Starting May 9

[LO867]

Oooo.... the swim suit test! I'm only on Day 16, but I'm going to plan my rewards for something like this! I bought a suit several weeks ago, and haven't put it on since. I should try it this weekend!

[Walts_Daughter]

Hey guys. Sorry for the radio silence. Hope everyone is doing well. I've made it through but have to admit I'm not enjoying cooking. Maybe it's because I'm new to it and inexperienced but it takes me forever. I feel like I'm in the kitchen all the time. Because if this, I haven't cheated but have slacked off eating as often. If I have breakfast later in the morning, it's a handful or nuts and piece of fruit before my compliant dinner. Apparently, I need to "prep" more which I have tired. I'm in the kitchen for at least 8 hours on Sunday by the end of my prepping I'm so frustrated that I wasted the entire day that I don't want to cook anymore! But alas....I'll keep on chugging along. At the beginning of our whole journey I bought 3 cans of coconut milk. Put one in the fridge as suggested and haven't used one can. Need my team's help for inspiration how to use these. And, another question; can I bread boneless skinless chicken breasts with unsweetened coconut flakes then bake? If yes, what heat and how long? Only 2 breasts, regular (a little on the smaller) size.

[Chef Mike]

Hey guys. Sorry for the radio silence. Hope everyone is doing well. I've made it through but have to admit I'm not enjoying cooking. Maybe it's because I'm new to it and inexperienced but it takes me forever. I feel like I'm in the kitchen all the time. Because if this, I haven't cheated but have slacked off eating as often. If I have breakfast later in the morning, it's a handful or nuts and piece of fruit before my compliant dinner. Apparently, I need to "prep" more which I have tired. I'm in the kitchen for at least 8 hours on Sunday by the end of my prepping I'm so frustrated that I wasted the entire day that I don't want to cook anymore! But alas....I'll keep on chugging along. At the beginning of our whole journey I bought 3 cans of coconut milk. Put one in the fridge as suggested and haven't used one can. Need my team's help for inspiration how to use these. And, another question; can I bread boneless skinless chicken breasts with unsweetened coconut flakes then bake? If yes, what heat and how long? Only 2 breasts, regular (a little on the smaller) size.

Hi Walts_Daughter, prep is important, so don't look at it as a waste. The more you do it the better you get at it. Low prep items include roasted meats, crumbled browned ground beef, roasted veg with olive oil. Meat, veg, fat and spices. Stay away from the complicated and make your combinations on the fly. I use coconut milk in my coffee, in sauces and salad dressing with herbs. 

 

I've had a few challenges this weekend with the customary beginning of the cookout season. i do like to partake of an alcoholic beverage now and again but I kept it together. I actually went to a party where everything served was paleo. You can't go wrong with salads and uncured smoked meats. 

Going down another size this week on my pants.

 

10 days to go folks, hang in there.

[JoniScott]

Hey guys. Sorry for the radio silence. Hope everyone is doing well. I've made it through but have to admit I'm not enjoying cooking. Maybe it's because I'm new to it and inexperienced but it takes me forever. I feel like I'm in the kitchen all the time. Because if this, I haven't cheated but have slacked off eating as often. If I have breakfast later in the morning, it's a handful or nuts and piece of fruit before my compliant dinner. Apparently, I need to "prep" more which I have tired. I'm in the kitchen for at least 8 hours on Sunday by the end of my prepping I'm so frustrated that I wasted the entire day that I don't want to cook anymore! But alas....I'll keep on chugging along. At the beginning of our whole journey I bought 3 cans of coconut milk. Put one in the fridge as suggested and haven't used one can. Need my team's help for inspiration how to use these. And, another question; can I bread boneless skinless chicken breasts with unsweetened coconut flakes then bake? If yes, what heat and how long? Only 2 breasts, regular (a little on the smaller) size.

I think the hardest part for me has been the time cooking and cleaning. Do you have the book? I prep a few things from the book on a day off and then add 1 or two as the week goes by. Are you cooking for the whole week at one time? Prepping three things usually takes me a max of 2 hours. I make sure we have cooked chicken, hard-boiled eggs, & mayo. I buy a few things like Pico de Gallo for my scrambled eggs, and packaged lettuce to save time and energy. (read labels, of course!) I also have begun shopping 3 x a week so I dont end up wasting food. But the amount of dishes! Argh! Still, I have definitely lost weight and my digestive issues are gone, so I want to continue. 

