TJ's Second Whole 30, 2nd Half

[TJHigh]

I find myself losing track, but I think today is my Day 14. So technically I guess I'm still in the first half, but what the hell.  I feel AMAZING this morning. It's Sunday morning and I woke up easily at 7:30 and have been bright and chipper all morning. I do feel like I have boundless energy (that I'm currently wasting sitting on the couch watching soccer, but come on! It's Man U vs Liverpool!)  I have a ton of awesome meal plans and prep running through my head that I'm beyond excited about.  My skin is clear- honestly I think I even look younger, which is probably a function of my face thinning out. I haven't weighed, but I'm clearly losing weight. I'm fitting into clothes I haven't been able to glance at in YEARS. Based on clothes fit alone, it's possible I'm at my lowest weight ever.  More importantly, I'm seeing muscle definition and tone.  In short, I feel great, and my excitement about upcoming meals makes me so confident that I can follow a Whole 30 lifestyle after the 30 days.

i did a very successful Whole 30 in the fall and was very careful about reintroduction- I have some good ideas of what effects me and what doesn't already. Wine will effect my skin, but can be allowed judiciously (which honestly will always be difficult for me- some days the calculation of I've had a rough day and need three glasses will outweigh the knowledge that I'll have ruddy, rough skin the next day.)  Dairy is fine (I tested this with the most glorious cheese plate of all time- that was a happy day.). Legumes have no immediate ill effects but seem to culmulatively make me a bit depressed/sluggish.  I'd like to focus on testing that out this time to see if this was just a coincidence with the timing of other stuff going on in my life. And I need to test gluten- I'm not sure I did a great reintroduction for that since I naturally don't eat a lot of gluten anyway (I'm not a bread/pasta person, so it can be months before I encounter a big dose.)

The one thing my first Whole 30 made me realize and this one is confirming- my big lifestyle problem is sugar and snacking.  My sugar dragon is easily awoken, so I have to make very careful calculations about when it's worth it. If I do, and I'm very conscientious about the decision, it's easier to be prepared to address the sugar dragon I inevitably wake up.  I also know that eating three meals a day is what works for my metabolism and hormones.  My husband has always eaten this way and he's by far the healthiest person I know.  It works for me too, I just have to put in the effort to plan good meals and follow the template, mostly  (although to be honest, I think the fact that the template is presented as inflexible and the same for everyone is a little unrealistic.  I just don't need as much food as my muscle-y husband with 8% body fat who runs 6-8 miles a day. I just don't.)

I didn't fall off the wagon hard between my two Whole 30s, and easily mainted (and added to) the 15 lb weight loss I experienced then.  I maybe didn't "need" to do another one so soon, but I'm so glad I did.  I feel like it's just cementing what I learned the first time and showing that this is a very viable lifestyle for me going forward. To celebrate my (almost there!) second half of my 2nd Whole 30, I'm going to re read Food Freedom Forever to get excited about my post Whole 30 life, annnnnnnd, as a fun reward, I'm buying an Instant Pot! Starting researching those this morning and they sound like legit magic!

 

 

[TJHigh]

Day 14 - Whoot- the Tiger's Blood persisted through the day. I've felt amazing all day, through dinner up till bed time.  I made an awesome Whole 30 meal for dinner for my inlwas and it turned out amazing. It was really a great day- I spent the morning prepping meals for myself and relaxing, then the afternoon getting dinner ready for guests. I bought a full supply of wonderful grass fed beef fir the week and other ingredients at the local market. 

I have shredded beef and deviled eggs prepped for breakfasts and a huge batch of golden cauliflower soup. Now since I made extra for dinner, I have grilled  skirt steak, chimichurri, and roasted potatoes for tomorrow. I made an almost-flourless cake for the rest of my guests that I barely glanced at. I foundit was easy to pass up when I told myself- this is a supremely easy recipe, I'll make it for myself the second this over if I still want it. Easy!

 

[TJHigh]

Here's a pic of tonight's dinner: 

[TJHigh]

Day 16- woke up way too early this morning and couldn't turn my brain off to go back to sleep, which resulted in a much earlier breakfast than normal, which resulted in being hungrier earlier for the rest of the meals until ultimately I needed a snack to tide over before dinner.  All in all though, a good, relaxing day where I prepped a TON of stuff for the week. I think I'm in good shape with things frozen to make it through til almost the end.

