Little g's W30 attempt

[littleg]

Hi!  I'm little g.  I've been primal for about 3 years now.  When I started I felt awesome but never saw any dramatic body changes like *everyone else* seems too  Anyway, 3 years later I'm up a few pounds and I'm not sure crossfit quads can explain why my pants are too tight anymore - so here I am.  I've got GI issues that I can't figure out.  Some fatigue and join pain and generally don't feel as good as I'd like to.  My father happened to call me today to tell me he has diabetes.  My husband wants to lose 20 lbs for his Spartan Beast race.  So the stars seemed to have aligned to tell me this is the time to give the Whole 30 a shot.  And hopefully have some company from hubs and dad!  I tried the W30 once before.  I made it to lunch.  

 

I have a few - well one really - major battle.  I'm a compulsive overeater.  Food restriction is a major trigger for me.  So this is going to be a fine line I'm going to try to walk.  And I'm not sure it will work.  But I'm going to try.  I read a book about ending binge eating in January.  I have binged once since then.  And it was on paleo food.  I feel like I've made some progress on this front and am willing to try W30 now.  

 

Anyway... today was day 1.  Not the greatest start - up at 3 AM to get hubs to the airport.  Emotional call from dad about diabetes.  Time change.  Missed crossfit.  BUT I feel good about my food so far

 

Not perfect today because of messed up morning time wise, but the food is ok I think.

 

9 - 10 AM - about 12 oz coffee black 

11 AM - 1 egg fried in a little lard (rendered at home from a formerly happy pig )

Noon - 3 mile run, 30 pistols, 30 push ups, once home - 3 sets of 1 clean @115lbs, 5 front squats

Nalgene with ACV

2:30 PM  - 2 small homemade sausages, 2 slices sweet potato cooked in sausage drippings, cooked apples with cinnamon and  coconut flakes and raisins, 1 liter plain seltzer with just enough OJ just enough for flavor

 

6:30 PM - Thai curry with left over roasted chicken.  Added peppers, carrots, snap peas to the curry + coconut milk.  Using the Aroy-D brand makes it so much richer and delicious.  Tossed salad with a clementine and a few sprinkled almonds and vinegar too before the curry.  

 

No dessert tonight!  

 

Anyway, that is it for now I guess  - I'm going to try posting in here to try to stay accountable and motivated!  

[Tom Denham]

Oh Little G, I don't think you are ready for a Whole30 yet. Not weighing your food is part of the program and there are no optional parts. We do invite you to follow our meal template as a portion guide, but it is based upon the size of your palm, your thumb, and the size of your plates - http://whole9life.com/book/ISWF-Meal-Planning-Template.pdf%C2'>

 

I don't know about the size of your palm, but I suspect you are not eating enough to satisfy Whole30 guidelines. Many people do not eat enough when they start a Whole30. Given your history with eating, it is very important that you eat plenty as you do a Whole30. It may not make sense yet, but failing to eat enough interferes with fat loss. 

[littleg]

Tom - thank you for the feedback.  I appreciate your concern but under eating is not a problem for me  I'm attempting this to continue working on my recovery.  If using a food scale to make sure I have a reasonable portion (not too big NOR too small) of something is a major problem I won't continue to post on here. 

[Tom Denham]

We offer you a way of knowing whether you are eating an appropriate amount of food - our meal template: http://whole9life.com/book/ISWF-Meal-Planning-Template.pdf

 

We strongly encourage people to work with these "measurements." Using a food scale, however, is seriously not an okay substitute during a Whole30.

[littleg]

Ok, food scale is on top of the fridge

 

Day 2

 

9 AM - 3 scrambled eggs, haricots verts with some onion - both cooked in a just enough lard to coat the pan + 1/2 of some mystery melon from TJ - it was a pretty small melon + black coffee

 

M2 - 2 sausage patties, raw snap peas + cherry tomatoes, cooked apples with cinnamon + coconut flakes and a few raisins sprinkled on

 

Pre-WOD - 1 hard boiled egg

4 PM WOD

Post-WOD - 1/2 can tuna, 1/2 small sweet potato

 

M3 - munched on a few carrots and small mug of a Well Fed soup I made (ginger zucchini soup - came out great!) while dinner cooked - 1/3 can coconut milk, handful of leftover shredded chicken and bag of stir fry veggies + water chestnuts over cauliflower rice with cilantro and lime juice.  Not as good as last night when we used fresh veggies... but still tasty

 

Posting this then going to take a bath.  No dessert night 2... crazy!  

