On our way to Whole30 success!

[CaseyD]

Hi,

I'm back to do my 3rd Whole30/paleo challenge this year. I'm starting this log and inviting anyone to join me in this journey.

If you've lurked the logs in the last few months, you may remember seeing a big, fat log full of women rocking the Whole30 in June. I was among them and let me say, it was the BEST way to do a Whole30.

To introduce myself, I'm Casey and I've been exploring the primal lifestyle for the past year. To me, this journey literally starts with food but that is only a portion of the puzzle. I've changed the way I exercise, gotten even more sun than ever before, made play a priority and even changed some sleep habits. In my journey, I have learned that food is a crucial element and for me, that means striving for eating as cleanly as possible. Today, I can say that I eat primal (as in Whole30 with the addition of dark chocolate and yes, I'll admit it, Diet Coke). But, I know that I feel better when the Diet Coke and chocolate are off the table. So, I'm taking the next 30 days off and then I'm going to make a decision of what place those foods have in my life still.

My goals for this Whole30 are actually less about me and more about someone else. I'm already experiencing the awesome benefits of clean eating, and I just want to optimize this the best I can. But, my true goal of this Whole30 is to bring my 2 year old fully on board. So, she's doing this Whole30 with me!

The hardest part of this is going to be stopping the night and nap time milk bottles. At 11 months old, we started putting her down with milk bottles after our doctor told us to give up on the crying it out. It was the first thing that actually worked and we've just been hanging on to it. Nap time today was a little epic with water instead of milk, but she's asleep so I count this as my first win!

Long winded, but seriously, I hope others will join in on this log. Doing a Whole30 like this was tremendously beneficial for me. I think it is the reason I can say I'm primal now!

[mrstrudo]

Hi Casey! I'm back at it too this month after a disastrous July! Let's do it!!!

I'd love to share tips on getting the family on board too. Mr. Foodie has agreed to do it with me, but the trick now is getting the 2.5 year old off of his toast and goldfish addiction.

I'm glad I have a buddy again for August. It was really key to my success.. We got this!!

[CaseyD]

When I scrolled through the logs to check this one and saw you posted, I literally said allowed, "Yay!" Cool to do it with one of the old group again!

I don't think my husband will ever take to doing a Whole30, but at least he's trying to eat a lot healthier with me. The idea is to have my daughter do the Whole30 perfectly at home with us, but we don't think it's going to happen at the grandparent's. I'm noticing that my daughter is starting to prefer some crappier foods over the healthy foods she used to like so I feel like this has to happen now before it becomes a nightmare to untangle.

Right now, I'm just rolling with the Whole30 foods I know she will eat. Oh, and somehow I can get this girl to eat puree veggies mixed in ground beef. I make a big batch of two different veggie purees in ground beef (for variety) and cook them into little patties, then freeze a lot of them. Right now we have broccoli, cauliflower and carrot in one batch and zucchini, yellow squash and carrot in the other. Carrot is like the golden ticket. So long as they all have carrot, we're golden!

[EllieBellie]

Welcome back, Casey! I'm no longer logging because I'm soon to be on holiday and moving back across the Atlantic, but I'll miss the old crowd! Best of luck with your August Whole 30s! X

[CaseyD]

Oh, exciting Ellie! Have a safe move!

And your birthday was the same as mine, right? August 6? If I'm right, happy early birthday!

[CaseyD]

Ok, Day 1 complete!

Myself:

B: eggs, spinach and onion all cooked in coconut oil

L: gf beef patty, kale chips, cherry tomatoes and melon

D: Puerto Rican beef (out of Everyday Paleo)

S: small portion of buffalo chicken salad with paleo italian dressing

I'll go ahead and post what my little ate:

B: avocado and melon

L: beef patty with veggies mixed in, more melon and kale chips

S: a whole can of olives and more kale chips

D: another beef patty with veggies, more olives, sweet potato and raisins. Lots and lots of raisins. This is how I kept her entertained while I was making dinner. She sorted raisins between two cups and her mouth next to me while I cooked!

The best part is she took her nap and has now gone to bed with no milk bottles today!

