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My new life.


Laura B

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Well done you, that was brave to tell your parents & I'm happy for you that they took it well. I'm sure in light of your fathers illness that he understands that you have to live your best possible life right now, nobody knows what is around the corner (ha ha I should heed this myself!!)

Will be thinking of you & your family & hoping your dad kicks the cancer in the ass...hard!

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Laura, congrats all around:) sounds like things are really falling into place, and I'm glad to hear your parents are supportive of your decisions. It's really hard as a parent sometimes, I'm finding that more and more as my children become adults. So good for you that you were able to talk to them and good for the that they could hear what you were saying.

New England is really awesome! It has so much of everything compared to other places in the country. The pace and the people take a little getting used to, but other than that... It's really very cool.

I am going to try crossfit, as long as I don't spend a ton of money when I'm in Colorado with my kids. I'd like to start when I get back and do it for a month. I'll call tomorrow and make an appointment to go in next week and talk to them and find out the cost.

Again, best of luck on all the the bright things on the horizon!

PS I think it's interesting that you met playing video games, I've never heard that one before! It's pretty cool!

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We got back a little bit ago from our trip to TN. We had a great time! We were mostly W30 compliant the whole trip. I packed salads for lunches and made egg cups for our breakfasts. We had wholly guacamole for dressing and I had a few raw and steamed veggies for us to eat. It was a little tricky staying W30 for Craig...it is a mountain town in the heart of Dixie so they love butter. We went to a catfish restaurant and I seriously confused our waitress when I asked how the green beans were cooked. I'm pretty sure there was some oil or butter in it. Wasn't an issue for me, but a little more for Craig. He had a steak and green beans, I had grilled catfish, green beans, some slaw and I ate some tartar sauce with the fish. It was really good. They had hushpuppies (fried corn bread) on the table and I really wanted one, but didn't.

The next night we went to this home cooking restaurant called The Old Mill Restaurant, and I had spare ribs and sauerkraut. They were baked together. Was delicious. I also had a sweet potato and green beans (again, I have no idea how these were cooked, but they were awesome). Everyone's meal came with dessert and I had no intention on having any, but my friends dad wanted ice cream on his blackberry cobbler so I ordered ice cream to give to him. Lo and behold, his already came with ice cream so...I ate mine. It was homemade vanilla and absolutely delicious! My tummy is a little off today but nothing terrible. It felt good to eat something off plan and be totally okay with it. It was special enough to imbibe :)

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Ok...update on eating the ice cream. It caught up with me. I had a dull tummy ache most of the day yesterday (had ice cream Saturday night). Today I have the runs. And am slightly bloated. :wacko: I'm glad I didn't have bad stomach cramps or anything like that, but this is certainly enough to ward off dairy except for special occasions. I like that I didn't plan to have a dairy treat and it just sort of happened. I don't miss dairy for the most part. Of course I would like to have cheese every now and then. I will have to try that in a couple of weeks and see how I feel. Definitely don't miss yogurt or milk, that's for sure :)

I finished My Life In France and have started Food Politics. While I find the information interesting in this book, it is kind of boring and anti-meat. It sort of goes along with Forks Over Knives (if you haven't seen that movie, I would recommend it if only to understand another point of view. THe information is highly skewed and as a whole it is misleading). So far the author discusses the timeline of the USDA dietary guidelines and he seems to support a "whole foods plant based diet" which includes beans and grains. :rolleyes:

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I think the sugar-dairy combo of ice cream is horrible for most people. It sucks when it does catch up with you. You feel like you were doing so well and then all of the sudden the ice cream comes screaming back saying it isn't done with you yet.

Glad you were still able to enjoy the taste and the trip.

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I think the sugar-dairy combo of ice cream is horrible for most people. It sucks when it does catch up with you. You feel like you were doing so well and then all of the sudden the ice cream comes screaming back saying it isn't done with you yet.

Glad you were still able to enjoy the taste and the trip.

Absolutely! I never really had ice cream before, I'm more of a cookie/brownie girl anyway. I baked a cake for my birthday last year, with caramel icing. It was super good, but even then it had WAY too much sugar. I had a bellyache almost immediately. I would prefer to try froyo as an occasional treat, but it will probably have the same effect! My tummy has finally recovered.

