Nuthatch Rancher Posted May 22, 2015 Share Posted May 22, 2015 Saturday begins my second launch in Whole 30. It has been a long time. Somehow I am now inhabiting a body that I don't even recognize - way overweight, weak, creaky. I'm nervous about the time and complexity of all the planning and prep - not an easy project with my personality type and my life. Have also learned over the years that starting something like this elicits immediate and strong sabotage from the fam. Am fully expecting grocery bags of chips, cookies, cheese, ciabatta, and who knows what to suddenly start piling up in the kitchen - with "scientific" arguments from the husband and aggressive whining from the teenaged daughter. So that's the negative. The positive is, I want to be healthy. I want to be strong enough for a great hiking trip in Colorado in August that I have already signed up for. I want the skills to navigate a 2-week conference (ugh!!!) that I will be attending in another city in June/July that will be a mountain of unhealthy food and drink, and no kitchen access. Yikes! I want energy, focus, and zest. My energy levels are low and this feels formidable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators ladyshanny Posted May 22, 2015 Administrators Share Posted May 22, 2015 You can do this! And sabotage aside, the simple workaround for that is to not put anything non compliant in your mouth. Of course the relationships are more tricky to handle but the simple fact is that no one can force you to eat anything against your will. Stay strong, make a commitment to your beautiful self and that will reduce the formidity (made up word) and bring it down to a somewhat more manageable level. You can do this and you are worth the effort! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nuthatch Rancher Posted May 27, 2015 Author Share Posted May 27, 2015 Thanks, ladyshanny! You are absolutely right. I'm wrapping up Day 4 and only killed a few things today. My family is more cooperative than I expected. I think they are pretty happy with the yummy food. Daughter LOVES homemade sausage. Husband is actually in the kitchen washing dishes as I type. I'm really working on learning new techniques and recipes. I've been cooking for a long time - was pretty skilled in early adulthood, then lost my passion for it with picky kids and full time work. So I tended to do the same things over and over, and got very bored with myself. Was AMAZED at "perfect seared chicken" tonight, and I'm learning to make the sauces. It's a hard mental switch after decades of low-fat naked-food dieting. But I keep reminding myself that this phase is about resetting my metabolism, not about losing weight. It's kind of like going back to school. And I love going back to school. So while I'm at it, I'm updating a few little things in my kitchen, like new dishtowels and some cute jars to keep my new potions in. Makes it fun. Thanks for the encouragement. I love the Whole 30 book. With that and Well Fed 1&2 I have a whole bunch of new tricks to try. It's fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nuthatch Rancher Posted May 27, 2015 Author Share Posted May 27, 2015 Day 5 - the blues. Is this a variant of Kill All the Things? Annoyed, lethargic, a little depressed, and for no good reason. The email said, "go to the blog and list one thing that's better" but I can't think of one. I'm tireder and crankier than ever, and my head is still foggy .I just don't want to do ANYTHING. I want everybody to go AWAY. And that makes me feel guilty. The little things that usually cheer me up aren't doing it. My family is celebrating all kinds of good things - graduations, my youngest just won a state tournament, etc. - and I am of course faking it but I feel blahhhhhhhh inside. Grrrr. Ugh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators ladyshanny Posted May 27, 2015 Administrators Share Posted May 27, 2015 Day 5 - the blues. Is this a variant of Kill All the Things? Annoyed, lethargic, a little depressed, and for no good reason. The email said, "go to the blog and list one thing that's better" but I can't think of one. I'm tireder and crankier than ever, and my head is still foggy .I just don't want to do ANYTHING. I want everybody to go AWAY. And that makes me feel guilty. The little things that usually cheer me up aren't doing it. My family is celebrating all kinds of good things - graduations, my youngest just won a state tournament, etc. - and I am of course faking it but I feel blahhhhhhhh inside. Grrrr. Ugh. Morning, How is your starchy veggie intake doing? Sometimes folks inadvertently go too low carb when doing the Whole30 and that can contribute to fog, tired and moodiness. I'm going to guess you would benefit by roasting a few sweet potatoes and eating one asap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nuthatch Rancher Posted May 28, 2015 Author Share