Day 1 was a success! On to day 2...

[middleagedpaleo]

Hi CaseyD -- Thanks for starting this group log! I'm so glad you've done this that I'm breaking one of my Whole30 not-really-goal-but-additional-would-be-nice-ideas by staying on the computer after 10:00 p.m. so I can join in :-)

Yeah, sugar -- what a crazy-making substance. I got through Day One without a speck of added sugar, and I feel like Rocky at the top of the Philly library steps. Except, yikes, tomorrow the coach is going to want me to do it again! But I'm in this for the challenge, to prove to myself that I can do it, so onward and upward.

And my sympathies to you moms with young ones. My one and only is now 27 and he still has his youthful stringbean figure, but I am most definitely to blame for his ongoing bread mania. If only I'd known back then! Good for you for shaping your children's habits early on. Do you guys ever read the blog NomNomPaleo? She's got two little ones, and I know she's had posts about feeding kids while paleo. Plus she's got some great recipes and really good food photo porn to drool over, too.

So, finally, my report on Day One--- Note to self for future reference: Do not start next Whole30 with a hangover.

I went to a celebratory dinner with a friend last night (evening of Day Zero), and while I ate a delicious smoked salmon and asparagus salad I also had one too many glasses of wine along with it. I do find that since going primal two years ago, my alcohol tolerance has really diminished. What wouldn't have left a trace before now forcefully reminds me why even one glass of anything--no matter what the occasion--is no longer a good idea.

So, sufficiently shaken and stirred this morning, I had some very strong coffee and went for a four mile walk in the hills near our house. That cleared things up well enough that I could focus for the rest of the day. I cooked a very simple roast chicken dinner, stayed away from all sugar and kept myself busy paying bills this evening. I guess my whining about the electricity usage around here drowned out the nightly Call of the White Stuff :-) Now I'm going to do something about that bill--shut down computer, turn off lights and get some sleep!

Happy dreams, everyone -- looking forward to tomorrow's adventures!

[mrstrudo]

Day One in the books!

Breakfast was out at a diner with colleagues but I stayed (mostly, aside from the likely nitrates in the bacon) on plan, eggs, bacon, fruit, tomatoes.

Lunch was gyros meatballs, avocado, tomato, pepper, green onion salad with lemon juice and olive oil

dinner was more of lunch and butternut squash soup

snack after our 18k bike ride was a fried plantain. Mmm.

Unfortunately, it was a disaster with the kiddo. He refused to eat a single thing for dinner aside from one bite of celery. I caved at 8pm and gave him 1/4c of cheerios before bed. He's being quite difficult, but he's also being a potty training star, so I guess I can't have it all!

[mrstrudo]

ps Casey, did you know the original June Donna and Casey thread was mentioned in today's Whole30 Daily email?! Cool!

[jstyler3b]

Hi Casey. I am new here, but this is also my 3rd Whole30. I've been doing them continuously since the start of June, but took a week off at the end of each. Guess that makes it anything BUT continuous, huh... whatever. i think you get my point... this isn't my first rodeo.

Anyhow, I love the idea of getting my kids off milk, but hate the idea of struggling with them about it. What do you suppose is the lesser of two evils - cow's milk or cartoned coconut/almond milk? Both kids are also juice junkies and will drink juice at Grandma's. DS drinks kool-aid coolers (like capri sun) at lunch at school. Suggestions for transition beverages?

[CaseyD]

I saw that we were mentioned in the Whole30 daily thing today. Crazy! Who knew we'd be famous one day.

Welcome aboard everyone!

jstyler - We have never introduced juice and luckily that is the one thing grandparents seem to respect us on. I don't know why cookies are ok but juice isn't... Anyway, our biggest issue with milk is that my daughter drinks so much of it. She replaces meals with it because we just cave and let her have it. That and she depends on it to sleep. But, honestly, I'm not convinced to cut dairy out of her life permanently yet. I just want to be smarter about it.

