Start January 7th

[Nicole72]

Well, I am a bit off track, I had to make an emergency trip to California to help my parents out and have to do some grocery shopping while I am here, so I will be starting over which is fine, but I am encouraged because my parents are willing to eat what I am so that makes it easier.  They are ok, but having some medical issues at the moment.  So wish me luck and I would like to continue chatting with everyone, hope you are all ok with that.  Have a good weekend.  

[ldrolling]

StaciaLee - Preschoolers are exhausting! Our kids are 8 & 5 and that's exhausting! I keep looking forward to the end of week two and the anticipated shift where things start getting easier energy wise. 

Meal ideas that we've liked... We love a steak seared with butter (ghee/clarified butter), salt, pepper, and garlic and some herbs. I like an Herbes de Provence mix that you should be able to find in the spice section. You can use it on so many savory things. It's great. We'll pair the steak with salad and maybe a potato or roasted sweet potatoes and it's an easy dinner that's really satisfying. You can make chicken in place of the steak, or a piece of fish too. I made pumpkin soup yesterday because we were having a group of friends over and I figured it was an easy way to feed a crowd in a way that was compliant and filling. I had some buns in the freezer that I pulled out and everyone else ate them while my husband and I just stuck to soup. In Haiti they make pumpkin soup with chunks of beef and pork, along with chunks of carrot, potatoes and any other root veggies you want to throw in. The pumpkin here is actually a squash, so you could do the same thing with a butternut or acorn squash. Use that herbs de provence seasoning and saute chunks of meat with onions and garlic, then add chicken broth and chunks of squash/pumpkin and let it cook down. It'll eventually just become broth, then add your chunky veggies... so yum. Soups in general are easy and you can eat them through the week or freeze some for a meal later on when you don't feel like cooking. I made a roast chicken the other night with salad and veggies and that was delish. I think I want to experiment with baked potatoes topped in different things like taco meat. For birthdays we typically do a special meal of the birthday persons choosing, and my daughter loves shrimp, so we're going to do garlic butter shrimp, and I think I'm going to make homemade chicken nuggets by doing an egg wash and then tossing them in arrowroot powder (in place of corn starch) and frying them in olive oil. I've used cornstarch in the past when making fried stuff and it adds a nice crunch coating, so we'll see. She loves salad, so we'll add that, probably with some black olives, thin red onions and maybe some sliced mangos (you could use peaches, nectarines or dried cranberries). I've mostly tried to stick to things I know we like, and adapt, and then try one or two new recipes each week to experiment. 

[ldrolling]

Nicole72 - good job being flexible with the circumstances, and being willing to start over because of it. I don't know if I could do that at this point  It's great that your parents are willing to support you and eat what works for you while you're cooking for them. Good luck and hang in there!

[StaciaLee]

Nicole, where in California are you? I live in Southern California. Doing good today and tomorrow my sister and her husband are starting so that will be good to have others joining me. I feel like I can't give up because of the support I have gotten and that includes both of you. Thank you for the menu ideas. I do really miss cheese though but I am still hanging on and giving this my all. Good night ladies, hope everyone had a great day!

[Nicole72]

I am in San Pedro until the end of the month.  Its a bit of a struggle with all that is going on right now.  I am trying to make good decisions, but the stress of what is going on is a lot.  Hope all had a good weekend.

[ldrolling]

Oh, the cheese! It wasn't bothering me until the last day or so. I keep thinking about it though. Not terribly, but it's there! Last night I made giant meatballs for supper, and they were yummy and satisfying. I mixed the ground beef with a couple of eggs, seasoning salt, salt, pepper, dried garlic and dried ground onion, as well as some fresh finely chopped onion. Baked them on their own for a bit until they were probably about half cooked, then poured on homemade tomato sauce and finished baking them for another 20 minutes or so. Served them with baked potatoes and salad. I hadn't eaten enough protein at lunch, so it was really good!