Being post whole 30 is funny. I feel as though I have nothing to say! My food has been mostly compliant still. Yesterday was weird, though. I had to go to TN for work (about 1.5 hr drive) and had my lunch packed up. I was actually there for a lunch meeting, but planned on not eating anything there. The meeting was from 11:30-1. I didn't want to be starving in the meeting so I stopped at a gas station and got some jerky and a banana. The jerky had some added sugar and other stuff, but it was the best option there. Then I had my lunch after the meeting. On my way back home I spotted a Fresh Market, so I popped in to check it out. I bought some figs and a jicama. I ate some of the figs in the car (half of them were bad! :angry: ) and they didn't really taste like anything?? I kept eating them (the good ones) to try and figure it out. Then while I was driving home I started to get really tired almost like my eyes were crossing. So I pulled over to take a little break and got some cashews (had peanut and/or cottonseed oil), an apple and an unsweet iced tea. Felt much better after. I don't know if it was just too much driving/monotony or if the figs triggered a sugar crash? They didn't taste sweet at all.

Last night at CF I got to talk with some of the people about food! They use the same farmer I do! And we all enthusiastically discussed fermented foods. I felt like a nerd. :wub: They started a Paleo Supper Club last week where the host prepares the meat, and everyone brings a side to share. Of course we were out of town that night and we will be for the next one! :o I'm pretty bummed, but I will make it to one eventually!! I think it is such a cool idea.

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Cookie/brownie girl here,too (at least I WAS) Ice cream has always given me a stomach ache-but I have never had a problem w/milk,cheese,yougrt,etc. Must be the sugar/milk combo. i've just always stayed away. it is good to learn what effects foods have on us-then determine if they are worth the aggravation. Always learning..... :rolleyes:

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Being post whole 30 is funny. I feel as though I have nothing to say! My food has been mostly compliant still.

I felt the same way... I really liked my W30 bubble, and was almost bummed to come back to post after I was no longer W30 compliant...

I think you're posts are great, and inspirational.. seems to me that you are keeping great post W30 conversations going!!

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OK, everyone who has Well Fed knows how amazing everything Melissa wrote in this book is. Everything I have made has been awesome. But last night I made the citrus carnitas and OH MY GOD my life will never be the same!!!!! I mean come on could anything be any better?! She never fails to amaze me. I still have some more things to make in it that I haven't tried yet. I think this will be the first cook book that I am actually able to cook entirely through! (although the hot plate combinations would probably take a while...)

Off to the farmer's market today!! We missed it last week being out of town. I can't wait for some fresh kale...hate that bagged stuff. There are so many freakin stems in there!

I completed 4 WODs this week at CF! Woohoo. Yesterday I was the last one (duh) and everyone was cheering me on!! I just love that. I mean how cool is it to be last and be excited about it?? Super cool.

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Laura- Just read thru this whole log-just FYI-if you ever have another accident w/ coconut aminos from whole foods-I am pretty sure they would replace or refund for you. I worked there for a while (hope to go back when done homeschooling the kids-LOVED working there) and the policy is they take returns on anything- you could even use it up, and go back w/ receipt and say you didn't like it-they will refund the purchase price. If you were to drop the jar in the parking lot, they'd replace it,etc. I've seen it happen, and they are really obliging about it. They really do want customers happy.

Also- Connecticut is really nice-especially in the fall. I grew up here, hopped around several other states due to my husband's work,including a 10 year stint in Maryland, then came back in 2005. I love it here- it's pretty expensive, but really has a lot of pluses. We are about 45 minutes from Bridgeport-maybe we can meet sometime !:)

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Laura- Just read thru this whole log-just FYI-if you ever have another accident w/ coconut aminos from whole foods-I am pretty sure they would replace or refund for you. I worked there for a while (hope to go back when done homeschooling the kids-LOVED working there) and the policy is they take returns on anything- you could even use it up, and go back w/ receipt and say you didn't like it-they will refund the purchase price. If you were to drop the jar in the parking lot, they'd replace it,etc. I've seen it happen, and they are really obliging about it. They really do want customers happy.

Also- Connecticut is really nice-especially in the fall. I grew up here, hopped around several other states due to my husband's work,including a 10 year stint in Maryland, then came back in 2005. I love it here- it's pretty expensive, but really has a lot of pluses. We are about 45 minutes from Bridgeport-maybe we can meet sometime ! :)

Man! I wish I had known about the aminos...it was a sad day when I dropped them. I love WF so much...wish I could afford more stuff there. I plan on trying to get a job there when we move. They are a great company, we talked about them several times while I was in business school. I have a lot of respect for WF as a business. I think a lot of people don't take into consideration what they are actually paying for when they shop at Walmart.

