Dukunbayi's Log

[dukunbayi]

Hi all,

I completed my 1st Whole30+ starting 1/1/13 and ending sometime early-mid Feb. The last week of Feb I got attacked by the sugar dragon. I swear I only opened the cage door an inch, but that wily, sneaky beast figured it out, crashed through, and took me down. Good thing I had just completed a solid course of ninja training and knew just what to do.

I'm just not ready to color outside the lines yet.

So, onward! I am commencing Whole30 #2, officially, tomorrow 3.5.13. I am waiting only because my daughter wants to do it with me and she went on auto-pilot this morning and put sugar in her coffee.

I started revving my engine a few days ago, after the sugar dragon incident, and I have been 90% since. It felt so good to get back in the saddle, and go grocery shopping with strict rules. What a relief, honest to Betsy.

Last night we went to a Brazilian steakhouse to celebrate 2 birthdays. I stuck to the guidelines as best I could, but of course the meat wasn't pastured, I'm sure some of the salad bar stuff, as simple as I kept it, had whatever in it, and I did have 2 bites of cake.

Today I had coffee with coconut milk, 2 compliant breakfast sausages, and a banana for breakfast (yea, yea... need greens). Lunch will probably be tuna, salad and avocado in a PureWrap, and I guess I better get dinner planned. I'll go shopping later at Costco and stockpile.

I am confident that I got the food part down pat in January. This time around I will focus on the beyond-food aspects of the Whole30, specifically eating mindfully, not in front of the computer, really tasting my food and setting the right conditions for proper digestion.

And the other biggie, working on my sleep. I am an insomniac with a crazy, all over the place schedule, including at least 1 all-nighter per week. The worst of 2 worlds. I want to make my sleep as optimal as possible, such exigencies notwithstanding.

I have weighed and measured. I'll take pictures. I am going to keep a log documenting food and sleep (following the lead of my friend Nila. Thanks Nila, for logging your sleep. That rocks!) Oh, and exercise! I'll log that too.

Here are my starting stats:

Age 48

Height 5'1.5" (gotta put that half inch in there!)

Weight 146 lbs (my scale says 142, but I know it's 4 lbs off ) (I lost 13 lbs during my 1st Whole30; started out at the heaviest I have ever been outside of fullterm 1st pregnancy).

Chest/Bust 39"

Waist 31"(what happened to my 23 inch waist? Oh, right, I got old and fat. Middle-age, I am trying to embrace you!)

Hips 41"

Thighs 25" ea.

Calves 14" ea.

Arms 13" ea.

Two thoughts:

1. I did not like writing these numbers down.

2. I am strangely symmetrical.

Question for whomever might be reading this, is there a list of topic tags? Or do I just wing it?

Okay, time to get prepping.

[30Canandaigua]

I started my second w30 on the 15th after being sideswiped by the sugar/wine/beer dragon. (I clearly have an intolerance to beer)

Good luck to you!

P.s. Do you LOVE the pure wraps? I have been wanting to try them, I just.. am kind of cheap. LOL

[Nila]

I'm rooting for you! I'll be checking in on your log and taking inspiration from it. You can bet on it. Hmmm...I might just wake up tomorrow and make it an(other) official start. Either way, go you!

[dukunbayi]

P.s. Do you LOVE the pure wraps? I have been wanting to try them, I just.. am kind of cheap. LOL

Yes, love them! I bought a bunch and they are great for lunches.

I'm rooting for you! I'll be checking in on your log and taking inspiration from it. You can bet on it. Hmmm...I might just wake up tomorrow and make it an(other) official start. Either way, go you!

Thanks, Nila!

[dukunbayi]

W30 #2, Day 1

Sleep: 6.5 hours, not nearly enough.

Exercise: none today.

Food:

#1 7:30am: 1 hb egg, 1.5 sausage sliders (us wellness meats), coffee with cm.

Eaten in the car shuttling kids to school .

#2 12:30pm: leftover Well Fed's velvety butternut squash, leftover egg/sausage/greens scramble, spinach salad with carrots and beets, and avocado oil and balsamic vinegar.

Eaten quickly, and partly in front of a the computer .

#3: 8pm: browned and spiced ground bison with diced tomatoes, onions and garlic over spaghetti squash, baby bela mushrooms and greens sautéd in ghee, avocado slices.

Eaten at the table with my family .

Dinner was later than I like, but I love it that I can go that long between meals and not feel hungry. I credit the healthy fats with that one; they really do make it or break it for me.

Plan moving forward:

1. Get enough sleep tonight!!! Meaning I should go to bed within the hour.

2. Wake up in time to eat breakfast at the table.

3. Take a real lunch break, not in front of the computer.

[dukunbayi]

Day 2

Big fail in the goal department...

