February 1st

[Britishgal]

Zipperific...leftovers wre marvellous for lunch or even breakfast...or fry up shredded leftover veggies in a hash type affair with cold meat or eggs

I'm working today (I work for myself from home and I took yesterday off) and I'm certainly slower than normal!! Plus I'd usually run on a Tuesday morning but I'm going tomorrow instead ;(

Breakfast was 2 egg omelette with shredded chicken, spinach and heaps of garlicky mushrooms and I just had my chili with a few spoonfuls of red cabbage I pickled and canned a few months ago.

As it's not my first go I'm not missing quite a few things as I am kind of used to it but I will never get over the loss of dairy!! I've never drunk milk as it makes me queasy but cheese, cream and sour cream, not to mention proper butter, are the things I am currently grieving for!!

[stravajunkie]

Good morning!

 

Yesterday = not a great start.

 

M1 handful of raisins and almonds. Heading out on a hill ride, still not confident enough to start with no carbs. Ride was great though, steady energy, 1 hour 20 minutes, 1,500 ft climbing

M2 ground beef, spinach and lettuce salad, 2 handfuls almonds/raisins

M3 LARGE serving of squash, 2 handfuls almonds

 

So: GOAL roundup for the day:

 

Balanced meals = only 1 of 3

No snacking = fail. Most of the meal related nuts were eaten during prep or cleanup

Make something new = YES! baked the squash.

No fruit = fail. Raisins. I crave something tasty after meals. I think this is partly due to the fact that often 'meals' are pretty darn boring. I need to toughen up on the fruit, AND make more flavorful meals.

 

I will plan on doing an Asian stir fry for either lunch or dinner-something with FLAVOR

 

My kids are sick and so am I, except without the option of slowing down. SO, going to try to be patient with myself today and just GET THROUGH it. I can rest this evening.

[greenhm]

Greenhm, there are lots of ways to get fat.  Coconut milk, oil, shreds, flakes.  Homemade mayo. Homemade sunshine sauce/pesto/babaganoush etc. Fattier cuts of meat.  Olives.  "Finishing" oils like sesame etc. drizzled over your veggies.  Fattier canned fish (eg. sardines). Whole eggs.

 

You're right in not wanting to overdo it on nuts, they can be hard on some people digestively (bloat, gas, diarrhea) and they are a "food without brakes" for many others.  We recommend nuts in moderation.  Same goes for nut butters.

 

Thanks for the reply! I know what counts as healthy fats, it's more the feeling of using them 'at random.' It's been an adjustment to know how to use them. Most of those items, to me, aren't stand alone - like coconut milk, now that we are discouraged from making smoothies I honestly don't know what I'd use coconut milk for. I don't eat mayonaise, haven't for 5+ years, so I'm not sure psychologically I should be creating something I used to eat too much of. I do love olives. I should try drizzling oil over vegetables, that could work. I should try sardines . Ok if whole eggs count as a fat (I thought it was the protein portion of the meal plans) then I get that nearly every M1 and if I need a snack I have a hb egg with some veggies. Yea I don't tend to eat a lot of nuts, so ideally I'd like to limit them to one meal a day or IF I need a snack. The almond butter I have I might put with some celery once I pick some up .

 

Hi Greenhm,

 

Hope you're feeling better today. I think you're doing well if you didn't have a headache!

 

I made a bit of a list of a few "easy" emergency recipes I could think of for moments that I feel a bit bler - for me, it's things like canned tuna with salad, soups I can reheat, or chicken broth with meat and veges thrown in. Maybe that would help if you haven't done that already?

 

Just on the veges you mentioned above, I usually roast Brussels sprouts in the oven, just cut them in half, throw them in a roasting pan with some duck fat or ghee, sprinkle with diced bacon or prosciutto (if you can find Whole30 ok version without sugar etc), and put the lot in the oven at about 180-200 degrees Celsius. Usually takes around 20-30mins until they start to kind of caramelize and go all tasty looking!

