On our way to Whole30 success!

[CaseyD]

Sounds like you made a very informed decision on how to handle that treat. I had a similar situation around my birthday with a fruit/nut thing that was made to be a desert. After all the trouble that was put into my birthday dinner to make it Whole30, I felt it was only the polite thing to do to have a couple bites of this thing. But I did check in with myself to make sure I wasn't doing it because I wanted desert. I know that paleo deserts can rekindle sugar cravings for me.

So I ate some of it, fed the rest to my willing daughter, and ended up being ok especially because I made the decision in advance that this wasn't going to spiral into cheating a bunch of times with paleo deserts. And it didn't, but I don't foresee another scenario this month that would put me in that position with a paleo desert luckily.

I'm going to check out this Eat Different site. I like tracking what I eat so I can get a feel of what's working in the way of training, but I hate measuring to death and calorie counting.

[jrustdc]

Part of my thinking it was ok was that it did sound an awful lot like a Larabar. Larabars don't do much for me, I have to say. I had one at the spa the other day because I was starving and it was really fuel, nothing else. But in a pinch, they are handy.

Today I went to a different farmers market than my usual. It was nice - there's more space at this one so the displays are more artful. And there are some non food vendors (natural body products, etc.). I got a ton of stuff and have to get up and get to prepping in a few minutes. We go back to work on Monday and I am not looking forward to being back in the frenzied juggle of the school year again, especially with all of the time needed for Paleo food. But I am going to make it work.

B: fried eggs with sauteed veg, coffee with coconut cream, a few raspberries

L: chicken and apple sausage over sauteed spinach, tomatoes and avocado

S: watermelon

D: tuna on a salad of asparagus, avocado and tomato with vinaigrette

[Barbara Durel]

Well if it's truly your life's love, I say have one celebratory drink & toast and celebrate your wonderful anniversary. Those of us like myself who have no love in their life realize that it is as important a part to having a healthy life as the food you eat. So unless you feel it will completely derail your Whole 30 I say make the compromise. Just my 2 cents,

[Barbara Durel]

Well if it's truly your life's love, I say have one celebratory drink & toast and celebrate your wonderful anniversary. Those of us like myself who have no love in their life realize that it is as important a part to having a healthy life as the food you eat. So unless you feel it will completely derail your Whole 30 I say make the compromise. Just my 2 cents,

[mrstrudo]

I'm back from the dead!

Those truffles sound divine! I've got a soft spot for Larabars too, so I try to avoid them.

Oh, and more pig! ah ha ha ha. It's true! My line is... why would I waste precious room in my stomach with bread when I could have more bacon. Come on!

Is eating sugar really so much different from eating fruit? (cravings wise, not nutritionally - obviously!) I know I've cheated, because I ate some summer sausage that was cured with sugar. It doesn't give me cravings, and I don't make it a regular choice. I know it is not Whole30 approved, but I conciously ate it anyway. I don't plan on having it again, either.

I'm also a bit peeved because Mr. Foodie decided Whole30 sucked and quit. A beer here, a taste of cheese there, until it was "forget this! I've cheated so much what's the point?" and he ordered eggs benedict when we were out for breakfast. Lame. I was sad. I'm on my own, but not surprised.

But... I bought a Vitamix!!! Yah! There was a roadshow at my local Costco so I picked it up. So excited.

[middleagedpaleo]

Thanks, everyone, for all the thoughtful comments on my "truffle transgression" :-) Makes me feel better. I don't think I'll be tempted to have another one in the remaining days of the Whole30, and, besides, that cafe is out of my usual foraging range. Problem solved.

A vitamix??? I'm sooooo jealous! A good choice consolation prize (vs. a box of donuts...) for Mr. Foodie's jumping ship. I sympathize on living with someone who's not on board. My husband is definitely not interested in primal/paleo, although accepts that since I'm cooking our dinners he gets what he gets then. But it's like fingernails on a blackboard for me to see him make other less-than-stellar food choices. I know it's absolutely pointless to try to nag him into paleo submission, but still...it's an added stressor to this process (thank you again, today's Whole30 Daily!)

