Official 1/1/13 Start Group

[torena]

So how have you celebrated your halfway point (for those of you who are going to stop after 30 days? Did you tell anyone? Update your Facebook status? Do something nice for yourself? I celebrated by getting a Crossfit workout in while my husband made our favorite Paleo chili for supper. And now I have a big wine glass with sparkling water and lime next to me in front of the fireplace. We'll save the wine for another night a few weeks down the road! I know not everyone is feeling the magic yet but I hope you don't mind me telling you that I am and it's really even better than I had hoped for. Keep hanging on. My diet was about 90 to 95% Paleo pre-Whole 30 so I assume my recovery was a bit easier. I'm never hungry between meals, sleep through the night, bound out of bed in the morning and have energy all day until about 30 minutes before bedtime. Things really will get better, guys and gals!

Thank you SO MUCH for posting this. It is so important for me to keep an eye on the prize. I have not celebrated, though my Facebook has been disabled for a month and a half, and I'm thinking about reactivating it. Mainly because a friend of mine is going to announce the sex of her baby after her ultrasound tomorrow, but I also do want to celebrate this milestone.

[jmarnold30]

Ok, here's my "cheerleader" post. I'm so impressed with all of you who multiquote!!

Welcome Ainsley! You are lucky to have your husband on board. I got to watch mine eat a bag of popcorn tonight. The smell was torture. He keeps telling me he is proud of me and to keep it up, but he keeps doing his own thing.

Jtota: I think we are all going to go through stages. I know I experienced real grief about eating this way and focusing on all that I was giving up. This is all about discovering our triggers and how we react to food. Sounds like you have gained a lot of information about yourself and your relationship with food. I am seriously proud and impressed. Glad you stuck it out!

NatPatBen: Any progress is progress. I can see my upper stomach (which I have been struggling with since the birth of my three kids back to back to back twenty years ago) shrinking before my eyes. It makes me stronger. I'm going to have to try the green tea. So far, except for one failed cup of chamomile tea with coconut butter (yuck!!) and one cup of hazelnut cocoa tea that had no flavor, all I've had to drink is water. The post by Whole9 today came at a great time for me!

Good luck on the no nuts/dried fruit, JoyfulSusan!

Ccraven62, I had a similar reaction during week 2. I felt so stressed and WEAK! I would have never thought that I was addicted to sugar, but when you consider it is in EVERYTHING, it makes sense.

Here's hoping you get a decent sleep tonight, CupcakeNinja!

Torena, I admire all of you young mothers. I wish I had done this a long time ago, when my children were younger. We were horrible examples to our children.

Run4fun, my easy go to meal is any type of fish (cooks in 20 minutes in the oven), cucumber & tomato slices with a little avocado and then any kind of sauteed veggie (zucchini, squash, green beans), whatever I have on hand. (I haven't had this yet since I started Whole30…I need to get some tomatoes and cucumbers!)

Nila, great advice. I rarely take time for myself and just sit with what I am feeling. I tend to just push it away. I will definitely have to try this instead. I have been trying to do some meditative prayer, but surprisingly, it is not usually about me and my problems, lol.

Run4fun, sounds great! I feel most of those things, except for the energy part I didn't even think of celebrating the halfway point.

Coffeeandshoes, I am in Arkansas too. I tell you I was so glad I didn't have to get out in that. They said that it was taking 1.5 hours for a 20 minute drive!! Yuck!

Torena, hope your gas pains go away quickly!

So, a little about me (finally, eh?):

I am a 47 year old wife/mother/sister/daughter/law firm administrator who has always spent a lot of time taking care of everyone else. Now it is time for me. I've been married to my husband for 23, almost 24 years. We have a 22 year old daughter who celebrated her first anniversary yesterday and who is expecting our first grand baby in May! And we have two boys, 21 and 20 years old. I am originally from Louisiana, but my husband took a job in Missouri a couple years ago and then we ended up in Arkansas after another unexpected job change.

I'm really enjoying getting to know everyone and the support in this thread. Let's all stay strong!

[Nila]

Happy week 2 start!

