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Lenten Whole40 support thread


peahen65

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Hi guys,

Yesterday was a bad day.  Or a bad evening, more precisely.  I had to sub 1st grade and they were particularly naughty and I left school really stressed and sad. 

 

A funny thing did happen, though... for lunch I had brought a big container of broccoli and sautéed pork and onions with coconut aminos.  I took the children to lunch and since I didn't have lunch duty, went back to the room and heated up my lunch and ate about half of it before I had to pack it back up and go get the children from the gym.  I brought them back to the room and they all started carrying on, "Ewww!  It smells like dirty baby diapers in here!  No, it smells like a big fart!" haha. 

 

Anyway, yesterday evening I rested but seemed to spiral mentally into a black hole, very depressed.  Went to bed and woke up this morning fine and cheery.  Today was fine.

 

I've been taking the natural calm each night and I believe it is helping my shins and my overall recovery.  Today for pre-WO meal I had a small piece of steak (part of my husband's breakfast) topped with spices and dollop of mayo and coconut aminos.  Felt good.  Went to strength training and the timing was a little off, so abs came around a little earlier and I was okay through abs.  Then stretching out I had my slight dizzy, queasy thing occur.  So maybe it is not abs and there is some sort of thing about the time.  At about 9:00 I must have some sort of dip in blood sugar or something, if I have no carb for pre-WO.  I tend toward hypoglycemia (though have not been diagnosed) so am pondering this from another angle now. After-WO was sweet potato and baked chicken breast. I'm really enjoying real food post-WO.  After my W40 ends, I plan to definitely carry real post-WO food with me rather than rely on a protein bar.

 

A week from tomorrow I have to attend a gala thing.  There will be cocktail hour and fancy meal etc.  I plan to get a drink in my hand asap, as suggested, of club soda and lime.  Not sure what to do about the food. I'll eat before I go, for sure, but may have to carry something in to nibble on if the food is not compliant.  Which it probably won't be.  As a matter of fact, I may have to pack all my meals next Saturday - maybe a big picnic basket of compliant food!  Or a cooler in my trunk.  There's a lot I'll be doing away from home all day before the gala.

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Good morning all. No sleeping in for me today as I have a busy day. I may even eat lunch out. Scary I know. After this I will take a look at where I will be and when to decide if there is anywhere close by I could risk it. We have a lovely farm to table restaurant in town. They actually get their meat and vegetables from the same farms as I do. Speaking of, I am headed to my meat farm today. They have this ice cream they sell by the cup that is out of this world good. It will be hard to resist. It may be one of those things that is worth it when my Whole30 is over. I'll remember that when I come face to face with it later today.

 

So yesterday's fish dinner was a disaster. The fish was cooked okay I guess. My brother in law ate three helpings and took home the leftovers. LOL. No one who lives in my house though liked the fish. At all. The sweet potato cubes I roasted were okay just a little dry and the asparagus was over cooked and limp. The only thing that I enjoyed was the spinach and onion salad we started with. So long story short we had a very late dinner that was not good. I really did not get enough protein last night but was so tired I just went to bed.

 

My fridge is so empty. This is unusual because by Friday it is usually jammed full of leftover takeout boxes. Even my veg drawer has nothing but some gone limp celery an avocado and some baby carrots which we use as dog treats. Good thing it is Saturday and shopping day. One of the best things about this week has been all the veg my kids are eating. Bedtime snack now usually consists of a sliced tomato or some pre-cut carrots or celery from the fridge. My spinach salad was missing it's intended cucumber last night because my oldest ate it for lunch. Oops! That's a win for me.

