My "Timeline" Experience (or lack thereof)

[thegoldengrahamgirl]

Day 27 / Official* Day 13 (Wednesday, December 2):

Food Log:

M1: Another entire bunch of lettuce served as a bed for my “hash” of scrambled eggs with shredded cabbage, all fried in ghee.  And of course I had two small pieces of steak (yay steak and eggs – pretty decadent for a Wednesday!), and topped it all off with a spoonful of salsa.

Pre-WO: ½ baked chicken breast with seasonings

Post-WO: ½ baked chicken breast + open handful size roasted squash

M2: A palm-sized piece of steak, ~2 cups steamed green beans, 1 fist-sized serving of boiled white potato cubes topped with homemade mayo and a spoonful of homemade cranberry sauce.

Snack: ½ tin of tuna packed in oil, ½ a large carrot, ~1/2 dozen grape tomatoes, ~1/2 dozen macadamia nuts and closed handful of roasted salted almonds (yay for another template mini-meal – can’t wait for my coconut butter packets to show up to help keep me away from the nuts, though – AND I need to increase the size of my template meals so that I don’t NEED a snack.  It was a darn heavy-duty workout at lunch, though!).

M3: Shredded cabbage fried in ghee, 1 baked chicken breast with seasonings, 1 large carrot cut in sticks and topped with homemade mayo, medium bowl of salad greens with homemade dressing & balsamic vinegar and a strawberry coconut bite for "dessert" (but added in the context of a satiating fat as part of the template meal).  I also had several “sample” spoonfuls of my paleo aloo gobi for tomorrow night’s potluck – I’m really happy with this recipe from The Big Chin Kitchen!

 

Feelings Log: Holy moly – I really am almost done 30 days.  It’s making me think about a bowl of ice cream – the “treat” recommended in the Whole30 as a “reward” for finishing the thirty days.  Which seems like a weird way to reward successfully avoiding dairy and sugar.  And it’s not something I usually ate as a treat in my SAD life, anyway.  Plus, I’ve actually got an additional 14 days to do.  At this point, my first planned reintroduction IS dairy, but it will be plain, unsweetened Greek yogurt.  And only one dairy product at a time, vs. three different products all on one day (it’s going to be a LONG reintroduction). I really want to be able to pinpoint which foods cause which reactions.  Ice cream will not count as a dairy re-intro because I already know that I have an inflammatory response to sugar.  I’m curious if I will experience any other type of digestive upset or distress from consuming dairy.

[thegoldengrahamgirl]

Yeah, the whole 'dessert' mind-set is something we'd encourage folk to move away from. If you need something to 'finish off' a meal try avoiding the 'treat' & go the opposite route of something pickled which will cleanse the pallet in exactly the same way, or maybe just clean your teeth. 

Thanks, jmcbn.

 

I don't and didn't normally eat dessert even in my life before - normally my meal was my meal, and that was it.  But if I *do* find myself casting about for that certain something, I will try your advice of something pickled (provided I can find something compliant in the stores here with no added sugar or other off-plan additives).

 

Thanks,

 

-Lauren (GGG)

[thegoldengrahamgirl]

 

Good job on all the changes over the past few weeks! You readjusted quite well in the face of the sad fact that your special trip had to be cancelled at this time. The first 4 weeks without a Diet Coke are the hardest. You will probably never even want one again. (I was a coke/diet coke addict for 22 years & have been "sober" for about 9 years now, so I'm with you!)

 

I feel your pain on wanting a piece of gum sometimes and also noticing that toothpaste is SO SWEET. Not sure I'm ready to switch to natural or salt toothpaste, though.   

 

Thanks, SimpleNotEasy!  I know I whined about the trip cancellation a LOT - thanks for noticing and applauding what I've been doing with my time instead.

 

Wow, you kicked a 22 year habit!  I feel fortunate that I only had a short-term habit to break - we never buy any kind of soda pop to stock at home, so it was only in the past year or two that it was available in our office fridge that I started drinking it on a regular basis.

