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Starting Jan. 16th!


ChristinR

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TGIF that's all I have to say!

I had some time to spare before I had to leave for work, so I fried up some eggs with half an avocado and some strawberries. This is the first time I have had time to cook beakfast before work. Normally I have a more fruit/nut/nut butter/coconut filled breakfast since I eat it at work normally. But today was the first day I have not been starving all day! I didn't even want to snack at all, which has been the hardest part about this so far. I am really going to try and eat a better breakfast if I can from now on.

Has anyone else been absolutely exhausted and just blah at all? I feel like the last two days I've just felt like I was in a funk. It didn't help that work has been horrible and I've been trying not to bite everyone's heads off the past two days haha!

I also made up a batch of mayo from the book tonight! I think I added too much lemon at the end though because it is a tad on the tart side, but still yummy. I made some baked spicy sweet potato fries and a turkey burger with guac on top for dinner. The mayo was great to dip the sweet potatoes in! 

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Day 5 

meal 1: organic chicken sausage from farmers market with fresh egg whites in clarified butter. Left over root Veggies, decaf coffee with unsweetened almond milk

After walk snack: banana and pecans

meal 2: greens and root veggies, with chicken sausage

meal 3: organic pork chop on the grill with chimichurri rub, rutabaga greens, tomato and cucumber slices w/dressing, fresh fruit salad (papaya, apple, banana, blueberry,mango, grapes with lemon)

I made it 5 miles on my walk today! It's been since August -since I've been able to do any distance.  working up slowly, but this felt pretty good. 

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4 hours ago, Cher1 said:

Now...how to make that mayo without egg..... :-/

 

4 hours ago, kirkor said:

Not ideal, but this is probably the best you're going to get:

http://meljoulwan.com/2013/10/27/egg-less-homemade-mayo/

 

2 hours ago, Cher1 said:

@kirkor thank you that should work. I want to coat some scallops with "mayo" and coconut and fry them. Chicken would be good like this too.

Yeah, but no..... I tried that one during an egg free spell some time back. Turns out like wall paper paste :wacko:

If you like avocado (or are okay with avocado oil) there are a few options out there in AIP world:

http://www.furtherfood.com/diy-egg-free-mayonnaise-3-ways-coconut-avocado-light-no-egg-paleo-recipe-aip-diet-allergen-free-vegan/

 

@kpenrod1- great discovery on the breakfast front - template meals really ARE key to success!!

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Happy Day 6 everyone!  Yesterday was one of those days (I'm a RN working 12.5 hour shifts)....I had breakfast before work at 5:15am and didn't sit down to lunch until 3:30pm.  Nothing but a few drinks of water all that time.  My stomach was grumbling around noon, but I had some patient care issues that needed to be taken care of and then had an admission at 2pm, so just couldn't take a break.  It's amazing to me that I can go that long without having a headache or stomach cramps.  Prior to eating Whole30, I would have never been able to do this.  I would have fueled myself with granola bars or other fast and easy carbs (break room treats!) and felt sick.  So...YAY Whole30.

For those of you totally burned out on meal/food prep.....it does get easier.  It becomes routine and requires less thought the longer you do it.  In the beginning, I felt like I was spending all of my time cooking and prepping and cutting and thinking about what comes next.  So this is normal.  Hang in there.  It's worth it.  Remember that in all areas of life, doing what is best is often (almost always) more time consuming and more difficult.  This is about you and your health!  It is worth the time and energy.  YOU are worth the time and energy.  And your families and people you cook for will benefit, as well.  I provide non-Whole30 food to my teens and my SO to make things easier....they have buns with their burgers, tortillas with their tacos/fajitas/burritos, rice with their stir frys, etc.  

@geomat  I agree with all previous posters about your meals.....too small and not enough fat!  When I have hard boiled eggs, I have them with mayo splashed with tabasco sauce.  I know there is a lot of info out there about the benefits of low fat, but if you're eating the right fats it will help you rather than hurt you.  Try it out and see if it works for you.  It has made a huge difference for me in the past 3 years and far as my appetite and my ability to avoid snacking.  My LDL cholesterol numbers are stable, my triglycerides have plummeted, and my HDLs are amazingly high (that's the "good" cholesterol)!  