 

 

Observations of things I'm curious about:

 

- knees and ankles hurt this morning walking down the stairs - no change there.  After one day

- Bowel schedule is a bit messed up.  No action there this AM.  BUT unlike normally when I don't go I do NOT feel the normal rock-in-my-abdomen feeling that I usually do.  

- I survived my first dessert free day in years and years last night.  

- I didn't weigh any food this morning.  And the bathroom scale is away too.  So far so good.  

- Crappy sleep.  I'm excited about doing the W30 though and that excitement about making good choices and following through makes me too excited to sleep well I think!  Tonight I've got a epsom salt bath on the agenda.

- I can't even fit all the dirty dishes in the sink!  I gotta do some multi-meal prep or I'm never going to make it...

[Tom Denham]

Epsom salt baths are awesome!

 

I did not start sleeping better when I did my first Whole30 until 10-14 days. 

[littleg]

Made a little progress on meal preps - made this.  Came out delicious.  Tomorrow I'm going to make some Asian meatballs based on a nomnompaleo recipe to go with it.  Hoping to get 3 meals out of that.  I've got HB eggs and 2 lbs of washed strawberries and some baked sweet potatoes.  I've still got 2-3 servings of roasted chicken left and a steak in the fridge for Thurs or Friday.  BUT I can't believe how much cooking this is taking.  I thought eating paleo was intensive - this is even worse (because I can't just eat cheese and fruit for dinner... ).  I hope to go into next weekend with a little more of a plan so I'm not stuck early in the week still perusing the web for recipes.  

 

Dad also made it through day 2.  Got more bad news from his doctors (poor guy...) but didn't just say f-it and eat his fear and disappointment away.  Good for him.  

[littleg]

Day 3:

 

 

 

7:45 AM M1 - HUNGRY! black coffee, 2 small pork sausages, snap peas, tomatoes and apple, coconut flakes + raisins

 

12:45 PM M2 - Hungry but also so bloated and gross feeling.  1 can tuna, 1 small sweet potato mashed together with a little of the leftover curry sauce from last night.  1 red pepper and small bowl of strawberries.  Also some kombucha - hoping it helps a little with the bloating.  

 

3:30 ish - 3 mile run, 30 pistols, 30 pushups, 50 burpees with 1 clean and 5 front squats @100lbs EMOM.  Took me 8 minutes.  Exactly.  Got the last burpee in just as the timer beeped.  Thank goodness - those squats were getting hard  I was going to skip a post workout meal because I was planning on just running.  I figured with the weights I should eat.  Had the other half of the sweet potato and tuna from yesterday.  Walked the dog for 40 minutes after.

 

6:30 - Munched on a few carrots while prepping dinner.  Which was:

-salad (in a serving bowl...)with greens and a few veggies with white balsamic and 2 clementines and a small sprinkle of sliced almonds

-zucchini soup with nomnom meatballs (holy tasty!)

- small sweet potato

- small avocado and half a red pepper

 

This dinner seems like a huge amount of food.  But I think it pretty much meets the requirements:

- protein (1/3 of the meatballs which was 1 lb of ground beef - so that is a good portion for me)

- lots of veggies - salad and the half pepper cut into strips + the soup which was really just zucchini and homemade chicken stock - no added fat besides the little to cook the onions/garlic

- little fruit - with a meal

- starch - I forget the rules on this... I need to go check the book

- added fat - small avocado + small sprinkle of almonds

Half of the avocado probably would have been enough but it was pretty small and I would rather eat it tonight and enjoy it than eat the brown half tomorrow.  

 

Overall I was really happy with how today went.  I was satisfied after each meal and never really felt hungry.  BUT I felt so bloated and gross and gassy all day.  And I can't imagine this 38 lb dinner is going to help... 

 

GI info:  Sorry to those (anyone...?) reading this.  GI problems are *the* major problem I'm dealing with health wise so I do want to document changes.  

 

Minimal bowel action this AM.  I was gassy and bloated in the morning and it never improved.  Sigh.  

[littleg]

Day 4:

 

M1 - 7:30 - Hungry.  

 

3 scrambled eggs, red pepper and some onion sauteed, tupperware of strawberries, 1 oz package of almonds

 

M2 - 1:30 - Hungry. But I got hungry around 11.  Not hungry enough to eat fish and broccoli though.  Probably bored and tired.  Boring morning.  Hunger went away and by 1:30 when I got home to eat I wasn't really even hungry anymore.  

