Steph - giving it another go & ready to rock it

[Stephany]

I attempted Whole 30 last year and was totally on-point, then got to Day 22, caved and had some frozen custard.  I felt excellent all throughout when I was diligent with it, and I miss how energized and healthy I was.  So I'm giving it another go.  I just got married last weekend (best time ever!), and so I feel like this is a ceremonial fresh start time in my life, and an opportunity to do something else that's wonderful for myself. The past few days I phased into getting ready and ate all meals as Whole 30.... but...  total disclosure: I had a bunch of sucrose cough drops over the weekend with a cold, then this morning I found that the mango bits in the David's Tea flavor Pom Tango have added sugar after drinking it. So I threw the rest of the bag in the trash. My official start date is going to be tomorrow - 9/23/15.

[Stephany]

Here's how my Day 1 has fared.  Easiest day of the program, eh? I'm feeling good today.

 

Exercise - I rode my bike to work (5 miles)

 

Breakfast - 2 egg scramble with bell peppers and fresh red chili pepper; an apple (reading other peoples' logs and seeing moderators comment, this is apparently too small and I should be having 3-4 eggs if it's my only protein for the meal. will up the egg count next time).

Lunch - I had leftovers from dinner last night, which was chicken (cooked in some lard) and a vegetable side dish I baked with cauliflower, eggplant, sundried tomatoes, yellow squash, and olive oil.

 

More exercise  - Biked home (5 miles)

 

Post workout snack - a handful of mixed raw nuts (almonds, hazelnuts, pistachios, walnuts) and an apple

 

Dinner - Chicken breast and wing, brussels sprouts cooked in lard, and garden kraut (it's a lacto-fermented raw vegetable kraut. FYI- lacto-fermented doesn't mean it's made with dairy, for those unfamiliar with fermentation & wondering... I know sometimes people associate the word "lacto" with dairy. It is made with a starter culture that is found naturally on the lactobacillus bacteria on cabbage leaves.)

[Stephany]

Days 2 and 3 - I think I'm still getting used to how much food I need because there is still some hunger between meals.

 

Day 2

Breakfast - leftover chicken leg & wing with sweet potatoes cooked in lard (I think I need more protein here because leg & wing are pretty small cuts of meat)

Lunch - salad at a restaurant that had greens, chicken (I asked first if it had any glaze with soy or sugar or anything, waitress said it was just poached chicken), avocado, tomato, green apple slices, and I asked for oil & vinegar on the side instead of their creamy dressing.  The portion of chicken and avocado they gave was stingy, so I still felt hungry after.

Snack - Since I was still hungry from lunch when I got back to the office, I had some pistachios and an apple

Dinner - Chipotle salad bowl with greens, guacamole, carnitas (I ordered it with extra meat), salsa

 

Day 3

Breakfast - 3 eggs scrambled with salsa verde and sweet potatoes cooked in olive oil

Lunch - Chipotle salad bowl with greens, guacamole, carnitas (extra meat), salsa

Dinner - ground beef, broccoli, radishes, green peppers with pistachios on the side

 

Day 2 was a small victory for me.  Our boss was taking us out to lunch as a thank you for working on tight deadlines for a while.  Most of our usual spots have lots of food that sneaks soy, dairy, sugar into most things.  I took some control and said that I was doing Whole30 and explained a bit about what it is. I suggested we go to this healthier spot up the street called Patachou.  They are more of a farm-to-table type spot and are very accommodating of all types of dietary needs.  My co-workers were all cool and understanding.  I didn't expect they would be jerks about it, but I still have a bit of nerves bringing dietary restrictions up.  I think I just don't like the stereotype/stigma that people hang on to, when a woman says she is doing a special dietary thing, and have some mixed feelings about how that comes off.  But ya know what, if that were the case, someone else would be the one stereotyping and it's really not my issue. Anyway, I'm glad I was open about it to them. It was alot less awkward than I expected it to be.  

[Stephany]

Day 5 has been about prepping in advance.  I feel pretty energetic and upbeat, despite the timeline saying these days are exhausting for a lot of people. I've been doing more reading of the forum and also paleo blogs about how to prep for meals better.  Today my husband and I cooked up a bunch of veggies to store for the first few days of the week.  I made a compliant pesto sauce today with olive oil, fresh basil, fresh garlic, salt, pepper, and pistachios (didn't have pine nuts on hand)... came out pretty good.  I think I'm also going to have to start making more sauces so the rotations of meats and veggies stay interesting... I love a good sauce, but rarely make any at home and usually have just relied on the meat's fat and some spices, but that does sometimes get boring.

 

Day 4...

