January Whole 40 (starting early)

[gboyum]

I was planning on doing the January Whole 30, but the last couple of weeks of holiday treats has me feeling like crap. I'm starting my 2nd Whole 30 on December 26th. I am committing to a Whole 40, so until Feb 3rd, I think. So now a couple days to mentally prepare.

[lisajohnson777]

I'll start a W40 on the 26th with you! I know what you mean about feeling like crap with all the holiday treats... Yuck! I dont even want to look at another cookie. This will be our first.

[MJam]

Congrats on committing! I've decided to do a Whole100 (Day 24 today 100% compliant!) it's been awesome feeling so great AND losing weight during the holidays.

Lots of people are starting up Jan.1/2 so y'all will have a bit of a jump on them but stick around to give and receive support from this awesome community.

Best of luck!

[kb0426]

If you need me to come kick you in the pants and remove any bad stuff from your house support you can count on me!

Enjoy our MN cold white Christmas!

[melbournegirl]

Good luck all and merry christmas! I'm in for a whole100, I started dec 21st.. Aiming for the first Xmas ever without sugar. I have cooked a no sugar coconut cake to have instead of Xmas pudding, and made my own juice sweetened cranberry and apple sauce?.. Making a swypo exception for the 25th!

[gboyum]

I'll start a W40 on the 26th with you! I know what you mean about feeling like crap with all the holiday treats... Yuck! I dont even want to look at another cookie. This will be our first.

Have you considered the Whole 30 Daily emails? I used them when I did my first Whole 30 and they really helped. This time around I am actually reading the book.

[gboyum]

Getting towards the end of day 1 of my January Whole 40. I am going to try to post in here everyday to stay on track. I am feeling pretty good about this, ready to start feeling better again. Yesterday I was wondering if I was really bloated all the time before I did my first whole 30 and just never noticed. I brought the leftover nog over to my mom's house today and gave away the rest of the sugar cookies at work.

Todays meals:

3 fried eggs with sauteed kale and 1/2 and avocado

large turkey wing with some radishes

a couple spoonfuls of coconut oil for a afternoon snack

dinner will be pork roast with roasted rutabagas and carrots, and some leftover hubbard squash.

My husband and I run a small organic market farm and we planned really well this last season so I am still getting rutabagas, carrots, and squash from storage and have frozen kale, greens, cheery tomatoes, and zucchini. The eggs, turkey, and pork come from our farm and are all pastured.

[lisajohnson777]

Have you considered the Whole 30 Daily emails? I used them when I did my first Whole 30 and they really helped. This time around I am actually reading the book.

where do you sign up for emails? It looks like you had a good start! How wonderful to have the small farm! I am not very good about growing things... but that hasn't stopped me from trying. I am planning on growing something this spring. We can start early since we live in TX and have very mild winters.

Day 1 and 2 of W40 done. Yesterday and today were easy because I woke up sick, didn't feel like eating a thing, but had some eggs,a small salad with turkey on it with olive oil drizzled on top, some blackberries, and slept the rest of the time. Same for today. Not the ideal way to start, BUT it worked. Not hungry and best of all, not craving any junk.

Haven't read the book yet, but it's on my wish list.

[gboyum]

You can find the Whole 30 Daily email link at the top of the page next to the Forum link. Hope you are feeling better! I think the first week is the hardest and it gets easier after that, 2 days down already.

It would be fun to have a longer growing season, we have to be creative about what we grow and how to store it to get farm produce year round. We lived in CA for a while and enjoyed their year round produce selection.

So my day 2 went like this:

3 eggs with kale and coffee for breakfast

Leftover turkey wing and roasted rutabagas for dinner

Crockpot roast goat with carrots and rutabagas, leftover hubbard squash, and sauerkraut for dinner

No snacks today but I did have some kombucha at work.

One thing I really like about this plan is that I really do feel like I eat a lot. I was reading in the book earlier today about the difference in satiety and satiation, definitely feeling the satiety. We usually have breakfast around 6, 6:30, and with such a large and dense breakfast I am usually good until 1pm.

[gboyum]

Day three, headaches and tired. Looking forward for the first week to be over.

Breakfast:

3 eggs with stewed tomatoes, sauteed peppers and zucchini, coffee

lunch: leftover roast goat and rutabagas

dinner: all natural brat, sauerkraut, sauteed onions, avocado

[gboyum]

I didn't post yesterday, still compliant, working through a couple days of headaches but feeling better. Yesterdays meals were pretty similar to Fridays, looking forward to trying a few new recipes.

Today I made a broth with some leftover pork rib bones and meat, and used that to make a rich soup with the meat and some kale. It turned out really good, and my daughter had a slight stomach virus so the broth was helpful for her as well. I also threw together a very good squash and coconut bake, which I posted in the recipes section.

