jen c Posted March 8, 2016 Share Posted March 8, 2016 Thank you all for posting your NSV's!! It's so encouraging and I'm feeling more focused on those and less on numbers. You're all awesome! So here's my list: 1. No more abdominal aches, pains, cramps, heartburn, bloating, etc. This in itself has been my #1 motivation to continue without cheating. 2. No cyclical migraine this month! Loving that. 3. My fresh-from-the-dryer-jeans fit like they were made just for me. What??? That's NEVER happened before. 4. I'm going to bed 2 hours earlier and feeling pleasantly sleepy and ready for rest (very positive feelings) rather than sludging myself off to bed at midnight when I just can't hold my eyes open anymore. Big time change right there. 5. My whole family is eating better and trying new foods and recipes. Okay, it feels really good to see all that in writing. Forget that old scale! It's time for me to break that relationship and move on to better things. Amen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jen c Posted March 8, 2016 Share Posted March 8, 2016 katie, the gazpacho was really good and so easy to make. There's no cooking involved, just chopping, running through the food processor, and combining everything at the end. If you're still trying to avoid FODMAPs, it's not a very good choice though because it has both onion and garlic. Have you discovered if FODMAPs are definitely a problem for you? I had a complete coffee fail today. It was a "duh" moment and the silliness of it made me laugh. I cold-brewed some coffee, poured it over ice, and added the coconut milk. Of course the coconut milk solidified from the cold and my smooth refreshing iced coffee became rather chewy instead. Oh please. How did I not see that one coming?? (insert big eye roll) I love iced coffee with cream and tomorrow will mix it with my immersion blender before pouring over ice and will see if that will work better. Anyone have any suggestions? Hot coffee is good, but iced is so nice too! And a strange thing happened at lunch. I craved banana with sunbutter. It wasn't what I'd planned to eat, but it felt like I needed it. And broccoli. So I had those along with 1/2 can of tuna and it was the best meal I've had in days and my energy took an instant leap. Maybe a moderator could speak to this, but is it possible my body was low on potassium or iron and that's why the craving was so strong? We all know what sugar and carb cravings are like, but this was a first to feel it so strongly for healthy food. Not that I'm complaining, but am more wondering about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muez Posted March 8, 2016 Share Posted March 8, 2016 Hi everyone, busy weekend - luckily at my herb school where everyone knows about whole 30 and most of the potluck food is compliant - a big luxury I know! I too have been having weird cravings as I am totally not a sweets person, but have been really craving some pie and yogurt and ice cream, which I don't ever eat - weird! Here are some of my N.S.Vs - Better sleep - almost all the way through the night which is a big victory for me. - Less sniffles - I almost always had them in the morning. - Lighter around eyes - more steady energy and mood -I have been eating so much more meat and vegetable variety On colds: I like to eat spicy onions and garlic to sweat it out. Hope everyone is feeling better! So excited we made it half way through! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ramonax Posted March 8, 2016 Share Posted March 8, 2016 katie, the gazpacho was really good and so easy to make. There's no cooking involved, just chopping, running through the food processor, and combining everything at the end. If you're still trying to avoid FODMAPs, it's not a very good choice though because it has both onion and garlic. Have you discovered if FODMAPs are definitely a problem for you? I had a complete coffee fail today. It was a "duh" moment and the silliness of it made me laugh. I cold-brewed some coffee, poured it over ice, and added the coconut milk. Of course the coconut milk solidified from the cold and my smooth refreshing iced coffee became rather chewy instead. Oh please. How did I not see that one coming?? (insert big eye roll) I love iced coffee with cream and tomorrow will mix it with my immersion blender before pouring over ice and will see if that will work better. Anyone have any suggestions? Hot coffee is good, but iced is so nice too! And a strange thing happened at lunch. I craved banana with sunbutter. It wasn't what I'd planned to eat, but it felt like I needed it. And broccoli. So I had those along with 1/2 can of tuna and it was the best meal I've had in days and my energy took an instant leap. Maybe a moderator could speak to this, but is it possible my body was low on potassium or iron and that's why the craving was so strong? We all know what sugar and carb cravings are like, but this was a first to feel it so strongly for healthy food. Not that I'm complaining, but am more wondering about it. Jen, I don't know if this will work - but try this. Bulletproof coffee is the best thing that exists. make a hot coffee, pour it into a warmed up blender, add 2 tbs coconut oil and 2 tbs ghee, blend for 30 seconds. So so so good. Then see if you can pour that over ice? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katieblue Posted March 8, 2016 Author Share Posted March 8, 2016 jen, thanks for the reminder about the FODMAPs. I haven't noticed feeling less bloated since eating less of them yet, but I have only been avoiding for maybe a week, so guess it's better to just keep avoiding for now. But I'll keep it in mind for the future, just in case. I definitely noticed that eliminating mushrooms makes digesting breakfast a LOT easier. With other meals, not really sure, because I still am not at a point where I feel hungry again after lunch or dinner. However, I did have some sliced avocado on my eggs yesterday with salsa (which had onions in it), and I wasn't uncomfortable and was hungry like normal. So, we shall see! I would also suggest maybe compliant almond milk in the iced coffee instead of coconut milk? It stays more liquidy than solid! And congratulations to everyone on all those amazing NSV's!!! We are all improving SO drastically!! My sniffles are greatly improved today, too. This is the fastest I've seen a cold cycle out of my system - I expected to be down and out for about a week. But my sore throat was gone in two days, and I didn't feel horrible waking up today. So maybe that's another victory!! Hope you're all on the upswing with the colds, too! We officially completed half this program! On to Day 16!! Today I've got this stew going in the slow cooker - thinking I'm going to try thickening it in a pot at the end and make it less watery, as both the boyfriend and I are fans of thicker stews and sauces rather than watery or soupy. However, I realized it is high FODMAP with the onions and the squash, but I already bought all the ingredients at Costco last week, so I'll make it anyway and maybe skip it in favor of a salad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
galaxigrl Posted March 8, 2016 Share Posted March 8, 2016 Ramonax: Thanks for the coffee idea. About how many ounces of coffee do you put in that recipe? I never thought about adding butter to coffee, so I'm intrigued! Muez: What is an herb school? It sounds fun! katieblue: I'm already over my hatred of sweet potatoes and butternut squash . Your beef stew recipe sounds yummy and easy. Where have you found compliant beef broth? Or did you make your own? So, can y'all believe we're past the halfway point?!? Honestly, I've felt like it's been pretty easy (for me) up to this point. I did have some tiredness and headaches, but this is the best "diet" I've ever been on. At no point have I felt hungry or deprived. And I'm trying new veggies I've never cooked before, like parsnips. I made parsnip hashbrowns as part of Saturday's breakfast and then parsnip fries for dinner last night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bwilliams180 Posted March 8, 2016 Share Posted March 8, 2016 galaxigirl - I'm in Charleston, too!! For whatever reason that made me feel a million times less alone, that you are here somewhere doing this too. How weird? In a foodie town, these restrictions feel crazy sometimes!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
galaxigrl Posted March 8, 2016 Share Posted March 8, 2016 bwilliams180: What are the chances??? Small world! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bwilliams180 Posted March 8, 2016 Share Posted March 8, 2016 NSVs here: -Mood has definitely improved... just ask my kids. -More focus & energy, less tired throughout the day -Feeling thinner, although I'm pretty sure that it's not actually true. Ha. I'm still really enjoying the food that we are having... I posted on FB last night that I feel weirdly confident in the kitchen after the couple of weeks of this. I am NOT a cook by any means, and generally get pretty anxious when I try to cook something serious. But I think just spending more time there and having more foods that weren't exactly staples in our home has helped. I'm also getting used to black coffee - I decided not to try anything in it for the whole 30 days, but I'm drinking better/higher quality blends and actually tasting the differences in them, which I couldn't really before because of the stevia that I had put in it. I definitely am tasting things in general more than I had before. Food has flavor.. who knew? Keep up the good work, ya'll. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katieblue Posted March 8, 2016 Author Share Posted March 8, 2016 I actually found compliant beef broth on Amazon, I couldn't find it anywhere in stores: http://www.amazon.com/Kettle-Fire-Grassfed-Pasture-Raised/dp/B01B510T8A/ref=sr_1_1_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1457451691&sr=8-1&keywords=no+sugar+beef+broth It was pricey but I didn't think to make my own before this, so we had to kinda go with it. I LOVE parsnips, but I've only ever had them in soups! How were they as hash browns and fries?? I'm so glad to hear you guys are feeling so great and finding this easy!! Aside from cooking fatigue, I really think the only times this has been hard is when we have been out and looking at the options of having dairy. It's weird, I so thought I was going to miss sweets and snacky food, but the most tempting things have been wanting cheese on my burger and also last night wanting cheese and sour cream on my Chipotle. But when I actually ate the burger with salsa, lettuce and tomato, and the carnitas on the salad with guac and pico de gallo, I found they were totally delicious without the cheese. It's funny that's what I was craving, though! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