Breakfast - eggs scrambled with ground sage pork, broccoli, radish, cauliflower (we slept in today, so even though it was a pretty large portion, it was more like brunch time, so I admittedly kinda skipped a meal here)

Dinner - went to a Mexican restaurant and ordered steak fajitas, minus the tortillas, beans, & rice

 

Day 5

Breakfast - basically the same breakfast as yesterday (but this time I ate a real lunch)

Lunch - lamb patty with a greek salad (minus feta) and an apple

Dinner - ground pork, brussels, tomatoes, zucchini, onion, pesto sauce mentioned above

[Stephany]

Bonus post to add that I also gave up coffee and caffeinated tea with my Whole30.   I *love* coffee, partially for the taste, but honestly, mostly for the buzz and because I feel so friggin' tired in the morning all the time.  Same goes for tea with caffeine.  I get that tea is supposed to have a cleaner/less edgy caffeine buzz.. but I'm still curious what my body's baseline is like without any sort of stimulants for 30 days. Been a bit of a grump, but hopefully not a serious jerk, in the mornings without it so far... shoot, I'm a general morning grump because I don't like waking up early.  It would be faaabulous to see if I can get to a point when that goes away.  I do notice that I'm sleeping a whole lot better the past few days (that probably has to do with the clean eating too). 

[Stephany]

Day 7 - One week into it, woohoo!!  Today I'm feeling good and energetic, and am finding the meals filling and satisfying.  Not really experiencing the super groggy/tired feeling that's typical in the timeline for days 6-7... but who knows what other things may turn up at some point later.  I am having a blast getting creative in the kitchen.  I went sauce crazy last night and made homemade mayo, ketchup, and Awesome Sauce from the recipes on Melissa Joulwan's site.  All the sauces turned out deliciously.  Side note, though: For the mayo, I used grapeseed oil instead of light olive oil. It tastes good, but turns out light green due to the natural hue of the oil, which could look weird if you're going for presentation, so keep that in mind.

 

Breakfast - 3 eggs, half an avocado, and leftover veggies from dinner last night (cauliflower, daikon, onion)

Lunch - sirloin cooked rare, brussels, red potatoes, homemade mayo, homemade ketchup.

Dinner - pork roast that was in the crockpot all day, sweet potatoes, onions, and Awesome Sauce.

 

http://meljoulwan.com/2010/06/03/the-secret-to-homemade-mayo-patience/

 

http://meljoulwan.com/2014/03/06/wf2-recipe-kickass-ketchup/

 

http://meljoulwan.com/2014/03/10/bacon-jalapeno-burger-balls/  (awesome sauce recipe towards the bottom)

[Stephany]

Day 8

Breakfast - grabbed this one pretty quickly... 2 hardboiled eggs and a lamb Epic bar, apple

Lunch - pork, sweet potatoes, awesome sauce

Dinner - went to Longhorn Steakhouse for my sister-in-law's birthday - ordered the 6oz sirloin dry grilled (no butter or seasoning.. just dry grilled), steamed broccoli (no butter, i added olive oil from the bottle at the table), side salad (no croutons or cheese, with olive oil & vinegar for dressing), and some of my husbands sweet potato (no butter)

 

Exercise - 10 miles roundtrip bike commuting.. Windy day and high gears, so some nice resistance there!  (I didn't do a pre or post-workout snack in the morning, but had a pre-workout beef habanero Epic bar before riding home after work)

 

Day 9

Breakfast - 3 eggs, half an avocado, pan cooked green tomato, and kimchi (fermented raw veggies.. ingredients are: nappa cabbage, carrot, onion, daikon radish, chiles, ginger, sea salt, starter culture)

Lunch - pork, baked sweet potato with olive oil, bell pepper

 

Was still pretty full from lunch, so I didn't have a pre-workout snack.  Felt like with the running involved in basketball, if I had added even more food, I would have upset my stomach during the game.

 

Exercise - basketball with my co-workers for an hour

 

Post-workout snack - beef habanero Epic bar

Dinner - organ meat sausage, green beans, awesome sauce

[Stephany]

This weekend was tough.  Went to a friend's house for game night and they had all kinds of non-compliant snacks and wine.  I thought my cravings were pretty minimized up until then.  I was really wanting to dig in to the snacks and drink a bunch of good red wine.  This stuff still has a really big hold on me.  I'm happy that I didn't have anything non-compliant... took so much willpower, so good for me!  Just stuck to dipping vegetables in the guacamole and an apple.  And herbal tea to drink.  Social situations are harder for me to resist than everyday run-ins with sweets and other non-compliant foods.  I can pretty much maintain that by keeping that stuff out of the house and cooking from scratch for the most part.  The celebratory/getting together with friends fun is something I associate with eating all those types of foods (which is something lots of people do).  

