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Ev's Whole30 (started 03/04)


Evelyn Benchimol

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Hi Everyone! My name is Evelyn. Am a 38y/o Mom to 3 kids (4.5y/o and 3y/o twins), wife, work full time and live in Montreal, Canada.

So I started this past Monday March 4th. On day 3 now and feeling pretty good!

As you can well imagine, working full time, trying to get into a workout routine, and caring for 3 young kids and a hubby....things get NUTS for me!

I honestly thought that I would have had more time to plan things out but life got in the way and that was not going to be my excuse to delay this! So far meal planning on the fly has been pretty easy but I definitely plan to get organised this weekend. Seeing as we've been mainly eating whole foods for a while now, and have been really trying to stop with the grains (in preparation for this and trying to remineralise my kids' teeth!), my pantry is pretty decent and when I got home yesterday I had my organic veg/fruit delivery waiting.

I also recently joined a TRX gym and along with my Whole30, this week was the start of a committed workout schedule.

I don't think I had enough fat the first 2 days so up'd it a little today and felt good. Also trying to drink a bit more water. I don't know if it's just coincidence or an effect of the eating plan (like could it really start to impact your body that fast?) but I started my period and though I had the start of cramps early on Monday, I haven't had any since and the flow has been a lot lighter.

Just found this forum and figured I'd get on here and maybe see what others are up to, give or get some encouragement, find some meal ideas, etc.... know I'm not the only one out there :)

So far this is what my food/workout log looks like...

Day 1

Breakie: coconut water, blueberries, mango, coconut oil smoothie (i know we're not supposed to do liquid meals but was rushing!), and a hard boiled egg. Cup of black coffee.

Workout: Kettle bell jam 45min

Lunch: big salad with lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, slice of bacon, half can of tuna, half an egg, olive oil/balsamic. Water

Snack: apple with almond butter

Dinner: minute steaks with a mushroom sauce (onions, chicken stock, arrowroot to thicken,herbs) and a big pile of collards cooked in coconut oil with bacon, onions, garlic. Water w/ lemon

Snack: herbal tea

Day 2

Breakie: 2 fried eggs with salsa. Cup of black coffee.

Workout: TRX Blast 45min

Lunch: Smallish salad with lettuce, peppers, half chicken breast, half avocado, olive oil/balsamic. Smoothie (almond milk/blueberry/banana)

Snack: Pear (probably not the righ thing!)

Dinner: Slowcooker chicken with carrots/celery/onions/homemade enchilada type sauce, coleslaw (cabbage, mango, shallots, OO/BV). Water

Day 3:

Breakie: 2 eggs cooked in some of the leftover sauce from last night's dinner. Smoothie (almond milk/blueberry/banana/coconut oil). Cup of black coffee

Lunch: Last night's leftoversw/ half an avocado thrown in, leftover coleslaw. Water & Coffee.

**planned for the rest of the day**

Preworkout snack: Hardboiled egg, apple w/ almond butter. Water

Workout: Race prep (trx, kettle, etc) 45min

Dinner: 2 burgers (no buns of course!), mashed sweet potatoes w/ coconut oil (no time to make fries L), steamed broccoli, small salad. Orange or Kiwi. Sparkling water w/ lemon.

Snack: herbal tea (if I feel peckish)

Day 4: Bring it on!

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Hope you are all doing well out there!

So yesterday's plan changed a little... never had that PWO snack... was in a rush and instead put a huge glob of almond butter into my mouth and drank a coconut water as I blasted through my race prep class (intense!). Skipped the broc at dinner and had a huge salad in its place, also no fruit. About 9pm had the munchies so had a small handful of almonds and water.... no tea. Make a bunch of kraut, packed up our lunches, laundry, etc and didn't get to bed til past midnight.

Day 4 - could not get out of bed!!! Is it just a day 4 thing or could be be the late night? Dunno but everyone at the office is complaining too so maybe something with the weather. Anyway... decent start to the day but inhaled my breakfast and feeling peckish already! Am just daydreaming of a big spoonful of coconut cream.....

K... may post later as the day progresses.

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Evelyn, welcome! I'm enjoying reading your log, and I find the log very helpful for myself. I've just completed my very first Whole30 and have re-upped for 15 more days (or maybe more). It's been great, but I do remember around day 5 feeling grouchy and tired for maybe a day or two.

Great work so far!