 

big handful of shredded leftover roasted chicken, nomnompaleo's braised cabbage, 3 clementines

 

M3 - 6:30 Munchy.  

 

Munched on carrots and snap peas while cooking.  More munchy than hungry.  1/3 of the pot of ginger and zucchini soup (not tired of this yet!), 1/3 of the nomnom meatball recipe, big salad with cucumber, tomatoes, 1/2 red pepper, 2 clementines and 3 strawberries with small sprinkle of almonds and balsamic vinegar.  Sliced up the other half of the red pepper and a small avocado to go on the side.  Cup of peppermint tea when I was done.  When I was done eating this I actually had zero craving for dessert.  The first three nights I had to use my brain a bit to not eat dessert but tonight I really didn't want it.  And then a pig fly by the window.  So weird...

[littleg]

Darn weather people!  I hate when big snow storms don't pan out  We were 25 miles south of the snow line and thus ended up with <1" instead of the 15 inches they got further north.  So now I have to go to school and not skiing.  Sad face.  

 

Still sleeping poorly.  I'm still so excited about this darn W30 though that I go to bed excited that I ate well all day and excited about eating well the next day and can't friggin' sleep

 

Day 5: 

 

M1 - 11ish - way too late.  Brought a "mini" meal with me to my 3 hour shift at a local food coop and just never had a chance (or got hungry...) to eat.  By the time I got home and shoveled I didn't eat until 11.  Oh well.  Cooked in little lard: 3 scrambled eggs, sauteed onions and peppers - tried the frozen TJ blackened peppers and onions bag instead of chopping fresh - meh - fresh is better.  I'll try the regular frozen peppers with fresh onions too though.  I need to find some short cuts somewhere! 2 Strawberries and a grapefruit on the side.  

 

1ish - left over roast chicken, braised cabbage with a sprinkle of sliced almonds, strawberries

 

4 PM - WOD

5:45 - post WOD - 2 slices Applegate roastbeef and 1/2 small sweet potato

 

7 PM - last of the soup, meatballs, salad with an sweet potato and a bigger than normal handful of sliced almonds on the potato   Munched on some carrots and snap peas while I cooked.

[littleg]

Day 6:

 

9 AM - 3 eggs onions and peppers all scrambled in a little ghee

WO - 3x5 bench at 95, 3x5 press at 70, 5x3 clean and 100 (this was a PR for this rep scheme). 

2:30 - Post WO - 2 slices applegate roast beef and half small sweet potato

3:30 - cauli rice and spinach with some leftover curried coconut milk, 2 HB eggs and 2 slices of roast beef (out of protein...).  Grabbed an apple on the way out the door to walk to dog.  

4:30 or so - bowels revolted, the cramping was so bad I found myself literally moaning out loud without intending to (as the dog was the only one around for sympathy anyway ).  Barely made it home in time.  This has happened in a while.  Not sure what caused it.

7:00 1 bottle ginger kombucha.  totally soothing myself with food, but I figured soothing myself with a kombucha is kinda ok.

7:30 - was getting ready to eat my salad, cauli rice and the beef stew I made but really didn't have much of an appetite was was just not in the mood for meat and veggies.  Scrambled 3 eggs, ate 1/4 of Mel's spiced butternut squash recipe and 4 clementines.  I ate 8 eggs today.  8.5 counting the one in the squash.  Oops.  

 

Tossed 4 drumsticks in the oven and made another pot of that delicious ginger zucchini soup so hopefully I won't need 8 eggs again tomorrow!

 

So I made a major mistake today.  I tried on my "skinny" jeans.  I was convinced I was a little smaller.  My jeans were a bit loser as well as another pair of pants.  As I got dressed to go lift I though... I know I'm not supposed to do this... but I KNOW I'm going to be a little smaller and the positive feedback will be so great and motivating... so I tried them on.  And they were maybe even tighter than they had been.  So of course I dug out the bathroom scale from its hiding place and got on.  And was about where I was when I started.  Which makes sense for day 6.  And makes sense for someone eating paleo and thus without a lot of water weight to shed.  And makes sense for it being the middle of the afternoon.  But, wow, how derailing.  I called my father and he reminded me this about more than weight loss.  And I went and I lifted.  And still I feel bad.  

