Lauren's Random Reintroductions

[thegoldengrahamgirl]

Post-Whole30 Day 1 (Sunday, December 20):

Reintroduction – What?: Honey / Maple Syrup / Vanilla Extract / SWYPO* & Paleo Baking

 

Reintroduction – How?:

M1: I made Flourless Almond Butter Muffins – one batch only sweetened with banana, and one batch sweetened with honey (the recipe works out to 2/3 tsp per muffin, as it is 4 tbsp. = 12 tsp. over 18 muffins).  I also made a batch with Sunbutter instead of almond butter.  I’m glad I had already heard that Sunbutter turns green when it reacts with baking soda.  We called those muffins the “Hulk” muffins. J  My four-year-old loves them.

 

I had half of each muffin with my breakfast.  They both tasted really good (my husband preferred the ones with honey; I don’t know if my son even noticed a difference) and the texture was incredibly light and fluffy.  What was really “funny” (and telling) was that I plated my template meal (3 eggs sunny side up, with a side of mixed greens and white button mushrooms sautéed in bacon fat) and I was left wondering how the muffins even “fit in” with the template, both in terms of macronutrients (fat & protein, mainly) and in terms of flavour profile (sweet vs. a savory meal).  Since it worked out to just over a tbsp. of almond butter, and a few slices of a banana and a fraction of an egg, I considered it to be a serving of FAT (and sub-optimal fat, at that, of course).

 

M2: I made honey-apple vinaigrette dressing to put on my salad.  It was actually a bit too “vinegary” for my taste; I prefer my balsamic vinegar & EVOO!

 

M3: I made a shrimp-cashew stir-fry and seasoned it with lime juice, honey and red pepper flakes.  After supper, I also had a spoonful of the chocolate syrup I made for my son earlier this week (water, maple syrup, cocoa powder and vanilla extract).  He makes chocolate milk with it; I think it would be good on ice cream (any kind – dairy ice cream, coconut ice cream, or even just frozen bananas).  Again, not optimal, but I’m glad my kid doesn’t have Hershey’s syrup (that “less bad” argument).

 

I also made a batch of “Paleo” gingerbread cookie dough (sweetened with pure maple syrup and unsulfured molasses) but I didn’t get around to actually baking the cookies.  I’ll test that out later this week.

 

Reintroduction – Why?: I like sweet things from time to time, and it’s safe to say that sugar in some form or another is going to occasionally be in things that I eat.  I want to know the impact of different types of sweeteners on me so that I can make the best and most-informed choices if and when I choose to ingest them.  I also really love to bake.  I want to test the impacts (psychological & physiological) of baked goods within the “safe” confines of a structured Whole30 reintroduction.  *SWYPO baked goods use only technically-compliant ingredients (to be clear, these are by definition NOT compliant during a Whole30 because they deliberately and intentionally attempt to re-create baked goods of a “SAD” diet).  With other forms of baking, I want to know if the end product is really good enough to scratch the indulgence itch, or if I should just make a conscious decision to enjoy the real deal (according to the Whole30 “worth it?” guide).  These are NOT intended to be regular parts of my intake, justified as “better than” SAD baking, because I know that they are still “less than” optimal Whole30 or even just regular life whole food choices.  And, not only is there the nutrient question, there is the question of follow-on effects and behaviours if I find myself wanting to eat more and more of them, or craving other less-than-optimal foods or portions.

 

Reintroduction – What happened?: My results are not entirely clear. I’ve been cat-sitting for my neighbours since Friday and I think I might actually be allergic to their cat (I had a cat growing up and was never aware of an allergy then.  Either I’ve developed a new allergy now, or it’s just their particular cat).  At any rate, my nose was dripping like a faucet and I had post-nasal drip irritating my throat on Saturday before I even started the reintroduction.  I do know from past experience that over-consumption of processed white sugar and/or white flour causes an inflammatory response in the form of sore throat and stuffy nose for me.  I didn’t expect the volume of honey today to do that, and I’m not sure if it did or not, or if my nose could be blamed entirely on the cat.  I’m sure I will have more chances to test the effects of sweeteners, though.  Ideally, I’d wait until after the cat-sitting experience to do my reintroductions, but that’s not until early January and that’s just not realistic in light of some other commitments in January.

