Post W60 with stabilisers

[Kirsteen]

Ok, I've completed my W60 (yes I'm a slow learner ) and it's time I rode my own bike, even if I need stabilisers to get me started. I'm not in a rush to reintroduce anything. I was already gluten and dairy free so that won't change. There's nothing I'm dying to reintroduce right now but I'm happy to take responsibility on a day to day meal to meal basis for what I choose to eat. Instead of saying 'is this food compliant or not?', I'll be saying 'will this food help my health or not?' The one thing I want to experiment with is how often I eat. I want to actually eat when I'm hungry not when I think I should be eating. I think I'll probably have 3 meals some days, 2 meals others. Of course, if it doesn't work, I'll just go back to the W30 template.

so today.

Day 1

8am. Black coffee

11am. Crockpot chicken & coconut soup

5pm. Brisket, brussel sprouts and sweet potato followed by a fig and small handful blueberries.

I would probably have had a snack this afternoon and then my dinner later but I was out shopping and there was nothing except gluten and sugar filled snacks available. I can't eat gluten anyway but I found them in no way tempting at all.

While I was out, I decided to treat myself with something for completeing 60 days. In the past this would have always been my favourite Booja-Booja chocolates. Today I bought myself a really dinky little floating tea egg

http://www.lakeland.co.uk/43246/Floatea-Infuser

so that I can have my favourite teas without having to pfaff around with the teapot. It's so cute. So for the first day of the rest of my life, it wasn't too bad

[Ann]

I love that you treated yourself with a non-food item! I bet you'll enjoy it more (well, at least longer) than a piece of chocolate .

[Susan W]

I love that. I drink Assam every day that I don't have my morning coffee and still haven't found something here that would be perfect. On the search for that one now.

[Derval]

Sounds like a great plan Kirsteen!

Enjoy your tea

[Kirsteen]

Thank you folks. Loving my tea egg, I have loads of teas, black, green and red from Yumchaa in Camden Market and the egg makes it so easy to have them. Anyway

Day 2

10.00am. Black Coffee

Then I went to our local mini-supermarket, clutching my ecobag, thinking 'I can buy anything I want, I don't have to worry if it's compliant. Maybe I'll go wild' After wondering round looking at things, I came out with 2 bags of salad leaves, ready prepped fresh veg for tonight and 2 packets of peeled prawns. Hmmm didn't feel really wild but I honestly wasn't tempted by anything.

1.00pm. Salad of hardboiled egg, prawns and avocado with the mixed leaves and oil & vinegar dressing.

then my sugar free fish sauce arrived, thanks to Derval's kindness (doing the happy dance) So tomorrow I'll have a stir fry with fish sauce

6.00pm Lamb sausage, bacon copped and mixed through the prepped veg, carrots, cauliflower & broccoli and leftover sweet potato. 2 figs

Minimal cooking done today as Autumn Internationals have started so 2 rugby matches back to back. We lost both but at least Ireland weren't gubbed the way Wales was Contemplated drowning my sorrows with a glass of wine or whisky but settled for Kombucha instead. However tomorrow I fully expect Scotland to be tanned, gubbed and totally marmalised against the All Blacks so we may need something to get through it. We shall see

[Kirsteen]

Day 3

8.00am. Black coffee

10.30. nibbled on home made primal pack, jerky, macademias, walnuts, cashews and pecans and dried fruit (not all the nuts in each pack) I was making them up and vacuum sealing them to freeze, so I had to taste them love the jerky.

Roasted a butternut squash and 2 sweet potatoes. cooked 2 small cabbages with onion and put parsnips and carrots into the slow cooker. I like to cook a whole pile of veg and put in the fridge so I can pull it out through the week to make quick meals.

Then just as I was getting ready to make lunch my SIL phoned to say she was on her way round. there is not a single thing I eat that she would eat. She lives on carbs so I didn't feel I could possibly eat in front of her so lunch was delayed.

