August 1st Group Thread

[Kazley]

Hi everyone,

My name is Karen. I live on the Central Coast of New South Wales, Australia with my husband,Peter, and 2 sons, Nick,18,and Lochie,15. I am studying my Master of Marine Science and Peter makes sails for hang gliders.

Peter and I are starting our Whole30 on August 2 and really looking forward to it. I am writing this whilst sipping my black coffee :-)

We did our first Whole30 in February last year and felt fabulous after making it through. We are both Paleo/Primal at other times, but we do enjoy our wine and cheese, and weight has crept back on and we want to recapture that feeling we had last year.

I suffered from ulcerative colitis for 16 years before becoming so ill, I had to have my colon removed in 2008. Boy, if I knew then what I know now, thanks to Pete who I married only 4 years ago, I certainly would have tried this first. After all my operations, to build an internal pouch and reverse my stoma etc etc, I was still getting sick because of the small part of my colon they had to leave in, and it was just as debilitating as when I had UC! So I met my husband and he introduced me to Paleo, to cut a long story short.

Our biggest challenge will probably be giving up our wine, but we've done it before and we can do it again, I'm sure.

My goals are:

1. To lose weight...I'm not putting a number on it and obviously won't be weighing myself during the Whole30. My current weight is 72kg and, while that's not too bad, I just don't feel comfortable. Pete also wants to lose weight.

2. To combine my Whole30 with an exercise program, which I find really hard to stick to.

3. To share my experience with others via this forum, which I didn't do last time and hopefully give and receive valuable support through our shared journey.

Looking forward to making new friends and chatting and sharing with you all in the weeks to come!

Good luck everyone!! :-)

[jump4life]

Good start for me on Day 1-  

 

Breakfast-     had coconut milk and ghee in my coffee, and it wasn't too bad at all...  my fears of not being able to ditch the milk are gone.   Hot plate:  ground turkey, roasted sweet potatoes, spinach (all prepared a few days ago, easy to grab and microwave).   I was kind of hungry mid morning, which surprised me since I had the same breakfast yesterday.   Could the cow milk be more filling than the coconut/ghee?

 

Lunch-  Arugula, sliced grilled chicken, zucchini, tomatoes, Cara Cara orange, macadamia nuts

 

Dinner - Salmon, a ton of green beans, frozen grapes (these could end up being a food without breaks for me ..  I will need to pay attention)

 

I really liked the inspiration from the Whole 30 Daily today, especially the story from Tara O which included this thought: Whole 30 is ....

"a test of the level of respect you have for this one body you've been given"     Pretty powerful,  I am going to make this my mantra for when things get tough.    

 

Does anyone have good recipes using chia?   I really liked this in my smoothies, but obviously not going there this month.

 

Lynn

 

 

 -

[Claire30]

Hi all. food challenging today.  Breakfast too late, lunch too early and some picking in between.  Feeling rather anxious about all this.  Coming home to an empty place doesn't help either, as I'm feeling rather lonely with no one around, this is when the food thoughts come.  The mind games and the endless conversations with myself "should I, shouldn't I', rather draining and time consuming.  Well today is done and I survived, so another day tomorrow.  My goals for tomorrow are only to eat at mealtimes with no picking in between.  Good luck everyone.

 

I commend you on what you're doing! My husband and I were reading through the posts and came across this one. We want to encourage you not to drive yourself crazy with restriction. The food choices are what's important, if you need to eat multiple snacks and small meals a day, I think you're set!

[jeslight]

Great day! It's 9:30pm here and I've felt fantastic, I know the withdrawal symptoms are coming. I had eggs & red peppers for breakfast, made an awesome rosemary & lemon chicken w/ roasted carrots and zucchini for lunch, and it was so good I went ahead and had more for dinner. Morning snack was an apple, evening snack was a banana. Quick 2 mile run, nothing major. I don't think I've had enough to eat but I don't know what I should do this late in the day… I'm pretty hungry. Should I just go to bed and risk the headache in the morning, or what else should I eat?? If I eat, I could always go for veggies, but I'm craving protein so should I have both?