 

This might give you a bit more fat than just steaming them, and a bit more variety on the plate if you added other steamed veges too?

 

Alternatively could do garlic zucchini, that's usually pretty nice (or it is with butter anyway!) -  melt ghee, add garlic and then zucchini sticks to a saucepan and cook until getting a little soft (I hate overcooked zucchini. Ugh!). Could add a small squeeze of lemon and some chopped parsley at the end if being fancy.

 

Thanks for the reply! It was really helpful for me to see examples of meals where you're adding fats. I'm not sure that the tuna I have at the moment is compliant. I have to do groceries for some items I forgot to get on the weekend, but we've been hit with two major storms in the last week (one last night) and it's not safe to drive on our roads yet .  We are making bone broth today as a soup base. We have some chili and soups frozen at the ready which is great . Thanks for the brussel's sprouts idea - I don't have any compliant bacon, but the prosciutto we have is . I don't have any ghee either...I was going to make clarified butter once I can find a cheese cloth. Don't have duck fat - is that something, like lard, that you can buy? We have 2-3 veggies with dinner to keep variety and cycle through the veggies we have :)The zucchini also sounds great!

[greenhm]

Here are the two ways I've done meal planning that I found successful.

 

A: When I lived really close to a grocery store, I wouldn't do one big shopping trip. I would look up a recipe online and then go out any buy what I needed just for that night. Pros: I wasted less food because I only bought exactly what I needed. Con: You can get caught up in convenience food if you're tired by the time you get to the store, and you're more likely to sway from your healthy choices IMO (for example, saying, oh why bother with this recipe when that premade pot pie is sitting there in the deli). It can also be more expensive because you're not pairing meals together that use like ingredients.

 

B: On Sat or Sun morning, I sit down with my coffee and open pinterest and a word doc. I start finding meals I would like to try, or have tried, and see if I can find similar ingredients (like I never use a whole can of tomato paste, so if I have two recipes that both use it, I don't feel like a food waster). For this W30, I used an excel document and listed out the date, day of the week, M1, M2, and M3- and a column for any variations for the hubbys food as he isn't really doing the w30. I plan out as much as I can, and then write up a big list and go shopping once. In reality I usually have to hit the store at the end of the week too for some more lettuce and random things I didnt include. Each morning I leave a note of what we're making so whoeever is home first can start cooking or prepping. I am more likely to stay on plan this way because I have everything available to me, BUT I do find I waste food sometimes because the amount I bought is too much and it goes bad by the end of the week. I hate wasting food! We make 4 servings of each meal and have leftovers for lunch, that has made life so much easier, and any additional leftovers gets frozen for lazy meals or when we're too tired to cook but don't want to be unhealthy and eat out.

 

Option B is more time consuming, but I found that if I don't go to the store with a list, I spend more money and waste more food. I hope this helps

Thanks for your reply! That is helpful I am not that far from a grocery store, so I think it's that I have to get more adjusted to going more frequently rathe than trying to buy everything at once. I have so many recipes on Pinterest. I should just take some time and go through it to make a spreadsheet, see how it works for me . Great suggestions!

[greenhm]

Day 3. I think I am finally getting that headache I was warned about, although it's tied to something else. I worked out for the first time in 2 weeks yesterday, so I have some muscle tension/stiffness from that, which can trigger my headaches. I also started to get a sore throat !! I am crossing my fingers that it won't turn into strep...I haven't had strep in years! I wonder if getting sick is a side effect of some of these changes...I'm going to have an Epsom salts bath and see if that helps my muscles. And of course, keep drinking lots of water .

 

We are in the process of trying to find a local farmer/butcher to get our meats from, rather than Costco and the grocery store. I have no compliant bacon...managed to find one at the grocery store that has all good ingredients, except cane sugar. Darn it! Most people I've talked to say that ham and bacon are often cured with sugar, even if it's from the farmer. I guess you can specify that you don't want any added sugar? Work in progress...

