Ouisie Posted December 31, 2018 Share Posted December 31, 2018 It's New Years Eve and hubby and I are up in the Ozarks on our annual 2-week getaway. This is when we review the last year and talk about changes for the coming year. We hike a lot, eat bigger meals than normal and, of course, drink! One of my goals for this next year is to clean up my eating. Not that I am out of control, but I can feel the joints aching and my hidden allergies are coming back. I did the Whole30 in 2017 and felt great. The feeling of control is great plus the affects of clean eating can be felt. Then, life took hold and I went back to eating what was convenient. This time I have a better handle on what it takes to be successful with the W30 and .... continue or recover with the clean eating afterwards. Here is my approach and my goals for the Whole30 Round 2 (recommit, get-your-act-together) process: - Start date is Jan. 14th : We get back from the mountains on Wed. Jan.9th. I will use the next 4 days to prepare my kitchen, do my meal planning, do my shopping, and get back to Meal Prep Sunday. - 5000+ steps a day : I know this may not sound like much but on a consistent daily basis I want to start here. There are days when I get in over 10,000 but I don't want to put that heavy goal in place to get my re-commitment started. - Week1 goal : get back in gear with the program, record daily log - Week2 goal : get back to the gym, even if only for 30 min. activity - Week3 goal : increase daily step goal - Week4 goal : try on a few clothes to see if they fit better (I expect the 'gassy' gut to be gone and a few pounds as well) - End date is Feb. 12th : I will step on the scales to see how my weight has done over the 30 days. There were 3 things I was anxious to reintroduce on my last Whole30 - creamer in my coffee, crackers and chips, and wine (and sweets). This time around I want to stick with black coffee and start to enjoy the homemade baked sweet potato slivers. I will deal with the sweet tooth and the wine reintroduction challenge later as I travel this journey. More coming, Linda Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ouisie Posted January 15, 2019 Author Share Posted January 15, 2019 Today is Day 1 and things are going well. I picked up my groceries on Sat. and did most of the chop-up and basic prep for the Sun. Cook-up Day. The prep took a bit longer because I am getting back in the groove. Things will get easier next week. I selected 2 salads (Green Cabbage with chicken and the Protein Salad made with chicken) and 2 soups (Classic Chili with bison and Chicken Chowder) to get the week started. I am doing eggs and veggies for breakfast and tried the sweet potato buns for the first time. To be able to do without sugar in the morning I have switched to some orange herbal teas. Life is good so far. My week 1 goal is to just get back on track and write something each day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ouisie Posted January 16, 2019 Author Share Posted January 16, 2019 Today is Day 2 and challenges are starting. I miss two things - wine with my hubby and chips, both social. So I figured out a W30 compliant exchange. I get out the biggest wine glass I have and use fruit and flavored sparkling water. I still have my social time with hubby without the system effect of the wine. For the chips I tried the Kale Chips in the new Whole30 Cookbook. All the changes will get easier. I have three event challenges this week: 1. dinner with the ladies on Thursday - going to a cajun place and I am researching the menu, will have a sparkling water instead of wine 2. lunch with my BFF on Friday - invited her to my house to taste some good W30 food 3. taking goodies to bible study on Saturday - cleaning out the final few left over things in the fridge More tomorrow. So far, still logging each day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ouisie Posted January 17, 2019 Author Share Posted January 17, 2019 Yesterday was Day 3 and I noticed two things. I have switched to caffeine free tea instead of coffee and yesterday I had one of my favorite teas but it had caffeine in it. I noticed a headache coming on after about 5 min. so I am thinking that caffeine may be part of my issues. I have long thought that caffeine causes my cough because it bothers something in my throat. Oh well, the research continues. I also have noticed off and on that I am not coughing as much. Maybe the reduction in caffeine but I also think my meals were causing the scratchiness in my throat. Wonder what was doing that? I was very busy yesterday and actually took a lunch kit with me to make sure I could get something to eat between appointments. It worked out perfectly. The portions listed in the cookbook are very large for me. The Protein Salad is said to serve 2 ! Oh My Gosh! I will eat on that for the entire week. I put it on a lettuce salad, on top of the Green Cabbage Salad, and have it by itself. One serving a day and it will last me most of the week. I have two challenges today - lunch out to support the contractors working on my house and Ladies Night Out at Pappadeauxs Cajun Kitchen. I will let you know how I do. More later today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ouisie Posted January 18, 2019 Author Share Posted January 18, 2019 Today was Day 4 and I was faced with 2 challenges. Lunch was out at a local lunch room. I had the Salad Bar and a baked potato. I took my own dressing and had the potato 'dry' . I did really GOOD at lunch! Dinner was at a cajun kitchen and was a bit more difficult. With my ladies group almost all of the 10 had wine or drinks but I had sparkling water in a wine glass with fruit in it. Worked well. I got a Steamed Seafood Cobb Salad without their bacon, blue cheese and no dressing. I asked for oil and vinegar instead. The salad was great (and big) and I have enough for another meal. I may have been a bit over on the fats for this meal - 1/3 avocado plus the oil - but had plenty protein, veggies plus the fruit from my drink! Tomorrow has a challenge with my BFF coming over for lunch but I am more in control. I am also making some pastry goodies tomorrow evening for bible study so that will be difficult but I will have hubby do the taste test! Almost to the end of Week 1 and I have logged my info for each day and have been making my initial goal of 5000 steps each day. More later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meco Posted January 18, 2019 Share Posted January 18, 2019 I'm not a doctor - but regarding your throat and cough: Caffeine tends to "dehydrate." So, excessive caffeine that dehydrates us can make our mouth and throat dry, from which, mucus is produced. A dry throat, and thick mucus that can "stick" to the vocal cords, can cause a cough. Coughing further irritates the vocal folds, so it's a vicious cycle. I've also heard that dairy does something like "thicken mucus" too. So, one could suppose that by cutting out caffeine and dairy , your cough could improve. The best thing for throat and vocal hygiene is hydration and NOT irritating the vocal folds by coughing, yelling, smoking, etc. Some people think that caffeine can trigger headaches or migraines, too. It's really interesting how all of our body systems are related and can be dependent on what we eat and how we live! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ouisie Posted January 19, 2019 Author Share Posted January 19, 2019 Thanks Meco. I can relate to everything you mentioned. I have often noticed that dairy would trigger my coughing too. I have always had a good habit of drinking at least 60 oz. of water each day so hydration is good and I am glad to know it helps. Today was Day 5 and I was very hungry today. Had a good breakfast (2 eggs + some bison chili) about 9. Had lunch at 12 (chicken chowder + green cabbage salad + fruit salad). Had dinner at 6 (leftover seafood salad from last night + unsweetened applesauce) I was nimbly hungry all afternoon. Had grapes and EPIC Chicken bites and Kale chips. While everything was legal, I still felt like I was slipping back into my old habits of eating mindlessly. My challenge today was fixing the goodies for bible study tomorrow night - hubby did the taste test so I'm good. The only test I will have tomorrow is to deal with the goodies. I'm getting groceries and have my meals planned for the cookup day. More later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ouisie Posted January 20, 2019 Author Share Posted January 20, 2019 Today is Day 6 and I battled some cravings but won! Breakfast was 3 slices of W30 Turkey bacon, a small red potato, and tomato slices. I am using up my botched mayo from last weekend so put a very green goofy looking concoction of olive oil and egg on my potato. It was really good. Lunch was several leftover protein and fruit salads and dinner was the remaining of the Chicken Chowder. The kitchen is almost cleaned out of the things I made last Sunday - only Classic Chili left. Ready for the cookup tomorrow. I am planning on Chicken Primavera, Protein Salad, Spinach Frittata, Roasted Veggies and Cauliflower Rice. I am planning another soup but not sure what. More later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ouisie Posted January 24, 2019 Author Share Posted January 24, 2019 Today is Day 11 and things are going very well - with a few challenges that are being met. No. 1 - lesson learned: don't skip over doing your 'chop-up' as soon as you get home from the store. I usually fill up some containers with chopped up versions of the veggies I buy so they will be ready for a quick 'cook-up' on Sunday. I got busy and did not do that so my Sunday session did not reap my full list of prep items. I got caught up during the week but would rather have it all done. No. 2 - lesson learned: don't beat yourself up over a written but not met (yet) goal. I wanted to get back to my 30 min. aerobic time this week but have been distracted and busy wrapping up the remodel of our house. All should be done, furniture returned and place today so I am giving myself the weekend to level out and then get back to walking, riding, gyming or something next week. I am giving myself CREDIT for this round running smooth. I have eaten out several times and have been faithful with my 'cook-ups.' I always have something in the fridge to eat. I put together a plan for each meal and usually stick with it (or another W30 option that I WANT). I put any non-W30 things on my hubby's shelf and he can nibble on them throughout the week. He brings home doggie-bags and has his milk and his jellies so I set the top shelf as off-limits to me. Life is good so far. I am thinking about reintroduction and that this time I need to do it right. Kinda blew it after the wine last time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ouisie Posted January 29, 2019 Author Share Posted January 29, 2019 Today is Day 15. The last few days have been easy but also tough. Last Thursday I fell in the driveway and totally messed up my right arm!! Nothing is broken BUT functionality is limited so .... I did not do my usual cook-up on Sunday. I had to take hubby with me to do my shopping, loading and putting up. I have 2 recipes I am prepared for this week. The Asian Chicken Salad out of the Cookbook and Stuffed Peppers from the W30 book. I will have to make these during the week because it takes me FOREVER to prep the veggies. I am living on salads, baked (and sweet) potatos, roasted veggies, baked chicken, scrambled eggs and any other quick stuff. Breakfast has been easy, lunch not too bad, but dinner has been the challenge. The important thing is that this 'life event' has not deterred me from my quest to clean my system out. I am rather impressed with myself and it only proves that I have what it takes to continue the W30 after the 30 days. I think I have what it takes to do the 'slow and calculated' method of reintroduction. I have been tracking my aches and pains, sinus coughs, headaches, etc and things have been getting better. When I went to the dr. they always track your weight and I have no idea how their scale relates to mine but ... I am down from my home scale. Just a small medically required fudge! More next time. I did hit my step limit several times in spite of my handicap! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ouisie Posted February 13, 2019 Author Share Posted February 13, 2019 Well, today is day 30. I have not documented some of my challenges this time around but I definitely pulled through the whole thing without a hitch. I will start Reintroduction tomorrow by officially weighing in. I have gotten into a rhythm with my eating which I like. I have been making a list of the things I want to reintroduce and will start with 'sugar' or artificial sweeteners tomorrow. Then 2 days of W30. Planning to add back alcohol (the potato based vodka) on Saturday! More later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.