Breafast- deviled eggs

Lunch- golden cauliflower soup, deviled eggs, proscuitto

 Snack- 1/2 cup olives, orange

Dinner- leftover grilled skirt steak, potatoes, chimichurri, salad

I also made two recipes from Well-Fed paleo that turned out awesome.  The Bora Bora firecracker meatballs to have for quick portable breakfast protein, and char suit for Chinese fried "rice" tomorrow, and likely the next day.  

Since today is basically the halfway point, I find myself starting to plan my reintroduction (I hope I'm not getting ahead of myself!)  My reintroduction during my last Whole 30 went great, but not perfect.  I trailed off a bit at the end.  This time I'd like to better test gluten and legumes.  For these, I think I'll actually do two days of eating the reintroduced food to see what's what. It's a bit hard to find recipes with just gluten and not other non- compliant foods as well.  For example, the pasta dishes I'd want to try have cheese on them, but I think I've found a hearty meat sauce that would be ok without cheese.  That and a blt are my best ideas for gluten reintro.

[TJHigh]

Lol, just realized I mislabeled my days.  Today is16!  Well, whatever day it is, it's great!  Tigers Blood continues.  I was in such a great mood and high energy all day.   Went to the gym and had a great workout.  I'm easing back in to running after two years sidelined by injury, so it's by no means super strenuous, but it feels good to be back.  Plus I walked to and from work.

Meals were awesome today- tried two new recipes- the Bora Bora Fireckrackers and Pork Fried (cauliflower) Rice.  Pork fried rice was almost too good- felt like cheating.  Definitely a keeper.

Breakfast-  Bora Bora Fireckracker

Lunch- leftover skirt steak with chimichurri and potatoes

Dinner- pork fried "rice"

 

[TJHigh]

God, what a week. Crazy busy, but really good.  I'm very grateful I have today off to breathe and reassess my food stores- had another great weekend last weekend of food prep, but am faced with low supplies now.  Last weekend I treated myself to "Well Fed Paleo" and made four recipes from it- golden cauliflower soup, bora bora fireballs, char sui, and pork fried rice.  All were amazing- I froze most of the soup, so I'll be using that for my lunches this week, along with some protein I've yet to decide on.  I also froze half the firecrackers, but since they made up most of my breakfasts this week, I'll likely keep my frozen stores intact for this week- meaning I need a new breakfast idea.  I also have some frozen shredded beef, so I'm thinking mashed sweet potatoes (or plantains! That'd be new for me, fun!), with salsa verde and a poached egg. 

The char sui used in the pork fried rice was the. best.  Made the pork on Monday and then made the fried rice with it on Tues. made a huge batch that lasted through dinner last night, and I wasn't sick of it after two dinners and three lunches- that's a hit! It did taste a bit too good- it called for a BBQ sauce glaze using dried dates and man was that good. Had this been my first Whole 30 I might have deemed it too sweet and avoided it to keep cravings/sugar dragon in check, in this iteration I feel more comfortable with it.  Still, I'll pull it out sparingly since it feels like a nice treat.

So now I'm all caught up and ready to plan a new slate of meals.  I. Am. So. Excited.  I got my new Instant Pot!  Today I'm researching how to use it and will start firing it up this evening.  One of my favorite tapas places has short ribbed stuffed piquillo peppers so I'm going to attempt to recreate those, along with tortilla espanola, and green beans with chorizo and almonds. Other than that, need to figure out the rest of my plan. But I'm looking forward to another restful weekend of cooking! I think that's why I've been relatively successful at Whole 30, especially this one- I'm a fairly experienced cook and I enjoy all aspects of it- including the research and planning.

Some NSVs to report too- my sleep has been greatish. The -ish part is not attributable to Whole 30, my dog has started randomly waking up in the middle of the nights for no reason other than to bother us. Anyway, that's obv been disturbing my sleep, but after I deal with those incidents, I'm still able to go right back to sleep and sleep soundly. I count that as a win.  I also have a ton of energy, and have had consistent energy levels since Monday.  Finally, my after work wine cravings have abated!  These DEFINITELY persisted all through my last Whole 30 and by the end I was looking forward to my first glass of wine.  This time- I still miss wine but not nearly as much, and there is a different association. I now find myself missing it as a complement to a nice dinner (for example, I'd kill for a rioja to pair with my short rib peppers!), but I don't find myself missing it as a way to unwind.  I've been taking relaxing after dinner/before bed baths that have subbed in very nicely.