3.00 bacon, egg and mushrooms

Wanted something really quick so I could settle in to watching the rugby which by the way was a lot better than I expected - ok we lost 22-55 but we scored THREE tries against the All Blacks!! that's more than we usually score in a season never mind against the best team in the world!

6.30 Stir fry veg with prawns and fish sauce!! Wow that fish sauce was fantastic. It made all the difference to the stir fry

[Loraine]

Kirsteen I like the way you think

I don't often (in the whole of my life) get tummy signals of hunger, so my eating habits became rather random. Having tried a number of weighloss diets in the last few years - all giving the message that breakfast is a must, and eating regularly thrughout the day is also a necessity - I am loving going back to 'my' normal way of eating. Late breakfast (at least 2 hours after rising), lunch maybe, maybe not and the same for dinner. I am not hungry, I am not suffering blood sugar swings.

One of the Paloe gurus (Mark Sissons or Robb Wolf) actually advocates fasting for part or whole days. Sure suits me.

Good luck on your new journey to health and fitness.

[Kirsteen]

Thanks Lorraine. Yes I've struggled with not feeling hungry and then suddenly feeling sick and thinking I have to eat now. This has become so much better on W30 and now I'm trying to learn what suits me. What I have learned is that I no longer feel sick if I can't eat on time, like yesterday when lunch was postponed, I think 'yes I'm hungry but I can wait. Anyway

Day 4

9.00 am Black coffee

10.30 nibble of jerky as I was cleaning out the fridge. There had been a little bit left, not enough to make up a pack so just finished it off.

1.00 soup, bone broth, butternut squash, sweet potato, carrot, parsnip and bacon

6.00 chicken, cabbage, carrot, parsnip and sweet potato. small bowl of blueberries

Made some chocolates this afternoon. I think they're probably compliant but definitely not in the spirit of W30. they're basically cacao paste, cacao butter, creamed coconut, toasted coconut flakes, chopped up nuts and dried fruit, (most of the fruit I dried myself so it's not very sweet and has no nasties) no sweetener of any kind. Anyway I made them and tomorrow I'll freeze them. they're a good source of fat but not tempting. Previously I'd have added sweeter fruit and maybe some honey but I'm trying to keep away from too much sweet stuff.

[Kirsteen]

Day 5 pretty crashed today. I've obviously been trying to do too much so in bed resting because i really want to be able to go out on Thursday.

8.30 Black coffee

11.00 Homemade coleslaw with prawns in homemade mayo

My stomach was really not happy with this. I seem to find cooked veggies easier to digest than raw.

3.00 half a chicken breast, small amount of cabbage & carrots cooked in coconut oil

Had really upset stomach. i took magnesium citrate last night. That's the second time I've tried it but I don't think it's agreeing with me

7.00 2 eggs and sweet potato with coconut oil

[Kirsteen]

Day 6 Slept well last night and feel better today. Even felt hungry for breakfast

9.00am. Black coffee

10.00 Sardines in olive oil on mixed lettuce leaves with lemon juice (Can you tell I'd been reading the thread on Sardines )

2.00 Bone broth and butternut squash soup with chicken fillet

7.00 Chicken breast with cabbage, carrots, and parsnips with coconut oil

[Kirsteen]

Day 7 - my first week post W60 and I still haven't had (or wanted) any non-compliant foods even if my meals haven't been perfectly balanced. Mostly they're not bad.

8.30am Black coffee

9.00 hungry so cooked ham and almond stuffed olives.

Was supposed to be having lunch at Whole Foods but wsn't sure anything was 100% compliant. Then my friend decided she just wanted a coffee and I'm not keen on eating in front of people who're not so it was easiest just to have a coffee. It's funny my friend had gone on about how well I was looking, how great my skin was etc, listened and asked questions about what I was eating discussed W30 and then still insists on trying to get me to eat a sandwich or a cake or 'just a piece of cheesecake - I bet you'd really like it'. the great thing was, despite being hungry I was honestly able to say 'No, I really don't fancy any thankyou'. Nothing was tempting. then the delay in getting a taxi back meant I didn't get to eat 'til dinner.