@JaneD YES!! I felt like not eating and skipping meals during my first Whole30.  (I've gotten over it.:P)  I think it's your body adjusting and the exhaustion of the new food prep process.  I would recommend having something small, even if you're not hungry.  Make it a mini meal....a few bites of protein, a spoon of fat and a few veggies. It'll send the right signals to your body and keep you on track AND prevent you from waking up starving at 3 am.  

@kpenrod1 Adding protein to your breakfast will definitely keep you satiated.  If eggs don't work for you try making something portable that you can eat with your fruit/nut/nut butter/coconut.  I love salmon cakes for breakfast (and they taste good cold) or chicken drumsticks (also good cold).  The salmon cake recipe in the It Starts with Food is good or try this one:  http://meljoulwan.com/2014/11/10/oven-fried-salmon-cakes

@Cher1  You eat egg whites, right?  Have you tried mayo with just the whites??

Enjoy the weekend.  Cook it up! 

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hi again--I sort of forget about this forum, but today in my 'day 7' email, the link was there so I'm back... this has been easier than I thought, though I'm sure its the 'honeymoon' phase that is making it so!  We have been out to dinner once--also easier than I expected!  And last night we had a neighborhood party, which went well too. It helped that I took my own seltzer, shrimp w Tessamae's buffalo sauce, cut vegatables and fruit skewers. My biggest challenge is that we are currently "snowbirds" as our many of our Florida neighbors and its sort of a regular party atmosphere here--lots of get-togethers with drinks, snacks, desserts,etc....

I may have missed this in someone's post--but has anyone had sleep issues this first week? I had 3 or 4 nights of being up/down like crazy! I tried drinking less water after dinner--didn't help! But happily, last night was much better and I'm hopeful it will continue to improve!

 

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you know coffee used to be my go to drink, would drink it with actually 1/3 of the drink being flavored creamer. When I started this I forced myself to drink BLACK coffee. The first couple days I only had sips thought I couldn't do it. I'm drinking it like it's nobody's business now and I actually love that I feel the energy now not the sugar high!

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3 hours ago, kb45 said:

I may have missed this in someone's post--but has anyone had sleep issues this first week? I had 3 or 4 nights of being up/down like crazy! I tried drinking less water after dinner--didn't help! But happily, last night was much better and I'm hopeful it will continue to improve!

 

Yes!! Have been up to pee twice a night and haven't had to do that regularly since  I was pregnant! I presume it's to do with some sort of W30 adjustment and will (pardon the pun) pass but it's a hassle in the meantime... Does anyone know what/why this happens?

@ChristinR @Cher1 the tea is from a shop called Pomeroys - Pomeroys.co.nz They're a New Zealand shop and don't have any obvious info on their site about whether they ship to the States but they have great customer service so should respond quickly if you drop them a line. 

Yesterday breakfast: last of the leftover garbage stir fry, guacamole. Lunch: leftover date nut kale salad, apple w cashew butter. Dinner: meatballs, garlic cauliflower mash, roast potato cubes. Watermelon afterwards. I made mayo and ketchup (Mel Joulwan's recipe) yesterday afternoon too, so we're now stocked with more stuff to put on the food. Felt like I spent a looong time in the kitchen but it was actually only a couple of hours. And worth it because I've got a ton of Good Food to see me through the next few days of breakfasts and lunches. I hardly ever cook those fresh, unless it's something that's a 5-minuter, like an omelette or something. Leftovers are awesome. 

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On 1/19/2017 at 3:46 PM, DesertSage said:

I also started on the 16th!! 

A few observations since starting:

-I didn't realize how much sugar 'lurks' in our food! I've been modifying healthy recipes I already have and it's crazy how many have a tablespoon or two of sugar.

-I am not a vegetarian but I feel like I'm eating SO much meat! I usually get my protein from beans. I miss beans.

-My eating patterns involve so much muscle memory, like whenever I walk into a certain co-workers office I go straight for her treat jar.

I hear you on the beans factor. I use to live off beans, soy based products and cheese! Glad I'm not alone! Also the sugar and some sort of grain is in everything! I feel like I'm excessively looking at ingredients list even if I know it's okay at or not. 

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@kb45 I know at least a couple of us have mentioned sleep troubles. I know I am struggling mightily with it. It was an issue before (one of my top non scale goals for this program) and so far it has gotten worse not better.  I get the daily emails too.  I guess I am a day behind you...today is day 6, but it was all about sleep.  I guess we need to hang in..it is hopefully right around the corner.  I am going to try some of the suggestions in the email though.

