Cholesterol is the issue, weight loss would be a bonus.

[CMB227]

Last Tuesday, my doctor and I had a discussion concerning my slowly rising cholesterol numbers.  My ratio is at 4.6 as of last Tuesday.  She really wants me on some kind of medication, but I told her that statins were not happening.  I would consider an alternative.  She offered Welchol.  We have been having this discussion for a year now with each lipid panel worse than the one before.  I told her I would give it three more months, and if I couldn't get my readings to improve, I would try the Welchol.  So, I have been on Whole 30 for a week.  I am an old hand at Atkins/South Beach/lowcarbhighfat anything.  I have never stayed with anything long enough to see if it really worked.  Getting rid of sugar and simple carbs seemed to help me lose weight, but again I never stayed with it.  Since the focus now is on getting my cholesterol under control, and I don't want to have a heart attack ever, I am determined to see this through.  If I lose weight in the process, that will be a much appreciated bonus.   I am a healthy and fairly active 69 year old female.

I have a young very active 9 month old puppy who needs to get out and run everyday.  She is really motivating me to get out and move.  We walk from 2-3 miles a day now.  I am also practicing Intermittent Fasting.  This is easy for me.  My mother was always thin, and it occurred to me that she unknowingly practiced IF.  Through out my entire life I never saw her eat anything after dinner was done.  She cleaned up the kitchen, and it was closed.  It didn't matter if we finished at 4,5 or 6pm.  She never ate a thing in the evening.   

Whole 30 was really hard for the first several days because all most all ready made foods: sausage, ketchup, dressings etc all have something in them that is not acceptable.  Going to Whole Foods helped.  I was able to find Primal Kitchen mayonnaise, salad dressings, ketchup and bacon that was acceptable.  I have tried a few things that I have never done before like using spaghetti squash for spaghetti.  It was ok, crunchy but it did fill me up and at 30 calories a cup, what the heck.  Giving up all dairy has been the hardest thing for me.  Not being able to put Parmesan cheese on my spaghetti sauce last night was hard.  No alcohol is hard but not as hard as dairy.  Not being able to have any sweetener real or fake is hard, too, but because I can have fruit, it isn't so tough.

I bought the cookbook for Whole 30 but was disappointed as usual.  The recipes are too far out there for me.  I want to know how to make simple things and am not into spicy foods at all.  I guess I need a Whole 30 compliant meat loaf or tuna "noodle" casserole recipe.

I am one week in and take it one day at a time, sometimes one hour at a time.  I just don't let myself get hungry.  That is the kiss of death for me on this program.

[purplepadres]

Google is your friend! Those recipes that you're mentioning do exist. I often find that I can modify recipes (substitute coconut milk for cream; spaghetti squash or other veggie noodles for pasta...) and make them Whole30-compliant. Oh, and if your spaghetti squash is crunchy, you probably just need to cook it a little longer! There's definitely a learning curve to the program, but it sounds like you're committed. Good luck to you!

[Jim4884]

Spices are your friend.  

Be open minded about changing your relationship with food.  Instead of finding compliant catsup, etc, find new ways of enjoying food.  

I am a pretty competent cook, but I repeat some simple things over and over: toss some quartered new potatoes in a bowl with olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic powder, rosemary,sage and thyme, bake 350 ish for 20-30 minutes.  That works for breakfast and dinner.  I make a baking sheet worth at a time.   Broccoli the same treatment minus the rosemary sage and thyme, about 5 minutes.  

Just try some things, good luck!

[CMB227]

Thanks to Jim4884 and Purple Padre.  I appreciate the suggestions.  I do need to cook the squash longer.  I found that the squash was just fine with the sauce that I made.  It really tasted good.  

I do want a better relationship with food.  Today has been a hard one because I kept thinking of the comfort foods that got me to where I am now.  I won't say that I was craving them, but my mind went there often today.  I ate quite a bit today, so maybe I have not been eating enough and was just getting deep down hungry.

[Jim4884]

Two things I meant to say CMB - one, I was lucky I guess, when I did my first Whole30 (last July), I totally changed my relationship with food.  Prior to it, veggies meant lettuce/tomato and onion on a burger, mushrooms and onions on a pizza (plus the tomatoes in the sauce  ), deep fried zucchini, etc.  I only wish I were joking.  But now, I LOVE veggies, and a good healthy Whole30 meal gets me excited almost as much as the crap I used to eat did.  

The second is to give nutritional yeast a try, as a cheese substitute.  Now I'm not going to tell you that you'll think it's parmesan cheese, but, for me, it is satisfying in a similar way.  I hope it helps a little...