Tracey Lynne's 2nd time around....

Tracey Lynne · September 3, 2014

My name is Tracey and I am 42 years young. I'll be 43 in December... WHAT?!?!? Sagittarius.
I did my first whole30 back in October of 2012, and YES YES YES, it changed my life. I think I was around 195 lbs when I started. Food allergies coming out my yin-yang, although, nothing else was coming out. SERIOUS digestive issues.
After finishing the whole 30 which really became the Whole 45, I stuck with a Paleo/Warrior lifestyle... it worked for me. I made it down to about 155lbs and FELT AMAZING, at least for awhile. In August of 2013, I had bounced back up to 170 and felt the sugar creeping back in. I picked up a book called "The Plan", by Lyn-Genet Recitas and gave it a try. WAY MORE WORK than the whole30, but it was focusing on reducing inflammation, and that is where I felt I was struggling the most. IT WORKED!!! I was able to uncover food that caused unusual inflammation in my body and eliminate those. However, it gave me free reign on white wine, goat cheese and 'Artisan' Gluten free crackers. Still, I got back down under 160 and felt great.... until the holidays hit, and well, I got sick of not being able to eat ANYTHING, becuase it ALL seemed to be causing inflammatory response.
(NOTE TO SELF~ Anytime I use some thing as a go-to food... it is usually a way to make life easier for myself. Doesn't mean its a healthy choice.)

So, the weight started to creep back up and here I am again back up to 170. Mind you, I spent a month in Italy and ate Gelato DAILY as well as pasta and wine. I frigging LOVE Italy! So, its September 3 and we are moving back into fall. My fall/winter clothes are tight at 165... I woke up today at 171. It's time... TIME TO START another WHOLE 30. I now know that there are certain foods, that while PALEO, cause an inflammatory response in my body. Great, I can omit those foods.
I believe the most challenging part for me, hands down is the sugar. I am addicted. I LOVE sweets.
But I am aware of my adiction and needing to get a handle on it.

SO, tomorrow, I begin... I am committed to this program.

I will weigh and measure tomorrow, and then not again until the end of the 30 days.

Cheating is not an option!

NO SUGAR

NO GRAINS

NO ALCOHOL

NO DIARY

NO BEANS

I am going to the store tonight with my shopping list...

I will prep food tonight so that I am ready for the first week!

Tracey Lynne · September 5, 2014

So, Day one!

I weighed in today at 168.6. After following "The Plan" and weighing myself everyday for the last year... not weighing myself for a month is going to be hard, and fabuously liberating! HA! I have learned to use the scale as a means to measure data... not as a way to measure ME. Makes the scale my friend, and helps me monitor inflammation. However, I am WHOLEy on board with this go-round.

So much so that I ordered the books... it starts with food, and both well fed and well fed 2. LOVING the recipes in both. Really excited to start digging in and trying some of them. I made a list of ingredients that I don't already have in my fridge or pantry... coconut aminos being one of them. I've been cooking for the past year with spices in a new and exciting way due to the Lynn-Genet Plan. Focusing on things that help reduce inflammation and keep me and my joints feeling happy and healthy.

So today... over the course of the day...

I ate 8 oz of ground beef, mixed with onion powder, sage, taragon, green pepper and sea salt over a bed of roasted spaghetti squash

3 eggs with 1/4 of onion, a hand full of spinach and thyme, cayenne and rosemary infused olive oil

my sweet cravings started to win, so I whipped up a can of coconut milk and added a tsp of ground vanilla and a cup of frozen cherries

I drank a good 2 litres of water, and had 2 cups of coffee (need to up the water intake)

for late night snack I ate a tin of smoked oysters and and some point ate a handful of almonds

I know that this isn't ideal. however, I also know that it is a transition...I wasn't able to get to prepping food, OR the grocery store last night. I am grateful that I have most of what I need already in the house.

This weekend 'I will take the time to make the time' (what song?) to prep my food for next week. I love the way Melissa lays it out in Well Fed... super easy... I'm a fan of hotplates... Did something similar while working "The Plan".

So that's all for now... back to reading more awesome recipes... 29 days to go!! whoot!

Auto save is great... and all of the options for emojis and fonts, media... etc... fabulous... but where is the darn ssspell check??!

Tracey Lynne · September 9, 2014

Monday, Day #5

Headaches... last two days. Incescent headaches. Its a WHOLE30 THING, I've read about them in the forum ... these detox headaches suck. NOT as bad as going off caffeine kinda headache, just dull constant ache. Lots of water, had some dandelion tea, and I am sticking to the rules. Mind you this is my second Whole 30, I have learned a few places to bend the rules, and it works for me.

I weighed myself over the weekend 166.8. Seems like getting out of the habit of weighing myself daily isn't quite working.

All good... part of MY process.

Saturday night we went out to it, and except for a few bites of cream and berries, I did really well. No wine.

( ( ( ((DAMN, I MISS MY SAUV BLANC)) ) ) ) "Can you feel me?"

For the last two days I have been eating from recipes from Well Fed. Fantastic! (( ( ( Brava Melicious!) ) ))

I read through the entire book, and I like the approach she takes with food prep. I know my way around a kitchen. I love to cook, host gatherings and share meals. I learned how to create meals for a week by spending a few hours in the kitchen on Sunday afternoon when following The Plan. Which, by the way, I mention often, because I gained so much useful information from that book. I truly pay attention the response my body has from different foods. Some of them cause an immediate inflammatory response, some show up the next day on the scale.) I learned what my body likes, what it tolerates, and what my body creates fluid for to rid itself of the toxicity. Cool stuff. Scientific, I dig it. The scale, the number on it, became recorded data to track information. Nothing more. And her advice on prepping food in a way that when you need to eat its right there. Easy! Melissa does a fine job of laying out the way she does it, down to calculating how much meat to cook. I followed instructions.

I made a list of all all the spices, and a bunch of the different ingredients in Well Fed. I did my shopping, and I spent 3.5 hours in the kitchen listening to Funk Jazz on Pandora and cooking my little heart out! I SOOO LOVE MY KITCHEN! YAY ME!

Today I had an awesome cup of coffee... I have perfected the french press, and after doing an Espresso pulling class, I learned a few things about roasting and acidity. So I chose a columbian bean, light roast ( the lighter the roast the higher the caffiene), and this one was a micro lot from a local roaster over in Toco Hills.

For lunch I had an acorn squash. I had cooked it the night before and added a bit of homemade ghee to it. Heated it up, and added a bit of Trocomare (grabbed 16oz of Amish butter while up in the mountains a few weekends ago and made my own ghee.

I also snacked on a few ounces of Salt Free Potato Chips. A little trick I learned from Lyn-Genets blog, or book, how to 'sop up' some of the sodium in my body.

Tonight we had the grilled chicken "The Best Grilled Chicken You'll Ever Have", I believe was her title. While not the BEST chicken I've ever had, it was really tasty. The seasonings were powerful and the brining made it super tender. I paired it with the Creamy Cucumber Salad Recipe (yes I made my own Olive Oil Mayo) and the Fried Apples with Bacon and Pecans. Homerun, all the way.

WOW! Simply delicious, and inspiring.

Now, busy day tomorrow.. and its later than I want to be getting to bed.

Loving the Passionflower to help sleep... good stuff.

Here's my finished product from my prep party with myself on Sunday. LOL

Tracey Lynne · September 9, 2014