Sleep: 7 hours. Bleh. Tired.

Exercise: none today.

Food:

#1 7:30am: 1+ a bite of breakfast sausage, apple, coffee with cm. Um, yup, in the car.

#2 noon: leftover velvety butternut squash, spinach, 2 curry pure wraps with wholly guacamole, Applegate roasted turkey, carrots, a banana. Um, yup, in front of the computer

Snack: apple

#3: Got home late from work and, dang, I just don't wanna get up off the couch. I just shouted out to all in earshot "if you're hungry heat up some soup!"(chicken tortilla, not for me). I'll muster up some energy and scramble some eggs in ghee with spinach and some avocado. Easy.

Then I am gonna crash. After 2 long days I am so looking forward to sort of a day off tomorrow. I want to peruse other food logs. Been rather myopic about all this.

Addendum:

This is what I whipped up...

Egg scramble with chicken sausage, red bell pepper, onions, garlic in ghee with spinach, and a dollop of guacamole.

Not bad for this exhausted mama, eh?

[dukunbayi]

Day 3

Sleep: almost maybe even 8 hours. Woke up an hour before my alarm despite my best intentions to sleep in a little. That was weird. I never do that.

Exercise: 30 minute walk/jog with the dog on the beach. (I'm re-starting C25K, and today was Day 1.... beginner's mind all around, yes indeedy.)

Food:

#1 7:30am: leftover egg scramble and 1.5 beef breakfast sausages, coffee with cm

#2 post WO 10:30: leftover butternut squash with pecans, banana, carrots (craving carbs much?) with the dregs of a jar of sunbutter, a spoonful of coconut butter, couple slices turkey (foraging in my kitchen shoving things in my face seeking a balance).

#3 that's next, probably about 7:30pm: grilled chicken, greens, roasted kabocha squash (maybe I can grill that too).

Wowzers! That's 9 hours since my last 'meal.' I'm not hungry, but that's too long! Maybe I'll have a small little something to tide me over.

I have ground bison, pork, turkey, and lamb, so I'll throw some of that in burger form on the grill for work tomorrow.

It's a 13-14 hour day so I need to pack all my meals.

Bed by 9:30. That's my plan, anyway.

Onward, people!

[dukunbayi]

Day 4

Sleep: 6.75. Well, that explains my sloth-like state. (I woke up 15 minutes before my alarm, thats a couple times now, and I didn't experience that with my 1st W30).

Exercise: none today

Food:

first thing: coffee with cm (around 6am)

#1 9:15: leftovers at work (grilled chicken, squash, greens, guac, plus a couple spoonfuls of coconut butter). Better had I eaten at home before I left the house because I got to work and sorta hit the ground running.

#2 4pm: really? 7 hours between meals? Continues to blow my mind how long between meals I can go. Leftovers again, same as breakfast, minus the coconut butter, plus spinach and a clementine.

#3 9:30pm: 3 eggs scrambled in ghee with mushrooms and spinach, more squash. A bowl of strawberries, coconut flakes, cacao nibs, pecans in coconut milk, warmed up. Is this paleofying cereal? Maybe, huh? But it doesn't trigger me and I can keep it occasional.

I stopped on my way home and picked up, among other things, frozen spinach to make a bunch of Well Fed's meat muffins tomorrow. Yummy and easy and convenient, things I like.

Hoooo boy.... am I wiped. Sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep....

[dukunbayi]

Day 5 Wordy!

Sleep: Thirteen. Hours.

Ok, so technically, I woke up at 8:15 for a half-hour or so, and then conked out for several more.

Long, strange, winding dreams of apocalypses and carb consumption. It was a friendly, end of the world dream, not a bleak, survivalist, zombie attack nightmare, but somehow I kept ending up with simple carbs in my mouth... popsicles, corn chips, bread (which at first I spit out, mortified), more bread... and I had had just gone from "OMG! I wrecked my Whole30," to "Screw it, give me that blueberry scone (what is it with the blueberry baked goods? I remember dreaming about blueberry bagels last time around, and I don't even like blueberry bagels, though I suppose blueberry scones are okay though I prefer chocolate......)," when *poof* I woke up. Ahhhh, it was all a dream. I checked with BF to make sure.

Anyway, good to know that, even with the world coming to an end, my priorities are straight: stay on plan, don't eat bread. Now, that's commitment.

