LadyM]

Day 20 Update

 

It occurs to me that I practically felt hungover this morning. I got going and felt human by the afternoon, but pretty much the entire morning was shot. I imagine this is a hormonal thing and will shift in time. I might look it up in Sara Gottfried's book--or one of my ayurvedic texts. I know what time of day we crash can tell us which hormones are low and which might be in overdrive.

 

As I've mentioned, my usual self is a bound out of bed in the morning kind of gal. Hoping I get back to her sooner rather than later. Working out first thing helps, and today I took a rest day, so that might have something to do with it. As might the fact that I started my period--and I'm in the middle of a series of colonics. Aiming to feel pretty great relatively soon.

 

Looking forward to a big yoga workshop Saturday in Chicago. I will bring all my meals and just relax into the day--even though part of it, at least, will be a very intense workout.

 

Three mile run following bootcamp on tap for tomorrow, so I'd better hit the hay! Goodnight Day 20!

[LadyM]

Day 21

pwo hb egg with awesome sauce, 5:30

M1 lamb banger and liver slice, spoonful chicken liver, bp tea, 7:15

M2 veg soup, bacon, crudités, chopped chicken liver, salmon cake, 12:30

M3 romaine with green goddess, meat quiche, bp tea, 6

This morning was a good reminder that sometimes you just do the work. I'm not feeling great and not feeling terrible. My run wasn't easy--or terribly difficult--but I got in my three miles on the treadmill after a pretty decent bootcamp. I can tell I'm already getting stronger after just two weeks of returning to resistance training. That makes me happy.

No tiger blood here, but those little glimmers of fabulousness are not what life is about. It's about putting in the time. And funny thing, today's W30 email (I archived them from a year ago and simply reread them day by day), is all about habits. Changing bad ones and creating new ones.

So here's to another day of putting in the time and making healthy choices even though they're no longer thrilling or earth shattering.

[LadyM]

Day 22

 

M1 meat quiche, bp tea, 7:45

M2 salmon cakes, veg soup, 3

M3 two lamb bangers, awesome sauce, 7

 

Went to Chicago and back today for an all-day yoga workshop. It was good, and I brought all my food and therefore stayed compliant. Not a lot of food today, but I'm feeling fine. Now I'm tired. I think I'm not getting enough sleep. I've been napping to make up for my short nights' sleep, but I don't think that's the best tactic. But right now with rehearsals my only option would be to rearrange my workout schedule in the morning, but it's really working for me. So, I'm going to suck it up for now and know that in a couple weeks rehearsals will be over and I'll just have performances on the weekends. Then I'll sleep sweet blissful sleep to my heart's content. In the meantime, I'll do my best to do everything else to best support my health!

[LadyM]

Day 23

M1 meat quiche, bp tea, 8:30

M2 WF2 salmon cakes and sesame cucumber noodles, noon

PWO hb egg, 4

M3 kale, roast lamb and mashed cauli with gravy, 7

Slept from about 11 to 8 uninterrupted and am still dragging a bit. Rehearsal and a 10K run this afternoon on tap. Would rather lounge, finish laundry, and read the NYTimes, but alas. Duty calls.

Still eating well, and decided to do what I can to clear out the fridge rather than do a big shopping trip and cookup. I've got spring break this week, so I'll have plenty of time to play in the kitchen without need for loads of leftovers. Should be fun. I've got some short ribs thawing for this (one of my faves) and I've got my eye on WF2 tabouleh and green beans as well as a new banger/ball and more cracklin' chicken. I'll wait until next week to make this after I hit the farmer's market Saturday for fresh pasture-raised chicken. Anyway, lord knows I won't want for scrumptious food!

[LadyM]

Update

Tough going today with the run. Ugh. Legs felt like lead. If I hadn't been running with a buddy I totally would have bailed. But I pushed through. Yay me. But why was it so hard? I ate well today, but I didn't eat much yesterday. I slept long and well last night, but I haven't slept long enough consistently. I was supposed to do a 5k today but I ran 10k instead so I can run my actual 5k race in two weeks when there's actually a 10k on the schedule. So maybe it's just where I am in the training schedule. It was also bloody cold. Who knows?

Also, I would like to add that I took my usual mashed cauliflower to the wowyzowy category by adding chives, green onion, ghee, and the piece de resistance, a dollop of mayo. So delicious!

[LadyM]

Day 24

 

M1 meat quiche, bp tea, 7

M2 coconut spinach/salmon, noon

M3 roast lamb; kale with lime,coconut flakes, and bacon; belly dance beets, 4:30

 

Interesting conversation this morning with the trainer after bootcamp. The nutrition class this week focused on "cheating smarter," and while I've been known to eschew the very thought of cheating as a concept when it comes to nutrition, I like what she had to say. Her point was (and she has a biology degree and always backs up what she says with science that I quickly forget) that it's a good thing every now and then to overwhelm the body after a period of clean eating, that it actually helps the body kick into overdrive metabolically. So, in moving forward, she suggests giving oneself one 12-24 hour period per week of eating whatever one's heart desires, even if it's completely off plan.

