Dirty 30 8/21 Start

[CCLaymon]

Paleo Fried Chicken Gizzards

[MeadowLily]

[MeadowLily]

[Sissy13]

...

[drtracyb]

Tomorrow is my day 1.  My kids started school last week so of course I broke with a horrible respiratory virus yesterday.  I feel awful today!  I think my first bit of business will have to be to make some bone broth.

 

Tomorrow we are supposed to ride our bikes to Hermosa Beach for the street fair that they have every memorial day and labor day - they call them the bookend festivals.  We are back in our family home after leaving it to try out the suburbs so my husband didn't have to commute.  Well, we are city people and we are so glad to be home.  It is like we never left!  And what a joy to move back into a house you've already lived in - I knew exactly where to tell the movers to put the furniture.

 

One more time back to the old house to pick up the breakables, and we are done!  In addition, my schedule has settled into a perfectly doable schedule.

 

If it weren't for my new cold, I'd be all excited for tomorrow.  We are basically at my one year anniversary of Whole30.  Unfortunately, during this busy, stressful summer, I put all the weight back on that I had lost during my three successful whole30s.  But I don't think it will stick.  I'm also excited to get back to the gym.

 

And I'm excited to find this group.  I need to go back to the beginning and read the whole thread.

 

See you tomorrow for my DAY 1!

 

Tracy

[MeadowLily]

 

What many people don’t realize is that organ meats (especially liver) are nature’s multivitamins. Liver is an excellent source of many nutrients. Chris Kresser has a great post on the topic where he explains:

 

“Liver is an important source of retinol, which is pre-formed vitamin A. Just three ounces of beef liver contains 26,973 IU of vitamin A, while pork liver and chicken liver contain 15,306 IU and 11,335 IU, respectively. (3) If you aren’t supplementing with cod liver oil, you’ll probably want to eat liver a couple times a week to make sure you’re getting enough vitamin A, especially if you have skin problems.

Folate, choline, and vitamin B12 are three more nutrients that are found abundantly in liver, and they can be especially important in the context of a Paleo diet. Two Paleo staples – muscle meat and eggs – contain a high proportion of the amino acid methionine, and higher intakes of methionine increase homocysteine production. This increases the need for vitamins B6, B12, folate, betaine, and choline, which recycle homocysteine.

 

 

 

 

[MeadowLily]

The Autoimmune Protocol

 

So, just as some foods should be eliminated, there is also a focus on eating more of the following:

• organ meat and offal (aim for 5 times per week, the more the better)–read morehere.
• fish and shellfish (wild is best, but farmed is fine) (aim for at least 3 times per week, the more the better)–read more here and here.
• vegetables of all kinds, as much variety as possible and the whole rainbow, aim for 8-14 cups per day
  • Green vegetables
  • Colorful vegetables and fruit (red, purple, blue, yellow, orange, white)
  • Cruciferous vegetables (broccoli, cabbage, kale, turnips, arugula, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, watercress, mustard greens, etc.)
  • Sea vegetables (excluding algae like chlorella and spirulina which are immune stimulators)
• quality meats (grass-fed, pasture-raised, wild as much as possible) (poultry in moderation due to high omega-6 content unless you are eating a ton of fish)
• quality fats (pasture-raised/grass-fed animal fats [rendered or as part of your meat], fatty fish, olive, avocado, coconut, palm [not palm kernel])
• fruit (keeping fructose intake between 10g and 20 g daily)
• probiotic foods (fermented vegetables or fruit, kombucha, water kefir, coconut milk kefir, coconut milk yogurt, supplements)–read about them here and here.
• glycine-rich foods (anything with connective tissue, joints or skin, organ meat, and bone broth)

[MeadowLily]

[MeadowLily]

[MeadowLily]

[drtracyb]

Ok, guys, September 1 start date - I'm officially IN!

 

Some challenges

  I feel like crap this morning (caught a cold from my kids)

  I did not have time to prep - we just moved into our house yesterday and everything is in boxes

 

 

And the biggest challenge - my kids and I live away from home during the week - we rent a room at a friend's house in the school district near my work, as our current school district wouldn't talk to us until we had a utility bill to prove we lived there, and since we didn't live there until yesterday, we started the kids in school by my work instead.

 

This challenge makes things hard because I really don't feel comfortable taking over my friend's kitchen to cook, so I'll be precooking for the kids and me for the week and bringing everything to my friend's house in containers.  It could be great as it will force me to plan meals; however, it could also lead to going off plan if I forget something.

 

Wish us luck!

[jump4life]

Good morning friends!  