 

Over the last 5 days I have held my head higher (how cheesy) and been a nicer and better person because I felt better about me.  I was doing something for a good reason.  I was giving my body good, clean, real food.  I had made real progress.  The food scale has been stuck in the closet.  I have no idea how many calories I'm eating.  I.Have.Not.Eaten.Dessert.In.5.Days.  I haven't binged.  I haven't had an urge to binge.  I'm less bloated even though I'm eating vegetables (I had given them up due to the pain/gas they caused).  I'm making new delicious recipes.  I felt so friggin good.  I thought I looked better in the mirror.  And one pair of pants and one number on the stupid scale and this whole paragraph is meaningless.  

 

My CRP is 0.1, my HDL is 100+, TG<50, fasting glucose 80.  Metabolically I'm fine.  I'm not trying to prevent disease or get off a med.  My skin is good and I don't have allergies.  I sleep fine.  I see gains at crossfit.  I am doing this for vanity reasons completely.  And I do have weight to lose, not much, but it is there and its real.  My only reason for doing this was to answer the "what if" question - "what if I truly ate perfectly clean for 30 days - would that get me going on the weight loss track?".  Paleo didn't.  Low carb high fat didn't.  Ray Peat (high carb and dairy) didn't.  Quitting binge eating didn't.  NOTHING seems to work.  So I decided to try this.  

 

In the back of my head I didn't think I'd even make it this far.  I figured with my BED and food weighing/logging there was no way I could.  Even one of the moderators said so.  But I did make it to day 6.  And I felt awesome.  And watching myself go from "I feel awesome and I look good" in the morning to "I suck in the afternoon" really made me realize something.  This W30 shouldn't be about weight loss for me.  It should be about getting rid of the power of my skinny jeans and the scale to *completely* dictate how I feel about myself and thus how I project myself to the world.  When I looked in the mirror this morning I was kinda happy with what I saw.  I thought I even saw my obliques a bit.  This afternoon I looked in the mirror and saw a fat and lumpy person.  

 

And so I ate my compliant lunch and I logged this and I'll carry on.  I still don't know if I will make it to day 30 but I'm going to try.  

[GFChris]

One day at a time. You can do this!

Hide that scale. Listen to your dad.    You are more powerful and possess more value than any piece of clothing or any number.

 

Keep going to answer the "Whaf if" question: treat it like an experiment.

See also what *might* happen 25 days from now - check out this article 

[littleg]

Thanks for the response Chris  Day 6 is coming to a close.  Hopefully tomorrow will be better!

[littleg]

Day 7:

 

Had to work today 7 - 3:30.  

 

6 AM - black coffee/6:45 - 1/2 bottle kombucha on the way to work

M1 - 9:30 (later than I intended, I wasn't hungry and was busy) - 3 eggs and onions and peppers cooked in a little lard.  4 small clementines.

M2 - 1:30 - 1/3 batch of zucchini/ginger soup with the meat from 2 roasted drumsticks.  Small container of strawberries with spoonful of coconut milk "cream" (I didn't shake the can, so I scooped off the solid stuff and put that in a container in the fridge).  

 

4 PM - tiiiiired.  Turned into a boring afternoon at work so I'm not sure if this is boredom tired or real tired.  First time in 7 days I've really felt blah.

4:45 - really hungry.  ate 2 medium carrots, handful of grapes and small handful of chopped pecans (scavenging at the in-laws)

6:30 - whole grapefruit, salad with 1 clementine, 3 strawberries, 1 carrot, chopped cucumber and some balsamic vinegar, 1/3 beef stew recipe (recipe scaled to the 1.3 lb of meat I had), 1/4 spiced butternut squash recipe, cilantro/lim cauli rice

7:30 - sorta munchy.  I think I just let myself get too hungry.  Ended up adding about 1/4 coconut milk (thick kind) and 3/4 of a bag of TJ dried apple rings... oops.  Not at all binge-y feeling.  Just like I wanted a little more.  Oddly enough no "real" craving for chocolate.  Had a cup of magnesium too.  

 

Today was the first day I really felt hungry.  I think I may have eaten a little too light yesterday + maybe losing some food before it was digested from the crazy GI stuff.  I also felt bloated most of the day and kept burping.  No bowel action this AM - which made sense after yesterday's cleanse... 

 

Definitely felt mentally better today after yesterday but physically today was my worst day.  Joints and muscles felt tight.  Bloated.  Gassy.  Tired.  Blch.