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Good morning! Never got back online yesterday but I want to be accountable for everything so gotta log in my meals for yesterday :)

So day 4 wasn't so bad. Besides having a tough time getting out of bed and then feeling really guilty about not giving my kids the breakie they should've had (they had some organic sprouted sourdough toast with peanut butter :( - my hubby was running late and it was better than other things I could've imagined him giving them, though luckily there are very few options in the house these days)..... I did find I had the munchies. Glass of water here and there, litterally a couple of almonds and it was ok. Maybe that's the habit part....

Anyway... made it to Costco after work and stocked up on a few things. I HATE the fact that there is little to no organic fresh stuff at mine!... i had to go with regular boneless chicken thighs and drumsticks, cherry tomatoes, brussel sprouts, asparagus, etc... score on the coconut oil and water though, also got some nuts as I want to make my kids some cereal alternatives). Shopping will take a little getting used to since I've been buying almost 100% organic for the past couple of years and because we weren't eating as much protein, costs were down a bit. What I've decided to do is shop smarter.... I went through EWG.org's list again for the dirty dozen and clean 15 and will now only buy organic fruit/veg for those really bad items. This will help a little with being able to contribute more towards the protein. Since organic chicken is simply totally unafordable in the quantities now needed, I have no choice but to buy regular and Costco will have to be the place for it. They also have some decent frozen fish. I look for the sustainable ones. I also found out that even though some say "product of China" (which I always avoided), things like Sole are caught off US waters, filet'd and frozen on ship, then sent to China for packaging and export... so the product isn't actually coming off their shores or lakes but is only being "processed". I do hope that's true otherwise, I have a hell of a hard time getting safe fish (sustainable, wild, etc). ok so babbling now....

Right so rushed home and made dinner.... a HUGE shrimp stirfry for the fam (zuchs, celery, carrots, onions, peppers, baby bok choi, mushrooms). Couldn't use my usual soy sauce or red pepper jelly so I fresh squeezed an orange and used an asian spice mix I have and a TON of ginger. I made some rice for the kids because a whole pile of veg just wont get consumed without some "trad'l carbs" yet (eventually I want them to get there but for now, focus is on me and am slowly turning them onto it all). Ok so just as it was finishing up I rushed to Kickboxing. Left there early so my hubby could get to his TRX class. CRAZY it was like a relay race, I left after a full 2min punchout with my wraps still on, got home, he handed me the book as he rushed off. ANYWAYS, I am babbling again.... just realised I'm wired right now!

Ok so here's my log.... am outta here!

Day 4

Breakie: 2 eggs scrambled up with onions & broccoli in bacon fat. Black coffee.

Munchies: Water & tiny handful almonds

Lunch: Left over burger patty with mashed sweet potatoes and broccoli. Pear. Water.

Snack: Almond milk latte & like 4 almonds

PWO(6pm): Hardboiled egg and handful of olives.

Dinner(9pm): Shrimp stirfry. Handful of olives and some cherry tomatoes. Water.

Day 5

Breakie: Mini Almond/Blueberry/Strawberry/Banana smoothie. 2 eggs in salsa w/ 1/2 avocado. Black coffee.

PWO: Coconut water & handful of almonds.

Lunch: Can of tuna on a huge salad with lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, and a ton of sliced back olives w/ OO&BV. Banana. Water.

Dinner: NO CLUE YET! but have stuff to easily whip something up.

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So day 5 ended with me falling asleep in my daughter's bed and waking up at 4:30am because my arms were asleep... strange. Anyways, by 6:30 kids were up and wanted to get dressed! What's with that?! Saturday morning and all are raring to go and during the week it's a struggle to get them up and out of the house on time!

Well, I had planned on making some paleo waffles for them but I did not feel like using up all the almond flour I had so went for some apple pancakes instead. They INHALED them!!! with some fruit and some warm chocolate milk (I am not taking away their raw dairy yet....). So once they were done, I realised I wasn't going to make it to my TRX class on time so decided to make myself a huge pancake, then two fried eggs and a big cup of black coffee as I read through some flyers and just chilled. No vegs but I ate some of the leftover fruit so not too bad I guess.

Crazy morning with repairs needed to our kitchen sink, then running off to get Tristan new glasses (he lost his temper and split his frame in half a cpl wks ago!!!, last summer while on vacation, another temper tantrum and he tossed them into some bushes never to be found!)...rushed back home to make them lunch (homemade chicken soup) and by 1:30 realised I needed to eat too! Had all these plans to get some cooking done and stuff around the house but was feeling pooped (maybe I should've done my class in the am!) so I went through some recipes and had a nice cup of mate.

