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11/28...Ready to Start!


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So day 15!! whoooo hooooop! Things are going well. Last week i wasn't reading or posting so sorry for missing all the great posts but I read up this morning. So in this last week, I feel like I brought in two things I need to work on in this upcoming week.

1. I got into this frozen blueberry habit last week. I am not a huge fruit person but when I eat frozen blueberries, it is as close to eating a bowl of ice cream... cold and almost chewy is the only way I can describe. But I decided today that I need to stop this now and get back to my regular scheduled program. Although compliant, I see what the blueberries are doing to me and I am eating more than I should. using it to top off my meal (dinner). It was a distraction which worked and got something different into my diet so they served their purpose. I feel like new habits pop up all the time when we find a crutch and that is what this blueberry thing is. And... headache again this morning which i know is from the stupid blueberries. Ok, enough of the blueberry talk! But seriously.. so good. But I feel like I gained some weight because of the extra sugar.. or something is going on cuz I feel bloated again. 

2. I still haven't cooked anything like i promised myself i would. I seriously am the world's worst person in the kitchen. I hate it. I just really don't want to make anything, like ever. Been like this my whole life. Thank goodness my husband cooks. But I eat simple and always have. I have a meat, bunch of vegetables and a fat (and unless today frozen blueberries. ha). I see others peoples food pictures and i think how good it looks, etc. and I save the recipes. I make roasted veggies ALL the time which is pretty much me cooking. Anyways, i so want to make the fish coating that @NoMoreCruncyCravings made because i would so love it. So that is my only goal this week (besides the blueberry thing).

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@Sieb Good on you for noticing about the blueberries but man - they are just blueberries: good for you in a million ways.  I feel the same way about frozen grapes - they taste like ice cream to me.

Roasting veggies is cooking!!  Come on!

Had a really great day yesterday - on point.  

B'fast: Leftover chili with a pear

Lunch: salad

Dinner: Roasted chicken breasts with carrots & potatoes - it's so delicious & my whole family loves it.

 I have all the tools & food to make this a successful week.  No parties; no lunch dates.  The only thing I have social going on is not until Sunday's Chiefs game.  

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On 12/11/2016 at 0:05 PM, BornToBeHappy said:

I didn't know it was limited to 2 fruits a day. I have been eating more than that. I'm not sure I want to give it up. Small confession: I quit smoking the same day a I started Whole 30 (been a long time non-smoker & went on vacation in March and started again - dumb). So I eat apples in the car as a smoking replacement. Hmmmm. 

Bfast: Sweet potato & egg over easy

lunch: grapes & roasted chicken thighs

dinner: crock pot chili. Different than the recipe I used earlier. Mini potatoes instead of sweet potatoes. Mushrooms in the mix as well. Excited for the leftovers for work lunches this week. 

Conquered 2 parties last night. I did fill my glass with the signature cocktail - cranberry & vodka at the party last night. Filled the rest of my glass with my fizzy water. So it wasn't perfect but I resisted everything else so I don't feel terrible. I know I should start over but I'm not going to. 

Hope everyone is great!

Aimee

I wouldn't worry so much about whether you have two servings of fruit a day, or three -- what I would focus on is getting enough protein and vegetables in and thinking of fruit as a garnish/extra, and making sure you're not choosing fruit over vegetables. Your meals look very small, you're eating very few vegetables, you're not listing added fat -- focus on fixing those things, and when you're doing that, have fruit with meals whenever you want. I like fruit, but find that when I'm eating according to the meal template, I just don't want or need as much fruit. I'm not depriving myself of it or telling myself I can't have it -- I'm just having other foods so I don't want as much fruit. In the summer, I tend to have more, but even then it's important to focus on the vegetables first -- you get all the nutrients, without the sugars in fruit which can cause people to have blood sugar spikes and crashes, and which can leave people craving more sweet things.

When you have eggs as your only protein, have as many whole eggs as you can hold in your hand, which is likely 3-4. If you don't want that many eggs, have some other protein to make up the difference (bacon is more a fat source than a protein).

When you're thinking about your meals, picture a big dinner plate. Put 1-2 palm-sized portions of protein, or your 3-4 eggs, on the plate, it'll probably take up 1/4 to 1/3 of the plate. Fill the rest of the plate with vegetables -- one cup is not filling the plate with vegetables, it's like a bare minimum to say you've had some vegetables. And try to have a variety of vegetables -- not necessarily a lot of different ones in one meal, but the whole "eat the rainbow" advice is good -- have green vegetables, and some orange ones, and some purple ones, and whatever other ones you can find. Then add some fat -- 1-2 thumb-sized portions of oil or mayo or other fat-based sauce, or 1/2 to a whole avocado or the equivalent amount of guacamole, or occasionally add a small closed handful of nuts or seeds. This is usually in addition to the fats you cook in, since those often are left behind in the pan and aren't consumed. Then, if you want some fruit, have a fist-sized serving. Or use berries to go in a salad, or have some sauteed apples or unsweetened apple sauce over a pork chop, or chopped pineapple in a stir fry. The point is, fruit is a bonus, not the focus of your meals.

As for the vodka, you do get to decide whether or not to start over. Here's the article we usually direct people to that talks about whether you should or not.