Tonight we have guests for dinner. I'm making a big buffet of all paleo tapas-like dishes I know will be so yummy that folks won't even notice the lack of grain-based substances. There will be wine, however, so I am going to have to steel myself against partaking. Sigh. But--can do. As Melissa & Dallas say, this is NOT hard in the real sense of the word. So I'm just going to get over myself and "cave-girl up."

[CaseyD]

Oh, rub the bacon in my face, why don't ya. I went out early for groceries and picked up pastured bacon... got home and realized I got the cured in sugar one and not the Whole30 one. So, I cooked this beautiful bacon for my husband and daughter, and had none. Sad.

But, during breakfast, my husband suddenly said, "you should stay Whole30 forever." Then he proceeded to tell me how dramatically happier and less stressed I seem when I eat this clean versus any addition of sugar. I notice it too, but it was nice to hear him go on and on about how much better things are. You have to realize, I did come to paleo when I was suffering from postpartum depression, so I was in pretty bad shape when I initially went paleo. It's been a gradual improvement going on just eating mostly paleo, but I do know when I eat perfect for any length of time, it is like night and day for me. But that means I have to eat perfect, 100 percent of the time. It's been challenging to accept that.

Oh, in other news, my favorite farmer's market and the place I buy almost all my groceries, is going out of business. I felt so lost this morning, having to find my food at other locations because they are cleared out of almost everything. They kept this quiet until the very end. I hate seeing farmer's markets lose to big box grocery chains.

Day 12 is going great! Glad to see everyone checking in and doing great as well.

[Donna]

okay jumping in tomorrow.....can't begin to tell you how bad I've been for 2 weeks straight. Off the wagon completely. Starting clean tomorrow and hoping to get support here!

[jrustdc]

Welcome back, Donna! I hope you enjoyed it while you went off-road!

Oh, Casey, losing my farmers market would be a tragedy. I feel for you!

Another social situation today - I'm curious how others would have handled it. We had lunch at my father's house today. I brought Applegate sausages and veggies for the grill. What I didn't know is that my stepmom's mother was making fried plantains as a special dish because she knows I love them. I am sure they were fried in vegetable oil or a seed oil. But she is a sweet, elderly lady and she had gone to this effort for me. There's also a culture and language barrier (she's Puerto Rican). I could not turn them down, and I did not. What would you have done?

B - eggs with avocado and salsa, coffee with coconut cream, a few raspberries

L - Applegate chicken and apple sausage, grilled vegetables, tostones (plantains)

D - Halibut baked in foil with spinach, leeks, tomatoes, and squash

On a good note, I did tons of food prep this weekend. We have lots of vegetables ready to go (either already cooked or chopped/otherwise prepped). I have a plan for each night's dinner. I hope it will work out. We were able to have a family dinner tonight where we all sat together and the kids even tasted the fish and vegetables we were having (under duress). But I am so scared of how being back at work is going to kick our butts. Trying to get to bed by 9:30 tonight.

[PaulaB]

Hi again, everyone. I've been away for the weekend & survived an almost 3 day roadtrip. I took some food with me and I think I made good food choices when we ate out. I'm sure some of the restaurants cooked in ucky oil, but the actual food choices were legit and I tried to avoid anything that might have been cooked in oil. I didn't hit any snack bars, fast food, or ice cream! And passed up tortilla chips, sopaipillas and the offer of a strawberry milkshake with no problems. Yay. Plus it was our anniversary!

jrust, plantains are okay, aren't they? It would have just been the small amount of oil that the plantains were fried in, and maybe she used olive oil! In your situation, I think you did the right thing, what with the language barrier and cultural issues. I know we are learning to "just say no" but I would not have wanted to show disrespect or cause hurt feelings.

I also think the truffle thing was an okay choice, middleagedpaleo, since you ate it mindfully and didn't eat three (or a dozen) of them to make up for not getting to have a hot fudge sundae or something.

