Whole January

[KalinaM]

6 hours ago, ____Emily____ said:

 

Batch cooking seems like a good idea! My husband and I have found some decent and easy meals we rely on, but it'd be nice to be able to just reheat something filling for dinner

It makes it so much easier during the week! I have a double oven, so I chose two oven recipes, an instapot recipe, a slow cooker recipe and a stove top recipe. Then eat them through the week and freeze anything it seems will not get eaten in time after a few days. I try to freeze in individual portions so it's easier to reheat when the time comes. Although there's usually not too much to freeze. And this week, I'll adjust the amount of recipes I make based on what's leftover. It does take time planning for about two or three days, but that leaves four or five days of the week less stressful! I also stock up on steam in a bag frozen veggies in case I need a side dish. Super easy to heat, toss in ghee and a few spices and done.  

[CGinDC]

18 hours ago, KalinaM said:

CG- your chicken salad sounds good! I found a recipe that I've used in the past that uses Tahini for the "sauce" it's really good-- I'll have to put that on a to be made list for some Sunday batch cooking. Do you use Mayo or what for your chicken salad? 

I use mayo - usually I make my own for a W30 but this time I saw the Primal brand at Costco and figured I'd give myself a break by removing one thing from the prep list. Also a little msutard.

[KalinaM]

3 hours ago, CGinDC said:

I use mayo - usually I make my own for a W30 but this time I saw the Primal brand at Costco and figured I'd give myself a break by removing one thing from the prep list. Also a little msutard.

Yes, homemade mayo is a staple in my house now, even when no w30 taking place! It's so good! How is the primal? I got some hot sauce for wings from Costco primal brand! Can't wait to try it, that's on Fridays menu 

[CGinDC]

5 hours ago, KalinaM said:

Yes, homemade mayo is a staple in my house now, even when no w30 taking place! It's so good! How is the primal? I got some hot sauce for wings from Costco primal brand! Can't wait to try it, that's on Fridays menu 

It's not bad - saltier than other brands and when I make it myself, so I realized I don't need to add as much to whatever I'm making or else it's overkill. I like salty things, too!

[____Emily____]

Hope everyone had a good Day 3! I've set a goal for today of not snacking today and have so far succeeded.  Sipping on some tea now to try to curb my urge to snack this evening.  I'm not hungry, but I'm used to having some snacks in front of the TV, which is a habit I'd like to break

[CGinDC]

Today has been pretty good. I've had a pressure headache (which I'm attributing to sugar withdrawal) off and on but it's mostly gone now. I am pretty tired, so will turn in a bit early - right after I finish the batch of chili that's on the stove and prepping the frittata ingredients for the morning. I didn't get quite enough to eat for lunch so I had a snack - I realized when my stomach was rumbling at like 3:30 that I had not eaten enough. It's kind of tough with me and my husband both doing it because a lot of the stuff I'll prep for breakfast and lunch is gone twice as fast! I haven't really adjusted to make up for that.

So, tonight I'm prepping a batch of chili that should feed us for one dinner (whole family) and probably one or two lunches for me and my husband. Also a frittata that should be good for 2 days worth of breakfast. I also stocked up a few compliant sauces (buffalo, pesto, chimichurri) from Costco and our local organic market, so I'll probably put a whole chicken in the instant pot in the next day or two to shred and use the sauces to make different easy meals with the chicken.

[KalinaM]

I had a HORRIBLE day3!! UGH! And it wasn't even really food related, but I'm sure my anxiety over everything was exacerbated by whole30 day 3 symptoms! Small things kept happening all day-- low water pressure, led to phone call with water dept, led to water main break blocking my path to get to my son's school to pick him up, amazon charging me for a return that I had to call about, tamtruming two year old daughter, a bill mix up with the bank I had to call and fix-- OMG I was sooooooooo agitated yesterday! 

