January 1st Start Date!

[becs 74]

@Lorna from CanadaNo Tiger Blood here, either. I've never felt what I think is Tiger Blood on any of my Whole30s. But, my energy level is consistent all day - no mid-afternoon slumps - and I also have a ton of NSVs, so I'm not too upset by it. I do wonder what it feels like, though.

I won't be having a glass of wine until 2/6. I want to take advantage of the clean slate the W30 has given me to cultivate new habits around non-W30 foods/beverages, and my ideal life would include drinking no more than one day a week. Saturday seems like the right day for me. Having a drink on Friday after work would create a slippery slope into the "alcohol as reward/alcohol to combat stress" swamp, which is an easy transition into wine on Wednesday because of a difficult day at work. 

I'm going to reintroduce one food group per week, I think, starting with sugar on the 31st (sugar in my coffee, honey in my tea, brown sugar on sweet potatoes). Then alcohol on the 5th, legumes on the 13th, non-gluten grains on the 20th, dairy on the 27th, and finally gluten on 3/6. I think this is a good compromise between feeling like I need longer on the W30 and really wanting to reintroduce. I may push dairy and gluten out one week and add another couple of alcohol days over the weekend of the 27th since I'm going on a camping trip that weekend with friends I haven't seen in forever. 

[Rebecca001 115]

The tiger blood is a strange one. I certainly experienced it last time, it was like I was rocket fuelled but then as a result, I’d be exhausted after a few hours!! It would feel like little flickers of energy. I certainly noticed it with my running, I’d be doing long distances pretty fast (eg took 6 minutes off a half marathon best, that was on day 90 of “whole30+wine” and a week before Covid knocked me out (although I was probably infected already just didn’t know it) 

this time it’s more sedate. I feel more switched on, I feel sharper and more energetic but I’m certainly not bouncing around. It’s times like now (5.20 pm here) and I’m thinking: I was up at 6, been to work, ran 5 miles in the snow, came home, tidied up, popped to the shops, making dinner....and I don’t feel tired! I think that’s the TB, or as TB as it’s going to get. I also think we get used to it, especially if you’ve done W30 before and especially if you continue to avoid the foods that cause you the problems. We forget how rubbish we could feel because we feel so much better all the time. 

[Lorna from Canada 276]

2 hours ago, becs said:

Having a drink on Friday after work would create a slippery slope into the "alcohol as reward/alcohol to combat stress" swamp, which is an easy transition into wine on Wednesday because of a difficult day at work. 

Amen to that Becs - Hubs and I even talked about not having a glass on Jan 31 because it might feel like we're rewarding ourselves for completing W30 #4 in a pandemic. We have decided not to think about it that way but to see it as finding out what reintroducing wine will do this time.  I, too, can get into the space of "what a total crap day - where's my wine?" mindset pretty quickly. Your post W30 reintro pan sounds solid!

1 hour ago, Rebecca001 said:

I also think we get used to it, especially if you’ve done W30 before and especially if you continue to avoid the foods that cause you the problems. We forget how rubbish we could feel because we feel so much better all the time. 

I think there is a huge element of that. I feel SO much better generally that I may actually have a 60 year old's version of TB without realizing it. I also have a lot of work related stress - the complete idiocy and incompetence of not having access codes to work I needed (and set aside time) to do for 6 weeks has been uber challenging. It's a big conversation with myself (and a fair bit of journalling to do) to recognize that dealing with work related issues does not deserve an alcoholic reward.

Today is Day 25 and, while I do feel very much on the home stretch, I do have the greater sense of this continuing on than I have had before. I feel more committed to the permanence of these changes I've re-made. It was shocking to fall so far from the wagon during my mom's illness, death and my subsequent wild grieving. There were many times I felt like I was observing the lunacy of the chocolate stuffing incidences and chip eating frenzies from outside myself. This time around, I feel more whole (no pun inteded there!) and connected to this path. So - that's good!

Mind you, I just casually tossed 2 thick pieces of parmesan rinds into my stock pot with the chicken bits and veg... took only a minute before I realized what I'd done and fished them out again. Sheesh...