I love CT...I want to move there pretty bad! I have some things to take care of down here, and my dad is pretty ill so I'd like to spend more time with him while I can. Craig (my boyfriend) is from Bristol. Right now we are planning on moving into his parents house (really never thought I would say that!) and putting our stuff into storage until we get our job and house situation figured out. I've lived in GA my whole life and I'm over it...I really want to live in a town! I want to have seasons! I want to have snow (I'm sure that won't take long to get over!). Plus it's awesome how close everything is. You can be in NYC or Boston in a couple of hours, up to the mountains in NH or to the beach in RI.

Thanks for reading my log :) It would be fun to meet up someday.

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So, I think I need to break up with coconut butter. My last jar lasted like a month. I waited a little while before I got some more. First was artisana, this time I ordered the coconut manna from Nutiva because you get 2 15oz jars for the same price as 1 16oz Artisana. I got it on Saturday. The first jar is almost gone. I think I eat too much fat so I am going to try to keep it in check. I always feel like I need to add more even when I cook with the coconut oil or eat ground beef. I don't want to limit myself here but I think I could definitely lose the coconut butter + spoon habit.

Craig completed his Whole 30. He did great! Yesterday he had 4 beers. I was at work so I wasn't around. He was fast asleep when I got home. I was concerned about what he ate for dinner since none of the leftovers were touched. When he woke up he said he had a headache and he sounded like he was getting a cold. I attributed it to the gluten. He is trying to prepare for the bachelor parties this weekend. I told him he should decide if it's worth it to drink the beer based on how he feels. They will be doing a lot of drinking this weekend so he says he will stick to other forms of alcohol after this weekend. Should be interesting!

So we are leaving tomorrow night to drive to CT! Yaayy... :( It is a good 15 hour drive. We were going to fly, but it costs just as much (we borrow a hybrid from my dad's business so the gas to get up there isn't terrible) and wouldn't save us a ton of time so we are driving. We usually go overnight to get it out of the way. We took off Monday since he will probably be hungover on Sunday. This way we can leave late afternoon and still have time Monday to get situated.

I am relieved that neither of us are on a W30 for this trip. I picked up some cashews, jerky & smoked salmon from trader joe's for snacks. Some less than stellar ingredients (rice bran on the cashews, soy sauce in the jerky), but it will do.

So other than my coconut butter I think I am doing pretty good still post W30. I had some cheese on a burger last weekend. I ordered it without and they left it on so I ate it. My reaction wasn't as bad as ice cream, but I was still really uncomfortable afterwards. Today I had a work function at a country club that included lunch. They had a giant salad, veggie medley, country green beans (aka green beans & bacon), mashed potatoes, baked chicken, beef tenderloins in a red wine sauce & homemade biscuits. I skipped the taters and biscuits and my lunch was pretty good. I'm sure there was some flour in the beef, but I wasn't terribly concerned. We will see if it really affects me later. I was happy to eat what pretty much everyone else ate.

Oh! last night at work (my second job is at Old Navy...I just opened my availability up to Tues nights after a 6/7 week hiatus) my manager was talking about a contest we have going on. She said at the end we would have a pizza party and asked if I would come (she has no idea how I eat) and I was like "umm..well I don't eat pizza" and then my co-workers were all like "YOU DON'T EAT PIZZA?? :o " And one of them is in school to be a dietician and she gestured at my body up and down and said "YOU of all people don't eat pizza??" like everyone who is "in shape" (or whatever!!) eats pizza?! I didn't get that. If I am healthy then that means that I especially should be eating pizza?? Then after we were leaving she was talking about going to get McDonald's for dinner and literally said "Hey if a future dietician can eat it so can you" (talking to another coworker) I was like :angry::o . Ugh. I haven't told her that I want to pursue holistic nutrition (and clearly I'm not going to) but how SCARY is that??

