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My W30 log - Starting on August 15th


Amura

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9 hours ago, Amura said:

It's quite discouraging, but I'm convicing myself that this will pass and I'll be feeling my best in no time.

I think even the discouragement is a part of the process for many. We have years of eating certain ways so of course it's going to take a while to balance things out. But I think the day 10 area is kinda rough. Things definitely do get better further along in the month. And it's rougher still when we get our periods because things are different than the norm and not always better. But I think it's worth sticking with it because things will pass and sometimes it's hard to see the incremental little things that are steadily and solidly improving.

I think you're doing a really great job, by the way, of planning your meals while visiting others. It's so hard when visiting others. 

 

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11 hours ago, MindyG7000 said:

I'm pretty sure it's the KETO diet they were talking about. You could offer them your book to read ???

I could, but I think I am just not up for the conversation. I particularly like the Keto book by the Practical Paleo author because her version of Keto is still so vegetable filled that it seems to align with Whole30 fairly smoothly. Maybe if I continue to feel better and eat better, then we can have a conversation and I'd share the books, but right now I think they'd just read them with a critical eye and think I'm doing harm to my body somehow. I do take photos of my meals as evidence of whopping good looking healthy meals and I think about sharing them if the conversation does happen and they express more concern.

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2 hours ago, Emma said:

I think you're doing a really great job, by the way, of planning your meals while visiting others. It's so hard when visiting others. 

I'm quite used to meal planning in general.
This was not harder, because I have an idea of what I can expect my mother to serve - and I'm sure there will always be compliant options for main mails, but also that an everyday breafast would be dairy, bread and fruit.
So I had already planned my go-to emergency supplies, and went to the grocery story right after we arrived :)

Next week we are going to visit a friend, and we're gonna eat out. That's gonna be a bit trickier.
It's likely we end up having lunch in a kid-friendly Italian restaurant (we've gone there before) and I've already checked their dishes online - there are some meat-based compliant options.

So, yes, planning comes easy to me. It's a blessing, it makes the Whole30 a bit easier.
Also I would never forget to eat ;) 

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DAY 11

  • Meal 1: Arugula and lamb lettuce, 2 hardboiled eggs, canned mackerel and a handful nuts. A cup of green tea.
  • Meal 2: Green olives, seafood salad (potato, prawns, hardboiled egg, mayo), pork barbecue and 1 banana.
  • Snack: Green tea.
  • Meal 3: Zucchini, leftover seafood salad, canned mackerel and nuts. 1 banana.

My out-of-home breakfast supplies proved to be a good choice. I would definetely buy the same again.

I had to make the mayo (because my mother forgot her eyeglasses) and it separated. I could not help thinking about this forum, wondering if the "how-to-fix-a-mayo-that-does-not-emulsify" question has ever been explained. Because it eventually happens.
(When my grandma was a child, they used to say that you could not make mayo during the days you menstruated because it always separated. Which is nonsense, of course, but I find it kind of amusing.)

There were two cakes. My mother does not like baking so they were store-bought, which always makes them less appealing to me. Even so I always eat them, and it makes me feel guilty and stupid.
Today I did not. And the feeling was certainly empowering. I think this is a NSV, that foods which are not so appealing do not tempt me just for the sake of being sweet.

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https://foodal.com/knowledge/how-to/quick-fixes-broken-homemade-mayo/
I haven't had to fix a broken mayo as yet, but do have this saved for when it happens...

NSVs are amazing, and (I think) they feel even better when brought about specifically because of healthy food choices, like choosing not to eat the cake. Being able to make that decision and stick to it definitely is empowering!

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Imho FIX #2 works better ;)

But, yeah, that's what I was talking about. Good to know this information is around here. I wasn't sure if those were well-known facts!

 

Yes, making a decision and sticking to it is great. But maybe the problem is that I never actually made a firm desision before!

I mean, yes, some general ones, such as "eating healthy" or "eating less treats" or "not eating much sugar". There was room for hesitating - and when I hesitate I fall into temptation.
Now, because of such strict rules, I know it's not allowed and I simply don't give it any thought. I simply say no.
But I wonder: how hard will this be when the 30 days are over and I have the choice? 
I still have much work to do!

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Today I dreamt of chocolate!
In my dream I was savouring it, mmmmm, yummy! :D


DAY 12

  • Meal 1: Arugula & lamb lettuce, 1 hardboiled egg, canned tuna, a handful nuts and green tea.
  • Meal 2: Arugula & lamb lettuce, canned tuna, mango and leftover barbecued lamb.
  • Snack: Nuts.
  • Meal 3: Spanish omelette (with confitted onions) and raw spinachs. Some grapes.
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DAY 13

Meal 1: Confitted pork loin, sauteed zucchini and sweet potato

Snack: A portion of Spanish omelette

Meal 2: Chicken & spinach curry (with coconut milk), grapes

Meal 3: Sautéed prawns, zucchini and carrots. A handful nuts and one tangerine.