Hopefully this isn't TMI... but we are all on this journey together. Anybody else struggling with constipation?  I don't get it...so much plant matter in my diet with fiber....I drink at least 96 ounces of water a day, I am active and exercise regularly, and I take magnesium. Would love suggestions. 

Also, had my first food dream last night.  I dreamed I ate a couple of grains of sugar off my kids' plates while cleaning up the kitchen.  When I realized what I had done, I washed my mouth out over the sink near tears thinking how desperately I didn't want to start over. I even wondered if I made myself throw up if that would mean I wouldn't have to start over. (No, I have never done that...don't have a history of any eating disorders). Then I thought, if I have to start over I can have a drink tonight.  And I look over at the table where my son is sitting, eating a bag of Doritos (I don't even like Doritos) and I am about ready to dive in.  Here's where I was glad for the sleep issues that wake me up so frequently. I woke up SO RELIEVED.  :unsure:

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Grrr... Was just making a cup of that coconut melon tea and looking at (and frankly, admiring) the loose-leaf tea, thinking how good the chunks of coconut looked. Then I took a nibble from one and it tasted.... Sweet. Ugh. So I emailed the tea shop for a full list of ingredients (no mention of sugar on the list I could see from the website description) and am now having green tea, working on the assumption there's probably sugar somewhere in the cocktail-in-a-mug tea. 

Sigh. Have done some reading elsewhere on the W30 site and forums, and have decided not to start over, because it was only one cup prior to this, I'd done what I thought was due diligence by checking available ingredients list, and it wasn't grains/dairy/soy. Still... An annoying mental setback, I guess. 

Sorry for recommending the tea!! 

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I made the chicken chowder from the book yesterday and there definitely wasn't any sugar in it but the taste was sweet. Had to add some more peppers and onions to it to make it more savory for myself. Maybe your taste could be changing too? There could also be sugar but I noticed that for myself. Interested to know if it does have sugar in it or just tastes like sugar like the chowder did for me. 

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2 hours ago, Sunflour said:

Yes!! Have been up to pee twice a night and haven't had to do that regularly since  I was pregnant! I presume it's to do with some sort of W30 adjustment and will (pardon the pun) pass but it's a hassle in the meantime... Does anyone know what/why this happens?

I made mayo and ketchup (Mel Joulwan's recipe) yesterday afternoon too, so we're now stocked with more stuff to put on the food. 

I have no experience with the nighttime peeing, so have nothing to offer there.  BUT....if you find you don't finish your kickass ketchup you can use this tip:  I make a batch of the ketchup and put tablespoon-size drops on a piece of parchment paper in the freezer.  When frozen, I pop them off the parchment and store them in a freezer container or ziploc bag.  I take out what I need and the rest stays great!

2 hours ago, Mountain Girl said:

Hopefully this isn't TMI... but we are all on this journey together. Anybody else struggling with constipation?  I don't get it...so much plant matter in my diet with fiber....I drink at least 96 ounces of water a day, I am active and exercise regularly, and I take magnesium. Would love suggestions. 

Also, had my first food dream last night.  

Yes....I struggled with the feeling of constipation during my first Whole 30 and then again with my 3rd.  For me, it got better around day 20 or so and must have something to do with how far I was from Whole 30 when I started....because my 2nd time and this time I haven't had any issues.  Hang in there.  Stick with the magnesium (do you take a capsule or Natural Calm??) and drink plenty of water.  It'll pass.  I always rationalized it that I wasn't eating any "crap" so I didn't have as much "crap".  My body is using the food I'm putting into it rather than pushing it all through quickly.

Food dreams....UGH!  I've had so many and they seem so crazy when it's something you don't even care about!  A few grains of sugar.....ha!  That's not even worth it.  I've accidentally licked peanut butter off of my finger during a whole30 last November when making my daughter a sandwich....I spit it out and didn't start over.  No whole30 is perfect.....in real life or our dreams.  

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Love hearing everyone's stories! 

I had a sad win today - we usually go out to eat one meal on the weekends as a family. The time this afternoon slipped away from us and suddenly I realized it was 5pm and I hadnt prepped anything, so we were going to go to Chickfila, where I thought I could probably get a grilled chicken breast. Hopped on their website and found their grilled chicken is full of all sorts of things noncompliant, so sent the hubs and my son on a dinner date out while I stayed home and cooked something for me. Glad I checked before going, glad they had fun, sad we missed all going out.

Next weekend I'll find a place that we can all enjoy! 