Nicole, stress is SO hard. Hopefully you'll be able to take a bit of time for yourself each day and breathe a bit and remember that food/diet wise what you're doing is good for you and will be actually helping in the long run, even if it feels overwhelming right now. Try to take baby steps, one meal at a time, and congratulate yourself when you get through that. It's also a great opportunity to see how your body typically responds to stress. I had a few moments last week that were stress spikes and it was interesting being more mindful of what I wanted to do in that moment. Did I feel the need to eat for comfort/stress relief? What did I gravitate toward? How did I feel when I didn't eat because it wasn't time, or when I made a healthy decision vs. the junk I thought I wanted? I found my stress eating impulse or cravings would last for about 15 minutes, and if I found myself something else to do I could move past it. Even going through the process of making a cup of tea helped. It was something to do and wait for, and drinking it was relaxing. One day at a time!

[StaciaLee]

How are you ladies doing? We made it to week two. I hope you both are still with me on this journey. So far, so good for me. Wanting to start trying some new recipes next week so I will start going through the cookbook more. My jeans are feeling looser and I am really happy about that. My left foot has been tingling and painful since July and I have had many blood test and even an MRI with no results as to the reason. I was hoping the whole 30 would also help relieve this issue as well as loosing weight. But so far the whole 30 has only made my foot pain worse. I am hoping that my body is still detoxing and it will get better soon. I have had many temptations over the last two weeks but it is getting easier to resist them, especially when I notice my pants are not as tight. I have had co-workers notice a difference also and have wanted to start the plan. Hope you ladies are doing well and I look forward to hearing from you. Nicole, hoping your stress is a little less and that you were able to stick with it all. 

[ldrolling]

I'm still here!!! I've been meaning to get on here for the past couple of days. I feel like the past few days have gotten so much easier in many ways. I had some cravings last week early on, but they went down over the week. Cooking has become more routine and less stressful in the planning sense. Food prep is much easier and faster too, which helps a lot. I carry a lot of weight around my middle and upper thighs, and in the past couple of days I've started to notice things, which has been funny and exciting. I was wondering what was going on because I had a bloat/flare up day earlier last week and then remembered that the stages had warned about it, so just rode it out. Then all of a sudden I was having to tighten all my bras up and shirts that were loose before felt like they were swimming. I tend to lose weight from the tops and bottoms toward the middle, so I see my ankles get thinner first, then it goes up my legs, and I see my shoulders and face start to look different, then around my bust, then finally around my stomach/abdomen. I haven't noticed a change around my waist yet, but my family has commented on the fact that they can tell I've lost weight. When I had the bloat/flare up I got my back pain back for the night, and it was such a good push to keep going because I'd been feeling so good, so I worked with it. I've been feeling good and am excited to see what the next two weeks bring!

[StaciaLee]

I am so happy to hear that you are still going strong and seeing such positive results. I honestly never thought I would last one week let alone two and starting number three. We were out shopping yesterday and were too far from home to stop for lunch so we went out and I got a lettuce wrapped burger with water and did not eat one single fry. I was very proud of myself!!! Made sloppy joes for dinner last night and made mine with ground turkey over a baked potato. Not too bad, but not my favorite. Let's keep up the great work and hopefully the next two weeks fly by. Talk with ya soon. 

[ldrolling]

Good job!! That's so great. It feels really good to be making choices like that, and I think in the end realize that it wasn't as big of a deal as we might have initially thought it would be. I put on a pair of shorts today (we're in Haiti, so shorts year round) that were still fitting like usual a few days ago, and they were a bit loose today, so that was a nice way to start my day.

[StaciaLee]

Put on a pair of pants today for church and they just slide right on. Last time I wore them I still needed to pull and tug a bit on the legs and the waist was still tight. Love that feeling this morning. Since my husband quit the first week, my family has gone out to eat several times including today where I had to resist the food. Today I brought my own turkey wrap on romaine lettuce but it is so irritating. I just need to remember the good feeling I had when I put on my pants this morning to stay motivated to not only finish but continue with this journey. Hope things are still going well for you, hope to hear from you soon. 