Another thing that pops out from my dream, which I'm sure is significant.... As would any friendly, community-oriented group of survivors with a gazillion school-aged kids to raise after the apocalypse, we were figuring out school carpools etc, and I raised the question, "what are we training these kids for?" And I answered the question myself, "to be Jacks of all Trades," meaning, to be able to survive in the world the best they can with what's necessary and available. And I added the comment, "as it should be." I think I know what it means, I think it's rather transparent... I want my children to have the capacity and capabilities to survive in this world, no matter what happens. I want them to be the best cave-people possible. A rather standard hope for any parent, wouldn't you say? As deep, and visceral, and imperative as it can get.

Exercise:

At the moment I am perfecting my ass-groove on the couch. But as soon as I'm done filling this screen we're gonna spend the afternoon getting the garden planted before it rains again. Greens, herbs, roots, tomatoes, zucchini. BF wants corn, daughter wants flowers, son wants watermelon (hard to grow in this neck of the desert, but we'll give it a whirl). If the lifting, hauling, and squatting doesn't do it I'll swing my kbell around later and/or do C25K day 2!

#1 12:18: wild planet tuna (Thank you costco for carrying this) and guac mashed together, drizzled with aged balsamic vinegar, rolled up in curry pure wraps. A big spoonful of coconut butter. Coffee with cm.

#2 4:15pm: bowl of pecans, cacao nibs, shredded coconut, and frozen cherries with coconut milk. A quick snack before headed out to garden. Racing the daylight.

#3 later: meat muffins!!! so excited!

Yes! They came out sooooo great! Well Fed's Meat and Spinach Muffins. I made two types, both with mixed meats, turkey/bison, and pork/lamb with ras el hanout. I added mushrooms, which I sautéd with the onions which added some nice umami. Absolutely delicious and I made 2 dozen of them!

Served them tonight with spaghetti squash which I just threw in the bowl I had used for the cooked meat mixtures and stirred it around in the leftover juices, arugula from the garden drizzled with aged balsamic vinegar, and sliced beets.

We planted a bunch of stuff today. Can't wait to see what sprouts.

My better half found a hidden nest of eggs from our chickens yesterday, 13 eggs (none of which floated so we know they were good) 9 of which I used in the meat muffins and the remainder I will hard boil. I'm using the shells as planters for herbs (saw it on Femour... so clever and sweet! The rest gets ground up and goes back to the chickens and some to the worms. The worm casings and tea help fertilize and nourish the garden, the bees (we have 2 hives) pollinate the garden, we eat what grows, the scraps go to the chickens (and the worms, and the compost) and it all cycles around again. The world is brilliant.

Speaking of bees.... If anyone is interested in and concerned by the sorry state of bees in the world (due to bio-hazardous insecticides produced by Monsanto and cronies), check out this petition my BF's daughter initiated. It's asking the White House to ban these chemicals, as the European Union is doing in response to the overwhelming scientific evidence linking these insecticides with bee Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD). Apologies if this is an 'incorrect' thing to post here, and I hope I don't get my wrist slapped. But, given my perception of the sensibilities of the good folks on this website, and the concern over things wreaking havoc with a safe and sustainable food supply, I figured it would be cool.

The petition requires 100,000 signatures to be considered, so please pass it on if you are so inclined.

https://petitions.wh...-vital/b6CGMjF6

Have a great night everyone. I have a long day at the hospital tomorrow. Got my muffins packed and if I go to sleep NOW I might get 7.5 hours of sleep! Oh dang just remembered!!! Got an egg and vinegar mellowing in the vitamix for mayo. I'll whip that up first. Overly ambitious tonight I think.

Update: no formal workout, and the gardening wasn't strenuous

[Nila]

Lots of good stuff in that post. I'm replying from my phone so I'll keep it brief.

Image for the day: "perfecting my ass-groove."

Thank you for that.

[dukunbayi]

Day 6:

I learned it was Daylight Savings at 5:30 this morning. Slow on the pickup, that's me. Thank goodness for smart phone alarms.

Two things, no three things:

1. See what happens when I get 13 hours of sleep? I blab and ramble. If anyone actually slogged through my post yesterday, bless you.

2. My mayo came out perfectly last night. I used 2/3c light olive oil, 1/3c avocado oil, 2 Tbsp raw apple cider vinegar, and an egg. The emulsion is perfection itself and the flavor.... oh so smooth. I want to change my profile picture to a picture of my mayo. I might just even.

3. I am at work but there's nothing requiring my attention at the moment. Maybe it'll be like this all day and I'll get to hang out here.