 

I'm going to give it a shot post Whole 30, I've decided. In fact, it's given me new structure for riding my own bike that I think might work beautifully for me. I don't actually have a desire to go "hog wild," though the thought of having one day a week to be social and unfettered in terms of food and drink feels liberating and doable for the long haul. Fact is, the only thing I miss while doing a W30 anymore is being able to socialize in a truly relaxed and open way around food and drink. And I don't really need to go out more than once a week to feel happy and balanced in that way. So, template eating plus the freedom of one "funday" per week is my post-W30 plan.

 

We also talked about pre- and post-workout food again, as I've been playing with what works best for me. Still playing, still seeking. This week I'm skipping pre-wo food to see how that impacts performance. Bootcamp was rough this morning, though I don't know if it was because my tummy was empty (I did have an ENORMOUS meal last night, so it should have tided me over) or perhaps because my legs are still shot from the challenging (cold and hilly) run yesterday evening. There are always so many variables!

[Chocoholic382]

 

Interesting conversation this morning with the trainer after bootcamp. The nutrition class this week focused on "cheating smarter," and while I've been known to eschew the very thought of cheating as a concept when it comes to nutrition, I like what she had to say. Her point was (and she has a biology degree and always backs up what she says with science that I quickly forget) that it's a good thing every now and then to overwhelm the body after a period of clean eating, that it actually helps the body kick into overdrive metabolically. So, in moving forward, she suggests giving oneself one 12-24 hour period per week of eating whatever one's heart desires, even if it's completely off plan.

 

We also talked about pre- and post-workout food again, as I've been playing with what works best for me. Still playing, still seeking. This week I'm skipping pre-wo food to see how that impacts performance. Bootcamp was rough this morning, though I don't know if it was because my tummy was empty (I did have an ENORMOUS meal last night, so it should have tided me over) or perhaps because my legs are still shot from the challenging (cold and hilly) run yesterday evening. There are always so many variables!

I like the idea of overwhelming the body, but I'd worry about how much damage I could do during a full day without any restrictions. For me, probably 1 fully off-plan meal would cut it. 

 

My workouts are never anything stellar, but maybe what you're going through is normal? I actually gave up mid-workout yesterday. Just couldn't continue.

 

Anyway, happy Day 24! Enjoy the countdown!

[LadyM]

Thanks, Choc! Yes, sometimes we just need a reminder that what we're going through is normal, if not exactly what we want.

 

I hear you about being worried about a full day off plan, but I think it has to do with mindset. I'm no longer interested in going crazy with everything I can't have. What I'm interested in is the freedom to enjoy my Sunday fundays brunch, poolside cocktails, followed by dancing (and perhaps another cocktail or two!). This is a long-standing tradition with my friends, especially over the summer. I love the idea that I can give myself this without guilt and get right back to the template! I envision this working so much better for me than an unstructured plan in which I simply eat what comes my way because I feel like it.

[LadyM]

Day 25

 

M1 meat quiche, bp tea, 7

M2 roast lamb, WF2 tabouleh, banana, decaf bp coffee,12:30

M3 short ribs, sesame cuke noodles, asian slaw, bp decaf, 5

 

Stress this morning getting grades in, but looking forward to a five-mile run this afternoon and some time and space to get organized at home, maybe try a new recipe or two. No yoga this morning, so I'm thinking I'll do a practice at home, as well. This body needs some stretching. Other than that, all is well!

[LadyM]

Update: the WF2 tabouleh is scrumptious! And a real pain in the a$$ to make. I mean, it's not difficult, it just takes lots of steps and time and I dirtied what seems like every pan, dish, and appliance in the kitchen. A very nice treat, though.

 

Also, I splurged and ate a banana with lunch. They had a box of them for free at the co-op yesterday and I thought, hey, it's been a long time since I've had one of these. I bet the potassium would do me good. Funny thing, eating it made my heart race a little. I think it's the super sweetness! Nice confirmation that my body is so much better off without extreme sweets. And now I'm extra glad I'll be putting in five miles to burn off the sugar. But it's effing snowing right now and I hope it stops so the sun comes out in the next three hours for at least 50 minutes. Please and thank you.

[LadyM]

Update part II (can you tell I'm on spring break?):

 

No run today. I was pooped and it was snowing sideways for much of the day. So, I rested. Tomorrow I shall run 3 miles on the treadmill after bootcamp and consider doing another 5 in the afternoon if I'm feeling it. Thinking maybe the proper rest today--and serious refuel--might propel me forth big style tomorrow.

 

Speaking of refueling, I feel like I ate a lot today. I enjoyed it and everything was marvelous. I guess this is how it goes, though. And funny thing, it always seems to be this way: I eat the most on rest days.

 

I was like a madwoman in the kitchen today whipping up all sorts of delectable things. So many options now all ready to go! Wish I could share with y'all!