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Official 1/1/13 Start Group


LJG

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Yesterday at work we got free biometrics screenings. While of course my weight (and BMI) were way too high, and my blood pressure was 134/79 (2 days prior, it was 122/77 at dentist), I was happy with my cholesterol #s:

Total: 194

HDL: 73

LDL: 102

Trig: 96

Total/HDL: 2.7

Also, my glucose was 91, which is normal. This was the one I was most concerned about.

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Are you all (who are grilling) using an indoor grill or outdoor? I can't imagine firing up the outdoor grill on a regular basis.

Outdoor. Every night. Turn it on for 5 minutes and then throw the chicken on there and cook it. Or whatever. I marinate the chicken lately so won't dry out during the day. I use a plastic bag and throw in 2 thighs and 2 breasts (frozen from TJ's) and add 1/4 cup olive oil, a tsp of herbs, a tsp of garlic or onion powder, salt and pepper, a TBL mustard and a TBL vinegar plus a little water. This is delicious! Seriously, my daughter loves this. I just pull out the chicken from the freezer in the morning and put in the bag with the marinade and then put in a covered dish in the frig and it is ready to go by dinner. We have the cheapest gas grill you can buy too (we have the exchangeable tanks but they last a long time, at least 2 or 3 months for us). In the summer we grill veggies all the time too. And if we eat red meat (rare for us). Plus, no mess to clean up (except scraping the grill occasionally). We just put some olive oil so the chicken doesn't stick to the grill. :) Can you tell I love to grill !!!

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Yesterday at work we got free biometrics screenings. While of course my weight (and BMI) were way too high, and my blood pressure was 134/79 (2 days prior, it was 122/77 at dentist), I was happy with my cholesterol #s:

Total: 194

HDL: 73

LDL: 102

Trig: 96

Total/HDL: 2.7

Also, my glucose was 91, which is normal. This was the one I was most concerned about.

Your bottom number looks good both days on your blood pressure so I wouldn't be concerned. The top number can vary so much with caffeine, stress, etc.

Yay to good numbers !!!

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I've restarted and have been trying to do a new food log. I always let that go when im in a stretch of shifts at work. I think I'll keep plugging away for the next two weeks and I have an official 30 planned with extended family on March 1! Getting everyone local on board for extra support :)

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Hey All - wanted to comment on a revelation my cynical self had last nite. I bought a spaghetti squash for the first time over a week ago that I just wasn't getting to. Finishing work late, I was forced to try it. I cut it open before cooking and laughed with my 11 year old that "yeah, this will be just like spaghetti, NOT". My daughter has fabulously experimented w me on dinners based on my new lifestyle. Some winners, some not.

Anyway - much o my surprise, this squash WAS fabulous! I opened a jar of Amy's Sauce, mixed in a CAN of chicken (both first time tries so was seriously experimenting) and it was really good.

A very quick, healthy, poorly planned dinner that was tasty!

Hope ur all well!

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Finally sucked it up and took some "before" pics in preparation for my family challenge March 1. It was not good but the fact that I allowed them to be taken was a major step forward for me. (I generally don't like pics taken of me at all - not ever) It's amazing how you perceive yourself and then when your actually see it , your eyes are really opened. I'm at my highest weight since 2006 after baby #2. Not quite sure what explains it other than I am not restricting myself to 1000 calories a day anymore (per guidance I have recieved here in the forums) and I have not really done any running since November. All of my extra weight is in my belly, back, and, hips. My legs look decent, arms could be a bit more toned but they're not bad - it's just that mid section! I want the fluff gone. I know there is muscle there cause I'm getting stronger - I can all of the sudden do 2 chin ups :) - now I just need to see it. I'm tempted to put the pics on the fridge for motivation but I'm not quite brave enough to just have them out there all the time. So much work to do . . . Wondering how long it will take for my screwed up metabolism to balance out :/

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Bravo on allowing those pics. I avoid being photographed. I can move very quickly when the camera comes out. But I managed to capture pictures on 12/31 before I started my Whole30. Since, I've been desperately trying to erase my before (and after) pics from my memory. They frighten me. :o

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  • 2 weeks later...

How's everyone doing? I was pretty compliant for most of February and lost 3 more pounds. I have had a non-compliant few dinners (birthday celebrations, closing of a fave restaurant last visit). I am considering starting a Whole 30 on the 13th just to help me through Easter (starting on the 13th because on April 13th we are going to Atlanta to an art exhibit with friends).

I read Good Calorie/Bad Calorie by Gary Taubes. Good stuff! I am staying Paleo and trying to be compliant except for special occasions (like above).

Would love to hear what y'all are up to !!!

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Would love to hear what y'all are up to !!!

We're on the same wavelength today, Helen. I was just about to embark on a search for our group to post just such an entry, and there it was close to the top because you beat me to it. Thanks for making the search easy :)

I am Day 7 on another W30 and doing great. My log is "Dukunbay's Log" (still haven't figured out how to create a link. I'm sure it's very simple).

Glad to hear how well you're doing!

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Very cool. I will find your log! I went ahead and started today. I'm excited and a little nervous. I am on Spring Break from my job so going to get a lot of stuff in freezer for the next few weeks. My husband is staying Paleo but he isn't doing the Whole 30 with me so this will be my first solo attempt.

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All right. I think the Season of Chaos is about to conclude. I've got the keys to the new apartment. The movers come tomorrow to move all my things. I'll spend the rest of the week getting settled. My intention is to be back on another Whole 30 by next week. I have heard that changing locations or changing routines is a great time to start a new habit. I like the idea of creating some new habits in my new living space.