I've heard of people doing the coconut milk or almond milk, but I really don't know what's better to do. Do your kids like decaf teas? I grew up adoring tea, and could drink it with or without sugar. Maybe if it is introduced without sugar. Or ha, even better, maybe if you keep it in the fridge and tell them they can't have it for long enough, they will NEED it. Then you can "give in" and maybe that would work. I don't know.

Yeah, I thought running my daughter today until she couldn't go anymore would be enough to get a nap without milk, but today she's really not happy about it. I knew we were going to face some fighting on this, but I'm determined to remain tough!

middleagedpaleo - Oh man, starting with a hangover? That's rough!

I hear you on the sugar cravings. I'm starting to get them today. Not really sugar craving, just majorly fantasizing about chocolate. I usually get it the worse on day 4, so hopefully this is not a sign that I will need to be locked in a closet on day 4!

[jstyler3b]

I think my daughter will be easier to break of the milk at bedtime thing that I think, but she also still uses a pacifier, so it might be a situation of swapping one evil for another. My son is 5 and still goes to bed with milk. Most nights he falls asleep on the couch long before bed so I can get him into bed without milk (he still needs a daily nap, but his summer daycare type program doesn't do naps, so he's always super tired when he gets home. Sometimes misses dinner too.

I think my daughter would like tea. she's tried my unsweetened lipton before. Son? not sure. He's at that picky stage where the only things he wants to eat are chicken nuggets or hotdogs or pizza. he's asked for pizza 3 times this week after already having pizza at school once this week. Kids. *smh*

Someone said to do canned coconut milk b/c it's got just enough sweetness in it and the thickness is there to give the illusion of a "treat". I'd like to see if they'd be interested in coconut milk b/c the book really scared me about the whole cow's milk is meant for baby cows thing, with the wrong hormones, etc, etc, etc. DH is interested is not drinking milk anymore too, but right now he's just cutting back on his consumption. Between the two kids and him, we go through 4 gallons of milk a week. NOT cheap!

[CaseyD]

Yeah, that's a lot of milk!

Have you tried making paleo versions of pizza/chicken nuggets? That's a big hit at our house. I make big batches at a time because that stuff can be extra work.

I'm fortunate that my daughter will drink water because she doesn't like much else besides milk. I tried coconut milk with her and she handed it right back like I was crazy! We basically switched milk for water in the bottle to put her down to sleep. I'm not brave enough to go all the way cold turkey yet! I imagine when we stop the bottle entirely, there is going to be a lot of crying for many days/weeks/hopefully not months.

Day 2 food log:

Me:

B: eggs, spinach and shallots in coconut oil

L: gf beef patty, sweet potato fries, cauliflower and tomatoes

D: salmon, a few leftover sweet potato fries, salad with paleo italian dressing.

the baby:

B: banana

L: canned tuna and melon

D: salmon, sweet potato fries, banana, avocado and some beef with veggies mixed in. Dinner was kind of a mess of leftovers tonight!

We went to our Science Center to run around and I felt like the awesome, hippy mom when we sat down in the food area to eat a can of tuna. All the other kids were sucking down sodas and eating popcorn and candy. Nope, my kid was happily eating a can of tuna.

[mrstrudo]

Milk is so expensive! It costs $5 for 4L of whole milk here! I'm lucky that my kiddo has never been one to need a bottle to fall asleep. I used to nurse him to sleep when he was really small, but even then he didn't fall asleep on the boob or anything.

Tonight he ACTUALLY ate his dinner! Miracle of all miracles. He even asked for more chicken! He ate a full chicken thigh, a bunch of blueberries and a bite of broccoli (covered in butter.... hey, small victories!). Better than the cheerios he ate yesterday.

Breakfast was some sliced turkey

lunch was egg salad, peppers, some blueberries

dinner was green curry chicken

snack was more green curry chicken. whoopsie. I think I consumed a whole can of coconut milk myself today!

I'm hoping the day 3/4 carb flu doesn't hit too hard. Also, my mom is visiting for a week beginning on the 6th. that's always a challenge to stay on plan with houseguests who love their junk. I'm going to get my mom to read It Starts With Food while she's here!

Good luck tomorrow, everyone!