 

Fabulous pot luck last night and I was NOURISHED by more than food.   I have not shared too much about Whole30 with the group we were meeting with-  two other couples we met in college and have stayed close with over 30 years.    It turns out that one of them, a pediatrician, recommends Whole30 to many of his patients and families struggling with a variety of issues.   He had heard me mention it briefly a week or so before but we didn't talk about it at all.   We arrived first to their house and found out that they had made grassfed beef taco meat,  even though they are mostly vegetarian and he is not actually doing Whole30 right now!  He then pointed out all of the items that were compliant/not compliant so that I could navigate the huge buffet of food without any issues.  My Citrus Pork and Citrus/Fennel salad complimented the meal, but I could have easily just eaten what they provided.   And when the conversation flowed around nutrition choices later in the evening I had an ally in explaining Whole30 and didnt feel defensive at all.  

 

BTW, my pediatrician friend  recommends reading the Wahls Protocol as another resource on using food as nourishment and healing, especially for those who have autoimmune type issues.   

 

The empty spot where the scale used to be in the bathroom was mocking me this morning.  I realize that i wake up thinking about weighing myself every morning!   What power I could have in setting my intentions for the day if I can replace this first morning thought with something more productive. This is obviously where I need a Brain Reset and I am going to go read through all the related posts before I write more on this subject. 

 

Lynn

[higs]

Deb, cheers to you and your encouragement to the group to try organ meats.  I am up for the challenge - but forgot to pick up any organ meats at the store yesterday.  I might be a day or two behind (not uncommon with me and IODs).  I love pate, never tried tongue.  Why, though, if livers are so good for us, is that the one single remnant my cat leaves behind when he catches a critter?  I am constantly finding little livers on the door mat.  A gift?  An offal offering?

 

I almost forgot about melon day yesterday but remembered just in time to have a quick slice of straight up cantaloupe for dessert.  And I can credit Deb's IOD and forum spell check for making me realize that I've been misspelling "cantalope" my entire life.  When did that "u" sneak in there?

 

Miki, your Take 5 is a great idea!  I'm trying to do something similar with stretches, but it really doesn't occur to me to do it often enough.

 

Deb and Meadow, thank you both for your wonderful posts this weekend about focusing on the intended benefits of the Whole30, HEALTH!, and not weight loss.  It is such a good and important reminder.  I struggle with wanting to lose weight and was thrilled with the results after my last W30.  But the even bigger benefits, and THE reason why I'm back for a long round 2, is because I felt so GOOD when I was eating so healthfully.  The energy and the mood improvements made me feel strong, vibrant, and made me want to really active.  Having not felt that good for years, that alone is worth going back to.  But I won't complain if a few more pounds come off in the process, I admit.  But is my body image improving?  Yes, it's starting to.  On my hike yesterday I had my backpack cinched around my hips and my belly was rolling over the top of the hip belt.  Prior to W30, I would have found some kind of baggy clothes way to hide my belly.  Yesterday, I focused on the positive aspects:  I'm hiking!  I'm outdoors!  I'm fit and strong! and my belly did its thing and I didn't worry about it.  Believe me, that does not happen every day.  I hope I can build on that experience and lose my self consciousness about it.  Also, I know the health concerns about excess visceral fat.  But being active, eating well, focusing on my overall health, stress levels, sleep and well being should help to take care of a little belly fat in the longer term.  

 

Meadow:  No amount of weight loss will fix a broken spirit.

 

Deb and Meadow, I want to be in your two cups of crazy yoga class for sure.

 

Ann, thanks for your long and thoughtful post, too, and for sharing your story.  You said, "The point is that I want to feel better, I want to take charge of feeling better, and i have to begin by giving my body every possible chance to heal itself."  Well said, my dear.

 

DrTracy:  good luck on Day 1!  Your living situation makes cooking sound challenging.  It sounds like you need a stocked cooler with the essentials at the ready.  

 

Last night I dreamt that I was having a consult with a new dentist and she wanted to see my bite and chewing by giving me an enormous sandwich to bite into.  I was trying to figure out if I should break my W30 for her "exam."  I did. I bit into that sandwich.  Funny Whole30 dreams... I forgot how they start creeping in at about this stage.

 

The sunrise is just breaking through our forest.  A few trees are lit up, the rest still in shadow.  It's a beautiful morning here.  Have a lovely day, everyone.

[Sissy13]

...

