Difwiz's Whole30 Log

[difwiz]

I am on Day 5 of my first ever Whole30 and I think I am doing pretty well. I didn't eat a lot of junk before starting, I had an occasional soda or fried food, but my worst habits were grains and cheese.

I have made 3 things this week that have kept me on track by being incredibly delicious and satisfying, and also provided leftovers for other meals.

The first of these things is the quick chili from the It Starts With Food book. I made the beef master recipe using 100% grass fed beef and that alone was completely delicious. I ate a little of it the night I made it and saved the rest for later, using about 1/3 of it the next day for a salad. I wouldn't do that again, because I used coconut oil in the cooking and it solidified as soon as it touched the lettuce and was kind of gross. The next day, I used the rest of the meat for the quick chili and it is amazing. I used what ended up being 1/2 pound of meat, 2 cans of diced tomatoes, a red pepper, a green pepper, about 10 olives, some salt, pepper, garlic powder, and Penzey's Chili 3000. It yielded 4 servings and I just had some today for breakfast. So satisfying.

I was seriously tempted to break from the Whole30 this morning. I was in a client meeting and my boss brought in pastries from Panera and two of those warm quiche things and we were in a small closed room for about an hour. The smell those things were giving off was driving me nuts! I almost caved several times, but each time, I remembered the quick chili I had in the fridge for breakfast and saved myself from breaking off my Whole30. The chili is THAT GOOD.

The next thing that I made that was really good was chicken curry. I had some baked chicken in the fridge and diced that up. I sauteed a diced onion and roasted veggies I had (a bag of frozen cauliflower, a bag of frozen broccoli, and a few carrots along with coconut oil, salt, and pepper) and added those to the onion, along with the chicken, some sliced grape tomatoes, some mild curry powder, and a can of coconut milk. I should have used more veggies because once the veggies were roasted, they only yielded about a cup and a half, but the recipe in the book called for 1-2 cups of veggies per person and it made 4 servings. The one thing that would make me not want to make it again was the fact that I think the curry powder didn't agree with me. I might try using a curry paste next time if I can find one that is Whole30 approved.

The last thing that I made that I am definitely going to make again is Salisbury Steak. It isn't from the It Starts With Food book, but I saw it on a video clip featuring paleo food, tried it, and was blown away by the flavor. The only thing I would change would be cooking the onions and garlic first before mixing it in with the ground beef and actually making veggies to go on the side. This is the video I saw. I am looking forward to this weekend when I can make this again.

I just found a local grass-fed grass-finished beef farmer who also raises pastured chickens. I am really excited about this because I can get a pound of ground beef for less $ per pound than I can get at Whole Foods. The eggs are less expensive too (and Whole Foods is always out of their pastured eggs). We bought a few pounds of ground beef, 3 dozen eggs, and a few pounds of soup bones (in anticipation of making the beef broth in the It Starts With Food book).

I can't say if I have lost any weight so far because it is so hard to tell with me, and I instructed my husband to hide the scale, but I can tell that I am feeling better already. I have noticed when I did paleo off and on before that I had less digestive distress and a less bloaty feeling, and I am noticing it again now. Before, though, I have never cut out dairy or dark chocolate or wine, so this is a new thing for me. The coffee in the office here is not good black, so I am bringing tea and a small pour-over coffee brewing filter holder so I can make coffee that tastes less offensive.

I am going to try to write here often, but probably not every day, and probably not to the length I wrote today...I just have a few days of pent-up things to write about today.

4 days down, 26 to go!

[difwiz]

Today is Day 7 of what I guess is my "Whole21 practice run" before I start the sponsored Whole30 on January 1.

I realized yesterday that the chili that I made a few days ago had trace amounts of sugar from the Penzey's Taco Seasoning that I threw into the pot as an afterthought. My husband and I were in Penzey's to get him some more pasta sprinkle (a combo of herbs he likes a lot) and I picked up a jar of the taco seasoning that I have at home and noticed that sugar is listed as an ingredient. Not the first ingredient, but one of the ones farther down. I think I had the chili on Days 3, 4, and 5, so that invalidated my Whole21 clean run attempt. As far as I know, I haven't made any other mistakes, but I do realize that this has restarted my Whole count as of yesterday.

I have also not flown off track like I have been prone to do when I made a mistake in the past and am committed to making it through this practice 21 without any more mistakes. However, I know that I can't technically call it a "Whole 21" since I did screw up and have to start the count all over. That is why I am calling it the practice run. 21 days of Whole30-ing, trying not to make a mistake and living as if I didn't screw up already, to get ready for the real thing in January.

I haven't had much of an appetite yesterday and today. I woke up late yesterday and had kind of a lazy morning in bed with my husband, catching up on some shows on the DVR. I made my paleo salisbury steak and had that for breakfast, putting the other 3 portions in glass containers in the freezer for future use. I skipped lunch (see the nap below) and for dinner, tried TheClothesMakeTheGirl's mayo recipe at dinner so I could make the egg salad I had been craving. I didn't have any lemon juice so I used Bragg's Apple Cider Vinegar instead. The mayo didn't turn out to have the same consistency as hers does in the video (it was more like a sauce) and was yellower (maybe my eggs had richer yolks) and smelled and tasted strongly of vinegar. I will be using bottled lemon juice next time to try to get the same results. I did use it in my egg salad last night though.