[ldrolling]

That's exciting! I've definitely noticed a difference in the way some of my clothes are fitting. Our family has been fighting a stupid cold/cough for the whole month. It comes, then goes away, then comes back. I had it when we started at the beginning of the month and stuck it out with not taking the cough medicine we have because it has high fructose corn syrup. This past week the cough came back around and Saturday night I just couldn't do it. I checked out all our meds to see the ingredients and there was something in all of them, so I tried to hold off, but it got so bad I finally had to take something, so I went for the cough syrup. Yeah, yesterday I felt terrible. I was sluggish all day, cranky, my face felt puffy, feeling depressed. It was bad. All from some cough syrup. Last night I took something in pill form that only had corn starch in it and totally different. I guess this is like early reintroduction with sugar for me. It was really eye opening. Unfortunately we don't have anywhere to go buy different medicine, so this summer when we're home on our vacation I'll be getting some different stuff. 

Eating out is hard. I've been able to avoid it, but have had to eat away from home a few times. I go to a weekly Bible study that happens from 4-7pm, so I've been taking my supper with me rather than waiting until I come home so I don't get over hungry, and that's worked really well. I had to go to the capital a couple weeks ago to do a bunch of shopping, and there are NO options that would be compliant so I packed food in a cooler bag and was really proud of myself for that. The local restaurants we have here have very few things that would be compliant, but one thing I know they do have that I could go for would be greek salad and ask them not to put the cheese in. I've worked in restaurants before so I know that's one salad that they make fresh, by the plate. Maybe that could be an option for you when you go out? 

[StaciaLee]

We are getting so close to the end of this journey and I really want to continue so that I can keep losing weight but I am really over all of this. Tonight I made tacos for dinner and put mine on romaine lettuce and made me mexican rice with cauliflower rice. But really craving refried beans and cheese and am hoping I can stay strong after this journey is over on Saturday. I am getting so many co-workers that are asking about what I am eating so I must be looking different also. Have you experienced the Tiger Blood that the book talks about? I have not had any of those bonus' yet but I guess my diet before this was really bad so maybe it will take a little longer for me. What are your plans after this ends? Do you hope to continue a lot of these eating tools or start introducing your favorite foods back right away. I know that I still have a long way to go before I am comfortable with my body so I know that I need to keep working this system and start introducing exercise into the mix because as of yet I have not been working out. Hope all is well and thanks for the tip about the greek salad when eating out. I have never tried one of those before but will have to think about next time. 

[ldrolling]

So close! This week has been a bit harder with being excited about cooking, but I think it's more because I'm still not feeling well and I think I'm getting close to my monthly when I typically just want to eat mindlessly for a day or two. I was definitely feeling that yesterday but didn't let myself and tried to be really aware of things. Before getting sick again I did notice that my energy was much better and I was feeling clear headed. I wouldn't say I'm bounding out of bed and feeling like I can take on the world, I just don't feel lethargic like I was before, and in the mornings after about half an hour of being up I'm alert and happy to be up as opposed to groggy and wishing I was still in bed. I guess that's a big difference even though I wouldn't describe it as "Tiger Blood" like they do in the stages. 

