LadyWolf's Whole 30 Log

[Emma]

Oh, the soybean connection! I noticed I was moody the day after I ate some Dairy Free Ben and Jerry's ice cream. It has soy in it and I started wondering about that. I've never noticed an issue with soy sauce. I've never had a problem with McDonalds  but I don't know what kind of oil they use.  I can't eat tofu. Aye yai - it's definitely a process figuring out which is which. I'm hoping I do the reintro so I can figure out some of this stuff. I like reading your experiences because it helps me process mine!!!

Congratulations on the sleep, the blood pressure, and the reduced mid-afternoon crash. Those are huge!

[Jihanna]

This kind of thing is why I crafted my reintro the way I did.

Instead of having a "legumes" reintro, I'd suggest having at least a separate day for soy as a whole... better yet, split soy up into several tests, so that you're able to specifically target just soy sauce, just tofu, just edamame, etc. It would still work the same as a regular test, where you test the food and then give at least 2 days of Whole30 compliance to reset in between, but it would give you the chance to really hone in on those specific foods to help you determine your Food Freedom plans.

[LadyWolf0926]

18 hours ago, Emma said:

Oh, the soybean connection! I noticed I was moody the day after I ate some Dairy Free Ben and Jerry's ice cream. It has soy in it and I started wondering about that. I've never noticed an issue with soy sauce. I've never had a problem with McDonalds  but I don't know what kind of oil they use.  I can't eat tofu. Aye yai - it's definitely a process figuring out which is which. I'm hoping I do the reintro so I can figure out some of this stuff. I like reading your experiences because it helps me process mine!!!

Congratulations on the sleep, the blood pressure, and the reduced mid-afternoon crash. Those are huge!

Thanks Emma!! I've been doing the same with y'all's experiences and it's interesting to see how everyone reacts to food differently. I know I'm probably putting the cart way ahead of the horse, but I'm already trying to figure out my reintro plan. I'm honestly not sure I want to do it just yet, but then again, it may feel differently as I get closer to the end of the 30 days. I appreciate your words of encouragement!!

[LadyWolf0926]

9 hours ago, Jihanna said:

This kind of thing is why I crafted my reintro the way I did.

Instead of having a "legumes" reintro, I'd suggest having at least a separate day for soy as a whole... better yet, split soy up into several tests, so that you're able to specifically target just soy sauce, just tofu, just edamame, etc. It would still work the same as a regular test, where you test the food and then give at least 2 days of Whole30 compliance to reset in between, but it would give you the chance to really hone in on those specific foods to help you determine your Food Freedom plans.

This is a GREAT idea, Jihanna!! Thank you! I do miss my soy sauce and I like the idea of splitting it up. I watch my soy intake anyway so splitting it up like this would be easy enough. Any advice you can give on reintro would be SO welcome!! 

[LadyWolf0926]

Day 11 of restart (Day 22), and I'm starting to feel more confident with my Whole 30 journey. Food choices are becoming easier and are requiring much less effort to make. Sleep is just terrific. I can't remember the last time I had this many nights of 7+ hours without interruption (or very minimal) in a row. My body is starting to crave the sleep, and by 10:30, I'm ready for bed. I'm waking up more refreshed and energized for the day. Because I'm not dragging my rear end around in the morning, I'm knocking out chores before I head in to the office, and that gives me more time and flexibility to do other things in the evening. These NSV's are good stuff! It's nice seeing tangible results not tied to a scale!

