kshacklett Posted January 13, 2013 Share Posted January 13, 2013 I just made the tostones from your blog, and my husband and I agree they're the closest I've gotten to replicating the plantains we ate constantly on our honeymoon - thank you! As far as the gastrointestinal discomfort, this happens to me for a little bit whenever I add a lot of vegetables to my diet. It sounds like I'm passing gas, but it's all inside of me (just very loud!) During whole30 it happen days 2, 3, and then for a little bit around day 7 - hopefully that's it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Callan Posted January 13, 2013 Author Share Posted January 13, 2013 Incredibly happy to spread the plantain love. This morning my stomach hurt a bit, too. No rumbling, but a weird aching pain. I had a big breakfast and walked to work (1/2 mile) and then was on my feet. It subsided after about 45 minutes. Weird. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Callan Posted January 14, 2013 Author Share Posted January 14, 2013 I was up at five to get ready for work, so I scrambled three eggs, and fried a small sweet potato with an onion. This was too much onion! But with an avocado and some salsa, it was a satisfying way to start the day. …Until I got a stomachache at work. This went away after about 45 minutes, with some herbal tea. Then I started drinking lots of black coffee. Probably 24oz total. Yikes. Lunch was the same stew as yesterday, but I tossed some pomegranate seeds in! Not bad! At around 4pm I was hungry again and home so I fried up a grass-fed beef burger, some more sweet potato fries, fried cubanero peppers, some cold slaw, mustard, romaine lettuce, tomato slices, and the rest of that avocado. Can you tell I was hungry? Er, and afterwards I had some coconut flakes and cashews. I think it has to be hormones doing this, and stress. I keep picking at my head. Grrr… Things I need to do: Organize and clean my room so I'm less stressed Get some more sleep Go to the library and read more Set up my tea station so I drink more tea Things I need to cook: More burgers Chicken saag or more Thai curry Tuna salad Sweet potato wedges Mashed cauliflower Roast kabocha squash And probably some more stuff. I feel a bit out of control, but I'll just go easy on myself this week. Work out a bit but not too much, eat plenty of carbs, ditch the coconut flakes and fruit and nuts. It'll be fine, I promise. Yes I'm talking to myself. No, I'm not super confident. But tomorrow is another day! I'm not concerned about making non-compliant food choices... I'm frustrated by my habits. I think, this week, I need to eat even larger meals to ensure these cravings don't stand a chance. Maybe even four complaint meals, I don't know. But I will figure something out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
captainninjapeters Posted January 14, 2013 Share Posted January 14, 2013 Hey... just remember.. if you work out you get a freebie meal! Could your GI stuff be associated with onions? I absolutely CANNOT eat an onion without pain, etc. Especially red/purple onions. I hope you feel better soon! Stay strong. Don't beat yourself up-- cashews are soooo hard to resist. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melbournegirl Posted January 14, 2013 Share Posted January 14, 2013 I get severe and I mean severe pain from onion, even from food chopped on the same board as an onion Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Callan Posted January 14, 2013 Author Share Posted January 14, 2013 Well, the cashews are gone now so no need to worry! I guess it could be onion... I'd be sad, though, 'cos I like onion a lot... so many things to experiment with! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melbournegirl Posted January 15, 2013 Share Posted January 15, 2013 Hey Callan, just a thought, my skin has been quite good but flared up now due to too much coffee I think? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aberrantatavia Posted January 15, 2013 Share Posted January 15, 2013 Callan, I really enjoyed catching up on your journey. I do the same thing with little containers with me all the time, and I work long hours so sometimes I have a billion of them:) I just found bento boxes finally too. They will be great for hiking this year. Some of your combinations remind me of the "snack packs" Melissa creates for herself in Well Fed. It's something on the agenda today, to make a few of them up for the rest of the week. Jumbo, thanks for the info on sock doc, I have been reading through the site and its very interesting stuff, and makes a lot of sense why I have never been able to "make myself a real runner" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Callan