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Whole30 Journey!


Char Reed

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I'm not great at keeping up with forums (for some reason it's just not as convenient as other social media!), but I'm going to try to stick with it for the next 30 days.

So day one, had a very plain 2 egg omelet for breakfast, some almonds and water for lunch (was too busy to eat!) and I'm having steak tips and broccoli and peas for dinner here in a bit.

While I've been getting a lot of guidance from friends and the website, I haven't yet gotten a straight up break down of what exactly is and isn't included in the paleo/primal lifestyle of eating. I've pretty much gathered it's- high quality protein, veggies and quality fats. No dairy? No cheese? No sugar? I'm not entirely sure. I figure as much, but I just want to be certain. Some sites that list paleo recipes have cheese on them, so I wasn't sure if it was strictly paleo or paleo'ish.

Is there a page that straight up lists paleo do's and don't's? I'm wanting to be a little more strict this month than I might be after this month, as I'm trying to lose that last 10 lbs for a wedding I'm going to in a month! :)

I'm really looking forward to starting this journey into finally getting fit!

Thanks!

[EDIT]: Oh I found this after browsing a recipe on Nom Nom Paleo: http://whole9life.co...2/whole30-2011/

I find it weird that a similar list wasn't linked to in the literature I've read about the challenge (that I saw), but I'm glad I found it now! I guess the majority of this post is pretty null and void now!

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Hi Char, while there are a lot of Paleo sites with different definitions as to exactly what is and isn't paleo, as you've already found out. The Whole 30 is a bit different. It has it's own, very clearly defined rules. Here's a link to the official guidlines

http://forum.whole9life.com/topic/5-the-official-whole30%C2%AE-program/

One other thing you'll need is the meal template whole9life.com/book/ISWF-Meal-Planning-Template.pdf

In fact, if you go here http://whole9life.com/itstartswithfood/ and scroll down the page, there are quite a few free downloads that will help you. One thing I would advise you to if at all possible is to read the book It Starts With Food. It really does explain the whole program and, really important, all the science behind it. Good luck and don't be afraid to ask any questions you have.

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Thanks Kirsteen for the information! I'll definitely review it.

Update!

Day 2:

Breakfast: 1 egg omelet

Lunch: salad with cucumber, cherry tomatoes, ham (I know, a bit of a cheat, but Whole30 said it was "not great, but alright"), EVOO, pepper and spices

Dinner: oven baked Fish filet, salad with cherry tomatoes, EVOO, pepper and spices

Dessert: fried sweet plantain (probably not the BEST, but it's fruit!)

Snack: almonds, cashews, 1 banana

Day 3:

Breakfast: 1 egg omelet

Lunch: salad with cherry tomatoes, hardboiled egg, EVOO, pepper and spices

Dinner: filet mignon, broccoli and sautéed mushrooms

Dessert: fried sweet plantain (while the rest of my family eats coconut cream pie)

Snack: almonds, cashews

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Hi Char, kudos for not having the coconut cream pie but you really need to eat more food, honest :) Have a look at the meal template again. http://whole9life.com/book/ISWF-Meal-Planning-Template.pdf If you're having eggs for the protein part of a meal, it should be as many as you can hold in your hand. I can hold at least 3 eggs in mine ;) A one egg omelet and a salad with one hard boiled egg is not enough, really. You'll also find, if you eat enough at your meals, you'll have no need to snack. Again, we don't really encourage thinking of part of your meal as dessert since we're trrying to form a whole new relationship with food but don't worry about the plantains, they're fine, many people have them as part of a meal. In fact, I'm jealous as I only managed to find them here once and I absolutely loved them. Good luck and keep us posted.

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What Kirsteen said. This is not a 'diet'. You are supposed to eat enough food at a meal to keep you full until the next meal, 4-5 hours later. At each meal you need to eat 1-2 palm-size servings of protein (with ham it isn't just the quality, it is mostly made with sugar, which is off-limits), and fill your plate with veggies. For most people, this translates into about 2 cups or more of raw veggies, or 1 cup cooked. Add to that a serving of healthy fat about the size of your thumb.

Fruit is limited, and nuts should be, too. There is no requirement to eat any fruit, but if you do, it should be as part of a meal, and no more than 2 servings a day. A serving of nuts is a handful. If you are hungry between meals, you should eat a mini-meal, consisting of some protein, fat, and veggies, not a 'snack' food. If you are consistently hungry between meals, you need to increase your protein and/or fat intake. A half an avocado contains a healthy fat and keeps me fuller until the next meal.