[middleagedpaleo]

Day Two -- completed and survived. I worked out HARD for an hour this morning, and I don't know whether it was the exercise or the beginning of low carb flu, but this afternoon I was dead tired and now this evening have a headache. Hmmmm.... My previous private attempt at a Whole30 did not have the same effects, perhaps because then I had already been eating pretty darn clean beforehand. This time I was much more off base for about the last two weeks of July. Guess now I'm reaping what I had sown :-)

Breakfast was an egg and leftover chicken, lunch was more of that chicken and some roasted vegetables. I was going to squeeze the last bit of protein out of the chicken and make some sort of salad thing with it, but The Husband is not a big fan of leftovers or cold dinners on cool evenings (we live in SF Bay Area -- seems like it is always a cool evening). So I quick like a bunny made some hamburgers and plopped 'em on a salad (still managed to get in those greens!) with sweet potato on the side. Nothing really fabulous, but all Whole30 approved.

Oh, I did snack on a couple of Brazil nuts, a small fistful of macadamias, and a nectarine at some point in the afternoon. I'm not really sure about how many/how often to eat nuts. The advice out in the paleosphere seems to swing from "beware" to "good snack." Any thoughts, fellow bloggers?

And my advice to you guys with the little ones: just keep chipping away at the habit change. If you are patiently consistent in what you offer --even in the face of Tantrum City -- they do eventually come around. It seems absolutely awful when you're in the midst of such a battle with a committed iron-willed toddler, but they truly can adapt. I always kept having to remind myself "He WILL be walking across the stage at high school graduation without a bottle, a pacifier or a blankie..."

Now I'm getting off the computer to curl up with a good book before bed. Last night I had very vivid dreams about restaurants--not the food, the buildings! Maybe tonight I'll get to the menus :-)

[mrstrudo]

Everywhere I go in this office building today donuts are staring me in the face. come ON.

[CaseyD]

I always kept having to remind myself "He WILL be walking across the stage at high school graduation without a bottle, a pacifier or a blankie..."

Haha, our pediatrician told us something similar. He said he has yet to met an adult who still goes to bed with a bottle at night.

I'm thinking I'm not going to go through the carb flu at this point, but the sugar cravings are ridiculous. I guess I was really overdoing it with the chocolate and Diet Coke. I've also been feeling the laziness that comes with quitting caffeine the last couple days. I didn't work out yesterday and I may not doing anything more than a little commuting on the bike today. Ok, that's not really an option considering I'm training right now, but I'm feeling sooo lazy. And we've been stuck in 100+ degree temperatures for over a month now, which makes me feel extra lazy as well.

I woke up today in a terrible "kill all the things" type of mood. I'm glad I recognized it as sugar cravings because I had a moment where I was like, "screw this, why am I even doing this?!" Fortunately, at the time I was at the park with my daughter so there was no real temptation. Just my brain whining about not having sugar.

Ugh, dealing with the whole office crap food during sugar/carb withdrawals would suck! Hang in there!!

[middleagedpaleo]

Oh the office doughnuts.... when I started with my original primal blueprint life I made a deal with myself that if I was going to "go rogue" it was going to be only for the truly excellent stuff. Most of the things around my office = the Costco-type sludge, and I managed to put it in some corner of my brain as not-worth-the-effort-to-chew. Someone gave us some chocolates last month, and they were such poor quality that I actually threw them out. (Gasp--dumping chocolate? Who IS this person invading my brain???) Also, the plus of opting for only fabulous treats is that they're usually really expensive so can't be a frequent indulgence :-)

I'm still feeling rather slow today, but happily no headache. But I'm staying away from any intense exercise just in case. I was comforted to see that Melissa/theclothesmakethegirl was also in low and slow mode--heck, if she has the LC flu then I can too!

[mrstrudo]

I've had a munchy day, but I did manage to avoid the donuts. I'm too good for that crap.

Breakfast was some egg salad with peppers

lunch was sliced turkey, lara bar, cucumbers, macadamias and hazelnuts

dinner was carrots, homemade mayo dip and rotisserie chicken, unsweetened iced tea

snack was some salami i bought at a delicious hideously expensive yuppie deli

And some blueberries and coconut milk after our bike ride tonight.