 

I managed to eat the muffin halves and move on with my morning, but having the container on the counter of things I could eat, in theory, made me think about them more during the day than I expected.  That would be the psychological impact.  I wrapped up the ones without honey and froze them for my possible future consumption; my husband and son will polish of the ones with honey in the next few days, I’m sure!

 

The salad dressing was fine; it taught me I don’t really need sweetened salad dressings (not that I thought I did; I was just trying to include honey consistently in my day).

 

PSA: don’t mix nuts and sweeteners!  The honey might have been fine; the cashews might have been fine.  But after a long afternoon of baking (totally non-compliant Christmas cookies, which I did NOT sample – thankfully this year’s Christmas baking is finally done!), it really brought on some cravings and I ended up with a giant finger full of Sunbutter after dinner.  I even nibbled on some coconut butter out of the jar (the rare time I actually ended up eating less out of the jar than eating a packet; once I open a packet, I know I’m eating the whole thing).  I managed to stop myself by sticking a spoonful of fresh homemade mayo in my mouth and eating two green olives.  I’m definitely seeing a pattern here, though: nuts + carbs + fatigue = problems!  I should probably do a Whole30 for sleep, focusing on proper sleep hygiene for thirty days.

 

No carryover impacts noted the next day.

 

Conclusion: No strong physical impacts noted with this quantity of sweetener (honey/maple syrup); be mindful of psychological impacts such as increased cravings.  Fatigue and sweeteners do NOT mix! (Fatigue and nuts and/or dates also do not mix!). These flourless muffins definitely beat a bakery muffin with fewer after-effects. Oh, and I certainly didn’t notice anything related to the vanilla extract.  Those muffins didn’t get me drunk!

[thegoldengrahamgirl]

Post-Whole30 Day 2 (Monday, December 21):

Reintroduction – What?: Sulfites

 

Reintroduction – How?:

M1: Canned coconut milk with potassium metabisulfite in my brewed coffee.

M2: Balsamic vinegar (naturally-occurring sulfites) on my salad.

M3: Sun-dried tomatoes (ingredients include sulfur dioxide) on my zucchini noodles.

 

Reintroduction – Why?:  Because I can’t find coconut milk without sulfites, gosh darn it!  I really want to include coconut milk as a fat source and be able to use it in so many fantastic-sounding recipes, but I want to know if the price I’m going to pay for ingesting the sulfites is worth it.  Normally I wouldn’t do reintroductions on back-to-back days, but since there are no guidelines for sweeteners or additives, I’m jumping into sulfites now.

 

Reintroduction – What happened?: The coffee and the salad seemed to be fine, but immediately after supper I got a headache.  That could be the sulfites, or it could be the ending of a long day.  Further experimentation is required!

 

Conclusion: No clear-cut results as of yet.  I will re-visit sulfites.

[littleg]

Are you an abstainer or a moderator?  I remember Ali's post about being an abstainer but I can't recall if you chimed in... glad your husband and son liked the cookies - I'm sure they are happy to have you baking again!

[littleg]

So somehow I missed that wrap up post!  The goals of letting go of logging, picture taking etc is great - I'm kind of in the same boat  But I'll miss you if you don't post at all  

 

Good luck with the coconut milk... I still think it is so weird that one brand is different for the US and SK... I've always heard that the US has more relaxed labeling laws - I wonder if all the paleo folks slurping up Aroy-D are getting those sulfites and we just don't know b/c they don't need to label it here...

[SimpleNotEasy]

Lauren - you are being very detailed with your observations on your reintros. Good work. Reintros seem challenging to me bc it's so hard to isolate what might be going on - like in your situation with cat-sitting and the sweeteners. At any rate, you are giving it a terrific effort. Keep up the good work. 

[ArtFossil]

Lauren, you are powering away on your reintros!

Are you not doing the 2 days of Whole30 between reintro days? I think those are a good idea as reactions might take a while and also to let your body reset after the reintro-ed food.

[thegoldengrahamgirl]

Are you an abstainer or a moderator?  I remember Ali's post about being an abstainer but I can't recall if you chimed in... glad your husband and son liked the cookies - I'm sure they are happy to have you baking again!

I'm TRYING to be a moderator.  IIFYM helped me out in that regard, in that it taught me that you CAN have one or two cookies and still make progress in terms of strength and physique.  It helped me to curb my "what-the-hell" or "all-or-nothing" tendency.  Being an abstainer (or trying to be one) made me "bingier."  I'm good at abstaining for a while, but when I eventually do cave (and I always eventually do), I go overboard.  Or I get pissed off / feel deprived.  So I'm trying to see if being a moderator will work out for me, now that increased fat has my cravings under control (most of the time.  Unless salted and/or roasted nuts are involved).