[jump4life]

Meadow-  thanks so much for the encouragement, sandpaper, polish and shine!  AWARE will be my one word for the rest of my Whole66.  I like the way that makes me think about the metaphorical grizzles in my life (although it also makes me terrified about ever meeting a real one!!)   I am using your wise words as my QOD1  today:

 

"The brain reset takes you .. into wholeness, wellness.   It takes you from pretending you understand to knowing you understand.  Fix your head and the body will follow"

 

MamaMiki, I love the Take 5 idea, especially as a distraction from the Snackity Snack moods. I am echoing Deb in using your wise words as my QOD3 today:

     We've really found our sadness and our happiness and our fears and realized that each and everyone has them and transparency really gives them much less power in our lives.

 

Ann/Miki-  15 bras!!  Bras for Dave!! OMG Laughed so hard I had to get up and go to the bathroom (and I read that yesterday while I was stiffening up from the bike ride and still in bike shorts, so it was not a rapid process!!) 

 

Deb-  you nourish me (us) with your musings, your IOD, and by bringing in other experts into your posts to help us.  I have now read your long post on weight loss 3X -  and every time i read it I shift a little bit.   Thank you for the push!  Oh and organ meat...hmm... do they really have to call it "offal"-  it makes it even harder to even want to try it!   Anchovies have organs right?   If I actually work my way up to those, will it count? Seriously, I tried chicken livers a few weeks ago and i wasn't  ready to go there.... but I am open and contemplating how to tip my toes in again. I love parsley so maybe that will be helpful in disguising it!   A note on yesterdays IOD-  melons...  my son has a some friends over studying and he comes upstairs looking for a snack for them.   I grab a melon (that I didnt use yesterday b/c someone else was bringing fruit salad) cut it up half and give it to him- he's like "really?"  ..... 5 min later he yells up "mom - can we have the other half of that cantaloupe?"   Whole30 IOD score!!!!! 

 

CC-   The 100 Foot Journey-  did you like the book or movie better? And  I guess part of Whole30 is learning not to be surprised by the words "foodie" and "gizzards" in the same post! 

 

  Joni-  I was going to propose a family reunion but only if we agree to disagree on  topics like Charlie Sheen!  I am with CC on this one, the man is just nuts!  Maybe we can serve some organ meat with lots of parsley at the reunion and work up the courage to try it together.   And bring the homemade toothpaste with you ...  wow I have never heard of that!  

 

Tracy-  for someone with a cold and  you have such a positive attitude!   Here are all the positive words from your posts:   glad...joy...perfectly doable.... excited... successful...excited... excited....start ..... great..... luck.    I think you have everything you need right inside to make it through these few challenging weeks---  but I still wish you luck!! 

 

 

Ann/Higs (and many others!)-  thanks for sharing so frankly your initial thoughts on "diet head" and pre-Whole30 thinking and how you changed and grown through your process and how you treat and think of your body now.  These stories are so powerful for me-  each one nudges me a bit further on my own path.  

[MeadowLily]

A Love Song dedicated to all of the WD30 Women    

 

 

 

 

[Deb.]

Great posts everyone! Thanks to all for sharing. Everyone is so upbeat, yeah!! Happy Labor Day! 

 

Meadow, your testimony is powerful. 

Yes to the two cups of crazy class! 

 

DrTracy YAY for Day 1. I feel for you, you just got home and have to leave again! I do wish you luck in prepping that food but you're right in that planning and compliance go together well! I hope the school in your district lets them in soon! I know schools in LA are a tough ticket. Here's to a great W30 for you!  I love Lynn's pulling out of all your positive words! 

 

Lynn, I'm so heartened that your Dr friend even knows about W30 and Wahls. My neurologist just looks at me sadly and kindly when I talk about diet. I actually came to Whole30 via Wahls. I had read the Wahls Protocol and wanted to start AIP and thought W30 was a great way to ease into it. It was a good plan. For Wahls its basically AIP but she wants you to eat 9 cups of vegetables a day. That is something for me to work towards!  I think Terry Wahls is amazing and hers is my link to prove to anyone that nutrition CAN and DOES make a huge difference in healing.  She has her diet in an official clinical trial right now which is fantastic. If her trial goes well, and it will, it could change everything in the auto immune community, starting with MS sufferers (which is what she has).

http://terrywahls.com/about/about-terry-wahls/

Love the melon success with the kids! And yes, anchovies get you the offal hall pass   

 

Joni I have had varying degrees of success with homemade toothpastes. I do think flouride is evil and have done the research. 

