benji works harder

[Benjamin Shine]

I'm starting my first whole 30 tomorrow, but I basically started two days ago, when I eliminated dairy. Right now it's the first late afternoon at work of my first day without dairy or any sweeteners, and I am missing an afternoon coffee so much.

I've been paleo for over a year, except I've still been having around a cup a day of whole cream or half and half in my coffee. Plus occasional artisanal cheeses; maybe 3 servings a week. I decided to try eliminating dairy -- my last remaining non-paleo staple -- to try to get past the weight-loss plateau I'm on.

I don't get to CrossFit on Mondays, either, the way my schedule is arranged. That means I stay a bit later at work than usual, to make up for the tuesdays, thursdays, and Fridays when I do leave early.

I just drank a Hi-Ball Sparkling Energy Water. I need to read the rest of the Whole30 guide to find out if that's legal for the Whole30 or not.

I'm seriously not sure I can get through 30 days of this. No chocolate? But... I'm frustrated with my lack of change. I want more results, so I'm going to have to do something different. Here we go.

-benji

[danago]

Good luck! I'm impressed by your pre-W30 "nearly" paleo diet. I found the half and half in my espresso was the hardest to give up on a daily basis. As my husband says "It takes a lot of denial to drink your espresso straight." (!) Done, though, and happier for it.

[Derval]

Try an Americano instead? I thought I would *hate* black coffee, but hey it's not so bad actually...Or you can add coconut milk (from a can) to your coffee.

I'm not familiar with your water but it sounds like it would have sweeteners or some such in it, in which case it owuld be off the menu.

re the chocolate it gets easier with each day without it, and the temporary pleasure is so not worth breaking your whole30 streak for. Do not trade what you want now for what you want longterm.

Have a great W30. You can do it!

[karrottop]

Don't be afraid to try. Even if you break your whole 30, you can always gather up what you learned and try again!

[gatork]

i'm struggling with the no chocolate already - but, i just keep thinking, since i haven't had anything sugary (except fruit) for over a week now, it would probably make me feel sick after..so it can wait

[Benjamin Shine]

This morning's breakfast at work -- coddled eggs -- turned out to have bleu cheese on top. I tried to eat around the bleu cheese, but I ate some, anyways. So, not even a full day in to the whole 30 and I have a little failure.

Here's the menu for the week where I work:

http://www.cafebonappetit.com/menu/your-cafe/twitter/cafes/details/403/twitter

This morning was

coddled eggs with bacon

coddled eggs with applewood smoked bacon, bloomsdale spinach and point reyes toma cheese coddled eggs with mushrooms

coddled eggs with mushrooms, roasted peppers, pea greens and laura chenel goat cheese

I did espresso with almond milk for caffeine this morning; that was awesome. I can't believe how easy it was to find an acceptable morning coffee substitute, once I got willing to give up the cream.

Also I just brought $30 worth of fresh artisan cheeses to work and gave them all away. Also "marrow butter" from Prather Ranch. I've got to keep the fridge at home clear of dairy.

[Benjamin Shine]

About my topic: I mean "Benji works harder than he used to" not "Benji works harder than you."

I wanted to pick an affirmative topic rather than an aspirational one.

[Carie Skeahan]

_{Hi Benjamin –}

_{Don't beat yourself up about the cheese too much…now you know. It is sometimes difficult to eat out…you must be very specific and ask a lot of questions. i.e. I always ask if the scrambled eggs are mixed with anything like milk or pancake batter. You would be surprised how many times the answer is yes. Also, your almond milk…check the ingredients. Often times it has CARRAGEENAN and/or EVAPORATED CANE JUICE among other things. These ingredients are not W30 approved. A better alternative is coconut milk in a can. It is very very good.}

_{Sorry to be such a downer…on a positive note, nice job on getting rid of that cheese. It will be so much easier to be successful at this if you are not tempted to get up and walk over to the fridge and grab that stuff. I have suggested getting rid of stuff you know you will be tempted by many many times. i.e. Larabars}

_{I hope this helps...}

[Benjamin Shine]

_{Hi Benjamin –}

_{Also, your almond milk…check the ingredients. Often times it has CARRAGEENAN and/or EVAPORATED CANE JUICE among other things. These ingredients are not W30 approved. A better alternative is coconut milk in a can. It is very very good.}

Oh dang! I did make sure to get the unsweetened almond milk, but you're right -- it has carageenan, whatever that is!