[Rebecca001 115]

A nice simple dinner for me tonight- line a tea with spinach and kale, add pieces of fish (I had smoked cod) asparagus and cherry tomatoes, slices of lemon and seasoning cover with foil and then it sort of steams itself in the lemon juice and done . Really quick and tasty (picture is of it before cooking)

[SugarcubeOD 4097]

On 1/23/2021 at 11:39 PM, Rebecca001 said:

What is SWYPOS?

 

https://whole30.com/sex-with-your-pants-on/

 

 

[Rebecca001 115]

Thanks @SugarcubeOD. I knew that principle just never heard the phrase!
 

Totally get that during the W30- however, I am a pretty good baker and post-W30 I do make occasional paleo/compliant ingredient bakes (and will probably do this time, too). I actually made a Christmas fruit cake this year that was almond flour, fruit and egg and it was delicious (and no different really in ingredients to a Melissa endorsed Lara bar) , and I make a rosemary and sea salt savoury biscotti in a similar vein. They really kept me going last time- paleo can be tricky when real life happens as nothing is paleo-friendly really. I totally get it on the full whole30 though (and I’m still a sub-snob - I never use sweeteners or such like, just good natural ingredients) but quite frankly, I do not want to live in a world where treats are banned forever. While I despise the modern way of punctuating life with little sugar hits, a well-placed, Paleo friendly, all natural morsel every now and then is ok as part of a ‘whole life’ plan such as Paleo. 

tuesday today, day....oooh.. 26?? No way! How did that happen? I’m working from home today and I actually have cleared my to-do list- so I am going to catch up on some reading, delete some emails and have a quieter day. I am Exams Office at my school and as all our summer exams have been cancelled here due to Covid, you’d think my workload would have decreased, but hell no. I have a lot of reading to get through so I’m going to light the fire, sit under my blanket and look at the snow!! 
 

Have a great day everyone! We are definitely in the home stretch now! Are we going to carry this chat on after the 30 or are we going to bid our farewells?  It’s been a bit of a lifeline for me this month and I’m very grateful to you all 

[christine19 132]

14 hours ago, Rebecca001 said:

A nice simple dinner for me tonight- line a tea with spinach and kale, add pieces of fish (I had smoked cod) asparagus and cherry tomatoes, slices of lemon and seasoning cover with foil and then it sort of steams itself in the lemon juice and done . Really quick and tasty (picture is of it before cooking)

That dinner looks delicious...jealous of the asparagus, it’s still challenging to get good fresh produce sometimes, I find I have to cook vegetables (especially mushrooms) as soon as I buy them they spoil quickly.

I am having some serious food boredom the past few days. I have food just don’t want to eat it. Probably want crunchy crackers! I have been thinking about having those SWYPOs post Whole 30, I bake almond flour crackers and have plain French fries in my freezer. I thought I would have a drink (or two) and then keep going in February.  I do not eat gluten or dairy, and I know beans and corn bother me. Rice gets out of control quickly - food with no brakes! Oh yeah, I’m getting on the scale Jan 31!
 

5 hours ago, Rebecca001 said:

Are we going to carry this chat on after the 30 or are we going to bid our farewells?  It’s been a bit of a lifeline for me this month and I’m very grateful to you all 

I would love to carry on the chat as getting through February may be easier than January but still a challenge! I appreciate all the ideas and support and to hear how everyone is doing. 

[SugarcubeOD 4097]

8 hours ago, Rebecca001 said:

Are we going to carry this chat on after the 30 or are we going to bid our farewells?  It’s been a bit of a lifeline for me this month and I’m very grateful to you all 

Definitely!  We do encourage the post Whole30 groups to go into the Post whole30 section so that you can freely talk about reintros and off roading without confusing newbies or having the mods get all grouchy.  Usually one person makes a thread and then posts the link here - if you want I can do that for you or someone else can go ahead and do it.

[SugarcubeOD 4097]

8 hours ago, Rebecca001 said:

I do not want to live in a world where treats are banned forever

Me either!  If you've got great recipes that work for your food freedom and are alternative ingredients, that's great. It's more like... if you had a wicked KFC addiction and you were trying to make 'homemade KFC' with almond flour... might taste good but it's not going to be AS GOOD as what you really want which is the KFC (bad example because KFC is gross). 