 

TDC - last weekend I chopped about half my vegetables so that I could just grab them as needed without getting out the cutting board. I also cooked some chicken breast that was chicken salad one day, chicken soup another, and a third might I can't seem to remember right now. Cook up day I put chili in the slow cooker so no cooking would be needed at the end of the day. We also made a meatloaf that just had to be stuck  in the oven the next night. This weekend I may pre-roast some of the veg that take longer to cook like beets and carrots. Spaghetti night we used a compliant jar sauce, classico tomato basil, a frozen pepper and onion blend I always have on hand and a can of tomatoes with some ground meat and seasoned to taste. The noodles were a fail. I have been eating my sauce over French green beans and I think I will go back to that. Spaghetti night is our families easy quick dinner night and trying to make goodies was too hard. On the flip side for leftover might I sauteed some zucchini on leftover night and ate the sauce on that. 

 

Mcjule - congrats on the mayo. Also on the lack of cravings. Time of the month usually has me face planted in some chips and salsa.

 

Peahen- kids say the funniest things sometimes. By the time that gala comes around your gonna be rocking this so hard I'm sure you'll handle it. Positive thoughts and advance planning.

 

Off to cook my breakfast and head out to my shopping. TTFN

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Hope everyone's weekend is off to a good start!  I got a good night's sleep, which was great.  I don't always sleep well because I have small kids who wake me up!  This morning they all slept until 8 am, thank God.  It's also nice weather here, so that's another thing to be happy about!  

 

We're hosting a BBQ tonight and I was all about making a bunch of compliant food but I have too much going on today so instead I bought things at Whole Foods and scrutinized ingredients.  I bought things that I can eat as well as some other things I can't for the guests.  But I know exactly what is ok and what isn't, so I'm calm about it.  I think the no alcohol may be the hardest.  I've avoided socializing since Lent started because I doesn't sound very fun to me to go out to a bar or to dinner and not have a drink!

 

Peahen65, good luck with the gala.  That does sound hard!  I had a conference and I requested dairy-free, gluten-free meals, but that may be harder with a gala. I actually have an evening event coming up in a couple weeks and I'm going to see if there is any way I can get out of it because it seems hard to resist the yummy food/drinks!

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Vestry meeting all morning today, with breakfast provided by our warden, who is an awesome organic cook.  I ate beforehand, just in case,  and packed a big bag of food for afterward.  Here's what he made:  homemade hashbrowned potatoes, a breakfast casserole of home grown pork sausage, free range eggs, but put together with milk and lots of cheese, whole grain muffins made with heirloom non-modern home ground wheat, and finally a bowl of fresh cut fruit.  Guess what I had?  I big plate of fruit.  :(  I felt VERY conspicuous.  One asked me did I not want yogurt dip on my fruit?  Did I not like it?  I told him I liked everything on his plate but couldn't eat it right now.  One astute lady figured out is was probably a Lent thing, and when someone packed a bag of muffins for me to take home to my children, reminded them it was Lent   :)

 

Afterward I rushed to the city for the St. Patrick's Day parade to see my daughter who is a Rose of Tralee candidate. Flying down the highway I ate some compliant chicken sausage I had packed, and some eggs with onions. Once I got there, of course there were funnel cakes, and other fair food, and BEER everywhere.  I waited for her float to come by, chased it around and took pictures, then got out of there.  The food smells were just too much!

 

Sweet potato, half an apple, and black Americano this afternoon. Heading home soon to make some veg to round out my protein and fruit heavy day.  I also need to make another batch of homemade olive oil mayo.  My cookbooks arrived Wednesday, so I am wanting to really get a good look at them this evening and hopefully prepare for the new week tomorrow afternoon.

 

Thankfully yesterday and today my mind/emotions are fine :D

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This has been surprisingly easier than I expected, including days 10 - 11, although by way of full disclosure I lost 40 lbs. a few years ago, and here, I eat far more food -- and far more satisfying food -- than back then. (Avocado, anyone?!) I'm rarely hungry between meals, although yesterday while running errands, I stopped for a pear. Considering what I might have stopped for a month ago, I assure you, that pear was a major victory.