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19 hours ago, ShannonM816 said:

I wouldn't worry so much about whether you have two servings of fruit a day, or three -- what I would focus on is getting enough protein and vegetables in and thinking of fruit as a garnish/extra, and making sure you're not choosing fruit over vegetables. Your meals look very small, you're eating very few vegetables, you're not listing added fat -- focus on fixing those things, and when you're doing that, have fruit with meals whenever you want. I like fruit, but find that when I'm eating according to the meal template, I just don't want or need as much fruit. I'm not depriving myself of it or telling myself I can't have it -- I'm just having other foods so I don't want as much fruit. In the summer, I tend to have more, but even then it's important to focus on the vegetables first -- you get all the nutrients, without the sugars in fruit which can cause people to have blood sugar spikes and crashes, and which can leave people craving more sweet things.

When you have eggs as your only protein, have as many whole eggs as you can hold in your hand, which is likely 3-4. If you don't want that many eggs, have some other protein to make up the difference (bacon is more a fat source than a protein).

When you're thinking about your meals, picture a big dinner plate. Put 1-2 palm-sized portions of protein, or your 3-4 eggs, on the plate, it'll probably take up 1/4 to 1/3 of the plate. Fill the rest of the plate with vegetables -- one cup is not filling the plate with vegetables, it's like a bare minimum to say you've had some vegetables. And try to have a variety of vegetables -- not necessarily a lot of different ones in one meal, but the whole "eat the rainbow" advice is good -- have green vegetables, and some orange ones, and some purple ones, and whatever other ones you can find. Then add some fat -- 1-2 thumb-sized portions of oil or mayo or other fat-based sauce, or 1/2 to a whole avocado or the equivalent amount of guacamole, or occasionally add a small closed handful of nuts or seeds. This is usually in addition to the fats you cook in, since those often are left behind in the pan and aren't consumed. Then, if you want some fruit, have a fist-sized serving. Or use berries to go in a salad, or have some sauteed apples or unsweetened apple sauce over a pork chop, or chopped pineapple in a stir fry. The point is, fruit is a bonus, not the focus of your meals.

As for the vodka, you do get to decide whether or not to start over. Here's the article we usually direct people to that talks about whether you should or not.

Thanks @ShannonM816 (KC by any chance?).  Most of the meals I listed are leftover (chicken had beets & artichokes); chili has mushrooms & potatoes.  Very good info.  Appreciate your help.

Aimee

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Yesterday was a terrible day at work (more terrible for my patient than for me, but pretty bad for me all the same). I floated to the Burn ICU and had a really sick patient... didn't get to steal a tiny break until 2:30pm when I gobbled down some of my chicken veggie stew with roast baby new potatoes and green beans for 10-15 minutes. I didn't even want to cut my avocado because there was so much resistant bacteria where I was working and eating *anything* requiring using my hands (though clearly I did wash them) and putting the food down on a surface (where people also put their nasty shoes -- I don't know how the normal staff in that unit functions without a table to use for their breaks) was completely out the window, so I didn't have an added fat. Then when I went back to my patient's room, there were so many bedside procedures and he was so unstable that at change of shift he had a cardiac arrest... so my mini-meal without fat was the only thing I ate all day until I got home after 9pm. When I did get home I stripped down and showered to get the germs off (gross), and ate what I'd brought with me for the other half of the meal I did manage to eat as well as the second meal I'd intended to eat. By the time I finished it was almost 10pm but I'd been starving. I drank some tea and a can of flavored seltzer and tried to stay up for a bit to digest, but by 10:45pm I was nodding off, so I went to sleep. Woke up thirsty at 2:30am and had to pee, just had some water, but otherwise slept through aside from needing to pee one other time.

I'm off today and back to a normal eating schedule. Had chicken veggie stew with string beans and steamed broccoli/cauliflower/carrot medley with 3/4 an avocado for my first meal, and planning to have the last of my salmon pucks (still makes me laugh), an almond crusted tilapia filet with mayo, and curried cauliflower rice for lunch, and not sure yet what's for dinner. I'm planning to stop by Trader Joe's and HMart (local Asian grocery) - want to stock up on some more frozen and some fresh veggies and beautiful fishes. I'd love to have pan seared salmon with my dinner, and I'm getting a little tired of the two types of freezer-pack veggies I've been relying on, so maybe I can find a nice alternative at the two stores I'll stop in.

I'm also planning to attend a peaceful demonstration at the local court house today - it will be attended by many religious organizations including mine, and several local lawmakers and public servants. It's going to be held at a statue of Martin Luther King, Jr. in response to swastikas and hateful language that was spray-painted on public and private property in our county. I'm a little nervous to attend but excited also to show my support in solidarity that racial intolerance won't be tolerated.

Then I'm working tomorrow at my second job, so I'm going to plan for an early breakfast at home, and will pack the last salmon puck and tilapia filet with a container of mayo, a grapefruit cut up, and some coconut curry cauliflower, and hopefully some of the seared salmon I'm planning to make tonight with asparagus or some squash or whatever delicious veggie I find. Then off Thursday when I plan to do a big cookup. Actually really looking forward to it!

