The Progression of Doug

[DougK]

Day 5. All is well.

My pre-start jitters were relieved with some internet cruising for paleo recipes. I found salvation on the WholeLIfeEating website where I found straightforward recipes, usually cooked in a single pot, that didn't require an assemblage of bizarre spices or hard-to-find items. Chicken and Kale. Outstanding. My whole family liked it.

I don't drink or smoke, so no stress there. I also drink my coffee black, so the morning java is unchanged. I'm very fortunate to have a small farm and have an endless supply of fresh eggs from some of the happiest chickens around. There is also one turkey in the bunch, who seems happy enough but its tough to tell with turkeys, and I intend to experiment with turkey-egg mayo.

Breakfasts have been eggs teamed up with a few almonds and perhaps a very small portion of fruit. Plus coffee.

Lunches have all been leftover dinner proteins and veggies. No fruit. Water.

I must say that my beverage palette is down to either coffee or water. I'm quite boring in this regard. I'm rather boring in most regards, now that I think about it, so maybe this matches my personality.

Dinners have been fun. My wife is enjoying the variety and we've both been pleased with the simplicity of it all: Pork chops with roasted asparagus, plus red cabbage and carrot salad; the chicken and kale mentioned eariler and even all-natural, no sugar, no non-fat dry milk, no soy, chicken sausage paired with brussel sprouts and grilled grape tomatoes.

After lunch on day 3 I noticed that I have generally have felt full. I've been eating smaller portions and will monitor my energy levels.

Untethered items in the back of my brain:

1. Am I facing a life without salami? I know its a minor point, but its in my head anyway. My daughter and I read the labels for every kind of salami, mortadella, prosciutto, etc in the local store and they all have sugar, soy, or nonfat dry milk. I know these are common items in sausages of all sorts and I'll have to do some searching to find out if more compliants items exist.

2. What's the story with white potatoes? I've been a bit lazy on looking up the answer, but my kids asked why they are verboten and I couldn't answer. I know about their glycemic load, but not sure why they aren't whole30 compliant yet. I'll do more research.

3. How much fruit is "some fruit"? I've tried to limit to one serving per day. I did eat a kiwi one late evening and pondered on whether I was encroaching upon panted sex. It was probably more like blowing a kiss, but I still felt a bit dirty since the kiwi was a direct replacement for the ice cream I would have eaten prior to Whole30. But the bigger point is trying to figure out how fruit fits in.

Onward.

Doug

[Derval]

Wow, I have never even thought of turkeys as egg layers, but duh, of course they are or they wouldn't be around!! But you don't often hear of turkey eggs do you ?- in the same way as quail, duck, even ostrich!

I think fruit should be part of a meal, not a "pick-me-up" snack or as replacement for desert.

I am with you on the salami, or in my case, chorizo...I did find "clean" Seranno ham, not spicy but good.

[Johnny M]

a few notes for you:

1. Am I facing a life without salami? I know its a minor point, but its in my head anyway. My daughter and I read the labels for every kind of salami, mortadella, prosciutto, etc in the local store and they all have sugar, soy, or nonfat dry milk. I know these are common items in sausages of all sorts and I'll have to do some searching to find out if more compliants items exist.

After your whole30 completes, we'll direct you to a whole9life blog post about "riding your own bike". Whole30 is meant to teach you how foods impact you. If afterwards you find that you can tolerate some occasional salami and you feel you can't live without it, by all means, have some salami! As you get deeper into your whole30 you might find yourself seeking out some local butchers and specialty shops. If you're lucky, one will have more minimally processed meats that might satisfy you. Most dried meats are cured with something and loaded with preservatives but you will find better options if you keep looking!

2. What's the story with white potatoes? I've been a bit lazy on looking up the answer, but my kids asked why they are verboten and I couldn't answer. I know about their glycemic load, but not sure why they aren't whole30 compliant yet. I'll do more research.

The starch is only part of the equation here. The white potato is grossly overconsumed and while the decision to exclude it is somewhat arbitrary, it's likely pushing other more nutrient dense veggies off your plate, so Melissa and Dallas stand firm on this point. Part of what we'd like you do to in this 30 days is discover new foods and make new habits.

3. How much fruit is "some fruit"? I've tried to limit to one serving per day. I did eat a kiwi one late evening and pondered on whether I was encroaching upon panted sex. It was probably more like blowing a kiss, but I still felt a bit dirty since the kiwi was a direct replacement for the ice cream I would have eaten prior to Whole30. But the bigger point is trying to figure out how fruit fits in.

I think you hit the point exactly dead on. Fruit is a great occasional treat and as much as I abstain from sugar I still crave it occasionally. If your fruit is a replacement for candy or ice cream, you are battling an addiction, and like any addiction, the more you abstain the more you'll free yourself from it. For me, when I start to crave apples at 10pm every night, it means I'm over consuming fruit. You'll have to learn your own cues and triggers but in short, if you feel you can't live without it, you should probably do without it until you're feeling sane about it again!