 

So somehow I missed that wrap up post!  The goals of letting go of logging, picture taking etc is great - I'm kind of in the same boat  But I'll miss you if you don't post at all

 

Good luck with the coconut milk... I still think it is so weird that one brand is different for the US and SK... I've always heard that the US has more relaxed labeling laws - I wonder if all the paleo folks slurping up Aroy-D are getting those sulfites and we just don't know b/c they don't need to label it here...

I FOUND COMPLIANT COCONUT MILK!  I was in a fancy-pants high-end department store in a different district yesterday and I found AYAM brand coconut milk and coconut cream with just coconut kernel extract and water.  No sulfites.  It's a light-grey colour and THICK, but DELICIOUS.  Good thing, too, because it appears that sulfites give me headaches.  I bought up the whole stock (a measly 4 cans).  Hopefully I won't have to drive all over town to get it next time, and hopefully the store will continue to stock it.  We've had bad luck with finding a food product we enjoy, and then the store stops stocking it.  Like water-packed tuna at Costco.  Vanished without a trace.

 

Lauren - you are being very detailed with your observations on your reintros. Good work. Reintros seem challenging to me bc it's so hard to isolate what might be going on - like in your situation with cat-sitting and the sweeteners. At any rate, you are giving it a terrific effort. Keep up the good work. 

Thank you - I'm trying!

 

Lauren, you are powering away on your reintros!

Are you not doing the 2 days of Whole30 between reintro days? I think those are a good idea as reactions might take a while and also to let your body reset after the reintro-ed food.

Hi AF,

 

I will be doing the 2 days (or more, if required or desired) for specifically named foods (like legumes, dairy, non-gluten grains, gluten-grains).  Since sugars are not a formal reintro and are generally accepted to creep back in, I didn't wait 2 days.  Same with the additive sulfites.

[thegoldengrahamgirl]

So, this wasn't a formal reintroduction, but I decided to have some pasta sauce with soybean oil in it on my Whole30-compliant meatballs and cauliflower rice last night.  Funny because it's Simply Organic Tomato & Basil Pasta Sauce and the only non-compliant ingredient is organic soybean oil.  Not that I think organic soybean oil makes it any better for me.  It's just to bad that they're trying to make a "healthier" food and would use soybean oil.  No noted reaction to that small quantity.  I don't think I'm going to deliberately reintro soy because of all of the purported links to hormonal disruption.  Mind you, tofu is common in soups here and I do like it.  So maybe...at a future date.

 

I also had 3 squares of fair trade, organic dark chocolate today, with raw cane sugar.  Again, a small quantity and no noted reaction.

 

Not sure what my next "formal" reintroduction will be.  Maybe dairy, simply because I know there are some milk solids in the Belgian chocolates I got.  And I can try a glass or milk or bowl of yogurt as well.  Not that I miss or need either of those, but if I'm going to test dairy, I might as well test dairy.  I am curious about cheese and butter.  But I'd really rather do each food in isolation to see if they impact me different vs. just a grouping of "dairy" in general.

[littleg]

Definitely high and low lactose products out there... probably worth checking into as you said.  I don't know if you have access to raw milk, but raw milk and cheese is tolerated better by many people.  

[SimpleNotEasy]

So, this wasn't a formal reintroduction, but I decided to have some pasta sauce with soybean oil in it on my Whole30-compliant meatballs and cauliflower rice last night.  Funny because it's Simply Organic Tomato & Basil Pasta Sauce and the only non-compliant ingredient is organic soybean oil.  Not that I think organic soybean oil makes it any better for me.  It's just to bad that they're trying to make a "healthier" food and would use soybean oil.  No noted reaction to that small quantity.  I don't think I'm going to deliberately reintro soy because of all of the purported links to hormonal disruption.  Mind you, tofu is common in soups here and I do like it.  So maybe...at a future date.

 

I also had 3 squares of fair trade, organic dark chocolate today, with raw cane sugar.  Again, a small quantity and no noted reaction.