I'd gained back 10 to 12 of those pounds over the winter, and many of them are gone again -- in the last 11 days. Not all twelve of them, but more than I'd expect in this short time. I'd love to get on a scale. But in the absence of a weigh-in, I have a pretty good idea based on which jeans zip without effort. Plus, two people whom I haven't seen in several weeks noticed that it looks like I've lost some more. Needless to say, that gives me something extra to fall back on if my willpower should fade.

I also survived three days with my husband home. He travels a lot this time of year, more so this month than ever before, which is why I targeted the start date. He has a significantly different appetite and higher metabolism than I do. It's a whole lot easier to get into a new groove of eating when I have time to explore it on my own. He supports anything I do, but has found the ways of eating that work best for him, and therefore doesn't join in when I do something different. He left town again this morning for five days.

I'm off to grate a sweet potato, chop a little bit of onion, blend with an egg, season to taste, and sauté in organic ghee...

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Happy Monday to everyone.  My weekend was slammed but I made it through and I feel pretty awesome.  The timing of some of my meals was a little off due to scheduling around other events but I made it work.  The hardest part was a birthday party Sunday with cake that looked and smelled so good.  Even tougher was when half the kids asked for more it was so good.  But I held strong and didn't eat it.  Woo Hoo!  My sister actually called me before the party to make sure she would have something we could eat.  There was a big tray of raw veges and 100% beef burgers.  I wrapped my burger in lettuce and it was just as good.  I probably ate more than my share of the yellow bell pepper but that would have happened even if I wasn't doing a whole 30. 

 

Went back to the farm market for meat this weekend and the girl behind the counter asked if we were doing Paleo.  When we told her Whole 30 she said her mother in law did it last year and got off almost all her rheumatoid arthritis meds and was in remission.  Perfect story for my mom who has rheumatoid and is really hoping for some relief.  Best part was my mom realized when talking to her that she didn't take her meds that morning.  She felt so good she just forgot.  Amazing!

 

My pants are getting looser.  I tried on a smaller pair this weekend but no luck yet.  I am getting there though.  One of my larger pairs is so loose in the waist I can't wear them without a belt.  When I put on the last 20 pounds I was so mad at myself I picked up 2 pairs of pants at the thrift store and refused to buy anymore.  I am getting back into my smaller jeans this time if it kills me. 

 

mcjule - Sleeping until 8 sounds so lovely.  How did the barbecue go? 

 

peahen - Oh no! I've been to places before where you figure there will at least be a vege tray and then there was nothing.  That's rough.  Following that up with a funnel cake encounter sounds even worse than my birthday cake encounter.  Congrats for staying strong.  My Well Fed cookbook come tomorrow.  Maybe once we both have them we can share our thoughts on certain recipes.

 

TessTurbo - Too bad your husband isn't on board with you more but your doing great anyway and that's what matters.  I admit this has been easier than expected for me too once I got past the first week.  I didn't seem to have the terrible time day 10-11 that some people elude to. 

 

I hope everyone has a great day.

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I'm hanging in there too. I think I posted about the BBQ in my log.  Much easier than I thought it would be.  People drank beer, not wine, and I'm not a beer drinker so no temptation there (the wine would have been hard!) and the dessert didn't tempt me.  I had a burger with lettuce and tomato and it was just as good.  I thought the tortilla chips would be super tempting, but they weren't either.  I think I ate more than I should have/needed to, but it wasn't anything off-plan.

 

I still don't know where I am on the timeline, although I guess it doesn't matter.  I'm on Day 9 of my restart and Day 12 since my original start.  I haven't really had many of the symptoms on the timeline except fatigue.  My big challenge is that we got hit with more snow today so I'm getting low on food. I still have plenty to get me through a day or two, but I don't like to get so low!

 

peahen, that is the hardest!!

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Wednesday I'm meeting friends at a restaurant and someone in the group has permission from the place to bring a birthday cake. It has a pub-style menu. Mostly sandwiches, fried things, and a few incredible salads, so if I can get a custom salad, broiled chicken on lettuce with dressing brought from home may be my best plan. Not looking forward to it. They have a couple of salads I love under ordinary circumstances, but it doesn't strike me as the kind of place that would have ghee or coconut oil to sauté my veg in upon request.