Baked goods aren't a great example because they're out regardless of ingredients... I'm jealous of that fruitcake recipe tho... I LOVE fruit cake altho I'm a bit of a fruitcake snob and if it hasn't been soaking in alcohol for months, it's just not the same  

[Lorna from Canada 276]

oooooh - grouchy mods! That's no fun!

I'm in to carry on - like @Rebecca001, this has been a good place to check in and hang out. (Sorry for missing the question on SWYPOs - glad the ole Sugar caught that!)

Day 26 - not much new happening in my W30 world - just coasting through it at this point. 

[Rebecca001 115]

@SugarcubeOD when we have a maintenance thread I’ll share the recipe (for reference purposes only, of course!) 

Really pleased to have reached the end of day 26, and the tiger blood hit me in full force today- I finished working, then suddenly got all motivated and prepped and painted a wall I’ve been wanting to do for ages in a colour I wasn’t quite brave enough for before. Plus I’ve been for a run, tidied up, and eaten such a nice meal- potato Rosti, sautéed greens and mushrooms, fried eggs and ‘sausages’ made of minced lamb. Really delicious and filling. Feel really buzzing with energy and raring to go! 

[Rebecca001 115]

I think this has worked... but if not you can find it in the post whole 30 section entitled January 2021 graduates 
 

 

[becs 74]

@Rebecca001Yay for Tiger Blood! What a productive day you've had! And thanks for creating a maintenance post - I will definitely join you all there. It's been so nice to connect with everyone. Keeping the accountability going through reintroduction will be awesome.

On my run today, I was thinking about the W30 being over on Sunday, but I had to stop myself. It's not really over for me, not until I reintroduce everything and decide what my new Food Freedom Rules (oxymoron?) will be moving forward. I need to shift my brain to start thinking of it as moving on to the next stage. I also need to keep telling myself that I will NOT be going back to my pre-W30 eating and drinking habits. I'm reading a book called Better Than Before by Gretchen Rubin that's all about how to form or break habits. She says that one of the best times to rejigger your habits is when life presents you with a clean slate (e.g. new job or home, change in relationship, beginning of the year, etc.). Completing a reset definitely counts as a clean slate! I am NOT going to waste this opportunity by sliding into my old, bad habits.

[Rebecca001 115]

Maybe instead of ‘rules’ they need to be FF goals instead? I saw another thread on one of the other forums on here which was (something like) what habits are you going to keep after W30, and I’m going to go back and reread it. 

for me, the food is secondary to the self care. when I am in full W30 mode, I find I have time and energy to look after the little things (so eg, properly cleanse and moisturise, take time to blow dry my hair, do my nails etc. I just seem to claw back the few minutes I need and it makes so much difference). I plan my meals and stick to my plan (vital and often forgotten in real life), I drink water, I do yoga. When I did my last one these habits stayed for a good few months and so did the tiger blood; they only really started to fade when Covid got me! I exercise regularly and train hard and W30 seems to make the jigsaw pieces all fit together, so instead of feeling like my food and fitness are in battle with each other (gotta workout to burn off..) it becomes “I must eat x,y,z to support my long run on the weekend” 

so I’m going to include in my FF goals that self care is still key. I’m not going to weigh myself (I will on d31) and then hide them again. It’s been very apparent this time round how often I want to weigh myself especially when I’m feeling low. 
I’m genuinely in that awesome place (lifelong dieters holy grail) where I do not want junk food right now. It’s so easy to avoid it because I don’t want it, probably because barring Xmas it’s actually been over 6 months since I’ve eaten cheese, breads, sugar etc. The challenge for me post-w30 is to avoid the rut and keep finding new things: I need to continue to eat more veg for example, try new recipes and experiment with spices, and I need to continue to make interesting lunch/breakfast ideas because there really is a limit to how much tinned mackerel a girl can eat 

Day 27 ladies! We rock!! 

[Rebecca001 115]

this one! 