 

The next hurdle is trying to make clarified butter and/or ghee. Ideally, I'd love to find ghee because making it for me feels daunting...don't know why, I guess because it's out of my comfort zone.

 

________________________

 

Just went downstairs to pull out some smoked salmon to change up my breakfast....all of the smoked salmon I have (three different brands we've accumulated over time) have brown sugar and were made on "maple planks"... :'(

[ShannonM816]

I don't have any ghee either...I was going to make clarified butter once I can find a cheese cloth. Don't have duck fat - is that something, like lard, that you can buy? We have 2-3 veggies with dinner to keep variety and cycle through the veggies we have :)The zucchini also sounds great!

You can roast veggies in any compliant oil -- I often use coconut oil because it's what I always have. My favorite, especially with brussel sprouts, is when I've made bacon and can roast them in bacon fat. Doesn't happen often because I don't use much bacon, but something to remember if you ever do have some.

For adding fats, try sauces and dressings. I love this Moroccan Dipping Sauce at the bottom of this page: http://theclothesmakethegirl.com/2009/06/09/the-best-chicken-you-will-ever-eat-ever/

Or pesto sauce with no cheese. I've seen recipes for whole30 compliant Hollandaise sauce. You could drizzle any of these on vegetables or meat. If you do decide to try mayo, you can add herbs and spices to it to make dip for veggies. Mayo also would let you make tuna, chicken, or egg salad, although you can also do those with avocado. Toasted coconut flakes can give you a crunchy topping for salads or to add a bit of texture to a creamy soup.

Sometimes I throw leftover meat and a bunch of chopped vegetables into a skillet to cook and add some coconut milk to make it creamier. Or use it to make a creamy soup.

[Britishgal]

I'd try mayo.

I've always loathed the stuff but made some during my first whole30 just because the process with a stick blender seemed impossible and I wanted to try it...I love it now

[ladyshanny]

WIth coconut milk you can make a curry or a latte (I have one every day with breakfast) or you can drizzle it into soup. Whole eggs do have enough fat that they can be counted as both protein and fat. If your egg breakfast is getting you 4-5 hours between meals then you should be fine on fat. If you find yourself getting hungry early you might need to add more fat.

[MissSidney]

 

I am finding including fats hard - like the chicken tonight, not cooking it in a pan with oil and the grocery store has consistently been out of avocados this week (we're being hit by some big storms on the East Coast of Canada...). So I should have some green olives randomly on the side? Coat the chicken (it's whole) in olive oil before baking? I don't eat that many nuts and in the last two days I've been including more nuts...but I don't want to eat nuts with two meals a day. I should buy some celery because I'd eat that with almond butter! But just having almond butter, again feeling random about what to do here with the fats....

 

I am noticing that as well.  I have just been grabbing a little handful of cashews as I think of it. (last night it was after dinner when I was doing dishes. whoops)  Not sure I am getting enough with EVOO and ghee as I cook.

[MissSidney]

Greenhm, there are lots of ways to get fat.  Coconut milk, oil, shreds, flakes.  Homemade mayo. Homemade sunshine sauce/pesto/babaganoush etc. Fattier cuts of meat.  Olives.  "Finishing" oils like sesame etc. drizzled over your veggies.  Fattier canned fish (eg. sardines). Whole eggs.

 

You're right in not wanting to overdo it on nuts, they can be hard on some people digestively (bloat, gas, diarrhea) and they are a "food without brakes" for many others.  We recommend nuts in moderation.  Same goes for nut butters.

 

That's the problem with me, I'm too picky.  No coconut, no olives.  ladyshanny, a whole egg can be one fat?  I do eat eggs for breakfast.  Guess I missed that.  I am going to have to find more uses for my homemade mayo other than tuna.

 

Thanks for the ideas!