Oh, 4 things:

4. My colleague who passed the baton to me this morning ate according to a paleo template last year for a spell, and she is now inspired to do a Whole30. I told her about ISWF, and shared my fave websites with her (nomnompaleo, theclothesmakethegirl, and of course this one), and then insisted she admire my mayo before stumbling out of here to bed. It would be fabulously fun to have a colleague do this with me; we can support each other and troubleshoot issues that arise related to our goofy job and schedules.

Today:

Sleep: ha! (curse you daylight savings!)

Exercise: I have a kbell at work, and time to use it. Sooooooo........., yea.

Food: I packed meat pies, kabocha, spinach, guac, an apple, and let's not forget... mayo!

I keep in my locker tuna, sardines and various other things that I never actually eat but it's good to know they're there for emergencies.

Update: I did not workout. I got busy. Lesson learned: gotta seize the moment when I have it.

My three meals were all essentially the same: spinach & meat muffin, kabocha, mayo, guac with minimal variations: added spinach and beets to one of the meals.

Lots of water. Probably too much coffee throughout the day.

[dukunbayi]

Day 7

I stepped on the stupid scale this morning. I hate it and I am breaking up with it.

Sleep: from midnight to about 9:30am, 9.5 hours

Food:

#1 coffee with cm, then at 11:15am meat muffin. arugula, carrots, mayo, granny smith apple.

Enough with the meat muffins, gonna freeze the rest.

#2 1:15pm bowl of the stuff I claimed *did not trigger me* ..... coconut milk, frozen cherries, shredded coconut, cacao nibs. So I've had *the thing that does not trigger me* every day for the last few days, and I believe I will re-think my claim.

#3 4:30pm pre-WO spoonful of coconut butter and half a friggin' meat muffin (it was there, it was easy)

#4 tuna salad with (wait for it.....) ...... mayo!, plopped on spinach and whatever other veggies I can dig out of my fridge. Time to go shopping.

Exercise: kbells 30 min (turkish get-ups and a whole bunch of swings).

Thoughts: Been talking a lot with partner about this. The mealtime-sleep paradigm is paramount. We tend to eat late, like 8:30ish. W have determined that we need to be finished with dinner by 7pm for me to get to bed early enough to get a full 8 hours of sleep. 8 is my goal. 9 would be better. This is going to require an additional level of planning and preparation. But what I have discovered is, if I just throw the dart and set this as an intention, nay... a challenge (eat dinner by 7 no matter what) the things required to plan and prepare will fall into place. In the meantime, we may be eating a lot of tuna . So this is the piece I am going to focus on for a little bit.

It's 6pm. Time to make dinner!

[Nila]

So where's the mayo pic?

[dukunbayi]

So where's the mayo pic?

[dukunbayi]

:-)

[Nila]

Pretty!

[helen]

I want chickens. I officially think I have my husband on board. We live in the suburbs but have a big yard. His concern before was our old bird dog Pearl but she is chasing birds in the sky now. Funny, I also went to a keeping bees workshop/meeting last week (my husband joked that we don't eat honey so why would we want bees). I lived on a hippie farm for a summer and was in charge of bees and loved it. So, we'll see.

A couple of days of 6 to 7 hour sleep makes me crazy. I need sleep desperately and it is sometimes hard to manage.

[dukunbayi]

We live in the suburbs but have a big yard.

I live within city limits but have a big yard. Watch out, though, chickens are little T-rexes and can excavate a yard in no time! Nonetheless, they are fun and they make me laugh.

Today: Day 8

Sleep: 7.25 hours

Food:

#1 7am: 3 eggs fried in ghee with avocado, coffee with cm

#2 11:45am: leftover salad with a blip of tuna in mayo and half a (you know it) meat muffin. The rest are in the freezer.

#3 7:45pm: grilled salmon, cabbage and carrots, arugula and strawberry salad with aged balsamic vinegar, broccoli.

Thoughts:

1. Crockpot Tuesdays from now on. That's the only way I'll be able to eat by 7 if, like today, I don't get home till 6:40.

2. I am still amazed that I can go 8 hours between meals without hunger.

I get to sleep in tomorrow, which I will do, oh yea, cuz I get to work overnight tomorrow. Flip flopping between days and nights is super fun.

Here's a picture of my mayo in a teeny tiny jar, which I brought to work today (and made people admire) .

And here's a pic of the dinner I whipped up tonight.

[dukunbayi]

Okie dokie .... Day 9

Sleep: 11.5 hours. woke 10:30am

Exercise: kbells 30 min, high intensity. TGUs, swings, snatches, various squats, windwills, and some other stuff.

Food:

coffee with cm

#1 leftover salmon, 1 egg, spoonful coconut butter

#2 the rest of the salmon, broccoli, carrots, guac

Pre WO: a handful of shredded coconut (probably not the best pre-WO choice)

#3 Jicima homefries and ground turkey. It was good!