 

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@Sunflour And @Mountain Girl  I've struggled a lot with sleep the past few years--its the old 'get up to pee' often and I seem to sleep more lightly these days...I'm so hoping this way of eating  will help. No food dreams yet--but lots of vivid and weird dreams along with the worse than usual off-sleeping patterns. But last night was somewhat better and hopefully tonight too. Hope yours gets better soon!

@Herz51089I've always been a food label reader and I've counted or watched out for the amount of various ingredients over the years-like calories, fats, sugars,etc... but like you said--the sugar thing is a shock. I thought I was pretty aware it but who knew there was sugar in beef or chicken stock???!! And in fresh salsa?! -Crazy!  

So, my deal with myself was after a week of faithfully following the whole30, I'd treat myself to a peddie--and I made it! Day 7 done :D 

Everyone, have a great day tomorrow!

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@jmcbn @Sunflower no, I can't do raw egg protein at all. My egg whites have to be cooked through to the brown stage before I can tolerate them. I can't digest the protein. I've been super worried about avacado, about half my family members can't eat it either. So far so good. I may give a try to the coconut mayo from jmcbn, thanks for the link. Before whole30, anything needing mayo I substituted greek yogurt with lemon. Coconut will probably have the right consistency to make this substitution. And thanks for the tip on Not using flax mayo on coconut crusted scallops or chicken, I would have hated to ruin it.

@Mountain Girl I'm adding magnesium to my diet today too. I'm with you, all these green veggies, tons of fiber, avacado, coconut and other good oils, this is hard to believe one could have constipation. Maybe our bodies are pulling from our bad fat reserves (?). More water. Kimchee? Maybe some probiotics. My belly felt bloated today...I think that's a "thing" for this point in time, isn't it?

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Day 6

meal 1: I found avocado tomitillo sauce at the farmers market. OMG! Just the right amount of hot and tang. Egg white omelette breakfast burrito, homemade quacamole, Carolina sweet onions-with the green stem, red pepper, jalapeño peppers, tomatoes, left over chicken, smothered with avocado tomatillo salsa. Side dish of fruit salad with lemon. Decaf coffee w unsweetened almond milk.

after workout snack: almonds & banana

Meal 2: fruit salad and guacamole salad and the rest of the left over chicken.

meal 3: ate out: sashimi tuna and green salad with olive oil and balsamic.

3 mile walk in the fog today. Trying to increase my water intake. What else are you guys drinking? 

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Today has been an odd day. I too have started sleep lighter at nights, but then I'm exhausted throughout the day. I also have been very bloated and (sorry tmi) gassy all day as well. I had stomach problems before I started the Whole30 and I know that sometimes your stomach issues get worse before they get better so I am hoping that this is the case here. I normally don't eat a lot of meat which may also be the problem, I get my protein from beans mostly. 

 

Meal 1: 2 eggs, the leftover spicy sweet potato "fries" from last night chopped up and pan fried like home fries and some guacamole. 

After yoga snack: coffee and some cantaloupe 

Meal 2: portabello mushroom cap with a baked egg inside, topped with ground beef cooked with taco seasoning and tomatoes, guacamole and a few strawberries.

Meal 3: oven baked Buffalo chicken strips (I dredged them with a little almond flour to add some crisp) mashed sweet potato and broccoli. I also made some ranch from the mayo I made last night and dang was that good! I used a little almond milk to water it down instead of coconut though. 

 

I need to step my water game up while at home. When I'm at work I am constantly chugging it down because it gives me an excuse to leave my desk. At home not so much haha.

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I have been very gassy too.  Every time I eat, my stomach has gassy stomach cramps for like an hour.  I hope it too will pass.  I ate a lot of veggies before this but definitely not this much meat.  Oddly lots of beans, which I would think would have caused more gas. 

I've been a little down and anxious this weekend because I feel like all I've done so far is cook and clean dishes!  And just keep thinking is this all I will do for the rest of my life if I want to eat healthy?  The food has been delicious and I did bake extra this weekend for coming weeks so that is good.  And luckily my family hasn't had a busy weekend so that has helped.  Hope it gets more manageable! 

Oddly, I haven't really been missing other food just a bit stressed by the prep.  I have noticed how much I ate without thinking about it.  As I fixed my kids lunch today, I almost licked the peanut butter and jelly knife without thinking about it or when they had some crackers left my instinct was to finish them off without even thinking.