Today is what day? 16 I think. I'm feeling such a difference in my body and my mind. I was originally thinking I might not do a full w30 and stop around day 26 or 27 to enjoy the holidays (I'm working 12/23, 12/24 and 12/25) when all of my coworkers and I bring in a beautiful potluck luncheon for both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, but I think now that I'm feeling so good I'd rather just pack my normal meals and also bring a compliant pot-luck entrée or two, and not partake other than what I bring. Maybe I'll bring an egg bake (Lord knows I have enough eggs) with sautéed rosemary potatoes and sausage bits for breakfast (someone usually brings in bagels and cream cheese) and a roast chicken for lunch. I'm leaving the country on January 2 and will be gone for the majority of the month of January (come home from Iceland on the 7th, work the 8th, 9th and 10th, then leave for New Zealand and Australia on the 11th, not to return again until the 29th) during which I know I won't be compliant but will try to make good decisions. When I get back home late in January, I plan to do another Whole 30 to recover from all of the traveling and to get me feeling better again, and then work from there to see where I want my eating to be... but there's plenty of time to think about all of that!

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@nomorecrucnchcravings Thanks for standing up for the right thing.  Goon on 'ya.  Totally jealous of your travels.  I am amazed at how much you work so glad you will be getting what looks like is a fabulous vacation.

I have started to ruminate about Christmas as well.  I am in charge of b'fast & lunch for the family so I think I may make the traditional Christmas casserole with cheese & bread & then another one for me with veggies & compliant sausage. For Christmas Eve, my mom is cooking & she knows the program so I feel pretty good about what will be served there.  

Missing cheese & tortilla chips.

I have also been reflecting on how I feed my children & am dismayed.  I make them sandwiches for lunch or they take Ramen.  There is always a piece of fruit but I am sure they toss it.  For breakfast, we do smoothies & then they eat cereal or sometimes I cook eggs & a hash brown.  It's just all gross crud that won't go in my body.  After 15 days of this, I am pretty convinced that grains are not coming back in my life (or at least very little).  And not to mention the sugar fiends they are.  Ugh

B'fast - Leftover chili

Lunch: salad with chicken, onions & caulifolower

Dinner:  Leftover chicken& veggies from last night or chili

Cheers!

 

 

 

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Hi - I started on Nov 27 with the book and am just now joining the forum.  My husband is doing this with me.  This is our first Whole30.  I am joining in the forum b/c I'm having a lot of anxiety that I will not lose weight on this and then I will give up when it's done b/c of the extra work involved.  I am *feeling* a lot better, and I want that to continue.  I don't find this way of eating difficult (it's not that different from how I've eaten before), it just takes more time due to finding foods that meet the guidelines.

 I'll write more later.

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I'm in my 40's.  I've been heavy, but fairly active, my whole life.  My highest non-pregnant weight was 250 pounds.  I was never a "dieter".  About 5 years ago I got sick - it turned out to be my gallbladder. In the process of that, I lost the first 50 pounds b/c I couldn't eat very much at all.  After the surgery, I was able to maintain that weight without really thinking about it, for about a year.  I then began running and then biking, so that I could finally realize my life goal (since I was 17) of being a triathlete.  I lost another 30+ pounds in the process.  I was able to make it through a Half-Ironman.  But as my distances got longer, my weight started to go up.  I got to the start line of my half-Iron 8 pounds heavier than I had maintained for some time, and from there the weight has not stopped increasing.  My body fat (measured in a Bod Pod, which measures volume) increased dramatically during the half-Iron training, too.  I ended up at the endrocrinologist's, but all he told me to do was "eat less".  I had already been eating at what should have been a deficit (at times 1,000 calories/day or more) for me based on all calculations, including various ones like the Bod Pod machine.  Whenever I lowered the calorie limit, I would lose a little, then even out, then begin gaining again on that lower number.  I never stopped meticulously logging what I ate, until I intentionally forced myself to stop last spring b/c it clearly wasn't working.  I intended to take a break, just eat, and then start again.  

So here I am now.  I can't run anymore b/c of constant injury and inflammation. My increasing weight is not helping.  I suspect a lot of my issues are related to sugars.  

I was not initially excited about dropping entire food groups.  But after mulling it over, I really needed the "reset" that was mentioned in the book.  My goal is to get back to running, and another half-Iron.  I don't know if I could ever do a full Ironman b/c running is the difficult (read: slow) part for me.

My husband is not an athlete, but he has finally been on board with 2-3 X/week workouts at the gym for over two years now.  He doesn't love them, but he goes for his health.  He wasn't on board with my eating until now.  In fact, he was the opposite of supportive in the past.  But now he wants to lose weight (that he gained despite working out).  He is following the plan in a text-book fashion.  He dreamed of eating large quantities of appetizers the other night, right on schedule.  He likes how he feels a lot.  He had been looking forward to getting back to his previous eating, but in the last few days is starting to rethink that.  He likes how he feels now.  And his pants are getting loose.

I love the way I feel eating this way - it takes me back to when I was at my lowest weight and just beginning to train for my distance races.  My pants still fit the same, so I don't think I've lost any weight.  I felt better right away - like on the first day.  My stomach has not growled once.  I even tried to get it to growl one day.  I ate about ten cashews at bedtime, then a late breakfast (eggs, mushrooms, sweet potato, 1/2 grapefruit = under 400 calories, so not a lot of food).  Then I didn't eat until 7pm.  It still had not growled.  