 

I felt a bit tired today, specially in the morning.
I went for a walk - up the mountain as usual - and my legs did not feel like it. 
I wonder if it might be because I was lazy during the weekend...

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DAY 14

  • Meal 1: omelette (3 eggs), plenty of spinachs and 1 carrot.
  • Meal 2: cod, potatoes, pickled veggies, and black tea
  • Meal 3: a handful nuts, scrambled eggs with mushrooms, some wild berries
     

Today we crossed the border to Portugal. Their cuisine is very good, they have lots of dishes with cod which I love - but my usual has dairy in it, so I asked something different.
Everybody else ordered a dessert, I ordered only some tea. I really miss having a dessert when we eat out!

I travelled in the back seat, which usually makes me feel dizzy, my stomach upset. And I've noticed that since I'm on the Whole30 this is not happening. So I'm assuming it has something to do with either grains or dairy (which I ate on a daily basis). Something to test during reintroduction.
And I guess it's an NSV after all, having learned that I can travel on the back seat and still feel good - just be 100% compliant in the meals before travelling!

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You are very inspiring. I am 2 days behind you. My 20+ hot-flashes a day are down to 1 or 2, and the reason I was trying this experiment in the first place.

But today.....I want a cookie! I don't eat a lot of sweets but I'm not 'satisfied' I'm looking for that bit of ahhhh after dinner. Any suggestions?

 

Mindy from Oregon

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8 hours ago, MindyG7000 said:

I don't eat a lot of sweets but I'm not 'satisfied' I'm looking for that bit of ahhhh after dinner. Any suggestions?

Your hot flashes are down in numbers! That's super cool! 

I sometimes brush my teeth after dinner. It's not very exciting. I just rolled my eyes typing that I do it because WHO wants to go brush their teeth when they really want something sweet or tasty after dinner?! But it does seem to work for me because the minty clean feeling seems to give my mouth some zest that it is looking for. Or I drink magnesium in hot water (Natural Calm) and I find I really like that (but it's not sweet).

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@MindyG7000 I started drinking fruity herbal teas after dinner, to avoid eating fruit straight-on. Going herbal (skipping anything with green, black, oolong, etc. in the blend) leaves the caffeine out of the equation as well, which is helpful for me because I try to limit caffeine once I'm into the latter part of the day. A Black Cherry / Berry blend is probably my go-to if I'm grabbing something shortly after dinner but I've also been known to enjoy some Mint Magic in the past, so it really comes down to whether I want fruity or minty. The Blueberry tea from the same company is pretty nice, too, and any of those is great when mixed 50:50 with black tea to give a flavored but caffeinated tea. (In fact, mixing fruity or herbal tea with my black tea is the ONLY WAY I've managed to drink black tea without added sweetener during Whole30, it's just too bitter otherwise).

One word of warning if you try the tea -- read those ingredients. There are a ton of really good blends out there that are compliant, but there are also plenty that have non-compliant ingredients mixed in (like stevia leaf), so just check and double-check the label before you actually buy the box and/or brew the cup :) 

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@MindyG7000 I am inspiring? :blink: Whoa!
That's not a thing one hears often, thanks for the super-nice comment!

About the cookie issue:

Do you think you could eat a bit more in your meals?
I am eating large meals, even larger than I used to, because that helps me to reduce my snacking.
Today we were eating out, and I ordered a whole dish (more than enough for a normal lunch) plus a large salad. When I'm actually full it's much easier to reject dessert :D 

Also. Eat some fruit.
We should not eat much fruit, it's true, specially not at breakfast. But two pieces a day wisely distributed are fine.
You can eat a piece of fruit after your lunch and another after your dinner, and maybe that helps with the cravings.

Fruity/herbal teas, as @Jihanna recommended, are yummy too. If you like teas, that's true, because some people don't.
Actually because we were visiting some friends and in their city there is a tea shop I love, they have high-quality teas which they blend themselves (you can ask for any combination you want!).
I bought today two new fruity teas - one is compliant (and it's already in my fridge so  I can drink it cold tomorrow) and the other one is not (one of the ingredients is sugar-coated dragon fruit) so I'm gonna store it unopen until my Whole30 is over. But, yeah, read your labels on teas, even if they are organic high-quality ones.

