A Nut-free WholeMay (Bye-bye, Friday drinks)

[Monicameme]

May 1st begins my first foray into Whole30. With some adjustments. I can't do nuts. I love nuts, but they bloat me something terrible, so I've decided to leave them out for this month. My hope that is that after 30 days of a health 'reset' - removing inflammatory foods and much-loved Friday night drinks - my stomach will have healed enough to more easily digest nuts and seeds.

A love of nuts isn't the only reason I'm attempting this program. See, my family is cursed with cancer. I don't want it, no matter how far in my future it might be and, as they say, the best medicine is preventative: a healthy body.

I discovered the Paleo Lifestyle a few years back after researching ways to beat the family curse, and it's given me a new lease on life - no more afternoon slumps and an easy ability to evade circulating colds of flues. But I still have rather chronic stomach issues - bloating, pain and nausea after eating. And a bunch of food sensitivities - nuts and seeds being one.

It probably doesn't help that I like my Friday-nights drinks and the bad food choices that stem from that, or the fact my boyfriend is a foodie and great cook, or that I love grazing and snacks more than regular meals, and often grazing choices aren't as healthy as they could be.

This program is a chance to right those bad habits - or at least have a break from them - and to really give healthy eating a chance, without slip. And this log is my attempt to remain accountable.

May 1st: one month of solid, no excuse (bye-bye Friday night drinks), healthy eating. I'm hopeful for the results!

[veromama]

Hey there, I am also avoiding nuts and seeds, as my little boy is sensitive for some of them. I am on day 7 and it is doable so far success with your 30 days!

[Monicameme]

Thank you! I did eat half a jar of almond butter yesterday in preparation fr 30 days without, so I'm paying the sore-stomach price today on Day 1! Silly me.
Good luck with your successs also!

[Monicameme]

Day 1! I made the mistake of also trying to give up coffee (why not, I thought) and confused the ensuing headache with instant detox, which of course was silly. One sip of black coffee cured the headache! Huh. 

Anyway, prior to starting the Whole30 challenge, I was on a 10-day holiday. Knowing my challenge was beginning May 1st, I let myself eat far worse than I usually would and am still paying the bad-skin, sore-stomached price. So today, while I succeeded in eating according to the rules, I was still met with some stomach pains and ails. I'm hoping those will disappear after a few more days of Whole30 eating.

Today for breakfast I had left-over dinner - zucchini 'pasta' with vegetables and mackerel fillet bits.
Morning tea was a coconut milk chia cup
Lunch was my stock-standard tuna salad with oil and salt
Dinner was kangaroo steak with mushrooms and zucchini.

No dessert! I resisted the sweet-hit temptation.
I failed to incorporate any exercise into my day though. Something I need to work on.

After-work drinks consisted of two glasses of soda-water with fresh lemon in place of my usual vodka-sodawater. And a lot of hassling by work-mates who were happy to bet on my failure (jokingly, of course). But, so far so good...Day 1.

[Monicameme]

Day 2:

Breakfast - can of salmon in springwater
Lunch - my stock-standard tuna salad
Afternoon snack: celery stalks and canned sardines
Dinner- The Obstacle!

The obstacle was a pre-planned dinner date with a friend. We had a booking made pre-commitment to Whole30 at a Malaysian resturant. When seated, I scoured the menu and settled on what I thought were safe choices - a cucumber and egg salad, and beef mince and spinach soup.

I was so hungry that when the dishes arrived, I quickly ate half the salad before realising how sweet it tasted...sweet and sour dressing! Doh! That was sure to have sugar. And the soup was thickened with corn-flour. Eat out fail. So, I'll tack on an extra two days at the end of these 30 days, and I've at least realised early on where I'll hit trouble: choices when eating out! The sauses and dressings....hm....

Afterwards, I met friends for a night out and proudly stuck to soda waters. I still had such fun, regardless of not being able to have any alcohol. Danced the night away! Very proud of my resolve to continue my usual social life but without the alcohol - not letting healthy choices disrupt or prevent my usual life from unfolding. In doing this, a healthy lifestyle stops being a chore in place of 'normal' life but rather just one facet of it and thus becomes an easier habit to adopt - yay!

I also managed to fit in half-hour of exercise - an associated goal of mine.

My motivation (just to remind myself): to untangle bad habits from what my body actually needs in terms of food. To learn to stop grazing and treating myself but rather eat for fuel and health. To make mindul food choices.
 

[Tina R]

Congratulations! Have you downloaded the meal planning template? Your meals above seem to be lacking in vegetables. You may need to add some fat to your meals (maybe your tuna salad has mayo). You should eat 2-3 cups of veggies at every meal. Good Luck!

[mccormbc]

Hi Monica, new to Whole30 here (on Day 3) and just wanted to say thanks for the demonstration that I don't have to skip Friday night dancing, I never even thought of ordering soda water!

[Monicameme]

Good point, Tina! I do tend to fall into Atkins-style habit of favuring protein over veggies - I'll def up my vegetable count. And cheers for the idea re mayo on my salad! I'm going to investigate recipes now

Hi Mccormbc! Glad I could help! Soda water keeps a drink in your hand and tastes pretty same-same as voda/soda-waters, haha

[Monicameme]

Day 3:

I woke up terribly hungry (and grumpy) after a late night, and so had a dinner-like meal for breakfast: kangaroo steak seasoned with rock salt, and zucchini 'pasta' with vegetables seasoned with mixed herbs. I felt much better afterwards. I find I'm hungrier on the Whole30 diet - perhaps because I'm trying to stick with regular meals versus all the grazing and snacking I used to do.

Long black coffee (no added sugar or milk, of course)
Lunch - left-over zucchini 'pasta' with vegetables and tuna
Dinner - lamb roast, with leek (seasoned with paprika), and a green salad (baby kale, cucumber, oil and salt).

Garlic occasionally troubles my sensitive stomach - heart-burn effect - and having had a bit of it today, my stomach feels unhappy, so I'll give it a break for a little while, stick to more fodmap-complying foods.

Day 4:

Accidental fail. Again! Tack on another 4 days to this challenge :-S So many obstacles I hadn't anticipated:

I had breakfast at a friend's house and they made me scrambled eggs and cooked tomato. Seemed to comply with the challenge rules...until I realised they used margarine not oil or butter to cook the eggs! Doh! I realised this after eating the meal. I felt rather ill soon afterwards, but whether or not that was the margarine or simply psychological, who knows.

Lunch, also a sort-of fail:

I had lunch out, at a raw-food cafe, with some girlfriends. I had a green smoothie, a vegan and gluten free 'pizza' made from a macadamia nut base and topped with organic tomatoes, olives, pineapples, avocado and alfalfa sprouts. I had a chilled kombucha tea with lime and mint afterwards.

- I know smoothies aren't recommended in this challenge, even if the ingredients comply but while out it was an easy hit of green vegetables.
- Almost every option at the cafe had some sort of nut component, and macadamia nuts seem to aggravate me less than the rest so I chose the lesser of multiple yummy evils, breaking my own no-nut rule!
- Lack of protein was a concern, but I hadn't pre-planned my weekend enough to suggest an alternative venue.

Learning the hard way that preparation, thought, and planning really are integral to Whole30 success!

Dinner was left-over roast lamb and peas.

I also find myself very tired and ill-feeling today - part of the detox process, I assume? I'm going to stick it out, however, despite my accidental slips! Living and learning the hard way as Whoe30 now becomes Whole34.