 

Today (Day 4) is much better. The problems stopped coming! And my headache that I've had for three days (which I'm still not convinced wasn't also weather related) is gone. Now if I can just get my knee to stop hurting, everything would be grand! I had eggs for the first time today on whole30. Weird, I know, other rounds, I've been so sick of so many eggs. But, I decided that I'd eat the meals I had batch cooked on Sunday for priority over making breakfast.... because easy. But, I was a little sick of my  meals today, so I took the time to make a beautiful looking breakfast of basted eggs, pan fried potatoes, avocado and salsa with cilantro and hot sauce for toppings. Filled me up for a really long time, too! 

 

Hope everyone else is doing well! 

[Artemis22]

Hi Everyone! 

This really helps me feel like I am not doing this all alone. Great to read all of your posts.

I am so,so  tired today. It is hard to know if it is all Whole 30 because I live in Vermont and it is very, very gray. I think the combination of no light and the lack of sugar/carbs. 

I am going to try to do some batch cooking tomorrow or Saturday to make things a little easier.

Have a great night everyone!

[AdamzW30]

I read through everyone's posts, and it's great we all have a place to talk about our progress and those things we are going through. Seems like a lot of us dealt with headaches and brain fog from getting away from all that processed sugar. It just hits different, and I know it all can make you a bit agro for sure lol!

I hate days like that @KalinaM! Sounded like you saved the day with an amazing meal and treating yourself good though! 

I'm going to my friend's bday this Sunday, and they are having a burger slider competition, which is gonna kill me! I'm gonna bring some wings and coleslaw though, which'll tie me over, and prob make some whole30 sliders. 

I went for a tail run today, which was pretty brutal. I usually run 3-4 times a week, but took like 2 weeks off and was eating like trash most the time. I'm looking forward to more energy, better runs, more productivity and less depression!

I hope you all have a great day 5 tomorrow, and I'll check back in to see how y'all are doing!

Adam

[CGinDC]

How is everyone doing on Day 5 (ish...not sure if we're all exactly on the same schedule)?

My sugar headache is pretty much gone but I'm super tired. I don't think it's necessarily W30 related, maybe, but I have not gotten enough hours of sleep most nights this week and it's taking a toll. I've got some pretty heavy family stuff going on and that's been weighing on me in the evenings after kids are in bed, when I finally have time to think. I've been having a hard time just getting my brain to turn off. The good news is that I've slept soundly once I do finally get to bed, so that's a positive.

This morning I made a big frittata with pork sausage, mushrooms, and asparagus, and I had such high hopes for it. I just cannot get the texture right on frittatas though. It was good for the first couple bites but then I just kind of had to force myself to get through it. It's so disappointing to have all those beautiful ingredients in something I don't particularly want to eat! Tomorrow I think if I make a lemon aioli (literally just lemon juice and mayo) that might help a bit.

I'm aiming to do more meal planning/prepping this weekend so we have easy breakfast and lunch options available. Dinner isn't an issue, W30 is not too far off from what we would normally cook. 

[CGinDC]

On 1/4/2023 at 8:16 PM, CGinDC said:

It's not bad - saltier than other brands and when I make it myself, so I realized I don't need to add as much to whatever I'm making or else it's overkill. I like salty things, too!

@KalinaM following back up on this question, now that I've had the mayo a few more times. I'm not sure I like it on its own - it's thicker and saltier than homemade mayo and most other store-bought brands. I could happily eat homemade mayo on a spoon by itself, but not this. That said, it does make a good base for making different sauces. I've mixed it with chili crunch oil for a spicy ailoi and with lemon and minced garlic for something more tangy.

[____Emily____]

33 minutes ago, CGinDC said:

My sugar headache is pretty much gone but I'm super tired. I don't think it's necessarily W30 related, maybe, but I have not gotten enough hours of sleep most nights this week and it's taking a toll

According to the Whole30 timeline, this is totally normal around this time (they have it at days 6-7, but I personally think it's happening all the first week and we're not noticing until later thanks to the the sugar hangover), but I'm sure staying up late isn't helping.  Sorry to hear about your family problems 

 

I've been having problems falling asleep at night and I'm wondering if I need to be more cautious about which teas I'm drinking in the evenings.  I haven't really been thinking about it, but I think the caffeine from the black teas are possibly keeping me up.  