galaxigrl Posted March 8, 2016 Share Posted March 8, 2016 katieblue: Oh, wow! That is pricey! Let me know how you like it. I made the beef brisket from the book the first week, and I bought what I thought was compliant beef broth at Whole Foods. (There are two threads on the forum about caramel color. The one I read said it was ok, but then I saw in another thread that it was not.) Regardless, I thought the whole meal just tasted too beefy. These are the parsnip recipes, if you're interested: http://www.skinnymom.com/parsnip-fries-with-horseradish-rosemary-mayo/ http://primalkitchen.blogspot.com/2010/08/parsnip-hashbrowns.html The hashbrowns were especially good. That's really funny about your cravings, because mine are the opposite but the same. I thought for sure I'd be craving pasta, bread, chips, and cheese, but when I do have a craving, it's always sweets! I saw muffins today and thought I'd like to have one, and I've never been interested in muffins! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katieblue Posted March 8, 2016 Author Share Posted March 8, 2016 Go figure on the cravings! I wonder if it's got something to do with how we ate before we started the program. Did you eat a lot of sugar/carbs beforehand? I know I had been low carb for about a year, so I really avoided sugar (not to this extreme - I had ketchup and mayo and salad dressings and stuff with sugar, but I didn't often eat desserty things except for a special occasion) and didn't eat many grains at all. But I would have cheese in my eggs or on my salads and definitely on my burgers, because it was low carb and generally low/no sugar. So I got really used to having it, and now I'm like "...but my cheese!" And thank you for the recipe shares! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
galaxigrl Posted March 8, 2016 Share Posted March 8, 2016 katieblue: In general, I'm more of a salty snack person than a sweet snack person, but I had been eating more sweets for probably the last two years (since I got pregnant). So maybe that's why I'm craving more sweet foods. My friend also thinks it's because you can have salty things on the Whole30 but not sweet things...although her theory wouldn't work for you . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katieblue Posted March 8, 2016 Author Share Posted March 8, 2016 Well, hopefully in the next two weeks, all the cravings clear up anyway! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jen c Posted March 8, 2016 Share Posted March 8, 2016 I feel weirdly confident in the kitchen after the couple of weeks of this. I am NOT a cook by any means, and generally get pretty anxious when I try to cook something serious. But I think just spending more time there and having more foods that weren't exactly staples in our home has helped. This describes me exactly! I know just how you feel and am enjoying this unexpected aspect of the W30. Thanks everyone for the iced coffee suggestions. Because of the severity of the allergies, I'm not doing any ghee or nut milks, but will give it a try with coconut milk and coconut oil anyway because bullet coffee just sounds amazing. It may be that room temp coconut milk will work better and the brand may affect the outcome as well. I've noticed a big difference between brands and Thai Kitchen seems to have the smoothest milk. Some of the others are harder to mix and some tend to be oilier when put into coffee or tea. The kind I used yesterday was one of the harder-to-mix cans. I love seeing everyone's lists of NSV's!! Thank you for sharing those because it is so encouraging! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TerraZ Posted March 8, 2016 Share Posted March 8, 2016 My kids were up a ton last night. My daughter with growing pains and my son with asthma. I still feel energized today, which is crazy!! I stayed up later last night watching Room, which was amazing btw. Its getting less hard, well at least during the week. I am so lucky that i have a salad place by my work with compliant salad dressing. I have not had to be very prepared. I am also lucky because my husband who is doing this too does most of the cooking. He is getting tired of it though, so i have to tell him he's doing great:)!! Has anyone thought about the reintroduction phase yet? I have been reading and thinking about it lately. I have never done this properly and really want do it right but its so hard, but I guess if I can do this i should be able to do the reintroduction too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CGinDC Posted March 8, 2016 Share Posted March 8, 2016 