I am already looking forward to reintroduction, because I know that there is something that I am not tolerating. Before both of my Whole 30's I must have been bloated a lot, and just considered it to be normal. Now I am on day 4, and already less bloated and much more comfortable. I hope its not dairy (but kind of scared that it is, I love my cheese!)

[gboyum]

First week! No more headaches, starting to sleep better, and feeling more energy in the morning

I celebrated by making a fantastic curried goat with squash and kale. So good!

As part of this Whole 40 I am also limiting my coffee intake to only 2 morning cups, and no phones or laptop in the bedroom, and that is improving my sleep as well.

[Aberrantatavia]

Wow, sounds great! Keeping electronics out of the bedroom is a great policy, and one I stick to as well.

I've never cooked goat, but I'm pondering it. What cuts do you use? How do you cook it?

[gboyum]

We got our goat from a neighbor who butchered on the farm, so I'm not exactly sure what the cuts are, most were labeled "roast". Right now all I have left are the ribs. I have been pretty much braising, roasting, or using the slow cooker.

[lisajohnson777]

Good morning! How is your day 9 going? Still compliant here... my children and husband started Jan 1. They are not too happy, but being obedient. I am on the tale end of whatever I caught and finally feeling better. We love our cheese around here too. That's a tough one for our kids to do without.

I have never tried Goat meat.

We had Chicken fajitas wrapped in lettuce and cauliflower "rice" last night.

This morning was my homemade chorizo and eggs. Lunch will be leftovers or an eggnog smoothie (banana, pumpkin, eggs, coconut milk, tbsp of coconut oil with a sprinkle of nutmeg... smooth, creamy and really tastes like eggnog). Dinner is going to be tricky... we have people over every Thursday night for Bible Study and we have food every time! People bring stuff every week and it is NEVER the right kind of food. Most of them know we are eating different this month, but there's no telling what will come in the door tonight. I'll make sure to feed everyone before folks start arriving. I have ground meat patties with sauteed onions and mushrooms and sweet potato oven fries on the menu.

[gboyum]

Group events and parties are tough! We have a get-together on Saturday night, a potluck, so I can bring a dish I can eat but I will probably still eat something before we go. And that's great that your family is on board! I got my husband to give up beer and potato chips, so I will take that as a small victory. But the whole family has really been cutting back on processed foods.

Still going strong! Although today was kind of rough. I did not feel very good in the morning, I don't know if that was from the Whole 30 or a little bit of a stomach bug that has been going around. We have all been feeling a little icky at our house. So for breakfast I barely even ate my usual 3 eggs. I fried up some squash and onions but couldn't eat it. So by noon I was very hungry. I did some traveling for work today so I was spending most of the morning in the car.

I did get a chance to stop at Costco and got a huge tub of coconut oil, some olives, a bag of avocados, and some organic dried figs with no preservatives. The figs I was on the fence about, knowing that they are very sweet and could serve to alleviate sugar cravings, but I was also very hungry and needed something I could eat in the car. So the figs went in the cart. I had a handful on my way home and my stomach still feels icky.

[gboyum]

Finished day 12, stomach bug gone and feeling good.

Today we butchered one of our hogs on the farm and had fresh pork chops. So good! I also took some cherry tomatoes and summer squash that I froze from the garden and cooked it down with some olives (costco!) and garlic for lunch. It will also be my breakfast veggies with eggs in the morning.

[gboyum]

Two weeks done, and I kind of cheated, but not really. I knew the dried figs would be problematic when I bought them. For the last two nights I have been snacking, late, on figs. I have also been very stressed out with a looming grant deadline and faced with the prospect of finding new daycare for my kids. I know dried fruit is allowed in small amounts, but I also know that I eat when I'm stressed out and having a sweet snack around was not a good idea. I put the rest of the figs in with some winter squash to bake as a side tonight, so no more post-dinner snacking.

On the up side I did manage to get a great nights sleep a couple of nights ago. I am sleeping deeper through the night, on the nights when I am not woken up by kids or cats. Its refreshing.

[gboyum]

I haven't been posting every meal in here, which I initially intended to do, but it started to feel kind of forced and trite. But last night I had a very simple, very delicious side, onions! I slowly caramelized them with some pork fat, they turned out very rich and sweet. Really I could eat that as a side with every meal. Along with my onions I had a hamburger (no bun obviously, the family had burgers on buns though), roasted carrots (from our garden! they are keeping well in storage), and homemade sauerkraut.

Also had a little revelation about the potato chips my family enjoyed with dinner. I was feeling a little left out, but later I was thinking about how the chips would taste, and it didn't even seem appealing to me. Kind of realized I actually don't like chips as much as I thought, and knowing that they usually give me a stomach ache kind of sealed the deal. No more chip cravings.

[Coffeeandshoes]

Hey! I decided to do a "whole40" this year as well. And then will work on reintroduction. No major health issues, but "seasonal" allergies.

