Lenten Whole40 support thread

[mcjule]

TDC, I'm so sorry about your meal out!  As I'm sure you have seen I had a complete breakdown when I figured out a couple weeks in that I had had soy lecithin.  It's okay!  Many of us have been there!  I would also treat it as a dairy reintro and just start with the reintro.  Since you've done the Whole 30 many times before I doubt a few days at the end is going to make a huge difference.

[TDC]

amik4: I am not Christian; I don't think this was ever a prescriptive forum! It just seemed a sensible chunk of time for everyone with a decent treat to look forward to at the end. And for some it was their 'fast for Lent'

 

Anyway, thanks for all the support everyone, especially from Chris. I am going to rethink my Reintro and see how I get on.

 

T

[TessTurbo]

@amik4

 

Welcome! I don't observe Lent, either, but I joined this group because we all had the same start date. (I chose mine due to a stretch of time when I'd have the house all to myself.) Everyone here has been welcoming & supportive. A few have religious-oriented questions about accommodating specific observances & celebrations while doing Whole30, but on the whole, it's just a whole lot of people who started in early March. Feel free to stick around.

[Physibeth]

I'm also getting nervous about the scale.  When I started I wanted to lose 10 pounds (I'm not overweight, but my weight is higher than I would like).  I knew that probably wasn't going to happen during the Whole 30, but I was hoping to lose some weight.  I fear that I'm not going to have lost anything.  My stomach is noticeably flatter, but my clothes aren't fitting differently.  This all comes back to why I wish I could extend the Whole 30.  I guess I could take a couple weeks off and then go back on, but maybe that's too soon . . . I'm not sure.

 

I think it is normal to be nervous about the scale, but I want to encourage you to try and let go of the fear and the importance of that number especially if you are not overweight. The closer you are to an ideal weight the harder it is to get pounds off. What I would encourage you to do is make a list of everything you have gained/lost from this experience before you step on the scale on day 31 so that regardless of what it says you will know that the experience was worth it. The importance our society as a whole puts on such a variable number is daunting and often times not an accurate assessment of our overall health.

[craftygrrl]

Enjoyed a couple of "tiger blood" days this week, but today feeling kind of blah. 

 

Tonight I'm making chicken breasts ala the Well Fed method (brining first, then with a rub).  Tomorrow is corned beef with cabbage and carrots.  Last night I made homemade spaghetti sauce... husband and I ate it like chili from bowls  I made pasta for everyone else.  Years ago, my mother married an Italian and one of the few times I've seen him, he made "real" Italian red sauce (aka spaghetti sauce) and I wrote down what he did.  It's made with tons of veg and pork and you sauté the herbs, etc.  I made a modified version last night with my home canned tomatoes, etc., and used 1/2 grass fed ground beef, 1/2 ground pork for the meat.  It was YUMMY.  It had been a long time since I'd done the real thing.  The family loved it too.  I think I will try my best to make this a weekly cook up.  It makes a huge amount and is great for snacks for my perpetually hungry 15 year old son. 

 

Oh, and I had an epic mayo FAIL last night.  After posing the question on the food forum and getting good response and direction, I tried doubling the mayo recipe - total failure  I made a perfect single batch this morning, so from now on, it will be single batches, even if I have to do several in a row at one time.

 

Have a wonderful rest of the weekend, everybody!

I definitely love the Italian red sauce. You can make "noodles" out of zucchini and use those; either use a julienne tool or 

New and Essential Spiralizer Tri-Blade Spiral Vegetable Slicer

by ClearMax to make zucchini noodles.

is the cool toy I bought on Amazon (can't get the picture to load here, sorry).

I used my Vitamix to make mayonnaise, but had to follow their recipe (3 eggs & 1 3/4 c. oil, 1/4 c. lemon juice or vinegar, dry mustard & salt.) I had epic fails with the Wellfed recipe in the Vitamix, because I mixed it too long, for 3 eggs it only takes less than 60 seconds.  I used to have a blender and just wasn't thinking. I think I want to try the immersion blender method I've seen. Has anybody had any luck with that?