 

Today was day 12.. these next few days are supposed to be the intense craving period, so we'll see how it goes! I'm rooting for myself.  Tomorrow is my birthday and we're going out for sashimi, which should be awesome.  I actually prefer sashimi to sushi anyway (I think the way lots of restaurants do sushi rolled with a million ingredients & sauces is overkill.  The simplicity of the fresh fish is what I really want to taste... even pre Whole30 I never add soy sauce to it or anything).

[chezjulie]

You seem like you're doing great and not suffering too many ill effects other than the cravings at the party.

[Stephany]

Thanks, Julie.  The cravings are still happening and today, but not as intense.  I think the reason they were so strong was the social situation, and yesterday for my birthday I really wanted some decedant dessert, but didn't have any (that old habitat association for special occasions).   I think I'm hitting a bit of a rough patch in the middle of my Whole30 here, and feeling frustrated because I felt so good and was really on top of it so far.  This morning I grabbed a (too small) breakfast only quickly on the way out.  I'm realizing how important it is to keep planning ahead for multiple meals.  I got into this rut with lunch where I feel like a few days in a row I was relying on Chipotle for lunch... which, while I can get something compliant there, isn't really the best option.  

 

Today is Day 15 (whoa there, pork at every meal.. haha)

Breakfast - leftover pork, fermented pickles, almonds

Lunch - Chipotle salad bowl with carnitas (extra meat), salsa, guacamole. And a banana.

Dinner - potatoes, broccoli, onion, yellow squash, pork

[Stephany]

Day 16

Breakfast - leftovers of last nights dinner

Lunch - There's a soup spot in downtown Indy that knows about Whole30 and can modify their soups accordingly (everything is made daily from scratch and doesn't have BS oils and additives).  So I got a big bowl of chicken soup minus the noodles (with big hearty chunks of real chicken, lots of carrots, celery, onion, thyme.. really flavorful) and a side salad with avocado and tomato and olive oil & vinegar.

Dinner - Beef stew meat and butternut squash cooked in coconut oil & grapeseed oil, with cinnamon

 

Feeling better today.  I went to the market tonight and got a bunch of eggs and avocados to get back into the good breakfast game.  And threw a chicken in the crockpot for tomorrow. I used the rest of the huge butternut squash we had to make a soup... butternut (mashed the squash so it became more like a pureed soup), coconut milk, nutmeg, cinnamon, salt, pepper.  Can't wait to have this tomorrow with the crockpot chicken for lunch!

[Stephany]

Day 22.  I feel like my cravings are pretty much at bay compared to last week, so that's good news.  This doesn't seem so difficult right now.  I already know that I want to do a mostly paleo lifestyle even when my Whole30 and reintroduction are over.  One of the things that keeps blowing me away is how quickly I fall asleep and how soundly I sleep basically every night.  Even right up to before I started Whole30 it would often take me upwards of 2 or 3 hours to fall asleep because my mind would be racing with planning, worries, work stuff, etc.  I know alot of people report that doing Whole30 markedly reduces symptoms of anxiety - and honestly, even though I have never been clinically diagnosed, I gather I do have some form of general anxiety.  I can't say this has gone away completely, but it seems a bit better right now.  I think not using food as a crutch has caused me to face this more directly... even though it's something I absolutely was not blind to before and was very aware of.  Regardless, the big step I am ready to take now is to talk to my physician about it.  I have been in talk therapy before and had sorta managed it that way, but the fact that even through doing all the things "on paper" that make one happy (healthy foods, exercise, healthy & loving relationships, social life, etc).. I still do get symptoms of anxiety often enough that I think I need to ask my doctor if I should be on medication for it.  

 

Anyway, here's today's meals:

Breakfast - eggs, salsa, avocado, and a banana

Lunch - hamburger patty with guacamole, lettuce, tomato, mushrooms, and grilled pineapple.  some almonds on the side.

Dinner - chicken, green beans with carrots & onions, cauliflower rice, olives

[Stephany]

Day 27... almost there!!  I'm feeling decently energetic and am now really used to having 3 meals a day without snacking or feeling hungry.  This is practically a miracle because before I would really regularly get hungry between meals... And even though many of my meals were typically more healthy (being pretty familiar with paleo friendly eating habits beforehand for a bit)... lots of times I would have a 3 o'clock snack just a few hours after lunch (which would usually be unhealthy stuff like chips or cookies, or the pizza leftovers in the break room from peoples' meetings).  And then lots of times having a big snack after work and eating dinner too late.  I feel like my eating habits and ability to feel satisfied have normalized by a long shot.  I love it.  