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Oh! last night at work (my second job is at Old Navy...I just opened my availability up to Tues nights after a 6/7 week hiatus) my manager was talking about a contest we have going on. She said at the end we would have a pizza party and asked if I would come (she has no idea how I eat) and I was like "umm..well I don't eat pizza" and then my co-workers were all like "YOU DON'T EAT PIZZA?? :o " And one of them is in school to be a dietician and she gestured at my body up and down and said "YOU of all people don't eat pizza??" like everyone who is "in shape" (or whatever!!) eats pizza?! I didn't get that. If I am healthy then that means that I especially should be eating pizza?? Then after we were leaving she was talking about going to get McDonald's for dinner and literally said "Hey if a future dietician can eat it so can you" (talking to another coworker) I was like :angry::o . Ugh. I haven't told her that I want to pursue holistic nutrition (and clearly I'm not going to) but how SCARY is that??

This is nuts! I've heard that sentiment before from friends and family -- that if you're avoiding pizza and junk/treats, it's because you want to lose weight, and if you're already slim/in shape then you have no reason to say no. It makes me so sad that a future dietician seems to feel that way too :(

Big congrats to Craig for finishing his W30!

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Oh! last night at work (my second job is at Old Navy...I just opened my availability up to Tues nights after a 6/7 week hiatus) my manager was talking about a contest we have going on. She said at the end we would have a pizza party and asked if I would come (she has no idea how I eat) and I was like "umm..well I don't eat pizza" and then my co-workers were all like "YOU DON'T EAT PIZZA?? " And one of them is in school to be a dietician and she gestured at my body up and down and said "YOU of all people don't eat pizza??" like everyone who is "in shape" (or whatever!!) eats pizza?! I didn't get that. If I am healthy then that means that I especially should be eating pizza?? Then after we were leaving she was talking about going to get McDonald's for dinner and literally said "Hey if a future dietician can eat it so can you" (talking to another coworker) I was like . Ugh. I haven't told her that I want to pursue holistic nutrition (and clearly I'm not going to) but how SCARY is that??

This is scary!! I mean, really?? I have been thinking the last few days that I would like to better educate myself so I am able to help others but I don't even know where to begin. Community college classes? Books? What about getting certified as a physical trainer or is that certification considered a "joke" in the Whole30/paleo world? I honestly have no idea.

On another note, I worked last night, and apparently our daughter asked hubby why he was feeding her pizza for dinner. She said it won't help her grow strong. Needless to say hubby was not impressed, lol. Baby steps with these two ;-)

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Can a mod please move this to the post-W30 log forum? I was wondering what all the arrows meant!! :blink:

Health professionals are really scary. You are right, jhmomi, unfortunately the majority of people in health care seem to be like sheep. I guess the whole nutrition & health relationship seems so obvious to me now that I don't get how doctors & nurses can be so unhealthy, but I digress.

So our trip was fun! The drive was LONG and the trip was SHORT. But the good/BAD news is we are driving up again a week from Saturday ( :wacko: ) and staying for a week ( :wub: ) for the wedding! I am pretty excited about it. It should be a bit more "Autumn-y" in a couple weeks, too.

I finally got to go to the Big E which is a HUGE fair for basically all of New England. We also went apple picking!!! Like I need more freaking apples in my life. I think I am forming an apple habit here...it doesn't help that we bought like 18 pounds. Oh well! I could have bought 18 pounds of butter or chocolate, right?? The fair was great...I was a little afraid of what I would end up eating based on fair fare (hehe). Luckily the fair showcases each house in New England so I got some smoked salmon on a stick from the Maine house, a pickled egg from the Massachussetts house and some chocolate covered fruit from the New Hampshire house. The fruit was awesome...super sweet but deeelicious! My boyfriend's mom wanted a baked potato from the Maine house and I was going to get one too, but the line was super long so we said forget it!

Travelling off W30 was a nice change. We stuck to jerky, fruit & nuts for our road food. We brought some pastured eggs with us for breakfasts, our coconut oil (duh) and his mom had a nice stock of veggies at the house for us. The worst thing I ate was some BBQ ribs and french fries on Sunday. I felt really full afterwards.

I think I am going to do my next W30 when we get back in town from the wedding to prepare me for the holidays. Also to control this fruit & coconut butter issue I have going on. I'm trying not to stress too much because it could be worse!

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Health professionals are really scary. You are right, jhmomi, unfortunately the majority of people in health care seem to be like sheep. I guess the whole nutrition & health relationship seems so obvious to me now that I don't get how doctors & nurses can be so unhealthy, but I digress.