Posted January 15, 2013 Author Share Posted January 15, 2013 Thanks, Aberrantatavia! I was just wondering how you were doing. I'm still slightly struggling with the stomach pains. I think it might be stress, since there really is no common dietary link on a daily basis. I just made a post in the troubleshooting forum to reach a wider audience. For now, here's what I just tossed up on my blog: Apologies for the belated post; I expect that no one was waiting with bated breath for my daily update so I took a break. Yesterday was off to a rocky food start. I NEED to stop prioritizing preparing future meals over making the ones I need to eat at that moment! I got so involved with baking a bunch of hamburgers, and making about a million sweet potato fries, that breakfast fell by the wayside. And, of course, I not only didn't get a photograph, but I had a stomachache. You'll understand why there was no photo. My breakfast was: a bowl of cole slaw, followed by a hard-boiled egg, followed by a semi-cold turkey dog, followed by some steamed kale and (too many) of the aforementioned sweet potato wedges. Bah. The only thing I ate in a reasonable manner was the slaw, everything else was stuffed into my face by the handful from the fridge or pan. Note to self: when eating a hard-boiled egg – slow down! Ow. For lunch I packed more stew, with some frozen green beans and – you guessed it, cole slaw. I have too much of that darn stuff! This did not bother my stomach. Dinner was a nice salad I ate on the commute… Romaine, chicken breast, radishes, cucumbers, tomato slices, avocado, a drizzle of olive oil and a capful of apple cider vinegar. Then… About 30 minutes later… I got those stomach pains. I can't seem to find ANY specific correlation, besides maybe stress. Would this type of physiological response occur on the Whole30 when it had never manifested in this way before? Very interesting. At home I didn't snack, which is a huge accomplishment given the past few days! I didn't compulsively skin-pick either, probably because I set to work cleaning and organizing. Not bad, and I even had the lights off before ten, after reading a bit, and having a nice cup of tea. So, although the day started poorly, it ended a success. …But I did wind up dreaming of eating chocolate chip cookies on Day 28. Que horrible! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Callan Posted January 16, 2013 Author Share Posted January 16, 2013 Today, I mourn the loss of many foods from my diet. I miss homemade macaroni and cheese, pizza, panini, nachos, big cheesy bowls of beans and rice… Hmm. I seem to be craving dairy, huh? It's funny, when I still ate sugar, I craved sugar. Now, I want carbs, but less of the super sweet stuff. I want cheese, so bad. Maybe that means I'm sensitive to it? We will see. Today I took a brave step. I tried liver… Again. A month or two ago, my brother Max and I decided we wanted to try beef liver, something we had never had before. We soaked it, dredged it in coconut flour and egg, fried it in bacon fat with bacon and onions… And we gagged, and threw it out. It was a sad day. So for some reason, I bought some organic chicken livers. Probably because someone on a forum said they taste like canned corned beef hash (something I love dearly – ha!). Today I chose to make a recipe by Melissa Joulwan, who has yet to let me down! And they were much much much more edible than the beef liver. I still don't have a huge appetite for liver, but I was definitely able to eat them. Maybe I'll make a pâté with the rest… Anyway. Breakfast: a can of wild skipjack tuna mixed with mayo and sprouted sunflower seeds, some cold sweet potato wedges, and cucumber slices. Yum! Mid morning, I was really hungry, so I had a hard-boiled egg and some walnuts. Eh. Lunch: a bowl of cream of spinach and artichoke soup I invented this morning, with a few bits of chicken. Not NEARLY enough fat or protein, so I found myself eating coconut flakes by the handful. Poor planning on my part. Dinner: the dreaded liver! I was scared to eat this, so I made a spicy lime mayo to dip the livers in, and some fresh cucumbers. I had a bowl of curried broccoli soup, too, and packed some coleslaw but wasn't totally into eating it. I fed it to the rats… Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORBren Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 Sorry the liver didn't suit you, but you get big points for trying it !!! Thanks for the great photos. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melbournegirl Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 my bravest achievement today was making a soup from lamb bones - thats a big step for me, might get to liver when I am 100... or not... LOL well done (I think?