Happy Steps to Health!

[JeanetteO]

Hi everyone (if anyone reads this   )!

 

This is my first Whole30, and I wish I would of found it sooner! I began on April 1st, but a busy schedule stopped me from making my first post on Day 1. So here I am, Day 5 and I'm so happy I could cry. I don't want this to seem like just a post of praise, because its not, I have my issues. But, how I've done overall has made me feel so good about myself. 

 

That's the key, I feel so good about myself! This journey I'm on is not just so I can be healthy (and lose weight), its so I can feel good about myself mentally, spiritually-however you want to phrase it. I was a skinny child, but as I got older I gained weight. I don't want to lay the blame on my parents, but the foods they brought into the house were never the healthiest. I think partially it is a cultural thing, you want to feed your children no matter what, and our food tends to be fatty (not in the good way). Hispanic culture revolves around food so much, I can literally remember my family saying I wasn't eating enough when I was thin, and then as I gained weight, that I was finally being fed well. So until it got to a point that it wasn't healthy, no one really told me to stop. Child me just ate and ate, and then I hit middle school and the bullying started. 

 

But I was in middle school and I didn't know what dieting was and how I could lose the weight, so I ate what was available to me and I just was. But by some reason I can't recall, the summer going into Sophomore year of high school I finally learned to diet. That summer I lost 30+ lbs (I can't remember the exact number), and I was loving it. I kept off the weight for years, once college rolled around I didn't gain any weight until about midway through my Freshman year. That started a spiral of disordered eating, where I literally spent all night reading "thinsperation", counting calories and planning what I would spend my 500 calories on the next day. I'd sleep all day, and be manic by night. Somehow, I found a "balance" and spent the rest of my undergrad years in a sort of half disorder- half dieting cycle that has never really ended. Well, not really a balance, but I know I've always been on a "diet" since about 10th grade and I've never really been healthy or happy.

 

Fast forward undergrad, a few years out in the job market, leaving a very emotionally damaging relationship, and here I am. Post graduate school, in a healthy relationship, and trying hard to finally feel good about myself.

 

I randomly kept coming across Whole30 and I finally decided I wanted to see what it was all about. After picking up the book, it just resonated with me. I HAVE TO CHANGE MY RELATIONSHIP WITH FOOD. Simple, and as difficult, as that.

 

While I was generally eating pretty healthy, there were times I just binged! I say this like its so far in the past, okay since 5 days ago   its for sure stopped. I could go weeks eating perfectly, and then just randomly after work I'd want to go home and eat everything. But because I only keep healthy food at home, I'd plan what to buy on the way home from work. Or I'd talk myself out of it on the drive only to get home, and turn around again and hunt up whatever "delicious" food I wanted. Binges could be eating a foot long from Subway, or maybe just a big bag of chips. The food wasn't really the cause, it was just something in my head that was triggered and I just needed food. I know they say its stress, or boredom, or xyz, but I just haven't tapped into that yet. So hey, Whole30, you're here to help me tap into my binge dragon (it's the best name I could think of). 

 

Day 1-5 have been relatively smooth. I have experienced headaches, and been tired, but overall I don't have some random voice in the back of my head telling me to go binge, or cravings for sugar, dairy, or carbs. I did have a slight "episode" on Sunday (Day 3), but I think that was more because I didn't eat enough on Day 2, and I was exhausted. So I ate more than the 3 meals, but all still compliant. I felt bad about it, like maybe I was binging again, but to be honest, I was hungry. Once I ate, I felt full and comfortable and that was that. So I still call it a success, but I know I've got to keep track of whats causing that feeling to make sure its not my binge dragon and its genuine hunger. 

 

Okay, for an intro post this feel too long haha. So HI everyone, good luck and lets do this!    

 

 

[JeanetteO]

I haven't made a food log, and since I'm on DAY 7!!! I thought it was about time.