[gboyum]

So I am actually half way though my Whole 40. I can't believe it has been 20 days already!

Today, at the half way point, I am re-assesing my goals with this project.

First a couple of simple goals, I have cut out afternoon coffee and kept the phone and other electronics out of bed, which has allowed me to get more reading done and sleep better. I have been thinking of expanding on the electronics issue and cutting back on more computer time that isn't work related, hoping that spending less time online will help me to increase my attention span with larger projects.

As far as my healthy eating, I have been seeing the same results as I did with my initial whole 30. Nice skin, deep sleep, feeling nourished and not hungry during the day. But I would be lying if I didn't say I was hoping to fit back into some of my pre-baby clothes. Maybe that is just not in the cards for me. I have not been weighing myself, per the program guidelines, but I have been trying on jeans that used to fit. Although I can zip them up, they are still pretty tight. I realize that this is probably just as pointless as a measurement of my health as weighing myself constantly is. If I keep my focus entirely on how my jeans fit I am going to miss the point of this program entirely. So in the last half of my Whole 40 I need to focus on letting go of some of those jeans. The reality of my situation is that I have the ability and the time to dedicate myself to eating well, but with two kids and a full time job my ability to dedicate hours a week to exercise is diminished. If I get 20 minutes in a day I consider that a success, and that is all the time I have right now to be in control of my physical body. Letting go of some of my ideals is hard, in my 20's I exercised up to 90 minutes a day 5-6 days a week, and if my pants started getting a little tight I could usually keep it under control. Not the case anymore. Maybe it is a little cheesy, but I am reminded of the AA serenity prayer "Grant to us the serenity of mind to accept that which cannot be changed; courage to change that which can be changed, and wisdom to know the one from the other". Maybe there is not a lot about my body that I can change right now, and the focus on my health is more about being able to take care of my family and spend quality time with them. Maybe I am disappointed that I don't have my body from my 20's back, and I think its hard to admit to myself that will NEVER happen. Time to let that go, have the courage to accept it, and focus on what is really important.

[gboyum]

Just a quick follow-up to my last post. After being pregnant twice I realized I had some HUGE control issues with my body. Although I had pretty standard pregnancies, I really hated every minute of it, because I was NOT physically IN CONTROL OF MY BODY! This is really hard for me.

[gboyum]

I haven't been posting regularly, but I have a couple updates.

First, I pretty much lost count of the days. I was just moving ahead, and this morning I couldn't even think of what day I was on. I had to count on the calendar. This "diet" has become pretty second nature and it is a positive direction for me to think that I haven't been just counting down the days, but really just content, and happy to eat this way.

Second, for all the ladies out there, I was surprised when I got my period yesterday. Why? Because I didn't have a week of terrible PMS followed by a day of debilitating cramps. Seriously.

One last note, why didn't I start making mayo earlier? Amazing. Today's lunch was leftover turkey (frozen after thanksgiving from our giant 30-pounder that we raised, pastured, on the farm) with avocado and homemade mayo, plus some leftover grapes from an event last night. Yum.

[gboyum]

So as people are finishing up their January Whole 30, I have 4 days left of my Whole 40. But I am already planning my reintroduction.

I have been pretty relaxed the last couple of days though. I had an awful sore throat so I have been putting honey in my tea. My I'm getting too confidant, but I feel really positive moving forward. After my initial Whole 30 I didn't feel ready, this second experience has really helped. Right now, I feel completely comfortable moving forward without much change. I was planning on reintroducing dairy, but we have a milk share from a neighbor and they are drying down their cows so we will only be getting 1-2 gallons of goats milk until spring, so I won't be drinking much milk anyway. I was thinking about getting some cheese, but then I though why would I need to go out and buy cheese for no reason? I also feel ready to move ahead without processed bread and refined sugar. We have raw buckwheat honey from a neighbor, which I prefer as a sweetener anyway, and the bread we make at home is a fermented sourdough, which I will probably eat from time to time. My husband makes and excellent Sopa de Ajo, which requires croutons, and it is amazing. One of those things that would be considered "worth it" on the whole 30 plan. I also have corn that we grew in our garden last year, that I have been making into polenta, which I will be doing again. I do have some lime, maybe I will try making hominy. We have been really focused on eating from the farm, so a lot of what I eat is dictated by what we have in the cellar, which includes lots of pickled items.

Before getting into the whole 30 I was trying to stick with a Weston A Price type diet, which was working except I really needed to break my snacking habits. I am hoping to move ahead leaving out the highly processed foods and stick with real foods, veggies, healthy fats, etc. And having three satisfying meals a day has pretty much eliminated any need for snacks.

Mid February we are heading to Northern California for a short family trip. One of the things I am looking forward to is cheese. Amazing, whole milk, fatty, raw, real cheese.

So enough rambling. I will be reintroducing limited dairy over the next couple weeks, but holding off on grains for a little while longer.