We've talked about how we want to go forward after we're done reintroduction. We're going to do the 10 day reintroduction to see how each group of foods affects us, and use that as a guide. But, we also know we don't want to go back to the way we were eating. We don't want to be eating sugar intentionally, so we're going to cut refined sugar out as much as possible. I think we'll use regular condiments mixed with homemade. I've been making homemade mayo and don't really feel a need to go back to the store bought stuff because I know what I'm making is healthier, for example. I can't get things like coconut aminos to replace soy sauce here, so unless there's a big issue with legumes, we'll probably not worry about that stuff as much, and just use moderation. I know that we'll be cutting out as much gluten as possible because we haven't really missed things like pasta and bread. Our kids are still eating bread, but I want to phase that down a lot rather than it being every day, and slowly replace it with other things. For example, rather than making a peanut butter and honey sandwich, having home made granola bars or something like that made with good ingredients in it's place. We'll do that gradually though so it gets to the point where they don't really miss it much and then when we do have those things it'll be because it's really worth it. I thought pasta would be a big deal for me, but I've been cooking so many other things that I haven't really missed it. I am going to get a spiralizer because it'll give me the option of making noodles from things available and I think the kids would get a kick out of it and it would make meals fun for them. Depending on how we respond to dairy and non-gluten grains like oatmeal and rice we'll decide how to incorporate them in our diet. I can see us doing them in moderation. Things like cheese are really expensive here, so cutting back on dairy will actually save us money too. At this point I think we'll end up doing a clean/whole food diet that leans toward paleo, but not strict paleo. 

I was feeling a bit scared of reintroduction because I don't want to go back to doing what I've been doing. Reading Food Freedom Forever has been good because it talks a lot about that and "riding your own bike". The W30 Facebook page also put up a video link yesterday where Melissa Hartwig talks about reintroduction and not being afraid of it, and her philosophy with W30 and being able to manage life afterwards. It was about 30 minutes, but good to watch. I really want to learn from the reintroduction and then work at letting that information guide how I eat, and be really honest with myself about how I feel and whether it's worth it. The situation with the cough medicine was a huge wake up call for me about how my body responds to that, and feeling so bad for almost 48 hours afterward... If that was something that I would have chosen to eat, like a cupcake, in the end it would not have been worth it. So I really want to pay attention and know what to anticipate. For example, I'm going on a trip in April, and I've been there before and know what food I'm looking forward to eating while there, but I know that if eating sugar is going to leave me feeling cruddy for up to two days afterward, then doing that intentionally on a 7 day trip doesn't seem worth it. We shall see!

What are your plans?

[StaciaLee]

My family still eats bread and pasta but I have no intention of eating those again. I really hope to continue most of the techniques I have learned over the last month. Getting so close to the end and I really never thought I could complete one week. I will probably bring back refried beans and a little bit of cheese eventually. I have yet to make any of the condiments, I have just done without. I don't really like mayo so that was never an option for me. My co-workers have been so supportive and will continue to do so if I continue this plan. My nerve issues in my foot still have not gone away or even gotten any better for that matter. But I know that I am healthier, I have never eaten so many veggies in my life. That was good to know about how the sugar really affected you and makes me think about next week and making sure something is worth to before bringing it back. I love spaghetti squash and make that one at least once a week and have leftovers for lunch. Best of luck to both of us in the next few days to finish strong when I know I personally want to give up sometimes. 

[StaciaLee]

Tomorrow is our last day!!!! I am scared and excited at the same time. I never really thought I could do this but am truly glad that I did. Let me know Sunday how much weight you have lost if that was a big deal to you, I know it is for me. Wore pants today that were actually kind of baggy but they were my dress pants because I had two meetings today. Going to make my own sweet potato chili to take to my moms for super bowl sunday while everyone else eats regular chili. Not quite ready to introduce anything yet. Starting a kick boxing class with a couple co-workers on Monday night so that should also help with the weight loss. Keep me posted. 

[StaciaLee]

Today is our LAST DAY!!! We did it!!! So proud, getting my dinner ready and then the whole 30 will come to a successful end. Already have the menu planned for next week and only going to introduce beans into my diet later in the week and see how that goes. I will post tomorrow about weight loss, excited to see the results. 

[StaciaLee]

Hoping all is well with you. I weighed today and am down 18 pounds and that feels great. I didn't take before measurements because I really didn't think I could finish this but I did and super proud of myself. How are you feeling? 