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Kirsteen - Thanks for all the info again! I checked it out and it helps me to keep portion size in mind while preparing food. Plantains are great, maybe there's a certain season you can better have a chance to find them again!

1Maryann - Yeah, I am trying, but I'm also fraught with a lot of challenges as well. I'm an artist on very limited income living with a household of people not interested in doing paleo with me and on top of it, I have a goal to try to trim down about 10 lbs in the next month to fit in a dress for a wedding, after which, I'll be doing my first 5k. That's actually why I actually looked into doing paleo, I've been exercising regularly since Jan '13 and generally have been eating fairly well, but I'm frustrated because the only thing that's improved has been my endurance. No pants size shift or weight shift. I really only have 10 lbs to loose as well, though the lbs don't matter to me as much as the final result (healthy and toned). Hopefully I don't sound like I'm making excuses. I just have a lot I'm trying to juggle at once.

Here's a picture of my pantry (it's like a paleo's worst nightmare!):

zRqiwvyDaFfiylSaGIqX9Nm31.png

mrsjessica - Oh great! Accidentally got plantains from the store, thought they were very green bananas. They're nice in that they last a LOT longer than bananas and the green vs yellow plantains yield such different flavours. :)

Day 4 (most of these I did before reading your responses):

Breakfast: 1 egg over easy

Lunch: Broccoli salad (broccoli, hardboiled egg, ham, cherry tomatoes, pepper, spices)

Dinner: 2 small pork chops seasoned with pepper and spices only, broccoli, apple sauce (only ingredients listed were apples and water)

Snack: cashews (1 serving size)

Didn't feel like dessert today (though the apple sauce kind of satiated my sweet tooth). And just to clarify, when I say I have dessert, I generally eat something immediately after dinner, I don't leave a lot of time between dinner and when I have something for dessert.

Going to try to eat more, but I have to get to the store at some point. Really running out of paleo friendly-foods... The fridge is full of dairy, pie and other things I can't have! So frustrating.

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Char, I hear you, and I'm not trying to argue, but over the last year or so I've been here, the people who target a specific weight loss goal are the ones who don't make it. You have to eat enough to keep your furnace stoked. The reason every other diet I've ever done has failed me is because I restrict my calories, lose a bit of weight, then my body catches on to the fact that I am trying to starve it, and responds by slowing my metabolism so I lose weight at a crawl.

If you are going to do this, you have to trust the process. You need to believe that if you fuel your body correctly, it will respond by operating at peak efficiency, and that includes burning up your stored fat. If you try to tweak it on your own, you risk actually losing less than if you just had faith and followed the plan.

I am 74 days in to a Whole 100 this time. I lost 10 lbs in January, and 7 more in February. I came here after 3 years of Atkins, where I weighed and measured and counted and logged and on a good week lost 0.5 pounds after the initial water weight loss. All that fixation is a joyless way to eat. The biggest difference in the two diets is that on Whole30 I had to give up my dairy and my Splenda, but gained starchy veggies like sweet potato, which are much more filling and satisfying. I now am not hungry between meals, I don't obsess about scales and logging, I just relax and eat good food.

The results will come, but if you try to make it happen, you actually screw with it.

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1Maryann - I totally agree with you. I've heard that before, that unless you plan on doing some kind of starvation diet long term (which really isn't a good idea), then in the short term, it's just going to come back around and bite you. I actually do eat until I'm full during meals, I just become hungry 2-3 hours later. I may have unintentionally "shrunk" my stomach some with the healthy habits and eating I was trying to do in the past couple months. I've been not counting calories, just trying to go off of how I felt and how hungry I was feeling. I'm still trying to eat more, but I just can't seem to make enough food (I'm not good at portion size).

I'll update later with my food for the day.

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Day 5

Breakfast: 2 eggs with cherry tomatoes (I could fit two eggs in my hand comfortably)

Lunch: Baby spinach salad with cherry tomatoes, olive oil and 2 grilled chicken strips

Dinner: 2 grilled chicken strips, a bag of steamed broccoli and peas

Snacks: 1 banana, cashews

Did my barrel racing lesson today, so I was a lot more tired than normal, though I blame it more on being out in the sun and activity than the diet. I made a trip to the grocery store though. Got organic chicken tenders, some top round beef, kale, a red onion, bananas, lettuce, frozen broccoli and other veggies. I looked for ghee but I live in North Carolina and was shopping at Food Lion... Yeah, no ghee there. No one's even HEARD of ghee, haha. Oh well. All that only came to $30 at least. I'm planning on doing a run to the other grocery store that specialises in more specific/health foods in order to pick up stuff like ghee, coconut oil and coconut flakes (which are in every paleo recipe ever!).