[greenhm]

Thanks for the replies, everyone! This is what I love about these forums

 

 

You can roast veggies in any compliant oil -- I often use coconut oil because it's what I always have. My favorite, especially with brussel sprouts, is when I've made bacon and can roast them in bacon fat. Doesn't happen often because I don't use much bacon, but something to remember if you ever do have some.

For adding fats, try sauces and dressings. I love this Moroccan Dipping Sauce at the bottom of this page: http://theclothesmakethegirl.com/2009/06/09/the-best-chicken-you-will-ever-eat-ever/

Or pesto sauce with no cheese. I've seen recipes for whole30 compliant Hollandaise sauce. You could drizzle any of these on vegetables or meat. If you do decide to try mayo, you can add herbs and spices to it to make dip for veggies. Mayo also would let you make tuna, chicken, or egg salad, although you can also do those with avocado. Toasted coconut flakes can give you a crunchy topping for salads or to add a bit of texture to a creamy soup.

Sometimes I throw leftover meat and a bunch of chopped vegetables into a skillet to cook and add some coconut milk to make it creamier. Or use it to make a creamy soup.

 

Thank you for the ideas. I know her website is praised highly for having lots of Whole 30 compliant recipes and ideas I'm going to work on a meal plan for the week this afternoon and will check her site out more. I'm not a huge 'creamy' person, but I should look up some recipes using coconut milk and do some experimentation

 

I'd try mayo.

I've always loathed the stuff but made some during my first whole30 just because the process with a stick blender seemed impossible and I wanted to try it...I love it now

 

It's not that I don't like mayo, the problem is that it was the opposite lol. I cut it out over 5 years ago now and don't miss it at all. But I do miss deviled eggs and making those with avocado doesn't "do it" for me. I may make the compliant mayo for the sake of trying to make deviled eggs . Then other uses for mayo, like egg salad or tuna - I could try mixing it with tuna and having it on a romaine boat as a 'sandwhich.' I haven't had sandwhiches in over 3 years so I'm a bit hesitant/unsure of what to do with foods that I would have in the past eaten between two loaves of bread or on a tortilla wrap .

 

WIth coconut milk you can make a curry or a latte (I have one every day with breakfast) or you can drizzle it into soup. Whole eggs do have enough fat that they can be counted as both protein and fat. If your egg breakfast is getting you 4-5 hours between meals then you should be fine on fat. If you find yourself getting hungry early you might need to add more fat.

 

I do love curry, but we always ate that with rice. I could try it with a veggie and meat mix without the rice bed. My husband doesn't like all of those different ways you can eat cauliflower (like to replace rice)...but I'm hoping to keep trying it and change his palate . I don't drink coffee much because it is really hard on my stomach. That and it's definitely a reason to 'sugar seek' rather than enjoying coffee (for me). Eggs work really well for me, it's just trying to be careful not to get sick of em'

[DylanAngel]

Hi All, hope it's not too late to join the thread.  Started my Whole 30 on Sunday the 1st in an effort to regulate sleeping patterns, kick my diet soda/fake sugar/caffeine addictions, and stop my stomach from "talking" after every meal.

 

I normally eat close to Primal, but have been going off something terrible throughout and past the holidays.  I also started a new job in November and the stress of new surroundings put me back into comfort eating mode.  I realized that when I ate right, I was able to battle all of my demons better, so back to it!

 

Day 3 and I can't believe I'm not acting like a serial killer without my Diet Dew! 

[DylanAngel]

 Eggs work really well for me, it's just trying to be careful not to get sick of em'

 

This.  I found making the egg "muffins" to be a little more tolerable than just scrambling/frying. Also more portable!

[Katy19]

As it's not my first go I'm not missing quite a few things as I am kind of used to it but I will never get over the loss of dairy!! I've never drunk milk as it makes me queasy but cheese, cream and sour cream, not to mention proper butter, are the things I am currently grieving for!!

 

I am with you! 

 

Hate milk, but cream, cheese, sour cream and butter are my favourites when I'm stressed, sad, angry, happy, celebrating....! 