 

DAY 1 / Day Rating: (7/10)

B: 1 green apple

L: W30 Chicken Cacciatore, mixed greens with EVOO/BV

D: Carnitas Chipotle salad w/guac, tomato salad, green salsa

S: 1 green apple, 1 kiwi

 

Notes: I am not a breakfast eater, so learning to eat 3 meals a day is a killer. Since I didn't have time to make the egg muffins I was planning for breakfast, I figured a green apple with almond butter would do in a pinch. Unfortunately, my brain spazed when I was at Whole Foods, and while I read the label to everything else, the single serve packets of almond butter slipped thought with Cane Sugar and Palm Oil. Needless to say, that wasn't eaten and now its just sitting in my cabinet. Not a big loss since I'm not an almond eater as is (thus, the little packets to test it out). 

 

Rating: My rating is based on how prepared I was, how I physically felt, if I was hungry, etc. Its just my little system to see how I think my day went. I've been tracking symptoms in a handle little journal I'll post about next. 

 

DAY 2 / Day Rating: (8/10)

B: 2 egg muffins, 1/2 avocado, mixed greens with EVOO/BV

L: --

D: 4 tuna cakes, spinach salad with EVOO/BV, 2 kiwis

S: cashews w/sea salt

 

Notes: It was Saturday and I woke up early to make a batch of the egg muffins (eggs, scallions, red pepper, mushrooms, dill, S/P, garlic), but that filled me up so much that I didn't get a chance to cook lunch till around 5. So I didn't really eat lunch, more like an early dinner. The tuna cakes are a gift from God. So delicious! Just canned tuna, mashed sweet potatoes, scallions, jalapeno, chili flakes, S/P, ghee, cilantro, lemon zest. Its a recipe I found on Nom Nom Paleo 

 

 

DAY 3 / Day Rating: (7/10)

B: 2 egg muffins, 8 oz organic raw carrot/apple juice blend

L: 2 tuna cakes, 1 avocado, spinach salad with red pepper, EVOO/BV, 1 green apple

D: 3 Spicy chicken legs, 1 green apple

D2: Salmon sashimi w/ lemon, radish

 

Notes: This day I was starving, thus what I call Dinner 2 happened. I'm certain its because I didn't enough enough on Day 2, so I ate salmon which filled me up perfectly. The spicy chicken legs were simple and delicious; melted ghee, franks hot sauce, chili flakes, garlic, S/P. I marinated them and then baked them, coating them again half way through. 

 

Rating: So tired today, most likely because my sleep was off, but I'm sure W30 withdrawals had a role to play.

 

DAY 4 / Day Rating: (4/10)

B: 2 bananas, 1 gala apple (spaced out over the morning)

L: W30 Chicken Cacciatore, spinach salad w/ 1 avocado and EVOO/BV

D: 3 Spicy chicken legs, 1 tuna cake

S: Cashews w/sea salt

 

Notes: This day I forgot breakfast (I can't remember to eat in the morning!), so I figured fruit was better than nothing. I have always been a heavy fruit eater, not for the sweetness like some people use it, simply because I love it and its delicious and filling for me. I don't really have sugar cravings, so I don't feel this is replacing sugar.

 

Rating: I woke up with a headache and it lasted ALL day, I was exhausted, moody and just not a happy camper.

 

DAY 5 / Day Rating: (8/10)

B: 2 egg muffins

L: W30 Chicken Cacciatore, spinach salad with EVOO/BV, 4 clementines 

D: 3 tuna cakes

S: Cashews w/sea salt, 2 bananas, 1 clementine 

 

Notes: My snack was around 9pm when I still felt hungry and I wanted some fat and fruit to not eat something super heavy. I needed more veg at dinner, but it was a eat and run sort of deal since I had an event to attend. 

