Kirbz's Whole30 Log

[kirbz]

@TEwhole30 Thank you for the feedback! I''ll definitely look into pairing the hummus with some Paleo crackers or bread in the future. I'm not quite ready to reintroduce those things yet, so I'll wait a bit, but that's a great idea! I did reintroduce hummus last night and I simply dipped my shawarma in it. It was wonderful and I didn't have any ill side effects. 

Also, note that I'm a complete hummus snob and only buy it from family-owned, hole-in-the-wall, Middle Eastern restaurants (preferably Lebanese). I don't buy any of that store bought garbage. So my hummus is pure and delicious! If you haven't tried Middle Eastern hummus, you are most definitely missing out! :-) 

[nutburger]

@kirbz, I read your thread when I lack motivation. Thank you for your posts - they have really been helpful. I hope Peanut Butter reintroduces well!!

[hollysmokes]

Hi @kirbz I hope all is going well! I'm curious about your watch! I'm on the fence about getting one but I really want to know my distance traveled daily; not just steps since that's so inaccurate, especially with it strapped to your wrist. I noticed when you log your data that you only log steps and not miles. Do you find it to be fairly accurate? I work with someone that said she "walked"  a couple of thousand steps when she was sitting on her sofa watching football, drinking soda and snacking. Since you wear yours all the time, when/how often do you have to charge it? Right now, unless I have my phone on my person (which I rarely do at home) I just get partial information and I'm starting to want more data but (since I am sort of in the data business) bad data is worse than no data so I'm torn.

[kirbz]

ROUND 2 REINTRODUCTION Day 5: Thursday, January 10

Foods Reintroduced Today: legumes (peanut butter) + sugar 

How I Felt: I ate several large spoonfuls of Skippy Naturals Extra Crunchy Peanut butter in the morning and several again in the afternoon. Unfortunately, the peanut butter also had some sugar. I didn't feel any discomfort or an negative side effects except that a new pimple appeared on my forehead. Considering I made it through my period and a some significant stress with out any at all, I think it's likely due to the hummus or peanut butter. I also had a hard time controlling how much I ate. I ate way more than I intended to eat (probably a half cup throughout the day). 

Thoughts/Reflections: 

I'm happy I'm doing the structured reintroductions, but my findings so far are about what I expect. I don't think I'm particularly sensitive to food. I think it's more of a cumulative effect that causes me to feel significantly different. However, I'll push forward with grains and non-gluten bread on Sunday! 

[kirbz]

@hollysmokes Hmm... that's a good question. As I mentioned, I have the Garmin Fenix 5s, which is a pretty expensive watch. I use it for two things: 

Mostly, I have it to track my workouts. I have the separate heart rate monitor and I really like to have accurate data of my outdoor activities in order to track and gauge my overall fitness. I also I like it because I can track pretty much everything I do, including hiking, snowshoeing, paddleboarding, trail running, biking and even swimming with a ton of different data points. 

Secondarily, I use it to track my day-to-day activity. I like this because I work in an office and it's just too easy to let the whole day go by with hardly any movement. So I like the watch to help me make sure I move throughout the day. But, frankly, I don't care about the accuracy of that data as much. The app does give me an overall mileage for the day but I have no sense of whether it is accurate. 

So yeah, the data is great when you're in activity mode, you're using the GPS, and you have the external heart rate monitor. I'm not sure on the other data, but I don't care about that as much. 

I charge the battery a couple of times week. If I'm not doing anything in activity mode with GPS, it'll last about a week. And the most common times I find that it inaccurately counts step is when I'm chopping vegetables (because I wear my watch on my dominant hand, unlike most people) and when we're driving on bumpy, dirt roads. 

That was long but I hope it helps. I absolutely love the watch (bonus that it's actually a very beautiful watch), but it sounds like I use it for a bit of a different purpose. Let me know if you have any other questions! 

[hollysmokes]

Does chopping vegetables count as an "activity"? That helps a lot; thanks. It sounds like the app converts the number of steps into miles? What about when you're backpacking? I assume you just don't use it in GPS mode so it keeps a charge? There are so many options that I don't know how I'll ever decide! 

[kirbz]

Yeah, I think it does some sort of conversion from steps to miles. As I said, I'm not sure how that works and for me, I don't really care. Perhaps some Googling will help! 