 

I'm currently using mayo, avocado and tahini dressings to make things feel "creamy" which is helping a bit. 

[Katy19]

Thanks for the reply! It was really helpful for me to see examples of meals where you're adding fats. I'm not sure that the tuna I have at the moment is compliant. I have to do groceries for some items I forgot to get on the weekend, but we've been hit with two major storms in the last week (one last night) and it's not safe to drive on our roads yet .  We are making bone broth today as a soup base. We have some chili and soups frozen at the ready which is great . Thanks for the brussel's sprouts idea - I don't have any compliant bacon, but the prosciutto we have is . I don't have any ghee either...I was going to make clarified butter once I can find a cheese cloth. Don't have duck fat - is that something, like lard, that you can buy? We have 2-3 veggies with dinner to keep variety and cycle through the veggies we have :)The zucchini also sounds great!

 

Hope the storms have eased off for you now.

 

Yep, you can buy duck fat and ghee here in Australia. I think it's the same thing as lard? It was tough to find years ago but you can get it a little more easily now. For ghee maybe try an Asian or Indian grocery store if you have one near you. I certainly couldn't be bothered making it! For duck fat, maybe try a fancy grocery store? That was the first place I found it here. 

 

I am lucky as there is a butcher in Sydney which is fantastic, everything is pasture fed and most things are organic - so they sell pastured duck fat, chicken that hasn't been grain fed, and lots of good bones for broths etc. They even have bacon that's ok, and wild caught smoked salmon that is frozen but doesn't have anything added.

 

Hopefully you can find somewhere like that near you too!

[zipperific]

My Well Fed books arrived today.  Wow-  just amazing.  The section about how to do food prep on Sunday is going to be a lifesaver for me I think!

 

But- am I the only one who is a little grossed out by the fact that mayo is made with a raw egg?  I need to get over this so I can eat some mayo!

 

I love reading about everyone's progress!!  It's nice to feel like I am not alone.  

[joseybee]

I love the Sunday food prep! I really love to cook so spending a good chunk of the day in the kitchen with my music going is therapeutic to me. Then having everything chopped, pre-made and frozen saves me so much time and stress when packing my lunches and prepping dinner. I wish I had a friend doing the W30 to cook with!

[Katy19]

My Well Fed books arrived today.  Wow-  just amazing.  The section about how to do food prep on Sunday is going to be a lifesaver for me I think!

 

But- am I the only one who is a little grossed out by the fact that mayo is made with a raw egg?  I need to get over this so I can eat some mayo!

 

I love reading about everyone's progress!!  It's nice to feel like I am not alone.  

 

I went "Well Fed" crazy last night and did the merguez bangers with tahini dressing, a green salad with lemon and olive oil and roasted spaghetti squash. It was GREAT! I was honestly thrilled to the point I declared it would probably be fine for us to be Whole365... 

 

On the mayo - I was tormented as a child by my Mother who fed me banana smoothies with a raw egg and wheatgerm whenever she thought I wasn't eating enough (believe me, I was). So I'm not the biggest fan of raw egg either, however I love homemade mayo. Definitely worth doing, I don't notice the egg at all - it's also great as a base for dressings to give you a creamy option if you get bored of vinaigrette, or as a dip for veges if you get bored of plain vege sticks - basil aioli - yum!

[Higgles]

Day 3 in the books and I'm still feeling pretty good. My stomach has been iffy the past few mornings, but I didn't eat that poorly before beginning so I find it hard to believe that my body may be reacting to the change in food already. My face has also broken out to the point where I look like a high schooler, again, I think this may be other factors but who knows.

 

I didn't get a crash at 330ish like I did on day 2, but I was hungry in the afternoon like I didn't eat enough for lunch but I think I did (Mediteranean salad with avocado, artichoke hearts and olives; pork chop; layered ratatouille (veggies)). I reached for some cashews in the late afternoon thinking they would tide me over but I ended up overeating. I don't normally think nuts are a trigger food for me, I think it has more to do with me not having enough discipline to not snack in between meals. I was pretty disappointed in myself over that.