I have been really proud of myself. I have been really really stressed and all the food ads are calling me. didn't help that I had to go into work early & forgot my lunch at home. finding compliant food at work has been an issue (which is why I usually bring lunch). 

tomorrow is fish day. ugh. I normally like fish, but I think I like breaded fish more. or pickled herring, but I need bread or crackers to eat that....tired of cold tuna or smoked salmon for lunches. hope work has some grilled fish available. tired of salad too.

only 1 more week- Yeah!

 

[lujo238]

Good morning.  Well some of us have done 30 days and some are still wrapping it up.  Some of us are moving into the reintro stage and some are staying whole30 until Easter.  It's been interesting and I am looking forward to see what I can learn from reintro.  I am looking forward to hearing about others experiences as well. 

 

mcjule - I can't wait to hear how your reintro goes.  I too could use some more sleep.  I didn't lose much weight.  I lost some but I think only in the first week or so.  After that initial flush my body hasn't changed much and my pants which got looser in the beginning are not so loose anymore.  I actually think I may have re-gained a few inches if not pounds in the last two weeks.  I'm right with you on wishing for an extension but my timing is also no good this time around.  I will definitely do it again though and maybe next time I will keep going until I feel I got more out of it. 

 

TessTurbo - Don't give up on the rash.  I just read that skin conditions can take the longest to fully clear up.  It's funny you mention smells.  I hadn't really thought about it but I think your right.  I was just talking to my kids about how smelly their rooms are.  I wonder if they always smelled funny and I'm just noticing or my nose is now a super sniffer able to detect dirty socks under the bed from the hallway.  lol - I actually made my 12 year old put his shoes in the garage they stunk so bad.  Of course he is 12 which is about the age for super stinkiness to kick in.

 

peahen - I hope you are feeling better.  My day 29 was a bummer too.  I picked up a stomach bug somewhere and spent half the day on the toilet.  No fun at all.

 

TDC - I am sorry to hear about what happened to you at the restaurant.  I also think you should count that as your dairy reintro and do the rest of it as planned.  Not that it helps now but for next time talk to the server a bit about what you are looking for.  When I ate out last week I told her I needed no dairy, no soy, no grains, and no beans.  She advised me to do the steamed broccoli vs. the steamed mixed veges because they but garlic butter on the mixed veges but the broccoli was served all natural.  She made sure there was no butter used on the steak and told me there was cheese and croutons on the side salad (which I requested be left off) and was all around real helpful. 

 

craftygrrl - I've just been using my old fashioned blender to make mayo and it works well for me.  I do have a food processor on my wish list because I am really tired of chopping vegetables.  I've been bringing my own lunch too.  The food choices near my office are just no good.  There's a pizza place and a burger/bar food type place.  I've tried the salads from both and they just aren't very good.  Good luck finding grilled fish today.

 

I would appreciate any food processor recommendations anyone has.  They come in varying price points and while I don't mind spending good money on a quality product I also refuse to pay for a name.  If anyone has one they love please let me know, it will help me in my research.  I am suspicious of online reviews because I believe many of them come from the manufacturers themselves.

 

I hope you all have a great day.

[Angelica Douglas]

For those of that observe Lent, are doing this all the way till Easter? In reading the comments, it looks like some people are already introducing certain foods back into their diets. I was able to finish the 30 days with great success (weight loss, clear skin, better sleep) but now that the 30 days are over, I'm feeling antsy about what I 'should' do. Technically the 30 days are over BUT it's still Lenten season and the Catholic in me is silently judging me for wanting coffee with almond milk again (I still don't like black coffee). I will do my best to continue eating Whole30 style but it feels like these next few weeks may be harder than the first.

[mcjule]

I'm not going all the way until Easter.  I think some people are.  I realized that I needed to reintro before Easter and our family vacation or I was going to mess up the reintro.  I am starting reintro on Day 34 and just doing gluten grains and non-gluten grains.  I may also try a little bit of dairy but I'm lactose intolerant so I need to be super careful with that.  I'm waiting on the soy/legumes because I accidentally had soy lecithin in the first week or so of my Whole 30.  Even though I'm doing the reinto I am still keeping up the Lenten Whole 30 in the sense that I will only do two days of grain reintro pre-Easter and I'm not going to have any sweets.  

