W30 at 8750

[mokiki]

Really in the home stretch now... Day 27! 

Yesterday was much better than the day before, but still snuck in not one, but TWO date/almond butter snacks. The good news is that I only used the tiniest bit of almond butter, and I'm officially out of dates now, so no more! I really want to do away with treating food as a "treat," so that's going to be a major focus through the end of the W30, but at the same time I'm glad that I haven't felt incredibly deprived. My first Whole30 ended with me going totally off the rails and gaining all of the weight back (and losing all of the magic) within a matter of weeks, so I'm determined to not let that happen again. 

My plan is to follow the Slow Roll Reintroduction, so to stick with a mostly Whole30 life, while reintroducing food groups only when they come up. The last time it was all so purposeful ("I need to reintroduce pasta today!") and led to binges. So, I'll celebrate Day 31 with a glass of wine, but not reintroduce anything else until it's actually special and worth it.

Anyway, here's hoping the rain gives us a little break for this last weekend before school starts! I'd like to get outside and play, but it has just been so wet and cold. 

Day 26 Workout: 4 mile run, very short yoga sequence. I'm behind! 

Day 26 Win: Had an AWESOME dinner out last night - ribs and broccoli. With that and my club soda cocktails, I felt like I could be part of the party! 

[mokiki]

Day 28!!!!

It's Sunday, so here is my final goal check in:

Nutrition: Obviously follow the W30, cook at least 5 dinners at home/week, drink at least 3000mL of water/day - CHECK! 
Sleep: No screens 1 hour before bed and NO snoozing in the mornings - 28 days of no snooze! Yeah! 
Training: Follow my Nike+ 10k program, paddle at least once/week - No paddling yet this week, thanks to weather. I'll try today!
Stress Management: Do 30 minutes of yoga every day - Better this week!
Socialization: Get together with friends at least once/week - CHECK!
Natural Environment: Spend 30 minutes outdoors daily - CHECK!
Personal Growth: READ daily - CHECK!
Fun & Play: Less screen time overall - Could do better (darn rain).
Temperance: Stay focused throughout the day, and use NO social media, unless W30 related. - Could do better.

It's hard to believe I only have a few days left! Riding my own bike is a little intimidating, but I'm going to continue writing in a post-Whole30 log every day to keep my goals in check. Really looking forward to recording final results on Wednesday morning! My skin still isn't perfect, but better, so that's definitely motivation to keep going. 

Yesterday was another rainy Saturday in the house. Getting kind of tired of those! At least I made some good, substantial meals, including a big breakfast of chanterelles and eggs, and dinner was Fed & Fit's BBQ Bacon Onion Bombs. Look them up on her blog (fedandfit.com) if you want a hearty, delicious meal! 

Day 27 Workout: 8 mile run, yoga

Day 27 Win: Finished my run 5.5 minutes faster than the last time I ran 8 miles! Feeling strong! 

 

[littleg]

That recipe looks good   What did you use for BBQ sauce - did you make hers?  I've yet to find a good W30 BBQ sauce - though the molasses in hers does't bother me  - real blackstrap is so good for you that the 1/2 tsp you get per serving is fine with me.  Just wondering if it tasted good!

[mokiki]

20 hours ago, littleg said:

That recipe looks good   What did you use for BBQ sauce - did you make hers?  I've yet to find a good W30 BBQ sauce - though the molasses in hers does't bother me  - real blackstrap is so good for you that the 1/2 tsp you get per serving is fine with me.  Just wondering if it tasted good!

I didn't make her BBQ sauce, but I'll probably give it a try after the Whole30! This is the recipe I used: http://www.happywifestyle.com/blog/whole30-bbq-sauce. Being from the South, I love my BBQ sauce sweet, so it's hard for me to find one I like as well. This does the trick for me if you baste it on during the cooking process, letting it caramelize a little bit. I'm not a fan of it straight out of the jar, but it worked great on this recipe (and grilled chicken thighs as well)!

[mokiki]

Day 29! So close! 

Blahhh to the rain. Yesterday was another lazy day around the house. I'm getting cabin fever! We at least had enough sun to sit outside at brunch (I had a spinach bowl with poached egg, mushrooms and hollandaise - yum), but by the time we got home, it was back on the couch with a book and a blanket.