I've found I get zero resistance or pressure when I call it an 'elimination diet for purposes of determining food sensitivities' compared to if I try to explain Whole30 every time. Or if I just decline a lot of foods without explanation. Then they think I'm just "on a diet" and insist that 'a small piece of birthday cake' won't set me back. I don't need to justify every mouthful, ya know? Just let me not eat the cake in peace...

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Hi Guys!  Sounds like everyone is doing well! 

 

Sunday I ate compliantly, but continually - boredom eating and snacking.  I went to bed full (which I never do) and woke up Monday bloated.  Which was stupid of me.  I have purposed that this week I will get more things ready to eat and stick to the W30 meal template better.  Yesterday I was a bit at a loss as what to eat, as I had a race to run in the evening.  I asked on the forum's athlete section a few days ago but got no response, so I just winged it.  Can't recall breakfast (?) but I know I had it and it was W30 compliant and meal template ok.  Lunch I had a big meal of chicken and broccoli.  After lunch was the problem... I knew I needed to eat SOMETHING to run the race on, but was just not sure as to what and when.  Even though W30 pre-WO is supposed to be protein and fat, I didn't think I could run on that at this point.  I can do that in the morning, but evening?  No.  So at about 3 pm, I had a complaint Lara Bar and half a banana with a little cashew butter. 

 

I had also hydrated well up until 12 noon.  Then I stopped drinking because I didn't want to piss my pants the whole race, like I did at my last 5K in October.  I have birthed 6 children, am perimenopausal, and the bladder just can't take much pressure anymore - sorry if TMI.  But it was a real concern for me this time.  I made my goal of running the whole 3K without walking any, and I didn't piss myself, but I think I maybe should have hydrated a little past noon.  Or drank a little at 4:30 (2 hours before the race) as I was fairly foaming at the mouth by the end!  I think my food choices were okay for the time of day, not W30 optimum, but okay.  I certainly didn't want to faint on the course.

 

I really like the Well Fed cookbook!  Her information on precooking things to have "hot plates" from the fridge is inspiring.  Going grocery shopping today!  You're going to like it, LuJo.  I got Nom Nom Paleo too, and enjoyed looking through, but her recipes seem a little too complicated for my life right now. 

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Then I stopped drinking because I didn't want to piss my pants the whole race, like I did at my last 5K in October.  I have birthed 6 children, am perimenopausal, and the bladder just can't take much pressure anymore - sorry if TMI. 

 

Oh honey, I CAN NOT let this go by without responding. I don't think urinary incontinence is inevitable, and once you have these issues there are options to deal with it. Here is a great article. I hope it helps you.

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TessTurbo, I've been calling it an elimination diet too.  And it's not a lie because I know I have one food sensitivity (lactose) and I'm pretty sure I'm going to have more so for me a lot of this is figuring out what I can and cannot tolerate.  And then there's the healthy part of it too!  

 

I'm battling a nasty cold, which isn't really affecting my eating, but makes me feel yucky all the time.  Head congested, sore throat etc.  I need to drink more tea -- hot drinks sound especially appealing.

 

I'm on Day 10 of my Restart, but day 14 since I originally started and I'm definitely experiencing food dreams!  Hard to tell if my energy is up -- doesn't feel like it but that may very well be the cold.  I actually felt more energy yesterday.

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I know!  Why is sugar in everything?  And why is soy in tuna?  That one really baffles me.  Another vexing sugar thing... I wanted to make Well Fed's sunshine sauce (I LOVE Thai peanut sauce!) and went searching for sunflower seed butter that has no sugar.  Both health food stores had sunflower butter with organic cane syrup - of course.  Checked Whole Foods - the same.  The health food sections of several super Krogers - the same. Then tonight I had to go to Walmart (which I avoid unless absolutely necessary) and was wandering through their grocery section seeing if they had Red Boat fish sauce (of course not), Glen Muir organic tomato paste (yay!), and looked for cashew butter (no) but saw... plain sunflower seed butter with sea salt - no sugar!  I couldn't believe it.  So tomorrow I get to make Sunshine Sauce!   