[Angelica Douglas]

Sooo ...was anyone else really surprised and/or disappointed to realize that Lent is actually 46 days and NOT 40??  I'm not sure how I went through 12 years of Catholic education and never realized that Sundays during Lent don't count and that the time between Ash Wednesday and Lent is always more than 40 days?  So ...I guess it's a Whole46 for me. 

 I thought the same thing! To hold myself accountable, I filled out a map and thought "wait a minute!" LOL

[TessTurbo]

I got on a scale today, day 31, and wasn't surprised: I'd lost 10.2 lbs, pretty much what it felt like based on my clothes. That wasn't expected, but it's a nice bonus, considering I had those 10 to spare.

Not starting reintro today, though. Tomorrow I'm going to a luncheon where I won't be able to order off a menu. It's billed as 'traditional Irish' at the U.S. studio of an artist/designer from Ireland. So I'll see what's there and probably choose the first food group to reintro based on what's served.

For the most part, I do plan to hang in with Whole30 ideals a while longer in general to get my face under control. It came back to a lesser degree the most recent time, but I'm willing to give it more time if it means the rash won't come back at all. The redness isn't the problem. It's that the rash stings and burns. (It does not itch.) Good luck exercising and sweating when your face already stings. If it takes a little longer, I've already done the hardest part, ya know?

[OrganicMom]

We are not weighing in until next Monday...starting reintro next Tuesday so we will be done on Pascha!  (Easter)

[peahen65]

I agree, Angelica. I am going all 46 days until Easter but now that the requisite 30 days are over, I'm feeling pretty blah about it.

Tess, I attended a ball with Irish food and ended up eating cabbage and carrots. I skipped the corned beef and found out later I could have had it. All the other foods were so wonderful looking and smelling (especially the appetizers) but definitely non-W30! And lots of wine and beer everywhere. Have fun! You may want to eat well before you go!

TDC, I am so sorry for your restaurant experience that messed you up! I agree with the others to just count it as dairy reintro and move on with reintro as planned. You did a great job! Keep us posted as you reintro other things.

Yay on the 10 lbs Tess! I doubt I've lost any too, lujo, but I believe I've leaned out a bit. Measuring and photos will be interesting. I plan that for Saturday before Easter.

Yes, anyone's welcome here! It's been awesome having a nice big group to talk with through this extended version of Whole30.

[peahen65]

Craftygirl, I think that's what ruined my double batch of mayo. It had become mayo and sounded right but I tried to extend the imulsifying double time to get the oil in slowly then it all just suddenly liquified.

I usually buy broccoli slaw to eat as "noodles" under red sauce but haven't in a while. I bought a spiralizer a week ago but it still sits in the shopping bag :-/ Part of me feeling blah is i feel all done with putting a lot of effort in cooking these last few days. Sigh.

Tired today as I was up all night last night with littlest child who was vomiting. I hope I don't catch the bug! I had a nap this afternoon so feel a tiny bit better.

[lizb]

So great to find this thread! I enjoyed reading all the posts and catching up where you all are at in this journey.  I just started W30 on Tuesday and decided that since the first part of my Lent was rather dry I would do W30 for the month of April. (even over Easter - nothing bad about ham and sweet potatoes for dinner feast!)  Will have to fill the kids Easter baskets with the kind of candy I don't like!  I have a bad head cold going today and not feeling much like eating.  Wish I could tear into some carbs.  Any recommendations on something "comforting" for the tummy?

[peahen65]

Here's what I'm going to make for my Easter post-Whole46 SWYPO treat!

 

http://nomnompaleo.com/post/44223814717/mexican-chocolate-pots-de-creme-dairy-free

[mcjule]

That looks yummy peahen65!  I'm not sure how much, in any, dessert I'll have on Easter because we'll be with relatives so everything there is likely to be full of dairy, wheat, and sugar that I'm not sure my system can handle!  But maybe I can bring my own chocolate or something!

