Like a (broken) record, baby, round, round, round, (not on) round...

[SchrodingersCat]

Here she goes.... here she goes again....

Howdy peeps. I'm back. Again. Jeez I'm predictable. BUT this time is a bit different. It's not a round, it's not for set days, and it has slacker rules, so it's here in Post-Whole30. 

I finally got to see the Allergenist and had a really big chat. The long and short of it is that there's no testing to be done, I have intolerances and not allergies, anything that claims to test intolerance is a scam (and usually an expensive one), that she agrees I've exhausted pharmaceutical treatments for migraines, that W30 has definitely shown the vertigo/migraines are food related, and that my options are either to stay majority W30 forever, or to do a 'round', get to my baseline of no migraines then do month long reintros of food groups until I get an answer.

Few things she did say, and why this will be a modified W30 for me, is that:

• Because the migraines/vertigo are cumulative and not an immediate reaction to a trigger, I don't have to be 100% all the time, one day here and there won't flip me back to vertigo.
• I will basically ignore all W30 recommendations - I guess more paleo though I'll still avoid the sweets - this is about making a lifelong plan for the way I eat so the additional pressure of eating X times a day, not snacking, not having something because it may be compliant but isn't in the spirit of W30 or is SWYPO etc isn't helpful for me at this stage (in fact she agrees (and warned) that this feeds into disordered eating and my all or nothing mindset).
• In the past I've been a stickler for the avoid unless you can't oils, and she agrees that it's necessary at all - this opens up a lot of my possibilities for sauces, dressings, marinated veggies, etc - I have sundried tomatoes and marinated artichokes both with sunflower oil now. 
• She said I can keep dairy! Basically, I eat so little of it anyway  that she doesn't think it is the trigger and she's confident I can keep it in. If I get to where the vertigo would usually go away and it hasn't, I might have to rethink, but cheese and the occasional sour cream (all the dairy I really eat) stays in for now.
• She also said that avoiding sugar is a personal choice and not likely to be related to my migraines, but I want to avoid sweets because that's a whole other issue for me, so I will be ignoring small amounts of sugar in savoury foods i.e. in my jar of roasted peppers, where its the only non-compliant ingredient in sausage, smallgoods etc. The same for wine as an ingredient. 

Even this will be a challenge, because there's a lot of events coming up (I have a BBQ this weekend - I'm cooking and it will be compliant, work Xmas lunch on the 27th, Thanksgiving the day after - won't be at all compliant, then of course heading into Xmas...) but I need to make this a long term thing.

She's booked me with a dietician, but that's not until February, so I'm going it alone til then. I think I'll do my best between now and 1st week of Jan, do a proper W30 from 11 Jan 2021 (when I get back off holidays) and then I'll be strict on round when I see the dietician on 2 Feb and we can nut out what my reintro is going to look like. Of course, if I've got the vertigo under control by early Jan, I won't do a strict round.

But, I do need to keep a diary so the dietician knows what she's working with. it's going to be a bit weird because I'll have to note what non-W30 stuff is in each thing, I guess. Here goes!

Yesterday:

Meal 1: lettuce, baby spinach and rocket with marinated artichokes (ingredients unknown), Hoyts sundried tomatoes (contains sulfites), grilled lamb leg steak and lemon juice.

Meal 2: Red snapper with lemon garlic dill ghee, lettuce, baby spinach and rocket with marinated artichokes (ingredients unknown), Hoyts sundried tomatoes (contains sulfites). 

Drinks: water, coffee with Mac milk, soda water with lemon and lime juice

Snacks: raw cashews

 

Today:

Meal 1: Frittata of baby spinach and rocket with marinated eggplant (ingredients unknown), Hoyts sundried tomatoes (contains sulfites), roasted red pepper (contains sugar), 3 eggs.

Meal 2: Pork steaks on the BBQ, roasted cauliflower with a dijon, lemon, caper sauce, and seared asparagus.

Drinks: water, coffee with Mac milk, soda water with lemon and/or lime juice

 

 

 

[SchrodingersCat]

So snacks yesterday ended up being a handful of raw cashews and some jalapeno stuffed olives.

I was so tired all day and then evening, but then couldn't sleep til after midnight. I had vertigo all day, but managed a TKD class, so that was good. Loving being back.