I got 8.5 hours of sleep last night and find the return of my physical and mental energy today. I am, however, experiencing a little stomach-gnawing only 2.5 hours after eating my morning meal. It was an egg casserole (equivalent of 3 eggs, a few ounces of sausage and a 1/4 of a sweet potato), avocado dressing, and some apple sauce. It could also be that I'm sitting in a coffee shop where the smells are strong and the man next to me is eating a sesame bagel with cream cheese. (I haven't had a bagel in years and it's not calling to me.) Shortly I'm going into a 2-hour meeting. I'm wondering if I should eat or wait it out. I'm leaning toward waiting it out.

I am puzzling over exercise. I wrote a lengthy post about it over on my log, but now I'm wondering if I should have posted it here (or in another forum) to get feedback since I don't expect that many are reading my log. I didn't post it here originally because it's so long and detailed - and so me focused. I don't want to cross-post as that's just obnoxious and a violation of the forum rules. Should I move it here or leave it?

[CupcakeNinja]

Thanks, jmarnold! I actually think I *did* sleep well last night! I woke up once to visit the bathroom, and my next memory is of boyfriend's alarm going off! Hallelujah! I turned in about a half hour earlier last night than usual. Basically I got ready for bed earlier and as soon as I felt tired I laid down and turned off the lights. That may have been the trick. I'm going to try it again tonight and see if the results differ. But yay! I'm going to say that's how I celebrated my halfway mark (since I didn't do anything else).

I think I'm going through food prep exhaustion, though. I got home last night and looked at what I had planned for dinner (porkchops and butternut squash soup from Paleo Comfort Foods), and I was just like, "No. That's not happening." I ended up roasting the squash instead and still making the porkchops, which was less effort, and turned out pretty good. I am getting tired of being in the kitchen, though. And that's despite my best efforts at pre-prepping on the weekend. I'll figure it out, it's just a challenge.

Nila, whatever you're comfortable with works for me. Although I'm now heading over to read your log!

I didn't put much about me in my first post, so here's some more: I'm 32 and happily divorced, I live with my boyfriend (a type 1 diab, as I've mentioned, we've been together about 1.25 years) and our three cats. I work as an administrative assistant in the human resources department of an early childhood education company. I walk to work (about 3/4 of a mile, I think, each way) and other than that I don't really exercise. I was intending to do yoga along with the Whole30, but the food prep has really taken up so much of my time that I have found it difficult to incorporate the yoga yet. I absolutely LOVE the support system we've built on here - I look forward to seeing how you're all doing every day!

Keep on trucking - it's Day 16!

[Christina Williams Routon]

Good to know I wasn't the only one who got fed up and wanted to quit. I was so close to buying a rice crust pizza last night and I talked myself down. I knew I had Kahlua Pig in the fridge already cooked and it just needed reheating with veggies. No reason to buy a pizza. Besides, I wanted comfort food, and I knew it. Even a rice crust pizza. I wanted pizza to feel better, not just to eat.

I didn't plan yesterday well. I procrastinated, ended up with no breakfast, late to work, and was hungry all day. That's why I wanted the pizza.

I'm also sick and tired of cooking. I did the bare minimum yesterday, just enough to make sure I had lunch today and I was up in time to make my breakfast, but I'm really, really tired of prep work and cooking. I need to use the slow cooker more.

Tonight we're going to a friend's house, so I need to eat something before we go. Saturday is my son's birthday and he wants to go to Golden Corrall, so I'm going to mix up some dressing from Well Fed to bring with me and I'll have a steak and salad, maybe a sweet potato from the bar.

For exercise, I started 30 min 3x week doing workouts on You Tube. I ended up doing 1 workout, and this week I've done 1 workout. I'm keeping it simple but I know it's important to incorporate exercise. I like "healthy movement" . It sounds better. Got a free treadmill yesterday too, so if I'm watching TV I need to be on the treadmill.

I've been craving orange juice for some reason and I also have to stay away from Lara bars. I've fallen back on the coconut cream too often.

I feel good, I'm glad I'm doing this, but I'm really getting tired and frustrated. I guess it's bringing up some food issues, though, and I guess that's part of the point.