 

Breakfast - 3 eggs on top of field greens with a side of winter squash & onions (cooked with coconut milk and curry... this was delicious!).. also Blue Ice fermented cod liver oil/butter oil supplement.

Lunch - pork, guacamole, green beans, apple

Dinner - beef burger patty, herbed red potatoes, field greens, pistachios

[Stephany]

Typo when I said Day 27... that was Day 28 because I started on September 23.  So yesterday was Day 30!  Heck yes, I'm done.     On to reintroduction..

 

but first, some thoughts...

 

Right now I don't have many cravings left, and if I do get 'em, they're pretty mild and manageable. The thought of a giant baguette sounds kinda meh.  I'm reintroducing dairy today and there was a bunch of ice cream in the freezer at the market, and I was like.. ehh it doesn't sound so great right now.  I'll just get some raw cheese.  This is huge because ice cream is my all time favorite dessert, and I thought I'd be a monster wanting to gobble it all down when I was finished with Whole30.

 

I feel like knowing which foods are bad for me has sunk in on a deeper level.  I've known for a while that alot of things like grain, wheat, etc weren't that healthy, but still went ahead eating them regularly.  Not having them to rely on for these 30 days has been awesome, so I can get real, everyday experience that I don't actually need these foods to survive.  They aren't necessary staples.. they really really aren't. I know how to cook really well without them now.  When I get home from work I didn't have the fallback unhealthy snack when I got bored or wanted to unwind. I had to rely on other sources of alleviation, like reading more. I've been getting back into creative work - I recently enrolled in an online course for graphic design.  This is a way healthier (and really fun) way to spend afterwork time, instead of chowing down.  I feel like I can stick with this way of eating for most meals going forward.  I love the way this feels and I know it's healthy for me.  I spent most of my 20's partying in a major metropolis and eating like crap.. so it'll probably take a while to undo all that.  My 30's are for healing and nutrition. 

[Stephany]

Reintroductions are well under way... here's a little run down so far of how things are affecting me.

 

I chose to reintroduce dairy first, since it's the group I missed the most.  I had some sour cream and shredded cheese with my lunch and felt nauseous pretty quickly afterwards.  That evening I had some raw milk cheese and felt fine afterwards.  So, perhaps softer pastuerized cheeses are no bueno for me, but raw cheese is ok.  I might have to do another round of reintroduction just on raw cheese to see for sure.

 

Non-gluten grains - I had certified gluten-free oats with breakfast and felt fine... although I didn't find them worth it or all that tasty at all.  I know that even gluten-free grains aren't healthy, so I probably just won't bother with stuff like oatmeal.  I have never been into stuff like quinoa, so no loss there either.  With dinner I had some tortilla chips with salsa and corn tortilla tacos.  Both were delicious and worth it. The tortilla was so fluffy and warm and slightly sweet tasting.  Interesting how this flavor was so savored and came alive after not having it for a month!  I also felt fine after the corn, so I think I will occasionally have tortilla chips or corn tortillas when I really want it.  Again, I know corn isn't healthy, so I'll try to keep this one under wraps so I don't over-indulge.

 

The next thing I'll be reintroducing is gluten (on Saturday).  We'll see how that goes.  The only other category besides that would be legumes - and in all honesty, I don't really care about legumes.  I don't eat soy (unless it got unknowingly slipped in, but I check my labels religiously for all soy variants). I got super burnt out on soy when I was a vegetarian in college. I already never ever eat tofu, or soybeans, avoid soybean oil.. I don't even like soy sauce on my sushi or sashimi - I eat it as is.  As far as beans - meh, I rarely eat them.  The only time I really encounter beans is at a Mexican spot and I usually pass on the beans or I won't order dishes that have beans in them.  I'm from the Los Angeles area originally and I got used to the small tacos with just corn tortilla, slow cooked meat, raw onion, and cilantro - and that's how I like them best.  I don't think I'm even going to bother reintroducing legumes.

 

One thing I discovered over the course of my Whole30, in the absence of inflammatory foods is... I think I have a mild allergy to almonds.  On a few different occasions after eating a handful of raw almonds - immediately upon eating them my face got hot and flushed, and I started feeling itchy all over, especially on my chest.  So, ironically, there's one healthy and compliant food I should avoid!

[marytyoung]

Did eating almonds bother you during your W30 or only after as you were reintroducing foods?

[Stephany]

I discovered those reactions to the almonds during the Whole30!  My guess is, I might have had this allergy for some time and never noticed it due to other more inflammatory foods in my diet masking the reaction.

[Stephany]

Gluten reintroduction... Uggggh I feel terrible.

 

I had a bagel with breakfast and started feeling really tired, have a headache, and my neck and shoulders feel really tight & sore.  There goes that one. Bye, gluten.