Right now I am using a combo of these three things, and coconut oil. I like it! I especially like the Uncle Harry's products. 

http://www.amazon.com/Earthpaste-Toothpastec-Wintergreen-Cinnamon-Peppermint/dp/B00BCRD9V2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1409591819&sr=8-1&keywords=redmond+earthpaste

http://www.amazon.com/Toothpaste-Uncle-Harrys-Natural-Products/dp/B00CP3KU4Q/ref=sr_1_2?s=hpc&ie=UTF8&qid=1409592051&sr=1-2&keywords=uncle+harry%27s+natural+products

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004AOLA3I/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

CC, must get to that movie! I saw the trailer, it looks fun. Love the gizzards!! 

 

Higs, lol on the sandwich dream!! What a beautiful image of your Oregon morning. 

I too feel more comfortable in my body now. To the point where friends even think I've lost weight (definitely haven't) just from the way I'm holding myself I guess! Interesting right? 

 

Miki Mik how are you today? 

 

Laurie, how are you feeling? 

 

DAVE what's happening? 

 

Ann/Nanny/Granny/Win/Outdors/Kat - hope all are well and enjoying the long weekend!! 

 

Stayed tuned for tomorrow's IOD coming later today - Interesting Greens – Dandelion, Nettle, Watercress, Mache, Bok Choy!

[Sissy13]

...

[MeadowLily]

Variety of foods helps to offset food boredom

Eating the same foods every day is easy. In a busy life it can be tempting to stick with what you know. The same breakfast, a revolving menu of three dinners and lunch bought from the same shop every day.

But really, could there be anything more boring?

Food is a wonderful, marvellous, joyous thing. Just think about all the different forms that food comes in. The myriad of colours of vegetables. The different meats we can eat. How lamb, fish, chicken and beef are all full of protein and yet they’re so different in flavour and texture.

In my experience, food boredom is one of the main reasons people deviate from their healthy eating plan. If you eat the same foods every day, it’s little wonder we cave-in.

Instead, mixing up your foods increases the likelihood you’ll make healthy choices. By eating different things each day and each week, you’ll remain interested and are less likely to give in to the easy gratifications of junk food.

[Ann@HowcrossCastle]

Hey, Joni, where are you moving to?

ann

[MeadowLily]

Give yourself a chance and take a chance.  Switch your food selections up.  Make recipes, try one aday.   

 

Food boredom, photo boredom   , music, clothes, shoes and vehicle boredom   

 

Exercise boredom...do something different.  Don't run the same course every day or walk the same route.   Take a different route to work.   Switch everything up.

[Sissy13]

...

[CCLaymon]

Tracey - good luck on Day 1!  I hope you are feeling better.

 

Lynn - your potluck sounds like it couldn't have gone any better! Sometimes I expect the worse, and I'm often delighted at the outcome.

AWARE - what a great word!

 

Higs - I'm so glad you are back on track for feeling good with your eating!  Your dream was funny. Rick continues to have those dreams. Often he wakes up and tells me what he ate/drank in his dreams that derailed him 

 

Wow Joni, toothpaste? You'll have to let us know how that goes! I never even considered it.

 

Meadow - avoid food boredom. You NAILED that one. So important. Thanks for the reminder!

[Geminimik]

Okay, another post down the tube.

 

Dr. T, did you make it to HB today. What a gorgeous day for a bike ride? Sorry about the back to school crud.My youngest starts this Thursday so keepin it healthy as possible. They ate lots of grilled chicken and shrimp with zucchini, one of their favs. Whoever posted that saying I love it. Real food doesn't have ingredients it is the ingredient.

 

CC&R, did you get to kayak today...I so want to go.

 

Joni & Kat, how are you doing?

 

Lady M, are you around?

 

Laurie and Rose?

 

Busy weekend I guess.

 

Make it a great evening.

[MeadowLily]

Where's that good-hearted woman, Deb.  She works so hard to keep everyone's head above water.  She throws us a new life jacket every day.

 

We made one of her IOD's today...and Bear likes all of her recipes.  Today's ingredient is something he says he could eat without cooking it.   Seriously?  Yes, seriously.  When you live with animals, you start to think like one.  It doesn't mean we're coaxing them onto the porch and letting them come into the house for supper.  We're just predators amongst other enormous predators.  But I'm going to eat everything cooked.   

 

Thanks Deb.  We hold you in high esteem on Labor Day for all of your labor, passion, and dedication.  To everyone else with your family....have a good one.   I wish everyone would show up for roll call tomorrow.

These barracks and the Big Bunkhouse get lonely when you're out milling around somewhere.    You need to come back for the tribal counsel.  We'll have a Powwow.  

 

Alrighty then...so long now.