[NatPatBen]

@Christina: Rice crust pizza?? Never heard of it.

Speaking of craving orange juice, here's what I'm serving to two dinner guests tomorrow night:

ginger orange chicken thighs served on a bed of caramelized onions (white, yellow, and scallions for color variety) - my own recipe

mashed cauliflower - Well Fed

a spring salad mix with hazelnuts & dried cranberries

homemade italian dressing - Well Fed

and for "dessert" sweet potato slices (about 1/4 inch thick) sauteed, topped with cinnamon, a dab of almond nut butter, and toasted coconut flakes

I figure if I do all the prep tonight (marinate chicken, make dressing, slice sweet potato), tomorrow it won't take very long at all

[Christina Williams Routon]

My husband also informed me that this diet is giving me bad breath. Anyone else had that info shared with them and what are you doing about it?

[Christina Williams Routon]

@NatPatBen - at my Kroger in the organic / gluten free section there's a freezer section and they have frozen waffles, pizzas, etc. that are gluten free. They have one frozen pizza made with a rice flour crust so it's gluten free.

Your dinner sounds wonderful!

[kikiatlanta]

Hii there. Can I join the party? I started on Jan 1 but am just now getting around to checking out the forum here, and I like what I see! Mainly because I'm not getting the results I want and it's good to see that other folks are in the same boat.

My biggest issue is energy. ALWAYS TIRED. Maybe it's the 10 days of gray and rain, maybe it's the fact that I have depression and don't want to take meds for it, maybe it's the diet. I don't know, but I know I could sleep for 20 hours a day if someone let me. Anyone else having the same issues? And yes, I'm eating sweet potatoes.

I treated myself to a mani/pedi yesterday as a halfway celebration and that felt pretty awesome. All of the cooking has not been kind to my hands so it was nice to take a little me time and get pampered without it being about food. I'm doing my first 5k ever on Monday and am a little nervous, mainly because of my super low energy levels. I'm hoping I can get the motivation to hit the pavement today, but it's like pulling teeth just to get out of bed.

Anyway, just wanted to say hi! I appreciate everyone's input: some great ideas and motivation on this thread!

[sonyab]

My husband also informed me that this diet is giving me bad breath. Anyone else had that info shared with them and what are you doing about it?

I found Preserve toothpicks at my local grocery store and Whole Foods. Just organic wood with some essential oils like peppermint and cinnamon.

http://www.preserveproducts.com/products/personalcare/flavored-toothpicks-24.html

[CupcakeNinja]

My husband also informed me that this diet is giving me bad breath. Anyone else had that info shared with them and what are you doing about it?

No one told me that, but I've noticed it myself a couple of times. I drink peppermint tea (Traditional Medicinals brand is compliant) sometimes, to try to offset. Also, a loooong time ago, someone in a raw foods class told me that the apple is nature's breath freshener. Good luck!

[Run4fun]

I found Preserve toothpicks at my local grocery store and Whole Foods. Just organic wood with some essential oils like peppermint and cinnamon.

http://www.preservep...thpicks-24.html

I carry a really strong mouthwash in my briefcase now - I used to eat gum and suck on mints periodically through the day. Now I just take a swish of that and spit it out. I think my husband would tell me if I had issues there (heck, he has before, right?)

[Run4fun]

Hii there. Can I join the party? I started on Jan 1 but am just now getting around to checking out the forum here, and I like what I see! Mainly because I'm not getting the results I want and it's good to see that other folks are in the same boat.

Welcome, Kiki! You came to the right place!

[Coffeeandshoes]

What are the chances I am allergic to strawberries? Yesterday and today I had this wierd itching in my mouth like a craving for nicotiene. And this morning I was itchy on my side, and a few other places on my body.

The only two things I changed really were a new soap, lotion set and I ate strawberries for dinner Monday night, breakfast yesterday and lunch today. It was after lunch I noticed the itchy mouth and wondered.

I'm not usually itchy and at first I wondered if it was more detox. I had a couple of red places (I don't break out a lot normally)

[Contessa]

Had to report here briefly and say that I just had the most amazing meal here in my own kitchen. The meal doesn't sound amazing, but it was: Mashed sweet potatoes with ghee, slow roasted chicken breast, and steamed broccoli drizzled with homemade olive oil mayo. So simple, so good.