 

The Weleda Salt toothpaste isn't that bad - they have some peppermint flavour so you still get a sense of minty-freshness along with the salt!

 

Cheers,

 

-Lauren (GGG)

[thegoldengrahamgirl]

Hallelujah!!

 

[thegoldengrahamgirl]

Day 28 / Official* Day 14 (Thursday, December 3):

Food Log:

M1: Guess what?  More shredded cabbage (fried in ghee along with 1 egg scrambled in plus two poached eggs on top).  I topped this with a spoonful of salsa and a side of 6 grape tomatoes and 1 clementine orange.  We’ll see how I fare without my green veggies.

Pre-WO: Nil (recovery day)

Post-WO: Nil (recovery day)

M2: Mixed green salad with sliced steak and 2 tbsp. raisins, topped with EVOO & balsamic vinegar, served with a large carrot and 6 grape tomatoes.  I ate lunch earlier than usual (11:45am vs. 1:30pm) in order to attend an event with my co-workers (and avoid the catered pizza).

Snack: An early lunch meant I just couldn’t make it to 6:30pm supper, even though I drank a few litres of water over the course of the afternoon.  Thankfully, my amazing co-worker brought me a variety pack of Epic bars from the States today.  I had the Pulled Pork and Pineapple Flavour and it was AWESOME.  I was expecting a dry “jerky” style bar but it was soft and fresh-tasting.  Much better than Larabars!

M3: I successfully navigated a dinner party!  I ate my compliant aloo gobi (lots of cauliflower, potato and tomatoes) and a baked chicken breast seasoned with garam masala. I think the host was a little sad that I didn’t eat her paleo butter chicken, but I know that the coconut milk she used in the recipe had non-compliant preservatives.  When they pulled out all of the desserts, I had fresh blueberries and a packet of coconut butter (YES, it arrived!  Early, no less!).  I know what the Whole30 (and the moderators) tell me about dessert, but in a dinner party situation with black forest cake and gingerbread cake and other sweet treats, just having plain blueberries is a VICTORY.  Actually, I wasn’t tempted by those things at all.

 

Feelings Log: Hanging in there. The moderators remind me that there are always ways to do “better” but I have to give myself some credit for staying compliant on a Whole30. Even without “perfect” template meals all of the time, this is quite the accomplishment in and of itself, especially in your first Whole30!  Bonus points for doing it in a country where I don’t speak the language, can barely read the labels (which means very few packaged foods for me – and that’s a good thing!), and can’t even order certain foods online (compliant coconut milk, Rxbars, and Epic bars, I’m looking at you)!  Don’t I wish that I had been fully-compliant from the get-go, though, so that I could start the reintroduction process on Sunday (Day 31)?

 

I’m slowly (and sneakily) trying to transition my family to a Whole30 style of eating.  I have managed to avoid sampling any non-compliant foods I prepare for them, but I have almost messed up a few times.  Not because I WANT to eat the food (at least not consciously), but simply out of sheer force of habit of sampling things as I go along with cooking.  And I’m a messy cook, so I would routinely catch a blob of something on my finger and stick it in my mouth.  I’ve gotten very good at wiping things down with cloths, now!

 

MY COCONUT BUTTER ARRIVED!  And it was EARLIER than the estimated shipping date!  When does THAT happen? J

[ArtFossil]

I admire your persistence and tenacity, GGG, in hunting down compliant foods and navigating social situations! Hooray for you!

I'm both behind you (your unofficial count) and ahead of you (your official count) as this is Day 25 for me. Compared to your challenges, my Whole30 is, thankfully, easy.

I have to ask, what is coconut butter and what do you do with it/why do you like it? I finally opened my jar of coconut oil to cook with when Instarted my Whole30 and can't say I like it. It tastes . . . coconutty, LOL. Let's just say I prefer olive oil or clarified butter for cooking.