[CGinDC]

51 minutes ago, ____Emily____ said:

According to the Whole30 timeline, this is totally normal around this time (they have it at days 6-7, but I personally think it's happening all the first week and we're not noticing until later thanks to the the sugar hangover), but I'm sure staying up late isn't helping.  Sorry to hear about your family problems 

I’ve been averaging 6-6.5 hours of sleep per night this week so in this case, it really is just that I’m not sleeping enough. Or it is the main factor, anyway. Gotta do better!

[Hez]

Same here - day 5 and SO tired.  No headache, though.

[Artemis22]

Good Morning Everyone, 

Things are going ok. I am really trying to work on my relationship with food this time. My father has some really serious health issues and caretaking is stressful. Part of doing the Whole 30 is to break the cycle of eating something with sugar when I am stressed about him. I was picking up his medicine yesterday at the grocery store pharmacy and there was a problem. My first thought was a dessert. I think it is the " I don't want to feel this how do I make it stop" thing. So i bought some Larabars. They are compliant and I thought I would sneak around the rules that way. When I got in the car I asked myself if I was hungry. I wasn't. I just was tired from caretaking. So I didn't eat them.  Being present and not using food to soothe is something I really need to be aware of.

@CGinDC I hope your family things are getting better.

I hope you all have a nice Saturday!

 

[KalinaM]

28 minutes ago, Artemis22 said:

Good Morning Everyone, 

Things are going ok. I am really trying to work on my relationship with food this time. My father has some really serious health issues and caretaking is stressful. Part of doing the Whole 30 is to break the cycle of eating something with sugar when I am stressed about him. I was picking up his medicine yesterday at the grocery store pharmacy and there was a problem. My first thought was a dessert. I think it is the " I don't want to feel this how do I make it stop" thing. So i bought some Larabars. They are compliant and I thought I would sneak around the rules that way. When I got in the car I asked myself if I was hungry. I wasn't. I just was tired from caretaking. So I didn't eat them.  Being present and not using food to soothe is something I really need to be aware of.

@CGinDC I hope your family things are getting better.

I hope you all have a nice Saturday!

 

WOW, that's HUGE!!! Good for you for having such a revelation. And now you have larabars for a just in case emergency of true hunger. Congrats on that mental victory!!

[KalinaM]

19 hours ago, CGinDC said:

@KalinaM following back up on this question, now that I've had the mayo a few more times. I'm not sure I like it on its own - it's thicker and saltier than homemade mayo and most other store-bought brands. I could happily eat homemade mayo on a spoon by itself, but not this. That said, it does make a good base for making different sauces. I've mixed it with chili crunch oil for a spicy ailoi and with lemon and minced garlic for something more tangy.

Oh, interesting. Thanks for the in depth review. I agree with you that homemade mayo is definitely lick it off the spoon delicious! I had wings I made last night dipped in the primal kitchen buffalo sauce I found at Costco. It was quite tasty. I was pleasantly surprised as I am usually not a fan of things made from avocado oil. But this was a winner!

[KalinaM]

On 1/6/2023 at 12:33 AM, AdamzW30 said:

I read through everyone's posts, and it's great we all have a place to talk about our progress and those things we are going through. Seems like a lot of us dealt with headaches and brain fog from getting away from all that processed sugar. It just hits different, and I know it all can make you a bit agro for sure lol!

I hate days like that @KalinaM! Sounded like you saved the day with an amazing meal and treating yourself good though! 

I'm going to my friend's bday this Sunday, and they are having a burger slider competition, which is gonna kill me! I'm gonna bring some wings and coleslaw though, which'll tie me over, and prob make some whole30 sliders. 

I went for a tail run today, which was pretty brutal. I usually run 3-4 times a week, but took like 2 weeks off and was eating like trash most the time. I'm looking forward to more energy, better runs, more productivity and less depression!

I hope you all have a great day 5 tomorrow, and I'll check back in to see how y'all are doing!