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SarahEmily Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 Im with everyone else. You are very brave for trying the liver!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Callan Posted January 17, 2013 Author Share Posted January 17, 2013 Thanks, guys, heh. I think I can get myself to like it... eventually. And hey, Juzbo, making bone broth is still pretty impressive. I haven't dabbled much in that area yet, truthfully. Only one picture for day 16. Need to get back into the swing of things and make meals worth photographing! I recently acquired a shiny new thermos container for bringing hot soup with me on my long workdays! I'm excited to begin making even more soups and stews so I can have something warm and comforting while I'm waiting out in the cold. Additionally, I'm sure I could bring nice one-bowl meals like stir fried meat and veggies, maybe some kinda shepherd's pie, spaghetti squash and meat sauce… Mmmm… For breakfast, I sautéed chard stems and leaves, some fresh tomatoes, three garlic cloves, and a bright green cubanelle pepper in coconut oil… Fried half a plantain, and scrambled three eggs. These eggs were so fluffy – I think it was the super hot and well-oiled cast iron pan that did the trick, but I can't say! A bit of salsa and half an avocado and we got ourselves a meal! For lunch I had (not pictured, because it was unimpressive) some of yesterday's spinach artichoke soup, about half a chicken breast, a hard-boiled egg, and some sweet potato wedges. It didn't make me super happy. So I had dinner early: leftover Moroccan beef butternut stew in my thermos. It was so warm still! I can't wait to fill it with more delicious things. So, why do my meals and posts suck lately? I've been working so hard on a few things: 1) my day job; 2) reorganizing my new room and 3) um… Playing… Video games – that I have been slacking on my food prep. Also, many of the things I've made haven't been my favorite things. See also: 100% grass-fed beef tastes like that?! I don't know if I like this. Chicken livers. Sweet potatoes fried in the fat of the grass fed beef I didn't really like. Bland soup. Oof, can you see why I'm not posting many recipes? If I get hungry at home tonight, I'll have some frozen vegetables and maybe half a can of sardines. Sure, why not! I need to get back in the groove. I need to make things I like. Definitely in need of some good, tasty, quick, and healthy comfort foods. Tomorrow's tentative plan (likely will be different): Breakfast: Burger, tomatoes, fried peppers, cole slaw, mustard Lunch: newly spiced-up spinach artichoke soup, chicken, carrot sticks, walnuts Dinner: stir fry vegetables, cauliflower rice, omelet (let's see if this stays warm in the thermos!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kshacklett Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 That breakfast looks amazing! I may have to try something like that this weekend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melbournegirl Posted January 18, 2013 Share Posted January 18, 2013 A few days off cooking are good for inspiration... I find... I am in freezer and boiled egg mode at the moment and have the next two dinners out, looking forward to cooking gain after that Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORBren Posted January 18, 2013 Share Posted January 18, 2013 Inspiration around food prep definitely waxes and wanes for me too. Don't you love it when you are excited to chop and cook!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Callan Posted January 18, 2013 Author Share Posted January 18, 2013 Hmm, I never really thought about it. I must be burnt out on cooking -- too lazy to chop ginger and garlic, some of my favorite things! I've gotta take it easy for a few days, for sure. This morning, after breakfast and my post-breakfast “snack†(heh) I got those pesky stomach pains again! Darn… I sure hope its a lifestyle issue opposed to a food intolerance, because I don't want to have to figure that one out… If I continue having problems, when my fridge empties out, I'll need to eat only new things. Or something. I'll figure it out. At any rate, for breakfast I nuked a pre-cooked hamburger, sweet potato wedges, and fried cubanelle peppers. Added a side of coleslaw, tomato slices, and salsa, and I had a pretty mediocre breakfast! And after taking some time to sip my decaf constant comment tea, I realized I was legitimately still hungry. So I cut up a pear, sprinkled cinnamon and cardamom, and ate it with some walnuts and was no longer hungry… But my stomach was hurting. No, not in an over-full