There's nothing green in my house. I'll stop by TJs on my way home in the morning if I'm not too dead and pick up some greens and sweet potatoes at the very least.

[dukunbayi]

Day 10

I left work at about 8:30 this morning. Picked up a cart load at Trader Joe's on the way home.

Read ISWF for a spell and got to sleep around 11, slept about 8 hours with the intermittent waking that happens with daytime sleeping.

I am sitting here drinking my morning coffee at 8pm, and deciding what to eat.

Food: At 9:30pm last night I ate a sizeable portion of jicima homefries/ground turkey. That was really my dinner, as I had only had a few spoonfuls yesterday post-WO, just before I ran out the door. I ate nothing else all night (typically I would eat at around 2-3am, but I wasn't hungry and, anyway, I had eaten all the food I had brought).

Meal #1: This morning at 10am I had a small bowl of it again, topped with guac, heirloom tomatoes and sea veg(!). It looked very pretty. Honestly, I could have just gone to sleep without eating, but I figured I hadn't eaten all night, and it would end up being a 20 hour fast if I didn't.

#2 9:30pm: 3 eggs scrambled in ghee with mushrooms and greens topped with guac, carrots dipped in mayo

#3 11:30pm shortly after meal #2, still hungry: a bowl of "that which does not trigger me" + walnuts

I I will be eating sleeping and breathing a big presentation I'm putting together over the next two weeks (when I'm not at the St. Patrick's Day parade on Sat, preparing for or at the beach bonfire for my son and his friends on Sat aft/night, and camping next weekend (yea, I'll be bringing my laptop). And work, of course. All good stuff, but makes my head spin. I will be limiting my time here. I'll pop in daily to log my food etc, but that'll be about it.

[helen]

I am in awe of shift workers. I have no idea how you all do it!

Trader Joes is a big help to me. Nice washed bags of organic spinach, kale, mixed greens, sugar snap peas. I feel lazy but dang they are great.

The St. Patricks Day weekend sounds awesome! Good luck with the next few weeks...

[dukunbayi]

Good luck with the next few weeks...

Thanks, Helen!

Day 11 (I think)

Sleep: lots

Food:

#1 11am salmon froma can, greens, carrots, tomatoes, guac, a little mayo, banana

#2 2pm snacky. carrots, almond butter, 1/2 HB egg, walnuts, larabar. I was not a W30 poster child for lunch, no I was not.

#3 It's 9:30. Stir-frying up some pork, broccoli, cauliflower

Exercise: none, unless running around Costco counts.

work work work

[dukunbayi]

Day 12

coffee with cm

leftover pork stir-fry (not much pork left in it)

2 turkey/greens in pure wraps

apple

almonds

1/3 can salmon

snacky crap (not crap, really: carrots, guac, grapes) at the bonfire because I forgot to bring something for me to eat.

Day 13

Worked, super busy all day, but I managed to twice sit down and have chocolate chili which I had grabbed out of the freezer this morning.

With carrots and heirloom tomatoes, and guac and sea veg and kimchi, and sweet potato.

Also had a HB egg and a larabar and a handful of almonds.

Brought a bag of kale to work but never opened it.

I will sleep the sleep of the dead tonight. Starting in about 30 minutes.

[Nila]

Hello! Hope you're well while work work working!

[dukunbayi]

Thanks, Nila! Getting it done.

Day 14

#1 coffee/cm, 3 eggs and kale in ghee topped with guac, spoonful coconut butter

#2 snack, Applegate turkey, a couple of slices in the car, which I realized has carrageenan which is not okay. Jeeze. Just when I thought I was getting at least the content right.....

#3 Lamb osso bucco cooked in the crockpot, green cabbage, sweet potato (the boys had corned beef and cabbage, and potatos). Partner eats beef once a year for St. Patty's day, and that was today for us since I worked yesterday).

I'm reading ISWF this go-round whereas last time I just used the info on the website and searched when I had questions on specifics. I'm gonna skip ahead to read about additives, for example, I know citric acid is ok, but I seem to have forgotten what few other additives are acceptable. I've had Applegate a few times in the last week... I don't really buy it too often. I am not gonna call tomorrow "Day 1" because I'll just keep going till I get it right for 30 days.

Also, I'm going to eliminate FODMAPs for a week or two and see if that improves GI matters. I *had* to eat the cabbage tonight, OI was already getting the hairy eyeball for passing on the corned beef and potatos. (He's supportive, he really is, but St. Patrick's Day is serious bizness for him .

Continuing on this big ol' learning curve.