Adam

Good luck with the burger slider competition. Hope that it goes well for you! Sounds like fun, though. What will you use for your whole30 slider buns? Ler us know how it turns out. 

[KalinaM]

19 hours ago, ____Emily____ said:

According to the Whole30 timeline, this is totally normal around this time (they have it at days 6-7, but I personally think it's happening all the first week and we're not noticing until later thanks to the the sugar hangover), but I'm sure staying up late isn't helping.  Sorry to hear about your family problems 

 

I've been having problems falling asleep at night and I'm wondering if I need to be more cautious about which teas I'm drinking in the evenings.  I haven't really been thinking about it, but I think the caffeine from the black teas are possibly keeping me up.  

I too have been having problems falling asleep but have definitely been sleeping more soundly once I get there. I think mine is mostly mental distractions. Hoping it subsides. Have you tried any herbal teas? No fear of caffeine there. 

[KalinaM]

On 1/5/2023 at 7:47 PM, Artemis22 said:

Hi Everyone! 

This really helps me feel like I am not doing this all alone. Great to read all of your posts.

I am so,so  tired today. It is hard to know if it is all Whole 30 because I live in Vermont and it is very, very gray. I think the combination of no light and the lack of sugar/carbs. 

I am going to try to do some batch cooking tomorrow or Saturday to make things a little easier.

Have a great night everyone!

Oh totally agree with the grayness! I live in Ohio and same-- the sun has disappeared probably until May. So depressing. I have a "happy light" set up next to my kitchen sink that I turn on when doing dishes or food prepping (which is pretty much all my time at home now!) That does help, but it's still not as good as sunshine, 

[____Emily____]

1 hour ago, Artemis22 said:

When I got in the car I asked myself if I was hungry. I wasn't. I just was tired from caretaking. So I didn't eat them.  Being present and not using food to soothe is something I really need to be aware of

Congrats!  That is a such an achievement.  I have a Lara Bar in my pantry from last time I did Whole30.  It's my emergency snack, so I usually only have like 1-2 the whole month.  By mid-month it'll taste so sweet to you, almost too sweet

 

1 hour ago, KalinaM said:

Have you tried any herbal teas? No fear of caffeine there. 

Yep! Although I need to expand my herbal tea collection - most of the teas I like are black teas. I think I'm going to pick up some peppermint tea this weekend though

[KalinaM]

The past few days have been going alright for me. The PROBLEM I am finding with batch cooking is by the week's end (yesterday and today) I am VERY sick of the options I made for myself! I started freezing some individual portions of meals to pull out in a week or two when I have a break from them! I'm never one to like eating something more than twice, maybe 3 times if I'm pushing it. I just don't like leftovers. But, I am the only one in my family doing whole30 this time around, so all the meals are mine and it's a lot to get through. But, at least it will save me prep time in future weeks with freezing some! 

 

Yesterday was a big victory for me. Friday is family pizza and movie night at our house. It's a tradition my 6 year old and I started over the summer and he loves it, so I definitely didn't want to give up the tradition for his sake. So, yesterday, like normal-- I prepared a homemade gluten free pizza for my family with my son as is our tradition and then I made myself chicken wings with a compliant buffalo sauce, potato wedges and veggie sticks with a Tessa Mae's dressing to dip. We noshed in front of the TV like normal, but I didn't have any pizza or lick any spoons or anything when prepping it with my son. I also treated myself to a La Croix water as I usually have a glass of wine with the pizza night, but needed a special alternative that wasn't just plain old water. And my wings, wedges and veggies were tasty enough that after the initial feeling sorry for myself for a couple minutes watching my family eat the pizza I made, I didn't miss it because my wings were crunchy and delicious! Hooray!

 

Sipping some herbal tea right now while trying to look productive at work. Better get going! Hooray for being midway through week 1 with so many victories in our group! 

[CGinDC]

22 hours ago, KalinaM said:

And my wings, wedges and veggies were tasty enough that after the initial feeling sorry for myself for a couple minutes watching my family eat the pizza I made, I didn't miss it because my wings were crunchy and delicious! Hooray!