Off to the store for a few things and got dinner going. Kids lapped it up again and off to chill in bed. So here I am 2 hrs later on the computer! Time for bed! Clock goes fwd tonight! :( One hour less sleep but at least spring is in the air :).

So besides a little fatigue, I've not had any cravings yet. The only thing I have noticed is that my patience for the kids is a little low... not sure if that has anything to do with W30, period, long week, or maybe kids are just more active with spring in the air....

Day 5

Dinner: 3 souvlaki spiced chicken drumsticks, string beans sauteed with coco oil & garlic, carrot/fennel/orange/onion salad. Water.

Day 6

Breakie: 2 fried eggs in between a pancake (coco flour, apple sauce, mashed banana, eggs), fruit salad (apple, kiwi, orange, blueberries). Black coffee.

Lunch:Big tuna salad (can of tuna, lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, sliced black olives, artichoke hearts, avocado, bacon, OO&BV). Water

Dinner: Rib roast, sauteed asparagus with garlic & OO, mashed sweet potatoes (coco oil & cinnamon). Water

Snack: Herbal tea.

Supposed to be meeting friends for breakfast tomorrow so will see how I deal with breakfast. Plates always come with potatoes and toast. I figure I'll do poached eggs that way I know there's no change of veg oil. I can get tomatoes instead of potatoes and pass on the toast. Maybe ask if they can fry the eggs in EVOO... might get ham instead of bacon or sausage (in case they have wheat or sugar) or I think they also have a side of roasted pork as an option!

Good night all and see you tomorrow Spring!

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Hey Evelyn, dont hate me here, you have a busy load for sure (no way I could juggle what you do) and its wonderful you are eating so healthily, your body will love you for it! But are you really wanting to do a whole30 or just eat whole9 foods? Because smoothies, coconut water, fruit and nut snacks, pancakes etc are supposed to be avoided on a whole30.......

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Hey Evelyn, dont hate me here, you have a busy load for sure (no way I could juggle what you do) and its wonderful you are eating so healthily, your body will love you for it! But are you really wanting to do a whole30 or just eat whole9 foods? Because smoothies, coconut water, fruit and nut snacks, pancakes etc are supposed to be avoided on a whole30.......

Hi Juzbo! Totally don't hate you, glad you pointed this out!!!! I had no idea coconut water was not allowed! Even the no sugar added type? Fruit and nuts I thought were allowed but in small amounts. Smoothies I know are a no-no as a food replacement (hence my note on the first day). Since I don't eat breakfast til I get to work about 2hrs after I wake up, on the days I've been hungry, I made small ones to tied me over til I can get to the office and eat more slowly. Are they totally out of the question or just not recommended - I mean I've been using less than 8oz of almond milk and less than 1/2c of fruit with kale or spinach. For the pancake, I thought we aren't suppose to go and paleofy everything as a daily thing but if I respect all the ingredients then once in a while is ok.

ANY ADVICE is appreciated. I do see looking at my log now that it looks like a lot of fruit but my quantities have been super small totalling maybe 2 fruits a day. Even the salad on Sat was leftover from the kids' and was about 1/2cup.

So... thanks for pointing it all out.... I am going to going to go through the section in the forum about what's allowed and what's not. So do you think I should be starting all over? Did I totally goof? Better now than 3 wks in :)

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Just as an add on to the previous post.... so ya I seem to remember snacks should be a mini version of the meal template but I just am not hungry enough for a full snack like that, 5-6 almonds seem to be enough, or just one hardboiled egg. What could I have when it's a mini munchie and I don't need much?

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Phew, thanks for taking my advice as well intended, not critical. Firstly I believe it's up to us as individuals to decide how to handle the grey areas (not always following the template exactly, when to have snacks, whether a dish is swypo and a cheat or not swypo or somewhere in between, how much fruit is the right amount. The best test for whether what you are doing it right for you is... Is this making you more healthy or less healthy. So if snacking on nuts or fruit is making you need to keep snacking rather than adjust to three or four meals, then less healthy, if having fruit three or four times a day is keeping a sweet tooth going then less healthy.