Great questions - and good luck!

[DougK]

Day 10 and things are great! My overall hunger is down quite a bit and smaller portions satiate me. I'm very thankful for this. I've had temptations in front of me in the form of fresh-baked cookies, but it wasn't too tough to walk on by. Interestingly, I've got my whole family now saying "You can't eat this" and they are looking at food labels all the time. Overall our whole family awareness of what is truly in our food is up. This is great!

My kids know all the Whole30 rules and they re-review the labels of any foods that I might encounter. My son declared that I couldn't brush my teeth because there was sorbitol in the toothpaste, but I told him that for the sake of mankind I needed to brush my teeth. I promised not to eat the toothpaste.

I'm having great fun with planning dinners and its been quite easy to prepare meals that the whole family eats. Planning on having leftovers for lunch is a risk, though, since my two teenagers devour almost everything.

So, no cravings, no headaches, good energy, and good workouts.

Onward.

Doug

[Emily]

My son declared that I couldn't brush my teeth because there was sorbitol in the toothpaste, but I told him that for the sake of mankind I needed to brush my teeth. I promised not to eat the toothpaste.

And mankind thanks you! Actually, this just made me laugh! Thanks for that on a rainy Monday! You sound great-keep on!

[DougK]

Day 15. Fully compliant. No real issues.

Meal planning has become fairly easy and we've got more meal plans than we have meals. Most things have been very simple, like roast chicken and vegetables or grilled steak and vegatables. Last night was chile verde in the slow-cooker. I ate the meat and sauce while the family enjoyed it on tortillas with cheese & other fixings. A salad with tomatos and avacado rounded things out.

I have not felt that I am missing anything or have had any particular craving. There are cookies right on the counter in the kitchen, but they hold no great appeal. I'm good with an apple or carrots if I'm hungry. My appetite is down, but I've decided to just listen to my body and not fret over things. This last week has been unusually and unfortunately stressful and I know that I usually am not hungry when dealing with stress at this level.

I may be looking to fruit too much, perhaps. Its convenient and within reach. I need to keep more roasted veggies in the fridge to have with my lunches. It seems like we polish off the veggies at dinner each evening. I guess that's good.

I got two comments at the gym this week that I appeared to have lost weight. That certainly makes me feel good. My workouts have been going just fine, too. They are tough, but I'm feeling good and doing well.

Shish kabobs tonight with marinated beef, tomatos, onions, mushrooms, and peppers. Looking forward to that.

Doug

[DougK]

OH! I forgot to say that I made homemade mayo. (First time ever! I felt like an Iron Chef.) I thought I screwed it up and put it in the fridge. Actually I hid it in the fridge. I was not too proud of the concoction that was supposed to be mayo. At lunch yesterday I decided that I'd better throw it out and try again. Well, something happened in the fridge. It tightened up or something. I wouldn't call it fluffy or creamy -- more like light frosting, but it was mayo. I added it to some tuna. It was great. I also slathered it on some thin roast beef rolled around a sliver of pickle. Outstanding.

The mayo isn't white, either. It has a yellow cast, which is pretty normal for things we cook with the eggs from our chickens. The yolks are very dark orange and they tint some foods. So, I've got yellow magic mayo.

[Derval]

You are doing great, well doen on the mayo save - *love* the sound of the beef roll ups... I do similar with spanish ham, slices of avo and my mayo.

p.s well done of weight loss comments, you're looking pretty beefy in your avatar pic

[DougK]

Day 20. Wow, that came fast.

I can't say that I've had cravings, but Mother's Day was close. I baked a cake for my wife and bought ice cream to go with it, all the while knowing that I wouldn't eat any of it. The family ate cake and ice cream while I ate raspberries. It felt sort of awkward, but we all lived through it and I'm better off for it. I didn't really want the cake, but I wanted to be a part of the cake eating. I felt more like a waiter. OK, enough whining.

I've made my peace with sweet potatoes and have stopped avoiding them. I've not been a great fan and could happily never eat one again, but they appear to be the tuber-de-grace of the paleo world and are easy enough to cook. I think its more of a texture thing. I need to see if I can get them crispy in any way.

I now read every package label. Its quite amazing what is in our food. What seems to be shaping up is: the cheaper the food, the more chemicals and processing it has.

I made some carrot curry soup. It was my first adventure with curry paste. Wow, that stuff packs some punch! Good stuff, though.

My meals have tended to stay very simple: grilled or roasted meat with two or three vegetables. Fats come from avacados, olives, or almonds. The size of my portions is down. I get full more quickly.