[littleg]

Sorry you aren't feeling good  But bone broth is so easy!

 

Get a big pot.  Put chicken in it.  Quarter an onion and toss it in with some carrots and celery and a few bay leaves.  Cover with water.  Cook for the day.  No roasting!  Do you have a pressure cooker?  You can do it super quick with that.  

[thegoldengrahamgirl]

Thanks, littleg!  I know broth is easy, I just don't have easy access to a chicken carcass (or did you mean the whole chicken?  I've never cooked a whole chicken that way.  No slow cooker and no pressure cooker here).  I suppose I could get my husband to pick up a whole rotisserie chicken from Costco.  I've been nervous about eating it because I don't know what's in the marinade/seasoning they put on the skin, but I could just let my family eat it and then boil down the carcass.

 

P.S. - Want to really feel like a blob?  Try eating Whole30-style and NOT working out.  I haven't been to the gym since last Friday (this is Day 5 off in a row) and I've barely been out of bed other than to eat the past two days.  Ugh.

 

Cheers,

 

-Lauren (GGG)

[littleg]

Yeah - the whole chicken.  Just drop it in the pot.  It'll need to be a big pot

 

If you are tired enough to not be working out... I'm sure your body needs it.  Rest up - you'll get back to it when you are better!

[thegoldengrahamgirl]

Alright, I'm on the mend and back at work today.  I'll slowly piece together my missing days (thankfully, I Instagram all of my meals).

 

Day 29 / Official* Day 15 (Friday, December 4):

Food Log:

M1: Similar to yesterday, except: BACON.  Shredded cabbage fried in ghee, two poached eggs, 3 strips of crispy bacon, a spoonful of salsa and 1 clementine orange.  Plus, I had about a third of raw medium zucchini cut into coins.  I missed my green veggies!  And I was STILL hungry at 10am.  WITAF!?  ß Pardon my foul acronym language.  That’s one thing about packing your food for the day in advance; it’s a little bit harder to make adjustments on the fly.  I ate everything I had prepared and it STILL wasn’t enough.

Pre-WO: A few bites of tinned tuna

Post-WO: The rest of the tinned tuna (about half a can in total), 3 grape tomatoes & ½ a small carrot

M2: Leftover aloo gobi, a baked chicken breast and a packet of Artisana coconut butter (J), plus a big salad of mixed greens with julienned carrots and purple cabbage, topped with EVOO & balsamic vinegar.  And for the love of Pete (whoever that is), I was STILL hungry!  I drank some water, waited a few minutes, and still would have happily downed poached fish and steamed broccoli.  So, I had a:

Snack: Turkey-Almond-Cranberry Epic bar and a 25g packet of dried fruit & nuts (a little more portion control than scooping out of the mixed nuts container in the office!).  Feed a cold (which is what I’ve got – STILL), starve a fever?

M3: Leftover steak with spice rub, sautéed onion, zucchini & bell pepper and boiled white potatoes.  I also had a serving (2 tbsp.) of coconut butter during Graham Family Movie Night (at home) – the only thing keeping me sane while my family munched on fresh, hot salted caramel popcorn.  The smell was killing me (popcorn is one of my all-time favourite snacks, even though I’ve long known that it is hard on my stomach.  I was so relieved to find out that hot, buttery popcorn is one of Melissa Hartwig’s favourites, too).

 

Feelings Log: TGIF!  I’m trying not to panic about my HUGE appetite today.  The weather is quite a bit colder and I was outside walking around for an hour, plus I had a solid noon-hour workout.  Oh, and my monthly cycle is due next week, so maybe I can blame it all on hormones.  I’m trying to NOT restrict my intake (but I AM splitting infinitives), and just remember that my appetite will naturally go up and down from day to day, as will my intake.