You definitely don't need to start over, just change what's needed to be able to keep you on the path to success. I am sure everyone has a period of adjustment like this at the start and also during longer stretches (that's why I took the plunge and commented, as what I have for snacks throws me out of balance big time if I'm not careful.)

As for some alternatives as suggested to me.. A boiled egg or tin of tuna with some olives or carrot stick, some small pieces of Pre cooked meat with cucumber etc. I bake chicken breasts with tomato paste then cut them into small pieces, perfect to grab one out of the fridge then and et with a raw carrot etc. it might take a little while but soon you will be able to find lots of alternatives. There are posts about this too for ideas.

Wishing you a happy and healthy whole30!

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Thanks again Juzbo!

Ok so got some good tips from Tom & Juzbo and so things should be a little easier...

So Sunday morning we went out for breakfast to meet some friends. Wasn't too difficult to get my breakfast right even though whatever I asked the waitress was answered with "I don't know" (what do you fry the eggs in, reg veg oil?, are the sausages gluten free?...). My husband - even though he's been pretty good about the changes at home - was a bit of a douche when I asked the questions so I brushed that off . Anyway.. went well. Rest of the day consisted of errands and some prep cooking so I finished pleased with myself. Fridge is stocked with defrosting meats, steam sauteed collards, beet greens, and chard, roasted beets, baked sweet potatoes and a ready batch of sauerkraut.

So yesterday wasn't great in terms of my food.... was a crazy day and just rushed before and after work. Had a great lunch and no cravings or munchies throughout the day. Super early morning cause we had to drop kids off and then get to garage and car rental place, no way I could wait for a proper b/f so had to snack. Missed my Kettle Bell Jam cause I got stuck in a meeting. My daugher had Sparks (Guides) at 6pm so rushing again, knew I would'nt get to eat til after 8pm so had grabbed a snack just in case.

So after a week, I have noticed it's gettng easier to wake in the morning (despite the time change and the fact that I'm still not getting a full 8hrs)! I definitely feel more alert during the day and don't get those snack attacks around 10am and after dinner, or the crazy slumps around 3pm. I was also less crampy/achy during my period the last few days. I had salad for breakfast today and thoroughly enjoyed it! SALAD?! that's just nuts to those having cereal daily. Forgot my lunch today (and wa sooo looking forward to it!) but made do and proud of it!

I have to say I am kinda shocked that I'm not dying for bread or wine or cheese! I LOVE those things! Water with my meals is becoming enjoyable. Bread is not in my mind unless I smell it (my husband made pizza last night and I have to say I had to go to another room because it smelled so good!). All in all it's going pretty good.... am kind of waiting for the dragons to appear though.... could it get tougher this week? Hope not!!!

Oh! One questions I have....and in case anyone reads this and can help.... what's the deal with eating late? I have to eat late (like after 8pm) 2-3 times per week. Is that bad during the W30? What would my options be?

Day 7

Breakie: (at the resto) 2 poached eggs with bacon, sliced tomatoes (instead of potatoes), extra side of bacon. Black coffee.

Lunch: can't remember for the life of me!!!

Dinner: Pork chop, sauteed celery root in EVOO/garlic/parsley, big salad. Water

Day 8

Snack: Hard boiled egg & coffee.

Breakie: 2 fried eggs (bacon fat) with some salsa and collards. Water

Lunch: Pork chop with celery root, beet greens. Water.

Snack: 5-6 almonds and a sour green apple.

Dinner: Left over roast beef with half baked sweet potato and roasted beets

Day 9

Breakie: Mixed salad greens w/ 2 h/b eggs, artichoke hearts, olives, cherry tomatoes, 1/2 avocado, EVOO&BV. Black coffee.

Lunch: Half-can of tuna, pile of sauerkraut, hand ful of almonds, 1/2 pear (forgot my lunch and that's all I could scrounge up at the office)

PreWO: H/b egg.

Workout: 1.5hr kickboxing

Dinner: Slow cooker chicken (whatever's left over after the fam eats), roasted brussell sprouts, roasted beets.

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Wow! I'm exhausted just reading about your jam packed day! I applaud you for finding the time to work out. I've been sitting on my arse for weeks not wanting to workout. Not even this new found Whole30 energy is pushing me to the gym. Your posts just put a light under my -you get the picture. I have NO excuse!!

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Evelyn,

while it's not really w30, they do give you a little more leeway with the kids...i make mine a big fruit/nut ,and homemade almond milk "cereal" out of fresh fruits and chopped nuts/seeds...they get it once or twice a week as part of their breakfast, but usually eat eggs and veggies with me. they tell me that it's the best cereal ever. good luck and keep it up!