[Saiee 8]

I have been having rather vivid dreams which is strange as I am on medication to suppress dreams/night terrors. But I would dream I caved and have things I am not supposed to have. Then there would be guilt. I even had the thought today that since on Friday I have to go to the hospital, after fasting, for labs and other appointments at the VA and will be there for hours. I thought That for a few days I break the rules, because the VA's cafeteria is not really on the healthy side, (my nutritionist's words not mine) and I have nothing to take to stave off hunger. I have debated on setting a new start date of Feb 1st and attempt this again.

  Am I wrong for these thoughts? 

[Rebecca001 115]

No, I think it’s quite common to dream that you’ve broken it, not just whole30 but anything (when I was pregnant I used to dream I had drunk wine and smoked, I would feel so guilty!) 

think of it as your brain/body prepping you for this possibility, and what a gift that is because now you have an extra level of defence against it.

for your hospital appointments, you know that doesn’t need to derail you, don’t you? Prep in advance- nuts, fruit, veg sticks. You say you will be there for hours, but hours isn’t ‘ days or weeks’ - you can, and will, cope for even several hours. Take a flask of coffee, a few bits of fruit? You could make ‘overnight muesli’ in a jam jar if you were feeling really creative- chia seeds, ground almonds, ( i used a mix of milled seeds)  open a can of coconut milk and use the cream and a splash of the watery bit, and leave it to soak. Add some nuts, raisins, grated apple or pear? Leave it overnight, grab it in the morning with a spoon and eat it in the hospital once you no longer need to fast. 

you could certainly delay restarting til 1st feb- but what will you do for those 4 days? Have one last hurrah? In which case I’d question whether that’s a good thing. Start now. That creeping doubt is ‘old you’ - what will ‘new you’ say?? 

 

[christine19 132]

2 hours ago, Rebecca001 said:

for your hospital appointments, you know that doesn’t need to derail you, don’t you? Prep in advance- nuts, fruit, veg sticks. You say you will be there for hours, but hours isn’t ‘ days or weeks’ - you can, and will, cope for even several hours

@Saiee I totally agree with @Rebecca001 bring your own food. Whole30 or not, I’ve been carrying my own food or snacks around for years, especially when I traveled a lot for work, because airports and road stops don’t always have good choices....a lot of cheese mixed into prepared foods! Hard boiled eggs, cubed chicken and olives pack well. Always bring more than you think you need. Good luck! 
 

[50andstillhere 73]

Saiee- you can also bring beef jerky or son to you feel up on some protein. Don’t waive you’ve got this! I hope all goes well with your lab work and test results. 
 

I met with my nutritionist and she recommended that I continue whole30 longer. So I will do this for sure, until Feb 13th. I have too much inflammation still in my hands.   is everyone goes to the maintenance thread I will probably go there as well since I like all of our positive yet real posts. Is anyone else doing an extension? 
ps- I am totally bored with my cooking!!

pss- I will drink some vino on Valentines Day!

[Rebecca001 115]

@50andstillherei think I’ll be carrying on with the food side, not reintroducing anything really yet (except a glass of wine!) but maybe allowing a bit more freedom with compliant ingredients (eg. Occasional baked items or crisps if they are 100% compliant ingredients). I don’t really want anything else right now. 
food boredom is a big danger zone I think- have you searched Pinterest or similar for meal plans? I found a really good w30 endorsed recipes page on Facebook too, and use that a lot. 

[50andstillhere 73]

Yes i think that would be a good source for me so thank you for the suggestion. Sometimes it is just easier to make the same thing because it takes less time. I just have to reprogram my thinking!

[Rebecca001 115]

My five year old (he is wise beyond his years) said to me the other day ‘mummy it’s amazing that there is only 5 meat animals- pigs , cows, sheep, chicken and fish” - and although he is slightly wrong I guess (eg turkey!) the point he makes is very true. We actually eat quite a narrow spectrum of meats and I tend to do the same types of things with them. One thing I’m really enjoying is making different spice mixes and just rubbing onto meats before cooking. If you have a ‘world foods’ type section in your supermarket (or a Polish or Indian store? Is that a thing in USA?) you can get huge bags of spices much much cheaper than the little jars. Eg 500g bags for the price of a 50g jar. Then Play!! Even if a Recipe itself is not compliant, you can steal the spice blend! I love Jamie Oliver recipes and a lot of his combinations are just really simple, rustic, tasty food. 
I do love cooking though which certainly helps. 

