Laurie's new adventure! W31-????

[LJG]

Day 31 brings a new adventure for me. I am now eliminating eggs and Nightshades (all kinds of peppers and tomatoes) to see if I can realize joint pain relief. I also plan to eliminate the scale. It was so sad that I could give up sugar, grains, etc., over the past 30 days but I couldn't fully eliminate the scale. I gave it up for chunks at a time but always ended up caving. I will focus more during this next period on rating my pain and trying to get rid of my ties to the numbers (and ups and downs) that the scale brings. I woke today with some elevated pain in my hips, probably from my mile walk last night. Sad because 6 months ago I was running 3-6 miles 3 times a week pain free! Due to some medical issues, I have gained a bunch of baggage that I was hoping to eliminate during my W30. No such luck. I believe the pain may have lessened, but I don't know if tht is because 1) the food; 2) I exercise far less; or 3) because I haven't tracked it and REALLY want it to go away. So I paln to devise a number scale. Today the pain level seems to be about a 4.

I also typically ate eggs every day for Meal 1 and had found a recipee for ground beef, sweet potatoes, apples, cinnamon and cloves. Tasty but I am definitely feeling foggy in the head this morning. Very bizarre feeling.

I am excited and optimistic about what the next W? will bring for me. I haven't committed to another 30 days yet (just finished my W30 yesterday and was really looking forward to moving to a bit of a less strict diet), so I will take it week by week to see if I notice any improvement. If so, I plan to continue on. I lost 9 pounds effortlessly in the first W30, I am sleeping more soundly (but still waking 1-2 times per night), and generally feel much better about the foods I am eating (and like the tastes much better than my typical Lean Cuisine meals I was eating before ). So I definitely plan to continue Paleo goin forward, just with some occasional, educated off Plan items (an occasional glass of wine or dessert for a special occasion). I just need to give this more time and another round of eliminations to see if I can ease the joint pain.

So the journey begins...

[LJG]

So day one egg-free and nightshade-free was a bit of a bomb. I did fine on the eggs, but totally blew the nightshades. I was out of pre-made food and ate the same thing for breakfast and lunch. I made a quick trip to whole foods and spent the evening longing for the curry I was cooking. Somewhere near the end it dawned on me (duh...) that the red curry paste had red peppers in it. But by that point, I decided to dig in and just start with the nightshade elimination tomorrow.

Here's to waking up a bit smarter! Can the Whole 30+ do that??

[LJG]

I am happy to say I made it through a day nightshade free It is funny, after 30 days of getting myself wrapped around what I can/can't eat to be W30 compliant, it is like starting over with reading all my ingredients and being suprised with how much things have red pepper or tomato in them. Many of the things I love! I am feeling a bit deprived with not being able to eat my curry or other spices I really enjoy. I also was going to make some tuna salad with my homemade mayo until I remembered it had egg in it... Just like the W30, it will just take some adaptation. I am a bit torn. On one hand, I really hope eliminating these food groups will aleviate the joint pain but on the other hand, I hope not because I love these food groups! I should also hear from the doctor today on my tests from earlier this week.

I still have been sleeping well once I fall asleep, but the past few nights I have been taking a bit longer to fall asleep (20-30 min). I think it is just work-related stress, but I was getting pretty spoiled falling asleep immediately!

[LJG]

My pain scale in my hips is more like a 5-6 today. I had some massive cleaning to do over the weekend while my boys were camping including cleaning all the ceiling fans, floor boards, and steam cleaning all carpets/rugs. In addition to my regular cleaning, I probably spent about 12 hours cleaning between Saturday and Sunday. I treated myself to a 90 min massage and she worked on my hips a bit. I then spent 2 hours at the gym with my boys last night between some light cardio, weights, and swimming, So, now I am paying for the excessive weekend warrior activity today with a very sore body! I was planning on going to the gym tonight, but I may rest instead.

