Karyn's Whole 30 Log

[KarynL]

So this is my first attempt, technically my second attempt, at the Whole 30.  The first time, I don't think I really understood the program and wasn't completely committed to it, plus I was living with someone who wasn't particular supportive.  This time around I've got the rules down (I think) and have a plan, plus I'm living alone again, lol.  I'm more of a habit eater than anything else and I have some pretty bad habits.  I don't have any severe health problems at the moment, but I can see them coming down the road if I don't change things, so I'm doing this to change the path I'm currently going along.  Other than that I am a single 47 year old work-a-holic who is less and less enchanted with work everyday and more and more enchanted with life, if that makes sense.

 

So my first days breakfast was a 3 egg omelet with spinach, green onion and tomato sauted in homemade clarified butter.  I eat breakfast really early so I thought 3 eggs made senseto tide me over to lunch.

 

Lunch was a protein salad with egg and homemade balsamic vinegar.  I ate all the egg and half the salad, but I really need to revamp the dressing because it tasted lousy (I used some tony balsamic that someone gave me that tastes more like wine than dressing).  Tonight for dinner I have a steak marinating for another salad, I also have ground beef which I was thinking of paring with zoodles and tomato sauce, we shall see.

 

First day, no cravings but again, it's the first day so we'll see tomorrow.  I'm expecting a massive headache tomorrow as I am a caffeine (via soda) and sugar junky, and have had none today, but I've given up soda before and sustained it for a few years before I fell off the wagon, so I'm not worried about 30 days.  But I do know that I have to step up my cooking game, because there is no reason for food to be bland and uninteresting, I just have to figure out how to cook it.

[KarynL]

So just realized as I sit here hungry that I made a mistake with the fats.  For breakfast, I counted the clarified butter as a fat but did not eat anything else and for lunch I counted the salad dressing as fat.  I think because I don't eat most of the things on the eating fats list that I neglected this.  So off to the grocery on the way home I guess. 

[KarynL]

Apparently I overdid it yesterday, lol.  To compensate for the lack of fat in breakfast and lunch I put a whole avocado in with dinner and woke up this morning and was not hungry at all.  And I didn't even eat that late!  I ate dinner around 6 and got up at 5 like I always do.  Granted, dinner consisted of a ribeye steak marinated overnight and that's a fatty steak anyway.  (I also added greens and tomatoes along with the avocado and whipped up a new batch of balsamic vinaigrette using an Emeril recipe and a different balsamic vinegar... it was soooo good!)  So another lesson learned.  Anyway, I waited until 7 to eat breakfast and I only did it because I felt like I should.  So far today I had an omelet with 2 eggs, green onions, tomatoes and spinach with clarified butter, lunch is leftovers from dinner and dinner will probably be more of the same as I have about a third of steak left in the fridge.  So far this has been pretty easy to stick to.  I thought about having something sweet last night but just got a glass of water and kept it moving.  My sister, who is an amazing cook, is just finishing her first whole 30 and she posted pictures of every meal she ate during that time, so I know I need to be/can be a little more creative as I'm kind of stuck this week in a meat and salad groove, but I'm cool with easing into it.

[KarynL]

And it begins to get hard.  Last night I didn't sleep at all, plus I lay in bed thinking about banned food (chocolate, pepsi, butter... oh my).  The thing is while I would like some chocolate or a soda, I'm not craving them, I really really want some butter.  Who knew?  When I do cook, I use butter, and I MISS IT, lol!  Didn't expect to miss it as much as I do.  I ended up having steamed broccoli last night with my steak with clarified butter and it did not hit the spot.  I so wanted some butter or cheese on those bad boys.   I so have to up my cooking game.  Since I don't really cook a lot, I kind of thought I should ease into this, you know, not plan on cooking anything to far out of my comfort zone because I'd end up not liking it and eating something non-compliant but now for the sake of my taste buds I'm going to have to do something different.  My big issue is veggies because I really don't eat them except in a cold salad, I mean, I like collard green every once in a while but for the most part I eat salad but salad gets boring if its your only veggie.  I'd actually bought some collards but when I went to get some smoked turkey to cook with them I saw that they were cured in brown sugar, so no turkey and sadly I don't know how to cook collards without some kind of smoked meat.  My challenge is going to be making veggies tasty, I got meat on lock down, veggies not so much. 