[littleg]

Day 8

 

3 trips to the bathroom this morning... but the bloating is gone

 

8ish - black coffee while cooking

 

9:30 - M1 - 1/4 Mel's spiced squash recipe (with pumpkin pie spice), haricots verts with left over 1/2 shredded apple and small sprinkle of sliced almonds, 2 homemade breakfast sausages - came out good.  I combined a few recipes, I think the final was:

3/4 lb ground pork

Penzey's sage (tspish)

Fenugreek (tspish)

Fennel (some whole, some ground)

Diced onion, 1/2 shredded apple squeezed dry

Nutmeg (a little)

 

1:30 - PreWO - 1 HB egg

5 mile run, 15 min ab/yoga thing - felt like crap - knees hurt, hips hurt - i don't 'know the last time I felt that bad running 

3:30 - 2 slices Applegate roast beef, 1/2 small sweet potato

4:00 - 2 roasted drumsticks (1 with some skin, the dog got the skin from the other), small bowl of cherry tomatoes and snap peas and 2 carrots, kombucha to drink

7:00 - 1/3 beef stew, cauli rice, 1/4 Mel's spiced squash and some snap peas and 2 carrots.  Grapefruit and strawberries before it.  Definitely have my stomach bloat.  Maybe time to learn more about digestive enzymes?  

7:45 - few spoonfuls of thickened coconut milk

[littleg]

Forgot to post Day 9.  All compliant.  No major changes.  If I remember maybe I'll post it later.

 

Today:

 

7:30 - 2 HB eggs, 2 small pork sausages, haricots verts (just microwaved), Mel's squash (1/4 recipe) with a 2 chopped pecans.

11:30 - STARVING!  Applegate roast beef (most of the package - 6 oz or so), bowl of sliced carrots and snap peas, mustard, 1/2 avocado, 5 small clementines

 

Heading out to a 3 PM WOD.  No pre-food.  1/2 sweet potato and the rest of the roast beef after.

 

6:45 - M3 - munched on some carrots and tomatoes while cooking.  Fish tacos - 1 lb cod seasoned with lime juice, chipotle and ancho chile and some garlic powder and sort-of blacked , served with mango salso - 1 mango, 1 avocado, cherry tomatoes, cucumber and a yellow pepper with lime juice and a little jalapeno, S&P.  Served with cauli rice.  I made 3-4 lettuce wraps and then just had a few more pieces of the fish on the rice. Holy deliciousness.  Had a few strawberries with ~2 spoonfuls of coconut milk after dinner.  First time I've had "dessert" since doing this.  But I didn't eat it in front of the TV and it wasn't a "wind down" sort of thing.  I ate it and then finished cleaning up and prepping lunch for tomorrow.

 

Overall - no bathroom this AM.  Gassy and bloated all day.  Almost had some heartburn sort of feeling going on.  Its as though the days I don't go there is increased pressure in the system and it all just builds up.  None of it passes really - it all feels like stomach and esophageal discomfort.   

[littleg]

Day 11:

 

Menu: 

 

Changing up breakfast a little.  I'm not staying full for long so I'm going a little higher fat.  

 

7:30 - M1 - Bowl of blueberries and some strawberries with ~1/2 cup coconut milk and a sprinkle of almonds for crunch.  2 HB eggs with some roasted broccoli.

 

12ish - M2 - 1/3 beef stew (made it again - really good), 2 handfuls of snap peas, 1/4 Mel's squash, maybe some almonds

[DoctorMom]

loving your candor, esp about getting the scale out.  Thanks for sharing!

[littleg]

Thanks Delnora  I'm really doing this so I have a record of what I'm doing - I'm surprised to see someone else is reading it!

 

Day 11: pretty much as planned but not quite

 

M1 - HUNGRY.  Which is good I guess.  I never used to be hungry in the morning... 

7:30 - 1/2 c coconut milk (full fat, but mixed, not just the solidified portion of an unshaken can) over blueberries and the last of my strawberries with maybe a tbsp of slivered almonds for crunch.  This morning I suddenly had a feeling eggs were part of my GI issues so at 5:15 - trying to make it out the door by 6 AM! - I decided to make nomnompaleo's spicy tuna muffins.  They were delicious!  I didn't quite follow the recipe - I used 1 4oz can of TJ's albacore tuna, 1-2 tbsp diced onion, 1/2 small sweet potato (cooked), sprinkle of jalapeno (Penzey's) and 1/2 small egg (so maybe it isn't eggs... b/c I felt fine - or maybe its 3-4 eggs which is too much), S&P and just made 2 patties which I fried in a little coconut oil.  They were delicious!  Best breakfast I've had so far.  Now I need to go check how often you can safely have canned tuna... Or maybe make them with sardines or something.  