Losing weight is key for me.  Until I can get the weight back off, I can't run - or even walk long distances.  

I'm currently building for a 4 hour-ish swim at the end of the month. 

We have three teen kids we are also feeding.  One of them is also a swimmer, and in the middle of high-school swim season.  He has 2-3 hour swims every day, and weight training 3 X/week.  He needs to eat a lot, so we are juggling feeding the kids enough.  We are also set on eating as much together (or the same) as we can.  For dinner, we are usually adding in things for the kids, but otherwise they are eating what we are.  

Starting at this point in the program, I'm working on cutting out the snacking.  Today, with no snacks, I had:

Breakfast:  eggs, sweet potatoes reheated in ghee, grapefruit

Lunch: Korean beef over cauliflower rice (in olive oil), cucumbers and peppers, banana (I had to add that one unplanned; I knew I needed it)

Dinner: compliant sausage link, cabbage with onion and apple bits, potato salad with mayo and olives

 

I did log my food this past week (and likely will continue to do so at least another week) b/c I know I will have questions later in regards to my workouts. 

 

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I can't believe how quickly these thirty days are going by... and how fast my mayo seems to get eaten. It's good on EVERYTHING!

I've been noticing that I'm not as hungry a lot of the time (don't get me wrong, I still get super hungry sometimes) and often really can go 4-6 hours between meals. That's exceptionally good because of the long work days I put in. Now if I could only wake up a tiny bit earlier so that eating breakfast when I wake up doesn't feel so nauseating to me, then when I do have to wait until 12/1/2/3/4pm for break it won't be the first thing I've eaten all day.

On ‎12‎/‎13‎/‎2016 at 1:47 PM, BornToBeHappy said:

@nomorecrucnchcravings Thanks for standing up for the right thing.  Goon on 'ya.  Totally jealous of your travels.  I am amazed at how much you work so glad you will be getting what looks like is a fabulous vacation.

Thank you-- it was a wonderful rally and was well-attended by many local community members, local lawmakers and elected officials, religious leaders and their congregants, and leadership from social organizations in the county.

I'm so excited for my travels, too, but also a little nervous about the eating. This isn't my first rodeo with the Whole 30, but it's the first time I really think I could have continued for, like, a Whole 90 or something. I really truly think that for me personally to make long-term changes to my behavior, it takes about three months of living that change, not just thirty days. Anyway, I know I'll be making the best decisions I can make while I'm abroad. And while I'll be done with my w30 by then, I know I don't have to be razor straight when eating. But I'd like to be as close as I can. I'm thinking that it's going to be fairly easy when in New Zealand and Australia but am nervous about Iceland, where all the travel blogs I've read so far advise travelers to eat hot dogs from the multitudes of street vendors. And the fermented fish that they're known for. Ugh. Anyway, Iceland will be a short trip, and I'm going with my husband, so I might distribute RX bars throughout both of our checked luggage, and look for a market local to the hotel where I can get some olives and fresh fruits/veggies to eat while touring, rather than needing to stop in restaurants or at food vendors for each meal. New Zealand and Australia I'll be with a girlfriend, and on a cruise ship for part of it, and I'm going to try as best as I can to pack lightly so that I can carry along some RX bars. We will see.

As far as this week, I had quite a shift at my second job yesterday. I met a person who told me she was the CEO to 21 different companies, someone who told me to hurry up with my questions because did I know that she was the liaison to the National Bank of Africa, someone who I had to ask to strip so that I could check every bit of hair on their body for an insect infestation when one of the nursing staff thought they saw bugs crawling around in their personal belongings, one man who told me he was playing 52 character roles in a one man show in NYC, and another one who told me that he had a performance scheduled for the NYC subway system and there was going to be a recruiter there to give him his big break into the Royal Theater of London so why were we holding him hostage and ruining his chances at stardom. But then again, my second job is in a mental health hospital. I was super prepared with plenty to eat and actually had the time to eat it, so that turned out great.

Today I cooked what I thought was going to be little hamburgers, but I forgot how much they'd shrink and so they turned into oddly shaped small meatballs instead. But I packaged them up three to a baggie and froze them to have on hand for easy grabbing. I've got half a pound of salmon seared in the fridge leftover from what I made on Tuesday, and I've got a nice Chilean sea bass steak seared in the fridge as well. I had salad greens, green beans, and sautéed zucchinis with a large hunk of salmon, topped with mayo for breakfast this morning. I had two little burger patties, two mini cucumbers dipped in mayo, and a grapefruit for lunch (not a huge portion so may need a mini meal later). I'm planning to make potato egg salad with a bunch of baked Yukon gold and red skin potatoes that I made the other day, along with some hard boiled eggs, chopped red onion and celery, fresh parsley and dill, and mayo. I made it last week and it was SO good. Who knows what else I'll make today - I'm working Friday through Sunday and have evening plans every night (Sunday's include driving to Long Island for an overnight with my best friend to help her pack to move apartments) and am not looking forward to being out late from home, realizing that I will need to have dinner out as well so I'll want to bring my own. Also realize that I won't have as much time to prep for my work days because of it so I want to make sure I've got everything prepped and ready for 4 full days (12 meals plus maybe mini-meals if I need them) because we're not going to feel like cooking Monday while packing on Long Island.

Phew! I'm tired just thinking about it all! Now off to the bank so that I can come home and get to prepping!