[J9er]

Cut up all of your veggies and toss them in fat then roast them. They are sooooo good. I eat them like this most of the time. Any veggies, I usually do Brussel sprouts, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, onion, peppers, garlic cloves with the skin on and smashed, sweet potato. Toss them in the fat, season generously. It's really good with fresh rosemary. I usually do 3-4 pans at a time so I have left overs. 425 degree oven. I usually stir once. I like them well cooked, but adjust to your liking and use whatever veggies you want. Even good cold the next day!

[KarynL]

Cut up all of your veggies and toss them in fat then roast them. They are sooooo good. I eat them like this most of the time. Any veggies, I usually do Brussel sprouts, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, onion, peppers, garlic cloves with the skin on and smashed, sweet potato. Toss them in the fat, season generously. It's really good with fresh rosemary. I usually do 3-4 pans at a time so I have left overs. 425 degree oven. I usually stir once. I like them well cooked, but adjust to your liking and use whatever veggies you want. Even good cold the next day!

Thanks, J9er!  I'll definitely give this a try.  How long do you cook them?

[J9er]

I think about 30 min? I usually throw them in before I hop in the shower and kinda forget about them lol. Maybe set a timer for 15 and stir them then? Sometimes I crank the oven to 450 too. I like them to be a bit brown and caramelized so I just cook them till they're like that. They're so flavorful, really made me like veggies. Might have to play around with the desired doneness you like. Don't skimp on the oil either.

[CMGude]

I just started, and it's my first whole 30, so I can't claim to be an expert, but I do love veggies and have come up with some tasty ways to prepare and eat them. For instance, today I am having a pretty good slaw with my chicken meatballs. Napa cabbage, a shredded carrot, and a grated apple, tossed with lime juice, olive oil, ginger, salt and pepper. Sweet, salty, crunchy! With my kale this morning, I shredded it, sauteed it with olive oil, then added salsa to it at the end to heat the salsa through. Pretty good as well. Good luck.

[KarynL]

So yesterday was a pretty easy day, in that I made great food for breakfast lunch and dinner so I didn't feel the need for anything extra.  I had my omelet for breakfast, lunch was a burger sans bun with onions, mushrooms and tomatoes sauteed in clarified butter drizzled with a teaspoon of balsamic vinaigrette and dinner was two baked chicken wings spiced with garlic powder, onion powder, salt, pepper and paprika and a salad.  Physically, I feel really tired.  It's like my body is saying, yo, where's all that sugar you used to give us for energy?  Since I like to be a glass half full kind of gal, I'm choosing to take this as my body figuring out its not getting its old stand by and eyeing those fat reservoirs (of which I have many) for energy and fuel and rubbing it's hands saying, boy howdy what can we do with this!  I had a burger same fixings for breakfast and have chicken wings and salad for lunch.  I've got a burger left in the fridge for dinner which depending on how I feel I will either do up with the same fixings or try some roasted veggies instead.  I'm really curious about the roasted garlic cause I can't imagine what that would taste like, but I'm going to find out!

 

 I did have grapes with a glass of water before bed, which I know is a double no-no, but I wanted something and grapes hit the spot.  As long as I don't make a habit out of it, I don't think it will be a problem.  The one thing I'm trying to be super mindful of is swypo with sweet things cause that is the one thing likely to push me into craving and then snacking on fruit which would probably lead to me dropping out of the program. 

 

Writing all this stuff is really helpful also.  I didn't think it would be, I just started on a whim, but processing what I'm eating and how I feel, really feel about it, has really helped me be honest and pushed me to make food choices that are compliant AND taste good as opposed to eating stuff I hate and pretending like I like it.