I was tested today though. Big time. One of my carrier reps, who I adore, came by my office with a shopping bag of Tiff's Treats and milk. Now, if you're not familiar, Tiff's Treats is a company in the Atlanta area that bakes and delivers homemade cookies. (I had them once about a year ago. They were amazing.) So, in he walks with this stupid bag of cookies and milk. Did I mention it was a 'shopping bag' sized bag? Savage. Simply savage. I just looked at him and said, "really dude? You know I'm on Whole 30!" And he says (no joke), "you've been working so hard at it. You deserve to treat yourself"! GAH!!! I couldn't believe he said that! What a toad!! So, I kicked him out of my office and had the office manager show him to the break room on the other side of the building. He came back by my office laughing and said, "you did good! I'm proud of you for sticking to it"! I threw a stress ball at him and tried to peg him with it, but he caught it. Lol  The funny thing was I realized after he'd gone down the hall that I didn't like the smell of the cookies. They smelled sickening sweet, and I lost any interest in trying one. The smell was overwhelming. I'm going to chalk the experience up to progress and a good NSV. He's still a jerk, tho  

Breakfast - scallion omelette filled with sauteed chicken and veggies, coffee blended with Nut Pods

Lunch - green leaf lettuce salad with onions, tomatoes, baked chicken breast topped with Primal Kitchen Lemon Turmeric dressing. Peach diced and tossed with coconut cream and organic toasted coconut flakes.

Dinner - za'atar grilled chicken breast topped with grilled peppers and onions, yellow squash sauteed with green onion, chinese five spice roasted sweet potatoes

Thank you everyone for the encouraging words and support! Y'all are awesome!! 

[Jihanna]

My very best reintro advice is "Don't rush it". Seriously. Split things up as much as you feel you need to, in order to test what you want to test, because I feel like it's important to know whether it's the corn or the rice or the oats that are making me feel icky, y'know?  That also goes with giving your body recovery time -- don't rush the recovery between tests. If you feel Whole30 fighting fit after 2 days, then awesome, do another test... but if you feel like you need more time, give your body time to get over what's going on. I wound up having to give myself 5 days between peanuts and soy, because the peanut reaction was so dramatic.

So, take your time, don't rush through it, and record everything. Even your notes from mid-round might save you when it comes to finding out what's causing things during and after reintro, but those reintro notes will be key to finding your food freedom.

P.S. -- I'd have thrown more than a stress ball! We've got a place in Augusta (right down the road from me) that does amazing cakes, and I can't even imagine what I'd do to someone who brought one to me during W30!

[LadyWolf0926]

R1D12 (23) - So, I figured out the acronym thingy for the round number and day. I kind of like it 

I overslept this morning but somehow managed to make half the time back up and got to the office with enough time to prep for my meeting. Boss pulled in same time I did, so the timing was good, but man oh man did I feel rushed and stressed. I haven't really had that bad stressed out feeling in a couple weeks, and when it hit me today, it was really bothersome. Before W30, the stress would've just been 'another day', but my stress has dropped off so much since I started that I'm really noticing days like today. I took a minute to gather myself, pull my reports for the meeting and then closed my office door for about 15 minutes to just calm myself mentally. It helped and the rest of the day was much better.

One of my coworkers talked to me at lunch about W30, and she's been interested in it but didn't know much about it. I showed her the website, resource downloads, book list, etc. She's hyped to start, and there's two of us in the office on W30, so she'll have a good support system. The more the merrier!!

Thank you @Jihanna for the reintro advice. Good stuff!! Knowing that I can take my time to figure out my inflammatory triggers makes me feel a lot less anxious about it. 

Tomorrow is Friday, yay!! I work remotely on Friday's most weeks, and I'm so glad I don't have to commute tomorrow! I'll sleep in a little, fix the family's lunches, grab my coffee, eat breakfast and then log in. Friday's in my industry are either 'feast or famine', and I'm hoping it's slow. I need a little break after this crazy week. 