[Tabitha Dell'Angelo]

I discovered Matcha Tea. It tastes good and doesn't need to be sweetened. And you can order it at Starbucks and it is only 85cents. Just tell them you want a venti iced matcha no milk. It's just ice water and 3 scoops of matcha.

[Sissy13]

...

[Fernandes]

Hi Claire, thank you for your lovely feedback.  Feeling much better today.  I have autoimmune disease, so there are a number of other foods that I cannot eat, which can be a bit challenging.  However on the plus side I feel so much better for not eating those foods.  I find that my emotions are often related to my eating habits.  Dealing with them in a positive and loving way removed food attachment.  

[Roussa57]

Day 2 started one hour ago. I am always an early bird. Since it is a busy weekend I decided to start cooking early too. Last week I started to implement the cooking with "building blocks" from the Well Fed book. It was an amazing experience. I love to cook, but since my job is quite demanding (CEO) and my earliest ETA @home is 7 pm it is a challenge to eat nice, healthy etc. So the W30 program is even more challenging. My hubby helps me a lot but needs strict instructions in these matters. He does not follow the program but he does support me.

I am used to precooking meals, but not like this and this is so much more fun! You do not have to decide what kind of meal you want upfront. If one Monday you feel like eating Italian OK let's grab some home prefabbed ground beef, vegetables, herbs and make a beautiful garlicky topping for the spaghetti squash or zucchine halve moon pasta. End of the week let's have pad thai!

Which was my dinner meal last night and it turned out delicious. Happily I made much more, so I just had breakfast "pad thai in a bowl". Jummie.

 

At 6.00 am my leftover red and yellow pepper where cooking in my Thermomix together with 3 tomatoes and a small amount of coconut milk and broth. I finished it with some chiliflakes and after 15 min or so mixed it into a velvety sweet hot soup! Nice for breakfast the next few days. By now I pop the roasting vegetables a the oven (carrots, peppers, turnip, red onions, eggplant with fresh rosemary). After that with the leftover cooked vegetables (fennel, cabbage, celery), fresh herbes, spices and 7 eggs I will make a savoury quiche.

 

This afternoon the coop of oganic farmers will deliver my nw stack of vegetables, free range eggs etc for next week. So this Saturday will be a real cooking day.

 

Tonight we willhave a nice grassgreen entrecote with a few new small potatoes with ghee or duck fat, lemon salt and fresh parsley and a green salad.

 

I wish you all a nice Day2!

[AmyS]

okay I already need help. Long story short, this morning I started out behind the ball. I ended up still out (grocery shopping of all things--a few items I still needed) and realized I would be famished by the time I got home. I was at Whole Foods, and did great not sampling the fruit. I ended up deciding I had to eat SOMETHING, but my budget is tight now, and could only afford fast food--if I was lucky. I wan't doing that, so I got an emergency Turkey Epic bar. There is nothing in it that is not on the W30, but it is a bar nonetheless. I had hoped at this point I would be home by 6 (8 hrs after eating). By having this, I was getting something 7 hrs after last eating, and wouldn't be starving while I was cooking dinner--okay AM cooking dinner. I ended up home at 6:20--yup, even later, then realized dinner was going to take an hr to cook--spaghetti squash--and I had no other alternative. 

So, is day 1 a wash for me? I had planned this out to be home by 3PM, even after getting up late, but I had to run to school to take a test and it took longer than expected to get started and finish (test time was accounted for), and then the records office was backed up. I even planned time for that. What I didn't allot enough time for was traffic, unknown road construction, and accidents along the way.

Just a bit of extra info. Due to hubby's schedule, we were doing a W32 so he could get an official weight at the same time of day, and under the same set of circumstances, as his Day 0. I just really don't want what became a legitimate attempt to stay compliant kill today for me. 

You did your best and you stayed compliant with your food choices.  Day One is in the bag, on to Day Two!!  Hang in there and eat up tomorrow!