Posted May 28, 2015 Wow, 10 minutes after eating sweet potato, already feeling better. Thanks, ladyshanny. I guess my brain was just having a very low carb cow. The best advice on the site is to just accept the Whole 30 as a metabolic reset focused on certain things, and not try to bear down on a dozen difficult goals at once. I think I am going to have to go lower carb to lose weight, which is a very high priority for me, but I am willing to wait 30 days to start focusing on that aspect. Last time I think I pushed too hard and with too much complexity and really rebounded like crazy after a while. It is true that it is complicated enough to resume a real-foods shopping/prepping/eating routine without getting all extreme about stuff. I wasn't really consciously avoiding carbs - I had a sweet potato in the house - but I haven't eaten starches or fruits in a few days. I will review the template. It is wonderful how quickly natural food tastes really good - and even with the low-carb-grouchies, I'm not really getting the late afternoon woozies. So that will be my One Good Thing today. Thanks for the help!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chezjulie Posted May 28, 2015 Share Posted May 28, 2015 Hi Nuthatch Rancher, (Isn't that a bird?) I just finished my first Whole30 and I can relate to a lot of what you are saying about wanting to be healthy, finding the amount of prep formidable, and feeling tired and blue. I had a few rough days along the way. The thing that helped me the most was listening to the moderators. When I found myself second guessing things like how low carb I should be, I got myself in trouble. When I dialed down the amount of protein because it just seemed like "too much" to me, I started feeling tired. But I posted in the Troubleshooting forum whenever I was struggling, and I always got good advice. I didn't always take it because I'm not perfect, but I took it a lot. I think it is also hard to focus on the weight loss aspect because, at least in my case and I've heard in other cases as well, much of the weight loss doesn't start showing up until around the third week. So if that is what you are looking for it can make you feel like you're not getting the benefits when you are. Of course it's just human nature to want to lose weight and see "results". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nuthatch Rancher Posted May 29, 2015 Author Share Posted May 29, 2015 Hi, chezjulie! CONGRATS! on finishing the first Whole 30! I'd love to hear more about your experience and the benefits you enjoy. Thank you for the encouragement. Yep, a nuthatch is a bird, and we live on a songbird sanctuary - but I've never seen a nuthatch here, because it's not the right zone for them. But we liked the double entendre and named our place Nuthatch Ranch. Kind of captures the general ambiance. Thanks for sharing your experiences with Whole 30, weight, and troubleshooting. They definitely resonated with me. There is so much nutritional info out there, it's very easy to be too clever by half and mess things up. I'm coming to accept that I'm not going to drop weight by just thinking "I want to lose weight' like I did in my 30's (I'm mid-50's now). My metabolism is different, I have a diagnosed hypothyroid thing going on, I'm going to have to work at getting more active. I'm getting comfortable with the idea that it is going to take up to a year to reach my weight goal. The GOOD thing about mid-50's is that you've realized that a year goes by pretty darn fast. And the real truth is that my habits ("lifestyle", I guess they'd call it), as they have devolved, are just not going to serve me. Ever again. Wine and cheese for dinner are not my friend. An armchair and 3 or 4 hours of Netflix many evenings are not my friend. Fast food (which I did not have available to me until I changed jobs 4 years ago - hello 25 pounds!) is not only not my friend, it's a Amazon Prime package from the very gates of hell. Yes, I could handle one or two episodes of any of that, but not a habit. I am re-inhabiting my kitchen. In my young adulthood I was a pretty good cook. I even had a catering business for a while. And for the most part my cooking was pretty healthy, especially considering the nutritional "wisdom" of that era. I remember arguments with my husband back then about butter. He's an MIT educated scientist and he kept telling me that I was trying to kill him by insisting on butter and refusing to substitute margarine (hee hee hee! ha ha ha!!!). (Eventually won a similar argument over wooden vs. plastic cutting boards, but that has nothing to do with Whole 30). I was brought up on meat, green veggies, and limited starch, and I was healthy as a horse. I loved to shop and cook and owned pretty much every piece of kitchen equipment imaginable. Then I had kids and the battle was on. Especially with the youngest, food and the dinner table