I use the watch in GPS mode and with an external Garmin heart rate monitor for almost all of my outdoor activities, including backpacking. I take a small, portable charging stick when we do three days or longer in the backcountry and that gives me what I need to keep the thing charged throughout the trip (of course I only keep it in GPS mode when we're actually hiking, not when we're setting up and milling about camp).  

Honestly, Garmin has a lot of more moderately priced products that do almost the same thing. I LOVE Garmin and would recommend one to anyone, but perhaps you don't need something like the Fenix series. I've previously trained for a triathlon and want to do so again, so I have this one because I can record water activities and even heart rate when I swim. But most people wouldn't need that and you can save a lot of money if you give up on that feature alone. 

[kirbz]

ROUND 2 REINTRODUCTION Day 6: Friday, January 11

Foods Reintroduced Today: none

How I Felt: I found another pimple on my forehead. So, either the garbanzo beans, peanut butter, or sugar in the peanut butter makes me break out. That's a bummer! I mean, it isn't severe, but I loved the clear skin I had...

Sunday should reveal more as I reintroduce non-gluten breads and white rice (and maybe quinoa). For now, I'm back to Whole30 and even three meals a day! And you know what, it isn't even that hard. 

[kirbz]

ROUND 2 REINTRODUCTION Day 7-8: Saturday, January 12 to Sunday, January 13 

I did not end up reintroducing non-gluten grains over the weekend. Honestly, I just didn't feel like it. I preferred to eat Whole30. It feels pretty comfortable for me and I wanted the benefits of eating that way. I didn't want to deal with any more unpleasant side effects (even though it was only a couple of pimples). I also didn't want to mess with my cravings anymore, because I noticed a pretty significant increase in sugar cravings after that darned peanut butter! So, I ate Whole30 and it was delicious and satisfying and I felt good. 

In fact, I'm questioning the whole reintroduction thing as I don't think it will inform anything. I'm gonna eat what I eat, when I feel like it. I still need to read Food Freedom Forever but, for special occasions and an occasional splurge, I'm gonna eat a Red Robin burger no matter how it makes me feel. And I'm really starting to feel confident that Paleo is the right long-term choice for me, so why bother? I'd rather introduce Paleo desserts! But I have a ways to go before I think I can do that without going out of control! 

But, I'll probably carry on. I just need to plan the reintroductions better. Who knew that would be a problem!? LOL. I just don't have the right ingredients around and I don't know what to prepare to reintroduce the foods! 

[kirbz]

Okay, I'm planning to reintroduce non-gluten grains today! I'm starting off with some unsweetened instant oatmeal this morning, which has oats, amaranth, and quinoa in it. Not ideal to reintroduce all three at once, but my options for instant oatmeal packets that I can eat at my desk that are gluten-free and sugar-free are limited! I will then have some shawarma with rice from my favorite Middle Eastern restaurant for both lunch and dinner. I may also try to get some corn in there somewhere, because I do like corn! 

More information to come! I honestly don't really feel like eating this stuff but I need the learning! I have a work conference next week with all food provided, so I want this finished before then. 

[kirbz]

ROUND 2 REINTRODUCTION Day 10: Tuesday, January 15

Foods Reintroduced Today: gluten-free oats + quinoa + amaranth; yellow rice 

How I Felt: I ate a bowl of gluten-free instant oatmeal with blueberries for breakfast. It was unsweetened, but contained oats, quinoa, and amaranth. I immediately felt terrible. I had a stomach ache that did not feel better for a few hours. I wasn't on the verge of throwing up or not being able to work, but it was uncomfortable. Oatmeal definitely isn't worth it. 

I then had yellow rice with shawarma and baba ganoush for lunch and then leftovers for dinner. I didn't feel anything negative after eating this, so that's good news. Rice, on occasion, would be nice for my future. It's so simple and hearty. 

I wish I had introduced corn but I didn't have the opportunity. I'll try that some other time. 

Thoughts/Reflections: 

I'm wondering if my results are unusual. I was surprised at my pretty definitive response to the oats/quinoa/amaranth. I honestly didn't think I was that sensitive to food and didn't think I would have such a dramatic response to any of my reintroductions. Mind you, dramatic for me is probably pretty mild for others, but still. And is it weird to have such a reaction to oats, but not to rice? 

