David H. Posted November 17, 2017 Share Posted November 17, 2017 I am on Day 5 now. I notice it says 'Log' but not even I am interested in my own day by day accounting of my little journey here, so assume you all could do without every little detail. I had a funny situation the other day. I was cooking while my wife was fixing our single cup coffee maker (role reversal in our house). To test the system she made a cup and sure enough, it worked fine. The mug was nice and warm so I picked it up out of habit and took a sip. It was hot chocolate! I immediately spit it out in the sink and washed my mouth out. It was kinda funny and hope the Whole30 police don't tell me I broke a rule and have to start over :). I have been really pleasantly surprised how the kids just eat what we serve them and seem to enjoy it. I do tend to put a fair amount of seasoning on everything and hope that helps. First weekend on the program and my son's birthday, Thanksgiving and holiday parties will make this an interesting few weeks. My biggest takeaway: be more thorough in my meal planning. I am following the first weeks menu but had issues getting the full menu 100% right. I tried to wing it and need to be a little more disciplined. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David H. Posted November 19, 2017 Author Share Posted November 19, 2017 Made it a week. I am doing ok but am getting hungry in the afternoons. I don't even bother trying to eat out. Am afraid I am eating too much in the way of sweet potato and not enough regular veg. The planning is my biggest weakness. I can make the compliant ingredients taste really good, but I am not the best planner. Now I have to survive Thanksgiving and will end my 30 just after my son's 18th birthday. I am glad I am doing this, just need to focus more on the planning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators ShannonM816 Posted November 20, 2017 Moderators Share Posted November 20, 2017 6 hours ago, David H. said: Made it a week. I am doing ok but am getting hungry in the afternoons. I don't even bother trying to eat out. Am afraid I am eating too much in the way of sweet potato and not enough regular veg. The planning is my biggest weakness. I can make the compliant ingredients taste really good, but I am not the best planner. Now I have to survive Thanksgiving and will end my 30 just after my son's 18th birthday. I am glad I am doing this, just need to focus more on the planning. If you are hungry between meals, there could be a couple of things going on. If you aren't able to go 4-5 hours between meals pretty easily, you may need bigger meals, or to increase the fat in your meals. If you're able to go that long between meals, but you have a longer gap between lunch and dinner, it's okay to eat between meals. Try to have a combo of protein, fat, and vegetables, or at least two of the three. As for planning, many people find it helpful to do a weekly cookup, so you're not actually planning out every meal, you're just making sure there's always stuff in the fridge, so even if you get home late or don't feel your best, you can basically just pull stuff out and heat it up. Here's a description of how this can work: http://meljoulwan.com/2010/01/14/paleo-kitchen-the-method-behind-my-madness/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David H. Posted November 21, 2017 Author Share Posted November 21, 2017 Thanks ShannonM816 for the good advice. I think part of my issue was that I was still in my first week. I have noticed lately that I no longer have the urge to eat late in the evening. Normally I have my 2nd and third dinner at 9 and 11 pm. I can honestly say that for the past few nights I have not been interested in eating at all after dinner. So far my favorite breakfast has been sweet potato and potato hash with a fried egg on top. I used the left over brisket in the hash and then with the fried egg on top, i was not hungry until well in to the afternoon. If you are in your first few days, hang in there, once you get near the end of the first week you start to see some light at the end of the tunnel. I am not kidding myself, I am not even half way through and this is Thanksgiving week, but I am visualizing myself getting through the next 22 days and get to 'celebrate' a little around Christmas. (I actually love cooking and my wife seems to be enjoying the fact that she does not have to do all the heavy lifting for dinner.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miabrasil Posted November 24, 2017 Share Posted November 24, 2017 " I can make the compliant ingredients taste really good". Give us some tips, David!