Has anyone thought about the reintroduction phase yet? I have been reading and thinking about it lately. I have never done this properly and really want do it right but its so hard, but I guess if I can do this i should be able to do the reintroduction too! The reintroductions are really important to me - the first time I did a W30 (three years ago) I totally bungled them because of a work trip, then had a bad arthritis flare up about 2 weeks later...and I have no idea what caused it because I pretty much added everything back in at once. Note to self: do it better this time. I didn't sleep well last night - after all my raving about how much better my sleeping is! I'm dragging and could use another cup of coffee but I know that'll cause issues for me tonight at this point. I just have to get through three more hours... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TerraZ Posted March 8, 2016 Share Posted March 8, 2016 CGinDC, Last time i did a whole 30 I did a girls weekend right after and re introduced EVERYTHING! I slept terrible last night but that was because of my kiddos. I just had to come home early because my daughter is sick, which makes sense why she was up so much. I'm going to cuddle and take a nap with her now:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ramonax Posted March 8, 2016 Share Posted March 8, 2016 Last time I didn't take the reintroduction that seriously. Instead I thought "I'll just add another 30 days" and then "okay, see if I can go for 30 more". Which was easy...but as I've said, I'm extreme. Then after 90 days I basically filled a trough with speghetti, chocolate cake, ice cream and loafs of bread and ate the whole thing. I did continue with w30 breakfasts, and since then have only drank coffee with coconut milk (my favourite brand btw is Native Forest - super creamy, not oily and cans are BPA free). And this time, my husband and I are taking a mini-vacation almost immediately after we are done. You know, right around EASTER with those cadbury easter eggs. sigh. And normally our vacations revolve around eating out, as our small town has sub par restaurants. So I really need to be mindful. I don't really need to see which foods don't work with me. I know gluten does not. It puffs me up and makes me sad/angry. I know sugar makes me not sleep. Wine makes me not sleep. too much dairy makes me crave other foods. I'm not as sure about grains. I know I am going to start eating more beans/legumes. I don't like the meat heaviness of this diet and it is really hard to get ethical meat where I live. At the health food store 3 breasts of chicken cost $27. I can't sustain that. So I want to look more into the vegetarian w30 options. So all this to say - I want to not be so extreme. To eat mostly clean, and be mindful of the other stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
galaxigrl Posted March 8, 2016 Share Posted March 8, 2016 I really want to do the reintroduction phase the correct way, but we're also going on a mini-vacation Easter weekend to a place we've never been and staying in a cabin that doesn't have an oven. So I'm not sure how that will work. I was doing this more for the weight loss aspect and just getting my out of control eating in check, so I'm not too worried about reintroducing foods. Although, maybe with some planning ahead, we can make it work with the vacation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katieblue Posted March 9, 2016 Author Share Posted March 9, 2016 I love hearing the advice from everyone who has done this before, so thank you!! I know I initially scheduled this to be sure it would be over in time to eat a slice of my carrot cake on Easter, because it is my absolute favorite cake I've ever made. But now I'm honestly thinking I just don't want to make it. It's gluten free because I've been of gluten for 5 years, but still full of sugar and dairy and I've been feeling so good I don't want to deal with that! I'd rather take the reintroductions slow and steady like everyone advises and make an educated choice about maybe making the cake for my birthday in Mat instead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jen c Posted March 9, 2016 Share Posted March 9, 2016 Reintroduction is really important to me too because something was very much wrong before starting this. I'm a bit afraid it will be both gluten and dairy but will wait to see. About 8 hours after having Communion at church on Sunday, I developed a pain in my lower abdomen just like I had prior to starting the W30. So I figure it was either from the bread or was just coincidental. Our church uses juice, not wine, so alcohol can be ruled out. Today my husband proposed a mini-vacation for spring break, which would happen before my W30 is over. Whenever we travel we rarely eat at restaurants and always stay someplace with a kitchen so that we can be safe with the allergy needs. Because of that, I'm feeling pretty confident that I can do the W30 even with a last-minute trip I'd not planned on. And I'm considering extending my W30 into the first week of May. I haven't counted up the days to see how many that would end up to