I'll try coconut milk in my coffee tomorrow.

[Benjamin Shine]

I felt great at my workout today. I had mayonnaise with chicken & avocado & tomatoes for my PWO snack; it occurred to me after that there's the wrong kind of oil in mayo, so mayo is not W30 approved. Apparently I need to read the entire guide *before* I start the Whole 30. Lesson learned. I'm still going to think of it as the month of May is my Whole 30. I don't want to start the count over every time I make a mistake. My commitment is to deliberately stick to the plan for 30 days.

[Shaunna]

Good luck!

[Benjamin Shine]

Starting my day with espresso blended with coconut milk. The trick was that I used a magic bullet to literally whip the coconut milk in with the coffee. Pretty okay.

I'm starting to recognize that coffee is in fact an ingredient whose taste I dislike, but I tolerate because I'm addicted to caffeine. I'm already sober from all the usual things one gets sober from; maybe I'll eventually get sober from caffeine, too.

[Benjamin Shine]

Oh man. My team is going to a special event today -- at a trampoline gym, no less -- and the coordinator, my boss's boss, ordered a gluten-free pizza JUST FOR ME... which is exactly what I requested before I started my Whole30. Do I eat the pizza?

[Carie Skeahan]

Yikes! That is a tough one…probably not if you want to stay compliant. Pizza, even if it is gluten free, probably has sugar (among other things) in the dough, not to mention sugar in the sauce and lets not forget the cheese.

I realize this may put you in a hard spot considering they ordered it “just for youâ€. But, if they did order it just for you, then they must be supportive of your current dietary choices. Perhaps ask if they can order a salad (no cheese, croutons, etc.) and perhaps some chicken breast or hamburger patties. If not, can you sneak out and grab something to eat before you leave?

[Benjamin Shine]

I survived! I let the organizer know ahead of time that I didn't need the pizza; he ordered it anyways, and it got eaten anyways

I brought a quarter pound of hot-smoked salmon, half a bag of baby carrots, and roasted pumpkin seeds. I was still hungry when I got back to work, so I made a snack from our amazing salad bar: ~3oz steak, cherry tomatoes, half an avocado, some arugula, and a piece of crumbled bacon. Yum!

It turns out that the hot-smoked salmon was cured with sugar, though. I'm learning to check the ingredients *before* I buy, not after.

[Benjamin Shine]

Yesterday went pretty well. It actually turned out to be easy to eat my smoked salmon and pumpkin seeds and carrots when there were 40 people around me eating pizza. My co-workers are used to me eating a limited subset of the food they eat. I even have a sign up by my desk:

benji does not eat

grains,

legumes,

sugar,

dairy,

weird stuff

Today I woke up with no coffee in the house, and I'm feeling lazy, so I'm working from home and drinking tea with almond milk. The almond milk has carageenan. I just read the wikipedia article on carageenan, and I see a reason to leave it out of my Whole30 (besides the fact that Dallas & Melissa say to exclude it!):

A study published in 2006 indicates that carrageenan induces inflammation in human intestinal epithelial cells in tissue culture through a BCL10-mediated pathway that leads to activation ofNFkappaB and IL-8.^[19] Carrageenan may be immunogenic due to its unusual alpha-1,3-galactosidic link that is part of its disaccharide unit structure. Consumption of carrageenan may have a role in intestinal inflammation and possibly inflammatory bowel disease, since BCL10 resembles NOD2, mutations of which are associated with genetic proclivity to Crohn's Disease.

Carrageenan is reported to interfere with macrophage activity.^[20][21][22]

from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrageenan

I ordered a stick blender so I can make my own mayonnaise.

My plan for lunch: walk down to Pearl's Deluxe Burgers, where I can get a 1/2 pound buffalo burger with avocado, tomato, & red onion. No bun, of course; the only hard part will be skipping the ketchup.