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David H. Posted November 27, 2017 Author Share Posted November 27, 2017 I wish the tips were mine, but I really just followed the recipes in the Whole30 book! I will say, the 21 Seasoning Salute spice from Trader Joe's is one of my favorites. Specifically: I always add a little more garlic and/or onion (either real or spice). Really other than that, it is all just right out of the book. Just last night I finally made some of the Salmon cakes. I was not thinking it would be that good, but they really are. Again, I added some additional spice (and substituted pumpkin for the sweet potato. I made it through the holiday weekend with no problems. I even had my first 'test' by enjoying a fun night with some dear friends who had a LOT of good looking (non-compliant) food and beverages. I made it though with no problems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vee716 Posted November 27, 2017 Share Posted November 27, 2017 I love the salmon cakes. I'll have to try them with pumpkin instead of sweet potato. Thanks for the idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miabrasil Posted November 27, 2017 Share Posted November 27, 2017 Thats great!!! I believe that if we are well fed, we can make through occasions like that, full of non-compliant food and beverages. Today is my 29th day. I´m very happy. I will continue doing the diet, and my plan is to try more recipies from the book. The only one I prepared was the chilli. It tasted FANTASTIC. I will look for this "21 Seasoning Salute", but I must confess that, for now, I have no idea what it is! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David H. Posted November 27, 2017 Author Share Posted November 27, 2017 Happy Birthday!! Glad you are starting at such a young age. I am going to turn 51 in a couple of months and wish I had found this years ago. If you have a Trader Joe's near by, it is just one of their seasonings. The spaghetti squash w/ground beef is also pretty great (as is the Bangors and acorn squash). My kids ate both without even knowing it was 'special'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David H. Posted November 30, 2017 Author Share Posted November 30, 2017 I am on Day 18 now and thought I would check in. I am not one to think that my journey is all that interesting, but thought (for myself at least) it would be worth writing things down from time to time. I certainly have had much better focus over the past week to 10 days. Also, I don't look at myself in the mirror and really see a difference, I have noticed I am using more an more belt holes on my pants. For grins I tried on a pair of shorts that were hopelessly too small for me (a gift from someone) a year ago and I could actually put them on last night. That is amazing to me. On the positive side I am not hungry anymore between meals. On the negative side, I have relied too much on potatoes and need to incorporate more 'real' green veggies. I am looking forward to the 2nd half of my Whole30 and hope the progress continues. (I have noticed a big change in my dreams as well. It is very odd, I have what seem like 'epic' dreams that go on forever. Not sure if it is related, but I it noticeable. Best to all! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David H. Posted December 11, 2017 Author Share Posted December 11, 2017 Wow, I honestly surprised myself when I found out today was Day29! I didn't check my email for my daily reminders over the weekend. I thought for sure Wed was going to be my Day30 and it turns out tomorrow is it. For those of you starting or considering it, please do it. I honestly can't say I feel like I have missed out on that much. I did go through Thanksgiving on Whole30 as well as my son's 18th birthday. I cooked most of the food for Thanksgiving so that wasn't a big deal. I skipped the mashed potatoes and mac and cheese that my wife made, but honestly, it wasn't that hard. I have been sleeping much better over these 30 days and I have been much more focused than I have been in decades. I do admit I look forward to sharing a glass of wine with friends as well as having a treat now and again, but this past (almost) 30 days has shown me it is not that hard to make good food choices. The hardest part was planning the menu so I can eat this way. I did very well the first 2+ weeks, but this past week I was caught up in other things and had to relay on eggs and roasted veggies to get me through the day. Physically I have seen improvements. My belts do not have enough holes in them anymore, I have pulled the belt all the way to in and it is still a little loose. I can fit back in the suits and shirts that were custom made for me back in 1996 (don't judge, they are well make clothes that are 'timeless'). I obviously don't know my weight and looking at myself in the mirror I don't really notice a difference, but I can tell from my shirts and pants that there has been a change. I purchased the two new books and look forward to more recipes and continuing on with my journey. I plan to take my wife to see Melissa at her book tour when she comes to DC in January. Thanks to those who have commented or 'liked' my blog post, I was hesitant to post on the forum but am glad I did. There are others who are much more articulate with their posts, but I did feel like I should at least put something out there. I would stick with this plan even if I had not noticed the changes in my body. What reason could there be to NOT try to improve how you eat? Stay strong, follow through, it isn't that bad if you have the right attitude and you will be rewarded. Cheers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samalope Posted December 11, 2017 Share Posted December 11, 2017 Congrats on your success! I agree that it is worth it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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