We have a friend over tonight so I'm doing kebabs on the BBQ - steak, mushroom, red onion and red capsicum in a marinade of coconut aminos, fish sauce, red pepper, garlic and oregano and the others are chicken kebabs with green capsicum, fresh pineapple and a balsamic marinade. The chicken is not compliant, as it is pre-marinated and has both soy and whey. I'm undecided as to whether I will have that or just steak. Will do a slaw, and some smashed garlic potatoes as a side.

Symptoms: Mild to moderate vertigo, not as bad as yesterday. Oral allergy is low. Headache mild, and I'm tired but not overly, considering bad night's sleep.

Meal 1: Some sort of white fish fillet (I have a variety in the freezer and the marker has rubbed off) with chimmichurri and a rocket, baby spinach, cucumber, sundried tomato, marinated artichoke salad.

Meal 2: Steak and chicken kebabs, slaw with creamy chimmichurri and smashed garlic potatoes

Drinks: Water, coffee with Mac milk, soda water with lemon and/or lime juice

 

[SchrodingersCat]

Hola, W30 friends. 

So I just read my above post with an extreme sense of de javu, and I'm back to try and actually stick with it this time. Yadda yadda, vertigo, heaviest I've ever been, stiff, sore, living on antacids, rashy (not likely food related but if this helps, it helps). I've been unsuccessfully doing WW for months (well, I've been paying their fees anyway) but I just can't get back into their mindset of 'sugar free/fat free', though their huge list of 'free' foods is good for my mindset.

Basically, I'm 99% sure that wine is, if not all of my problem, at least contributing significantly to it. I'm not an alcoholic, as far as I know, but it is a crutch, especially in these times of on and off lockdowns, working from home, cancelling holidays and trips to see family and friends at the drop of a hat, economic uncertainty etc etc. 

So the plan is to eat as above, keep a food diary here, stop paying WW because tracking there messes with my head - it brings me back to the 'minimise consumption' mindset, and after doing W30 I disagree with a lot of the way they allocate points. If I can lose weight doing W30 with whole foods, and fats at every meal, I can't buy back into their fake sugars, low fat, thing.

I have a trip in 6 weeks, and my aim is to be vertigo free and hopefully down a few kilos. Mostly, I just need to get back in control.

Meals today:

M1: poached eggs and spicy saurkraut.

M2: Chicken larb in lettuce cups.

M3: TBA, I might pop out for some fish, it's been a while. 

 

[SchrodingersCat]

Update - dinner is red snapper and scallops in ghee, garlic, lemon and dill, with sweet potato chips, sauteed broccolini and carrot strips. 

Vertigo SUCKS today. I get really offended that my vertigo actually seems to be worse when I have had an alcohol free day the day before. 

[SchrodingersCat]

Meals today:

M1: poached eggs and spicy saurkraut (if I'm hungry, I wasn't yesterday).

M2: Chicken larb in lettuce cups.

M3: Salisbury steak with mushroom gravy, celeriac mash, sautéed broccolini and carrots

Slept terribly last night, but that's par for the course when I give up the nightly wine, it usually takes a while to settle. Vertigo is definitely present and coming and going this morning, but I didn't need any antacids yesterday, so that's nice. For someone who eats packets of them, it's amazing how immediately I don't need them when I'm not drinking and not eating various foods. 

 

[SchrodingersCat]

Just to note, I have bad anxiety. It's fairly constant, because it is caused largely by the vertigo - my "fight or flight" is constantly engaged. It often results in me being completely unable to face certain specific tasks. This time, it was have a proper look at the prosicutto I hung in February. It's wrapped in cheesecloth and  was positive that under there it had spoiled and was mouldy and I'd wasted a lot of money and time, but I just.... couldn't check. Either it was off, or it was fine an either way - nope.

3 days no wine, 2 days W30, still have vertigo but I pulled it out, unwrapped, ready to bin it. 

It's perfect. It's absolutely lovely. I have literally sweated over this in the middle of the night because I like to panic about completely unimportant things at 3am. 

THIS is why I need W30.

[SchrodingersCat]

M1: poached eggs and spicy saurkraut (if I'm hungry, I wasn't yesterday or the day before).

M2: Chicken larb in lettuce cups.

M3: Depends on the weather. If it stays dry, I'm going to BBQ steaks, and have with BBQ veggies but if it starts getting wet I'll need to rethink.

Quick note on non-compliant stuff yesterday - there was sugar in the water I cooked the peas in (it's my husband's preferred way and I didn't plan to have any but cooked too many), and I added worscestershire sauce to the gravy for dinner, so barley and sugar, I guess.