[christine19 132]

@50andstillhere This is a fantastic idea from one of Melissa’s emails - allows you to batch cook and then have different flavors and combinations! I’m with you on the food boredom, the past few days have been a challenge! 
 

Ground Meat with Stuff Over Stuff™. Meal templates are a great way to cook once, eat a few times, and never get bored. Brown a pound of ground meat (chicken, turkey, beef, lamb, or bison). Dice and saute a bunch of vegetables. Mix, but don’t season. When you’re ready, create a base (greens, zucchini noodles, cauliflower rice, or mashed potatoes), drop in the meat + veggie mixture, and season as you please. (Tomato sauce, Ranch dressing, Yai’s Thai Green Curry sauce, or coconut aminos.) The genius of this meal is if you feel like a different flavor for lunch tomorrow, just mix up the base and sauce, no additional cooking required.

[becs 74]

7 hours ago, Rebecca001 said:

instead of feeling like my food and fitness are in battle with each other (gotta workout to burn off..) it becomes “I must eat x,y,z to support my long run on the weekend” 

This! 100%! It's a work in progress, but for the last year or two, I've been trying to shift my brain into this mindset. I don't want to lose weight for the sake of being thin - I want to lose weight/eat healthy foods so I can run faster, do better at CrossFit, and maybe, just maybe, manage to do a pull-up for the first time in my life. It's a much better train of thought, because then there's no finish line, like a number on the scale, where I'm suddenly "done" eating better. I want to eat healthy foods forever, so the idea of an end point is actually dangerous for me. Plus, improving what my body can do physically is so much fun, and a much happier focus.

@SaieeDon't give up! Not for one day where food will be more of a struggle than usual. Everyone has great suggestions for portable food. Maybe the cafeteria has some kind of salad bar, as well? This won't be the only time you'll run into this issue, so it'll be good practice for the future. 

@50andstillhereI'm putting myself in the mindset of doing an extension, though I will be doing an extended reintro schedule. I probably need to extend, as well, but I'm too curious about what kind of foods I can safely add back into my diet. My newest thought is to allow wine on Saturdays, with other reintros on Tuesdays. I keep going back and forth on my plans. I know I need to keep it mostly W30 for a while, though.

RE: FF "rules" - I actually do much better with black-and-white rules than I do with making decisions in the moment. With hard rules, I make a decision once about what I can and cannot have on a regular basis, then don't have to decide again. I will do the whole "is it worth it" exercise when tasty treats present themselves (like at special occasions), but in general I plan on making post-W30 food rules for myself. 

I haven't been struggling with food boredom yet, even though I tend to eat a lot of the same meals. Convenience definitely outweighs variety for me! That being said, I have a couple of new cookbooks I got for Christmas (Well Fed Weeknights and one from NomNom Paleo), so I do plan on introducing some new, easy recipes to the rotation.

[christine19 132]

26 minutes ago, becs said:

RE: FF "rules" - I actually do much better with black-and-white rules than I do with making decisions in the moment. With hard rules, I make a decision once about what I can and cannot have on a regular basis, then don't have to decide again.

@becsyes to this! I am not good with “everything in moderation” - abstinence works for me! For example cheese, which I’ve eaten waaay more than my share over the years! I can’t stop eating it, plus it affects me badly. Four years ago, I stopped eating gluten and dairy. Just the thought of having the taste of cheese in my mouth worries me to even have a bite and the crazy thing is when my husband eats cheese, the smell of it turns me off, which I never thought would happen! 
 

That is the great thing about Whole30 and beyond is everyone can determine and decide what works individually whether it’s staying in the lines, swerving a little or going off road! For me I am going to keep going, with the exception of a drink. I do know what affects me and I’m trying to dispose of some pandemic weight gain!