 

12:00 - not really hungry, but everyone else was eating and I wanted to have time to digest before xfit.  1/3 of the beef stew I made over a few handfuls of snap peas and 1/4 of Mel's squash that I've been eating every day  Forgot to bring any fruit or other fat but I didn't need it.

 

2:00 - sipping some kombucha as I type this.  No gas or bloating today.  I'm in so much of a better mood today.  Yesterday was definitely a "kill all the things" day.  I think part of it was definitely being so uncomfortable all day but I wonder if the days that I'm all bloated that those bacteria that are making all the bloat are also releasing substances which affect my mood... 

 

Plan for dinner is chili with the left over mango salsa and maybe some cauli rice or broccoli or something.  Don't know yet. <-- ate that.  That salsa is sooooo good.  3 strawberries after dinner.  Munched on some carrots and tomatoes and snap peas while cooking.  No GI discomfort at all today.  So nice.

[littleg]

Day 12:

 

7:30 - not hungry but figured I should eat.  1/4 Mel's squash, homemade thai-spiced meatballs and 1/2 c coconut milk over the squash.  

 

12 ish - 2 sardine cakes (same as yesterday but with sardines - definitely smell fishier - but still tasted really good - the lemon rind in them is the secret I think), left over mango salsa with a small avocado added (somehow all the avocado got picked out...), snap peas.

 

Didn't go xfit - ran with the dog instead.  2.5 miles and then 50 burpees with 1 clean and 5 front squats @100 lb EMOM.  Took me 6:58.  I think that was a minute faster than last week.  Ate 3 slices of roast beef and 1/2 sweet potato when I was done.  

 

So far (its 4:30) GI is fine today.  Went to the bathroom this morning though so I'm not sure if its the drastic decrease in eggs or the bathroom... I also (just to be the worst possible investigator) got some digestive enzymes today.  I took one with lunch and will take one with dinner.  If I continue to feel ok for a few days I'll do a big egg meal and see what happens.  Or make sure to NOT eat eggs after not going to the bathroom and see what happens.  But, gosh, its so nice to not feel all that discomfort

 

6 ish - Thai meatballs (1/3 recipe for 1 lb meat), ginger zucchini soup, salad with 2 clementines, carrots, red pepper, tomatoes, sprinkle of almonds and balsamic.  Munched on carrots and snap peas while prepping dinner (everything was already made besides the salad - so easy!).  I did have to make more mango salsa for lunch tomorrow.

 

7 ish - felt a little hungry.  Cut up a big handful of strawberries and finished off my can of coconut milk over them (probably 1/4 cup or so).  Eating these did not trigger a need for more.  Nor did it trigger a need to eat EVERYTHING.  Yeah

 

I can't believe it has been 12 days since I've had chocolate.  I don't even miss it.  However, I am a little nervous about reintroducing sugars when this is over - kind of a afraid of a bender... but I will cross that bridge when I get to it.  

[littleg]

Day 13:

 

M1 - 8ish - 3 scrambled eggs + steamed haricot verts, bowl of frozen blueberries a few almost rotten strawberries with 1/2 c coconut milk and a small sprinkle of almonds.  Took a digestive enzyme.  Felt not bloated but not great.  Maybe it is a "too many eggs" thing... 

 

M2 - 12ish - 1/3 leftover beef stew, steamed haricot verts (my go to veggie for not too gassy and no flavorful burping :/) with 1/4 Mel's squash with a slightly larger sprinkle of almonds.  Also had a kombucha before this and took a digestive enzyme.  Feeling a little hungry today... 

 

Plan for dinner is the other half of the sardine cake recipe and mango salsa.  Maybe some roasted broccoli on the side.

 

M3 - sort of as planned... totally forgot I told hubs I'd try a new recipe for chicken wings.  I am not a wing person.  I have never ordered them out.  I've never been to Hooters.  I don't care for hot sauce.  I followed the recipe exactly.  I thought they were amazing.  SOOOO crispy!  Yum yum yum.  Hubs - a wing person - thought they were "good for not deep fried/breaded wings".  I think he is wrong though  Maybe if you were expecting breaded... but if you were just expecting deep fried I can't imagine you could be disappointed in these.  I would definitely make these again after a day I earned them (like a big hike or something ).  We also made some oven baked sweet potato fries.  I had 4 of the 16 wings (and they are all gone... odd, for not being that good ) and a small handful of the fries and some roasted broccoli and cauliflower.  And then also had the sardine cakes and mango salsa...  I was definitely hungrier today.  I am sort of feeling mad for overeating at dinner but I also feel like if the hunger was real... I'd rather just feed it up front with real food than weight for the munchy attack that might come later.  I also took 2 digestive enzymes before dinner thinking that with the veggies in the salsa and the broccoli and cauliflower I might need some extra help.  