became a nightmare. As other battles came along, I gave up on this one. (there's more to all that, but it's a long story and not especially pertinent). The upshot is that I'm going back in there. I'm re-learning some basic techniques - the ones in the new Whole 30 cookbook are outstanding. I'm redeveloping my repertoire of basics, like salad dressings and chicken salad recipes and ground beef tricks. I've purchased a few fresh new utensils and towels and dug out a cute apron. I bought a set of stylish napkins and a few new dinner plates and a vase for the table. Again, it's going to take some time, but I am reclaiming a part of my life that I used to love and which used to love me back. I think that's the big difference between Whole 30 thinking and a diet: with Whole 30, food is not the enemy. In fact, you spend a lot more time and energy on food. I have tried the prepackaged-meals systems, and for certain frenetic times of life maybe that's the answer, but it is certainly not sustainable and not soul-nourishing. I'm hoping I can stay on course with this. It feels like a kind of intensive study to reset my course for the next forty years (until I "retire" from daily life and have a nurse cooking for me!). Oh, and I discovered this morning that reheated thick Italian meat/tomato sauce is awesome on scrambled eggs! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmcbn Posted May 29, 2015 Share Posted May 29, 2015 The upshot is that I'm going back in there. I'm re-learning some basic techniques - the ones in the new Whole 30 cookbook are outstanding. I'm redeveloping my repertoire of basics, like salad dressings and chicken salad recipes and ground beef tricks. I've purchased a few fresh new utensils and towels and dug out a cute apron. I bought a set of stylish napkins and a few new dinner plates and a vase for the table. Again, it's going to take some time, but I am reclaiming a part of my life that I used to love and which used to love me back. I love this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nuthatch Rancher Posted June 1, 2015 Author Share Posted June 1, 2015 Wishing I had started a log at the beginning. No time like the present!: d7m1: cold steak with chimichurri d7m2: citrus carnitas, cauli-rice, shiraza salad, blueberries (from night before) d7s1: handul raw almonds d7m3: Chicken liver pate, cauli-rice, shiraza salad d8M1: 3 scrambled eggs with guac and shiraza salad; bulletproof coffee d8m2: citrus carnitas with cauli-rice; green beans, shiraza salad, guacamole d8s1: prosciutto and melon; raw broccoli with chimichurri, cherry tomatoes d8m3: tossed salad with grilled chicken garnished with bacon crumbles, tomatoes, diced apple, a bit of pecan. Left off the sugary tasting "balsamic vinaigrette", used lemon instead. The marinade on the grilled chicken was a bit suspect as to sugar and soy and the teaspoon of bacon crumbles was probably not compliant, but that was the very best I could do in a prefab food establishment, and any evil ingredients were very minimal, and so I'm calling it compliant. Today was the first day I didn't feel like something the cat brought in. (We live in the country and the cat brings in some pretty sorry stuff. . . ) Hardly "tiger blood" but a few steps above three-toed sloth blood. And definitely better than the porcupine blood of a few days ago. I'm getting good support from people. I'm trying not to think too much about how that probably means they were concerned about my downward slide. At least they are understanding about my current maddening pickiness. Hopefully after a few rounds I'll even make some converts! I'm hoping that the detox skin breakouts, overwhelming sluggishness, and constant headaches will subside now. I'd like to have the energy to get some good exercise. Tomorrow I'm planning to plant a ton of flowers in a couple of very forlorn looking flowerbeds, and that usually cheers me up. And I'm going to make that doctor's appointment I've been avoiding. And make a cooking plan for the week. Now, good night! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nuthatch Rancher Posted June 1, 2015 Author Share Posted June 1, 2015 Back in the garden today after two weeks of rain. I'm restoring the flower garden after lots of neglect, and trying to start a veggie garden. Deer eat most everything, so a high fence is necessary for the veggies and I'm having a little bit of Little Red Hen syndrome going on around here lately, so may need to look for some paid help. The range of flowers I can plant is limited for that reason too, but I'm getting pretty good with the things that do work. SO - whole 30 implications - I really ate a real breakfast of chicken liver and green beans and roasted butternut squash before I went out this morning (all leftovers), and a nice big lunch of a small steak, lots of cauli-rice and green beans, some caramelized onions for lunch (also left