 

DAY 6 / Day Rating: (8/10)

B: 1/2 handful of cashews w/sea salt

L: tuna salad w/tomato, 1 avocado, red pepper, EVOO/BV, 1 anjou pear

D: Grilled chicken and beef skewers with 2 grilled tomatoes, onion

 

Notes: I didn't meal prep so I ate a fast and easy tuna salad for lunch, pretty delicious as a last minute thing. Dinner was juicy and delicious. 

______________________________________________________________________

 

I'll do more logs in a few days, I feel its easier to clump them as one than to post every day. I really want to share my W30 journal I made, its been my lifesaver and helped me track everything I need. I'll post pic in my next post and talk about it then. For now I'll throw in a few shots of my meals. 

[kathymorriskc]

Way to go!  I love your breakdown on foods and then the notes..it's very organized and easy to read.  I'm considering starting the whole30 soon and since you just started I'll keep an eye on your progress!  I like hearing about how you felt each day, etc.  I'm sure the first week is going to be the most difficult getting all of the toxins out.  Keep up the good work!

[JordanLizTracy]

Finishing day seven is awesome! We are just a couple days off from each other. Today is day 9 for me.

I just finished grad school too. I put on about 20lbs of weight when I was finishing my dissertation. It was soooo much more important to me than my health. Now Two years later it all seems so silly.

Love your day ratings. Great idea. Totally going to follow your log! Keep going, girl!

[JeanetteO]

I thought I would take the time to post about the journal I carry as a way to really track my first W30 experience. I am an avid planner, I love writing things down manually and decorating my organizer to help keep track of all things in my life. But, I didn't want to incorporate my W30 into my yearly planner to the extent that I needed. Then all my daily and monthly tracking of budget, etc. could get lost in the shuffle. So I went about finding a tiny journal to track my W30. Originally, I wanted to make a bullet journal (BuJu), but I couldn't get my hand on the journal I wanted, so I figured I would just improvise and work with what I had on hand. So I took elements from bullet journaling, my organizer, and a diary and combined it to make a W30 journal that I carry with me everywhere along with my organizer. To me, this is so small its always in my purse or work tote and takes up no space. Maybe to someone who's not used to always having a notebook of some sort with them, this may be an inconvenience. I however, can't survive without pen and a notebook. I'm as connected as anyone else, but I need to manually write things down to really commit them to memory. 

 

The layout is simple and I'll go over all the sections individually (pictures for each section are attached to the post and in 2 replies);

 

Index:

I took the typically BuJu approach and created a quick index for locating the various things within the journal. In typical BuJu style, there doesn't need to be a master plan for the way your organize things within your journal. If in the middle of your daily log you feel the need to create a new topic, you can go for it. It has a lovely freedom to it that a traditional organizer does not. 

 

Prep & To-Do:

I used this section to highlight the things I needed to do before I began my journey, but I also use the To-Do part to jot down things as I go long. Its rather bare-bones so far, but I'm sure I'll fill it haha. But in the spirit of BuJu, I'm trying to be minimalist and only write down things that are really important, I have the daily log for my free thinking. 

 

Tips & Tricks:

I wrote down the information from the book and online PDFs as a handy guide for when I'm out and about. So far, I haven't added tricks...anyone have any?  ...but I'm hoping that will change as I get into it more. After all I'm only on Day 9, not exactly expert level haha

 

Keep In Mind:

Basic guidelines and sneaky sugars! Ah that page has saved me more than once! When I'm grocery shopping and I'm buying something packaged, this has really given me the knowledge I needed right away. Since I write my grocery lists on little post-its I keep in the journal, its easy and all in one place. 

 

Meal Planning:

These are the guidelines from the book and PDFs for me to use for planning, I'm still trying to get used to eating 3 meals a day and incorporating fats, so I'm glad I have this here. 

 

Shopping List:

Does what it says haha, its just the standards from the book, but I figured I'd add it. 

 

April Log:

Another page from BuJu, its a quick monthly view in list form. I use it to rate my day based on my Symptom Tracker, and just how I think I feel. 