sort of way. Now, I might add that I had gotten up to roast a winter squash (and cut my finger slicing the thing open), and started making a curry… I think my system might need more time to relax and digest before I hop up and start doing things. Tomorrow I'll focus on relaxing. For lunch, I took a slice of roasted kabocha (I think…) squash and stuffed it in a container with some pieces of chicken breast. I tossed some ancho chili powder and olive oil on the chicken because it was wicked bland. I added more garlic powder and salt to the spinach artichoke soup, and brought a container of cucumbers, olives, and a bit of radish. This was all a marked improvement over yesterday. I also had two fresh strawberries, and just really enjoyed them. No cravings for more, worse sugary things. And for dinner, I packed some freshly made green curry with beef into my new thermos. Eight hours later, it was still pretty warm! This contained cubanelle peppers, frozen stir fry veggies including broccoli and onions and bell peppers, my roasted squash, coconut milk, Thai curry paste, and ground beef. It could be more flavorful, but was just the comforting thing I needed. Aaaand, I realized I could not take a reasonable picture of it because… ….Thermos. Looks gross. Oops. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melbournegirl Posted January 18, 2013 Share Posted January 18, 2013 Could it be a virus callan? I have had quite severe pain after eating the last few days preceded by waking up and nearly vomiting in the middle of the night.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Callan Posted January 19, 2013 Author Share Posted January 19, 2013 Oh no, Juzbo, I hope you're feeling better! I suppose it could be a virus, but I've since avoided the very sick part... That said, I do have a slight sore throat right now. Uh-oh. All my bragging about my wonderful immune system might be coming to bite me in the you-know-what! At any rate, today I am taking a 100% stress-free day while eating as usual, to make sure it ain't stress... And I forgot to log, yesterday. Rather, I ran out of time. Here is day 18 (yesterday): Today was a pretty good day. I had stomach pains after breakfast again. Hm. I'd say maybe its tomatoes that are causing me trouble, but I can't yet say. At any rate, breakfast consisted of three eggs, Swiss chard, onions (both raw and sautéed), garlic, and tomatoes. I also made some crispy plantains to fill the starchy carb role. During the stomachache, I made some coffee for some reason, and discovered the magic of coconut cream concentrate. WOW! Delicious. For lunch I had leftover beefy green curry with extra green beans. After work, I had a small snack of carrots and cucumbers. Not too much, just to hold me over in case dinner was late. But fortunately, Mara and Max were on top of things and I arrived to a delicious dinner of roasted chicken, mashed sweet potatoes, asparagus, and a savory cranberry-tomato salsa. Yum, thanks guys! Afterwards, we had some strawberries and kiwi. I guess it was kind of like dessert, but lets call it a pleasant second course. I was still hungry, so when I got home (an hour or so later) I had some walnuts and coconut cream (uh oh…) and found it very hard to resist the larabars that I got on Amazon for ridiculously cheap. Tomorrow, during my long coffee shop shift, one might be a sensible choice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORBren Posted January 19, 2013 Share Posted January 19, 2013 Hey Callan - I spent some time on your blog this morning... nicely done! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Callan Posted January 20, 2013 Author Share Posted January 20, 2013 What a lovely day! I have the apartment to myself, as all family members are elsewhere, and as I am a bit of a loner by nature, this was great news for me. Although I woke up with a mild sore throat (which began the previous night), I took the time to prepare a large and nourishing breakfast of scrambled eggs and beef, sauteed Swiss chard, far too many plantain chips, and a makeshift “mojo†sauce, which was basically a drizzle of olive oil, a few cloves of crushed/minced garlic, some cumin, and lime juice. I was heavy-handed with the garlic today, as I truly believe in its immune-boosting properties. And given the near-complete disappearance of my sore throat as of tonight, I'd say I have every reason to believe in it! I included raw tomatoes (which I was questioning, in terms of my now-chronic stomach pains) and strawberries sprinkled in cinnamon (vitamin C!) and waited to see if I would have any issues. Oh, and there's a nice mug of green tea, too. And I suffered no pain whatsoever. Hmm… stress is looking like a pretty likely culprit, here, and since there was absolutely nothing and no one around to make me feel stressed, I'd be inclined to believe that my stomach issues truly are the manifestation of the way my parasympathetic nervous system is now beginning to react to modern stressors. Goody. My breakfast was around 7:30am, but by 10:30 I was already hungry again. Huh?? So, I decided to have a mini-meal, which I will affectionately (and so very incorrectly) call “the breath-freshener.