 

Not sure what my next "formal" reintroduction will be.  Maybe dairy, simply because I know there are some milk solids in the Belgian chocolates I got.  And I can try a glass or milk or bowl of yogurt as well.  Not that I miss or need either of those, but if I'm going to test dairy, I might as well test dairy.  I am curious about cheese and butter.  But I'd really rather do each food in isolation to see if they impact me different vs. just a grouping of "dairy" in general.

Good point about the various dairy products. I'd like to separate them, too. 

 

Definitely high and low lactose products out there... probably worth checking into as you said.  I don't know if you have access to raw milk, but raw milk and cheese is tolerated better by many people.  

I had someone recommend raw dairy products as an option for me recently. There is a dairy that offers raw products which delivers in my neighborhood weekly, so perhaps this is something to consider.

[thegoldengrahamgirl]

Thanks for the thoughts on dairy!  I don't think I have access to raw dairy here (or maybe I do - I just have to better educate myself on what to look for in the Korean labeling.  I did teach myself to read and say "non-fat milk" and "low-fat milk" in Korean).

 

Now, buckle in for my sad tale of Christmas baking gone overboard...

[thegoldengrahamgirl]

Post-Whole30 Days 5-8 (Thursday, December 24 – Sunday, December 27): CHRISTMAS 2015 (a.k.a. Lauren’s 72-hour Paleo Baking-Palooza)

 

Okay, I’m not proud of how I ate over the holidays, especially now that I “know” better (yes, I even got a copy of ISWF for Christmas, and I’m plowing through it as fast as I can).  But in the spirit of full disclosure and accountability, here is the good, the bad and the ugly:

 

The good news: It took me 72 hours to realize that “Paleo” baked goods are foods with no brakes for me.

The bad news: It took me 72 hours to realize that “Paleo” baked goods are foods with no brakes for me.

 

Despite their short list of “wholesome” and “natural” ingredients, “Paleo” baked goods are every bit as dangerous (psychologically-speaking) as the chemical-laden and slickly-marketed “Franken foods” they serve to replace.  They are darn delicious!  I can certainly share the recipes with anyone looking for a “less bad” treat, but they are never going to be “optimal” food.  The only way I can have “just one” Paleo cookie is if there IS only one.  I finally “get” the Whole30 argument that sugar = sugar = sugar as far as its impact on my brain, and that impact is cumulative.  For the first two days, I enjoyed my treats and did not feel guilty or out-of-control.  But by day 3, I realized I was at the compulsive and obsessive end of the spectrum and I just wanted/needed to BAKE AND EAT MORE GOODIES!

 

If you can handle reading about other people’s slips/fails/indulgences, read on:

 

As you may have read elsewhere, I received a thoughtful gift of organic, fair trade dark chocolate on Christmas Eve.  I enjoyed a few squares with my morning coffee with compliant (!) coconut milk and then carried on with my day, including my compliant template lunch.  That afternoon, I finally baked the dough for the Vegan & Paleo Gingerbread Cookies.  They were a hit with my whole family, and the little bite-sized cookies I made were infinitely moreish (“gee, I wonder why?”).  After a compliant template dinner (pan-seared scallops cooked in ghee by my rock star husband), I had my cookies with coconut milk hot chocolate, made by warming Almond Breeze Unsweetened Almond Milk (ingredients unknown), coconut milk and homemade chocolate syrup in a small sauce pan.  A lovely seasonal snack as I watched “Miracle on 34^th Street” and wrapped the final Graham Family presents.

 

On Christmas morning, I baked this Paleo Eggnog Glazed Gingerbread Cake, complete with homemade Primal Eggnog (made with a mixture of unsweetened almond milk and coconut milk).  It was a nice ending to our Christmas Day dinner, which was an otherwise compliant template meal (with the exception of the homemade Spiced Cranberry Sauce sweetened with maple syrup).  We had roasted chicken, served with roasted Brussels sprouts topped with crispy bacon and herbed mashed potatoes (white potatoes mashed with ghee, coconut milk, sea salt, black pepper, rosemary, sage and thyme).  I honestly wasn’t even hungry after this meal (because it was essentially a proper template meal), but I ate the cake anyway, since it was prepared.  A warning sign!  The rest of the cake went promptly into the freezer so that there would be no tempting leftovers.  I also whipped up a batch of Zesty Lemon + Coconut Cheesecake Bites (note, no actual cream cheese in the recipe – the texture comes from a bunch of coconut products).  These actually went straight into the freezer for storage and were not even plated for serving.