But now I have to stop talking about food and go to bed! Had a nap today, so I'm not sleepy tonight, but will get back on schedule tomorrow.

You're a teacher, jrust? One of my daughters is, too, and is heading back to work tomorrow. Good luck with staying on track! Sounds like you've gotten lots of your meals prepped ahead of time, so that will help.

[CaseyD]

Hi everyone! Hope everyone is starting to feel some Whole30 magic (or in the case of Donna, about to feel some)!

I'm jealous of all you road-tripping, cruise-taking, vacationers. We're dying to get on a river and camp, but it has just been so hot. That may be changing, though. It's actually starting to cool off.

Day 13 for me and I can't believe how great I'm feeling this time around. Maybe it's because I'm doing it exactly as written without even tiny deviations. Or maybe it's because I've just been eating paleo long enough that I'm finally really reaping the benefits. I feel calmer than I can remember feeling, I feel strong and I just feel like I'm coming out of a shell in general.

I woke up early this morning and decided that I was going to get my butt to a stroller fitness class. My daughter is a total wreck at these things. She won't ride in the stroller and tries to run off constantly. She did just that, but we made it through and I managed to get a descent workout in. I'm going to bring the suffering on this afternoon again by working on my friend's community garden with her. I imagine she will be uncooperative and try to get on the street the whole time, but I feel invincible today so we're going to do it.

Got a crockpot of beef coconut curry stew cooking for dinner. I haven't made that in a while. Oh, and if any of you guys have the Well Fed cookbook, try the Bora Bora fireballs. We made those this weekend and they have made for a great breakfast food. They are very yummy!

[jrustdc]

Tostones are fried in a fair amount of oil, and my guts have responded. I'm surprised that I am having such a strong reaction to vegetable/seed oil. Other than that, I'm doing ok. I wish I weren't back at work (I'm a school librarian) because this summer vacation was really great in many ways, but I liked biking to work today. I snacked more because I didn't want to run out of energy biking, but I will try to back off the snacking later in the week. Tomorrow I have to drive to a meeting on the opposite side of the county.

Day 9

B: eggs, avo, salsa, coffee with coco cream, a few raspberries

S: raspberries and macadamia nuts

L: tuna with mayo, plus carrots, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes and grapes

S: apple with sunbutter

D: shrimp cocktail, sweet potato fries, green salad

I'm glad it's going so well for everyone!

[middleagedpaleo]

I'm very sorry to be the one to break the flow of all the positive success thus far, but I so lost my inner Whole30 cavegirl at last night's dinner party. I've spent all day today trying to figure out how it happened, and I am still not quite sure. But I suspect that when ol' Cavegirl left the building, her evil twin, Good Girl Genes, showed up. Sixty years of indoctrination regarding being polite to others before allllll else are hard to kick...

My guests knew I was doing a Spanish tapas-themed meal, and one brought special Spanish wine, another imported cheese and artisan bread, and another a unique Spanish sweet made from quince. I simply hadn't prepared myself for any of that, and found myself buckling under and politely trying the gifts that were offered. Unfortunately, it was the wine that got opened first, and with it went all my resolve and forethought. In an instant! That's what really surprises me--it was way too easy to slip. And here I thought I had this Whole30 thing down...

So, lessons learned:

-- "Just say no" is a lot harder than it sounds. Particularly when taken unawares and unprepared.

-- Today's Whole9 post about practicing skills is also very, very applicable to gaining expertise in the realm of food choices.

-- No more entertaining while on a Whole30!

-- As much as my grandmother is turning in her grave at the notion of "wasting" food, it's ultimately much better to just throw out non-Whole30 leftovers than to continue hating myself.