 

Onto the GI topic... great today.  I went twice - which is much better than once every 48-72 hours... No bloating.  Definitely felt a little "awareness" in the epigastric area after the eggs but it never got bad.  

 

Tomorrow hubs (who finished day 4!) and I have a big cooking day planned.  On tap for recipes:

- Mel's squash

- For hub's breakfast

- For me

- A version of these

- Some turkey sausage for breakfasts

- maybe another pot of that yummy stew I keep making!

 

On tap for "food prep to make our lives easier during the week"

- boiling eggs

- baking a TJs bag of small sweet potatoes for post WOD and stuff

- cubing and roasting sweet potatoes for hubs to put on his salad for lunch

- chopping up a bunch of raw veggies to have for salads (not sure how this is going to work... I'm not sure they'll keep very well.  I was looking for some "magical" tupperware for veggies today but they are all made in China and are plastic and I'm not crazy about that.  Hoping that my usual glass storage containers with a towel on the bottom will work!).  

- Ricing some cauliflower

[littleg]

Day 14 Recap

 

Holy food shopping, food prep day.  Couldn't get through it all yesterday.  But, now that its done we've got:

- baked sweet potatoes (whole), roasted cubed sweet potatoes, 4 more servings of this *amazing* recipe, a lb of beef Thai meatballs, 5 servings of frozen breakfast turkey sausage, sliced up veggies for salads and stuff, 3 serving of beef stew, 4 servings of cauli rice and 4 servings of Mel's velvety butternut squash.   I'm on the fence about making the ginger zucchini soup - but that is easy.  Hubs still needs to make his breakfast casserole tonight.  

 

Food yesterday...

8 AM WOD

9:30 - 2 slices roast beef, 1/2 sweet potato

11:00 - 1/3 beef stew (last of last week's), 1/4 Mel's squash, steamed haricot verts with some almonds

2 PM - sardine cakes made from 1 can sardines and .5 can of tuna, mango salsa with 1/2 avocado

7 PM - pastelon linked above with roasted broccoli and a cucumber, tomato and red pepper "salad" (we were out of lettuce but inundated with cucumbers since the Asian grocery store sells them for 30 cents each - for those long ones!).  I try not to think about why they are 1/5th the cost of everywhere else...

 

That pastelon was amazing but was a lot of prep.  I'm not sure I'd do that again in the midst of a W30 which is so food prep intensive already.  Its a good snowed-in/rainy day meal though.  

[littleg]

Day 15 - half way!

 

I was so not in the mood to make breakfast this morning.  I'm thinking eggs are giving me some of my GI symptoms and I didn't want to touch any of my food for the week (saving it for days when I'm out the door by 6:15 instead of a leisurely Sunday!)... and I just wasn't in the mood to cook anymore.  So I had no idea.  By the time 9:30 rolled around I had to eat and the only thing in the house that wasn't for the week... eggs.  Sigh.  Figured it could be another data point

 

10ish - 3 egg omelette with some clementine zest and the juice of a clementine with the pieces diced up in there with a drizzle of coconut milk on top.  Haricot verts with some almonds on the side.  It was actually really good, but about 2 hours later I was pretty rumbly.  I did take a digestive enzyme with it.

 

1:30 - on top of a ADK peak - 2 slices Applegate roast beef, 1 small sweet potato, 1/2 avocado.  I didn't actually look carefully at the package of roast beef I grabbed from the fridge so I didn't know how little was in there until I sat down to eat.  

 

By the time I got back to my car around 3:30 I was really hungry and not feeling great.  I only hiked 6.2 miles, but there was 2k elevation gain and the footing was slushy in places so it was a moderately strenuous 90 minutes up and a bit more fatiguing on the way down because of the snow softening even more.  I stopped at a very over priced fancy grocery store and got another package of Applegate RB a 1 lb bag of baby carrots and a kombucha and had that on the drive home.  

 

When I got home I had 2 tbsp of almond butter on some carrots.  This was the first time I've had a real "snack" on the W30 and that almond butter sure was tasty... I'm hoping to not make a habit of that!

 

Dinner was sardine cakes (1 can, 1/2 egg), guac made with 1/2 red pepper and whole avocado and 4 enormous strawberries for dessert.  