†See, I took a can of sardines packed in olive oil, mashed them in, and added the following: minced garlic, powdered ginger, sesame seeds, coconut aminos, rice vinegar. I scooped it into my mouth with carrot sticks and it was awesome in a way that I imagine only I would appreciate. I only ate about half of what's pictured here, though, because I was full! A while after this, admittedly, my stomach did start to hurt a bit. And for some reason whenever that happens, my instinctual response is “MUST EAT MORE†in a vain effort to alleviate this strange discomfort (which, by the way, never turns into anything other than strange discomfort). So I had a handful of walnuts. At around 1pm, I realized that it was a beautiful, warm (46 degrees Fahrenheit), sunny day and that I really ought to get outside. I went for a walk. And I found a conservation area, and was so excited to get out in nature, until I realized that melting snow + soil + slope = Callan slipping in mud and landing hard on her bottom, getting absolutely covered in mud. Great. But, after a few expletives and brushing off of dirt and leaves, I continued on, knowing not where I was going or how I was going to find my way back (I didn't bring my phone). And it was awesome. I tromped through the woods and swamp and over rivers and saw cardinals and mallard ducks, and when I came out, I knew where I was! It was a miracle. Then I got to stand and watch the ocean for a few minutes, and walked the mile home. I'd say it was probably 2.5-3 miles total. Definitely going to do that again. My whole eating schedule seemed to be pushed back, so I had dinner around 4:30. More beef, stir fry vegetables (peppers, green beans, rehydrated shiitake mushrooms, carrots, broccoli, water chestnuts), ginger and garlic and coconut aminos over cauliflower rice. It was divine. And then, for the first time during my Whole30, I was still so hungry I went back for seconds (no more rice)… A few hours later, for some ungodly reason, I was still starving, but I was out in “the barn†playing video games, so my only real option was to microwave half a bag of frozen broccoli and just eat it like that. Yup. When I went back up to the house, for whatever terrible reason, I was STILL hungry. Yes, really hungry – not just craving. I mean, I am craving these Larabars… they're just staring at me… I really wanted one. But they're for dire circumstances only, not dessert… but I needed to eat something so I took some of my roasted winter squash, heated it up with some coconut cream concentarate, a bit of cinnamon and cardamom, and mashed it up. I promise the bowl is small. That's about the size of my palm and a half or so. Okay, so, it was kinda like a dessert. It… really tasted like pumpkin pie. But at the very least, I finally–FINALLY–feel full. Tomorrow is going to be a long day, but I'll tough it out. A Larabar may or may not be required – we'll see. Thanks for reading. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melbournegirl Posted January 20, 2013 Share Posted January 20, 2013 Keep on posting and figuring it out..... you'll crack it eventually I hope! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aberrantatavia Posted January 20, 2013 Share Posted January 20, 2013 We've certainly had some nice days in New England, haven't we? Sounds like you are plugging through and listening to your body and responses... Good for you! And we all need some down time to just enjoy life.... Sounds like video games provide that for you:) So if your stomach issues are stress related, have you found your stress triggers? When I got better about identifying what caused me stress, I could start being proactive about dealing with it differently. Happy Sunday! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaleena Posted January 20, 2013 Share Posted January 20, 2013 I love seeing pictures of meals with similar portion sizes as mine. It makes me feel like I'm not overdoing it as much as I thought. I love your posts and blog. I hope you reduce the stress and your stomach feels better. Mine has been killing too but I think it's just veggie overload! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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