But per the top post, this is a post whole 30, not a round, and I plan to stick to 90% compliant.

Took aaaaages to get to sleep last night, but once I was out, I was out, which is good. Vertigo still here this morning, I know it usually takes 2-3 weeks to go. I told my husband that I'm breaking up with booze last night and I think I mean it, save for occasions. A couple wines or beers out with friends is fun, but all drinking a couple wines of a night does is make me sleepy and lazy, then sleep badly, then feel crappy the next day. 

[SchrodingersCat]

Yesterday's snacks were raw cashews and half a Salisbury steak patty.

Today:

M1: poached eggs and spicy saurkraut (yesterday it ended up being M2 when I was hungry late afternoon)

M2: Thai curry tuna patties with asian slaw and nuoc cham

M3: not sure yet, but something comfort foody - it's a miserable day!!! Maybe a shepherds pie with a celeriac and pumpkin top. 

Slept better, though it's taking me a while to get to sleep. Weird dreams. I still have vertigo, and have been having some gastric distress - all par for the course according to previous "rounds". I had a terrible headache yesterday but I suspect that was from not having my reading glasses at home. Picking them up today. Anxiety is present but better, still brain foggy and easily distracted, also tired. I'm very achey, largely due to the vertigo - it makes me tense up all the time or I feel like I'm going to fall. Once I get the vertigo under control, I'll get a remedial massage. I started stretching exercises the other day, but it ended up giving me spasms, so I'm wary. It's no good stretching them out just to tense them all up again. 

 

[SchrodingersCat]

So here's a thing.

I have had a rash all over my back, and around my sides and spreading down my legs for MONTHS. Diagnosed with pityriasis rosea, which it certainly looks like. Pityriasis rosea is a harmless, non-contagious rash which may be triggered by a virus but they don't really know, and it takes months to go away. I had it years ago, also.

4 days Whole30? It's going. So much of it has faded, the marks are still there but they look... inactive? Like they're just remnants of a rash I had and not an active rash anymore.

This can't be denied. A week ago it was active, angry and spreading. Now it looks to be going away.

I think I'm going to be eating this way, by and large, for the rest of my life. At least all my symptoms are cumulative and not instant, so I can stray occasionally.  

[SchrodingersCat]

Well, I thought the weekend would be harder than it is, wine wise, but I honestly don't want it - I'm feeling so much better and the idea of it actually makes me slightly queasy. 

Went out today and didn't end up eating til 4, oops.

M1: leftover tandoori chicken tenders and curried pumpkin and cauliflower with asparagus

M2: seared kangaroo fillets topped with chimmichurri, with sweet potato fries, asparagus, broccolini and garlic mushrooms. 

[SchrodingersCat]

5 hour deep house clean today, I am bushed!! BUT I just realised my vertigo has actually been really under control - there, but faint and not interfering. WOOT!

I am an idiot though because aside from a coffee with Mac Milk, I haven't eaten all day. I'm not even really hungry...

BUT, dinner is roast chicken on a pumpkin, roasted pepper, beetroot, baby spinach and toasted pecan salad with a lime white balsamic vinaigrette. 

[SchrodingersCat]

Blah blah blah, see above, rinse repeat etc.

Vertigo isn't too bad, but I'm bloated, have constant heartburn, FAT, and really just needing to get back into structure. Not gonna lie - a lot of this is about weight loss so while I won't be weighing or measuring food or tracking calories, I'll be being conscious of what I'm eating.

I've been working from home for 18 months now and my exercise, both intentional and incidental, has gone through the floor. I'm unfit, stiff and just ugh. 

Made red Thai curry tuna patties and mayo yesterday and have a crisper full of lovely fresh veg. Time to get back to not feeling garbage! 

 

 

[SchrodingersCat]

Day is ticking along OK, I have an upset stomach from some takeaway last night - Hubster is sick in bed from it, so I know that's the cause!

M1: tuna patties with sauerkraut and mayo

M2: Portobello mushroom stuffed with sautéed spinach, topped with egg, salsa and nutritional yeast

M3: was going to be rib eye but given the fella can't even do water right now, that can wait for tomorrow. I'll have a hunt through the freezer, I'm pretty sure I have some single pieces of fish and some prawns. Or I might just cop out and make an omelette...