[thegoldengrahamgirl]

Day 30(!) / Official* Day 16 (Saturday, December 5):

Food Log:

M1: I needed serious breakfast to fuel me for (and keep me sane during) a morning of holiday baking, so this is what I had: 3 poached eggs on a bed of shredded cabbage that had been fried in ghee, ½ avocado, 1 clementine orange, 4 sliced strawberries and a few spoonfuls of coconut butter, as well as a large mug of black coffee. It worked perfectly, and I was able to make shortbread cookies, ginger molasses cookies and a few batches of fudge (peanut butter and butterscotch flavours) without sampling a single drop.  I just need to box it up for my gift recipients to get it out of the house!

Pre-WO: Nil (planned day off)

Post-WO: Nil (planned day off)

M2: The morning and afternoon were so busy that I didn’t end up sitting down to eat this until after 5pm, and it was my lunch and dinner combined: A HUGE salad topped with 2 baked chicken breasts, ½ avocado, sliced strawberries, a handful of walnuts, EVOO and balsamic vinegar.

M3: Nil (covered in M2, above).  I did have a green tea after our date night, though (I highly recommend the a cappella vocal performance group Voca People, if you get a chance to see them – check them out on YouTube!).

 

Feelings Log: Da-da-da-dah!  Drumroll, please!  Thirty days of Whole30-style eating in the books!  And only two weeks to go of 100% compliant days until my “official” Whole30 is in the books.  My single biggest NSV is that I’m in a better mood overall.  I actually think I put ON body fat during this process – I’ll bear down on the fruit and nut intake in the next two weeks and see if I can lean out.  That could just be my bodying rebelling and re-aligning after getting quite lean during IIFYM.

[thegoldengrahamgirl]

Day 31 / Official* Day 17 (Sunday, December 6):

Food Log:

M1: I was busily preparing @PaleoDish Cindy Sexton’s quiche (on the Whole30recipes Instragram page – I had to make a few substitutions based on availability, namely white potatoes instead of sweet potatoes and bacon instead of sausage, plus I added sautéed mushrooms & onions) and used some leftover grated white potato to make two hash brown patties for myself! They were held together with a little bit of scrambled raw egg and then fried in ghee along with 2 eggs, sunny side up. I included some sautéed mushrooms and onions from the quiche filling and served them on a bed of fresh spinach. I added some salsa and a clementine orange for a perfect pop of colour on my plate.

Pre-WO: Nil (planned rest day, although I thought I might be going swimming before I started feeling so poorly)

Post-WO: Nil

M2: Christmas Brunch with the Hanson family (no, not THAT Hanson family)! In the true spirit of the holidays, I overdid it (Whole30-style). While everyone else was drinking mimosas, I had a glass of orange juice mixed with lemon-flavoured Perrier sparkling water (and yes, I know that drinking fruit juice is discouraged). Everyone loved my compliant paleo quiche (and bacon! I brought my own package and it proved to be more popular than their bacon which looked more like strips of deli ham). While they were munching on eggs benedict with hollandaise, I just grabbed a poached egg and some roasted tomato and spinach. I did have entirely too much fruit (red grapes, blueberries, etc.) off of the fresh fruit tray (I still have a tendency to overeat in social situations, even when I’m fully stuffed – I need to be mindful to not get caught up in the moment or feel spurred along when everyone else is overeating, too). However, I steered clear of the bagels, muffins and French toast. I drank my coffee black, but felt a ping of envy when the bottle of Kahlua went around (my Whole30 will be done by Christmas so I can partake then, if I feel the urge). The host was wonderful about accommodating my Whole30 (it probably helps that he is one of my regular workout buddies, and he and his family have a very clean-eating lifestyle anyway). There were a few questions asked and I tried to give the elevator pitch version of Whole30, and then conversation moved on to other things. No big deal! I’m grateful that I didn’t have to deal with any rude or pushy or unsupportive companions as many of you have related.