Today, I made scrambled eggs and had them beside some leftover roasted veggies for breakfast. I didn't eat lunch again (see nap again below) but I made more egg salad tonight for dinner. This time, I am having it on a bed of lettuce with some paprika and mustard powder mixed in and some crumbled bacon on top. I might reheat some more of the roasted veggies again too. Those were good (broccoli, cauliflower, and butternut squash with coconut and olive oils, salt, and pepper).

Only on rare occasions have I ever taken a nap, but yesterday and today, I just had to. I was EXHAUSTED mid-way through the day. It was all I could do to keep my eyes open and I utterly failed. My nap today did help with the headache I was feeling this morning, but I think it is coming back now. I know I am not drinking enough water, and am trying to be conscious of my thirst, but I have a lot to learn still about my body's signals.

Well, my husband just got finished cooking the bacon, and it smells amazing, so I am going to have to wrap it up here. My husband is not on any kind of paleo plan, but he has been interested in some of the things I have been cooking lately. He just had his final exam for the class he was taking this semester on Wednesday and has agreed to read the Mark Sisson book I have while he is on winter break (he works full time too, so he doesn't have a lot of time, but he said he would fit it in.

Also, I am trying to get my sister on the other side of the country to do the January Whole 30 with me. She is really healthy and slim and fit and has done Paleo before, so she knows what she would be getting herself into. I just hope she agrees.

[SarahEmily]

heya I also makemy own mayo.. do you use a stick blender?? i find that if i do that and keep hitting the power button and mixing things up for a minute or so after the mayo has formed it gets thicker as you go.. also lemon juice is defs the way to go, tastes soo much better!!!

[difwiz]

Hi SarahEmily, no, but I do think I have one somewhere. I was using my VitaMix on the absolute lowest setting, which, from the comments below the recipe, may still be too fast. I am going to try the lemon juice and my Cuisinart food processor next, but if that doesn't work, will definitely try the stick blender...if I can find it .

[SarahEmily]

If you can find it, it's a whole lot easier than using a blender. You can put all the ingredients into the glass/jar/container at once (including the oil) let it sit for 30 seconds so the lemon juice/egg etc is all settled at the bottom and then put the stick blender in, and give about 5-10 short sharp wizzes, and you should already see the mayo start to form. Once that happens you can go for life!

[difwiz]

Okay so I was talking to my mom last night and she asked me if my husband and I were going to go out to eat on Christmas and I said no, because I am trying this strict Paleo thing for 30 days and the places I would want to go would be using non-Whole30 approved ingredients. She completely ripped into me about "being too strict" and how we should eat "everything in moderation" and how "eliminating so many things is just so hard" and how I have done so many other "severe" eating plans (not like the cabbage soup diet, but being a vegetarian for so many years).

I gave it right back to her. I said, that yeah, it is going to be hard, but being fat is really hard too. And it is only for 30 days and if it is too hard, I can go back to the way I ate before the 30 days, but I have tried so many other things and they didn't work. This is at least worth a try. I told her that when I did little spurts of Paleo, I did feel better after I ate than when eating regularly. I have tried the "everything in moderation" but exactly how is that working for me?....IT'S NOT! (and it's not really working for her either, by the way).

Oh, and while I was talking to her on the phone about this, she was in the process of making about 100 homemade marshmallows (some dipped in chocolate) to send to me, my husband, and my sister for Christmas. She then began to talk about how she was all ready for a snowstorm that was headed her way...she had plenty of milk, bread, sugar, flour, butter, etc. I said, "sounds like you are ready to bake, not feed yourself during a storm." Then she said, oh yeah, I need to make some Christmas cookies. I suggested that she not make Christmas cookies since she would be the only one eating them. She balked at the idea. I suggested that maybe she could make one batch of her favorite cookie and then share with my aunt, who lives 30 minutes away. She sounded sad that she had to stop at one batch. I don't think she will take my advice. I think, in the next few days, there will be at least 5 kinds of cookies being baked, yielding approximately 10 dozen cookies.

I am sad that she is going to do this, but I can't stop her. I loaned her my Mark Sisson book, and then she bought a copy for herself, but she says that even trying Paleo for 21 days would be too hard because she just loves bread so much. I guess all I can do is give her the information I have and lead by example. We are having a family vacation in July for 2 weeks at the beach, so maybe when she sees what (I hope) is my new, healthier body, she will come around.

Ok, I am done complaining for now.

[Susan W]

Leading by example is the best way to go unless someone asks for your advice. One of my favorite sayings; Radically changing your way of eating is hard. Being fat and unhealthy is hard. Choose your hard.

You should be very proud of making the choice to live a healthier life and not worry about others.

[SarahEmily]

oh dear, thats no good at all!!! i suppose you are right there is nothing more you can do than provide her with info... and of couse the amazing results after you finish the whole30!!