[SchrodingersCat]

Ended up with a red Thai curry sweet potato and cauliflower soup with bamboo shoots and broccoli florets, types with seared prawns. Yum!! If the fella isn't eating, I get to make something he wouldn't eat.

I had another tuna patty with Mayo late, I was just genuinely hungry. My first 2 meals were quite small. I'm so used to grazing now, after almost 2 years working from home and not taking set breaks.

[SchrodingersCat]

Morning!

Well I actually slept pretty well last night which was surprising (first night back after returning to work, and also first completely alcohol free day after Christmas).

As a big part of why I'm back on track and reaching for a sustainable food freedom is weight loss, I was a bit concerned about how much I'm eating, considering yesterday I had mayo twice, a handful of nuts and a fair bit of coconut milk in my soup. Threw the day in a calorie calculator and I feel MUCH better, it really is very heard to overeat when you're sticking to whole foods! 

Todays meals will be:

M1: poached eggs and saurkraut

M2: tuna patty with leftover sweet potato soup

M3: rib-eye with chimmichirri slaw

 

[SchrodingersCat]

As often happens, my food plan yesterday completely changed by dinner! Hubster wasn't feeling well, so rib-eye would have been a waste. He wanted something fresh and light so we had panfried snapper with lemon, garlic and dill ghee (one of the household favourites). I had mine with a salad of rocket, baby spinach, artichokes, sweet potato, radishes and toasted almonds and a lemon garlic dressing.

SO today is rib-eye day.

Daytime meals will be a combo of kraut, eggs, tuna patties and mayo. As I noted I'm not sticking to the 3 meals a day and am trying to learn to trust my hunger signals, while not grazing,

 

[SchrodingersCat]

M1: Tuna patty with mayo and spicy kraut.

M2: leftover snapper on a salad of rocket, baby spinach, artichokes, radishes and a lemon garlic dressing.

M3: Rib eye on the grill with a dill pickle slaw

I'm absolutely wiped today, I could just nap and have a headache BUT I also got my Covid booster yesterday and that's probably why. I'm sleeping well, which is actually surprising, it usually takes me up to a week of crappy sleep to start seeing the absolute crash outs that I so love!

My anxiety is down, too and I don't really have vertigo (though didn't really have it much before starting, either, it seems to be on the wane at the moment). 

I want to make chicken stock because I'm out but it is HOT and HUMID and the last thing I need in the house is a boiling pot of stock on the stove for hours on end, so I'm sucking it up and buying compliant if needed.

[SchrodingersCat]

NSV - this morning I trotted down the stairs, no handrail. 5 days ago, it was a one step at a time, hold handrail job. Partly due to a bit of vertigo, partly due to generally feeling foggy and stiff and sore and unsteady. I have gotten through 3 days without antacids, always a huge plus. I'm sleeping REALLY well! It usually takes me a week or more to get to that stage. 

My headache of yesterday seems to have passed, thinking vax side effect. 

I need to start some exercise, I'm being super slack. It's too hot to walk the dog during the day at the moment, and I'm sleeping too damn well to get out of bed early LOL. Enjoying it while I can.

Today's food plan:

M1: Tuna patty, kraut, mayo

M2: Thai-ish beef salad with leftover ribeye

M3: Something with pork steaks. I'll do some recipe reviewing

[SchrodingersCat]

Dinner is now seared kangaroo steak with chimmichurri, BBQ sweet potato rounds and a rocket, baby spinach, beetroot, artichoke and radish salad with raspberry vinaigrette. 

Bit of gastric distress today, typical for first week in my experience.

[Aliem999]

23 hours ago, SchrodingersCat said:

M1: Tuna patty with mayo and spicy kraut.

M2: leftover snapper on a salad of rocket, baby spinach, artichokes, radishes and a lemon garlic dressing.

M3: Rib eye on the grill with a dill pickle slaw

I'm absolutely wiped today, I could just nap and have a headache BUT I also got my Covid booster yesterday and that's probably why. I'm sleeping well, which is actually surprising, it usually takes me up to a week of crappy sleep to start seeing the absolute crash outs that I so love!

My anxiety is down, too and I don't really have vertigo (though didn't really have it much before starting, either, it seems to be on the wane at the moment). 

I want to make chicken stock because I'm out but it is HOT and HUMID and the last thing I need in the house is a boiling pot of stock on the stove for hours on end, so I'm sucking it up and buying compliant if needed.

Make it in a slow cooker (or instant pot or equivalent)! Great results and way less heat in your kitchen!