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I *almost* ate the cheese doodles at work out of habit - we were all sitting at the table together, my coworkers and I, and I was eating my compliant chicken stew with veggies, and there was a big old bag of the fake orange crunchies sitting right there in front of me and I reached out to grab a bunch as I normally would , and with my hand still outstretched, remembered what I was doing and why. Sheesh. Close call, that one was.

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Today I was at a really nice grocery store.  They had the most amazing scones I'd ever seen, and cinnamon rolls that looked heavenly.  I've only sped past the bakery before b/c even in my worst eating times, I don't consume many baked goods.  But one of my kids was with me and he wanted to try all the samples they had out.  It was the first time I have been sad that I will miss out on some of the special holiday offerings.  Fortunately the cinnamon rolls said "our signature (something)", so maybe they carry those at other times.  But the scones really were temporary.

 

Yesterday my alarm went off at 4:45 so I could get both me and one of my kids to the swimming pool.  I stayed and swam for three hours.  

 

Yesterday's food:

 

Pre-swim: 2 eggs on the way out the door

During swim: 4 pickles and 1/2 c pickle juice, 1 banana

Post swim: 2 eggs, Lara bar

Meal 1:  Italian sausage link, cabbage, potato salad with green olives (=leftovers from the night before)

Meal 2: chicken, spinach, walnut, pomegranate salad and another banana b/c I knew the salad wasn't enough

Meal 3: jicama, peppers and guacamole while preparing dinner, then a beef/pork patty, green beans, cauliflower rice (both veggie sides sauteed in olive oil)

 

 

Today's food:

Meal 1: eggs, sweet potato in ghee, grapefruit

Meal 2: salmon with the cauliflower rice and green beans from last night

Meal 3: sausage link, cabbage, potato salad leftovers (again, but we like them)

snack was a pecan/sunflower/pumpkin seed mix that I spiced and toasted up, and an apple my son shared with me.  I wasn't supposed to be snacking anymore, but I felt hungry.  The "bird food" helped my house smell better after the cauliflower stink that's been hanging around.

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Yesterday was hard.  I had to go to bed hours earlier than normal b/c I wanted to eat.  I don't know if I've ever done that before.  I'm feeling better today, but I don't trust myself to not eat treats until they are gone when I'm done.

 

Today I had a (short, single) hunger pang for the first time during this program, and the first time in longer than I can remember.  We were grocery shopping at Trader Joe's and knew it would be a while before we would be home and have something ready to eat, so I found two kinds of RX bars.  We bought one of each and split them.

 

Meal 1: spaghetti squash and eggs, 1/2 grapefruit

Snack: RX bar

Meal 2: spinach, chicken, pomegranate, walnut salad

Meal 3: salmon patties (from the book) with tartar sauce, broccoli and mushroom sauté, apple 

 

Tomorrow we have a trip into the city to be tourists and look at the holiday decorations.  We have lunch (including the salmon patties I cooked tonight) and a snack packed for the two of us, but will get the kids things to eat while we are there. No treats of any kind for us. :( 

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I've had a busy few days. I worked Friday 12.5 hours, then went out for a reunion type of dinner with some friends I hadn't seen in three or four years. We met at a local Italian restaurant. I ordered a green salad and asked for olive oil and vinegar on the side, and a side order of grilled octopus. When I asked the waiter questions about the preparation of the food, I made sure to tell him that I have a sensitivity to dairy, and that I was avoiding sugar and any breads/grains, so I asked them to hold the croutons and cheese from the salad, and instead add olives, which they did. I also asked if they could just prepare the octopus with oil, garlic, lemon and salt/pepper and skip any butter, wine or other seasonings, and it was served with white beans and a fennel salad dressed simply with fresh orange segments and olive oil. I asked them also to hold the white beans. The waiter kind of scoffed at me when I asked them to hold the wine if there was any in the sauce. I told him I didn't use any alcohol. He smugly stated that it all burns off during cooking, but I said that regardless, I still don't want any in my food.

When I got the plates I dug in, dressed my salad with the olive oil, cut up and tossed my octopus into the salad greens, and initially was really excited about my meal. But then I realized that the fennel salad tasted too sweet just to be the natural veggies and juice from the orange, so I put it on the side and didn't eat it thinking there might have been sugar on it, and then I found a few beans under a big piece of octopus that I saved to cut up until the end of the meal, so since the plate had beans, I had to assume that it also had butter and wine in the preparation. It was only after I'd already eaten well more than half of the meal though that I realized this. What could I do though, I just stopped eating it and instead drank water and asked for hot water with lemon when everyone else was having coffee.

I didn't feel sick or anything that night, but I did notice a big increase in nasal congestion (probably from dairy, as I'd suspected I'd eaten some). And then in the morning had a bad belly ache.

Then I worked Saturday (yesterday) another 12.5 hour shift and went to a coworker's birthday party at her house. The family is Jamaican and had a huge feast of delicious looking Jamaican foods that they'd had catered. I asked the caterer about the foods/additives I was avoiding and he pointed me to the curried goat, the oxtail, and the roast pork, and then to the big green salad and fruit salad. I thought I was in heaven! So I took a big plate of oxtail, goat and pork, and piled high with salad and some fruits. Then I danced my face off!