Tomorrow we are going camping with Mr. Foodie's parents for the day. It will be a challenge to make good food choices, but I will arm us with success by packing a cooler full of deliciousness. So what if they are "offended" we don't want to eat their junk food And, the best part is this park is about an hour drive from us and it is very close to this amazing artisinal charcuterie. I plan on loading up a cooler full of delicious sausages and cured meats. All made from local beasts. SO GOOD.

[middleagedpaleo]

A question for you August 6 birthday girls -- how are you planning to celebrate? Do you foresee any potential stumbling blocks to Whole30 perfection?

I ask because it is also our wedding anniversary that day, and I'm trying to strategize ahead. I feel it may be challenging because we will most likely go out to dinner. I'm not too worried about the food part because we're lucky to have a wide variety of paleo-friendly restaurants around here. But the wine, oh dear, the wine . . . It has always been an integral part of our celebratory meals. We're not lushes (honest!) but I know the non-paleo husband will definitely want to partake and expect me to do same. Sure I can go the "If you love me, you'll understand" route, but I know he will still be hurt.

Mrstrudo, I salute you for not caring that much about offending the in-laws about their junk food, but this is my life's love I'm dealing with (34 years of marriage still has its challenges!). Any suggestions, folks? Hmmmm, as I've been writing this I realize I'm getting closer to answering my own question--I believe it goes something along the lines of "Suck it up, honey, and just say NO!" But any other creative ideas gratefully accepted :-)

[PaulaB]

Hi, everyone! Thanks for inviting me to join in, CaseyD. I've been posting on the Facebook Whole 30 and Paleo page, too, in case any of you want to join in over there.

middleagedpaleo, I think you have to discuss the wine issue ahead of time. First convince yourself (a la suck it up honey, as you said!) so that you can convince your husband that you have committed to this plan for 30 days, and that you love him and enjoy his company just as much drinking some sparkling water and sharing a lovely meal as you would by wrecking your commitment to taming your sugar demons and having to start your Whole 30 over again. Best of luck to you, and you can do this!

For all you moms, hang in there with those kiddos. You are the parent, and the best time to do this is now, while you are the one providing the food choices. Some day you won't be in the boat with me and middleagedpaleo, saying "If I'd only known back then." My daughter (almost 40, yikes, how did that happen?) is plagued with carb addiction, prediabetes, obesity, migraines, fibromyalgia, depression... you name it! She hates vegetables and doesn't really like much meat. And I bear a lot of the responsibility for that. Not all...I know she is responsible for her choices now, but "If I'd only known back then." Oh, geez, now I am sitting here weeping. I think that's the first time I've said all that "out loud." Do you follow PaleoParents? Everyday Paleo? Those are great resources for families.

And, mrstrudo, good for you for introducing your mom to ISWF. My son and daughter in law suggested I try paleo for 30 days after they had such great success with it. I wouldn't do the Whole 30 at first...just seemed too restrictive and I couldn't do without my stevia in my morning tea. And wouldn't give up chocolate for 30 days. But I thought I could handle no dairy, no legumes and no grains for 30 days if I could have my stevia, dark chocolate, and a few almond flour treats with a little honey or maple syrup. After the first 30 days I saw so many health issues resolve and lost so much weight that I decided to keep going. I lost 50 lbs in 9 months and have kept it off for nearly 2 years. Only now am I ready to "tackle" the Whole 30! It is time for me to get to work on the next 30 or 40 lbs I still need to lose!

[CaseyD]

Paula, the best you can do for your daughter now is to do a Whole30 and lead by example. My mom has all sorts of health issues, but has seen me doing this paleo thing for the last year. One of my brothers actually tried eating paleo recently (but he lives under her roof and she buys the groceries, so it didn't work out). I just gave her ISWF and she's actually reading it. She's even called me out of the blue saying how stunned she is with how much it resonates with her. I hope one day she'll give it a try, but all I can do is keep showing her how much I enjoy eating this way and how great it makes me feel.