 

At this point I should have left well enough alone.  But when do I ever do anything halfway?  I still had baking supplies on hand, and weekend baking is a tradition with me (one that needs to be discontinued and replaced with cooking/real food prep).  On Boxing Day morning (the 26^th), I baked a half batch of Flourless Almond Butter Dark Chocolate Cookies with Sea Salt (thank goodness it was only half a batch – I ate 3 of the 8 cookies and managed to pawn the rest off on my husband) AND I baked these Coconut Flour Chocolate Chunk Bars. 

 

Needless to say, at this point my Chocolate/Sugar Dragon was ROARING.  The box of Belgian chocolates I received could be resisted no more.  But why stop at high-quality chocolate when there are also sources of cheaper, lower-quality milk chocolate in the house as well?  Yes, I ate an embarrassing amount of chocolate.  Up until that point, I had actually only consumed “natural” sweeteners and sulfites as my off-plan ingredients.  Now I’m sure I’ve also had refined sugar and milk solids, as well as other nasty and unknown additives (including but not limited to soy lecithin).  But what I found really amusing was that I refused any chocolates with “crispy rice” as I wasn’t ready for my rice reintroduction!  I knew the Whole30 way of eating was there for me, waiting on Monday.  I’ll admit that it caused me to eat even more, knowing it would soon be “off limits” again.  That’s the danger of me treating the Whole30 like just another “diet” with a strictly on/strictly off, black and white mentality.  That’s why I CAN’T and SHOULDN’T do a Whole365. 

 

So, as much as I feel like an embarrassment, I do NOT feel like a failure.  The only failure would be if I refused to LEARN from this experience (time will tell).  I also had no interest or energy to go to the gym this weekend – my only motivation would have been as penance for my consumption, and that’s a pattern I am NOT going to perpetuate.  I am also resisting the urge to feel guilt (a useless emotion) or shame.  I consciously made these (poor) choices and I’m going to own them.  Interestingly, both “mornings after” I woke up with a craving for sweetened breakfast cereal with milk.  But instead, I prepared, plated and ate a template breakfast (my “usual” of three eggs with fried shredded cabbage, ½ an avocado, compliant salsa and a clementine orange).  I still had the power to do that, and I’m going to own that power.  I’m only ever one plate away from making choices that are better for my health.

 

Today (Monday, December 28, 2015), I’m back at work and I had my “usual” template breakfast and I’m fully stocked with prepared compliant lunch and supper, including pre- and post-WO.  I’ll do a few days of fully compliant meals (Whole2 or Whole3) and then carry on with my reintroductions.  I also noticed my husband polished off the chocolate chunk bars and I brought the rest of the Belgian chocolates (the ones with rice!) to the office kitchen.  Now, to find someone to gift the contents of my freezer too (I staunchly refuse to throw food in the garbage)...

 

Thanks for listening!  This process would be nearly worthless for me without the introspection and insight gleaned from journaling.  I hope you had a laugh or a moment of empathy if you’ve been in a similar situation.  Please spare me your “I told you so’s” – I know we really, really want to spare people these painful experiences, but sometimes we just have to learn the hard way.  I seem to like things the hard way!

[littleg]

Onward

 

And you totally had me confused writing about Monday the 28th in the present tense.  I forgot you live in the future

 

Despite being paleo for 5 years now I have never actually baked paleo baked goods.  A lot of the food bloggers I read from time to time (paleomg comes to mind) have really transitioned to paleo-baked-goods-and-other-desserts-blogs... and I've always really wondered - do they actually taste good?  They all look really pretty though

[ArtFossil]

Lauren, I think we all can understand and sympathize with what happened once the sugar dragon got his fangs in you again. (Do dragons even have fangs? I should know this), so good on you for getting back on the template horse! (That was a lot of mixed metaphors.)

know you're designing your own reintroduction but I've read a LOT of reintroduction logs and the mods often counsel that one should only reintroduce sugar at the end as it can skew the results of testing other foods. (And it can derail us. :-) ). That said, you could, and this is ONLY a suggestion, go back to Whole 30 for a few days or a week or as long as it takes to feel as good again as you did at the end of your Whole 30, then start your reintroduction again. Without sugar. :-).