[SchrodingersCat]

17 hours ago, Aliem999 said:

Make it in a slow cooker (or instant pot or equivalent)! Great results and way less heat in your kitchen!

I'm going to have to do some in the pressure cooker, though I much prefer stove top because I let it really cook down, almost into a concentrate. But needs must, and I need my stock and must not heat up the already hot house!

Friday! First hurdle will be not pouring a glass of wine when the hubster does this afternoon.

The first working week being back on track has been really good. I feel better, sleep better and just have so many immediate improvements. I haven't started exercising yet, but I do plan to. It's been really hot and the hubster has been unwell and (insert further excuses here, yadda yadda) but baby steps, eh?

Meal 1 and 2 will be a combo of the same this week, tuna patty, slaw, mayo, beef, salad.

Dinner will be lamb koftas. Not sure what with yet, I'm thinking a coconut yogurt tzatziki and a salad of iceberg, cucumber, kalamatas, red pepper and marinated red onion and a side of duck fat potato.

 

[SchrodingersCat]

OK SO.

Today is my first actual outside the comfort zone challenge. Per my original post, I'm not on a round, I'm learning Food Freedom within the restrictions of Whole30 where I feel best. As discussed with my dietician, one day, one meal is not going to do me harm. SO when I got an invite to go to dumplings then a movie today - I accepted. 

I'm going to have dumplings, and I'm going to enjoy them. I might have popcorn. I won't have soft drink, I will have sparkling water. No alcohol at lunch, or this evening (Friday night without a wine, even with Hubster drinking, was very easy - I just feel better without it). 

Dinner will be Whole30. But I am NOT going to feel bad about these dumplings, or feel like I failed, or stress over it, or let it snowball. This is real life, it's FF, and I have thought about it and I have decided that they are worth it. 

(Do I sound like I've convinced myself yet, lol? I'm an all or nothing person and that's my biggest hurdle!)

[SchrodingersCat]

So far so good. I had dumplings and sparkling water, then a bottle of water during the movie (no popcorn!). I don't feel gulity, I don't feel like having something else noncompliant, and I don't feel like I blew anything. I had a lovely day with friends, saw a fun film, and have come home and am preparing a delicious compliant meal

So dinner is Moroccan spiced lamb backstrap with potatoes cooked in a tomato, onion and capsicum sauce and sautéed silverbeet with balsamic, fresh out of my garden. 

[SchrodingersCat]

Busy day, so two meals

M1: Tuna patty (almost through them, I love these things but damn, I made too many) with cauli tabbouleh and mayo

M2: Roast pork with cracking and a roasted veg salad with fennel, carrots, beetroot, broccolini in a mustard and apple cider vinaigrette

Did a massive house clean today, it's good to start the week with everything so tidy! The plan for this week is to just keep trucking but try to get in some exercise. It's cooler in the start of the week, so at least some lunch walks can happen. 

So a week in, I'm happy, I'm sleeping well, I'm not taking antacids, and I'm thoroughly enjoying the cooking and prepping. I'm still way more tired than I feel like I should be and having headaches, but I'm also obese, unfit, and have other health problems and don't expect this to fix everything. It's early days. But the fitness thing has to improve - I am the least fit I have ever been and feel terrible for it. I'm everything that I dread, one of those people who needs a sit down after walking around a shopping centre. I've been overweight for many many years, but I've always been a fit fat, able to go for a run, or walk 10km without flinching. Now a day out shopping does me in. It's what happens when you spend 2 years at home, no incidental exercise (I used to get my 10k steps a day just from getting to and from work) and letting Covid just... stain everything.

No more. I might be working from home, but dammit, I'm going to take the steps I need to take to feel good again.  

 

[SchrodingersCat]

It's Monday and I made it through a full week sticking to plan. Note the plan included a PLANNED and well considered, and very worth it, deviation into dumpling land, and I'm not regretting or second guessing that one bit.

Meals today will be:

• The last of the bloody tuna patties, mayo and kraut
• Leftover pork and roasted veg from last night with baby spinach and rocket
• Simple dinner of BBQ scotch fillet steak, some BBQ sweet potato and either salad or some roasted veg.

Did not sleep well last night, I was having weird dreams and kept waking up very anxious. I should have just gotten up early, but I didn't. It was the first real day back at work (I was in last week but no one else was) and I'm in Court this morning, so I was a bit anxious to get prepared and not go wandering beforehand. I might get up early tomorrow.