Now, with a clean refrigerator and a really good yoga session under my belt, I'm back to Day One. Sigh. I confess that one of the reasons I kept putting off doing a Whole30 is my strong distaste for anything dogmatic whether it's food, religion, politics, how to prune roses or, well, you name it. That's how I came up with the word "rigitarian." But I was actually enjoying meeting the challenge of the Whole30, so although a part of me is saying "So what, a little bread, some wine and sugar, no big deal," my developing cavegirl is saying "Let's conquer that beast!" I'm gonna' listen to her.

[PaulaB]

Oh, darn it, middle! I agree, social situations are one of the hardest things to deal with and try to do a Whole30. And I know what you mean about chafing against the rigid rules, too. I ate pretty clean paleo for a year before I was ready to buckle down and do the Whole30 and learn the lessons that need to be learned.

I made it through my SIL's birthday dinner out with just a minor unintentional slip. We went to a rib place and I ordered my ribs with no sauce, but there were really no suitable sides except for applesauce, which the waitress said she thought was unsweetened. Nope! I took a small bite and it was definitely sweetened, so I didn't eat it. I even skipped my share of the birthday brownie sundae they brought out! Yay!

On another celebratory note--and I hope this is not way too much information--I have had fibrous breasts for a long time. It is nearly impossible to do a self exam because everything just feels lumpy and bumpy throughout the entire breast, and I have to have special diagnostic x-rays when I get my mammogram. (Not sure what is different about them, but I just do what they tell me) I do the self exam occasionally anyway just to poke around and see if I notice anything. Anyway, I decided to do a self exam this morning for some reason. and lo and behold! It felt like any other part of me! I swear all the little nodule-y feeling lumpiness is gone! I might as well have been examining my calf muscles or something. I don't know when this happened for sure, but I am amazed and can't wait till doctor visit time to see what he says!

[jrustdc]

Wow, PaulaB, that cystic breast thing is really cool!

MAP, big hugs. Unanticipated temptations are so hard. Live and learn, eh?

Day 10:

B: eggs/avo/salsa, coffee with coco cream, a few raspberries (what can I say, I am a creature of habit!)

L: Chicken fajita salad

S: A little of the paleo granola. Technically W30 ok but borders on a cheat for me. But it's convenient when I am starving!

D: AWESOME slow cooker butter chicken with cauliflower "rice"

I ordered Practical Paleo and it arrived Monday night. It's an amazing book. It's also huge - I brought it with me today and it was a pain to lug around!

[CaseyD]

middleagedpaleo - In my June Whole30, I had something throw me totally off course, but I dusted off and got right back on board. That's what you have to do - just let go that you are unhappy with your choice and move forward. Try not to guilt yourself too much over it! Keep on trucking!!

My husband thinks eating 100% paleo is extreme, but when you break it down, is it? Is it really extreme to eat totally healthy? The longer I'm on this Whole30, the more I'm realizing that the only reason to see this way of eating is because of cravings. When you crave foods that you are denying yourself, then it's easy to call this extreme. But as you break the cravings/addictions, and it gets easier, it just feels like eating healthy - nothing more. Ha, I'm working on my argument here.

Paula - wow! I have to admit I've had a similar thing happen, but I already knew which foods were causing this phenomenon in me. That's great news.

Jen - oh, now I know what I'm going to get with my birthday money! I totally forgot I wanted to get Practical Paleo. I think I'm also going to get a food chopper thing to help speed up prep.

Day 15, and I'm sucking at logging here. But, I've been totally compliant. My daughter, holy crap, not so much. We have successfully quit milk at nap/bed times, though, so that is major progress. It's just so challenging because I'm not the only person who feeds her. So I feed her healthy and everyone else seems to give her crap. I wish we could all get on board together because I'm experiencing the nightmare of "terrible twos" so bad. I'm kind of desperate to see if eating perfectly clean improves that, as I've heard it has for other kids. All this crying!!

[jrustdc]

Casey, my dad just showed me this chopper. It's pretty cool and a really good price considering everything it does. It won't make zucchini ribbons or noodles, I don't think, but any ordinarly chopping task will be covered, and then some.