 

I also went to Penzey's and bought $100 worth of spices and herbs :)

 

Well, more later... Number 2 son needs school help.

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Good morning.  Went for a walk at my local park yesterday.  It was a bit cold at first but by the end I was warm enough.  I think I may be coming down with something though.  My ears felt a bit stuffed yesterday and not this morning I coughed up some gunk.  Lovely.  Here's hoping it is just a little seasonal reaction to all of the blooming around here.  My mother has told me she wants to use the last 10 days or so of out whole 40 for reintroduction.  I told her I would think about it.  I may just stick with it myself though. 

 

mcjule - I hope you got out to the grocer at some point.  I hope you feel better soon.

 

TessTurbo - How did your dinner out go? I have read here and there on the forums that when eating out it is okay to eat things cooked in canola oil. Simply because there isn't much choice.  I like you elimination explanation.  I was trying to explain it to my sister and she kept interrupting me to tell me what she knew about it even though she has never read the book or visited the website or done it herself.  Frustrating.

 

Peahen - I got my Well Fed book.  Yay!  Sunday morning is when I do my cook up.  I know she says she does hers in an hour but mine is still taking most of my morning.  It gives me something to strive for.  Congrats for running the race without peeing yourself.  I have the same problem so I feel your pain.  I do agree that you should have hydrated more. 

 

missmary - thanks for the article.  I have the same problem and hopefully I can find something to help.

 

kllsunshine22 - Your best bet may be warm tea. I'm sorry you aren't feeling well.  Finding anything without sugar has been difficult I'm sure medicines are the worst.  I blame Mary Poppins and her spoon full of sugar song.

 

Time to start my day.  I can hear my younger son ignoring his alarm clock so time for me to go back it up.  LOL  Have a great day everyone.

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I looked at the article too, and am hopeful!  Thank you, MissMary.  I found a running book for women while cleaning up the other day and looked under incontinence.  There were TWO SHORT sentences - that's all... "Do kegels.  Lots of them."  Grrr... made me want to say bad things about the author.  Who must have been a man - haha.  I'm going to print the article and also look for a women's health PT. I bet there's one in Cincinnati.  

 

I hope everyone's week is going well.  I seem to have little energy today, but doesn't feel like it's going to be an ongoing thing, thankfully.

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lujo238: I've been planning to incorporate the 10 days of Reintro into the 40 days of Lent. That way I might actually get through it -- so far in my previous two Whole30s I've never managed to do the Reintro properly. I think if I have it as a fairly rigid part of the programme as a whole I'd be more disciplined. In a way it's working: my mindset is still such that this Whole30 doesn't really finish until Easter Sunday, meaning I consider the Reintro as part of it -- I'm not counting down to the end of 30 days but to the end of 44 days. On the other hand I was quite intrigued to see what kind of changes I might see if I did longer than 30 days. My weight loss has never been stellar on the Whole30, and I always wondered whether it's because the weight loss mostly happens towards the end. So I haven't exactly decided yet. At the same time, it seems an appropriate ending to finish on Easter Sunday when I can eat some chocolate and hot cross buns (possibly gluten free??!). 

 

peahen65: One option on the sunflower seed butter front (or any nut or seed butter) of course is to make your own. This is what I do, mostly because it's so much cheaper. They seem to last a long time so if I make a batch it lives in a jar in the cupboard quite happily. You dump all the sunflower seeds in a food processor and leave it on. It takes a while, about 15-20 minutes for me in my Kenwood food processor. I do stop it now and then to scrape down and give it a cool down, just in case. How did you find the sunshine sauce? I am personally not a fan of sunflower seed butter I've decided, but I like cashews as a substitute for peanuts so might try that with the sunshine sauce. I always intend to make loads of sauces at the weekend but never quite manage it! Which is annoying because it would be so handy to just have some sauces to dump on meat when I've run out of time!