I feel like I'm actually starting to taste food this week, and it's amazing.

Hope you all had a great day of clean eating and are feeling good.

[helen]

Today was a terrible day for me. I have only had one real other day like this (a Saturday and I took a nap for 3 hours after yoga which is unheard of for me) but I had a good breakfast and lunch but picked my oldest up at school and went to ballet and in the middle of waiting for her I just crashed. Made it home and when my husband got home I told him I needed to lay down. Woke up to dinner made (he saved me) as I was famished: grilled steak, sauteed green beans and sweet potato baked. I also ate some shredded coconut which I think was not a great idea because I ate it because I was craving sweets. I know it is compliant but it still felt like I was sneaking candy or something.

I really was struggling this afternoon though and still feel down about today. I just wanted some chocolate or a piece of cheese for comfort terribly. It has literally been pouring rain since Sunday. I still have a headache though right now and low energy. I hope this is just a phase. I felt so great everyday except that one Saturday that I'm not sure what is going on.

I started back to work and wanted to go in strong. Sigh.

[torena]

Today I cut up a whole chicken, threw it in the crock pot with a bag of frozen cauliflower, a can of coconut milk, a tbsp of red curry paste and 2 tbsp Red Boat fish sauce. The result was awesome! Thank you NatPatBen!

[jtota]

Today, I was a rock star. That's right! I totally rocked my entire 12 hr day at work. I have so much energy right now it's crazy. I breezed through everything I had to do, actually enjoyed visiting with my patients, and happily helped my fellow nurses do whatever they needed help with. I gotta say, I was a crappy employee before this whole 3o. I mean I was good at my job and always on time, did what I needed to do etc, but I was as not excelling. I was getting by. Just making a paycheck. Always grumpy that I had to be at work and irritated when people asked me to do things. Lately I am happy. Truly happy. And ready for anything the day throws at me. I am awake and alert with no crazy mood swings. And I can think so very clearly. I never thought bread, gluten, could actually be ruining my day to day well being. But aside from dropping sugar, cutting out grains is my biggest change. I don't think I'll ever go back to eating gluten.

I just never thought in my wildest dreams that, after going vegan and all, paleo would by solution. I can't wait to see what the remaining days on this whole30 bring,

I am so glad I had you all to see me through my rough patch the other day.

[jtota]

Today I cut up a whole chicken, threw it in the crock pot with a bag of frozen cauliflower, a can of coconut milk, a tbsp of red curry paste and 2 tbsp Red Boat fish sauce. The result was awesome! Thank you NatPatBen!

I shall have to try this - minus the fish sauce.

[jtota]

Today was a terrible day for me. I have only had one real other day like this (a Saturday and I took a nap for 3 hours after yoga which is unheard of for me) but I had a good breakfast and lunch but picked my oldest up at school and went to ballet and in the middle of waiting for her I just crashed. Made it home and when my husband got home I told him I needed to lay down. Woke up to dinner made (he saved me) as I was famished: grilled steak, sauteed green beans and sweet potato baked. I also ate some shredded coconut which I think was not a great idea because I ate it because I was craving sweets. I know it is compliant but it still felt like I was sneaking candy or something.

I really was struggling this afternoon though and still feel down about today. I just wanted some chocolate or a piece of cheese for comfort terribly. It has literally been pouring rain since Sunday. I still have a headache though right now and low energy. I hope this is just a phase. I felt so great everyday except that one Saturday that I'm not sure what is going on.

I started back to work and wanted to go in strong. Sigh.

Helen,

Sounds like detox going on. You have to push though because it will get better. Are you eating plenty of fat? If you're not already, you might try eating only protein at breakfast. I find that I can avoid a crash late in day if I eat a lot of protein at breakfast. It takes a while to balance exercise and carb intake to. The first times I tried to go paleo I would crash during my workouts because I was going to low in the carbs.

Hang in there! You can do this! And high five your hubby for making you dinner to get you through!

[jmarnold30]

Welcome to the new members!