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Wow! I'm exhausted just reading about your jam packed day! I applaud you for finding the time to work out. I've been sitting on my arse for weeks not wanting to workout. Not even this new found Whole30 energy is pushing me to the gym. Your posts just put a light under my -you get the picture. I have NO excuse!!

Hi Jennifer! I've been making excuses for 5 yrs!!!! My body was just falling apart, pains, fatigue, migraines, & chronic headaches. Went to the neurologist and my options were epilepsy meds, blood pressure meds, and god knows what else, or botox injections around the head to "fix" my headaches. I didn't want to go that route so thanks to a friend who suffered migraines for years, I went to a Masso-Kinesitherapist who told me my migraines/headaches might be alleviated or even cured with the right exercise. She told me about this new gym and that she was teaching kickboxing there. I went a couple of times, really enjoyed her class and then for Xmas decided I was gifting myself the gift of fitness and hopefully a headache cure. Little did I know that this will be a whole new lifestyle with a lot of new healthy friends!

What's made this a success so far is the gym I joined! It's not a regular "gym" where you just go in, workout, no one knows any diff if you don't push yourself or if you don't show up. This place is AMAZING!!! The two owners are always there and even txt you when you don't show up for a class you told them you'd be at! It's like a family and the idea of it all is you have to have a goal when you join and they will see to it that you reach it!!!! Mine is completing the Spartan Race May 25th!!! They are promoting a lifestyle, not a gym membership. They run weekly Sunday outings for your whole family (xcountry skiing and snowshoeing here in the winter) and don't mind if you bring your kids to the gym while you workout. They want you to succeed and are passionate about seeing people become healthy. I am already seeing results and I feel "accountable" to someone.

It's kinda how I feel accountable by keeping this log. I need that, it's like a competition that way. If you want I will bug you daily to make sure you do something physical :)

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Evelyn,

while it's not really w30, they do give you a little more leeway with the kids...i make mine a big fruit/nut ,and homemade almond milk "cereal" out of fresh fruits and chopped nuts/seeds...they get it once or twice a week as part of their breakfast, but usually eat eggs and veggies with me. they tell me that it's the best cereal ever. good luck and keep it up!

Hi Simone,... I've looked at your log because I saw we both had young kids. I am not putting them on a real W30 because I wanted to focus on myself for once but am slowly changing things up for them. I think that once I am done, I may do another W30 for the whole family. I will have had the experience of doing it once, meals will be easier, etc so will be in a better position to help us all succeed.

I totally want to make them the nut "cereal" so thanks for the tip. I have a few recipes I want to try out. Any other kid tips you have would be more than welcome!

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So the last 2 days have been good though two weird things happen. I was barely finished dinner last night when it felt like someone just turned the "off" switch on me. I used to get that feeling a lot and was a little surprised! It's as though my head weighs 100lbs and all I want is to crawl into bed. I would normally try to deal but it was pretty incapacitating so I'd usually go to bed. Had no choice to fight it last night and what I did notice is that it went away pretty fast and then I actually felt fine. Weird... Today I had a major craving for dark chocolate. Don't think it's the sugar as I only like the really bitter dark stuff but who knows. That's not compliant to W30 is it? I didn't cave but if it's ok to have I would be ecstatic!

Have been logging my meals on paper... might get tedious on here so figure "how I'm feeling" logs should suffice. Or does anyone else have experience and think it's best to keep food log here?

K, off work now and running home to make dinner before my kickboxing.

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Ok, so I've been off the forum the last few days. I don't even know what day I'm on!... 16 I believe.... not doing to badly. Feeling a litte off since yesterday. My kettlebell workout sucked, I mean I felt no energy, weak, blah. Today feels the same.... could it be the HUGE snow storm 1 day before spring?!

Anyways, so two weeks in and I really don't think I have sugar dragons. I don't crave sweets per say.... I did have a KILLER craving for some dark chocolate (I only like the super bitter stuff).... so what does that mean, what type of craving is that? I haven't been dying for bread either which is shocking but I am missing dairy. I get raw milk and I miss chuggging back a glass in the evening, miss my kefir smoothies, my homemade yogurt.... I hope that when I reintroduce those my body will handle them.