 

April Tracker:

Set up in monthly format, I added general categories that I wanted to track over the month, but also have a quick overview without having to read through the daily entries. I feel this view is sooo incredibly helpful and motivating. This and the Symptom Tracker are the most important pages to me. I'll just quickly go over a few of the most notable categories. 

 

• Day Complete is a little pep for me when I color it in. I get a great feeling of satisfaction when I color it the following day   
• Weigh-In isn't part of W30, but that's a demon I'm try to concur. I have managed to keep it down to only 2 weigh-ins so far and to me thats a step in the right direction. The scale is a disordered eaters worst frenemy. Since I'm making positive steps in the right direction with my eating, I feel this will change in time along with it. But unfortunately, I am still struggling with this. 
• Hydrate is a big one for me, since I upped my water goal to 100oz minimum daily. I'm a heavy water drinker, but once I'm home I tend to stop drinking as much. So I upped my goal from 64oz to 100oz, and so far its been a breeze. Now that I'm used to a higher intake, I feel dehydrated if I drink less than that.
• Preparation has categories for tracking how much "extra" effort I'm putting into W30, meaning am I grocery shopping more than my normal weekly trip (yes), am I meal planning and meal prepping more (yes, and yes lol). Its a way for me to see how sustainable this can be. It is a big change from my Sunday meal prep for the week but I'm loving the fresh recipes and delicious meals I'm cooking so to be honest, I don't even feel the strain until I'm out of food and I was too busy to prep. 

​Symptom Tracker:

The holy grail of my journal. I'm tracking symptoms that I feel are important to keep an eye on along my journey. I want to see how I'm improving (or not) and to see if I really do feel so much better following a W30 lifestyle. There's a few empty spaces left at the bottom that I am thinking on what to add. TMI, but perhaps bowel movements since I feel its changed since I started this. Probably a good one to track lol...gross I know   

 

• Emotions were mentioned so much in the book, and I thought a few broad categories would be good to get an overview on. I'm not going to lie, I'm a moody person if I don't sleep enough or for any other reason haha, but since I've been doing this I feel my mood has improved. I think its linked to the satisfaction I feel from doing something good for myself. I've been pretty damn good at it and I can't help but feel happy about it!       
• Physical is more about energy levels than anything, which I mean does affect you physically haha. But I didn't really feel that I needed to add anything else in this section since my energy levels affect me so much. I've been very tired since W30, I can't say its just because of W30, but I'm sure its played a big part. Mainly, its lack of sleep with helping my boyfriend prepare for his Masters thesis defence. So sleep has been AWOL to say the least. 
• Intake helps me keep track of all those hunger cues and cravings. So far its been smooth sailing, lets hope it keeps up!!!!!!   
• Internal is more so about my stomach complaint and headaches. I need to add a few more symptoms but I haven't gotten around to it. Overall, I've been pretty stable. 

Daily Log:

I keep my daily food log here and randomly scribble my thoughts (as you can see lol) about food, feelings, etc.. all W30 stuff. I don't mix in other things here since this journal is just for W30. It's not as if life fits in little boxes we assign, but I also don't want to overrun my life with W30. Meaning, I don't want this to be something I have to put in so much effort into, I want it to be effortless and sustainable. So I keep my yearly organizer generally free of W30 things, not counting little milestone dates, and grocery trips I need to schedule. My diary if you will, has mentions of W30 but it's more about life in general and less about my food goals. I want to incorporate the W30 into my life going forward, so except when I'm specifically on W30 strict guidelines, I want to let this become second nature. 