Teeth brushing helps for short-lived cravings, I think.
I mean, when I have just brushed my teeth I would not any treat, it's true - but the effect dies after an hour or so.
If you cravings do not last very long it may help too!

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Also, today log.

DAY 15

  • Meal 1: Pork loin, spinachs, radishes and one carrot.
  • Meal 2: Pork ribs, potatoes, salad (lettuce, tomato, onion, green olives).
  • Snack: a portion of Spanish omelette
  • Meal 3: Green beans, leftover chicken, black olives.

Visiting our friends, and eating out with them.
We went to the restaurant we expected, I had already seen the menu online and I knew I had one compliant option (and maybe two more if I ordered no-dressing). Last minute idea: order also a plain salad, just to fill with greens (a more balanced meal!) and to be less tempted by other people ordering dessert.
I felt very proud of myself because I ate all the tomato. Which I hate. I usually would give it to my husband, but I decided it's never late to learn to like things. I'm trying to teach my son to eat all kinds of veggies and I must set a good example.

The weather was too hot and we wanted to drink something, and it's common here to offer some food as a courtesy.
I usually order either water or tea, and if the food is compliant I will eat it - that's why the snack, not that I was so hungry but it was a nice treat.

Had a great day.
Back home we were not very hungry, so we had dinner a bit later than usual.
Everything was prepped, so I took my ingredients, salt&pepper and olive oil and ready to eat. I'm a woman of simple tastes :)

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DAY 16

  • Meal 1: Omelette (3 eggs), spinachs, black olives.
  • Meal 2: a handful nuts, baked sea bream & potatoes, little green peppers, plus some grapes
  • Snack: More nuts! :mellow:
  • Meal 3: Green beans, one hardboiled egg, leftover chicken and black olives, and more grapes

Today I got up and needed to go to the toilet right away.
That's odd. I used to be an after-breakfast kind of person, because of the Whole30 it seemed to have changed to an after-dinner thing, and today this.
I've been having these soft stools, but it does not feel bad so I don't think I should change anything. I just wished to be more regular, for next week I'm back to work and it would be a bit incovenient -_-

We had guests today (my husband's uncle and cousin) but instead of going out for lunch we insisted on lunching at home.
The brought some treats for dessert but it's ok with me - I can watch others while I sip my tea.
(Btw the orange tea I bought yesterday is really yummy!)

My parents want to visit on the weekend. I've told them the same, that we'd rather not eat out - but it's always complicated with them.
They mean good, they think that going out is less trouble, but I've been telling them for years that it is actually more trouble. And I like cooking!

Today I walked back from my in-laws house (my footgear wasn't a good choice but still felt good) and I was thinking about my Whole30.
I'm on day 16 and I don't notice any tiger blood. I haven't noticed much in general. My clothes do not seem any looser. I can't pinpoint health improvements. I'm starting to think that maybe I won't notice much during the reintroduction either. I may well be one of those cases.
And still I think the Whole30 is something positive for me, in the psychological level.
Having clear boundaries made my food choices much easier, I can reject treats without doubts and that makes me feel empowered. Which is great.
That's why I think I must write some new personal rules for me, after the reintroduction is done. This powerful feeling might prove really useful.

PS:
I dreamed that I ate a croissant.
But it was not a delicious dream, it was a guilty one - I had to restart my Whole30 because of the damned croissant :angry:

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1 hour ago, Amura said:

I dreamed that I ate a croissant.
But it was not a delicious dream, it was a guilty one - I had to restart my Whole30 because of the damned croissant :angry:

I remember my food dreams during Whole30. I had one where I woke up (in my dream) with crumbs on my face and shirt, and went to the fridge to see that I'd somehow scarfed down an entire birthday cake. Woke up (for real) so upset, feeling nauseated and undone, and had to physically check the fridge, the kitchen, etc., and verify with others in the house that no one had put a cake in the fridge the previous day! It was insane. There was another where I'd accidentally licked my fingers while making my kid's lunch for school, and wound up downing a jar of peanut butter as result -- of course, had to check every trash can in the house AND the outside bin to be certain I hadn't really done that one.

Totally get it :D 

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22 hours ago, Jihanna said:

I remember my food dreams during Whole30. I had one where I woke up (in my dream) with crumbs on my face and shirt, and went to the fridge to see that I'd somehow scarfed down an entire birthday cake. Woke up (for real) so upset, feeling nauseated and undone, and had to physically check the fridge, the kitchen, etc., and verify with others in the house that no one had put a cake in the fridge the previous day! It was insane. There was another where I'd accidentally licked my fingers while making my kid's lunch for school, and wound up downing a jar of peanut butter as result -- of course, had to check every trash can in the house AND the outside bin to be certain I hadn't really done that one.