[leahcarn]

I fell off the wagon beautifully. I am at the other end of the country for a conference and staying 5 minutes down the road from one of New Zealand's very few paleo cafes. I made a pilgrimage to the cafe and bought a beet and chocolate cake. It was heavenly, but broke my no paleofications rule. It did make me understand more about the social side of food, and the freedom of being able to walk into a cafe and order something out of a cabinet and not pay for it the next day is amazing. I intend to add an extra few days on to the end of the whole30 to make it up, just for the mental aspects

[Roussa57]

All you busy people out there :

please consider doing a weekly cookup like mentioned in the Well Fed cookbook. It saves so much time, you will eat healthy and delicious and this way your meal plans give energy instead of stress!

[Anipi]

Hi All, 

 

 

Great post Jenny. I have just headed here after my first whole30 in July, I have been grain free for a year now and am totally comfortable with that part of the whole30. The part I find hard is not having a glass of wine. I have needed to find other ways of relaxing and since I socialise a lot I find it difficult sometimes when everyone else is drinking. It is getting easier and easier though. It is true what they say "will power" is like a muscle and improves with exercise. My interests are squash, padel, bridge. I live in Spain and August is my busy time with lots of guests. This both makes it easier and harder to stick to the whole30, bit of a strange statement I know, but on the one hand I am so busy not only with guests, but cleaning and ensuring everying is working that I have little time to think about eating or drinking the wrong thing. If I am prepared, and I like to prepare several serviing of any meal at a time so I can take something out of the freezer on the morning of a busy day, then everything is fine. If I have nothing organised then I can be tempted to snack on something silly. I eat out a lot, so I am sure at times the food is prepared exactly as I would like. Spain isn't a country where you can give a long list of requirements to the waiter!! My main goal in August is to slim down a bit. I was disappointed that during July I didn't see any movement in that direction. I still haven't got around to taking my measurements but don't think there was much change there either. I also want to add some daily exercises into my schedule. I do play sport but want to do the tibetan five rites daily. 2 goals at a time are more than enough for me!! To achieve the first I will eat less fruit. The second, I have bought a DVD as I find it easier to exercise "with" someone. Now all I need is a DVD player! 

[Anipi]

Hi All, 

 

 

Great post Jenny. I have just headed here after my first whole30 in July, I have been grain free for a year now and am totally comfortable with that part of the whole30. The part I find hard is not having a glass of wine. I have needed to find other ways of relaxing and since I socialise a lot I find it difficult sometimes when everyone else is drinking. It is getting easier and easier though. It is true what they say "will power" is like a muscle and improves with exercise. My interests are squash, padel, bridge. I live in Spain and August is my busy time with lots of guests. This both makes it easier and harder to stick to the whole30, bit of a strange statement I know, but on the one hand I am so busy not only with guests, but cleaning and ensuring everying is working that I have little time to think about eating or drinking the wrong thing. If I am prepared, and I like to prepare several serviing of any meal at a time so I can take something out of the freezer on the morning of a busy day, then everything is fine. If I have nothing organised then I can be tempted to snack on something silly. I eat out a lot, so I am sure at times the food is prepared exactly as I would like. Spain isn't a country where you can give a long list of requirements to the waiter!! My main goal in August is to slim down a bit. I was disappointed that during July I didn't see any movement in that direction. I still haven't got around to taking my measurements but don't think there was much change there either. I also want to add some daily exercises into my schedule. I do play sport but want to do the tibetan five rites daily. 2 goals at a time are more than enough for me!! To achieve the first I will eat less fruit. The second, I have bought a DVD as I find it easier to exercise "with" someone. Now all I need is a DVD player! 

That was meant to say food ISN'T always prepared as I would like it!!

[LCat]

Hello Everyone!  Like y'all, Day 1 was yesterday and it was a good day so onto Day 2!  Bring it!!  

 

Honestly, I'm approaching this as a Life Event.  Reaching Day 30 will be the end of successfully ridding my body of all the things defined in the book.  What I've come to find out, reading the book a 2nd time (which for me, helps me catch things I somehow glossed over) is that just because it's "Paleo" doesn't mean it's ok for the first 30 days.  I am here to learn and educate where possible, not judge or be judged.  So here is me....

 

 

1) Who you are, your interests

I am a single mother of 3 young men...21, 17 and 13.