You got into this in a way that felt the most doable for you, but you've been doing it and that's great! I imagine it's only going to get better from here for you.

middleagedpaleo - on the birthday celebrating question. Last night was the first of several birthday parties/dinner for me. I have several friends who have birthdays over the first few days of August, so we have this tradition of having a Leo get-together. Last night, we went to dinner at a place that has absolutely nothing Whole30, and there was some drinking. Plans weren't really put together until last minute, so we had to drop our daughter off at the grandparents, go home, I cooked some eggs and sweet potato real quick and ate it, and we were off. So at the restaurant, all I had was water and conversation and it didn't matter. I wasn't hungry and I wasn't missing the alcohol. I even declined the deserts that were being passed around.

Today, is birthday dinner round two and then there will be another one on Monday followed by a girl's night on Tuesday (with some ladies that will most certainly try to buy me drinks and chocolate). The dinners are at the in-laws and my parent's, and I already know I will be blowing out candles on cakes at both houses (isn't that a load of crap!). But, I'm just not going to indulge in the cake. As for Tuesday, I expect to get similar pressure about have a drink, and probably a little pouting but I don't want to have it so I'm not going to.

I honestly don't like drinking that much anyway, so it has to really be worth it for me, so I have lots of practice telling people no on that. I find that as long as I just make the decline simple and appear as happy as I can be about it, they tend to let it go easily. Plus, the more buzzed those drinking get around me, the more I just find myself mimicking their behavior and I think ultimately that's what they want. I think people get upset when you don't drink with them because of insecurities about their behavior while drinking. They want the company in that. So, maybe if you appear to give your husband the company in it, it will let him have his good time while letting you feel good. You just have to decide in advance that you're going to handle it a certain way and then stick to it. My husband seems to be more supportive if he sees no debate - I just say, "honey, I'm not eating this." And then he tries his best to respect it when he sees that I'm decided.

Ok, so Day 3 was a bit of a survival day for me so I didn't really keep track of everything we ate. We did stay perfectly Whole30, but there was a lot of random snacking because I just felt hungry all day. It was crazy. I think I ate 8 eggs total by the end of the day. I started to workout and just stopped because I felt so tired. But I slept like a champ last night and woke up to rain! Holy crap, we need this rain.

[middleagedpaleo]

PaulaB & CaseyD: Many thanks for the thoughtful suggestions about wine/husband/anniversary. You're absolutely right--one glass of wine is just not worth blowing the progress I've made thus far. I will have The Talk with my husband, and I strongly suspect that "owning it" directly with him will actually be a real positive. I'm starting to realize that the more public I am with the Whole30 (like joining this log), the easier it can get--I get others' support and am more honest with myself, too!

----PaulaB: wish I could be there to give you a hug about your daughter. I really feel you on this one... But, wow, you have done so much for yourself with your own paleo progress! I, too, originally thought I could never do a Whole30--way too scary, but here we are :-) And at this stage I think the only thing we can do is be true to ourselves and lead by example. And you are one fabulous example!

----CaseyD: wow, I'm so glad I don't have all the birthday challenges you'll be facing. Yikes! Hats off to you for forging ahead with a Whole30 in any case. I'll be cheering for you to get through the next few days!

[CaseyD]

What the heck, I'm on day 4 and my husband has eaten waffles and syrup TWICE now - and he keeps talking about it! Sometimes I wonder what's going on in his brain.

For the record, long ago I was known to go whole days eating nothing but pancakes and syrup. Ugh, that would totally devastate me these days.

[middleagedpaleo]

Sometimes I wonder what's going on in his brain.

CaseyD, you made me laugh -- I gotta' say, at 34 years and counting there are days when I feel like I'm STILL trying to figure out what makes my guy tick!

The Whole30 Daily was interesting today about cravings. I am surprised and delighted that (thus far!!!) I haven't had any strong cravings--not even for chocolate! They are usually a real trial for me just in everyday living, so I had expected some epic battles with self while on the Whole30. God knows, there's still a long ways to go, but so far so good.