 

In other news, I finally invested in a light alarm clock -- meaning it wakes me up over half an hour by getting light gradually until my designated wake up time, rather like a sunrise. It's very nice and so far I've consistently woken up BEFORE the alarm sound goes off; if this continues I'll turn off the sound altogether. Neither of the two days have I had a full 8 hours sleep so I don't feel exactly qualified to judge whether it's helping, but I'd say the quality of my sleep at night has improved, and my mood upon waking up is VASTLY improved, so that's good. Will revisit in a week to see how I feel.

 

Officially two weeks in! If we're doing the Whole30 right up to the end of Lent then the 30 days that everyone else normally does starts now....seems like AGES!!

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lujo238: When Melissa says she does hers in an hour, it's when she's really pushing herself, taking on CrossFit mentality to fit in a certain amount of cooking within an hour. I don't think she necessarily advocates doing this always, it'd be pretty stressful and you'd have to be pretty well coordinated!! Although having said that it would be good to follow one of her Whole30 1 hour meal plans that she has posted before to see if I can do it within an hour!!

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Husband cut out sugars and grains a while back and once I started my W40, decided to try it along with me. Sort of.  He's not official, and he still indulges with steak sauce, but tries real hard to be (mostly) compliant.  It's been a real struggle to get him to read labels, though.  He assumes it is what it claims, then is sorry later.  But he's been doing better.  Last night, though, when I got home, he said, "I ate the rest of your tuna salad."  Uh... my tuna salad?  "Well, you just ate soy tuna and store mayo then."  He was so upset. The tuna salad was made by middle daughter home from college on spring break.  She also made pumpkin pies and a chocolate Texas sheet cake.  You gotta really watch out when she's around!

 

Since cutting out sugars and grains though, his BP has gone way down. He's always been prehypertensive and yesterday his BP was 109/70 - which is incredible for him.  He's eating out Mexican (with Mother, of course) today and took an avocado to pile his fajita stuff on (instead of using the supplied wraps).  He's not going to eat the beans and rice either.  So he's coming along! :)  It's been nice having support from him (if not my children) while on this W40 journey.

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kllsunshine22 -- being sick on the Whole 30 is the worst!  I'm just going to be happy that I don't have the flu because if I had a stomach bug I'd probably only be able to stomach crackers so at least I can keep eating the same way.  But yeah, I can't breathe out of my nose and I really wanted some throat drops yesterday.  I'm going with tea, which is ok . . .

 

TDC -- I'm incorporating it into Lent too.  I would be happy to go all the way through but my fear is that we're vacationing the last week of Lent and with all our meals out I will probably accidentally eat something non-compliant and throw everything off.  I'd rather end and reintroduce and then eat as well as I can while on vacation but at least I won't mess up all my progress.  

 

peanhen -- I don't get all the added stuff either.  Sugar is in most nut butters and tomato products I've noticed.  I was at Whole Foods where you would think everything would be healthier but instead it all has "cane syrup" instead of sugar or high-fructose corn syrup, but it's not like that's much better, if at all!  I had better luck with the nut butters and tomato products at my own grocery store but Whole Foods was helpful on the meat (and I found compliant bacon).  

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Lujo, I'm thrilled to report it went well. Brought my own homemade salsa, ordered their pub salad with grilled chicken & sauteed onions & peppers. Probably in non-compliant oil, but I did the best I could. I passed on the cheese, dressing & bread roll. And the cake, which turned out to be a kind I don't love. Ordinarily I'd have had a piece, but it didn't require much willpower to say no, as it wasn't among my favorites.

Overall, a success.