5.00 Refrigerator scramble - basically everything left in fridge that was edible, already cooked ( 1/4 chicken breast, slice cooked ham, tablespoonful sweet potatoes, some carrots and parsnips thrown in pan with coconut oil and 6 baby tomatoes, 2 eggs scrambled through it - was surprisingly tasty.

apple and spoonful cashew nut butter

[Ann]

Next time you're at WF looking for something to eat on the run, they have delicious roast beef in their deli case (ingredients at my WF are olive oil, sea salt, pepper). That, along with maybe some snow peas and carrots (or other raw veggie of your choice) dipped in WF guacamole (in the produce department) would make a quick/yummy meal on the run!

[Kirsteen]

Thanks Ann, I'll give that a try next time. I'm not sure when I'll be going back but I definitely will at some point.

Day 8 Really didn't sleep much at all last night so totally crashed today but amazingly really hungry for breakfast.

7.30am. Black Coffee

8.30 2 Toulouse sausages and saurkraut

1.00 Sardines (who started that thread anyway ) in olive oil with cos lettuce, tomatoes, olives and red pepper.

Don't know why but got really hungry this afternoon. It was real hunger because I began salivating at the thought of steamed fish. anyway I ended up having a slice of cold ham and a handful of nuts.

6.00 Sweet potato with onion bacon & mushroom and 2 eggs

[Kirsteen]

Stayed up too late watching TV last night, but still slept well amazingly enough so logging in now.

Day 9 For the first time in my life I'm waking up looking forward to breakfast. It may have taken over 60 days but I'm finally getting it

8.00 Black coffee

9.00 2 eggs with bacon, mushroom, onion mixture in coconut oil.

Shopping arrived so sorted out fridges, and had a cookathon. Made delicious soup ( carrots, parsnip, leek, celery, celeriac fried in beef fat added bone broth and some already cooked butternut squash), brined and cooked 2 pkts chicken breast, put brisket in slow cooker, cooked cabbage with onion & bone broth, roasted carrots, parsnips, celeriac & beets, chopped and cooked 3 sweet potatoes. Now have happy fridge

Downside, I lost track of time and suddenly realised rugby was starting - no time to sort food (well it was Scotland playing and yes we were gubbed) so:-

2.30 2 chocolates (not as bad as it sounds - this is homemade chocolate, absolutely no sweetener of any kind with chopped nuts added spooned into chocolate molds. There's enough fat, cacao butter, coconut oil, nuts to be really filling but nothing to start cravings)

5.00 Soup (made earlier) with chopped up cooked chicken breasts added. Downside? It was so delicious I had 2 bowls and felt stuffed but happy stuffed.

[Kirsteen]

Day 10 (typing this the morning after - again)

8.30 Black coffee

9.30 Cabbage & roast veg with 2 eggs fried in coconut oil

1.30 soup (as yesterday) with crumbled bacon instead of chicken

Made this http://civilizedcavemancooking.com/crockpot/apple-pumpkin-butter/ in the afternoon. It's absolutely delicious but I can see why I'd never make it during a W30. I'm splitting it into small portons and freezing some of it because, for me, it's definitely 'food with no brakes'

3.00 *interesting* coffee. i made my normal black filter coffee, then threw it in the blender with vanilla powder, cacao powder & some leftover coconut milk. Hmmm, I enjoyed it, sort of but, whereas I've always taken my coffee straight black and love the bitter taste, I felt this concoction *should* be sweeter. Maybe i just had too much cacao powder?

6.30 Chicken breast with roast veggies and sweet potato.

Had really sore stomach, felt shaky, sick, stomach bit upset, couldn't sleep. Today I just feel as if I'd been kicked. Sooo frustrating. I've always had an easily upset stomach. I've had all the foods before and they're fine. I'm beginning to wonder if I kept the bone broth a bit too long? Unfortunately it's in the soup and all the veggies except the sweet potato . I'm going to throw them out and start again and see how I get on

[Kirsteen]

Day 11 Been totally crashed all day. Very shaky and dizzy whenever I stood up so meals were whatever was easiest

9.30 Black coffee

11.00 2 eggs with sweet potato and apple pumkin nut mix

4.00 chicken with sweet potato and apple pumkin nut mix

8.00 small bowl blueberries

[Kirsteen]

Day 12. slept on and off through the night and then slept in til 9.00 this morning. Cat was not impressed at the delay in his breakfast.

