DesertCat March '15 Whole30 Log

[desertcat]

Day 24 - 

 

Veggie Plate w/Southwest Ranch Dip - Blueberry Chocolate Banana Vanilla Coconut Almond Espresso Smoothie w/L-Glutamine & Collagen - Beef & Pork Chocolate Chili & Crispy Potatoes

 

[desertcat]

Day 25 - 

 

Bacon, 1 Honeycrisp & 1 Granny Smith Apple - Pistachios & Pumpkin Seeds - Buffalo Chicken Salad w/Kalamata & Green Olives, Grape Tomatoes, & Guacamole

 

[desertcat]

Day 26 - 

 

Almonds & Cashews - Mexican Chicken Soup - Chocolate Blueberry Cherry Vanilla Almond Espresso Smoothie w/L-Glutamine

 

[desertcat]

Day 27 - 

 

Smoothie: Avocado Cherry Pineapple Coconut Spinach Lemon Vanilla Almond - Thai Turkey Meatballs in Tomato-Coconut Sauce, Shiitake Mushrooms & Avocado, with Jicama Fries

 

Same meatballs as in day 3.  

 

Can you tell I have avocados going bad? LOL

[desertcat]

Day 28 - 

 

Pork and vegetable soup - Watermelon

[desertcat]

Day 29 (Final Day) - 

 

Watermelon - Pineapple Zucchini Coconut Curry Bison over Crispy Potatoes - Pineapple - Macadamia Nuts - Chocolate

 

 

This is actually my last day.  I have Non-24-Hr sleep disorder and so I will actually be completing over 30 24-hr days when I wake up tomorrow.  I could have put in extra time, I suppose, but my husband is ready to start introducing and it's been 30 "real days" so I feel comfortable with the decision.

 

I'll write up a reaction post tomorrow.

[desertcat]

As far as short-term benefits from doing this Whole30, there was zero.  I didn't feel any different all month.  I didn't lose (or gain) any weight, so I lost this DietBet round, the first one I've lost in 9 months.  I think I was probably overeating on calories by 200-500 per day, so it was more like "maintenance" calories.  I'm not surprised, I knew not logging nutrition is a bad idea for me, and I've already been dieting for like 14 months, so I was already eating very healthy, and in touch with proper meal sizes, and having already minimized my sugar consumption way down.  I think someone who has been on a more "normal" diet is who will see a big weight loss impact from whole30.

 

I'm still bloated all the time.  My IBS didn't magically clear up.

 

Only time will tell if this was the right tactic for my IBS, I have about another 2 weeks of natural antibiotic treatment, and then it will take time to build up a healthy microbiome again.  I will try to come back on here and update whether those worked or not.

 

This wasn't as hard as it seemed at first, and it was a good challenge to go without wheat or dairy for a month.  I was able to trial what strict Paleo is like.  We'll see how reintroduction goes.  One of my biggest challenges with treating my IBS is that I don't have a noticeable allergic reaction to anything at all.  Not as a child either.  Whether I eat a huge unhealthy meal, or just veggies or broth or just rice, or whatever meal, I have always bloated up right away just the same.  I originally just had the diarrhea type IBS, starting in high school, and I used to get sudden diarrhea just randomly - could have eaten a doughnut, or could have eaten chicken breasts and steamed veggies.  So I'm hoping to see a big reaction to something specific, otherwise this was kind of useless.  If this doesn't work, I guess I'll do the FODMAPs diet for 2 weeks or so.  Maybe all this time it was actually onion, and garlic, and other super common FODMAPs.

 

I am staying off wheat and gluten, not even going to test it.  Whether or not I can see a reaction, I think there is plenty of evidence that wheat is not good for anybody.  I am going to test lactose, and whey, and casein though.   I'm pretty cool with minimizing dairy, but I would be very crushed to not be able to eat any kind of cheese or yogurt whatsoever.

[ladyshanny]

I've moved your log to the "Post Whole30 Log" section of the forum since you are clearly not following a Whole30 as written and that could be confusing for anyone happening along your posts.

[desertcat]

IBS update

 

So, it's been about 2.5 months.  My IBS has definitely started to see improvement, especially concerning constipation.  I've still had to take laxatives occasionally, but no longer regularly, and sometimes I've been able to poop at least once per day for several days in a row.  This is huge progress that I have not been able to see before, and I mostly credit it to my pill regimen, but I also think it's super important to change your diet to primarily fat or primarily protein (i.e. low carb) in order to keep your intestinal bacteria on the right path.  The Whole30 diet is a good one while you're doing this antibiotic regimen so that you aren't trying to feed and kill your bacteria at the same time.  But any low-sugar, clean diet would probably be great for improving IBS in general.

 

I continue to be totally grain-free, not even eating quinoa or buckwheat, etc.  I have gone back to eating dairy, but a lot less than I was eating.  I trialed eating only raw dairy, non-cow dairy, but I honestly couldn't detect much of a difference, not even sure there was any, so I'm cool with eating cow or goat or sheep dairy, mixing it up, raw or pasteurized.

 

I am still taking daily digestive enzymes, but switched to Mega-Zyme daily, and Houston Enzymes AFP-Peptizyde for when I eat out.  I take 450mg of Magnesium supplement daily, and I really wish a doctor had told me to try Magnesium, like first thing, instead of fiber supplements, Miralax, or probiotics.  I am not taking those, and did not find them too helpful before.

 

My bowels are still very unpredictable, unfortunately, and I still often need a bathroom suddenly, with little warning and often lots of pain.  But I have a lot less daily intestinal pain now than I used to.  I think my ongoing diet and exercise regimen will take time to fix things.  I may try a strong probiotic later.