Breakfast - scallion omelette with AIP Paleo Powder, coffee with Nut Pods

Lunch - roasted chicken leg quarter, Chinese five spice roasted sweet potatoes, green leaf salad with Primal Kitchen Caesar

Dinner - egg roll in a bowl with spicy mayo

[LadyWolf0926]

R1D13 (24) This morning, I heard the siren song of the scale. It's calling me. Whispering 'come on..... step on me.... you know you want to'. It's right; I do. I can feel it. I can see it in my clothes. I have no idea how many pounds I've dropped or how many inches I have lost and a part of me is dying to know. All the years I trained, whether for bodybuilding or running, my trainers always weighed and measured me. Weighing and measuring, weighing and measuring. The numbers dictated my success. If I gained 5 pounds while training for a race, my trainer would jump all over me. If I lost 5 pounds training for a competition (and I wasn't in prep for a show), my trainer would jump all over me. A week or so ago, I felt an NSV of not needing the scale, like I was finally getting free of it; today, not so much. Not sure why it's hitting me so hard this morning, but it is. It's frustrating, but I'm going to stick to the rules. When my husband gets home, I'm going to ask him to hide the scale. Maybe it'll be easier if I don't see it. Out of sight, out of mind. Of course, once my physician releases me back to the gym,  the weighing and measuring will start again. I'll be past R1 by then, so maybe it won't impact me so much. I hope not. I don't like being a slave to the numbers.

[terlyngil67]

Ahh...those damn numbers 

We are conditioned from an early age that the numbers mean everything  I struggled with this as a young girl. I developed much earlier than my peers. I was also 'farm stock' as my uncle called it  Beefy, solid, athletic.

My friends were more petite, and weighed a lot less. Back then, those damn numbers messed with my head. Made me think I was fat. Technically,  by the standards of that time (and those stupid height/weight charts), I was overweight. 

I look back now, and I remember my body. How strong I was, how solid my muscles were.... I wasn't fat at all, just built differently than my slender petite friends. If only I had embraced that back then  If only I had listened when my mother tried to explain it to me. 

I've always hated the scale. Fought with it, tooth and nail. Took me a long time to stop living every day worrying about those damn numbers 

I can't imagine it's easy for you to let go of it, especially when you have a trainer watching every gain/loss. 

[LadyWolf0926]

Yep! You get it! Even when I was super fit, my BMI said I was overweight. I'll be happy to get back to competition weight, which is my goal. It's going to take a while though. I've been putting on weight steadily for the past five years since I had to stop running. I've found so much inspiration in W30 that I know I'll get there; I just need to get my head unwrapped from the scale so I can focus on the bigger picture.

[terlyngil67]

You can do it! Use that competitive spirit to drive you!

I actually started talking to my scale. Saying "I know you want to feel my feet standing on your back! But I'm not coming over there! You're mean and coniving, and I have no time for your lies and trickery!". My family was sure I'd lost my mind 

But it worked for me.

I think I always felt it was an extension of myself because it's numbers meant so much. I had to give it its own persona to be able to separate it from my brain, and see that it was not a part of me, and therefore no longer important. 

[LadyWolf0926]

3 hours ago, terlyngil67 said:

You can do it! Use that competitive spirit to drive you!

I actually started talking to my scale. Saying "I know you want to feel my feet standing on your back! But I'm not coming over there! You're mean and coniving, and I have no time for your lies and trickery!". My family was sure I'd lost my mind 

"... lies and trickery!" I love it hahaha!! And you're right; I can do it! I already told my husband to hide the scale when he gets home from work, and he asked me where I wanted him to hide it  Bless his heart lol

[terlyngil67]

 

[LadyWolf0926]

R1D13 (24) cont.....

Ended up being a really good day today, scale dilemma aside. I got the slower day I was hoping for and got caught up on a bunch of office stuff. We shut down the agency at 3 pm on Friday's, and one of my AM's called flipping out at 2:45 (never fails). It was all good. I was calm so I was able to get her to calm down, and it ended up being a non-issue. I like the added patience I've noticed lately. It's really helped me diffuse staff the past couple of weeks, and even my boss noticed. In fact, I've been so much calmer he thought something was wrong yesterday. Apparently, I'm quieter when I'm calm (taking his word for it lol), and I guess that makes me scary.....well to him, anyway. I told him that he should only be scared if it was a toddler being quiet, and he said "exactly"! I walked right in to that one  lol

So, my husband has hidden the scale, and he sent himself a text so he doesn't forget where it is in a couple of weeks. We're also going to try sleeping without the television tonight. I've been sleeping with the TV on since I was a teenager; I can't wait to see how this goes later. I'm hoping that, since I've been sleeping so good lately, it's not difficult for me to adapt. Day-by-Day says the "blue light" from the TV, phone screen or tablet is disruptive to sleep, and it makes sense. W30 is about caring for our whole person, so we're gonna go for it!