Thanks for the comments and help everyone!

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Ghee is extremely easy to make, and a lot cheaper than store-bought. All you do is heat some grass-fed butter in a saucepan and let it simmer until the water sizzles out and the milk solids settle to the bottom. Then strain through cheesecloth and store on the counter in a tightly sealed glass jar.

Here's a recipe: http://nomnompaleo.com/post/15235810877/d-i-y-ghee

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lhenkin - I'm in the Raleigh area :) I know there are Trader Joe's and such I can try, I probably will make my way out to one of those!

1Maryann - Thanks for the recipe! Now that I know it's also called "clarified butter" I might have better luck asking about it around here, as opposed to "ghee" :)

Day 6

Breakfast: 2 eggs over easy

Lunch: seared (canned) tuna over baby spinach, cherry tomatoes, spices and a little dill relish

Dinner: Sirloin with black-eyed peas and side salad (First time eating at a restaurant. 90% paleo compliant.)

(Was so full from dinner, I didn't even eat the rest of the night, even though I ate around 4-5pm.)

Day 7

Breakfast: 2 eggs over easy

Lunch: Salmon over baby spinach with cucumbers, tomato and craisins in olive oil (Second time at a restaurant. Want to bang your head into a wall from a lack of paleo-friendly choices? Go to an Italian place! >_<)

Dinner: Chicken tenders with broccoli and peas stir fry with spices (no soy sauce!)

Snack: Banana (was so hungry after lunch... The salmon + a few leaves really weren't filling enough.)

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Day 8

Breakfast: plain 2 egg omelet

Lunch: baby spinach salad with cherry tomatoes, olive oil and spices

Dinner: stirfry with top round beef (marinated in teriyaki sauce- I know -_-; bad), broccoli, peas and spinach in cooked down beef broth

Snacks: banana, cashews

Dessert: fried plantain, peppermint tea

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Day 9

Breakfast: Onion and cherry tomato omelet

Lunch: Iceburg salad with cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, olive oil, pepper seasoning

Snack: Banana

Dinner: Grilled chicken with grilled onions and cherry tomatoes, peas and green beans

Dessert: Banana slices over apple sauce with cinnamon

Today I have pictures!

Dinner:

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Dessert:

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That was a lot of dessert! Haha, I'm so full now! :D I really recommend it to anyone wanting a little something different!

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Hi Char, I hate to sound as though I'm voice of gloom but you do know that having peas, black-eyed peas and teryaki sauce really mean you're not doing a W30, don't you. W30 is not just about cutting down on things, it's about cutting them out completely so we can see how our bodies can heal without them. Also revisit the meal template, you really need more protein - and fat. good luck

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I agree with Kirsteen...you're definitely not being W30 compliant. Craisins have added sugar, just about any sauce you find in a restaurant will have some non-compliant ingredient. Peas are legumes and therefore not allowed (snow peas/green beans are allowed as they are immature seeds in a big plant covering) and eating all that fruit will not go very far to slaying the sugar dragon.

I also would like to lose weight, I know my extra pounds are affecting my quality of life but my 100% focus is putting foods in my body that will make me more healthy and not less healthy. Fruit may seem like a healthy choice but if you have a sugar addiction, like I do, then you can't heal it while eating fried plantains all the time. I generally eat a single piece of fruit a day and it is in a meal with a bunch of other ingredients (like a handfull of grapes in my chicken salad - chicken/green onion/celery/homemade olive oil mayo) or slices of apple sauteed with onions and spinach over pork chops...because I feel the cravings start if I eat the fruit alone.

For me it is important to concentrae on getting healthy...putting good food in my body and starting to lift heavy things...the weight loss will follow in good time. It is as inevitable as losing weight by cutting calories except my body will like doing it the W30 way and it's far more sustainable.

I hope you decide to jump on the W30 train to good health and happiness instead of looking for a quick fix that will likely cause all kinds of unfavourable things to happen in your body. Everyone here is super supportive and can point you in the right direction for meal planning etc.

Cheers,

Tamara

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