over), and I'm forcing myself to top it off with a nuked sweet potato instead of feeling smug about being low carb, so I can actually get through the afternoon. GO, ME! I'm running out of prepped food in the fridge - both grown daughters are home and everybody gets into the Whole 30 leftovers in a way they never got into leftovers before. I think that's good, but they are going to have to do a shift in the kitchen! And they're good about going out for breakfast tacos on their own instead of whining about not having them here. All in all, fam is coping pretty well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nuthatch Rancher Posted June 2, 2015 Author Share Posted June 2, 2015 Day 11. Time to rebuild the prepped foods. Where does all the time go? Woke up groggy and sluggish again. I am waking up with a headache and feeling a little dehydrated most mornings. I'm pretty good with my water intake, so I'm not sure if this is continuing detox or what. hmm. Energy is low this morning. Wanted to get out and digging in the garden and it's almost 1 pm and not much has gotten done - and definitely no digging. I'm not watching TV at night now but I'm still not going to bed early enough. But I got enough hours - 8 - and I'm still really sleepy. I'm also beginning to worry a lot about a 2 week trip I have coming up to a big convention. I'm staying in a hotel that has a minifridge but no kitchen (I don't get a vote on the hotel). There are long days and lots of shuffling around. There's a Whole Foods in the town so I'm trying to think of reasonable ways to stay on track - though I think it's inevitable that it won't be a perfect whole 30 two weeks. I'm not down with "cooking" with the mini-coffeepot and iron. Seems like a spillproof bottle of some kind of salad dressing would be a good idea. I can't lug ice chests and stuff around for meals 2 and 3 every day - maybe for lunch but the logistics of lugging more are not reasonable. Can't quite picture the whole thing. Help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nuthatch Rancher Posted June 4, 2015 Author Share Posted June 4, 2015 Day 12. Starting to get some mojo back. B: Best Chicken Ever, broccoli with dressing, half a sweet potato. Cup of Bulletproof coffee (ghee version). And a kombucha. L: at Picnik in Austin -salmon nicoise - salmon, roasted veg, greek olives, boiled eggs, grilled green beans. Yum! Was marked Whole30 but I was suspicious of the sauce that came on the side so pretty much left it alone. D: BBQ night, so bought a pack of prepped brocc/cauli/carrots and some tomatillo/guac sauce (checked label, all good) before ordering a 1/2 pound of lean brisket and eating half, bringing half home. Relaxing drink treat at home: kombucha. I didn't get ravenously hungry. Drank a fair amount of water. Had a great time out with my daughter, home for a week after college graduation. Got a few more odds and ends for the kitchen...a cool holder for deviled eggs. My skinnyfat came in the mail (a cooking oil made of coconut oil and mcts). Got some leakproof bottles and jars to pack for my 10-day conference at the end of the month (yikes!). Got a reflexology massage (ahhh......). Good day. A little energy going on. I'm really enjoying feeling energized and kind of light after meals instead of sluggish, bloated and sleepy. Not craving cheese and crackers so much. Don't miss bread at all any more. Time to seriously get organized for a little exercise. Looking around for my misplaced motivation. . . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nuthatch Rancher Posted June 5, 2015 Author Share Posted June 5, 2015 Day 14. FINALLY - some energy coming back. Not a ton, but some. Though I did oversleep, quite a bit. I guess I need more sleep! I woke up feeling a little dehydrated again, but that's probably partly because I was in bed almost 10 hours. Bulletproof ghee coffee is helping take the fuzz off the morning. My body is still a bit draggy (it has only been two weeks, after all) but I feel that I'm getting a bit of mental edge back. Just a beginning. It's tricky finding a balance between big cookups and not being chained to the chopping board, and falling into a disagreeable rut. But - it's only been two weeks. I think that a rhythm is beginning to develop. Make ghee this week, make a bottle of some new salad dressing next week; baby spinach this week, mixed power greens next week, and keep changing things out. I have begun a binder where I'm putting printouts of my favorite go-to recipes. Maybe at some point I'll set it up digitally. That helps. I can get lost in over-organizing the data and losing interest in actually doing the task itself! So i'm going with a very basic approach a "new normal" that will be very different. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nuthatch Rancher Posted June 6, 2015 Author Share Posted June 6, 2015 Non-scale WIN! Wore a tailored blouse for the first time in months. It's not loose, but I can wear it! YIPPPPEEEEEE!