I also did a bunch of cooking (I pretty much did not sit at all this weekend) and Tom's recipee for salmon, artichoke hearts and cauliflower in coconut milk is now among my top favorites! I had this for lunch yesterday and today. Yum!

Both of my sons have ADD and take Adderall. I have been trying to sneak in as much of the concepts of Paleo into their meals as well, but it is very hard! I have been reading some of the literature on the site on trying to convert your kids/raise your kids Paleo, but I have not had much success. The best I have done is trade up on the meat / eggs they will eat with better meat / eggs. They do like vegetables, but my 9 year old only drinks white milk (no juice, no soda), which up until 40 days ago I thought was AWESOME!!! He also barely eats anything as it is and is on the low end of the weight spectrum. I have read previously that there is one school of thought that believes ADD is highly attributable to food allergies/sensitivites and dairly is the number one on the list. I have mentioned this to my kids (as both would love to one day stop taking medication), but they don't care enough to try changing their diets.

I have to travel next week for work and am also starting to get anxious about the food situation. We will be flying and will be working long hours and I will definitely not have a chance to shop/cook while I am there. Bringing food is not an option on the plane So I am thinking I will be eating salads at every meal with no dressing... Not sure how this is going to work and am nervous it is going to force me into reitroduction before I am ready and in a manner that will make it hard for me to learn from my Whole 43 (by the time I leave)...

[maggief]

Great job so far on your Whole30+! I really hope you find relief going egg- and nightshade-free. That weekend massage sounds incredible

Good luck traveling next week -- I know it seems really stressful now but I have a feeling all your new good habits will feel like second nature once you get there. Where will you be traveling? Are you staying in a hotel? Cooking sounds like it's not an option at all but maybe you can pick up some fruits and veg, canned salmon or tuna, just basics to keep in your room. You could even order some paleokits or approved jerky and have it delivered right to your hotel... Whatever you decide, I'm totally confident you'll be able to stay on plan

[LJG]

Thanks Maggie - I live in Ohio and am headed to California to visit one of our divisions. I really like the idea of the canned salmon/tuna. I can pack that along with a can opener and just eat that back in my room after dinner or whatever. Maybe I will get brave enough to even bring it along to lunch (but may totally gross out my table if I add it to my salads...). Often times the hotels will have fruits in the lobby and if nothing else, hopefully they will have whole fruit at the breakfast buffet. I can't give up now - I won't have had enough time to tell if the egg-free/nightshade free diet is beneficial and I hate the thought of wasted effort! Although I am not really seeing any difference yet. I am holding out on a run to see if I notice a difference without doing any extra cardio but am very anxious to get back to my feet hitting the pavement!

[Nancy H.]

Hi........I hope you visit out west to California went well. Were you able to stay with the program?

[LJG]

Hi Nancy - My trip is this coming week (Tuesday - Friday). I also made the "mistake" of buying some Lara Bars to try and see if I wanted to pack some for my trip and eat in case of emergency but they are so incredibly delicious I am afraid I could eat these all day!

So far I have not noticed any difference from the nightshade and egg elimination. I am really missing my favorite veggies after 10 days and am about ready to reintroduce them. I would think I would have noticed some difference if they really were the problem, but given that my problem just started in April and I have eaten these all my life, I am guessing it is not really my problem anyway. I am rationalizing now, I know, but I really miss my beloved tomatoes and peppers! I also am ready to have eggs again in the morning. I am hoping I can hold out until another week, but we will see.

I also tried a small glass of red wine last night (first off plan item) and it was not at all what I remembered! In fact, I didn't think it tasted very good at all. I drank it all anyway thinking something would come back to me, but the last swallow was the same as the first. The only thing I got from it was a cloudy head! However, I did not have any other side effects. I still slept perfectly and feel fine today. So I know in the future one glass of wine could be ok from time to time. It was crazy how anxious I was to try it after 40 days of eating W30 compliant.