I use the coconut milk in my coffee! Tada! It has saved my life because without coffee I would die. I also add it to potatoes, and was thinking of trying the cream with strawberries. :-) 

My biggest problem right now is I am fighting a very bad chest cold leaving me weak and weepy. It takes all I have to drag my body to the kitchen and make a meal. But we've come this far... right? Hang in there!!! :-)

[Theheartoverflows]

Im still fighting some wicked sugar cravings. I cut down drastically on my fruit just in case that's feeding it.

[SugarcubeOD]

Im still fighting some wicked sugar cravings. I cut down drastically on my fruit just in case that's feeding it.

It is very likely that this is why you are still having sugar cravings... if you're going to eat fruit, make sure it is with and part of a template meal and not eaten on its own as a 'snack' or 'dessert'

Nuts and nut butters keep that snacky sugar dragon going too so if you eat a lot of those, cut them down too.

[Mishi]

Today was the Memorial Day holiday and per tradition, we all converge on my parents for celebration and remembrance over BBQ goodness.

Besides this forum, I don't have a "support group". I've told my friends and family about the change but that's mostly just resulted in a lot of them apologizing over offering food I can't eat (potlucks every week it seems).

So I was prepared with my own compliant BBQ sauce, potato salad, and kale salad. I figured the hamburger meat or plain ribs would be safe.

But I get to my parents and my Mom has set aside a prep corner of her kitchen for me to make whatever I needed. She's researched a sweet potato custard that would work for me while everyone else had apple pie. And dear old Dad had set aside a slab of ribs without sauce that he called "Mishi's Slab" to anyone who tried to touch them so that I'd not miss out and even ranted at the food industry when we read that the hot dogs and sausages he'd bought had sugar or corn syrup in them.

I've always known I was blessed and today was just another instance of experiencing that.It was another boost to my commitment to have my family so supportive. Much needed because, as the book put it, the newness has worn off and I no longer feel like anything is making a difference - like a wall. I know I have made progress but when this started, I felt like everyday was a win. Now I just shrug and pack my meals and call it a Tuesday.

So, short story long, the support of those around you certainly helps re-energize this last stretch! But I never would have gotten this far without all of you!

Have a beautiful day!!!

[Theheartoverflows]

It is very likely that this is why you are still having sugar cravings... if you're going to eat fruit, make sure it is with and part of a template meal and not eaten on its own as a 'snack' or 'dessert'

Nuts and nut butters keep that snacky sugar dragon going too so if you eat a lot of those, cut them down too.

I was eating it with my meals, with either breakfast or lunch. I'm hoping only having fruit one or two times a week kills that sugar craving. Also taking the dried (juice sweetened) cranberries off my salads. It was only a tablespoon or so, but just in case.

[Walts_Daughter]

@JoniScott and @Chef Mike - thank you for the encouragement. I woke up Friday with a chest cold too. But read your recommendations to my husband and off he went to the store. Now I have prepackaged fresh slaw, spinach and other healthy compliant whole30 foods which should make things much easier for me.

I'm located in OK. To others that are sick, completely understand if you aren't comfortable answering on a public forum, what part of the country do you reside?

[LO867]

Mishi, I absolutely love your story! You have a loving, caring family.

I too, have only this forum with whom I can comisserate and find support. My daughter just rolls her eyes. My other family members are far away.

But I soldier on.

Happy Memorial Day everyone!

[jolong]

It definitely was a test of will power for me too this last weekend, as I had 2 bridal showers to attend. I stayed compliant, but my meal templates were definitely off starting Saturday afternoon. But I muddled through and woke up this morning welcoming Day 23! Awesome! One week left guys...we can do this!

My husband and I went on a little shopping trip last Friday and I forgot how fun it is buying things that fit so nicely! I bought I size that I haven't worn in probably 5 years! It was just inspiring and probably helped me get through the rest of the weekends foodie temptations.

Prep time can definitely be overwhelming, but it is just something you have to get used to, and eventually learn how to cut corners on certain things. The dirty dishes is something you can't get away from though. My husband laughs at me when I get home at night and walk through the house with my armload of dirty dishes from the day.