The reintroduction is, for me, the most challenging part of the Whole30 but it really helps to have that one group (or one food) followed by two days of template meals to help provide balance (like training wheels) as we are trying to ride our bikes and it helps keep the physical and psychological benefits of a Whole30 going.

[thegoldengrahamgirl]

Thanks, littleg and ArtFossil!

 

Yeah, unfortunately they taste AMAZING.  Possibly better than "conventional" baked goods.  As part of my realization that I need to quit baking, I also need to quit following baking bloggers (including paleOMG - her body also makes me feel lousy about mine, vs. inspired).  I waste a lot of time on social media following "food" people.  I'm thinking maybe I should just stop with twitter and instagram, and maybe even abandon my blog, or at least move it to cooking focus vs. baking focus.

 

Yes, back to at least 3 compliant days and I'll leave any type of sweeteners out of the picture so they don't "muddy the water" for any other food groups tested.  The problem is that I was sick so often during my Whole30 (sinus infection, bronchitis, etc.) that I never felt the true greatness the program could have bestowed on me.  I've got nasal congestion now and so does my little guy so I don't know if I've got a cold or if it's a reaction to the food.

 

Onwards, indeed!

[Alisonlcarver]

Lock arms with SimpleNotEasy, littleg, and me. We will conquer the sugar dragon together!

[SimpleNotEasy]

Hey Lauren - 

 

I'm on day 27, but I so relate to situations like what you described above. 

 

When you have a little while, read up on Ali's log (and mine, but most of the conversations happened on hers this weekend). She and littleg and I kind of arrived at similar conclusions at similar times, and Brewer had some really helpful, wise input about it all. The gist of it is that while the mind tends to rebel against saying "I can't handle eating sugar, in any of it's forms," that is truly the case for some of us. So rather than continuing to beat our heads against a wall, we have decided to own that truth and stop trying to moderate when what we need to do is abstain. If you find yourself in the same situation (and I am not making that judgment - just suggesting it is something to consider), you are welcome to link arms with us in this new way of thinking about it. Either way, we are here to support you.

[thegoldengrahamgirl]

Thanks, Sara!  I did read through it and caught up with you - I'm in with you, littleg, and Ali!  What are we, the Whole30DragonSlayers?  SugarAddictsRUs?  All Shake, No Bake?

[Brewer5]

Lauren, I am sorry to read of your experience, but I do understand the "need" to learn it the hard way, for yourself.  I am only able to help others because I have been there.  

 

...While each of those experiences truly (truly) sucked, I am thankful for them, because -- in my moments of weakness -- they ultimately made me stronger.  Each time I've had to pick myself up, I've grown more determined not to fall down again.

 

What I find really interesting is that I hadn't read this log at all before now.  But I was saying things on the logs of others that SO applies to what you are going through yourself.  ...What that means is that your struggle is common.

 

In the moment, we feel freakish.  "Why can't I stop eating?"  ...  "What is wrong with me?"  ...  "Why do I keep doing this?"  Etc.  

 

We feel alone, and unique -- when in fact, we are anything but.  This seems to be a pretty standard reaction to sugar, for many.

 

The great news is:  You know how to proceed.  And you've got a great support group here, to help you along your journey.

 

Congrats on all of the progress you've made so far.   I see bright things for your future.  

[thegoldengrahamgirl]

Thanks, Brewer!  I'm so appreciative that you're willing to share about your experiences and offer support to us.

 

I'm darn stubborn, so this is just another thing to beat.  After this wicked "carb flu" headache goes away.  Man oh MAN - so much worse than the first few days of my Whole30!  Or else I've got another sinus infection coming on.  I have seriously never been SO SICK for such a prolonged period.  Ugh.  Even my beloved coconut butter did not taste good or cheer me up this afternoon.

[thegoldengrahamgirl]

Yup, confirmed sinus infection.  I've got another round of antibiotics on hand (shocking to have two courses in the space of one month, where previously I have gone literally years without).

 

I had chicken bone broth soup last night (along with steamed broccoli and cooked ground pork) and hope to be feeling better soon.  It's nice to be back in the "safety net" of Whole30 compliant eating.  So far, ISWF seems to be coming down less harshly on legumes (especially soaked legumes) than it did on grains.  Maybe that will be my next (technically first) official re-intro.

 

I also stopped following "healthy" dessert bloggers (an oxymoron?) on Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest.  I'm focused on paleo cooking resources now, and checking out some CrossFit workouts for inspiration.