 

Okay, this post is long enough! But I just wanted to give y'all a peak into something that has really helped me with my journey. Hopefully, it can help someone else   

[JeanetteO]

More pics, since it limits you per post;

 

• Keep In Mind
• Meal Planning
• Shopping List/April Log
• April Tracker

[JeanetteO]

Final 2 pics of the journal

 

• Symptom Tracker
• Daily Log

[JeanetteO]

DAY 7 / Day Rating: (8/10)

B: 2 egg muffins, 4 clementines 

L: tuna on spinach w/ tomato, red pepper, 1 avocado, EVOO/BV

D: Carnitas Chipotle salad w/guac, tomato salad, green salsa

S: --

 

Notes: No snacking, so that makes me happy. I can't decide if I've always been a snacker, or if its just starting more so now because I'm not always having full meals. Most likely, I'm just finally becoming aware of my snacking and its something to work on!

 

Rating: Really good day 

 

DAY 8 / Day Rating: (8/10)

B: 2 egg muffins, 4 clementines 

L: tuna on spinach w/ tomato, red pepper, 1 avocado, EVOO/BV

D: Seafood tower (steamed lobster, crab legs, mussels, jumbo shrimp, raw oysters)

S: 3 kiwis, handful assorted compliant nuts

 

Notes: I had my snack after work since dinner was going to be around 9 (later once we all ordered). It was my boyfriend's birthday and we surprised him at dinner. It was deliciousssss to say the least. Especially because I didn't meal prep so it was a lot of tuna salad and it got boring. 

 

DAY 9 / Day Rating: (9/10)

B: pineapple, 1/2 handful of cashews w/sea salt

L: 3 spicy chicken legs, spinach with EVOO/BV

D: Spicy shrimp over mashed sweet potato with avocado crema

S: cashews w/sea salt

 

Notes: The shrimp dish at dinner was amazing. Since my boyfriend doesn't like sweet potato, I made his with mashed gold potato (ghee, salt, pepper, garlic). The avocado crema is gold, you guys have to try it! I found a recipe online but I didn't really follow it and made it my own. 2 avocados, juice from half a lime, 2 tbsp coconut cream, 1 tbsp water, salt, chopped cilantro, garlic powder all in a food processor. Just make it and put it on everything   

 

DAY 10 / Day Rating: (8/10)

B: pineapple, 1/2 handful of cashews w/sea salt

L: lettuce wrapped beef burger with grilled onions, mustard, jalapenos, tomato, pickles

D: 1 tuna egg muffin, spoonful of fried gold potatoes with diced red pepper and jalapeno, spoonful of avocado crema

S: assorted compliant nut mix, dried plum, cashews w/sea salt

 

Notes: The burger left me so full that dinner was very small. Lots of snacking today, but I say that's due to 2 days of no real breakfast and having lunch around 5pm   Need to improve my weekend eating. I feel its off schedule because its up in the air, unlike my working week. Sigh, lets hope weekend 3 is better!

 

DAY 11 / Day Rating: (9/10)

B: 2 tuna egg muffins

L: 3 spicy chicken legs, fried gold potatoes with diced red pepper and jalapeno, spoonful of avocado crema, 1 banana

D: fried potatoes, nuts, dried plums

S: cashews, kombucha

 

Notes: I'm relying too much on nuts to keep me full!! I'm not buying anymore nuts for the rest of my W30. The dried plums are just pure sliced plums that have been dehydrated, so no worry there about added sugars, etc. It seems like I made so much fried gold potato, but it was actually two fist sized potatoes sliced thinly, fried in EVOO, it just lasted me a few meals because I'm not a heavy potato eater unless its sweet potato. Which by the way is a new love, I only started eating it since W30. I hated it as a kid, but the tuna cake recipe convinced me to try it and I've liked it since!

 

DAY 12 / Day Rating: (8/10)

B: 2 tuna egg muffins, 1 banana

L: tuna on spinach w/ tomato, avocado crema, EVOO/BV, 2 clementines

D: Spicy shrimp with spiralized sweet potato and roasted red pepper sauce

S: --

 

Notes: Haven't eaten dinner yet, but that's the plan for tonight. Have to meal prep for the next few days so I'm not left eating boring tuna salad every day 

 

That's all for now    

[JeanetteO]

Still going strong eating wise, but I feel in a slump. I'm so tired!