[jolong]

I think the hardest part for me has been the time cooking and cleaning. Do you have the book? I prep a few things from the book on a day off and then add 1 or two as the week goes by. Are you cooking for the whole week at one time? Prepping three things usually takes me a max of 2 hours. I make sure we have cooked chicken, hard-boiled eggs, & mayo. I buy a few things like Pico de Gallo for my scrambled eggs, and packaged lettuce to save time and energy. (read labels, of course!) I also have begun shopping 3 x a week so I dont end up wasting food. But the amount of dishes! Argh! Still, I have definitely lost weight and my digestive issues are gone, so I want to continue. 

I use the coconut milk in my coffee! Tada! It has saved my life because without coffee I would die. I also add it to potatoes, and was thinking of trying the cream with strawberries. :-) 

My biggest problem right now is I am fighting a very bad chest cold leaving me weak and weepy. It takes all I have to drag my body to the kitchen and make a meal. But we've come this far... right? Hang in there!!! :-)

I absolutely LOVE mashed potatoes and oh how I have missed them! I love this idea of adding coconut milk...so when you do that do you add the liquid or the cream?

[beecharmer]

Made it through Memorial Day unscathed, but it was much harder than I expected. I made several compliant dishes to share, so it wasn't for lack of options. I didn't realize how snack and wine focused our family celebration has become, and since I wasn't indulging in either, I really had nothing to do but nibble on celery sticks and wait until it was time to eat the big meal. Good lesson for the future. Not sure exactly what I'll do differently, but I'll definitely have an alternate plan.

 

Today is day 23 or 24 (I've sort of lost count, but I know that next Tuesday is the 30th day). I haven't felt the Tiger Blood yet, but at this point I'm just committed to finishing the 30 so I can test different foods in the Reintro stage. I don't anticipate doing another Whole 30 for awhile, but I would like to rethink my day to day diet. My partner and kids were asking me last night what foods I plan to reintro first. Still thinking about it...

[Mishi]

I'm hearing the siren call of my scale so I am actively trying to remind myself that whatever number is there when this is said and done shouldn't be what I take from this.

If nothing else, I have discovered a love of cooking and a will power to survive a month without donuts. I like myself better just knowing that.

My tenth day of re-intro will be my birthday. There will be cake. But after this Whole30 journey, I am 100% confident that it will be a slice and not me with a fork and the whole cake in my lap.

Almost there, everyone!!

[jolong]

Day 25! Woohoo! I know many are planning on continuing on with a Whole 60, but I just can't do that at this time. I'm not sure when I will do another one either...I might be able to sneak one in from September-October, but I will cross that bridge when I get to it. After my reintroduction I plan to continue eating Whole 30ish for as long as possible.

Mishi, that is funny what you say about donuts because I felt the same way about Doritos! I did my first Whole 30 back in January and I can tell you for a fact, that the last day I ate a Dorito was January 16th...and I'm still breathing! That is one food item that I don't plan to let back into my life because I know there will be no brakes for me.

After passing up desserts all weekend I was also tempted last night at book club. I just settled in with my apple and almond butter and all went well.

[JillyBean3584]

Been MIA, crazy weekend and crazy work week.  Day #25!  How did that happen?!?  I can't believe it's almost 30 days!  This weekend was a challenge with the BBQ's but I made the best choices available to me.  I did kind of find myself this weekend skipping a meal which I don't want to do but it was all because of time and busy schedule.  I usually ended up not having lunch and having an early dinner.  Back to schedule with work though.  It was an extremely busy weekend for me but I find myself exhausted.  I'm not waking up before my alarm again, so I don't know if I over did it again and my body just needs to catch up or something else. 

 

I'm starting to get a little nervous about after Whole30, just don't want to get into the same rut I was before.

[Chef Mike]

I'm hearing the siren call of my scale so I am actively trying to remind myself that whatever number is there when this is said and done shouldn't be what I take from this.

If nothing else, I have discovered a love of cooking and a will power to survive a month without donuts. I like myself better just knowing that.

My tenth day of re-intro will be my birthday. There will be cake. But after this Whole30 journey, I am 100% confident that it will be a slice and not me with a fork and the whole cake in my lap.

Almost there, everyone!!

Mishi, that is a good attitude. I actually gained a couple of pounds the second time we did Whole30 last fall, but I was still able to fit in a smaller size pants and felt great. A lot of the time if you become more active while doing this, there is a redistribution that happens to your body. I have gained muscle mass and lost fat and there has been water distribution changes also. The change in habits and the overall metabolic changes will have payoffs down the road as I have found out in subsequent rounds. I've heard from others that if they went completely off the rails during re-intro and couldn't get out of the bad pattern, so be mindful. the demons are all still there, but now you have tools to fight them. The key is to use them.