Snack: A large apple & raisins with a HUGE serving of Sunbutter (oops – perhaps too much fruit at brunch unleashed my nut & fruit dragon)? Honestly, I was starting to feel like crap as the afternoon wore on, which in retrospect was the onset of my illness (bronchitis and sinus infection with attendant fever) and NOT from eating too much food.

M3: This was a real hodge-podge. The only protein source that sounded remotely appealing to me was pork (as in loin or chop, not ham or bacon). Sadly, we didn’t have any in the house. I went with tuna tinned in oil, and I tried to dress it up to remind me of pork. I drained as much of the oil as I could and stirred in some homemade mayo, chopped apple, raisins, sage & thyme. I served it with squash (roasted with coconut oil and sprinkled with cinnamon - YUM) and cauliflower (roasted with EVOO until crispy and served with a few dabs of ghee, sea salt & black pepper – it reminded me of popcorn! But not in a problematic SWYPO way. Cauliflower is not THAT good J).

 

Feelings Log: I think most of my feelings and insights for the day are in the M2 section. By the end of the day, though, I felt like absolute garbage and was running a temperature. This was NOT food-related, though. A doctor’s visit on Monday confirmed sinus infection and bronchitis.

[thegoldengrahamgirl]

Day 32 / Official* Day 18 (Monday, December 7):

Food Log:

M1: 2 eggs, sunny side up (I actually rarely cook or order my eggs this way, but they were SO good yesterday), leftover quiche with a blob of FABULOUS NEW HOMEMADE MAYO (I finally found some light-tasting olive oil at a different, fancier store on Saturday), ½ avocado, and salsa, all on a bed of fresh spinach.  Hey, if you don’t feel well, at least your food can be beautiful, right?

Pre-WO: Nil (sick)

Post-WO: Nil (sick)

M2: Egg salad (3 hard-boiled eggs + EPIC homemade mayo + sea salt + black pepper) lettuce wraps with salsa and a piece (fist-sized?) of roasted squash.

M3: I made a beautiful tomato meat sauce (beef, mushrooms, onion, red bell pepper and tomato sauce with Italian herbs and spices) and served it over zucchini noodles.  Everyone loved it and my husband and son went back for seconds, so I was sad that there were no leftovers!  (But I was happy that they ate it.  Our “usual” bottled sauce has sugar and soybean oil in it.)

 

Feelings Log: So, so sick.  I think this is the first time I’ve been to see a doctor in Korea for an illness.  It’s certainly the first time I’ve had an antibiotic here.  In fact, my husband and I were racking our brains for the last time I’ve had an antibiotic, period.  Possibly some time before my pregnancy, over five years ago.  It’s a shame it had to happen during my Whole30 (not that I blame my Whole30, or think that it somehow “failed” by not preventing me from getting sick), because I am not experiencing the full degree of “awesomeness” that I could be.

 

On the plus side, I finally made some gorgeous homemade mayo with the elusive light-tasting olive oil.  Thank you to everyone for your trouble-shooting and tips!

 

Despite being sick, I also managed to box up some of the weekend baking of cookies and fudge for my neighbours.  And, while I was making meat sauce for dinner, I also put on a big pot of chili to simmer in the hopes it would cut down on cooking for the rest of the week.

[thegoldengrahamgirl]

 Day 33 / Official* Day 19 (Tuesday, December 8):

Food Log:

M1: Another gorgeous breakfast (being able to sleep in and actually cook breakfast at home vs. eating it re-heated out of a to-go container at the office is a perk to being home sick): 3 poached eggs on a bed of spinach, ½ avocado with sea salt, 2 small pieces of roasted squash with cinnamon, one small bowl (~1 cup) mixed frozen berries heated with a spoonful of coconut butter and 1 clementine orange.  I’m going to EAT MY WAY OUT OF SICKNESS!