[middleagedpaleo]

Many thanks to all for the "dust off, then back on that horse" advice--it's just what I've been doing, and I feel way better. And I must say the experience has definitely taught me something about forgiveness. In the past whenever I would go off whatever wacko diet I happened to be on at the moment, I would immediately swan dive into deep pools of remorse. Which also just happened to be filled with lots of chips, chocolate, and ice cream... So, big surprise, I'd give up.

But this time around, even though I am eating in a way that in the non-paleo world is considered--at best--restrictive hell, it is so much easier and enjoyable to follow, and the post-slip guilt was only momentary. There's no way I'm giving up on this! I've actually got to work more on my social situation gumption than on hunger, cravings, etc :-)

PaulaB -- amazing & wonderful news about the breast nodules! I'm still happily stunned by the many accounts out there about all the health issues that have improved for people who go primal/paleo. And equally stunned by how conventional medicine does not yet truly acknowledge the connection between our current conventional diet and bad health. But, hopefully, the more of us ordinary people who adopt this way of life (vs. wacko wingnut types) the less "extreme" it will be considered -- maybe even Mr. CaseyD will change his mind :-)

[mrstrudo]

Yay to getting back on the horse! I've stumbled a bit too. We ordered pizza from our favourite place and I managed to have NONE. I did have some wings, which were not breaded but pretty sure they were dusted in flour or cornstarch or something. Sigh. I also managed to purchase and NOT eat cookies and bread from the best bakery ever. It wasn't that tough, really. I've been still fighting off the snack demon at night with nut butter, fruit, leftovers.

That is crazy about your breasts, Paula. I am still waiting for that feeling of euphoria. My digestion is quite iffy lately.

And like many of you all, I am also flying solo because the husband and kiddo quit. Meh.

Still hanging in there!! No quitting!!

[jrustdc]

Way to resist, mrstrudo! And MAP, awesome at letting go and not beating up on yourself.

I'm really enjoying biking to work, and glad I am getting so much exercise. I'm a little nervous about how much more to eat because with biking 12+ miles a day I am hungrier. I am trying to listen to and trust my body but it's an uphill battle after decades of not having faith in my body.

This round of W30 is going a little easier because I have more go-to meals and a couple of cookbooks, so the effort needed to get meals on the table seems a bit more manageable. But ask me again after a couple more weeks back at work and my story might be different!

Day 11

B - eggs, grilled vegetables, and probably avo (I forget), coffee with coco cream

S - hard boiled egg

L - leftover butter chicken and cauliflower rice

S - paleo granola (no guilt! I was hungry, and there was no craving about it)

D - big salad with all kinds of leftover veg & 2 hard boiled eggs

I had 5 eggs yesterday! Whodathunk?!?

Day 12

B - eggs, avo, salsa, coffee with coco cream, grapes

S - egg muffin, macadamias

L - leftover butter chicken and cauli rice

S - larabar, then paleo granola after I rode home

D - seared ahi tuna, roasted beet, grilled vegetables

[CaseyD]

Just checking in, though my brain is too scrambled to say much. My daughter has been crying almost non-stop since 4 p.m. and now it is 8. So this is terrible twos? This is horrible.

Day 16 and I think I ate some chocolate chili today, eggs, sweet potato, and beef taco soup loaded with veggies. I know I haven't had enough veggies the last few days and I think it is because I'm just trying to survive the amount of crying that's been going on lately. Here's a face that represents how I feel: Why can't Whole30 make me deaf? That would be so helpful right now!

I got Practical Paleo today. It's huge! It looks great so I'm excited to dig in and start cooking some of this stuff.

[middleagedpaleo]

Happy Day 17 to all. Or, in my case, Day 3... Again, I've got to say how easy it's been to "Go back to jail, do not pass go, do not collect $200," mainly because it does not feel like jail! I actually feel free-er than ever before because this time I managed to leave behind the guilt shackles.