I just got the menu for my three-day work event in DC next week. It doesn't look great. There's quite literally nothing at all I could eat for two of the meals so I'll have to figure those out. And every other meal will most definitely have suspect items (e.g., bacon, sausage, sauces, dressings, buffet-style scrambled eggs, etc.). I'm not going to ask about the ingredients in these items as it seems the willingness to accommodate my dietary needs is minimal, so that sucks. I hope all this hard work and feeling and looking great doesn't go to waste. Guh. It's one thing to go off-plan for something worthwhile. It sucks to go off-plan for garbage catered buffet-style food. But, at the same time, it's just not realistic to provide food for myself for that many  meals. We literally have events from 8:00 am to 9:00 or 10:00 pm. When would I even find food? And I'm most definitely not eating tuna packs and meat sticks for three days. Hopefully it won't be as bad as I'm thinking it will be! 

[kirbz]

Guh, it's Girl Scout Cookie season. And suddenly I find myself wondering what I learned from all of this. Because I just ordered six boxes of Caramel Delites and just can't find a reason why I shouldn't be able to eat an entire box as a reward to myself for being oh-so good during the last month and a half.... 

Yikes, I really need to read Food Freedom Forever and come up with a better strategy to deal with these Girl Scout Cookies! 

[kirbz]

Today I'm reintroducing dairy! Yay! I've been waiting for this one. I plan to have some yogurt with breakfast, a couple slices of cheese with lunch, and some sour cream with dinner. This is stuff I'd actually like to be able to eat. I love cheese, crackers, and salami when camping and backpacking. I'd like to be able to continue that tradition. 

However, I am noting that I need to check my mindset about eating "bad" stuff. I still find myself thinking that if I'm working that hard, I should be able to eat whatever I want. But that's really a mindset based in calorie-counting. I don't want that and I don't believe that. If I believe this stuff isn't good for me, the amount I'm working shouldn't matter. It should depend on the occasion. 

So, just something for me to be mindful of. I can't think that I can eat whatever I want when I'm working out a lot. I should eat whatever I want when the occasion warrants it. Because how much I'm working out has nothing to do with it. If it isn't good for my body, it just isn't. But sometimes that may be worth it anyway. 

[hollysmokes]

Hey @kirbz! Sounds like some pretty good progress on your re-intro philosophy; congrats! I haven't re-intro-ed dairy yet because the opportunity just hasn't really presented itself but I will. I think I'm going to break it up into fresh cheese and aged cheeses just because of the different proteins/sugars involved. I should probably get moving on that before I find myself in a situation! One of my favorite meals in the world is a platter of cheese, cured meats, nuts, fruit, pickles and olives plus it travels well. Nothing like it when you're hiking and camping!

[kirbz]

ROUND 2 REINTRODUCTION Day 15: Sunday, January 20

Foods Reintroduced Today: plan, full-fat Greek yogurt; colby jack cheese + medium cheddar cheese; sour cream; corn 

How I Felt: I had a couple of spoonfuls of plain, full-fat Greek yogurt with breakfast. I would have liked to eat a little more but I had a really big breakfast and ate that last, so that's all I could eat. It tasted pretty good, despite being totally plain and unsweetened and I didn't have any ill-effects from it. 

I then had a couple of snack size portions of Tillamook Colby Jack and Tillamook Medium Cheddar cheeses. I then had one more of each later in the afternoon. Oh goodness, they were delicious! And I felt nothing significant after eating them! 

And then I had both sour cream and some corn tortilla for dinner (we made fish tacos). The corn tortillas were gross and not something I would ever eat again. The sour cream tasted delicious and I didn't really feel bad after eating either of them. 

In general, I ate A LOT of food today, so I felt very full throughout most of the day, but not bad from any of the food I ate. 

Thoughts/Reflections: 

Not much to say about today. I'm surprised dairy didn't have any effect on me. I'll definitely splurge on all of these items on occasion so I guess it's good to know they don't make me feel bad! 