Pre-WO: Nil (sick)

Post-WO: Nil (sick)

M2: I made these really fun potato-based Everything Bagel Buns from The Detoxinista (actually from the Inspiralized Cookbook – who else has a spiralizer?).  Don’t worry; they’re NOT a Paleo-fied baked good!  I served them with steamed broccoli with a sprinkle of nutritional yeast and some of my delicious spicy chili (no, not chocolate chili).

Snack: (a boo-hoo, poor-me-I'm-sick-snack) cup of Earl Grey tea with an Apple Pie Larabar

M3: Supper was tame: a chicken breast baked with seasonings and spices served on top of fried cabbage with raw zucchini rounds with homemade mayo.  And a strawberry-coconut bite to round out the meal.  I should go on the hunt for some compliant pickles.  Or make my own.

 

Feelings Log: I picked up a handy tip from the brunch over the weekend: you can poach a dozen eggs all at once in the oven, using a muffin tin.  Perhaps you savvy people already knew this, but it was great advice for me!  You just put 1 tbsp. of water into each muffin cup, then crack an egg into each one and back at 350F (180C) for 10-15 minutes, until the yolks have reached the desired “doneness.”  The muffin cups keep each egg in a nice round shape, and you free up your stovetop burners for other dishes. 

 

Oh, and I also baked strips of BACON in the oven as well.  The jury is out on whether you need to pre-heat the oven first, or put the bacon into a cold oven and THEN turn it on.  Since I always prefer to start bacon in a cold pan, I went with the latter approach.  Line the (rimmed) baking tray with foil (easier for cleanup – again, make sure it has a rim to catch the fat as it cooks out), add the strips of bacon and put it in the oven.  Then turn the oven on to 400F and bake for 15-20 minutes until you achieve the desired “doneness.” 

 

I bet with multiple racks you could do the poached eggs AND the bacon in the oven at the same time!  My tiny little Korean convection-microwave combo oven is too small.

 

Okay, the foregoing wasn’t really on FEELINGS.  But it was what I wanted to share.  I haven’t consulted the timeline in a while to see what I could supposedly be feeling at this point anyway (especially since I’ve got two “day” counts running).  But I DID have two more food dreams: 1) I was planning to eat a toasted cinnamon-raisin bagel with peanut butter (not coincidentally, my husband’s lunch on Monday).  I realized “hey, I can’t eat a bagel.”  So, I started scraping off the peanut butter and just eating that.  Then I realized “hey, I can’t have peanut butter, either!  DARN IT!”). 2) I was SHOVELLING fudge in my face.  It’s time for me to get the rest of that stuff OUT of the house (baking exchange is this coming Friday, December 11).

[thegoldengrahamgirl]

Day 34 / Official* Day 20 (Wednesday, December 9):

Food Log:

M1: 2 soft poached eggs and a piece of leftover quiche with a blob of homemade mayo on a bed of spinach + 1 clementine orange.

Pre-WO: Nil (sick – STILL)

Post-WO: Nil (sick – STILL)

M2: The BEST salad: lettuce with chopped baked chicken breast, ¼ avocado, yellow bell pepper pieces and crumbled crispy bacon pieces (using bacon as a condiment/fat, as recommended).

Snack: An apple, coconut butter and a HUGE handful of cashews (sigh). 

M3: Stir-fried shrimp & cashews (hence why I had cashews on hand) with diced red & yellow bell pepper, seasoned with lime juice & Tabasco, served over cauliflower rice (my first time making it – so easy, and I liked it!).  Oh, and maybe another piece of bacon.

 

Feelings Log: Mentally feeling better today (a.k.a. restless).  I’m done with being sick.  I’m going to work tomorrow (Thursday), whether I like it or not.  I think my husband (stay-at-home parent) is a bit off-kilter having me home this week.

[thegoldengrahamgirl]

Day 35 / Official* Day 21 (Thursday, December 10):

Food Log:

M1: Leftover quiche (yup, still – last piece!), roasted cauliflower, ½ avocado with salsa + 4 grape tomatoes and 1 clementine orange.