I love to cook, mostly bake so I'm having a slight change in direction for at least 30 days and am focused on cooking vs baking.  I'm good with that.

I am an avid treadmill person.  You can find me on my treadmill at 430a most mornings and around 8p most nights.   Historically I have had knew issues so instead of running, I do an extreme fast paced walk, uphill, with a goal to do at least 25 miles a week.

I have recently gotten back into hot yoga and remember why I loved it so much!  Namaste

I have a great deal of responsibility in my job (as well as home) but again....Bring it!

 

2) Why you are joining the Whole 30

Once a year (typically around Lent time) I give up eating meat and sweets.  It's really what I've begun to call my "detox" period.  This year, I added a 30 Day Vegan to my cycle and just came off that a week ago.  While I am proud to say I did it, it's not necessarily what I thought it would be.  Of course I'd like to lose a little weight but I REALLY want to eat and be healthy.

 

 

3) What your greatest challenges are

Sadly, one of my top challenges is the scale.  I weigh myself (used to), daily.  I also have a sweet tooth, so the no sugar thing is a challenge.  I know it can be done and just keep reminding myself that by sticking to things, I'll be better off down the road.  When it becomes Budget time, I worry about managing my meal prep and eating times since the days fly by and I end up going hours before eating, I know, NOT healthy.

My one last known challenge is sleep....I average 4-5 hours a day.  I know that is not long enough but have difficulty sleeping longer.

 

4) List at least 3 goals you hope to accomplish during August

Sleep closer to 6-7 hours a night

Re-proportion my body, even it if means there's no weight loss, at least I know I'm healthy

Educate anyone with ears (including me) on the benefits that result from this "detox" of sorts.  If it can help eliminate my cholesterol medication I think it will speak VOLUMES to my family members who take far more meds than they should...

 

See y'all on the other side!  

[Pea]

DAY 2!

 

Yesterday's meals:

 

meal 1: 2 eggs, 2 small sausage, brussel sprouts, black coffee

meal 2: raw lettuce and veggie salad, sardines, olive oil and vinegar

meal 3: braised lamb, raw veggie salad, olive and vinegar, 1 small banana

 

Activity: 8000 steps. This was a good day.

 

Personal challenge: I don't plan meals. I have a freezer full of local, organic grassfed beef and pastured lamb, but it's FROZEN and a lot of the cuts are large roasts, which you can't whip up in 30 minutes for dinner. So this morning, I am going to take inventory of my freezer, look through my paleo cookbooks (PRACTICAL PALEO and NOM NOM PALEO) and plan a week's worth of dinners, building in enough food for leftovers.

 

Hope everybody is off to a good start!

Pea

[EJSmadhatter]

Well I had a good lesson yesterday. I need to get one of those reading magnifying glasses because boy is some of the ingredient print small and I miss it. I asked if the vitamin pack had sugar/sweetener in it to help with my dehydration and he said no. Then found out it had stevia. Well restarting with Day 1 today. I went shopping last night and I am doing a cook prep this morning. I am browning up some lamb, ground beef, making turkey sausage and the morning mix recipe. I am also going to steam up some veggies and prep chop if I have time. For those of you who made it to day 2 Congrats!! I know I can do this. I have done it before.

[JennP]

You did your best and you stayed compliant with your food choices.  Day One is in the bag, on to Day Two!!  Hang in there and eat up tomorrow!

Thanks for the feedback. I felt that way, but am determined to have a better W30 than in Jan. I never did find the right mix for meals, so I almost always ended up having a snack at some point (probably 5:7 days). 

 

[JennP]

DAY 2!

 

Yesterday's meals:

 

meal 1: 2 eggs, 2 small sausage, brussel sprouts, black coffee

meal 2: raw lettuce and veggie salad, sardines, olive oil and vinegar

meal 3: braised lamb, raw veggie salad, olive and vinegar, 1 small banana

 

Activity: 8000 steps. This was a good day.

 

Personal challenge: I don't plan meals. I have a freezer full of local, organic grassfed beef and pastured lamb, but it's FROZEN and a lot of the cuts are large roasts, which you can't whip up in 30 minutes for dinner. So this morning, I am going to take inventory of my freezer, look through my paleo cookbooks (PRACTICAL PALEO and NOM NOM PALEO) and plan a week's worth of dinners, building in enough food for leftovers.