 

So I had a really hard Friday.  Copied from my log:  I had the WORST day yesterday.  Fridays are always hard because during Lent I can't have meat, which significantly limits my protein options.  Then I realized that we only had one egg left so that made breakfast hard and that I had forgotten to thaw my fish for dinner.  So I got home from work at 6 pm absolutely starving and I had plenty of Whole 30-compliant leftovers but it all had meat.  My kids were snacking on crackers and popcorn and I can't tell you how close I came to giving in.  I mean . . . I was famished and out of options.  I ended up having an apple and some cashews (thought I had rid our house of nuts, but apparently not).  I'm sure I ate more than a small portion but I didn't eat the whole container or anything.  It was a rough night.  I really felt ready to throw in the towel.  I went to bed early and woke up feeling better today.  And I got eggs.

[peahen65]

Awe, mcjule! I hate days like that. Glad you got some eggs. I'm going to get more eggs and make some quiche muffins tomorrow night for next week's breakfasts.

Welcome lizb! Speaking of eggs, if I had a cold during Whole30, I think the most comforting thing for me would be homemade egg drop soup.

[mcjule]

I've been having a dozen eggs delivered each week with my CSA and I realized (duh!) that I eat more than 12 a week!  I need to up the eggs.  Side note, my local, pastured eggs are SO yellow it's crazy!  Makes me wonder about what I've been eating all these years!

 

I also just realized that adding two weeks for my legume intro puts me at Easter weekend so that's good -- my Whole 30 will truly be over by Easter.  

[lizb]

Thanks PeaHen65!  Egg Drop sounds perfect!  I'll probably have to make it though huh?  I'll see if Sprouts has any compliant versions.  That post-30 chocolate delight looks AWESOME!  Great find!  I'm sure I'll be obsessing over that for the next 3.5 weeks!  :-)  What does SWYPO stand for???

 

MCJULE - I thought nuts were okay on W30?

[mcjule]

lizb, nuts are absolutely fine.  I have found myself snacking on them too often (they are so tasty and so convenient) and I tend to overeat them so I've been trying to limit or eliminate them.  They are okay though!

[peahen65]

On the Whole30, you're not supposed to eat paleo-ified things like paleo muffins or pancakes or desserts, even though technically the ingredients are compliant.  They call these things SWYPO (sex with your pants on) foods.  SWYPO foods make you crave the real thing (like true sugary starchy pancakes, etc).  Here's a link to the Whole9 blog post that explains it better than I can....

 

http://whole9life.com/2011/10/sex-with-your-pants-on/

[peahen65]

Compliant egg drop soup - one thing to watch out for is make sure and read the labels on any store bought chicken broth.  Most have bad things in them.  In a post sometime last week here on the Lenten thread, someone found a compliant chicken broth in their regular grocery, amazingly.  Or just boil up some chicken and veg and make your own broth.

[TessTurbo]

Well, the reintro food of the day turned out to be wheat. The Irish stew contained flour, so I thought, okay, fine, I'll have bread and a shortbread cookie, too, along with fruit kebabs and veg sticks.

And the rash, which had been mild this morning, spread all over my chin & mouth. It's nowhere near as bad as it was a month ago, but it stings & burns and is slightly pink. My plan is to go back to Whole30 for a few days, then try dairy. Eventually, when my face is better, I'll try wheat again. I can't say for sure it's THAT, since the rash was technically present before I ate the bread. But the timing of the spread within an hour or two was suspicious.

[peahen65]

Wow, Tess!  That sure DOES sound suspicious.  I'll be curious to hear how later wheat affects it. 

[mcjule]

I'm on Day 30 but going to hold off on reintro until Day 34.  I'm doing wheat that day and then the following Monday non-gluten grains.  I'll do dairy in pieces since I have to try things individually and then eventually legumes after Easter.

 

I'm getting nervous about it.  I'm holding off until Friday because I am traveling for work on Thursday and have meetings and a reception and I don't want to be sick!  So I'm starting the day after, which is actually convenient because I'll still be away from home so I can have a bagel w/egg for breakfast and either a sandwich or a salad w/a side of bread for lunch.  I'm pretty certain gluten is going to hit me hard and not in a good way . . .