[KarynL]

Exhausted is an understatement.  I'm anemic and although I'm fully aware that I use caffeine and sugar to self medicate and give me energy, not having either for the last 4 days has caught up to me and I feel completely exhausted.  I mean climb a flight of stairs and have to sit, exhausted.  Being made aware of how this condition *really* makes me feel is a wake up call.  I'm supposed to take iron, but I don't always do it because I don't "feel" tired.  Well now, I definitely feel tired.

 

So omelet for breakfast today, 2 eggs, tomato, spinach, onion and mushroom, chicken wings for lunch.  Didn't feel like packing a salad, so brought my homemade balsamic and will hit the cafeteria salad bar for lunch. 

 

Hoping to coax my older sister to go with me to the West Side Market tomorrow morning.  I so love that market.  Even at 7am which is when I prefer to go, it is completely crowded and bustling with people and noise, love it!  I usually go there for the fruit and meat, this time I'm going to concentrate on the veggies and the meat.  Think I'm going to switch it up next week and add more seafood to the mix, probably shell fish, never been to keen on regular fish, probably because I only know two ways to cook it (Mrs. Paul's and deep fried) and I've never like the taste of fish prepared in other ways.  Beef worked out pretty well this first week and I still have a pack of chicken thighs that I didn't cook. 

[KarynL]

So my sister and I hit the Westside Market early, got there about 8:15.  I got roma tomatoes, romaine lettuce, white and sweet potatoes, mushrooms, green, yellow and red peppers, a pound of ground beef, a pound of ground turkey, and a ribeye steak, and the guy at my favorite stand threw in some brussel sprouts free when I said I was afraid to try them,all so fresh and beautiful, love that market!  I nixed the shrimp idea because I didn't see anything I liked.  Then we stopped by the grocery and got some oil (and lottery tickets, $110 mil, who can resist!)

 

Yesterday I ended up having an omelet for dinner, in the spirit of no crappy food I didn't have the chicken wings because they just weren't that good.  I prefer barbecue wings or wings that I can dip in bbq sauce.  For some reason I'm worried that even though there is whole30 approved bbq sauce, it would function as swypo for me.  I don't know, I'm probably over thinking it.  Anyway, omelet again for breakfast (I love omelet for breakfast, so not bored yet), had a burger with onion, mushrooms and tomatoes for lunch, the burger was pretty big so I only got through half before I felt full and wil probably eat the rest for dinner.

 

Last week was pretty easy, in part because it wasn't a typical work week.  My judge is on vacation so all I had to do was a bunch of paperwork in the office.  Next week my judge comes back from vacation and we have over a hundred cases MTW which is HUGE for that docket, plus my judge isn't the most pleasant person to be around.  So anticipating stress on Monday.  So last week was easy stress wise, I'm wondering how I'll feel when I'm in the middle of a typical week.  WIll I start craving stuff I haven't missed so far?  Will I want to grab fruit to get something sweet to cover?  My plan is to have a lunch packed, drink plenty of water and just be aware of how I'm feeling.  We'll see if it works.

[KarynL]

Had to work today.   Usually Sunday is pretty light, but there was a bunch of festivals this weekend, which meant a bunch of people acting like fools, which meant a bunch of charges that had to be filed, sigh.  Anyway, I tried roasting veggies today, potatoes, brussel sprouts, mushrooms and onions.  Loved it!  Everything had a unique flavor, and then a toasty crunchy thing going on.  Paired it with steak.  I feel like I should eat less beef, I'll have to think about it.  Plan for this week is to eat off the steak for a couple of days, make some turkey chili and maybe some chicken thighs along the way, try some more veggies roasted and see how things go.  I actually feel sleepy which is good since I didn't sleep well last night.  People keep saying on here starchy vegetables may help, so here's hoping, cause I'd like to wake up when my alarm goes off and not 5 hours before that!

[KarynL]

Today wasn't as stressful as I thought it would be.  The atmosphere in the courtroom isn't one I like, but nothing to make me want to run and eat non-comliant food, at least not today.  Omelet with spinach, onion, tomatoes and mushroom this morning and salad with slices of steak and balsamic dressing for lunch.  Probably hamburger with some of the left over roasted veggies from yesterday plus some sauteed tomatoes, onions and mushrooms.