Sleep still not great but have plenty of energy during the day so that is good.  A friend recommended taking a 500 mg of magnesium and calcium at bedtime so might look into that. 

A few cookbooks have been mentioned.  Do any of those have lots of slow cooker meals?  So far the ones I have found have been excellent but didn't see a whole lot in the Whole 30 book and cookbook. 

Congrats to everyone on making it through one week!!!!

 

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Around day 2-3, I had these weird IBS-like symptoms--pains way deep, enough to wake me up in the wee hours. Happily, they went away within 36 hours. I think moving around really helped--I took a nice walk. For me, it might have been the increased fiber from all the veggies. Bottom line is that they improve fairly quickly! :)  Hopefully yours will...

 

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Good morning guys!

I slept better last night. Not great but better...hopefully moving in the right direction. I also survived both evenings with social drinking situations successfully sipping on my kombucha Friday and sparkling water with lime Saturday. 

@Jenn1256 I totally share your feelings regarding time spent on food prep and clean up.  I am finding the less I try to follow their week one meal plan, the easier it is. I used it later in the week as a jumping off spot, but seriously tweaked it. I also find that really focusing on dinner is all I really need to do. I always make more than I think I need, and recreate the leftovers for breakfast and lunch. The freedom to use dinner at breakfast I have found both freeing and frugal. I have not had to throw out any leftovers so far. Here's one example.  Monday I made the ground beef, the tomato sauce and the spaghetti squash for dinner. (Luckily I forgot to add the Italian seasoning to my ground beef, so it was more flexible through the week). I had the ground beef and spaghetti squash with the fried egg for breakfast the next day and three lunches....twice I cooked some onions and peppers, added the ground beef and had it with a dollop of guacamole. And I turned some ground beef, the last of the tomato sauce, a cup of beef bone broth and a bunch of chopped zucchini into a delicious soup (that one was a little low on the fat, so I think I had some cashews with it). I'm just saying...leftovers in the fridge relieves my stress about food prep a lot.  

Regarding the slow cooker recipes...I have found many of the recipes in WHOLE30 are not written for slow cooker, but if you read the notes at the bottom of them, many give instructions for that option. (Brisket, pulled pork carnitas and the bone broth immediately come to mind) I need to go that route too. We have a lot of evening commitments and if I don't have something in the slow cooker we won't be eating until really late. I am not back home yet, but I know I have a paleo slow cooker cookbook at home. I will look when I get back, but I bet there are a lot of recipes in there that will work for w30.

Hope you all enjoy your day and relax a bit...so we can kick off a great week two tomorrow!

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Day 7!  

I thought I'd share this recipe:  http://paleomg.com/date-shallot-rosemary-chicken/  It's super easy and delicious.  We had it last night with oven roasted fingerling potatoes and asparagus.

@Jenn1256 you can search in the upper right for "slow cooker" meals or go to the recipe thread to find ideas.  I love this pork: http://meljoulwan.com/2012/10/16/slow-cooker-italian-pork-roast/  It's not a complete meal, but pairs well with so many things and is so versatile.  

Today I'm making salmon cakes (I posted recipe earlier this week from Well Fed), Lettuce Cups from Mel's new Well Fed Weeknights (couldn't find a link online:mellow:) and Braised Mexican Beef Short Ribs from Nom Nom Paleo http://barefootprovisions.com/blogs/bare-blog/12267097-nom-nom-paleo-s-oven-braised-mexican-beef#.WITUZ7YrLBI.  I'll also make a fresh batch of mayo and some Awesome Sauce for my salmon cakes.

Enjoy  your Sunday everyone. 

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Hi everyone! Well I'm definitely late to this party, but have been following along with you guys. Started on 1/14, so this is Day 9 for me. My first Whole30 was in June 2015. I was on another Jan 16th thread that peetered out. : (

I love reading everyone's posts and checking in for support and inspiration (hello recipe links!). I've found these forums to be so very helpful during my past Whole30s. Sounds like you guys are doing great, even with the expected challenges. Reaching out for help, getting answers to questions, and generally sending each other "You Can Do It" good vibes. Rock on!

I'm having trouble right now with nuts/fruit/snacking... was on a birthday trip out of town and got off the meal template rhythm for a few days due to hotel/travel/no kitchen (but have stayed compliant!). I notice I'm craving sweets after I eat now! Crazy how fast the sugar dragon can kick in. I'm back home and want to find my happy place again. : )

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