 

Days on end I feel like I'm exhausted and I can't pinpoint if its my sleeping schedule being a bit hectic and finally smoothing out or if its W30. 

 

I really don't know what to do, feeling this tired at 3pm was one of the things I wanted to get rid of-just seems worse since W30. 

 

Sigh

[Chellesdoingr8]

Wow!!  Are you every organized!!  I hope your energy levels pick up soon.  I know that can be a real pain.  This too shall pass!!

 

Michelle

[JeanetteO]

Wow!!  Are you every organized!!  I hope your energy levels pick up soon.  I know that can be a real pain.  This too shall pass!!

 

Michelle

 

 

haha yeah, I know it can be a bit much  It really helps me focus so that I can "see" my progress as well. 

 

I do feel better! I started eating red meat and my energy has shot up. I've been eating so much spinach so I thought maybe I would be fine, but I discounted my anemia this whole time. I upped my read meat to about 3 times this week and it was a real boost. I hardly eat red meat, but I guess since cutting out everything bad, I lost the energy sugar, cards, etc were giving me in place of it. Feeling good keeps me motivated 

[JordanLizTracy]

I've been super tired too. I think I've only had one tiger blood day and now I'm at day 20! Goodness. Something has gotta give soon. Are you working out? Sometimes cardio paradoxically helps me feel less tired.

[Chellesdoingr8]

I am anemic to but I have to tell you...I think I am getting more spurts of energy...I remember the tiger blood very well.  Ahhhhh...what a nice feeling!!  More red meat, eh?  Makes sense...I may have to check that out.  Truth be told, I do have complications from Crohn's Disease, that is now in remission, which complicates my issues.  My doctor calls me an "enigma"

 

Have a great evening!!

 

Michelle

[JeanetteO]

I've been super tired too. I think I've only had one tiger blood day and now I'm at day 20! Goodness. Something has gotta give soon. Are you working out? Sometimes cardio paradoxically helps me feel less tired.

 

I am! During lunch I go for a mile walk/run depending on my mood. SO at least 5 days out of the week I'm moving for sure. On Saturday we go out and there's so much walking I easily get over 12,000 steps on my fitbit. So I keep it moving even if I'm exhausted. I think it was just not eating enough because since I've upped my intake I feel better. 

 

I swear, in all my days, beef never tasted so good to me as it does now. Really gives me energy, so I'm trying to eat it at least 3x week. 

[JeanetteO]

I am anemic to but I have to tell you...I think I am getting more spurts of energy...I remember the tiger blood very well.  Ahhhhh...what a nice feeling!!  More red meat, eh?  Makes sense...I may have to check that out.  Truth be told, I do have complications from Crohn's Disease, that is now in remission, which complicates my issues.  My doctor calls me an "enigma"

 

Have a great evening!!

 

Michelle

 

I think I finally hit tiger blood status! I'm feeling pretty darn great laterly, maybe its because I'm so close to finihsing my first round, but I'm in it to win it haha 

 

[JeanetteO]

GUYS I'M ON DAY 20!!!!! 

 

Cue the fireworks! I'm soooo close to day 30 I can taste it haha       

 

​I have to say I'm definitely feeling much better. I upped my intake of red meat, and food in general and now I'm not as tired. I think I finally got tiger blood! 

 

I have decided to roll my W30 into W60! I feel so great, but I recognize I need more time to work through my food issues, so I really think the only way I won't derail myself is to keep the momentum going. But I will still do my Post-30 day stats and weigh in to see how I've progressed, so day 31 will also be Post-W30 day. I'll definitely do an assessment post and stats post to see how its gone. I think my non-food reward will be to splurge on a paleo cookbook, any suggestions? I read a post from someone about Well Fed-is the first or 2nd better than the other?