Nila, off to read your log!

CupcakeNinja, glad you got some good sleep

Christina, I am feeling the same way...tired of prepping (even though I love being in the kitchen), sometimes I get the "I don't wanna" so thankfully today, my husband decided to cook one of our old paleo staples...Ground beef cooked down with eggplant, some tomatoes and then we throw in cabbage, kind of like deconstructed cabbage rolls without the rice It was nice not to have to worry about it.

NatPatBen, you always make my mouth water when I read what you are cooking

I am experiencing bad breath too. Mouthwash is my fix as well.

Coffeeandshoes, sounds like an allergic reaction. Mangoes make my lips itch.

ccraven62, that is one thing I have found since I started paleo. I love tasting food. I'm even eating things that I swore I would never eat. Brussell sprouts are somewhere in my future, lol.

Helen, I hope tomorrow is a better day for you!

Torena and NatPatBen, I have not yet been able to cook with coconut milk...I may have to try that! I'll need to look for that Fish Sauce, though.

jtota, your post makes me want to go "WHOOOOP WHOOOP!!!" You go girl! LOL (my husband thinks I am weird right now, but it is worth it!)

Where is everybody else? How are y'all doing? Day 17 tomorrow, y'all! Let's get it!

[CAK911]

I started the 13th, too, but I missed this thread. Things are going well so far. This is my second Whole 30, both times, my husband and I have embarked on it together. I'm having a little bit harder time this time around with needing snacks to feel full. I assume I'm just not eating enough food, so I'll work on that.

That said, day 4 here has been a little rough. I'm feeling really creaky and headachey, and I have for a couple days. I'm sure some of it is the sugar detox, exacerbated by the weather. I've just been taking Advil and having a cup of coffee if the headache gets too bad. I don't normally have any caffeine, but I do use it to help treat headaches (so, very occasionally, like maybe 2 times a month tops), but the past few days have just been brutal.

[NatPatBen]

@jmarnold30, I'll warn you about the fish sauce price. I bought mine at an Asian grocery store for $6.49 or $6.99. I checked the nearest Whole Foods and they carried it!... for $12.99. In thinking about it, maybe the extra $6 might be worth saving a trip to the other store if it's out of the way.

Helen,

Sounds like detox going on. You have to push though because it will get better. Are you eating plenty of fat? If you're not already, you might try eating only protein at breakfast. I find that I can avoid a crash late in day if I eat a lot of protein at breakfast. It takes a while to balance exercise and carb intake to. The first times I tried to go paleo I would crash during my workouts because I was going to low in the carbs.

Hang in there! You can do this! And high five your hubby for making you dinner to get you through!

SO coincidental that you said that! Just today, I was thinking about this book I read several months ago, Mastering Leptin. I knew there were 5 things that book said to do and back when I read it, I was like, I can do some of these, but not all 5. Today, I looked up the 5 things to see if there is any overlap with what I'm doing. Here are the 5. I only put the expanded version for Rule #4 as it's exactly what you speak about:

Rule 1: Never eat after dinner. Allow eleven to twelve hours between dinner and breakfast. Never go to bed on a full stomach. Finish eating dinner at least three hours before bed.

Rule 2: Eat three meals a day. Allow five to six hours between meals. Do not snack.

Rule 3: Do not eat large meals. If you are overweight, always try to finish a meal when you are slightly less than full; the full signal will usually catch up in ten to twenty minutes. Eating slowly is important.

Rule 4: Eat a breakfast containing protein.

This keeps the body in a calorie-burning mode. Eating a protein breakfast supports blood sugar levels so that late afternoon energy crashes are minimised. These energy crashes are often the result of eating a breakfast with too many carbohydrates and very little protein. If you eat a high carbohydrate breakfast, and are leptin resistant, you are more likely to overeat generally, but particularly at night.

Rule 5: Reduce the amount of carbohydrates you eat.

So while this book didn't focus on the quality of food the way paleo does, I do see a lot of overlap. To be honest, a lot of the books I've read overlap so I can't remember if ISWF said all of these same things explicitly, but I don't think you'd be breaking any Whole30 rules by following the Mastering Leptin rules.