Had a few big tests over the weekend. A baby shower on Saturday.... tons of food, luckily most was quite healthy but still.... It's tough in a situation like that cause you can't really start asking about what's in everything. To prep myself, I made sure I ate (2 fried eggs, collards, 1/2 avocado, 1/3 sweet potato) before going and there I opted for the shrimp, an egg cupcake (hopefully they didnt use milk), cucumber slices topped with tuna & cherry tomatoes. I had a cpl cups of coffee and a TON of water. When the cake came, my daughter had some and it wasn't as hard as I thought to stay away. I mean it would've been sooooooo easy to taste but I held up. Since we left later than planned, and there's an famous smoked meat place on the way (that's like corned beef I think or pastrami)... I picked some up for dinner. It's homemade and does't have crap in it so I got the family takeout meal that comes with 1lb meat, loaf of rye, pickles, coleslaw. While the rest of the fam got standard sandwiches.... my plate was some of the meat, a pickle, a big side of chard and 1/2 sweet potatoe. I had some coleslaw but wondered about the oil so stopped after a scoop (does that void my W30? hope not!).

Then Sunday was Pattie's day. Was tough not having my usual Irish breakfast at the local pub and not getting any Bailey's in my coffee or my usual pint of Guinness. I survived though. Kept telling myself, it's only 30 days!

Back to the grind on Monday and here we are Tuesday in a full on snow blast!

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Day 17.... First day of Spring and it looks like middle of January here with the major dumping of snow we got. BUT... it's super sunny and beautiful... makes me wanna go skiing.

So here I am half way done and figured rather than log my food intake I'd just make some observations and ask some questions.

Some might hate me for saying this but I've had zero sugar cravings! I keep waiting for it. The only killer craving a few days ago was for bitter dark chocolate. I used to eat a tiny square (of the 80% or more stuff) almost daily. I love the bitterness.... would this be considered a sugar dragon? The other one is sour green apples... I used to eat one daily and since starting W30 will have one every few days. The more sour the better.... so is that somekind of dragon too? Is it non compliant or bad if I start having an apple in the afternoon? Not really because I am super hungry but because apples are good for you no?

I did forget to mention that I had some kind of weird food dream a few days ago! I rarely remember my dreams but I know it was about food and was weird. Beisdes that, I haven't figured out if my sleep is getting better. I just find it extremely difficult to get to bed before 11pm and I need to wake up at 6:30am. Evenings is when I prep stuff, do laundry, etc so getting to bed earlier is tough. So when I wake up feeling tired, I guess it's still because I just haven't slept enough and not really a quality thing. I mean it won't be great no matter what because I am a light sleeper and one of the 3 kids (if not 2 or 3) end up in the bed at some point because of a night mare, pee break, or what not.

Oh a cool thing I noticed ... libido seems to have gone up :) Ya just feeling friskier. Could it be W30 or Spring? hmmm either way, good thing.

Back to cravings.... while sweets per say don't seem to pop into my head, I have been thinking of whipped cream today :(

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So here I am, day 24 and still going.

Yesterday was weird, I was hungry all day! I'd eat a good meal but then felt like I needed more. Am pms'ing I think so could be that, would happen before too....those are the dangerous days where I'd just keep eating, never total crap but still overeating. So, I had carrot sticks, an apple, spoonful of almond butter, spoonful of coconut butter, slices of backed ham, carrot/fennel salad, almonds. Was just crazy! I don't think it had anything to do with my meals and fat ratios.... just one of those off days. I have also had a nasty headache since yesterday (spring always brings me the joys of serious migraines) and I must've done something wrong during Monday's kettle bell workout because I have a pinched nerve in my back.

Good things in the last couple of days.... Monday's dinner for the kids was green eggs & ham. I couldnt come up with something to make with the baked ham I had defrosted and so I figured breakfast for dinner, then I remembered how the boys love Dr.Seuss so I offered them "green eggs and ham" and they all screamed! So I took some collards, pureed them, added to eggs and voila! They GOBBLED it up! They're new fave they said!

Breakfasts have been either leftover meatloaf cupcakes or eggs (fried, omelet, scrambled) with tons of greens, 1/2 avocado, maybe 1/2pc of fruit. Lunches were either leftovers or some of this awesome green curry I made (chicken, chinese eggplant, leeks, yellow peppers, bamboo shoots). Dinners have been consistent as well. Last night I let the kids have spaghetti (was a total treat for them) and I had my osso-buco with spaghetti squash. For some reason the squash was extremely bitter (poison tasting) so had to toss and just have extra salad.