 

I've been doing a lot of thinking as my first round winds down, and that's what convinced me to roll with it. I didn't have any cravings until the last few days. I was exhausted and stressed to the max since my boyfriend's thesis defence was on the 18th and we had crazy sleep hours reviewing things and just letting him practice on me. So I found myself really craving carbs, cheese, sugar... But the funny thing about it, I couldn't actually picture what I would eat! I think that's progress right there. Normally, when a craving/binge would hit I would know exactly what I wanted to eat. But this time it was just like oh I want something with bread and maybe cheese, or something sweet. It was a fuzzy idea that I didn't let my mind really contextualize. I'm kinda proud of that   

 

I was going to log my food for the last few days but really its been a lot of the same just in bigger portions so not really any point. 

 

Cheers!   

[JordanLizTracy]

Great job! I'm thinking of going beyond the 30 days too. I think I'll start with a whole45 though and see how things change/progress.

I highly recommend BOTH well fed cookbooks. But if you only want to splurge on one, I love the second one. Mine are seriously battle worn from all the cooking I've done with them.

How did his defense go?

[JeanetteO]

Great job! I'm thinking of going beyond the 30 days too. I think I'll start with a whole45 though and see how things change/progress.

I highly recommend BOTH well fed cookbooks. But if you only want to splurge on one, I love the second one. Mine are seriously battle worn from all the cooking I've done with them.

How did his defense go?

 

That's a good idea. I'm checking off Day45 as a milestone as well since its a good marker, I think. If I still want to keep going, I'll complete the W60. Regardless, once I am done with the rigidity of Whole30, I plan on living a Paleo lifestyle. Something they said in the book resonated with me- if you want to eat off protocol make it for something that's worth it (of course they worded it better). That's kinda the approach I want to have when it comes to eating off Paleo. Once I get past W30 rules, I'll add things like honey and stevia back since I enjoy the flavours in my cooking and drinks. Everything else, will come as its "worth it." Well...let's be hopeful haha I've been know to yo-yo like crazy, but I'm staying positive because I feel W30 is really helping me with my food issues so I can live a healthy life.

 

His defence was great! It was approved by the committee, now its just the standard revisions they give you and then he submits it to the library for publishing in their database, etc. He took the 19th off, but he's back in lab now, working on what his committee recommended since he needs to submit the final copy by the 28th. So I suspect there will be a few sleepless nights yet, as I provide a second eye for him 

 

Thanks for the book recommendation, I'm going to google them both now. 

[Chellesdoingr8]

I replied to you in my blog...but just in case...here ya go:

 

http://meljoulwan.com/recipes-index/

 

Enjoy!!!

 

Michelle

[JeanetteO]

I replied to you in my blog...but just in case...here ya go:

 

http://meljoulwan.com/recipes-index/

 

Enjoy!!!

 

Michelle

 

Thank you!! 

[JeanetteO]

Day 22 and the Tiger Blood is strong!

 

I can definitely say I didn't follow the time line that everyone swears by. I wasn't having withdrawals, cravings, or anger, but I was non-stop tired. I'd say for most days out of the first 14 I was just dragging about. I'd wake up great but by mid-morning I was crashing and by the time I would get home I'd barely muster up the energy to eat before I'd sleep.

 

I still made it my goal to walk for 30-45 min every work day at lunch, so at least I could get in some activity, but because I was so exhausted, I didn't follow my normal gym routine. I normally take kickboxing weekly for an hour and gym 2-3x a week, but since I started W30 I stopped once my energy tanked. I think I'm going to start getting into it again, its been 3ish weeks that I haven't done my normal routine and I feel bad about that.

 

Upping my food intake has made all the difference; including more starchy veggies, and red meat has been a big help for me. I wouldn't of continued W30 if my energy hadn't of picked up, I just couldn't take it anymore. Day 14 was a rough one that made me just break down and want to throw in the towel. I'm glad I posted in the forum section for Troubleshooting, seriously people, use this section for any little thing you may be uncertain about! 