 

Still feeling tired, but I'm feeling really clear mentally in a way that surprises me.  I never would have said that my previous food choices affected the way I think, but clearly they were. 

[KarynL]

So I'm in day 9 going into day 10 and I don't feel like cooking tonight.  I'm tired of cooking every day, dishes everyday, clean up everyday.  I want to stop by Pizza Hut/Papa Johns/CVS and pick up something that I can just take home and pop in my mouth and eat.  This morning it took a real effort to cook breakfast and pack lunch. 

 

OK, so thoughts like the above have been percolating all day.  I'm not hungry, I don't feel like cheating right now, I just don't want to cook.  Here are the reasons why I will cook tonight:

 

I feel really good.

I'm proud of myself for sticking to this for 9 days

I really want to make this work or a variation of this for the rest of my life

I actually like the food I'm eating, even if the effort is annoying sometimes

I like discovering new things to eat that are healthy

I like not feeling like a slugabed after a meal

I like that this process has made me more reflective in other ways

 

I had planned on doing all my cooking on Sunday but the desire not to cook started creeping in then and I decided to wait to make my chili until today.  Mistake!  This coming Sunday I'm going to plan and cook as much ahead of time as possible so I don't feel like this next week.

[KarynL]

So I weathered the "I don't want to cook" phase.  Still plugging along.  Breakfast omelet, lunch turkey chili and salad, dinner turkey chili. 

[KarynL]

I haven't felt like writing the last couple of days, I'm that FB friend you have who posts an article here and there and maybe posts something personal 1 or 2 times a year, so talking about me, not my usual.  Anyway, still going strong on the W30.  I did have a period yesterday where I ate way more fruit than I should have, but nothing non-compliant.

 

For me, so far, this journey has been really testing my cooking.  When I started I had this pan, now I'm in my late 40s, my mom gave me this pan when I graduated from something, not sure what but the last time I graduated was 11 years ago, so it is an OLD pan.  The non-stick started to collapse around day 2 or 3 of the program, so I decided to buy new and got a cast iron pan, cause my older sister has one and then I planned to buy another non-stick pan.  Instead, I let the sales pitch talk me into buying a stainless steel pan that was not non-stick.  MISTAKE!  The ad said that it was high tech and you didn't need non-stick blah blah blah, spent the next few days cooking eggs then having to scrub the egg off the pan, so of course, I had to buy a non-stick pan.  Very happy.  Did not know that non-stick pans needed to be seasoned, but apparently this one did and should be done every 10 dishwasher uses.  I've always known that I like to cook, I just never feel like I have time to do it, so I'm enjoying this.

 

So trying to shift my protein again, this week I'm working with pork chops and chicken thighs.  I haven't had a pork chop since I was a kid.  My mom used to pan fry them, I think she breaded them, but I'm not sure.  Back then everybody was worried about trichinosis, so pork chops were always well done (which might be why I haven't had one in dang near 30 years). 

 

Things I've noticed since doing the Whole 30.  I would have said that my food was decently seasoned, but most of the stuff I cook lately tastes bland to me.  My sister says that it's  because when you stop eating salty processed food, your taste buds have to readjust.  So mine are seriously readjusting and even when I cook something I like, I find myself having to readjust the seasoning, otherwise it just doesn't taste good to me, and you know I'm all about this healthy food tasting good!

 

My breath, lord have mercy, sometimes I feel like something crawled into the back of my throat and died!  Whew!  My breath is so bad I find myself leaning back because I don't want to knock folks out (yeah, it's that bad)!  I know that the culprit here is that I'm not drinking enough water, so I'm working on it, but it sure would help if there was a compliant breath mint.