[LJG]

Well, my egg and nightshade-free "new adventure" has come to an end. While traveling last week, I decided to have eggs for breakfast. I also had tomatoes with my meals. One night over a period of 4 hours, I had 3 glasses of wine with my co-workers. After returning home this past weekend, I also gave into the Halloween candy that was calling to me. I thought I could have just one Heath bar but had to hide the candy from sight after three and then just plain go to bed after having 5 I also tried some of my kids cheese pizza. I was able to easily slip back into my W30 eating habits after each reintroduction and learned the following over the past week:

* While one glass of wine is o.k. for me, three are not! It literally put me over the edge. I was spinning at night and very hungover the next day. Yuck!

* I cannot have any sugar period. I don't plan to be militant about this and will have some from time to time, but I cannot allow myself to eat it alone I also felt very sick to my stomach for hours after and didn't sleep well that night. Definitely not worth it for Halloween candy!

* The pizza did not have much impact on me immediately, but I haven't slept well the past few nights (even after going directly back to W30 eating) so unfortunately I am not sure if it is the wheat, glutton, dairy, wine or sugar Too much reintroduction in too short of a time period to know for sure.

* The most important thing I learned was that I can survive in the real world. I can give things a try and be social (go out and feel comfortable and confident ordering my grass-fed, grain-free, steamed veggies kind of food)

So I am not really sure where I go from here. I don't feel the need to do another W30 and really just plan to eat W30-ish as a rule with an occasional off-plan food/drink if I feel it is worth it. I feel so thrilled to not be controlled by food. I eat when hungry and stop when satisfied. My hips still hurt but I no longer stress about not exercising like crazy because I have seen what am impact just eating right can have on my weight and body composition. While I still hope to be pain free in my hips and run again, I am trying to let it go (for now) and see how I feel in a month or so. Maybe I just need more time?? If not, I will just try to find less stressful ways of exercising. In the meantime, I am loving the fact that I have effortlessly continued to lose weight. I am down 12 lbs. and am ok if I lost a little more and ok if I don't. I am guessing that my weight will just stabilize when I am at my most natural/healthy weight for my current activity level (which really isn't much at all). I am just plain happy

[maggief]

I am just plain happy

This, truly, is the greatest success of all! Congrats Laurie and keep up the great work. So glad you're feeling better :-)

[LJG]

Today marks day 1 of my 2nd Whole 30!!! I started my first in September and it ended up being a whole 45 ish... Once November hit and along came the holiday gatherings, it did not take long at all to fall victim to the sugar demon. I have stayed clean during my meals for the most part, but have had desserts galore over the holidays. I have also had a little bread and some alcohol, but mostly sugar has been my downfall. I no longer sleep as well, I am sick to my stomach almost constantly, the pain is back in my hips and while I avoided getting on the scale for as long as possible, I weighed myself yesterday to track my whole 30 and had gained back 7 of the 12 lbs I lost in the fall. I cannot wait to bring back the clean!

Today for breakfast I had 2 eggs with some sautéed veggies. Yum! I made some extra veggies so when I get up for work the next few days I can quickly make my eggs and warm up the veggies.

I am still in the habit of pre-cooking all my meals over the weekend so I have some yummy burgers, some chicken and a delicious meatloaf waiting for me. I am so happy to be back at it!

Happy New Year!

[LJG]

Day 2 of my 2nd Whole 30+! Last night I encountered the same thing as I remember last time - I couldn't sleep more than about an hour at a time without needing to get up and use the restroom. It was a struggle to get out of bed at 6:00 this morning for work but I am confident it will get better. The best thing about doing it the 2nd time is that I know I can do it because I did it before! The frequent wakings will give way after a handful of nights into the best sleep I have had in my life. I am sooooo looking forward to this! Also, the most amazing thing happened last night in that I went to bed for the first time in about a month without a stomach ache! It is so crazy to think that stomach aches were my old normal. I didn't get used to them over the last month but have to believe I had them all the time before and just never realized it (it was so normal to me). I am so happy to be back on the wagon

Breakfast - I had my 2 eggs over medium, sauteed veggies and a banana. I love the mixture of peppers, mushrooms and tomatoes. I have enough pre-cooked veggies for at least another morning, which really helps. They are not quite as good as the freshly cooked version, but they good enough to be worth pre-cooking 3 days or so at a time. I hope I never get tired of eggs in the morning (have had them pretty much every day since 9/10/12). I really love the mixture of the egg white with a little bit of runny yolk I also learned last whole 30 to add in a lot of water and a banana - I got some pretty severe leg cramps over night the first go-round.