Breakfast - scallion omelette with sauteed veggies and chicken, coffee with Nut Pods

Lunch - egg roll in a bowl, spicy mayo

Dinner - Thai red curry salmon over cauliflower rice with kale and sweet potato, side of broccoli, cantaloupe

[Emma]

4 hours ago, LadyWolf0926 said:

I told him that he should only be scared if it was a toddler being quiet, and he said "exactly"! I walked right in to that one  lol

So, my husband has hidden the scale, and he sent himself a text so he doesn't forget where it is in a couple of weeks.

Both of those lines were pretty funny.

But the being more patient and the calm - what really cool things to have happen. And isn't it kind of crazy that FOOD can make that difference.  Good luck sleeping without the TV.  It will be interesting to see if it's even an issue.

[LadyWolf0926]

3 hours ago, Emma said:

Both of those lines were pretty funny.

But the being more patient and the calm - what really cool things to have happen. And isn't it kind of crazy that FOOD can make that difference.  Good luck sleeping without the TV.  It will be interesting to see if it's even an issue.

Thanks @Emma! They were funny  My boss is great; he's probably one of the best bosses I've had, and he's very quick witted and funny. I'll never tell him that though lol! 

It is crazy how the patience and calm is tied to food. I remember reading the list of NSV's before I started thinking about all these things being tied to food, but now that I'm experiencing them for myself, I'm understanding some of the how and why. 

Sleeping without the television wasn't too bad. I woke up a couple times but fell back asleep quickly. I think it's going to take some getting used to, but I got 7.5 hours in and that's a huge deal for me. Big improvement from the 4 hours I used to get before W30!

[Emma]

5 hours ago, LadyWolf0926 said:

I woke up a couple times but fell back asleep quickly. I think it's going to take some getting used to, but I got 7.5 hours in and that's a huge deal for me. Big improvement from the 4 hours I used to get before W30!

Wow - only four hours of sleep before. Seven and a half is a huge difference. And then how much does THAT contribute to overall mood. Pretty cool you slept well and think it will work without the tv.  I still need to go read the NSV's. I read them once a while back, but should probably check them out more.

[LadyWolf0926]

 R1D14 (25) It was a good day yesterday! I did a good job of getting up and planning my day without being, or feeling, rushed. I had my coffee and breakfast before picking up groceries, and I got home and all of that packed up/put away before heading to PT at 10:00.

Weekly meal planning was next and then lunch. We were heading over to visit some friends for dinner and a house smudging, and they were so sweet to make the whole dinner W30 compliant. She's was texting me ingredients from the grocery store; we just love their family!

I did much better than I expected sleeping without the television. I got a solid 7.5 hours in with only two small "wake-ups", and I fell back asleep quickly. I think this helped set up the whole day, and it was a success!

Breakfast - scallion omelette with chicken and veggies topped with marinara, coffee with Nut Pods

Lunch - sauteed cabbage with spicy mayo, curried tilapia, steamed broccoli

Dinner - grilled chicken and veggie skewers, roasted asparagus, roasted potatoes, cherries

[terlyngil67]

It's so nice when others consider our dietary needs!

I'm glad you had a good nights sleep.  All of my kids sleep with background noise (radio, tv, etc.). I need complete silence. I swear I can hear a moth fart like it was a firecracker 

It's tough to share hotel rooms with my girls when we travel because they can't handle the silence, and I can't sleep with the noise (no matter how low the volumn is). 