 

Cheers! 

 

8 more days till my first W30 is complete! 

[Present4Life]

Hurray for Tiger Blood!!  Glad to hear you're feeling better now.  I am definitely going to take a peak at the Troubleshooting section to see if I can glean some more tips from others.

[Chellesdoingr8]

My pleasure

[JeanetteO]

5 more days! 

 

It's a strange sort of excitement and nervousness since I know I'm finally getting to the end of my first W30. I'm proud of myself, but I'm also slightly scared..paranoid..I don't know the word for it...

 

I'm going to roll my W30 into a W60 because I feel my first 14 days or so weren't the best due to fatigue, but also because I feel so much better now. But I'm also worried about life post-W30. I know I want to transition to a Paleo lifestyle but I don't know how exactly to do that. I've read a bunch about it and people seem to do it in percentages? Like, they'll eat Paleo 80% of the time and 20% off. I'm not sure how to find a balance that works, or at least not yet. I don't think I'm mentally ready to get off W30, because I'm still working through food issues. I feel the minute I reintroduce someone like sugar, I'll want to binge again, and I can't tell you how proud I am that I've stopped binging these last 25 days. Its one of the worst feelings, the guilt and shame, and just overall feeling of disgust with yourself. Having to plan a binge so that you won't be caught, throwing away the "evidence." I don't want that life anymore! So now I've got to spend the next 30 days or so trying to work through life post-W30. Any tips would be great! 

 

On a happy note, guys I have to share this Iranian recipe my boyfriend taught me. Soooo delicious. Potato Kuku (click on the pics to see them bigger)! Its great for any meal, I really enjoy it for breakfast or when I don't feel like cooking. Now, I don't really measure the spice, but its pretty much based on smell and look. If you see more white than not when you're mixing it, add more dill!

 

4 potatoes (gold)

1 yellow onion

3 eggs

Dill (dried or fresh)

Salt & pepper

 

You boil the potatoes until they're not fully cooked, because you need to grate them with a cheese grater. Grate the onion as well, and try and squeeze out the excess moisture from the onions, if not you risk the kuku falling apart when you go to cut it. 

 

In a bowl, mix 3 eggs (I prefer to use 1 less egg than potato, however when I want it more eggy and dense I add more eggs, about 4-5) with the grated onion, dill, salt and pepper. After well combined, mix in the grated potato. Place in an oiled pie dish and bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes. Really any baking dish will do, its just traditionally served round and I just sorta stuck to making it round haha. The flavour of the dill is just so delicious, and the smell! Nommmm. I eat it with homemade dill mayo (I love dill), essentially I take a few spoonfuls of basic mayo, add dill and sea salt, squeeze a wedge of lemon to thin it out and top my kuku with it.

 

I feel like a proper cook now, since W30 I've been buying spices like crazy. Everytime I try a new recipe I need to buy a few spices. I've got quite the collection going now! Before I just stuck to things like garlic powder, salt and pepper, and now I realize thats probably part of the reason I didn't enjoy cooking. I didn't appreciate the flavour of food like I do now. Its awesome. Anyone have a spice recommendation? 

 

I had vegan pudding as a sort of treat, and its delightfully compliant. Its made from kombu squash, coconut milk, and in my case strawberries. I didn't try the vanilla since I know we shouldn't have vanilla extract. It came with a double chocolate sauce, but I gave that to my boyfriend since its made from maple syrup. It was a sunny day and I really wanted a treat, not because of a sugar craving, but just because I was happy and in  great mood and I wanted something yummy. I'm going to try and recreate it, seems like a fun project   

 

Cheers! 

[Present4Life]

"I don't want that life anymore!"  Me either - You are such an inspiration!  I enjoy reading your progress posts very much. I feel the same way about many of the thoughts you share