But this morning, at which I'm working another 12.5 hour shift, I got a belly ache again, accompanied by a bit of a burning tush in the bathroom. Sigh. That curry was hot. I don't think the food was necessarily noncompliant to the Whole 30, but it sure was spicy and oily. Today's and tomorrow's diet should be back to normal. This morning I had egg scramble with red onions and green pepper over salad greens, with black olives and a sprinkle of slivered almonds, dressed with olive oil. Lunch is two Aidell's with sautéed Chinese broccoli tips (cooked in coconut and sesame oils and salted with kosher salt), mayo to dip, and a cut up grapefruit. Dinner is going to be at my best friend's house on Long Island as I've got to drive there after work tonight to help her pack to move this week. I brought with me sautéed zucchini and salmon, with mayo. And for breakfast tomorrow I packed along salad greens with more egg scramble with red onions and peppers, the rest of the can of olives, and the slivered olives, and some good olive oil in a tiny mason jar. I don't think I packed lunch, but I'm pretty sure I can manage something compliant. Maybe we'll go to Chipotle!

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My stomach feels a lot better after a full 24 hours of not having eaten anything from a restaurant. The last two times I did Whole 30 I didn't notice anything much while doing reintroductions, but these possible restaurant mishaps makes me think that maybe I really do have sensitivity to dairy. I'll have to reexamine that more closely in the future.

My best friend and I were quite busy getting her new apartment in order before the movers come, and I taught her how to do a few simple tasks around the home (change out toilet flusher, change out shower head to a nice one with a spray hose, install closet shelving, mount 1x4's for supports and mount a closet rod, etc.). For dinner Sunday night I tried eating the zucchini and salmon that I'd brought, but I was grossed out by it for some reason, so it all went into the trash (<_<). In the morning I had a grapefruit with one and a half Aidell's dipped in mayo, some greens and a hunk of Chilean sea bass that I'd seared in coconut and olive oils. I brought lunch along with me expecting to have a busy day running errands and doing work at her new place (which we did) which was egg scramble with red onions and green peppers over top salad greens with slivered almonds, black olives, and drizzled with good olive oil. I'm so glad I brought a lot because we shared it, then stopped at the grocery store on the way back to her current apartment, and I was starving so I opened up the jar of pickles right in the produce section and ate some while I picked out plantains, bananas, avocados and some fresh coconut pre-husked/cut up in a container (I wish my local store carried that!). I ate a banana in the car along with some coconut, and headed back to her current apartment where I ate the rest of the salad greens and abovementioned egg scramble, and another grapefruit. Then about 9:30pm I left Long Island to drive home and made it amazingly in under an hour.

Today I started off with a few pickles, three eggs fried in coconut oil, and some sautéed Chinese broccoli tips, all dipped in mayo. I made plans to eat out dinner tonight with two girlfriends, one of whom has done a Whole 30 previously, so she's familiar with exactly what I need to be eating, but I'm not too excited to go out for food knowing what happened last week when I ate out at a restaurant. They're all flexible with where we go, so if nothing else works, I may just suggest a sushi place and order sashimi. If that's the case, I'll make a spicy sesame aioli out of my mayo and bring along a container to dip, and maybe try out my coconut aminos that I'd bought but have not yet opened.

How is everyone else doing? I can't believe how close we are to nearing the end of the month.

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We made it through our trip into the big city forgoing all Christmas treats.  We took along lunch (salmon patties, guacamole, jicama) and a light-weight, temperature stable snack/light meal (celery, almond butter, apple) in case we ended up being there too long - which we needed.

 

We stopped in to buy cheese for gifts.  They had samples out and my husband reached for one.  About 3" from touching the toothpick, I asked him what he was doing.  He laughed later that he was glad I was there to stop him.  He had completely forgotten.  

 

So far, not a morsel has passed my lips.  My husband took the Communion wafer (an oyster cracker) at church about a week in to the plan (we do Communion monthly).  When the trays got passed around, he wispered to ask me if we were going to take it and I said we wouldn't swallow it (we could take the grape juice that was passed). He says he asked a completely different question to which I indicated that yes we would take it.  So he blames me for his Whole30 failure, and says he will put in a good word for me in Heaven.  I'm making light of it as our whole family has laughed a couple times about it, but we do take Communion seriously and I mention the story to share something that came up unexpectedly that we had to deal with in the moment without having a predetermined plan or ability to discuss it.

 

We are planning to do a slow reintroduction and stay on the Whole30-ish plan for a few more months at least.  However, we would like to add cheese to our salads.  I think sugars have been my issue (and he thinks for him, too), so we won't drink milk.  We will do the reintroduction out of the suggested order in the book b/c we are taking a last-minute overnight trip to a German town.  It will be the last weekend it is still decorated for the holidays.  The hotel we are staying at has a fabulous brunch with which we can do mostly Whole30, but add some cheese into the made-to-order omelets.  We will do sugar on the first day (so we can add it into cured meats, German suasages, and spaghetti sauce and dressings, for example), then cheese, then gluten.  We will do the two days of Whole30 in between each item.  The gluten will be reintroduced at the buffet so we can have a German pastry.  But the plan is to go back to Whole30ish after that and just reintroduce things as we want to eat them (the slow method).