Later today, I might try coconut milk chai, using some unsweetened micronized chai powder (no weird stuff, just spices).

[Carie Skeahan]

the only hard part will be skipping the ketchup.

Skipping ketchup is not hard.

[Benjamin Shine]

Success at Pearl's Burgers, but I changed the order a little bit at the last minute:

1. added bacon, and I suspect it's not super-awesome pastured bacon cured without nitrates,
   
2. added grilled onions, which were oily, but I don't know which oil. probably not a super-healthy oil.
   

Carie, you're right: skipping the ketchup was not hard.

[Carie Skeahan]

hahahahaha! Nice!

[Johnny M]

Benji - Roam has grass-fed burgers and they serve them wrapped in lettuce. They also have great toppings like avocado, bacon, etc. They have a whole30 friendly habanero hot sauce too I use to satisfy the sauce craving. Burgers are often my go-to food for dining out but I make them better at home. If you're into cooking at home, you can get sugar free uncured bacon at Prather Ranch in the ferry building. I grill portabellos and burgers on the stove and top with mashed avocado, bacon, and red onion. SO good.

[Benjamin Shine]

Today was a win, Whole30-wise. I took the day off from work and the gym, got some much-needed quiet time, then visited the Dry Dock for my version of church.

Food today:

4 pastured eggs fried in bacon grease from pastured pork

coffee with 1 small can coconut milk

1/2 pound buffalo burger with avocado, bacon, and grilled onions

snack: bombay curry kale chips, justin's almond butter

1/2 pound chicken breast from BiRite, in an achiote-cilantro marinade, with Native Foods Avocado Salsa

[Derval]

Benji - Roam has grass-fed burgers and they serve them wrapped in lettuce. They also have great toppings like avocado, bacon, etc. They have a whole30 friendly habanero hot sauce too I use to satisfy the sauce craving. Burgers are often my go-to food for dining out but I make them better at home. If you're into cooking at home, you can get sugar free uncured bacon at Prather Ranch in the ferry building. I grill portabellos and burgers on the stove and top with mashed avocado, bacon, and red onion. SO good.

OMG Mouth Flood!!!

Benji- Sounds like a great tasty day , well done.

[Benjamin Shine]

Results so far:

I woke up early and refreshed today; made it to work an hour earlier than usual.

Itchy spots on my knuckles are less itchy today than usual.

I should mention I started ProAnox at the same time as my Whole30. Probably synergistic response to both.

[Benjamin Shine]

Arg -- a few days ago I verified that hi-ball energy juice drink was only sweetened with fruit juice. Then today I had another flavor. Midway through, I looked at the ingredients... and this flavor (lemon-lime) is sweetened with "cane juice" aka sugar. 16g sugar, in 10 oz beverage. Yes, I finished the bottle. I'm used to having some caffeine after lunch, and hi-ball was recommended by one of my trainers... but I think she meant the unsweetened kind. Busted!

Oh well. Live and learn! I packed up a PWO snack of steak, avocado, bacon, tomato, butternut squash, for later.

[Benjamin Shine]

I think my body's having a bit more trouble recovering from workouts since I started the Whole30. Usually I do crossfit 3 days in a row; this week I've felt smoked whenever I try to do day 2. The big change in my diet since I started the whole 30 are:

* no post-workout protein shake

* no dairy

* no added sugars

...I can see how those changes would combine to interfere with recovery from intense crossfit workouts.

Also our workouts lately have been more metcon, less strength, because we can't drop weights lately, so we're more likely to do two 10 or 15-minute metcon workouts than one slow strength progression and one metcon finisher. Oh right -- also I'm doing 10x250m rowing after each workout, which I just started this week.

Saturday is traditionally a big metcon day at my gym -- SEALFit Saturdays, they call it, and usually do a 30-minute-plus insane workout like the Filthy Fifty -- so I'm taking the day off. Instead, I'll wait till after my errands, and see if I'm up to rowing intervals this afternoon.

Ah -- I also haven't been doing the recommended pre-workout meal. I have this theory that I'll lose more weight if I train fasted. Will a pre-workout meal help with my recovery?