 

Today was the first day I had any real cravings.  They were pretty easily ignorable but I usually eat cheese when I hike and I would have really enjoyed some today - and it would have saved me about $10 on my post-hike snack if I could have just bought some Cabot cheddar to eat  I also am surprised how easy it was take 2 spoonfuls of almond butter and then not feel like I needed to eat the rest of the jar!  

 

Ended up with a snack around 8.  I was still hungry.  And high exercise days when I don't re-feed often lead to binges the next day... so I had 5 meatballs (small ones - 1 lb made 30) and ~1/3 c coconut milk.  I felt much better after.  I think that combo of protein and fat was good.  

[littleg]

Day 16

 

I noticed this morning as I got dressed that my pants are definitely a little looser.  I tried on a few pairs (but NOT those damn skinny jeans!) and some of the pants I'd been avoiding because they were a little snug definitely were wearable.  They were never shouldn't-wear-in-public tight but tight enough that they never loosened up over the day and made me self conscious.  Happy to see a little progress.  Especially because, besides the second job of cooking/grocery shopping, eating this way isn't "hard".  I like the food and feel better.  I feel like I could stick with this for a few months if it could help me drop these last friggin' 10 lbs.  

 

M1 - 8:30 - later than I meant, got busy... cooking.  Geez.

 

5 oz homemade turkey sausage (I know simply because I made a big batch and wanted to partition them into portions... I feel like every time I list a measurement on here I'll get scolded), 1/4 Mel's squash (still not tired of this!), haricot verts with 1/3 c coconut milk.  Tasty breakfast.  Took a digestive enzyme.  

 

M2 - noonish - 1/6 of pastelon and some sauteed zucchini and a tupperware of snap peas.  Some strawberries and some 1/3 c coconut milk.  

 

4 PM WOD - felt pretty good - RB and 1/2 sweet potato at 5:30 which turned into munching on carrots and tomatoes while dinner cooked

 

6:30 - 2 drumsticks (with no skin), small piece of the pastelon, roasted broccoli and some mango salsa.  Really good.  Though I seem to say that after every meal!

[littleg]

Day 17

 

Early day today.  

 

M1 Packed - 5 oz turkey sausage, 1/4 mel's squash, haricot verts and 1/3 c coconut milk (Dig Enz)

 

M2 Packed - 1/3 of beef stew recipe and 2 handfuls of snap peas and 1/2 small sweet potato.  Strawberries and 1/3 c coconut milk. (DE)

 

 

GI system seems to be picking up speed.  I read on the thyroid websites that a healthy GI system means you ideally should go 2-3 times a day, mostly after meals.  The last few days this has happened after lunch.  I'll eat around 12:30 or so and when I walk the dogs around 3 things get moving.  The last two days were noticeably better for me in terms of consistency.  Back to diarrhea this morning though.  I haven't taken my magnesium in a few days either.  Bloating and gas is definitely way down!

 

Today did not end so well  I have really been hungry today and yesterday.  I had a crappy morning today and instead of going for a walk with the dogs or the gym I just put on my sweats when I got home and got on the sofa.  And thought about being hungry at 3 PM.  So I had some carrots and 2 tbsp of almond butter.  While I cooked dinner I munched on some (not many) dried apples and polished off most of a 1 lb bag of carrots.  Had a good dinner - big hamburger with onions, some melon and broccoli and spinach.  I still felt munchy - but not really munchy - like I needed something satiating - so I had 1/2 coconut milk.  And then a f'it attitude sorta kicked in and I ended up eating too many handfuls of raisins, almonds, macadamia nuts and pecans.  So, nothing "off plan" but this was definitely a mini binge - eating in front of the cabinet.

 

I know rationalizing it doesn't help but I've just felt so hungry the last few days.  Too much free time and not enough mentally stimulating stuff going on in my life right now doesn't help.  Anyway, I stopped the eating (which is good - and was easier than normal - so even better) and will carry on tomorrow.  Even in the midst of it I didn't want off-plan food and I really wasn't eating *anything* just to stuff food in my mouth.  I really just wanted to feel satiated - not that sort of stuffed with water/veggies feeling to just find I'm hungry an hour later.  

 

So M3 ended up being - big handful of dried apple rings, 1 lb carrots, 5 oz burger with onions, cantaloupe, sauteed broccoli and spinach.  1/2 c coconut milk for "dessert".  Then a mini-binge of probably 1/2 c nuts and 1/2 c (maybe 3/4 c) raisins, if I had to guess.