It's been quite an amazing thing to experience--dare I say, almost a gift--that I wouldn't have discovered if I hadn't had that slip-up. Just goes to show old dogs CAN learn new tricks

We are contemplating a "field trip" to some wineries today. Yeah, yeah, could be a disaster zone, but I'm not too worried about this for three reasons: 1) it will be extremely hot and I've never liked to drink anything other than water in the heat. 2) since my husband is a retired landscape designer, the focus is going to be on the lovely gardens outside, not the wines inside. 3) These days, most wineries charge for tasting -- I have no interest in paying money to go off Whole30!

[jrustdc]

I hope the winery was fun and not frustrating!

Generally things are going well except that I got confused and thought I was on Day 15 today. It's Day 13, so not too far off, but halfway seemed so monumental! And so it will be on Sunday.

B: 3 eggs (the biking is making me hungrier!), grilled portobello, avocado, coffee with coco cream

S: macadamias and dried cranberries (convenient if not ideal)

L: Leftover ahi tuna, hardboiled egg, grilled veggies

S: larabar

D: leftover butter chicken and cauliflower. still hungry a bit later, so some paleo granola

Now, bed.

[PaulaB]

My daughter agreed to read Practical Paleo! Then called to ask if I had anything written for kids, and by golly, I sure do! Eat Like a Dinosaur and Paleo Pals. My granddaughter has lots of allergies and she licks her lips constantly and has chapped places all around her mouth, which I'm pretty sure is a form of eczema, and I've been trying to get my daughter to at least get her off wheat...so maybe she is thinking about it!

I made a big batch of chicken salad today and changed up my usual recipe a bit to add some more veggies. I use chicken breasts, celery, green onions, red grapes, walnuts or pecans, mayo with some added olive oil, pepper, paprika and a teeny bit of dry mustard. Today I also added some chopped sugar snap peas, half an avocado and a couple of handfuls of brocco-slaw. (Pre-shredded broccoli & cauliflower stems, red cabbage & carrots) It really hit the spot! And I'm having the leftovers for breakfast.

I had my first food dream night before last...I drank a Dr. Pepper from the old-style glass bottle. Chugged the whole thing! And woke up thinking I'd have to restart. Boy was I glad when I realized it was only a dream. I can't remember the last time I had a Dr. Pepper, lol!

Let us know how the winery/garden tour went, MAP! Have a good day tomorrow! I'm headed to bed...up late because hubby had a race tonight. (He races a stock car...I'm the pit crew, lol!) Didn't sleep well last night because our doggone smoke alarms kept chirping. He changed batteries even though the batteries still tested good, and finally had to unplug two of them completely. I posted on Facebook that I wish someone would explain the boy who cried wolf to my smoke alarms! G'nite all. zzzzzz

[CaseyD]

Hi all!

Paula - I've had a few food dreams this Whole30, too, and they are always over really lame stuff. If I'm going to eat garbage in my dreams, couldn't it at least be something worthwhile? No, I dream that I ate compliant and then find out later there was MSG in the seasoning used. Really? Couldn't I have had a brownie ice cream sundae instead?!?!

Day 18 and I'm finally sleeping like a champ. I read that too much salt can interfere with sleep and I wouldn't be surprised if I eat too much salt, so I cut it down significantly. The last two nights I've slept great. Hopefully, that continues!

Last night was my first dining out experience this Whole30. That's huge considering my husband and I were notorious for eating out multiple times a week (or day). That's slowed down over the past few months, but pretty much has stopped since the beginning of this Whole30. I had steak (no rub, no butter or oil) and steamed broccoli. It sounds dry, but it was very good. I think the waitress felt sorry for me after I told her I have food allergies/sensitivities and then ordered this.

Well, it is gorgeous outside this weekend, so I think the plan is to do everything outdoors today and tomorrow. I have to go back to shopping at my old farmer's market, which is an open-air market, so that's good it is nice outside. The downfall is that it becomes a tourist attraction in this weather, so I'm not looking forward to the crowds. I'm going to hit that today and maybe save prep for tomorrow, since I usually prep on Sundays.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!!