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Here is a weird food dream I had the other night:  I accidentally ate some fries - those big steak house fluffy Frenchfries, which I do not like at all.  In my dream, someone had some and I just grabbed a couple and stuffed them in my mouth.  I immediately thought, oh no! I've ruined my Whole 40!  Then I was somehow in a dank basement going to an old chest freezer to get some compliant food for my family. The freezer was full of food and I found some wonderful pork on popsicle sticks. I made sure and got enough out to feed everybody and carried them over to a counter.  When I got there, I looked at them again and the meat was suddenly breaded and crumbed! I though, I can't eat this!  This will mess me up! And I had a thought (in my dream - which I think gets to my real cravings), hey, I know what I can have!  A big bowl of rolled oats with brown sugar and butter!

 

Which, speaking of, I sure miss butter.  Ghee is just not doing it for me. I improved the ghee a little today by adding Penzey's shallot pepper to it and putting it over my lunch broccoli.  A little better. I think I'd just rather eat my mayo on my veg than ghee anymore.

 

Did some cooking up tonight:  seasoned and baked skinless boneless chicken thighs ala the Wed Fed book, to have for later; made the Czech meatballs which I need to hide from husband or he says he's going to eat them all; baked sweet potatoes; and got my Sunshine Sauce made.  It smelled too limey, but tasted pretty good. After it rests and the flavors blend, I think it's going to be very good.

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I think that was a victory, TessTurbo!  Except the feeling bad part.  Maybe next time, if you feel bad for declining the offer to buy, buy a box and give them away to someone right away (unless holding a box of them would be a huge trigger).  And yay for all the prep work you did.  I think that's awesome.

 

I made my homemade mayo yesterday and it is EXCELLENT.  Turned out perfectly and tasty to boot. 

 

Dijon mustard:  the kind I found is Whole Foods store brand 365.  Caveat!  365 had some other Dijon type mustards that are not compliant.  This one is 365 ORGANIC Dijon Mustard... INGR: organic apple cider vinegar, water, organic mustard seed, sea salt, organic spices.  NO WINE, NO SUGAR, NO HONEY.

 

OKAY... Those of us Lenten Whole40ers who observe Communion... what did you end up doing this morning?  I had planned to partake by intinction (dipping) but was so conflicted by the time that I crossed my arms and received a blessing instead.  I felt good with that.  I felt I was receiving in spirit, if not by the elements.  But I was not sure I wanted to go all through Lent thusly, so I looked it up and this is what one of the Whole30 Forum Moderators said...

 

 

I personally found this to be reasonable, so plan to partake next week without inner conflict or feeling like I have to start back Day 1.

 

I'm glad y'all are here.  The accountability really helps me a lot.  I truly think I can do this!

Thanks peahen!

Sorry I haven't been posting, I just realized that if I respond to the emails its doesn't post. (I was hoping it would work)

I have been participating in communion, both bread and wine, because I'm a Eucharistic minister and often up being up a cup minister. 

I finally got my mayo to work. figured out what I was doing wrong. I have a Vitamix and I was following the WellFed directions, which is too long to let it run in the Vitamix. If I had a regular blender, it would work. Wasted a lot of oil and eggs (3rd batch was a charm though.)

And for the first time, I made almond milk. It was a lot of work. Soaked the almonds for 24 hours. (no, they didn't peel either, I tried). There has got to be an easier way. I had to have my husband squeeze the puree, cause my hands gave out. And what do you do with all the pureed almonds after? I read you can dry it in the oven. and use it for what? its not fine enough for flour. Suggestions please. (And is the milk only good for 2 -3 days)? A lot of work for that. But it tastes good.

And after blowing it at the family birthday party on Saturday, I'm back on track (on the wagon, back on the horse, whatever). I had planned Saturday, did well at my morning meeting and my volunteer gig in the afternoon. But then went to in-laws for a birthday party (it was a reconciliation thing so I didn't feel I could bring separate food). There was a lot of grilled meat, but no veggies, no salad, no fruit. Ok, I lied. there was salad. potato salad. macaroni salad. 7 layer salad. and beans. and red beans and rice. I found the guacamole. but blew it with the red beans and rice. But at least I skipped the tortilla chips and beer. So I have started over. 