Many doctors and nurses are overweight and don't exercise, but many are very healthy even though they aren't Paleo. And as for being like sheep, there are very specific guidelines and protocols for many areas of health care. The personal opinions of some professionals may differ a bit from what is generally recommended in the medical profession. I worked in post-partum as a RN and may have wanted all Moms to breastfeed, but I had to support a patient's choice to bottle feed instead. I could educate to a point and answer questions, but it wasn't my decision to make. This is my very humble opinion, so take it for what it is. Just because you and I feel great eating this way, doesn't mean everyone else needs to do it too. I honestly have a very healthy, fit and active friend that is a chiropractor. He is vegan. It works for him. It really does. His choice, not mine, but just because he isn't eating a Paleo diet, doesn't mean he is unhealthy. Another friend of mine is competitive and almost made it to the Olympic Trials as a rower in his mid-20s. He eats meat but also a lot of vegetarian meals and a lot of grains because his wife is vegan. He is 40 and competes in Ultra Marathons and Ironmans and is very healthy and fit. Just a little food for thought...

Sounds like a fabulous trip to New England. Post some pictures for us!

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Many doctors and nurses are overweight and don't exercise, but many are very healthy even though they aren't Paleo. And as for being like sheep, there are very specific guidelines and protocols for many areas of health care. The personal opinions of some professionals may differ a bit from what is generally recommended in the medical profession. I worked in post-partum as a RN and may have wanted all Moms to breastfeed, but I had to support a patient's choice to bottle feed instead. I could educate to a point and answer questions, but it wasn't my decision to make. This is my very humble opinion, so take it for what it is. Just because you and I feel great eating this way, doesn't mean everyone else needs to do it too. I honestly have a very healthy, fit and active friend that is a chiropractor. He is vegan. It works for him. It really does. His choice, not mine, but just because he isn't eating a Paleo diet, doesn't mean he is unhealthy. Another friend of mine is competitive and almost made it to the Olympic Trials as a rower in his mid-20s. He eats meat but also a lot of vegetarian meals and a lot of grains because his wife is vegan. He is 40 and competes in Ultra Marathons and Ironmans and is very healthy and fit. Just a little food for thought...

All very true...I realize I sounded a bit paleo-snobbish in my previous post. I think I am still trying to figure it all out. I think I'm feeling this way because of my father's health. It's not that I have a whole vendetta against grains and such, either. I mostly have an issue with physicians being nothing more than a drug dealer. I feel like some doctors are just throwing medication at people like my father (granted, cancer is a whole different beast) and not asking enough about the rest of their lives like activity level and diet. Today my father came into work (I work for him) and he was drinking a coca-cola. I could hardly pay attention to what he was saying because I was looking at him (he looks pretty bad) and all I could think about was how shitty that drink is. I mean I guess it just drives me a little nutty, but I don't say anything. I don't want to upset him over something silly like a soda. It is his choice, and everyone's choice what they eat or drink. I really don't force the whole 30 or paleo on anyone because I don't like anything forced on me. I think I am just a true believer in the right nutrition (at the very least avoiding packaged foods, you can get grains from whole foods) and a little horrified at our country as a whole.

I really do want my dad to do the whole 30, but he is quite stubborn and I don't think he would do it, even for me. He is falling apart. He has cancer and hepatitis C as well as sever foot pain. His skin is very thin and it breaks and bleeds at the slightest bump. His hair is coarse and the poor thing is out of breath from walking down the hall. It's so hard to watch someone deteriorate in front of you and there is nothing you can do to help them. I know it is out of my hands and I am really trying to stay positive but it is really so hard.

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Laura - I am so terribly sorry about your father's illness. It has to be so difficult for you to watch him get worse. And it is scary as hell to have to deal with an ill parent. I lost my father to cancer six years ago. His diagnosis came very late and he passed only seven weeks after we learned he had cancer. Just love your father like you are doing and accept his choices even though it's not easy. It's really all you can do. I found that a good cry was helpful sometimes too. Releases a lot of tension, at least for me. There is no way of knowing how or why your Dad developed cancer. My father smoked for over fifty years but was otherwise quite healthy and fit. He ended up with bladder cancer. Go figure. Hang in there!

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Thanks so much for your condolences, Susan! It means a lot. I don't talk about it much...I think I just don't know what to say most of the time. I also don't want to vocalize my concerns because I really do want to be positive, especially for him. You're right, there is no way of knowing exactly what caused the cancer, and there's nothing to reverse it. Really sorry about your dad, too. Cancer is so hard because you do have to watch them suffer, but at the same time you get to cherish the time you have. Bittersweet for sure.

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