 

Just in the last few days more of my body is feeling like it has lost "weight".  I can't tell if my pants are fitting any differently, though.  My swim coach thought I have trimmed down, and can see it especially in my face.  I can't go above zone 1 or 2 in my workouts and my paces are significantly slowed in everything.  I completely crashed at the gym the other day when I went in for the weight room (I had swam for an hour earlier that morning).  Several people in there said they were laughing at my comments because they have never heard me like that before.  I usually take the more difficult option, and they said they finally felt like I was "normal" with some amount of whining and complaining that it was "too much".  But I also have a cold, so that's been draining my energy.

 

My husband is a foodie.  He has been sending text pictures of our dinners almost every evening to his brother.  Last night he said "you are killing me" because our plates always look so good.  My brother in law lives by himself, far from family, and has been trying to do Weight Watchers, but he's not feeling as good as my husband is.  I wish he could join us and share some of our food.  I know he would love it.

 

 

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I forgot to say that yesterday we had:

eggs, sweet potato, papaya

korean beef on cauliflower rice with cucumbers and peppers

Moraccan spiced pork loin chops, roasted potatoes, spinach/mushroom/sunflower seed salad

 

I only had a few bites of potato at dinner because I had already had sweet potatoes that morning and I was feeling full for some reason.  I think I ate too much of the spinach salad, because I also only ate a few ounces of the pork.  But it was all good and I'm looking forward to the leftovers for lunch today.

 

Tonight we have a pork and pepper chili that we made last night so it could develop its flavor.  The original recipe called for white beans, which we changed to tiny cubes of golden (white) sweet potato to give a somewhat similar texture and color.  That was the only change we had to make to the recipe to have it Whole30.  The kids will have it over rice with sour cream and cheese - like a "naked burrito".  I need to make up more mint tea and get it cold so it's ready for tonight.  That seems to help with the spiciness since we can't do any dairy.

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1 hour ago, Kathleenkp said:

We stopped in to buy cheese for gifts.  They had samples out and my husband reached for one.  About 3" from touching the toothpick, I asked him what he was doing.  He laughed later that he was glad I was there to stop him.  He had completely forgotten.  

I've done this before and it's a doozy-- good thing he had you around for support and reinforcement!!

So far, not a morsel has passed my lips.  My husband took the Communion wafer (an oyster cracker) at church about a week in to the plan (we do Communion monthly).  When the trays got passed around, he wispered to ask me if we were going to take it and I said we wouldn't swallow it (we could take the grape juice that was passed). He says he asked a completely different question to which I indicated that yes we would take it.  So he blames me for his Whole30 failure, and says he will put in a good word for me in Heaven.  I'm making light of it as our whole family has laughed a couple times about it, but we do take Communion seriously and I mention the story to share something that came up unexpectedly that we had to deal with in the moment without having a predetermined plan or ability to discuss it.

This is hilarious - I know it's just my opinion, but I think God doesn't really care what we put across our lips as long as we live good, honest, hard working lives and try to do the best for ourselves, for others, and for our planet as much as is possible. I'm Jewish and when I'm doing Whole 30 and attend religious services, I skip my Sabbath wine (or grape juice) and challah as well. I'm sure God doesn't mind. :D It is a good story though, and it really does help to illustrate just how easily we can be off-roaded when something surprises us without having a predefined plan. Good on you for making it through!

 

1 hour ago, Kathleenkp said:

I still don't trust myself with chocolate and cookies, though.  I'm not sure how I will handle that later.  I am hoping that if we stay mostly Whole30, I will find it too sweet to eat very much of it.  But I have doubts that will be the case.

Me neither-- my sugar cravings are the main reason I started doing the Whole 30 in the first place. It's definitely my downfall and what tends to bring me so far off plan that it's hard to come back without doing another full on 30 days.

You're doing great and you've got some great plans in the works. Yay! 

 

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Day 25 almost in the bag. I had a massage today, which felt awesome. Would have been an awesome reward for completing the Whole 30 and all of my NSVs, except I did it today instead. :D

After the massage, stopped by an organic market and stocked up on some stuff not available in the stores near my house. I got many packages of compliant chicken sausages in flavors other than Aidells chicken and apple, even though I love that particular kind, but it'll be good to have a different type to switch things up. Also got a full compliant rotisserie chicken and a compliant half rotisserie chicken in another flavor. It was so exciting to see the rotisserie chickens be compliant (and organic, hormone and antibiotic free, etc!) as the ones where I usually shop are FAR from compliant and I didn't have the time to roast chicken today or for the next week or so. Score!

Two days ago I'd made cod with onions and peppers to be eaten with a baked potato and half an avocado (had half for dinner at work last night) and stew made from carrots, onions, celery and venison. I'm excited to try it - the first time I'm using venison in the crock pot (we usually BBQ it at my father-in-law's house in upstate NY and it's delicious that way!).

