Bucket - the first 1st Whole 30

[Bucket]

Thank you, Renee. Week 3 seems to be going better.

I am attending a charity ball for work tomorrow night, and I was just informed that the chef will make a special menu for me. I really did not need for anyone to go to such trouble, but I was certainly clear about my dietary restrictions. Perhaps publicly proclaiming those for work people will be helpful in the long run of sticking to Whole 30. Originally, I was a bit worried about eating at the ball, but I told people that I knew going in that it was going to be a problem and I would be fine if there was a big salad. Now, at least in theory, my qualms about attending have been quieted. And all will be better once my dress is back from the dry cleaner!

[Bucket]

Day 16

So the stew I made last night did not turn out so great. I was going for making a type of breakfast stew, so I used stew meat, carrots, onion, apples, raisins and seasoned with cinnamon, cumin, paprika, and allspice. It is not terrible, but it is not a winner. Still, it will do for now.

9:30am - 3/4 c breakfast stew. Small carrot salad with taco meat and dressing to make up for the mediocre breakfast stew.

2:30pm - Taco Salad: taco salad meat, field greens, avocado dressing. 2 kiwi

8:15pm - Orange, 1 tbsp almond butter

[Bucket]

Day 17

Much of yesterday was a blur of running around, eating well and light in the morning and during the day in preparation for the ball. It was a good time. The specially prepared meal for me worked out fairly well. I am not 100% sure it was all compliant, but it was pretty darn close. The soda water I was given tasted of sprite, so after the one sip I put it down as I am sure it had too much sugar and other crap in it.

I started tracking things in paleotrack. Yes, I know that I am not suppose to do that, but I like that it gives me some idea of what I am eating and the macro nutrient breakdown. I am eating a lot of new things, so I really have no idea what they work out to be.

[Bucket]

Day 18

Hello, STARVING! I must not have eaten too much over the past two days - and I know I did not eat all that much at the ball - because I woke up hungry as all get out today.

9am - 3 eggs whipped with coconut creme, scrambled with 1 apple and cinnamon. I really wanted this when I woke up as it is the perfect sweet/savory dish. It is heavy, yet light, but filling.

11am - 1 Apple and cashews and almonds

1pm - 1 cup of shredded cabbage, 1/4 c stew meat, and moroccan dipping sauce over it all.

7pm - 2 cups shredded cabbage, 1 avocado, moroccan dipping sauce, and 1/4 c stew meat. Orange and coconut creme

It was a totally craptastic day in Singapore. I was happy to finally get home, have dinner and a bit of a treat, and relax. Somedays I get really frustrated with expat life.

[Bucket]

Day 19

Today I am feeling like "How is this only day 19??!!?!?" I am getting fairly tired of various foods. I guess I am feeling like the things I have been making lately aren't great or are just slightly off or could be better in some way. I love raw veggies, so those have been nice. As of last night there are no more nuts or nut butters in the house. The nutbutter thing, however, may be short lived as I suspect that my husband is bringing some back from the US - almond butter in Singapore costs about $20 for the cheapest stuff you can find, which is at least a pretty good brand.

8:30am - spinach, taco meat, avocado dressing, cherry tomatoes

10:30 - apple and coconut creme

12:30 - WF Best Chicken breast, shredded cabbage, moroccan dipping sauce. Again, I made the chicken too spicy - I was blowing my runny nose all throughout lunch.

7pm - the final installment of the meh stew meat with sweet potatoes, a bit of squash, and the last of the cherry tomatoes.

I am finding myself really just turned off by food right now. My sweet-tooth is back with avengeance that or looking at recipes today and stumbling across everything that is so totally SWYPO triggered it. I really was not up for dinner. I was craving something comforting. Getting squash here is pricy and hard to find, but I managed to get a hold of a Japanese Green Pumpkin - not sure what it really is and cooked it up. While cooking it I also did up some sweet potatoes with coconut milk. Those with the remainder of the meh stew meet made a good and comforting dinner. I am glad to be done with the stew meat, however.

I am trying to figure out what to cook for next week. Maybe a curry dish will do the trick to make me feel like I am having something a bit more comforting. I have chicken done up right now, but need to figure out what else to make/eat. Honestly nothing is really wowing me, which is a bit sad and frustrating.