I feel great and my workouts are strong. I try and get 8 hours of sleep, but I wake up naturally after about 6 1/2 to 7 hours feeling good. So I get up.

Doug

[DougK]

Day 26 and still on track, no trips, or falls. I did think about it, though. I will admit to two episodes of searching for something sweet. One day I was on the hunt for a Diet Coke, but then mentally slapped myself back into compliance and drank a litre of water. On another day I stared at the candy rack in the store. It sure looked good, but again I broke free of the hold.

These two events happened on successive days and I thought perhaps that I had been underfeeding myself and that my ingrained response was to satisfy myself with sugar. So I ate a big, compliant dinner and then the next day a huge breakfast and no fruit. Its been two days now and I've had no more wayward episodes of sugar-hunting.

I feel fantastic. I did a workout last night with a ton of very heavy deadlifts and I nailed 'em. They felt easy (for heavy deadlifts). My running also felt great. I'm really excited to get back to the gym and hit another workout and see how I do. It had become the norm for me to have sore, stiff muscles most days of the week which I attribute to my workouts. This week I'm feeling good; no soreness, no stiffness, no popping ankles or niggling knees.

I find that I'm really not too interested in three meals a day. Two seems to work, with maybe a small snack. I find that if I eat breakfast early, around 7:00, then I am quite satieted throughout the day. I exercise in late afternoon and I don't want a pile of food in my belly prior to it, so I'll maybe eat a hard-boiled egg and some carrots in mid-afternoon. On other days I won't eat breakfast until late morning and then I'm fine until dinner. This may not be the perfect perscription for long-term, optimum performance, but for now I'm not concerned. I feel good, am sleeping well, workouts are strong, and recovery is on-track.

Breakfasts have been eggs of some sort, with roasted veggies, plus some almonds. Dinners have remained simple: grilled chicken, london broil, or bunless burgers. Last night was cod almondine. My wife replaced the butter in the recipe with coconut oil. It was fantastic (and there is a bit leftover for a midday snack).

I did experience one setback, though. My wife did not know what the stuff was in one of the plastic containers in the fridge and assumed it was some forgotten conglomeration of a bygone dinner era. It was given to the chickens. I teared up, just a little, as I realized it was my last helping of roasted rutabagas and chorizo (...sniff).

[Renee Lee]

I did experience one setback, though. My wife did not know what the stuff was in one of the plastic containers in the fridge and assumed it was some forgotten conglomeration of a bygone dinner era. It was given to the chickens. I teared up, just a little, as I realized it was my last helping of roasted rutabagas and chorizo (...sniff).

Totally devastating, Doug!

Great to hear you stayed strong with the sugar demon! Additionally, 2 meals is fine if it works for you!

[DougK]

30 days have passed. Quietly and without fanfare. I prepared no binge feast to mark the end, sneaked no non-compliant bites as a reward for my good behaviour, and just kept on truckin' with the Whole30. It was underwhelming. I'm not sure that anyone else but me knew that 30 days had passed. So, I decided not to point it out.

I started this whole thing as part of a CF affiliate "Paleo Challenge", but I started a few days before all the others, so I just decided to stick with the Whole30 to the end of the challenge which officially ends today.

This week we will be doing some benchmark workouts and taking body-weight and body fat measurements. There is some sort of prize, but I don't know what it is, nor how it is determined. I didn't enter the win a prize. Instead, I used the event as a springboard to start a dietary change.

Officially I'm on Day 33. I've paid more attention to food and ingredients this last month than I have for a long, long time. Probably 20 years. Back then I was focused on fats -- it was the era of "low fat is good".

I've eaten and enjoyed new foods prepared very simply. Most were also enjoyed by my family, too. One night I threw together some chicken thighs, kale, parsnips, onion and compliant sausage and roasted them all in the same cast-iron pot. My kids couldn't get enough of it! I was hoping for leftovers for lunch the next day, but we ate the whole boat-load at dinner.

For fun I made some biltong. I was looking for sugar-free dried meat as a snack and had read about this South African specialty. Wow is it good. I've got to limit the amount we eat each day just to make it last!

Looking forward I see no immediate reason to stray off the Whole30 path, but I do feel a bit of release in knowing that I won't be voiding the warranty if I have a bit of non-compliant food. At this point I'm very interested in the 60-90 results of clean eating. I cannot forsee any drawbacks to it. I don't feel like I really gave up anything vital. I don't miss grains, nor dairy very much. (I've found that lettuce-wrapped burgers are good, but really messy. I never realized how much the bun soaks up the juices. Lettuce simply funneled these juices onto my hands.) Giving up legumes was a non-issue for me -- they weren't a critical part of my diet. Sugar is a demon. Hopefully a distractable demon; one which can be distracted with other flavors.

Thank you for the knowledge, resources, and support.