 

[kirbz]

@hollysmokes I used to be really into the fancy aged cheese but I now mostly just like simple cheeses like pepperjack. LOL. Not very sophisticated but delicious! I should probably get back to the aged cheese because they pack much better on backpacking trips! :-) I don't even remember which ones I like anymore! 

In general, I honestly struggled with the reintroductions. One, because I'm a little afraid to veer away from Whole30. I do much better with very black and white rules, so I'm not sure how to maintain my good eating habits after Whole30. And two, because I've become so accustomed to eating this way that it was actually a little inconvenient to try and figure out how to bring all these foods back into my diet! 

I wish you the best on your dairy reintroduction! 

[hollysmokes]

Me too; a nice cheddar or jack is fine with me for aged cheese and there's a guy around here that makes really good cheese that we'll get sometimes but then it's easy to over-do it because they're so good. Aside from real-deal Parmesan, the only fancy aged cheese we go for is aged gouda-yuuuum! We had a salami, olive and pickle plate for dinner last night and I passed on the cheese. I just wasn't feeling it and was fine with skipping it so, taking a page out of your book, I decided it wasn't the occasion for it. By fresh cheese I mean things like mozzarrella, queso fresco, burrata, ricotta- not aged at all so they have lots of lactose left in them. I love all of those and make them but not often because they become food without brakes- especially the burrata.

Since I did a careful and uneventful re-intro last time, I'm not as anxious to repeat it this time so I'll take it one item at a time when the opportunity presents itself- very slow roll. I had a few (very few) peanuts last week and, at my husband's request, I might make some hummus to bring to a party this weekend so that would bring legumes back in. 

I do better with black and white rules, too! Thank you W30!

[kirbz]

ROUND 2 REINTRODUCTION Day 16-19: Monday, January 21 to Thursday, January 24

Foods Reintroduced Today: everything 

How I Felt: I had a training event in DC and had little to no opportunity to provide my own food. And so, I'm sure I ate a whole lot of non-compliant foods. And I felt pretty awful most of the time. I had a stomach ache significant enough that I thought I might have to spend some time in the bathroom on more than one occasion. And my stomach generally felt very rumbly almost the entire time. And I was super, super tired and had zero motivation to wake up early or work out. 

Thoughts/Reflections: 

This whole experience was extremely frustrating, because I was eating those things not because I wanted to, but because I didn't have another choice. Though I did make the smartest choices that I could. For example, I ate tomato soup, which likely had some form of dairy, because it was a reasonable part of the meal. But I didn't eat any bread or pastries or rolls for the majority of the meals. And I did not eat any form of sweet or dessert the entire time. 

The only time I didn't hold back at all (except on the desserts) was when we went to a Michelin-rated restaurant. The food was absolutely delicious and I wanted to eat and try everything, including some rolls. And it was 100% worth it. 

So, now I'm back and I'm actually completed thrilled to revert back to 100% Whole30 eating for a while. Because there's not reason not to and I want to feel good again. 

[kirbz]

I'm back to mostly Whole30 eating since my training event last week, but I do want to take a moment to summarize my reintroduction findings: 

• Garbanzo Beans (Hummus): no reaction
• Peanuts (Peanut Butter): no reaction but led to pretty significant cravings for a couple of days, likely because the peanut butter also has sugar (initially I thought it may have caused a minor breakout, but I had peanut butter again later with no reaction) 
• White Rice: no reaction 
• Oats (Oatmeal): stomach pain (this was my most significant reaction and is definitely not worth it at all) 
• Cheese (Tillamook Cheddar): no reaction 
• Yogurt (Full Fat, Plain Greek Yogurt): no reaction 
• Gluten Grain (Dinner Rolls): stomach pain

So, it seems that oats and gluten-containing grains are not good choices for me. The other stuff seems to be just fine. 

I'll likely include occasional hummus and rice as part of meals because they are easy and delicious. I'll likely include cheese as an occasional snack, mostly when hiking or camping or backpacking because we love that. Gluten grains will be for special occasions only, likely for special outings at burger joints and an occasional dinner roll if I really love the rolls. Otherwise, I don't plan to eat much outside of a Paleo lifestyle! Because that's what makes me feel good and I've found a sustainable way to do it! And it's delicious! 