[LadyWolf0926]

OMG @terlyngil67.... the next time I see a moth lol 

I've always had to have some kind of ambient noise in the background, so no TV felt a little weird. I'm still playing music, and I'm actually doing well with it. I'm totally surprised!

[LadyWolf0926]

Just sharing this. I'm in love with this recipe, and the vinaigrette is off the charts delish! Subbed evoo for the canola oil  and using NY strip in place of skirt steak. Leftovers will make a great steak salad for lunch tomorrow.

[SchrodingersCat]

Yuuuuum, mustard and vinegar is a favourite combo of mine - that's what was on the whole cauliflower I devoured yesterday haha!

I sleep with a fan on, even in the dead of winter. Started 20 years ago when I lived next to a construction site and the fan noise helped block the racket! Now I can NOT sleep without it, so if I'm in a hotel room I have to have the bathroom exhaust fan on! My husband sleeps with earphones in, with reruns of his favourite shows running!

[LadyWolf0926]

R1D15 (26) I got up this morning to fix breakfast and was so freaking annoyed. I had been good about reading the nutritional info about the sausage and spice blends on the store website before ordering. I was excited to try something new for breakfast, so I came downstairs and got everything out. As I started opening the sausage and spice packages, I decided to check the ingredients again (I don't want another restart). The spice blend, which was for making homemade chorizo, had two kinds of sugar in it. It wasn't listed on the website, but there it was, right on the doggone label. The other was their andouille sausage, and it also had sugar in it which wasn't listed on the store nutritional info. Of course the store had a disclaimer about not being responsible for accuracy, blah blah blah, but if I'm shopping and relying on this info to make choices, it should be accurate. What if I had an allergy to something they inadvertently omit? Anyway, before W30, I would have lost my mind and gotten really angry. Today, I was annoyed but got over it quickly. I was actually glad I had taken the time to read the labels. I went ahead, got on Pinterest and found a great recipe for homemade chorizo that was complaint. So, I didn't have my andouille, but the chorizo came out great! Sausage disaster averted, and I kept my cool. I'm taking that as an NSV !

I'm sleeping good without the television, which really surprises me. I thought I would have a hard time adjusting, and I'm not. I'm getting a good 7+ hours, and I'm finding I need to be in bed by about 10:30 now. It's helping my husband too!

Back to the office tomorrow, and I'm ready for the week! 

Breakfast - omelette with homemade chorizo, potato, tomato and basil; coffee with Nut Pods and a dash of cocoa; strawberries

Lunch - blackened orange roughy; sauteed broccoli; coconut water

Dinner - grilled NY strip; ghee roasted parsley potatoes; sauteed yellow squash; romaine salad with tomato, red onion and homemade balsamic vinaigrette; strawberries

[LadyWolf0926]

28 minutes ago, SchrodingersCat said:

Yuuuuum, mustard and vinegar is a favourite combo of mine - that's what was on the whole cauliflower I devoured yesterday haha!

I'm with you on the mustard and vinegar! I love it, and this recipe came out so good! My husband even loved the vinaigrette! I didn't think about it on cauliflower; I bet that was good! Honestly, you're my food muse!! I love reading your daily meals!! They give me such great motivation and ideas!!

[Jihanna]

11 minutes ago, LadyWolf0926 said:

Of course the store had a disclaimer about not being responsible for accuracy, blah blah blah, but if I'm shopping and relying on this info to make choices, it should be accurate. What if I had an allergy to something they inadvertently omit?

This. Right. Here.
My "fix" for this is to give extremely explicit instructions when necessary, lol. Things like "Check label. Must not include sugar, dairy, soy, grains, ..." and so on. Although I'll admit that for things like seasonings, I wound up opting for making things from scratch using recipes and individual spices, just to avoid stuff like that. I swear my Kroger pick-up people are extremely sweet, and whether they love or hate my specifics, they're at least nice enough to never comment to me if I made it difficult for them!