9.30 Black coffee

11.00 last night's leftovers

5.00 brisket, cualiflower, carrots & brussel sprouts, with leftover spoonful of seet potato. 2 unsweetened home made chocolates.

[Kirsteen]

Day 13 slowly climbing back up the greasy pole

9.30 Black coffee (making it with less coffee and a portion of decaff)

11.00 Last night's leftovers

5.30 mince with onions and tomato sauce with carrots, cauliflower and broccoli

[Kirsteen]

Day 14 Okay 2 weeks post W60. Today I had scrambled egg with mushrooms and spring onions for breakfast, home made primal pack for lunch and home made burger with raw ketchup, sweet potatoes, green beans and broccoli for dinner.

This was the first time I've actually had anything non-compliant as the burger had a tiny amount of chipotle in adobo sauce which contains sugar. I actually hesitated about eating it. I realised that logging my food still makes me feel that I should be W30 compliant which kinda defeats the purpose of going it alone. I want to continue basically eating this way for life, I never saw it as a quick-fix. However, I do need to lighten up and not be so rigid, therefore I'm going to stop logging my food and just report in occasionally about how things are going.

[Kirsteen]

testing

[Derval]

testing 1, 2, 3...

How you enjoying the aminos?

[Kirsteen]

I like the coconut aminos but I'm loving the fish sauce. I hadn't realised how much I'd missed it 'til I got the bottle you sent. It just seems to round out the flavour of so much. I think it may be my new addiction

[Derval]

Doh that's what I meant of course!

Good stuff

[AmyS]

I'm just reading this for the first time, and it's like you're in my head. I'm doing a third Whole30 in January and then your style of reintroduction sounds exactly like what would suit me. Plus, "pfaff around with the teapot" is my new favorite expression. Unfortunately I've never owned a teapot in my life so I'll have to bide my time waiting to use it, and then POUNCE as sooon as the opportunity presents itself.

Anyway, thank you for talking about what you eat, how, how often, and what you choose to introduce, keep, try, etc. This makes sense to me, in my way of thinking about Whole30 and whole life.

[Kirsteen]

Hi Amy, thanks for stopping by. I just realised I lasted posted my food log nearly a month ago so for all anyone knows i could now be living on McDonalds, Pizza hut and Kentucky Fried with a side helping of Dunkin Doughnuts - Yeuch, I can't think of anything worse.

I'd say in all honesty I'm still about 99% compliant and definitely feeling better for it. I haven't reintroduced grains or legumes or dairy, I've absolutely no desire to. I have had the odd square of really dark chocolate but have cut it out recently as I could see it becoming a bit of a habit. I'm still following the meal plans and, though it probably took me longer than most, I'm really enjoying having breakfast.

I very rarely eat out so that hasn't been a problem. In the house, I've decided I won't go back to anything with dodgy oils or chemicals in the ingredients but longterm will accept organic sauces or pickles that a have a *little* sugar or honey. I did try a spoonful of organic miso in my bone broth (bones are still being regularly sourced) and quite enjoyed that, had no ill effects but haven't repeated it.

I still like to prepare lots of veg in advance and have things ready to grab quickly if I don't feel like cooking. However my daughter was staying with us for a few days and only flew home last night so today's breakfast was a little more carb heavy than I like (I love my greens). Today I had

Black coffee

Leftover spaghetti squash and sweet potato with cooked hamfried in coconut oil and an egg scrambled through.

Soup with the rest of the cooked ham

Roasted parsnip, carrot and beetroot with sprouts, onion, green beans and kale with a massive home made burger slathered in home made mayo.

I really enjoy eating like this and see no need to change

Cooked ham, spaghetti