Pre-WO: Nil (not quite ready to get back at it)

Post-WO: Nil

M2: Egg salad (3 hard-boiled eggs + homemade mayo + sea salt + black pepper) lettuce wraps, ~6 grape tomatoes, handful of black olives, ½ apple, 4 strawberries, 2 slices of pear + 25g packet of dried fruit & nuts.  This was in lieu of the catered pizza for our lunch meeting.  I do still have a nut & fruit dragon, but I have slayed the pizza dragon (for now, at least).

M3: Oven-roasted salmon (with EVOO, sea salt, black pepper and sprinkled with lemon juice on serving – GAAHHH, so good!), boiled white potatoes with ghee, sea salt & black pepper, and sautéed zucchini coins & boiled carrots.

Pre-bedtime: Several spoonfuls of coconut butter.  Fat is NOT a good choice for a pre-bed time snack.  Lean protein would have been better.  But it seemed to help calm my stomach.

 

Feelings Log: Feeling mostly human today, although I jokingly said to my husband last night that I was at the Intersection of Fun Times: fever, bronchitis, sinus infection and start of my period.  How’s that for a winning combination?  Getting out of bed at 6a.m. was hard after a few days of sleeping later, but a shower woke me up (I usually shower after my noon-hour workout).  These antibiotics are doing a number on my stomach/digestion, though.  “May cause diarrhea,” says the pharmacist.  Um, ya think!?  Sorry, TMI.  But I was still able to see through those impacts to FINALLY realize that raw spinach and I do NOT agree.  Fine if it’s wilted, steamed or otherwise cooked, but I just finally realized that my digestive system simply does NOT play well with raw spinach. 

 

I’m also one of those weirdos who actually feels compelled to eat MORE with an upset/angry tummy – as if there’s some food that is just going to settle the pain.  If it was nausea, I’d know to reach for ginger.  But it was cramping and gas.  So I gulped down some water with baking soda in it.  And then hit up the coconut butter.

[ArtFossil]

Glad you're back, GGG!

Question: what do you do with coconut butter and why do you like it? I remember how happy you were to find it, and I've never had it.

[Alisonlcarver]

GGG, I hope you feel better soon! You are awesome for doing your Whole 30 during your illness. I know the wholesome, real foods you are eating are treating your body so much better than non-Whole 30 foods! Did you end up going to work today? How did it go?

[thegoldengrahamgirl]

Glad you're back, GGG!

Question: what do you do with coconut butter and why do you like it? I remember how happy you were to find it, and I've never had it.

Hi ArtFossil!  I remember answering this post and then my answer mysteriously disappeared.  I'll try to remember what I said.  I don't just LIKE coconut butter - I LOVE it.  Mind you, I like coconut.  But I like coconut butter WAY more than coconut flake.  It's just sweet and creamy and coconutty and well, wonderful. 

 

First of all, "butter" is maybe a bit of a misnomer.  It's not like dairy butter or ghee.  Think of a thick nut butter, instead.  It's really just whole coconut flesh, puréed.  As you've probably seen in my log, I've got a bit of a nut butter problem (although I've cut WAY back on almond butter and I'm learning to use Sunbutter as a condiment - just gotta keep it away from fruit!). 

 

I really just like to eat it in smalllarge spoonfuls, but coconut butter is great on roasted squash or sweet potato.  In the SWYPO area, a little spoonful of coconut butter inside a date is DIVINE (but I haven't had that during this Whole30 because it will just get me in trouble).

 

Outside of Whole30, it's also great in freezer fudge recipes and I've also seen it in non-dairy coconut "cheesecake" and paleo coconut cream pie.

 

I hope you get a chance to try it!

 

Cheers,

 

-Lauren (GGG)

 

P.S. - Thanks for the welcome back!