 

Hope everybody is off to a good start!

Pea

Bruce and I do this to our freezer from time to time. Despite it being hot and humid here (Kentucky), I will be making Stew this week. This recipe will be from Paleo Slow Cooker. It is one of several paleo cookbooks I have, including Well Fed, Well Fed 2, Nom Nom Paleo, Practical Paleo, Make it Paleo, and Everyday Paleo (the first one I ever bought). I do have to be careful. Sometimes the ingredients are paleo, but not W30.

[JennP]

Today, I am up late--because bedtime didn't happen on time and the previous night's sleep was practically non-existant (the reason I was running late then too). At least this time it is a Saturday. I am about to make breakfast, omelette with CSA tomato, leftover chicken from last night's dinner, and avocado on the side. After that, it will be getting my exercise in by walking to the CSA. Right now, I am focusing on the actual event rather than time or speed.

 

It is about building the habit back. Last year this time I was running, my personal C25K, and until my knee decided to land me in PT, I was doing pretty well. About the time I could run again, I had another issue surface which needed surgery to repair. Once I was clear to resume hockey (had to take almost 3 months off in total), we were in winter and I was swamped with school, so I never pushed myself to get back to exercising. I fully recognize I just needed to push more. It would have made a great stress reliever with my schoolwork.

 

Lunch today, paleo roll ups (paleo roast beef and veggies rolled up together), probably some fruit (trying to limit to 1x/day), This is really quite filling. Tonight's dinner. Sauteed shrimp and farm fresh veggies from my CSA.

Have a great day!

[brevans02]

Hi everyone!

 

My name is Brenda, I live in southwest Minnesota with my husband, (nearly) 8 year old daughter and 15mo old son. Both my husband and I are veterinarians and we also raise beef cattle. 

 

I have a great group of "mommy friends" that I met online while pregnant with my son. We've got a couple Facebook groups, including a fitness/motivational group. A few of my friends have done Whole30 or similar programs in the past and raved about their results, so (semi-reluctantly) I did my first Whole30 in June. The month itself was fantastic and I, too, got amazing results. But I really failed during the reintroduction phase and basically took a nosedive off the proverbial wagon. I'm back for another Whole30, with the intention of doing a better job with reintroduction and using more of what I learn through the month.

 

We've got a great new-ish Crossfit box in town, so I workout there M-F during my lunch hour. I'm also vaguely following a Couch to 5K running plan, so I can get back into running. (I fell off that wagon when I was pregnant.)

 

My goals:

 

1 - meal plan, meal plan, meal plan - it's so easy for me to falter if I don't have something ready to make when I get home

2 - become an active participant in this forum, for extra accountability and support

3 - do a true reintroduction phase to figure out what, if anything, I'm sensitive to

[jeslight]

went to bed hungry, woke up feeling great (still hungry of course-but no headache)!!! Actually, today I woke up so well rested and immediately alert and ready to conquer the day! I've struggled with sleep so much since having kids (ages 9-13) and tried so many things. I have an excellent "routine" that I'd gotten away from, but combining squeaky clean eating with some super simple stretches (i truly swear by these stretches and my theory is it releases tension in the muscles causing your body to relax enough to fall asleep more easily) and rubbing a little lavender essential oil on the bottoms of my feet, turning off any media and reading for a short bit and I snooze like a baby! 

 

Breakfast: my first attempt at sweet potato hash was not quite what I hoped but still good! I don't know how to get it crispy- higher heat maybe? and fried some eggs in there too I haven't figured out lunch yet… probably taco meat w/ diced veggies in a romaine "shell"

 

Happy Day 2!

[imdreaming]

From personal experience, I have learned that just because something is "compliant", doesn't mean that it will agree with MY body.  I encourage everyone to listen to their own bodies!!

 

Coconut oil and coconut in different forms is highly promoted within the paleo community.  I enjoy coconut and I have tried it in all forms.  My body doesn't like it!  It doesn't matter what form: coconut oil, coconut milk, coconut cream, fresh coconut...it makes me bloat and retain fluid (extra weight) for days after I have ingested it.  I do still use coconut oil on occasion, and I LOVE a good curry made with coconut cream, but I keep in mind how it will affect me.