Lunch - I brought some of my leftover meatlof and 1/2 sweet potato

Dinner - I packed some of my yellow chicken curry that I made last night. Unfortunately it is year-end close for me so I had to pack my dinner or I would likely give in to the pizza I know we will order while we work late.

I hope it is an amazing day for all!

[LJG]

Day 3 of my 2nd Whole 30 and I am feeling pretty well. I am quite pleased to not have experienced a belly ache since New Years Eve and thankfully I have been through this first week of a whole 30 before so I know this time will pass. I don't have a headache this go-round and have yet to have any leg cramps, but I still am making numerous trips to the restroom and while it can be inconvenient during the day while working, it is down right annoying at night. I think I woke again about every hour last night. Because I know this will pass, I am actually thankful for this phase because it gives me hope that I will soon experience the rest of the "symptoms" that will lead to the glorious feeling at the end.

Today's menu continues to include leftovers. After my September Whole 30, I bought 2 different Paleo cookbooks. While they are ok, I continue to make most of my meals based off recipees I printed off through links on this website (particularly Tom Denham's Whole Life Eating site). Breakfast was 2 eggs with the final batch of sauteed veggies. Lunch will be leftover yellow chicken curry and dinner will be leftover meatloaf. I also have a beautiful banana and green apple on the menu

Last night I was hungry about 1.5 hours after dinner so I decided that because it was true hunger (wanted meatloaf, not blueberries with coconut butter...), I went ahead and had a small serving of meatloaf and some black olives. Hopefully I will get my serving size correct today and not need that extra meal.

[LJG]

Day 4 was way too busy to post, but I made it through. I wasn't expecting to work as late as I did so I did not pack dinner, but was able to make it through (even while running out to pick up dinner for my team) until I got home at 10:00 and ate my compliant leftovers.

Last night was the first night I made it through a few hours without waking. I slept straight and hard from about midnight until 5:00 a.m. I then slept off and on until about 8:30. I needed the rest from the busy week at work

Day 5 brought another work day for me. I finished off all my leftovers so after work I made it to the store and had time to get a great pot of chili cooking. I also made homemade barbeque sauce in preparation for the ribs that will go in my slow cooker tomorrow. I also plan to make a few chicken dishes tomorrow, along with some grilled salmon, which should allow me to have plenty of meals to eat throughout this upcoming week. Overall, I am feeling good. This time around, I can slowly feel the pain in my hips improving slightly each day. I am so grateful for the knowledge of how food impacts my body / pain levels / stomach aches! I can even already tell that the muffin top that was accumulating back over my jeans the past month is disappearing again - hooray!!!

[LJG]

I can't believe it is already the end of day 9. I have had every intention of posting daily to better track my progress this go-round but have been entirely too busy with year-end close at work. So many late nights!!! I am finally through the peeing every hour all night long stage, but am still having vivid dreams (none this time about food....) and have not yet had a solid night sleep. My hip pain has reduced drastically so I am very excited about that. To be honest, after the first day or two back, the whole 30 has been a non-issue. It's like I hardly even think about it! I think that is very positive in that it has become a way of life or my normal mode of operations. I am wondering if I will experience any huge changes this time around.

One thing I am very proud of is that I still have yet to get on the scale (unlike last time when I caved often during the 30 days). I have felt tempted, but gotten past it. Yea me!

[LJG]

I don't have much to add today... Another very busy and stressful day at work for me. The cooking is almost second nature for me now, so that has made this round much easier. I am really tired today so I am hoping for a great night sleep!