 

I just had a frustrating conversation with my husband on the phone; he's grocery shopping and asked if I wanted any of the Simply Organic Pasta Sauce (the one with the soybean oil I mentioned above).  I tried to point out that it's trying so hard to be "healthy" and yet it has soybean oil.  He immediately got defensive and asked me what the big deal was about soy and told me to "get off of myself."  He's definitely fed up with my Whole30 and expects me to start eating "normally" again.  As if there was something "normal" about the way I was eating before.  He did pick up some gluten-free pasta made with brown rice, quinoa and amaranth.  And I know exactly what ISWF has to say about those grains vs. gluten-grains (I just read those chapters last night).  But hey, it's a step in the right direction for my husband and my son.  I can understand his fatigue with me bouncing from eating style to eating style.  He's exhausted by my battles with food, and so am I!

[thegoldengrahamgirl]

Or maybe I'm being overly dramatic about the small quantity of soybean oil in an otherwise compliant sauce.  Nice that it has no sugar and only real food ingredients!

 

Otherwise, things are pretty good today.  It appears that I am still fat-adapted (I didn't wreck that in 72 hours); it's been almost six hours since breakfast and I'm still going strong!

 

I also just found Coconut Secret Coconut Aminos on iherb.  They were listed as "discontinued" when I went looking during my Whole30.  Ah, the irony.  Just like the compliant coconut milk that I found last week.  But hey, now I don't need soy sauce.  I'm excited to make Mel Joulwan's Sunshine Sauce one more time to use up the last of the Sunbutter that I have in the cupboard (it's much safer for me as part of a savoury, spicy sauce than straight out of the jar or with fruit or worse yet, in a Paleo baked good).   That's one thing about my baking spree; it used up lots of baking supplies.  I've been scouring Pinterest for non-baking uses of my coconut flour (I love that it's so high-fiber); looks like some coconut flour spicy shrimp are in my future!

 

Just thought I'd share the good vibes.  Hopefully off to do a gentle workout.

[SimpleNotEasy]

Sorry you are dealing with a sinus infection and another round of antibiotics, Lauren. Ugh. Are you eating sauerkraut and/or taking probiotics to help repopulate your gut with the friendly flora? Get well soon!

 

Sounds like a good plan that you're discontinuing your focus on "paleo-baking." I can understand that you will want to try some baked goods if you get to reschedule your trip to France. You can cross that bridge when you come to it. In the meantime, you can step away from the edge.

 

I really like Melissa Joulwan's Sunshine sauce. And I concur that since it is savory, it doesn't cause me the same type problems that a nut/seed butter otherwise might. 

[thegoldengrahamgirl]

I'm in the land of kimchi - that's my go-to fermented food source!

 

Love it "step away from the edge."  You ladies will be pulling me back (or picking me up after I jump) in the Sugar Dragon Slayers thread.  See you there!

[thegoldengrahamgirl]

Post-Whole30 Day 12 (Thursday, December 31):

Reintroduction – What?: Dairy butter

 

Reintroduction – How?:

M1: A thumb (or slightly less) of dairy butter on my roasted Brussels sprouts and sautéed mushrooms (along with 3 eggs, sunny side up – everything was actually cooked in bacon fat), and a clementine orange.

M2: 1/4 thumb of cold salted dairy butter straight off of a fork – I couldn’t get it to mix in with my deconstructed sushi for M2.

Snack, Post-M3: Buttered squid at the movie theatre!  I believe there may also have been a sweetener of some kind in this snack.

 

Reintroduction – Why?:  Dairy butter is more accessible than ghee at the grocery stores in South Korea and I might not always have the time, energy, motivation or interest to clarify my own butter, especially if I find out that I can tolerate regular dairy butter.  Not to mention, it tastes GREAT. And who am I kidding?  I’m really doing it because I want to try the buttered squid snack at the movie theatre tonight, so I decided to make a formal reintroduction out of butter!

 

Reintroduction – What happened?:  There was no noted reaction after M1 and M2.  I felt some gastrointestinal discomfort immediately after consuming the buttered squid.  I had an uncomfortable bowel movement (small pellets).  I’m not sure whether I had any additional nasal congestion because I already have a sinus infection. 

 

Conclusion:  I need to re-visit butter and dairy in general.  I will try the buttered squid again after a few days of full compliance at some point in the future to see if I can pinpoint the reaction to that particular snack.