Totally get it :D 

Haha, that's hilarious!
Well, sure you did not think it was funny at all at the time, but hey, now it is!

Luckily for me we never have that kind of treats at home. So there was not need to check the trash can :lol:
On a regular basis we have some black chocolate (I buy 90% pure cocoa and above) and that's pretty much all. We've always been of the mind that it's better not to have temptations at home, so at least we can indulge without guilt on those occasions we eat out.
(I'm reconsidering very seriously the second part of such statement.)

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DAY 17

  • Meal 1: sauteéd zucchini & sweet potato, a bit of leftover sea bream and some black olives.
  • Meal 2: Shoulder of pork (cured, boiled, typical dish here), little green peppers and a bunch of grapes.
  • Snack: Black tea, one carrot, nuts.
  • Meal 3: Grilled veggies (zucchini, carrots, sweet potato) and a hardboiled egg, 1 pear.

Today I felt ok, no tiger blood but nothing amiss either.

But my meals were far from perfect.
I think I started the day with a meal too low on protein (I have just learned that I do not like leftover baked fish for breakfast) which was setting myself for failure.
Because I'm more of a morning protein person and a evening veggies person, I think. So it's hard for me to compensate with extra protein in the dinner.

We are on vacation (about to end) so every morning we go to a cafe. I usually order water. They always give us some complimentary snack - I would eat a portion of omelette but reject any sweet treat. I hoped for the omelette today, but I wasn't lucky.
It was a mini croissant. :ph34r: My dream come true!

I was hungry for lunch, and I ate a lot of meat. So technically I should be full - but I felt like eating quite a lot of grapes.
Ok, it is not terrible, but it gave me the sensation that I failed at balancing today's meals. Hm.
I still have some leftover fish which I meant to eat for tomorrow's breakfast but I think I'll be eating some of my confitted pork loin instead.

Also my husband had quite a bit of leftover bread. 
I usually bake our bread - but on weekends/vacation. Now my husband buys it, but it's too much for just one person (and a half). There is a good bakery, their bread may last up to three days, but four days had passed and he still had quite a bit so I decided to make some French toast for an afternoon snack.
Awful idea. Seeing other people eating a treat is one thing, making it is something completely different!
I snacked on approved foods, but still felt the craving :wacko:

By dinner time I was fine, our meal was satisfying and no cravings appeared, but I can't help thinking that I must watch my first meal very carefully. Had this happen on a workday it might have been a disaster...

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DAY 18

  • Meal 1: Confitted pork loin, spinachs, radishes and some black olives
  • Snack: A portion of Spanish omelette
  • Meal 2: Pomfret in tomato sauce and salad (lettuce, spinachs, cherry tomatoes, radishes, carrit,  black olives), some grapes as dessert
  • Meal 3: A handful cashews, then sauteéd zucchini, carrot and sweet potato, one hardbioled egg, canned small sardines.

I'm afraid I'm doing something wrong with all the snacking.
I did not need the morning snack but I like it, and it was compliant so I ate it. So this is an unfixed problem: eating something just because it's avaliable - and yummy. 

Also I've been snacking on nuts while I cook, so I've been counting them a part of the meal - but I think I should not.
Because, yes, I am hungry but I could wait 5 minutes more. It's again all about the avaliability. 

I think I should get this "healthy" snacking under control. Just in case.

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On 8/30/2019 at 9:19 AM, Jihanna said:

I remember my food dreams during Whole30. I had one where I woke up (in my dream) with crumbs on my face and shirt, and went to the fridge to see that I'd somehow scarfed down an entire birthday cake. Woke up (for real) so upset, feeling nauseated and undone, and had to physically check the fridge, the kitchen, etc., and verify with others in the house that no one had put a cake in the fridge the previous day! It was insane. There was another where I'd accidentally licked my fingers while making my kid's lunch for school, and wound up downing a jar of peanut butter as result -- of course, had to check every trash can in the house AND the outside bin to be certain I hadn't really done that one.

Totally get it :D 

LOLOLOL thats sooo funny. I'm chuckling to myself reading your comment here.  THis forum is soo good, but honestly I could sit here all day reading and not get off the couch. I'm still trying to work out how to use it all (the forums, the likes, the favourites, the following, and what to do next).....  Its like I'm getting a network of new friends. Loving it, coz we are all thinking and going through similar things. :-)

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6 hours ago, KiwiKendra said:

THis forum is soo good, but honestly I could sit here all day reading and not get off the couch. I'm still trying to work out how to use it all (the forums, the likes, the favourites, the following, and what to do next).....  Its like I'm getting a network of new friends. Loving it, coz we are all thinking and going through similar things. :-)

This forum is great!