So, Day 18 is in the books, and I'm looking forward to cruising through the rest of this Whole 30!  Almost time to start planning reintroduction in earnest!

[TJHigh]

Forgot to record my meals for a few days! 

Day 18-

Breakfast: Bora Bora Fireballs

Lunch: pork fried cauliflower rice, sliced mango

Dinner: same

Day 17-

Breakfast: Bora Bora Fireballs 

Lunch: pork fried cauliflower rice

Dinner: a dozen oysters (ok, not great, but it was during a work HH and pretty much my only option)

[TJHigh]

Going strong, for the most part. I did have some really strong cravings yesterday that are persisting into today.  The goodish news is I know exactly why. I made a nice meal Friday night (Spanish tapas), and had also picked up some grapes. They were perfect- like candy.  Like CANDY.  I made the mistake and had some after dinner on Friday.  Hello Sugar Dragon.  I also had some more nuts on Friday as well.  Result on Saturday was a woke Dragon annnnd a bloated belly. Yuk, no fun.  But, I'm slowly getting back on track.  For at least the weekend, I'm not having any fruit or nuts, until the cravings subside.  I have a big beautiful pot of beef mushroom soup and some tortilla espanola (Spanish omelet with onion and potato- NOT anything resembling a Latin American tortilla.), so that'll get me through.  Still experimenting with my instant pot, and have a plan for chicken tikka masala and biryani with chicken and cauliflower rice.

i want to get back to my logs, this will be a good reminder of my favorite meals as well as help id pitfalls 

Friday, Day 19

Breakfast- Bora Bora Fireckrackers

Lunch- Golden Cauliflower soup, proscuiito

Dinner- tortilla espanola, homemade mayo, short rib stuffed piquillo peppers, green beans with chorizo

  snack- grapes and nuts

Saturday, Day 20- (bad sugar cravings, avoiding fruit and in between meal nut snacks)

Breakfast- Tortilla espanola

Lunch- Golden Cauliflower soup, stuffed piquillo pepper

Dinner- same as Friday, no fruit

Sunday, Day 21 (cravings are much better, stomach is flat again, still avoiding fruit)

Breakfast- tortilla espanola

Lunch- beef mushroom soup

Dinner- beef mushroom soup

 

 

[TJHigh]

God, I'm terrible at posting- but I'm still going strong!  I swear I've even forgotten what day I'm on, I think day 29. I get the emails but they're one day off. At any rate, here I am!  I need to just go back to my journal as a log, I didn't really stick with this online version, so for reintroduction I'm definitely going to commit more to writing it down, just not here. I re read my journal from my first Whole 30 and it totally reminded me of what i need to focus on this time.  I think I need to reintroduce at least some of my foods in longer blocks to see the culmulative effect, so I'm going to do 2 days reintro, 3-4 days W30.  Starting with gluten.  Then I have a birthday tasting menu which will likely have a little of everything.  Definitely an excercise in "worth it" to see how an indulgent night effects me, then I'll do a long stretch back to W30 to make sure I recover.  Then legumes, which is the only group I really had questions about after my first W30 (other than gluten, which I never really got to the first time.)

After that, I think I'll be ready for Food Freedom Forever!  I'm at my goal weight (I guess I should say size- I just know I fit into my clothes again that have languished for two years.  Everything fit like a dream now, so I'll take it).  My energy is amazing, and my hunger is under control so that I'm appropriately hungry at meal times and I don't snack.  My sugar dragon is asleep, but still easily awoken, so I'm learning how to be verrrry careful there.  I think I just need to realize any sugar will potential wake it up, even just an orange with lunch, but as long as I know that, I can be subsequently vigilant.  I'm not giving up seasonal, fresh fruit for the dragon!  I've learned a tremendous amount of how to put together my meals so they are delicious and fuel me with optimal ingredients.  Most important, I'm healed!  The nagging injuries I've suffered from for over two years have faded.  I'm able to run again, and row and lift weights and generally take care of myself as a "fit" person rather than an "injured" person.  On the eve of my 38th birthday, I feel about the healthiest I have in my life. Such great timing!  Tomorrow will be a great day to recommit to FFF and plan the rest of my life.  I likely won't do another W30 (I'm hopeful that I'll never feel that I need to), and will just interject mini "resets" as necessary.