 

My skin, however, LOVES coconut oil!  I use it daily on my face and frequently on my skin.

[JennP]

 

 

Breakfast: my first attempt at sweet potato hash was not quite what I hoped but still good! I don't know how to get it crispy- higher heat maybe? and fried some eggs in there too I haven't figured out lunch yet… probably taco meat w/ diced veggies in a romaine "shell"

 

Happy Day 2!

I LOVE sweet potatoes. One of my favorite breakfasts is root veggie hash (any you like, but I use turnip, rutabega, beets, and sweets). Dice, drizzle with coconut oil, toss in some spices (whatever flavors you like), Cook at 450 for 20 min, stir, go another 20. I also swap and rotate my pans as I usually have 2 in the oven. If I had 3 racks, I would have 3 pans in there I love it so much. This all go into a container for use during the week. I normally get @1/2 a cup out and nuke, soft poach 2 eggs, lay them over top and crack. Ahhh, goodness. I add avocado or nuts to this. With my day, I find I sometimes do better with more carbs in the AM. 

I have shredded my sweet potato, and made a hash with onion, sp, kale, mushrooms, etc. While that is tasty, like you I want the sp to get crunchier. In this prep it is more like the inside of a baked sp instead.

[JennyF]

Well here it is!

 

Yesterday - day 1 - got off to a rocky start. I ended up having to drive the distance of  two hours away to tend to a family matter on the spur of the moment and wasn't able to start.  I ate at a relatives house where they served up lasagna so I figured what the heck, I'll just postpone it one day.  So in actuality I'm officially starting today, but I figure since there are still 30 days left in this month, I'm good to go.

 

Lesson learned though.. I'm going to stock up some Whole 30 grab-and-go foods so that in the event of another last minute crisis, I can take my own food with me to eat so that I don't fall off the wagon.

 

This morning got off to a great start...

 

Breakfast:

 

2 strips of organic, nitrate free, grass fed bacon

2 organic omega 3 enriched eggs scrambled with Gee, mushrooms & onions

 

By the way, the price of Gee is freakin' expensive!  I Googled for recipes on how to make it myself and found quite a few on the internet, so I took a shot at it. It's very easy and far less expensive.  I didn't have cheese cloth to strain it, so I used a small hand held strainer instead. It did pretty good with getting the bulk of the dairy foam out of it. What little was left in the bowl, I used a teaspoon to skim off the remaining foam.  Easy peasy!  

 

Lunch today will be a throw together salad loaded with chicken breast, avocado and a homemade dressing

 

I picked up some blueberries, strawberries, raspberries & black berries to make a little fruit salad with for later

 

Dinner tonight:  ground sirloin steak with sauteed peppers, onions, mushrooms, mustard greens, sliced cucumbers and tomatoes, and maybe some sliced sweet potato chunks tossed in coconut oil and baked until crispy.

 

Having just started, I'm not craving any sweets or naughty foods yet, but I'm gearing up for whatever withdrawals I may be headed for this week.  

 

So far so good.

 

I put this out there in an earlier post, but I wanted to extend it again for those who may have not seen it.  You're all invited to my Facebook page:

 

 https://www.facebook.com/jenny.fedei

 

I'm always up for making new friends and would welcome anyone from this forum.  I see this entire process as a way of life and would like to connect with others who are on the same journey.  I'm so glad everyone is gathering here to share our experiences.  It makes this process not such a lonely one. 

 

Have blessed day everyone!

 

Jenny  <3

[GFChris]

 

Breakfast:

 

2 strips of organic, nitrate free, grass fed bacon

2 organic omega 3 enriched eggs scrambled with Gee, mushrooms & onions

 

 

Hi there and welcome!

 

Just to confirm, was the bacon sugar/sweetener free?  That's the only hard and fast requirement for bacon, along with no other Whole30 non-compliant ingredients (organic, nitrate free and grass fed aren't required, but are certainly encouraged).