The kiddo's first day of school is today, so I made him his favorite meal last night, baked chicken wings! He likes BBQ sauce on his, and I gave in and gave him his favorite, sugary brand. He gobbled them up alongside his side salad and even a few roasted peppers and onions, so it wasn't a failure of a dinner! As much as I wish he could do a true Whole30, since he spends half his time eating junk at his mom's house, I just need to give in and let him have some treats here and there. Otherwise he would start to hate being at his dad's house - and I would be the "evil step mother!" So, he got regular BBQ sauce. I made his dad's wings with buffalo sauce, and I just ate mine plain. You don't miss a sauce when they have delicious, crispy skin! We had some watermelon for dessert, which was a huge hit.

This morning, I told him he could have whatever he wants for his back to school breakfast, and he chose pancakes. Grreeeaaat. 

Day 28 Workout: rest day, yoga

Day 28 Win: Eased up on the snacking big time! 

[littleg]

Oh, thanks - that one looks good.  I may try the molasses one - I always read about how good it is for you (and with the leg cramps I've been getting at night lately a little Mg can't hurt!).  I'll let you know if its worth trying post W30.

 

Here is a condiment trade: do you have a good pesto recipe?  I've been making this all summer.  Love it.

 

http://fedandfit.com/2013/05/23/roasted-garlic-paleo-pesto/

 

I use walnuts instead of pine nuts.  The roasted garlic really makes it better than others I've had.  I don't even miss the cheese!  But I'm sure some good raw pecorino post W30 can't hurt

[mokiki]

23 hours ago, littleg said:

Oh, thanks - that one looks good.  I may try the molasses one - I always read about how good it is for you (and with the leg cramps I've been getting at night lately a little Mg can't hurt!).  I'll let you know if its worth trying post W30.

 

Here is a condiment trade: do you have a good pesto recipe?  I've been making this all summer.  Love it.

 

http://fedandfit.com/2013/05/23/roasted-garlic-paleo-pesto/

 

I use walnuts instead of pine nuts.  The roasted garlic really makes it better than others I've had.  I don't even miss the cheese!  But I'm sure some good raw pecorino post W30 can't hurt

Thank you!! I was just pulling some chicken thighs out of the freezer with no plan for dinner tonight. I have all the ingredients for this (except pine nuts - I'll do your walnut swap) so I'll give it a shot! 

Also, I've been using Prid on my breakouts, and it really does work quickly. So thank you for that tip as well! I don't like to use typical acne treatments because they seem to do more harm than good - this is the perfect emergency spot treatment.

[mokiki]

LAST DAY!!! DAY 30! 

I'll take my "after" photos tomorrow and will post them here, along with my final results.

My skin is a struggle, again. It may have absolutely nothing to do with diet (in fact, it may be caused by a new hair product that got on my face), but at this point, I actually have more breakouts on my face than I started with. Ugh! It's still motivation to keep my diet clean post-W30 in an effort to keep trying to clear it up from the inside out.

Can't believe this is my last day! 

Day 29 Workout: Rest Day. 

Day 29 Win: Got a new "belly friendly" tea to have after each meal, and that has helped so much with the habit of eating something sweet after dinner!

[mokiki]

Well, I did it! Day 31! 

Let's go over some results!

Scale/Measurements:

• Weight: 111 lbs to 103 lbs
• Waist: 24.75" to 23.5"
• Hips: 33" to 31"
• Chest: 32" to 29.75"
• Thigh: 19.5" to 18.75"
• Bicep: 9.75" to 9.25"

After taking my final photos, I realized that although my skin hasn't cleared completely, it HAS improved significantly, and my "bad" breakouts are much smaller than they would have been before. For some reason I'm not able to attach my photos, but I'll try to in a later post 

I've changed quite a few habits in the last 30 days! I'm learning to understand the difference between hunger and cravings, cooking with new ingredients, treating food as fuel rather than as entertainment, therapy, or a reward, watching less tv, reading more, running faster and stronger, sleeping better, and feeling SO much more confident in my own skin. 

Now for the hard part: riding my own bike! I'm not interested in going back to my old ways and losing all the magic I have now, so I'm really going to focus on living a mostly-W30 lifestyle from here on out. I'm going to continue to journal daily to keep my goals in mind, and will be so much more deliberate with my food choices than I was before. 

I bought a great bottle of red wine yesterday, and will celebrate with a glass tonight. Aside from that, I'm going to keep everything Whole30 until something comes up that makes me REALLY want to try to reintroduce a food group. 

If you'd like to continue following along with me, I'll be taking this log to the Post-Whole30 forum, with "Post W30 at 8750!" 

Here we go!