We do family pizza and movie night on Fridays too! How do you make your wings? I've got the primal buffalo sauce in the pantry and am looking for some ways to use it. I want to do the buffalo chicken lettuce wraps I keep hearing about, but we have two bottles (because Costco) and wings sound like a great option.

On 1/7/2023 at 9:30 AM, Artemis22 said:

Good Morning Everyone, 

Things are going ok. I am really trying to work on my relationship with food this time. My father has some really serious health issues and caretaking is stressful. Part of doing the Whole 30 is to break the cycle of eating something with sugar when I am stressed about him. I was picking up his medicine yesterday at the grocery store pharmacy and there was a problem. My first thought was a dessert. I think it is the " I don't want to feel this how do I make it stop" thing. So i bought some Larabars. They are compliant and I thought I would sneak around the rules that way. When I got in the car I asked myself if I was hungry. I wasn't. I just was tired from caretaking. So I didn't eat them.  Being present and not using food to soothe is something I really need to be aware of.

@CGinDC I hope your family things are getting better.

 

@Artemis22 that is a major achievement. I have similar issues, for me it's "treating" myself when I have some time away from my kids. They're six and three, and my three year old is a handful. Amazing and funny and smart...but she's a lot. So when I have an afternoon to myself to run errands or whatever, I almost always find some way to treat myself with food and it's usually crap. I had to face that yesterday afternoon while I was out and about, but I didn't cave. Also, thank you for the kind words. My mother was recently diagnosed with dementia, so we're just kind of coming to terms with the long and difficult road ahead. It sucks.

Today I'm feeling the W30 fatigue. I've slept pretty well the last couple nights so I think I'm more or less caught up there. I was in the middle of a very weird and intense dream when my kids woke up up this morning and I've been in a fog ever since.

How is everyone else doing? Almost through the first week!

[CGinDC]

Oh! One more post from me, something I'm pretty proud of. Our front yard is pretty small and until last winter had a very large maple tree in it. We had to take it down because we figured out is was hollow inside, so it was a in danger of falling on the house. The yard is south facing, so I turned the whole thing into a vegetable garden last year. It was a TON of work, and I grew way more than we could eat, but I froze a ton of stuff that we're making use of now. Last night I made sweet potato coins out of the smaller purple sweet potatoes, and I have blanched swiss chard in the freezer that will go into braised greens at some point. I also still have 5 different winter squash that I'll use to make a couple things - curried butternut soup, and I think I'll make a compliant version of this dish: https://realhealthyrecipes.com/recipes/butternut_squash_with_kale_and_sausage

I also have 4-5 bags of frozen tomatoes that I've been using to make sauces, okra that can go into some vegetable soup, and a bunch of dried peppers that I used to make a compliant chili crunch oil (loosely based on this recipe: https://www.chilipeppermadness.com/recipes/chili-crisp/. I also grew choricero peppers that I'll use to make this sauce, from the Basque region of Spain: https://clovegarden.com/recipes/djx_biscay1.html. It's seriously so good on fish, chicken, or just on a spoon. You can use prosciutto in place of serrano ham. 

I also made a bunch of pickles but haven't been eating them because some of them definitely have sugar (the bread and butter ones) and I can't remember if I put sugar in the dill spears. I'll need to remember to mark things better next year.

[____Emily____]

Hope everyone is having a good weekend! I had a couple of club meetings out and about (I'm in a lot of clubs, mainly book clubs) and managed to stay compliant.  The first club was at a bar where there was literally nothing compliant on the menu, but since it was a bar where you walk up to order, I just didn't get anything. It was hard though because the food looked good (other people in my group got food).  The second was at a coffee shop, so I packed along my compliant almond milk and ordered a plain coffee. I made sure to eat right before.  

Tomorrow I have a game night where I'll need to bring a dish.  I've decided on this Buffalo Chicken Casserole, because I wanted something substantial in case it's the only thing I can eat at the party.  I'll probably eat some food before the event begins as well so that I'm not super hungry regardless because normally there are a bunch of yummy (and very not-compliant) dishes there and I'll definitely be tempted.