Day 24:

Breakie: 2egg & veg omelet, ham, collards. 2 spoonfuls of coconut cream. Black coffee.

Lunch: Smoked salmon, sauteed brussels sprouts with dill, carrot/fennel salad, 1/2 avocado. Maybe an apple.

Dinner: chicken drumsticks, broccoli, braised cabbage, olives & fermented beets/turnips.

Dinners aren't planned for the rest of the week but I have some liver in the fridge for tonigh, will do some fish, "taco" dinner, maybe a roast for Saturday.... trying to come up with brunch ideas for Easter Sunday.

Still wonder what bitter chocolate cravings mean....

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So it's DONE!!!!

Easter weekend was tough, I think more mentally, it was discouraging!... not because I wanted to eat stuff but because I had to make "healthier" stuff for the kids. I went out to get a few things and took a look at ingredients and WOAH! There wasn't ONE thing I could buy!!! It was sad how every single item for kids has tartrazine in it!!!! That shit is bad and it's in everything with a hint of colour! Not to mention all the other ingredients like soy lecithin (in every chocolate), the unpronouncable ones, etc. It's so SAD that this is what our food industry has come to!!!!

I ended up making marshmallow peeps made with Great Lakes Gelatin and honey and then candied apples (w/ sunbutter caramel coating and chocolate dip), and naturally died eggs. We made a big deal of the egg hunt and I used both the died eggs and plastic eggs with treats in them (stickers, bubbles, hair elastics, those little pills that turn into sponges, etc). My one bad treat for them was a Kinder Surprise egg each cause they have a toy in them and they love them. They are still young and I don't think they missed anything. If they get used to it this way, they won't expect tons of chocolate! My mom was actually pretty good too and didn't do the usual tons of chocolate gifts. Brunch at my Mom's was pretty easy (she made me fish) the others had her famous chicken milanesas (bread coating) and she made a special Limoncello Tiramisu....which I resisted, as well as the wine.

Ok so what have I learned over these 30 days.... I can do it if I put my mind to it, it's not as hard as it seems, I LOVE greens (now need them with every meal!), going grain free is not as daunting as it seems, my cravings are more mental than physical (and that's a problem!).

I baked my kids a paleo banana bread and I've realised that my problem is baked goods, whether they be regular or paleo, I see it there and I have to have a piece. I didn't really miss the stuff during the W30 but now I have that there and I have to stop myself.

This morning I figured I'd have a piece of rye toast with my eggs & bacon and I already feel crappy. Don't think gluten is my friend.... will see as the day progresses. I have a lot to do so the test will be tonight as my daughter wants Pizza (with real bread dough she said, the cauliflower crust one didn't quite pass her test). I also have to make her cake and am upset as I don't know what to do. There is no way I have time to come up with an alternative.... she wants a chocolate cake with chocolate icing and a BIG flower on it with sprinkles. I can do a paleo cake and choc/coco frosting (god I hope it turns out) but I need to get coloured icing for the decorations and I know how bad they are!!!! I am totally torn!!! My husband said if I don't do something he'll go buy a cake and that won't be any better. Do I bite the bullet? This is the start of a new lifestyle after all and I will have time to play and experiment with things so that next time I am in this situation it will be easier!

I think that after today, I likely won't feel so good due to the breads so will probably W30 it tomorrow and then try dairy.... I have my SIL's 40th on Saturday at this Mexican street food style funky resto I've been dying to check out so will see how that goes, will definitely be having a couple of drinks.

I know my aim now is to maintain a semi paleo lifestyle, so core meats/vegs but with the occasional baked paleo goods, pancakes or waffles on weekends with kids, was a big wine drinker so will see if i can keep that to a glass here and there on weekends to chill out, maybe a beer on a really hot day, bitter sweet chocolate will be something I will have to have a piece of every few days....

The BIG challenge will be how to feed a family of 5 the paleo way!!! I am already thinking that for next year, I will need to buy a full cow as our meat supply and a whole pig. Half of each is already dwindling down and I'm barely 6mos in!!! My kids go through apples/carrots like there's no tomorrow. I've gone slightly overboard this past month so really need to sit down and figure out how to make this work!

All in all great experience! Am thinking of another one already. Would love to get the whole family on board.... (pipe dream for now).

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