My First Whole 30!

[Erica Gucc]

Hi Everyone!!

 

I'm starting whole 30 today. I am excited and nervous at the same time. I've already had a few sweet cravings. I tried dates, but they are just blegh. I'll wait for lunch

 

I have Crohns disease, and for the past several weeks have been scouring the internet for a way to help the disease by changing my diet. Since I started, I've learned a LOT about the damage the diet we have has on our bodies! I also found out there are foods we can each which make us healthier, as opposed to less healthy. The first time I heard about whole30, I was like, no way can I do that!! But I was also reading about the GAPs and SCD diets. I also started seeing a wellness doctor, who told me to cut out the following: Gluten, Sugar, and Dairy. I thought, NO way! But the more I thought about it, the more I realized it probably wouldnt be impossible. And then I started with a wheat free diet after my mom read a book called Wheat Belly and passed it along to me. Reading it opened my mind to the damage Wheat has on our bodies, and the chemical components as to why. I had already at this point been reading about GAPs and SCD, so I knew about the dangers of complex carbs, and the benefits of fermented foods. But the evidence against wheat was a lot stronger, and on top of that, wheat just happens to be EXTREMELY easy to give up!

 

So I did it, I gave it up. And before I knew it, I was spending more time in the kitchen, more time prepping meals, and more time eating home made food. And then I realized, it doesnt stop here. I should cut out something else. Gluten? Dairy? Sugar? Which one! Then I remembered back about whole 30, read it again with a new perspective, and decided this is the ultimate way to see for myself what could be causing some of my issues.

 

So I bought the book, and read it cover-to-cover (unlike Wheat Belly and Breaking the Vicious Cycle, which I read through but skipped some chapters). Already at this point I have been experimenting with all sorts of new recipes, incorporating new foods in the diet (like cauliflower), and even making my own "perpetual bone broth" for a week (which was a success, and a learning experience). I picked a day. I got ready. And I made some poor diet choices. But its fine - I'm going to change my life with this diet.

 

And today it began after spending a ton of money on grass-fed beef at whole foods, getting the ghee and coconut aminos, and kombacha. I started off late, but its ok, its a relaxing weekend day, right? I made breakfast for myself and my bf. Hashed sweet potatoes + apply + cinnamon + fried egg. It was very good! I also tried my coffee with coconut milk and a cinnamon stick. although not nearly as sweet as my usual morning coffee, it was delicious and very satisfying. Usually I dont even drink all my coffee, with the coconut milk and cinnamon, it added an extra dimension of flavor that was irresistible! This isnt going to be so bad after all!

 

After that, I got to hard work hashing 3 more sweet potatoes as I was going to make a large batch of the same thing I just ate to eat throughout the week. See, I'm a busy person like most people, work long hours during the week, and with the disease, I just never can get enough sleep! So I dont have time in the morning to cook fresh breakfasts. I've been making breakfast-ahead a lot since i cut out wheat, knowing that I would need more calories and nutrients to sustain me in the day. So this is not new to me, but I tried making more than I thought I needed, so that I would be satisfied after breakfast. 

 

To accompany the sweet potato hash, I made eggs with sausage, basil, and tomato. I made them in muffin tins. Again, this is something I had done now twice before, with different protein and veg each time. They are so versatile! But I left out the cheddar cheese. Hopefully, it wont really need it, right?

 

I found this really awesome "meal plan" which isnt actually a meal plan, but a guideline. Up until this point, I have been planning meals for weeks. This is so that I have enough food in the week and am all ready to cook up delicious dinners with the necessary ingredients. But with the whole30 meal map, and its insistance that you are to make meals from whole foods, not complicated recipes, I decided to try to "wing it" a bit. I came up with meals to eat for the week, but I didnt meticuously plan out what I would eat evey day. I tried buying extra of what I needed, and I came up a bit short in the meal plan, hopefully by the time the end of the week rolls around, I'll have some ideas on what to make using what I have on hand.

 

So I am already hungry after breakfast is all made, so I put out all my nuts in place of the candy I had sitting around for the party I threw last week, and snacked on those a bit as I prepped some food for the week. I was using this post as a guideline on how to do the shopping and cookup for the week, but left out a decent amount of stuff. Now I am so tired after making these things. I am not really "done" but I'm going to take a break anyway. I made a lot of chicken, a big sweet potato, and squash. 1 squash came out really watery which I'm upset about. I also forgot to scrape the seeds before cooking and cooked them upside down by accident. Well you live and learn!

 

For lunch I made some chicken soup using the roasted chicken and the bone broth I started yesterday. It was okay, I added some veggies, they didnt get tender enough imo. I am wondering what I could do differently next time. 

 

The point of the "perpetual" bone broth is to have a constant stream of nutrients and calories in the day. You see since I have crohns, I can't lose weight. I mean, I don't try and I lose weight, I have to eat a LOT to make sure I am getting enough nutrients. Things have been better since my medicine started working, but I havent gained any weight, just maintaining my weight after having lost so much. I did gain about 5 lbs from my lowest point, but 93 lbs does not look to good on me even though I am pretty short. If I can stay right under 100 I will be fine, but I could gain 10 lbs and be happy too. I used to weigh almost 20 lbs more than I do now. So my mom is really worried about me losing weight, but I figure if I just eat eat eat I will be OK.

 

My boyfriend and both of our moms are also doing this. Well, thats my day one story. I'll probably continue to update this thread with progress as I go along. Wish me luck, and good luck on yours!

 

EDIT: Forgot to mention a few things. I'm going to prep lunch for tomorrow, as well as snacks. Well, now that I think about it, its not really that much of an edit. But its still important to mention! being prepared at work is very important, especially if there are other tempting snacks around, which considering its almost holloween, candy is bound to appear any time now. ugh. Just gotta make sure to have some fruit and nuts ready in case. I am always hungy. Lol.

[ShannonM816]

Hi, Erica, welcome to Whole30. You seem to have a good plan, but I would suggest that rather than having fruit and nuts on hand for when you get hungry, try having a mini meal, with some protein, fat, and vegetables, or at least two of those three. Maybe keep some hard boiled eggs, chopped vegetables, and mayo or avocado or olives. Or keep a few cans of tuna or salmon at your desk. 

 

I'd also caution you on the nuts -- they cause digestive problems for a lot of people, even people not dealing with Crohn's. You probably don't want to have them too often, or have too many of them at a time.

 

If you're really hungry all the time, you may need to increase the amount of food you're eating at meals. Keep in mind that the meal template lists a range of portion sizes, and it's okay to eat at the upper end of that (two palm-sized portions of protein, two thumb-sized portions of fat). Here's an article about keeping weight on during your Whole30, you may find some of the suggestions there helpful.