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nuthatch Rancher Posted June 7, 2015 Author Share Posted June 7, 2015 Day 14. Didn't sleep well last night. Lots of gardening today. Tired. Scrambled eggs with pico & guac leftover chicken curry w/ sweet potato Roasted salmon with dill/garlic/caper homemade mayo sauce; roasted root veg; lemon almond kale. YUM! It's getting easier to throw dinner together. And I'm learning to prioritize getting home and getting it done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nuthatch Rancher Posted June 10, 2015 Author Share Posted June 10, 2015 Today in a meeting I realized that I had crossed my legs and it wasn't awkward or uncomfortable. HUGE WIN. It's still going to take a year to get there, I'm not done and I'm not quitting. Just celebrating progress. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nuthatch Rancher Posted June 11, 2015 Author Share Posted June 11, 2015 Day 20! Still feeling better. Husband had rotator cuff surgery yesterday and is feeling crappy today, and there are graham crackers and saltines and gingerale everywhere - and I'm not really tempted by them but having to make sure I don't absentmindedly pick one up and eat it! Hopefully this is a VERY short-term problem. I'm finally "getting" the whole sauce thing. Basic protein is bearable day after day if you've got something that tastes good to go with it. Same with green beans or whatever. For so many years I was fat-phobic and "plain and dry" on a diet - This is a nice change. And am I the last person on earth to figure out that homemade mayo and other emulsions are instantaneous and foolproof with a stick blender? That little gadget is rocking my world. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nuthatch Rancher Posted June 14, 2015 Author Share Posted June 14, 2015 Day 22. Had the dreams night before last about accidentally eating some kind of bread. Crazy. Our brains are so weird. I'm learning, slowly, that staying home and fixing up a few meals is going to make me happier than my go-to escape of "running a few errands", no matter how I build them up into something noble. They are mostly just about running away and doing the easy thing. We live in the country, so an errand is pretty much a couple of hours, not to mention the impulse buys and all that. Life is better if you actually IMPLEMENT all the daydreams (that you have already bought the stuff for- cooking gear, tablesetting gear, you name it gear). I would not say I'm going like a tiger. Going to the doc to get thyroid (which was low last time I checked) and other levels checked. Have avoided him because we both know I know better than I have been doing and eating, and I can't stand to admit the weight gain - and declare, once again, that this time I'm really going to do something about it. I hope this time around, there's going to be a more lasting effect. I am great at a 30 day challenge. I have not been so great at long-term change in the past. So today, HARD work in the garden - again! - it's shaping up!. Healthy food. A mini-cookup tonight instead of hitting the home improvement store. Decluttering the kitchen surfaces is going to be a much bigger improvement than anything I buy. Onward. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nuthatch Rancher Posted June 16, 2015 Author Share Posted June 16, 2015 I think I'm getting yesterday's brain attack today. Today I want to go back to my old life of crackers and cheese and wine. Nothing seems to be satisfying and I am pretty sure I ate too much. I think it's partly because I did not get enough sleep last night (C had to get up very early for travel) and because having a big fasting blood draw is never good for me. Bad headache after that. Tomorrow is going to be better. Too much TV today. Just too tired and lazy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nuthatch Rancher Posted June 20, 2015 Author Share Posted June 20, 2015 DAY 28! Wow. It's gotten much easier. Now I know that I have to prioritize healthy nutrition. I know it takes time and I'm willing to deal with that. Good food can taste really, really good with healthy sauces. There is so much sugar in everything and it is an energy storm drain. LOVING the energy coming up - though slowly. Looking forward to getting blood work and going to the next level. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nuthatch Rancher Posted June 20, 2015 Author Share Posted June 20, 2015 Day 29. M1= ground beef patty, sweet potato, broccoli w/mayo. M2= chicken salad. Yum! Energy. . . um. Getting better. I'm waking up too early. Have cut back from coffee to tea in the morning and no more caffeine. Not sure what that's about. Checkup on Monday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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