And I am proud of me. Work has been full of cookies, and donuts, and candy. and more candy. and more candy. And I have NOT SUCCUMBED! (even tho some of it was my favorite).

And as Scarlett said, tomorrow is another day.

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Wednesday I'm meeting friends at a restaurant and someone in the group has permission from the place to bring a birthday cake. It has a pub-style menu. Mostly sandwiches, fried things, and a few incredible salads, so if I can get a custom salad, broiled chicken on lettuce with dressing brought from home may be my best plan. Not looking forward to it. They have a couple of salads I love under ordinary circumstances, but it doesn't strike me as the kind of place that would have ghee or coconut oil to sauté my veg in upon request.

I've found I get zero resistance or pressure when I call it an 'elimination diet for purposes of determining food sensitivities' compared to if I try to explain Whole30 every time. Or if I just decline a lot of foods without explanation. Then they think I'm just "on a diet" and insist that 'a small piece of birthday cake' won't set me back. I don't need to justify every mouthful, ya know? Just let me not eat the cake in peace...

I'll defer to the moderators, but I read that occasional canola oil isn't a whole 30 killer, otherwise no one would be able to eat out in restaurants and many people have to travel/eat out. (but its not something you should keep at home). So you should still be able to get your veg sauteed.

I really like the "elimination diet to determine food sensitivies" wish I'd thought of that.

Just realized when you wrote this and when I'm responding. Hope your day went well.

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lujo238: I've been planning to incorporate the 10 days of Reintro into the 40 days of Lent. That way I might actually get through it -- so far in my previous two Whole30s I've never managed to do the Reintro properly. I think if I have it as a fairly rigid part of the programme as a whole I'd be more disciplined. In a way it's working: my mindset is still such that this Whole30 doesn't really finish until Easter Sunday, meaning I consider the Reintro as part of it -- I'm not counting down to the end of 30 days but to the end of 44 days. On the other hand I was quite intrigued to see what kind of changes I might see if I did longer than 30 days. My weight loss has never been stellar on the Whole30, and I always wondered whether it's because the weight loss mostly happens towards the end. So I haven't exactly decided yet. At the same time, it seems an appropriate ending to finish on Easter Sunday when I can eat some chocolate and hot cross buns (possibly gluten free??!). 

 

peahen65: One option on the sunflower seed butter front (or any nut or seed butter) of course is to make your own. This is what I do, mostly because it's so much cheaper. They seem to last a long time so if I make a batch it lives in a jar in the cupboard quite happily. You dump all the sunflower seeds in a food processor and leave it on. It takes a while, about 15-20 minutes for me in my Kenwood food processor. I do stop it now and then to scrape down and give it a cool down, just in case. How did you find the sunshine sauce? I am personally not a fan of sunflower seed butter I've decided, but I like cashews as a substitute for peanuts so might try that with the sunshine sauce. I always intend to make loads of sauces at the weekend but never quite manage it! Which is annoying because it would be so handy to just have some sauces to dump on meat when I've run out of time!

 

In other news, I finally invested in a light alarm clock -- meaning it wakes me up over half an hour by getting light gradually until my designated wake up time, rather like a sunrise. It's very nice and so far I've consistently woken up BEFORE the alarm sound goes off; if this continues I'll turn off the sound altogether. Neither of the two days have I had a full 8 hours sleep so I don't feel exactly qualified to judge whether it's helping, but I'd say the quality of my sleep at night has improved, and my mood upon waking up is VASTLY improved, so that's good. Will revisit in a week to see how I feel.

 

Officially two weeks in! If we're doing the Whole30 right up to the end of Lent then the 30 days that everyone else normally does starts now....seems like AGES!!

The light alarm clocks are the best! I wake up much more nicely to the gradual increase of light, than being blasted out of bed by the alarm (altho I admit, I have 3 alarms, one light, one birdsong (on the light alarm) and the backup on the Blackberry.)

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