[thegoldengrahamgirl]

GGG, I hope you feel better soon! You are awesome for doing your Whole 30 during your illness. I know the wholesome, real foods you are eating are treating your body so much better than non-Whole 30 foods! Did you end up going to work today? How did it go?

 

Hi Alison!  Thanks for the kind words!  Yup, I try to think that I would be feeling much, much more poorly if I wasn't doing a Whole30.  And honestly, eating this way makes me feel LESS guilty about missing my regular workouts.  I no longer feel like I NEED to work out to burn off what I'm eating.  I have FINALLY (after literally decades of competitive sports) found a way to eat that is scalable for regular life AND intense training AND supports lean muscle mass even when I am less active.

 

I did go to work yesterday (Thursday) and am here now on Friday (shh - shouldn't be on the forum!).  Remember I'm in Korea so I am many hours ahead of you - it's the noon hour here now!  Feeling pretty much back to normal, and in a good mood despite the stress of being three days behind.  I have a demanding job, and no one does it for me while I'm out, so things just pile up until I get back!  Lots of motivation to get well as fast as I can.  I've never taken three days off sick in a row before in my entire career (11 years).

 

I hope the marathon training is going well for you.  When is your race?  I did my first full marathon in 2006 (and only two more after that, one each in 2007 and 2008).

 

Cheers,

 

-Lauren (GGG)

[littleg]

How to eat coconut butter:

 

 

I really just like to eat it in smalllarge spoonfuls

 

 

If I had written that response I wouldn't have needed to go past this

[Alisonlcarver]

I hope the marathon training is going well for you.  When is your race?  I did my first full marathon in 2006 (and only two more after that, one each in 2007 and 2008).

My race is in early March--plenty of time to train!

[SimpleNotEasy]

Glad you're feeling better. I tend to overdo nuts and nut butters, too. Like you, I do a lot better if I buy the individual packets. 

[ArtFossil]

Thanks, GGG! I ate no coconut on Whole30 and am not a coconut person. (Find the coconut oil a bit coconutty). So I'll steer clear of the coconut butter. (Also not fond of dates.)

I didn't have any nut butter on my Whole30 (just never thought of it). I do expect to reintro peanut butter but I'm not in any hurry. I "can't" overeat peanut butter. :-)

[thegoldengrahamgirl]

Day 36 / Official* Day 22 (Friday, December 11):

Food Log:

M1: 2 poached eggs on a bed of wilted spinach, 2 slices of crispy bacon, 1 leftover Everything Bagel Bun , 4 grape tomatoes, 1 clementine orange, 1 black coffee.  I rarely mention it here, but I almost always start my day with a mug of hot water with lemon juice in it, too.  Today was no different.

Pre-WO: Nil (last day off, I hope!)

Post-WO: Nil

M2: Leftover chili (I love how chili gets even better as it “ages” – the spices really sink in) with leftover boiled white potatoes and boiled carrots and a big bowl of salad with mixed greens and grape tomatoes, drizzled generously with EVOO & balsamic vinegar + ½ avocado with sea salt.

M3: The biggest salad I have ever eaten: mixed greens with julienned carrots and shredded purple cabbage, cucumber and celery, topped with a cooked chicken breast, a hardboiled egg and black olives, drizzled with my homemade dressing.  Plus, an Artisana coconut butter packet.  And then I was good to go for the holiday cookie exchange I attended.  I enjoyed the conversation (and not the sweets) and nursed a bottle of Perrier with lime.

 

Feelings Log: I had a sweaty sleep (not sure whether to blame the coconut butter, the illness, or the 4-year-old in our bed – probably a combination of all three!) but things were improved on the digestion front in the morning.  I’m really doing myself a disservice by continuing with fruit and nuts.  EVERY OTHER DAY MAX, LAUREN!  Someone needs to keep yelling that at me (including me) until it really sinks in.  But look, no nuts today, and only 1 clementine orange (which so far does not seem to provoke the mid-morning sugar dragon/snack attack).