Right now when I think of Whole 30 ending the only things I really have a great desire to try/add back in are cheese, so I can have cheese on my eggs and dark chocolate. I have two bars in the house that I have been saving since before the Whole 30 started.

[Renee Kosowan]

The curry dish is a great idea. I try and make something hearty when I am seeking comfort foods.

I hope your days get better. I know it will be worth it in the long run. Hang in there.

[Bucket]

I suck at recording things on weekends. Especially this past weekend as my husband returned from his trip back to the US. I am so happy that is home. He is awesome and fun and I missed staying up talking with him in bed each night. He returned with some fantastic stuff, but one item caused some SEVERE digestive distress.

In this house we aren't big drinkers. We don't object to alcohol, but we just don't often have it or have it around. I think the last time we may have had something to drink was at least three months ago. So because we don't really drink, and so it was not like I was cutting it out, it totally slipped my mind that alcohol is one of the forbidden things on Whole30. It only occurred to me about 20 minutes after we shared a bit of whiskey when we were talking about how my Whole30 was going. Well, let me say my stomach totally noticed that I had had something on the no-no list as it strongly objected. I now know where the additional bathrooms are in some nearby places. Oh, it was violent.

The violent stomach reaction continued throughout the day any time I had vegetables or fruit. Fat and Protein were fine, but the moment veggies and fruit entered my stomach it was all over. Lesson learned.

I contemplated whether or not I should start over again. But I am comfortable with what occurred. It was not a slip up, it was not a cheat. I am also comfortable with what happened because I know that this will not be my only Whole30. I will take about a week or two off after this one is done to see how reintroducing a few foods go, but I intend on starting a second Whole 30 or just going paleo.

But given how my stomach responded, I do wonder what this means for alcohol consumption in the future. Will my body always respond in this manner? Why did it respond so violently?

[Bucket]

Day 22

8:30am - green curry beef and green beans; apple and almond butter

12:30 - green curry beef, green beans, and shredded carrot salad

7:00 - WF Comfort Noodles; apple and almond butter.

[Bucket]

Day 23

8:30am - squash, green curry beef

11:30 - I have a 1pm meeting so lunch is going to have to be split around the meeting plus transit time. 3 Moroccan Meatballs, 5 macadamia nuts, some veggie I don't recall, and a bit of nut butter as I was making it in the food processor. I had the food processor out for the meatball recipe so I figured I would give cashew butter a whirl

2:30 - 1 Moroccan meatball, zucchini, nutbutter and some bits of the coconut butter as I was in the process of making it. Again, the food processor was out so I figured I would try some recipes.

[Bucket]

Day 25

Posting has been falling off a bit as tomorrow is my first official day of work. My visa approval came through and I will be official!

I am excited and nervous.

Eating has been fine. Still sticking to the Whole 30 plan and will be sticking to it once I am in the office. I got up and cooked this morning so that I will have food for lunch tomorrow and a ready breakfast in the morning before I head in.

My tummy has been a bit off today, but I am wondering if that has to due with the fact that most of my veggies this week have been cooked rather than raw. I picked up more salad greens as the garden production has seemed to slow this week. Day 30 will be here soon, but I may be too wrapped up in work to notice.

[Derval]

Congrats & have a great first day.

[Bucket]

Day 30

Life has gotten super busy now that work has started. I am grateful that I have a job in my field in a foreign country, but it is certainly taking some getting used to. Doing the Whole30 has been fantastic. These last few days with the job have made the Whole30 fly by. I spent a lot of time cooking over the weekend to ensure that I would have food for the week. I certainly have enough Chili and Chicken to make it past Day 30 of the Whole30!!!

I have not stepped on a scale or taken my measurements yet. The stress of starting my job means that my period is arriving early and so is the minor bloat. Never my favorite. I don't have plans to deviate from the Whole30 until later on in the week - a pizza date with my husband as we try to find decent pizza in Singapore, but perhaps a piece of dark chocolate will be in order.

This has been a great month of change and I am looking forward to trying out my next Whole30 soon and figuring out more about myself and my eating patterns now that my days are more structured.

Thank you for all of the support.