But to be honest, a really good thing is that it is kinda slow. I mean, only a few posts are written every day so if you log in once a day - such as I do to post in my log - you can really manage to read all the *new* posts without feeling like you waste a lot of time.

I read lots of older threads in the beginning, but now it does not take me a lot of time to keep up with everything else that goes on - even without figuring out how to subscribe :D

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DAY 19 

  • Meal 1: Confitted pork loin, sweet potato, lettuce, black olives.
  • Meal 2: Baked pomfret, mashed potatoes, little green peppers, and one banana as dessert.
  • Meal 3: Plain Russian salad (potatoes, green beans, carrots, hardboiled eggs, canned tuna, black olives, mayo) and a handful grapes.

Today I walked to and from my in-law's, I'm quite happy about that. I don't workout but I do like moving a bit more than I used to, and I like walking.
Not only it's excercise, it also gives me time to think on my own, with no interferences. (I've been thinking about the reintroduction, I'm so looking forward it!)

We had lunch at my in-law's. Pomfret again, but cooked in a different way. I'm glad I did not bake it yesterday :D
Also mashed potatoes. Here the usual is adding some butter and milk, which improves the texture, but they used water just so I could eat it too. And I ate pretty much all of it because nobody else seemed interested - yep, its not as tasty.
It was a nice detail.

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DAY 20

  • Meal 1: 2 eggs, lettuce, sweet potato and a dollop mayo.
  • Snack: A portion of Spanish omelette.
  • Meal 2: zucchini bolognese, a handful cashews and one pear
  • Snack: Black tea
  • Meal 3: Melon & prosciutto, a handful cashews

Today at breakfast I realized I had run out of eggs but I made up in proteins with the snack, so I was ok.
Lunch was very easy (I thawed a portion of bolognese sauce, with zucchini for me and spaguetti for everyone else) but despite having a large plate of it I did not feel full, so cashews and fruit it was.
At dinner I had already planned to eat some cashews, because my meal lacked fat (unlike most of my dishes, this had no olive oil in it) but I must admit that eating something more felt very good.

I did not feel bad in any sense but definetely hungrier than usual. 
I'll see if this is a one-day kind of thing or should I get even larger servings from now on...

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DAY 21

  • Meal 1: Hardboiled egg, canned mackerel, lettuce, sweet potato, radishes and mayo
  • Meal 2: Beef stew (with zucchini and carrots)
  • Snack: Green tea and ginger
  • Meal 3: More Russian salad (potatoes, green beans,carrot, 1 hardboiled egg, canned mackerel, black olives) and one ripe banana

So. Three weeks into the Whole30.
I am not so over this, but I still don't see any noticeable change. Hmm.

Today I had some news at work, I'm not completely sure what to make out of them, they may mean a change of plans - or not. Too soon to say, and they are maybe for good but on the other hand not so much. Well, it's complicated. I felt a bit off because of that, and also arrived a bit late for lunch.
The stew was in the CrockPot but my husband did not notice that he was supposed to make some salad, and when I arrived I only wanted to sit at the table and tell him about the news, so we both forgot about the damn salad. -_-

I tried to balance it by eating not so much protein in the following meal, but that meant many potatoes and I think that might have been a not-so-good idea.
Felt good anyway so I'm hoping it was not a big deal.

Also. One banana. I was not hungry but they were getting too ripe.
My no-waste convictions are too strong to put my diet before them :ph34r:

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DAY 22

  • Meal 1: Omelette (3 eggs and coconut milk), sweet potato and some leftover potato salad
  • Meal 2: Chicken & spinach curry (with coconut milk)
  • Snack: Green tea with ginger
  • Meal 3: Spanish omelette and salad (lettuce, carrot, radishes and pear), also strawberries in coconut milk

A bit stressful day at work. And there was homemade chocolate sponge cake. Which looked yummy.
That was a problem last year. Everybody here is so nice, and we got used to bring homemade treats to share with our colleages. But "homemade" is something that really makes temptation stronger to me.
Now I passed on it, but I must certainly set some ground rules for this kind of situation when my round is over.

I think I ate a bit too much protein today.
I guess it's not a big deal but lately I've been thinking more about the balance in my meals. I do not follow always the template in each meal but I do try to keep them balanced - if I eat much of one thing at lunch, I try to eat little of that at dinner. Usually manage quite well but sometimes it's tricky.

Also a treat after dinner. Because my husband bought strawberries and they looked delicious, and I wanted to have some.

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