I'm still somewhat terrified to reintroduce sweets. I definitely want to have Paleo desserts be a part of my lifestyle, but I'm not ready yet. And I still want to lose more weight. So more to come on that... after perhaps another month (perhaps aligning with when my Girl Scout Cookie order arrives). :-) 

[kirbz]

Food Freedom: Wednesday, January 30 

Today was not how I would have liked to eat. I felt "snacky" some time after breakfast but didn't feel like making anything. So I had some peanut butter. Except I ended up probably eating like a half a cup of it. That was not what I would have liked to do. It was not a very conscientious decision. I just didn't want to have to prepare a meal so I figured I should eat a decent amount of it. But then I really, really loved it so I kept eating it. It didn't even feel good to eat that much. But I did it anyway. 

And then I didn't want to prepare dinner either. And I wanted Thai food. So I ordered takeout from a local restaurant and had Thai food for dinner. I feel good about this decision, despite that I had made it a goal to go back to 100% Whole30 eating for a little while. And it has definitely not been a little while. 

Food choices are so odd. We have so many emotions and judgements built into the choices we make about what we eat. I don't want that. I just want to be able to embrace the choices I make. I don't embrace the peanut butter decision because that was just laziness and a stupid choice. I can feel good about my Thai decision because it was also laziness but at least a smart choice. 

Not sure where I'm going with this. Just documenting that I'm still struggling. And that it's hard to maintain a version of food freedom that I like and can feel good about. And that I still struggle to control how much I eat when it comes to off-plan foods. 

 

[kirbz]

Okay, I'm officially doing a mini reset. We were pretty much house-bound the whole weekend with feet of new snow, so I was bored, frustrated and unhappy. So I ate a bunch of stuff that did not make me feel very good (i.e., popcorn, cheetos, cheese, banana bread (in excess)). So I'm going to get back on track by doing a mini reset. 

I am also motivated by the fact that I will soon be starting a new training plan. I have big alpine goals this summer so I'm reading a book called "Training for the New Alpinism" and plan to develop a training plan for myself. I've never really done a training plan before, so this should be interesting! And in order to best set myself up for success, I want to start with a strong foundation of health and nutrition! Though, I will say that I'm a bit wary to get to the nutrition section in the book. I am really committed to this book and I'm not sure it will align at all with Whole30... More to come on that as I progress through the book. 

Anyway, I don't know how long I'll go with this reset, but I'm planning at least five days. And I'm going back to logging my food in detail in order to hold myself more accountable. So here goes!

[kirbz]

MINI RESET, Day 1: Monday, February 5

Sleep Last Night: 7 hours 08 minutes (0:48 deep; 4:32 light; 1:49 REM; 0:10 awake)

Wakeup: 6:00 am

Meal 1 (7:45 am): three scramble eggs cooked in leftover bacon fat; two slices of bacon; ~2.5 cups of cauliflower soup

Exercise (12:15-1:00 pm): 45-minute walk during my lunch break

Snack (1:30 pm): Gaia Herbs Liver Cleanse tea with one scoop collage powder

Meal 2 (2:30 pm): bowl of crockpot red curry with stew meat, onion, and green beans

Pre-Workout Meal (5:45 pm): two hard-boiled eggs

Exercise (6:30-7:45 pm): vinyasa yoga

Exercise (8:00-8:45 pm): personal spin class (using the CycleCast app)

Post-Workout Meal: none

Meal 3: none

Supplement(s): Primal Kitchen Collagen Peptides

Water Intake: ~80 oz

Steps: 13,791

Symptoms/NSVs:

• Funny pooping (I have been alternating constipation and nasty diarrhea the last few days)

Thoughts/Reflections: I clearly didn’t eat enough today. I did have some of the food, I just didn’t have a chance to eat it. When I came home from my double workout, I ended up chatting with my roommate for an hour. By that time, I just wanted to go to bed instead of prepare and eat a meal. And so I did.

This is fairly normal for me. When I decide to get healthy and fit, I tend to prioritize exercise over eating. But I need to find time for both because they work best when they work together!