 

Also, as I'm sure all of you are doing, I'm checking labels way more than I'm used to. My Yogi tea that I keep in my office seemed non-threatening to me, but I checked the label and there is Stevia leaf in there! Luckily I have to go to the store for other items today anyway and will pick up some tea for my afternoons at work. My loose leaf tea at home is safe but I use the bags for convenience at work, I didn't realize tea could be a problem.

 

Last thought of the morning, its hard for me to not jump on the scale in the morning. I used to "officially" track my weight on Sundays, but I would still jump on the scale most mornings just to see how I'm doing. I probably should completely remove it from the bathroom as my husband doesn't care about that thing, I can see myself jumping on it for a quick peek if I don't.

 

Good luck to everyone on Day 4!

[Britishgal]

Day 3 and I am permenantly at the edge of bursting into tears...little things that I'd have shrugged off normally are huge in my mind and really upsetting.

I never had this before in whole30...I haven't been well though for a week or so with a cold so maybe it's just everything coming together ;(

[Higgles]

Day 3 and I am permenantly at the edge of bursting into tears...little things that I'd have shrugged off normally are huge in my mind and really upsetting.

I never had this before in whole30...I haven't been well though for a week or so with a cold so maybe it's just everything coming together ;(

 

Oh no! I've had those days and I wasn't on the W30. This is meant to reset (or startle?) your hormones and body, so even if you've done one before I assume you still may get different reactions. This is my first so I really have no idea. Maybe try to take a step back from everyone today or drink some tea and get some rest. I hope you feel better!

[stravajunkie]

I can relate to everyone who is feeling rotten. I've had a raging sore throat, sinus pressure, fever....yuck. And of course, several of my kids are cycling through this too.

 

Yesterday:

 

M1 Frittata with kale salad

M2 'deconstructed' burger w/0 the cheese, and green salad

M3 Large serving of steamed veggies, with lots of coconut oil and salt, and a couple handfuls of almonds

 

Goals:

Balanced meals: 2/3, and 3 was a problem more because I felt so rotten by the time I got home I could hardly stand up. So I'm saying that was pretty good

No snacking: YES! victory....

No fruit: YES,

Make something new: No, because I ended up being gone all day. 2 goals today: get the right kind of olive oil to make mayo, and plan dinner ahead because we have a crazy evening of getting kids to different sports tonight.

 

I also ordered and received the book 'Well Fed'. It IS amazing! I do a lot of meal pre-prep already, but there are tons of ideas that will further improve things, and cut down on time. I love it.

 

Best of luck everybody!

[Lions50]

Hi,

Started February 3rd - so made it through Day 1. Scrambled eggs, greens, tomato and chicken for breakfast today.  Heading for the gym soon. 

 

Tried to get my husband to join me on Whole30, but he can't give up his bacon.  I've ordered some beef bacon on-line which should be arriving today.  Hopefully I can persuade him to give up his nitrates soon. 

 

Looking forward to checking in with the group regularly for encouragement and support.

Good luck to all.

 

[Lions50]

Also I managed to make the Mayo yesterday - so feeling pretty pleased with myself. Going to make the chocolate chill for dinner tonight.

[DylanAngel]

Day 4 and the timeline is dead on.  Got stuck in major traffic and am used to chugging my choice of caffeine, Diet Dew.  When I reached down for my drink today, it was water.  And while I'm proud of myself, I find myself ill at ease at my desk right now.

 

I keep telling myself that I owe this to my body.  That I quit smoking almost 5 years ago (brutal) so I can do this.  That 30 days is chump change in the big piggy bank of life...but I feel angry for some reason.  Thank goodness my coworker brings in his dachshund; nothing like a little doggie petting to bring down the blood pressure! 

 

Keep up the good fight everyone!