be, but that's not important. I have a general wellness check-up with my doctor that week and am thinking it would be nice to discuss what my future dietary plan should look like if certain foods don't reenter well. If I talk to him before I reintroduce foods, then I can move on with a plan already in place and maybe avoid having to schedule and pay for a second visit. Or I suppose I could try to reintroduce throughout April and then be able to talk to him about how it's gone. It's been on my mind a lot but I don't know what the best way to do it is. I just know I don't want to feel so awful in my gut again. :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jen c Posted March 9, 2016 Share Posted March 9, 2016 CGinDC, Last time i did a whole 30 I did a girls weekend right after and re introduced EVERYTHING! I slept terrible last night but that was because of my kiddos. I just had to come home early because my daughter is sick, which makes sense why she was up so much. I'm going to cuddle and take a nap with her now:) I hope she gets better quickly and I bet your energy will be better than normal with all of the great nutrients you are getting for yourself! Sick kiddos can drain a mom's energy so quickly! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ramonax Posted March 9, 2016 Share Posted March 9, 2016 I love hearing the advice from everyone who has done this before, so thank you!! I know I initially scheduled this to be sure it would be over in time to eat a slice of my carrot cake on Easter, because it is my absolute favorite cake I've ever made. But now I'm honestly thinking I just don't want to make it. It's gluten free because I've been of gluten for 5 years, but still full of sugar and dairy and I've been feeling so good I don't want to deal with that! I'd rather take the reintroductions slow and steady like everyone advises and make an educated choice about maybe making the cake for my birthday in Mat instead. When I did it last time, my birthday fell during that time. I DIDN'T EVEN WANT CAKE. That was the most crazy thing ever. It wasn't that I thought I shouldn't have it, or that I was trying to stick to the program - I actually didn't want it. I didn't miss it, I didn't crave it. My fella made me a "cake" of apples slices, almonds and sausage with a candle. So you might be surprised! One of the things I read that made sense to me, and that I aspire to, is eating food b/c you really want it, not just b/c it is tradition.like birthday cake. or those cadbury mini eggs (seriously, I love them) Tradition might be important, and your carrot cake at Easter might be totally worth it - but it might be something that is habit more than need. That said, if you want carrot cake then you should have it and enjoy it and know you made the choice! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katieblue Posted March 9, 2016 Author Share Posted March 9, 2016 Day 17 y'all!!! jen, I admire you for thinking about pushing forward into May! I was considering doing the same thing, to be honest. Or reintroducing just to see how things go, but staying Whole30 in between and around reintro days for the rest of April. I mean, I figure that once the 30 days are over, we're totally going to feel amazing just for having completed it, and the rest of it will be just breezing! I do know that my boyfriend and I agreed we are reintroducing dairy first because we both want some freaking cheese on our burgers. Ramonax, that sounds SO foreign to me (not wanting cake), but I get it now! It's kinda like, eh, I don't know if it would be worth it... I have so many other delicious foods I can eat instead that won't make me feel like crap. I think you're spot on with the ideas of tradition. I know one year for Thanksgiving I made an apple cake instead of an apple pie or pumpkin pie, and all of my boyfriend's family ate the store-bought pies instead of my homemade cake because they were afraid to break tradition. I think the same thing applies to just going out to eat - I generally ate low-carb and no junk food at home, so when I went out, I would always get fries or nachos or dessert, and the two times I have gone out since we've been whole30, I wanted that junk food. But my food was amazing without any of that garbage! So, it goes right in line with the mindset that this program tries to reset. We have to remember that we can make and have whatever food we want at any time - but it's about choice, not circumstance. Hope we're all starting to feel better! I'm still sniffly and tired, but still on the upswing from the cold (I blew my nose approximately 4,567 times yesterday, so I know it's draining and going away). I want this to clear up so I can evaluate how I ACTUALLY feel under the cold!! Lol The beef stew I made last night was DELICIOUS (although I wound up picking out beef and having it with my low-FODMAP veggies instead of having a whole bowl) if anyone is a fan of stew! Today is just leftovers, and I'm going out with my girlfriend for Chipotle again tonight (yay no cooking again!! ). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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