[kirbz]

MINI RESET, Day 2: Tuesday, February 6

Sleep Last Night: 7 hours 17 minutes (0:43 deep; 4:45 light; 1:48 REM; 0:00 awake)

Wakeup: 6:30 am

Pre-Workout Meal: none  

Exercise (7:00-8:00 pm): cross-training class (183 max HR; 149 average HR)

Post-Workout Meal: none

Meal 1: none  

Snack (10:15 am): Gaia Herbs Liver Cleanse tea with one scoop collage powder

Meal 2 (12:00 pm): bowl of crockpot red curry with stew meat, onion, and green beans

Exercise (12:40-1:20 pm): 2.34 mile walk during my lunch break (135 max HR; 110 average HR)

Snack (7:30 pm): banana (because I was starving and dinner wasn’t ready)

Meal 3 (8:15 pm): strip steak seasoned with spices and grilled on the BBQ; baked potato with salt and ghee; bowl of cauliflower soup  

Supplement(s): Primal Kitchen Collagen Peptides

Water Intake: ~80 oz

Steps: 14,374

Symptoms/NSVs:

• Constipated
• Slight headache in the afternoon
• ·Extreme exhaustion in the afternoon

Thoughts/Reflections: I felt tired today. In all the ways. My muscles were tired from intense working out (after not much working out at all) and poor fueling (skipping meals and pre/post-workout probably wasn’t the smartest choice). I wanted to take a nap in the afternoon. And I was unfocused and unmotivated at work.

But I’m here. I’m back on Whole30. And I am killing the exercise! Yay me! 

[kirbz]

MINI RESET, Day 3: Wednesday, February 7

Sleep Last Night: 8 hours 42 minutes (0:26 deep; 4:56 light; 3:20 REM; 0:05 awake)

Wakeup: 6:45 am

Meal 1, Part 1 (7:30 am): three scrambled eggs with a splash of coconut milk cooked in leftover bacon fat; 2.5 slices of bacon; small glass or orange juice

Meal 1, Part 2 (10:00 am): large bowl of zucchini soup

Exercise (3:00-3:40 pm): 2.24 mile walk during my lunch break (119 max HR; 106 average HR)

Meal 2 (3:45 pm): meat stick; bowl of cauliflower soup

Pre-Workout Meal: none

Exercise (7:00-8:00 pm): indoor bouldering (114 max HR; 86 average HR)

Exercise (8:00-8:20 pm): 3x3 strength training circuit (arms + abs) (115 max HR; 91 average HR)

Post-Workout Meal: none

Meal 3 (9:30 pm): two salmon and sweet potato patties with Lizard Sauce; bowl of carrot caraway soup

Water Intake: ~60 oz

Steps: 14,052

Symptoms/NSVs:

• Fatigue (particularly muscle fatigue)

Thoughts/Reflections: I’m not eating and drinking enough for how much I’m working out. Not much else to report. I’m proud of myself for making these changes and this is kinda how I do it – dial in the exercise first and then the eating. Next week should be much better!

[kirbz]

MINI RESET, Day 4: Thursday, February 8

Sleep Last Night: 7 hours 57 minutes (1:12 deep; 3:48 light; 2:57 REM; 0:01 awake)

Wakeup: 6:30 am

Pre-Workout Meal: none

Exercise (7:00-8:00 pm): cross-training class (179 max HR; 143 average HR)  

Post-Workout Meal: none

Meal 1: none  

Snack (10:30 am): Gaia Herbs Liver Cleanse tea with one scoop collage powder

Meal 2 (11:30 am): chicken shawarma*; baba ganoush*; cucumber and tomato salad*; fresh-squeeezed pomegranate juice

Meal 3 (9:00 pm): four chicken tenders pan-cooked in avocado oil with BBQ sauce, salt, and pepper; one can of sliced potatoes pan-cooked in ghee; bowl of carrot caraway soup

Supplement(s): Primal Kitchen Collagen Peptides

Water Intake: ~70 oz

Steps: 11,887

Symptoms/NSVs:

• Strong cravings for chocolate

Thoughts/Reflections: Nothing significant to report today.  

 * My lunch may or may not have been fully compliant. It was from a local Lebanese restaurant and I have received conflicting information about what ingredients they use. There is also something of a language barrier when discussing specific ingredients. It’s a small, family-owned restaurant. I think it’s fairly highly likely that the food is compliant. And I did not have any form of negative reaction eating their foods as part of my reintroductions.