 

Anemia and the W30:  I've been anemic my whole life, I was undiagnosed for years (when I was a kid I exhibited pica (eating things in order to get iron), in my case I was constantly eating ice cubes.  I was diagnosed when I was 18 but I didn't really take it that seriously.  Over the years it's gotten progressively worse in that I've needed transfusions, intravenous iron, etc. and even so, I still don't take it seriously.  I think at the top of this thread, I said I don't have any serious illnesses, DENIAL!  I think I minimize it cause people have way more serious problems then feeling tired, so what, I feel tired it's not that big of a deal, but it is.  I can engage in sustained activity for about 30 minutes and then I have to rest.  Without caffeine and sugar to prop me up I feel really tired all the time.  On the flip side, I feel so tremendously good in so many other ways, there is no way in hell that I'm going back to my former habits.  My little sister put it really well (she's the one who just did her first W30), that she doesn't feel like she has more energy but she feels more active, she went to the beach for vacation and noticed that she went into the ocean 4-5 times when it had been some 10 years since she'd felt like going into the ocean that often.  And I find myself wanting to do more, getting up to do things rather than couch potatoing it all evening.  All of which means I have to start treating this disease because I WANT to be active.

 

Alright, that's all I got.

[KarynL]

So I've discovered that chicken by itself is no longer on my list.  As a friend of mine said during coffee, chicken is a carrier for other flavors but not like a main meat.  If I can find a good chicken stew, casserole recipe it may be back on the menu, but for now I'm looking at other things.  I was at the grocery store and stopped to look at the sea food cabinet, peel and eat shrimp on sale, so ok thought I would try some, plus then I saw scallops, not on sale, but still, I love scallops!  Finally had an opportunity to try my spiralizer, so made some zucchini noodles, sauteed the scallops in ghee and crushed garlic, then sauteed the zoodles in the same pan, soooo good.  If scallops were a bit cheaper I'd find a way to eat them several times a week!  I'm going to do the shrimp with zoodles tonight.  Picked up a steak and some more pork chops, maybe for a stir fry, for the week.

 

I'm planning on going to the grocery store mid week, I've found that some foods I like as fresh as possible, which surprises me because pre-W30 I was a processed food and junk food junkie.

 

Still feeling tired, I did however find a compliant liquid iron supplement, Nova Ferrum 125, which per the label is dairy free, gluten free, alcohol free and sugar free.There is some fruit juice used as flavoring, but it's the last ingredient so I'm thinking it's ok.  I've got an appointment with my pcp next week and I have to get blood drawn so I'll have a better idea where I stand and an idea of how this W30 has affected me.

 

My new years resolution back in January was to love myself more and I meant that in all ways, to be tough with myself, hold myself to high standards, to take care of myself, mentally, physically and spiritually.  This W30 makes me feel like I'm meeting this goal in all ways.  First new years resolution I've EVER kept, lol!

[KarynL]

Some NSVs for today.  When I started the W30 I was wearing my biggest pants, i.e. the ones that are still "my size" but roomy enough that the weight I'd picked up didn't show.  I noticed that the jeans I was wearing yesterday were sagging a little around the hip area, so I tried on a different pair of work pants today and while I still have a bit to go before I'd wear them out I was able to button them with out straining, yay!  Also, I forgot to pack my lunch today as I needed to stop by the lab before work to get blood drawn, so I called a friend to go to lunch.  We went to Urban Farmer and I grilled (nicely) the waitress about what was in the food, how it was prepared, what was in the salad dressing.  I even had to send the salad back twice, first because it had quinoa on it and second because they removed the quinoa on the first one but added cheese.  I was stressed out about bothering them, but they were really cool and I made sure to tell the manager that they really helped me out today.  So I ended up having the steak frittes prepared medium rare, bordelaise sauce on the side (didn't use) with a side salad, and they were nice enough to bring me oil and vinegar + salt and pepper.

[KarynL]

One more thing, I walked from my office to Urban Farmer's which is about 1 1/2-2 city blocks.  The last time I walked it I felt like I was going to die.  This time, I did it with no problems and it's 90 out here today! 

[KarynL]

So my newly flexed chef muscles got slapped upside the head last night, lol.  I found this recipe for Balsamic Onion Topped Pork Chops with Crispy Garlic Potatoes.  I read the recipe then started doing my tweaks, recipe called for 6-7 potatoes, too many to me so cut it in half, recipe called for half of a small onion, I love onion, so doubled it.  The potatoes needed to be roasted for 45 minutes so I timed everything so everything would be done at the right time, and still, it just didn't taste that good .  BUT, on the positive side (and there's always a positive side), I learned a lot about how to cook pork and will do better next time.  The potatoes were the bomb though but everything else, meh.