With that in mind, here are some other things I'm considering for this Whole 30:

(1) I intend to keep a food log on this site.

(2) As often as possible, I intend to eat without a screen in front of me. This is part of a new habit I'd really like to create — paying attention to the food itself and to the satiety I experience when I enjoy it.

(3) I intend to support my mindful eating process with reading/audiobooks on this topic (Geneen Roth, Eating By the Light of the Moon, etc.)

(4) I intend to keep going longer than 30 days if I feel an internal leading in that direction. (I did feel that leading last time, but I ignored it, and I think I quit too early.) When it is time to step down, I will do so in a systematic way (as detailed in ISWF).

Thanks for letting me process this here! I'll post my food journal when it's up and running.

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And to this end, I've already laid in a few provisions in my new apartment. Sugar-free pasta sauce, canned tuna, coconut milk, and some frozen grilled chicken breasts I'm importing from the old place. I'm grateful for the chance to start fresh.

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I'm still chugging along over here. I had to change my mindset. A friend of mine, who is vegan, we always discuss food stuff. We never argue that one way is better than the other and we end up being able to add to each other's repertoire somehow and it's great. She watched this documentary called Hungry for Change, and what was especially poignant for her was a man named Gabriel that talked about nourishing our bodies, focusing on "adding to" instead of "taking away" and how much your mindset affects what you eat. Starting today I focused on what I could add to my diet to better nourish my body rather than take away from it. So yeah, I had a tortilla with breakfast but for lunch I just followed my gut and ended up making a delicious mushroom soup with my homemade chicken stock that's been going since night before last in the crock pot plus a salad with leftover chicken from said crockpot. I feel better giving to my body rather than depriving.

For my birthday my husband bought me a copy of Skintervention, which is by Liz Wolfe aka CaveGirlEats. In it she talks about listening to your body and chewing a lot. Eating away from the screen, looking at your food for 30 seconds before you take a bite and think about how it's going to taste, how it will nourish you, and really get those digestive systems primed. Then my husband sends me this link to reddit (http://www.reddit.com/r/YouShouldKnow/comments/1aggke/ysk_how_to_eat_not_as_easy_as_it_sounds_as/) about a guy who is spending a year between high school and college in this martial arts school in China. The master is 60 and doesn't look it one bit, they grow all their food on site, they're self sufficient, and one of the things they MUST do is take time to eat. If they take any less than 30 minutes they are punished! They are told to chew 30 times per bite, and after about a week it's really not taking so long. Doing this in combination with eating everything on your plate is supposed to minimize the large amount of food you put away and I imagine it will help you listen to your body better. I know I'm usually a distracted eater.. eating is something I do because I can't continue doing whatever else I'm doing without doing that, so I race through it to keep working on my projects.

I have been reading this blog series over at plantoeat.com. There's a mom there who has done GAPS and is now doing the autoimmune protocol in Practical Paleo. She's got a husband and kids who won't be eating this way with her and she linked this book she used to do batch cooking for her family so she could focus on cooking her AIP meals. I bought the kindle version this morning and am going through it. There's some great things in there so far, and I'm only on poultry. Instead of focusing on the "shit, it has panko in it", I am focusing on "wow, it's got all this other good stuff in it" because with my husband and kids, it's going to be a long process. So I need to give them things they are accustomed to and then slowly introduce new things,, one new thing per week, but it can't be an entire meal because everyone will balk.

How is everyone else doing? I saw jtota made a post on her blog that she's going to focus on being vegan, that she had come in here and seen how so many of us were talking about what we couldn't wait to have after our whole30 was up, and that sure didn't make paleo seem sustainable did it? I was a little pissed that it was put that way, considering this space was a safe space for those of us who want to change to paleo are able to talk about those things. I guess she's right, though, because I know I have to be completely ready for something when it's a drastic change. I tried several times to quit smoking - the gum, the pill, and finally I just.. quit. Done. I know my vegan friend has had trouble getting switched over to it full time.. that doesn't make it any less or more sustainable. The fact is, I've got 33 years of eating like crap to overcome and it's not going to be overnight. Apparently, eating like crap doesn't just include what I put in my body, though! :) We all have our challenges and our comfort zones to step out of.. and hey, not everyone wants to jump into that cold pool right? Sometimes we have to dip our toes in, and then bravely step into that top step, and then maybe down another step to our thighs, and then again to our waist, before we just dunk our heads under already. :)

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I'm still chugging along over here. I had to change my mindset. A friend of mine, who is vegan, we always discuss food stuff. We never argue that one way is better than the other and we end up being able to add to each other's repertoire somehow and it's great. She watched this documentary called Hungry for Change, and what was especially poignant for her was a man named Gabriel that talked about nourishing our bodies, focusing on "adding to" instead of "taking away" and how much your mindset affects what you eat. Starting today I focused on what I could add to my diet to better nourish my body rather than take away from it.

Thanks for the tip on the movie — will have to check it out. Just love this idea about adding to the body's resources, rather than only eliminating things.

Love what you've said here about priming the digestive systems and really stopping to focus on and enjoy what we're eating. Feels like many of us (I'm right at the top of this list) have become disconnected from the idea of eating without distraction. Since moving into my new apartment and trying to build new habits, I've been stepping away from the ubiquitous screen whenever I eat. It's been lovely. I'm also trying to avoid eating in the car whenever possible.... funny how challenging that can be sometimes.

(That said... wow, I can't imagine taking 30 minutes to eat! 10 minutes would be a stretch for me...)

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