[ldrolling]

Hey! Congratulations! That's amazing  I tried posting the other day but my internet wasn't working well. Saturday was our last day ( I started a day ahead of you) and yesterday I weighed in and checked measurements. I'm down 6 pounds at least, and lost about 11 inches total. I'll be honest, I was expecting more weight gone, but I'm also in the middle of my period and need to remember that I probably am actually down a few more pounds, which is why I said "at least". I also wasn't doing any kind of exercise on purpose. I really wanted to see what was diet related, and what was exercise related as far as feeling good, and now I know that a lot of it was diet related. I also realized yesterday how much I let the scale determine my mood around food, and that was surprising! So we decided to keep the scale up on the shelf and only weigh periodically instead of having it out all the time. Yesterday after weighing I just kept thinking about it and I realized how freeing it was to not be when I wasn't supposed to be weighing, and how when I wasn't stepping on the scale I paid more attention to how my body felt, how my clothes fit, and concentrating on eating good food. So that's a lesson learned and I understand better why they focus on non scale victories. 

I had a spoon of peanut butter yesterday morning, something that usually gives me heartburn. It didn't bother me the way it used to, which was really interesting! We had chili with beans last night and afterwards I realized that my food wasn't digesting in the same way that it had been for the past few weeks. It wasn't a major thing, I just felt a bit more bloated after dinner for a while, and a bit heavy like I would when I ate a heavy meal before. There were no digestion issues that were uncomfortable or anything like that. My husband didn't notice anything, so I feel like we can have beans like we used to, which was occasionally, and I'll just expect that I'll feel a bit puffy afterwards. We were at a friends house yesterday and she made homemade donut holes with cream in them, and part of my wanted them, but then I remembered that I didn't really like the cream and afterwards when I had eaten them before I just felt sugar sick, and that wasn't "worth it". They weren't good enough to want to eat. That was freeing!

I need to do some food prep for this week and some meal planning. I've loved finding new recipes, and as a "reward" for doing so well with this I ordered two new cook books, which is a treat. We have to bring everything into Haiti in our suitcases or have other people bring them, so I do a lot on my Kindle and iPad and not a lot of heavy books. I figured it was a good way to invest in our family's long term health. I got "Against All Grain" and "Against All Grain Celebrations". They both had really good reviews and apparently she has a gluten free bread recipe in there that is really, really good and easy. We want to start phasing out gluten and sugar as much as we can with our kids so finding things to switch over to that feel normal and are still on plan/clean will be a bit part of that. My husband also got me an electronic pressure cooker as an early birthday present that he'll be bringing back after a trip at the end of the month, and I'm very much looking forward to easier meal prep! Just things like being able to put frozen chicken in and have it cooked to done in an hour will be amazing! Oh! I also got a spiralizer to make veggie noodles. I really want to make this work well, so I want to have fun with our food and make it something that we all look forward to. 

Have you tried any new recipes that you've really liked?

[StaciaLee]

Congrats to you also! Six pounds is still six pounds gone so that is awesome. I wish I had taken my measurements so I could see those results also. I should do it now in case the scale doesn't move but I am losing inches. We watched the super bowl at my moms yesterday where they made chili but I had made my own sweet potato chili which was really good. I think the recipe is in the cookbook but its also on pinterest. I also made pizza potato skins saturday night that I found on pinterest also. Some flavor of pizza without the cheese and dough. There were lots of yummy sugar treats yesterday but I actually wasn't really tempted by any of them. I took an apple with me in case I wanted something to chew on but didn't even need to eat that. I have wanted both of the new gadgets that you are getting so let me know how you like them. Making enchiladas for the family later this week so I will try some beans but I won't be eating the enchiladas. Kind of nervous about eating new foods but have missed beans so going to try them. Off to work, rainy day with a class full of two year olds will be fun. Have a great day!!