[aim911]

I had a short bout with the flu during my halfway mark. As I recovered, and was able to eat again, I managed to stay away from my usual comfort foods and stay compliant. That took some major willpower, but I made it!! That was definitely my small success for the mid-point. To celebrate making it halfway, I ordered a copy of "Well Fed". It arrived yesterday and I've already tried a couple recipes. So Yummy!!!

[torena]

What are the chances I am allergic to strawberries? Yesterday and today I had this wierd itching in my mouth like a craving for nicotiene. And this morning I was itchy on my side, and a few other places on my body.

My mom is allergic to strawberries and I just talked to her about it. She said she gets itchy everywhere so she avoids them.

I feel like I'm actually starting to taste food this week, and it's amazing.

Yeah, me too! Last night we had Chipotle, mainly because I didn't have the patience to deal with children who were uninterested in what I made for dinner. I tasted my slow cooker chicken curry and OMG I told my husband I was going to have to eat a second dinner because it was so good! I have made something similar before stovetop and it didn't taste this good.

I know it is compliant but it still felt like I was sneaking candy or something.

It has literally been pouring rain since Sunday. I still have a headache though right now and low energy. I hope this is just a phase. I felt so great everyday except that one Saturday that I'm not sure what is going on.

I feel like that every time I have some Larabar or nuts. If I'm feeling guilty, I think there are definitely some psychological issues that are there and I don't know how to address them other than just, you know, not eat the offending food. It's been raining a lot here, too, and I've had a headache for two days. I know someone somewhere mentioned detox - Is that still happening 17 days in? I'm thinking I just haven't been drinking enough water?

Today, I was a rock star. That's right! <snip> I never thought bread, gluten, could actually be ruining my day to day well being. But aside from dropping sugar, cutting out grains is my biggest change. I don't think I'll ever go back to eating gluten.

I am so glad I had you all to see me through my rough patch the other day.

Fantastic! That is so great to hear. I am going to aim to not eat gluten ever again, but if I'm going to indulge (like a birthday cake for a family member for example) it will be gluten-free. I am glad you posted about your rough patch. This is the first time I've done something like this, where I had online support, and normally I'd be embarrassed or "feel weak" for posting, and I am so glad we're all so honest here. It makes me feel less alone.

I started the 13th, too, but I missed this thread. <snip> That said, day 4 here has been a little rough. I'm feeling really creaky and headachey, and I have for a couple days. I'm sure some of it is the sugar detox, exacerbated by the weather. I've just been taking Advil and having a cup of coffee if the headache gets too bad. I don't normally have any caffeine, but I do use it to help treat headaches (so, very occasionally, like maybe 2 times a month tops), but the past few days have just been brutal.

Welcome to the headache club, apparently. Also welcome to the thread! I had stopped coffee 3 weeks ago but between some sleep deprivation the last two nights with kids and the constant rain.

Rule 1: Never eat after dinner. Allow eleven to twelve hours between dinner and breakfast. Never go to bed on a full stomach. Finish eating dinner at least three hours before bed.

Rule 2: Eat three meals a day. Allow five to six hours between meals. Do not snack.

Rule 3: Do not eat large meals. If you are overweight, always try to finish a meal when you are slightly less than full; the full signal will usually catch up in ten to twenty minutes. Eating slowly is important.

Rule 4: Eat a breakfast containing protein.

This keeps the body in a calorie-burning mode. Eating a protein breakfast supports blood sugar levels so that late afternoon energy crashes are minimised. These energy crashes are often the result of eating a breakfast with too many carbohydrates and very little protein. If you eat a high carbohydrate breakfast, and are leptin resistant, you are more likely to overeat generally, but particularly at night.

Rule 5: Reduce the amount of carbohydrates you eat.

There's another book (or series of books) called Potatoes, Not Prozac. I don't know where exactly the potatoes come in to play, but I had started the program and joined a yahoo group to support it. It's a process, where you started one of the changes and focus on that one until you master it before moving on to the next one. The first step? Increasing the protein in your breakfast. They also said to eat it within an hour of waking. I don't remember what the calculation was but it was based on your weight.