 

Happy Day 25!

[Mishi]

Mishi, that is a good attitude. I actually gained a couple of pounds the second time we did Whole30 last fall, but I was still able to fit in a smaller size pants and felt great. A lot of the time if you become more active while doing this, there is a redistribution that happens to your body. I have gained muscle mass and lost fat and there has been water distribution changes also. The change in habits and the overall metabolic changes will have payoffs down the road as I have found out in subsequent rounds. I've heard from others that if they went completely off the rails during re-intro and couldn't get out of the bad pattern, so be mindful. the demons are all still there, but now you have tools to fight them. The key is to use them.

 

Happy Day 25!

 

Thanks for this, Chef Mike! I need to keep in mind that this isn't a magic fix all but the start of an understanding of my relationship with food. I'm looking forward to continuing to learn and grow with this.

 

Happy Day 25 indeed!!

[Chef Mike]

It's very quite in here.....how's everybody doing?

[Jackaby]

It's very quite in here.....how's everybody doing?

Haha! I was just thinking today that I haven't posted much in the past week or so. Been hanging in there, just doing my think. Been having fun trying out new recipes, now that school is out for the summer and I have some extra time. Just found out that I've secured a spot at a retreat intensive starting June 8, and one of their focuses is nutrition, so I'll be extending my first Whole30 for a few days

[JillyBean3584]

It's very quite in here.....how's everybody doing?

Still here, day 26, four more to go.  I will probably be going longer after day 30 but I have to be honest I am getting pretty bored of my food choices...

[Chef Mike]

Still here, day 26, four more to go.  I will probably be going longer after day 30 but I have to be honest I am getting pretty bored of my food choices...

I used to think that until my second reintro and now I'm pretty much this all the time, with the occasional exception of a organic corn tortilla here and there. I really make the most of the thousands of ingredients and combinations there are. That keeps it fresh and not hard at all. After my 60 this time I may get some organic yogurt to go with my July strawberries. Really whoop it up.

[Muffalish]

It's very quite in here.....how's everybody doing?

 

I just can't believe we're on day 25... wait... is it 26 today now? It's really kinda smooth sailing right now for me I have to say. I've had a hiccup or two that I'm not beating myself up about, and am still planning on doing this for 60 days. Maybe even longer. It's just not really been all that hard for me! Full disclosure, weighed myself a week and a half ago - even though I'm so not in this for the weight, I was curious to see if how I was feeling (fabulous) was related to weight loss. My bloaty tummy/fibroids gets me the "when are you due" or "oh my you're carrying high" comments on the regular, but I definitely feel like it looks 2 rather than 5 months preggo these days so just wondered if I was losing weight or just bloat. No shift in wieght, but rather than being bummed abou that, it definitely (ironically?) felt like a non-scale victory, so like I said, not going to beat myself up for that brief digression Hopefully the whole30 police don't take away my badge (no I don't have a badge. now I want a badge)

I've always had problems with reintro whenever I've done a whole30 but this time I'm not thinking 5 days ahead because I know that I'm going longer - really eye opening - I wonder if it just takes me longer to form better habits around food. Going to find out!

Interested in following this group through reintro - please post your progress everyone!

 

[Mishi]

Still here, day 26, four more to go.  I will probably be going longer after day 30 but I have to be honest I am getting pretty bored of my food choices...

 

I'm right there with you JillyBean3584! I didn't get too innovative with my recipes and food selections so I kind of orbited around the same staples in different combinations. It had a lot to do with comfort and knowing how long it would take to prep what I needed. I may shock the cashier at the market this weekend and pickup an eggplant...

[Theheartoverflows]

Still here! Still intend on going until July 7. Had a couple of temptations this past week and considered giving in but asked myself if it was really worth it. The answer was no. Instead of obsessing, I just moved on, which is a huge improvement!

Anyone else's nails suddenly super strong and growing like crazy? My nails have always been thin and brittle. I looked down the other day and realized all of my nails are long and thick. It surprised me.

Another NSV? Went out alone tonight and tried on some shorts. I started all this in a tight fitting 10. I can get on/zip/button 6s now, though they wouldn't be comfortable for all day wear yet. 8s fit better, but were a bit loose. I was also able to go down a shirt size. Woohoo!