Tonight I'm going to make some sautéed Brussels sprouts and cook a beef steak I've been marinating in olive oil with paprika, garlic and onion powders, and salt/pepper. I think I'll do the steak on the grill pan on the stovetop - haven't used that thing in awhile. I'm also going to boil some plantains. I'd bought them the other day and I don't want them turning yellow (and sweet) as I want to eat them more like a potato... they were 4/$1 and one was a conjoined twin plantain, so I got a bonus one! :lol:

My husband left for a trip upstate to visit with his dad for the Christmas holiday, and I'll be working 7am-7:30pm on 12/23, 12/24, and 12/25, then again on 12/27, 12/28, and 12/29. Only will have off Monday 12/26 to rest, and don't want to shop or prep, so I'm going to try to get some of that done tonight. At work we're having a Christmas luncheon on Sunday. I signed up to make a breakfast bake - going to make rosemary roasted potatoes, add sautéed chopped chicken sausage, green peppers and onions, then top with scrambled eggs, and also towards lunch I'm bringing a vegetable plate with some dips. I'm going to make a nice garlic aioli and I think some hummus (not Whole 30 compliant, but easy and quick) and maybe guacamole if I have time.

Does everyone have a plan for the holidays?

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On 12/8/2016 at 7:54 PM, NoMoreCrunchyCravings said:

I can't really eat while I work - I'm a nurse in a hospital and work in the trauma intensive care unit. We really aren't allowed to be eating in patient care areas, including our desks, which are actually just a little laptop computer on wheels which sits in front of the patient's room. The donuts were on the counter behind me. Every time someone opened the box, the smell flew into my nostrils to tempt me. If I had chosen to eat a donut, I'd be eating something I don't choose to be eating right now, with my fingers, in a patient care area, which isn't allowed but is often overlooked because "it's just a donut" or "it's just a cookie" or whatever the goodie might be that someone brought in to share. So I can't really eat while I'm working. But then there's the issue of breaks.

This unpredictability is something I've dealt with the entire time I've been a nurse. I know it's not the best setup, but it's my reality at work.

 

I think this is a difficult concept to grasp, for anyone who hasn't been in a busy ICU setting. Sure, there are rules about how many hours you can work between breaks but when there isn't a qualified person available to relieve you, you simply don't get a break. Many times, I've snacked on stale graham crackers and stewed coffee, standing outside a patient's room, while knowing that I had a healthy entree and a salad in the fridge. Somehow, it's socially acceptable to inhale junk in the non-food areas of the hospital but not a decent meal.

I admire all of those who are sticking to their plan, despite the challenges of working in a hospital. I work from home now, so I have it much easier than other nurses.

Jill

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@Kathleenkp the official whole30 stance on communion is that if it's important to you, it's okay to take it. Some choose to, some choose not to, some attend churches where there's a gluten-free option and they opt for that (although there still could be off-plan ingredients) -- basically, whole30 isn't going to come between you and God, so you do what you feel is best according to your faith.

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24 minutes ago, ShannonM816 said:

@Kathleenkp basically, whole30 isn't going to come between you and God

Yes, and I think to some degree it can even bring us closer to God as we are really paying attention to the quality, quantity and composition of the foods we are putting into our Earthly Vessels made in God's image. Being so mindful of what we eat, how we eat it, and the ways in which we obtained it (organic, humane animal farms, lower-impact on the environment farms, etc.) are so important to bettering ourselves, it can sometimes seem like our bodies feel more pure and closer to how our essential selves should be. But perhaps this is another discussion for a different venue. :)

 

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4 hours ago, Silver Penguin said:

I think this is a difficult concept to grasp, for anyone who hasn't been in a busy ICU setting. Sure, there are rules about how many hours you can work between breaks but when there isn't a qualified person available to relieve you, you simply don't get a break. Many times, I've snacked on stale graham crackers and stewed coffee, standing outside a patient's room, while knowing that I had a healthy entree and a salad in the fridge. Somehow, it's socially acceptable to inhale junk in the non-food areas of the hospital but not a decent meal.

I admire all of those who are sticking to their plan, despite the challenges of working in a hospital. I work from home now, so I have it much easier than other nurses.

Jill

Totally this. Yes, Jill. People really have no idea and can't even imagine what it's like to work in that setting unless they've experienced it for themselves either by working in a related field or by having a family member/friend unfortunately requiring care in a setting like that. More, too, than just being socially acceptable to eat that way of inhaling junk, sometimes it's just not physically possible to inhale anything at all. Like, today, I had to send for, receive, check and then transfuse 9 units of various blood products, draw labs three times, assist with a central venous catheter placement, titrate pressors, give lots of IV fluid boluses, titrate analgesia and sedation, keep my patient stable/not crashing/not bleeding out while he was in hemorrhagic shock, etc., etc., etc. All while precepting a new nurse on the unit. And all while being the charge RN on the unit and handling staffing issues, admissions/discharges/transfers into and out of the unit, angry family members, and my own patient's loved one who, thanks to a wonderful chaplain, was just over the edge of not having a psychological breakdown over how close to death his father was. As such, I did not drink anything until 2pm. I realized this because I didn't have to pee until 4pm, when I got done with bringing my patient to the OR for further stabilization of bleeding vessels. I was fortunately able to eat a tiny mini-burger and red pepper strips around 10:30am, but only because I'd had the foresight to pack it in a ziptop baggie, and I ate it right out of the bag horse-feed style without having to get disgusting ICU germs on my food or in my mouth (this time). I ate a bit more after taking him to the OR at 4. And then again, on arriving home about 9pm.

It is unbelievably intense. And while it can be challenging to take care of ourselves during the workday, because of the work I am able to do to help others live, I wouldn't have it any other way. :wub:

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