 

So woke up to some more NSVs.  My face is slimmer and I noticed that my upper body looks like it has slimmed down some too.  I don't always pay attention to my hair, so I've missed the fact that some areas that were patchy are filling in and since its about an inch of new growth it must have been happening for a while.  My skin feels softer and smoother, I'm definitely more happy, just feel like smiling at stuff.  I'm so thankful that people in my life were doing this program and turned me on to it.  OK, I'm going to say it, I feel like this has changed my life.

 

Doctor's appointment tomorrow and I have a plan for avoiding seeing the scale, but I really want to know, lol!  We'll see how it goes.

[KarynL]

I got a blood test on Monday in preparation for my doctor's appointment today.  I checked my messages last night and saw that my doctor called and wants me to call the office, which typically means that they want me to admit myself into the hospital for a transfusion because my levels are too low.  It's so discouraging.  I don't want to go into the hospital.  I feel like I've made so much progress and feel so different, but this anemia is the same.  I feel bad today too, which I think is a combination of being really anxious last night and not sleeping well and just feeling like I've failed somehow.  Their office doesn't open until 9:45 so I'll have to wait until then to find out which isn't helping me feel better.

[KarynL]

So no hospital stay, my levels are low and they encouraged me to do better.  I tried to talk about the Whole 30 and they weren't really listening which I get.  He gave me a plan and I'm to stick to it and come back in 3 months.  I'm going to keep plugging away.  I put my labs on the fridge so I can see where I'm at today and continue to shoot for the goals my doctor set.

[KarynL]

My period is back.  My period went completely off the rails 3 years ago and I haven't had a normal one since.  Where before they were 5-7 days long and accompanied by cramps and mood swings, they changed to be even longer and heavier (my ob has me on lysteta to stop my periods), but no mood swings and no cramps, but I started having really bad migraines.  Yesterday I thought I was just feeling sick and it was the old symptoms coming back.  I'm assuming this means that my hormones are doing what they're supposed to do? I'm kind of ambivalent about this as I could do without the PMS on the flip side, I thought what was happening was just a normal part of getting older.  I'm supposed to be perimenapausal soon, I think so I thought, OK, this is what this feels like.  Now I've got one more thing that was out of whack because my eating was so nutritionally bankrupt.  "It Starts with Food" is such an appropriate title.

[KarynL]

It's day 30 and I'm done eating for the day.  When I started this I thought, if I managed to go the whole 30 days, that I'd lose some weight.  I didn't think I'd see any other changes because I thought most of my problems had to do with other things.  Who knew that eating nutrition dense foods for 30 days would change so many things!  My results:

 

* no more brain fog

* skin clearer and softer

* less inflammation in my joints, particularly my knees

* hair growing in

* my period seems to have normalized

* desire to be active (my anemia hasn't caught up to this yet, but I'm working on it)

* generally happier and calmer

* learned to enjoy taking the time to cook meals for myself

* no more sugar cravings

* sleeping better

* I've lost 13 pounds

 

I am so thankful for this experience.  I was going down a path and I knew I needed to change but I didn't know how I was going to do it.  I feel like this way of eating is something I can sustain for the long term.    I'm a little scared about reintroduction, but ultimately what I want is to be able to maintain a relatively clean way of eating the majority of the time, and be able to have treats every once in a while.  I want to be one of those people who I used to give major side eye to who can eat a slice of pizza or have some ice cream once a week (or less) and be completely ok with that.  I want to be able to have a bag of Dove chocolates in the house and eat 1 and put the remainder away without worrying that I'll end up eating the whole bag in one day.  I know that the end goal will take time and it would be pretty stupid to buy that bag of Dove chocolates tomorrow, but I feel so much more in control of my eating now, and hope that it can only get better from here.  Oddly, I've read like three articles today about food addiction and comparing it to drug addiction, so I'm straight up 12 stepping it for the next little while, that is I'm going to take it one day at a time and always remember that I can fall back into bad habits if I don't watch it.