TJinGuy's Whole30 - finished!

[tjinguy]

I am writing this on Day 2 of my first Whole30 and hopefully my last

I have been dabbling with paleo since last summer with some good times and some bad ones. During the good times I got to feel better, sleep and wake better, and generally feel better about myself. During the bad times I would go nuts with sweets and everything non-paleo, except bread. Somehow bread is now a no-no in my brain. I would get to cookies and cake at my worst but mostly it was just eating some of my favorite non-paleo foods like green chile smothered fries at a local diner, and lots of them. Sadly I see white potatoes as my nemesis, and of course sugar is their very attractive side-kick.

Well it is time to change. I have always been a big guy. At the start of college I carried over 300lbs on my 6'3" frame. I do have a big frame and that has allowed me to be more active at a higher weight than most, so that is fortunate. Since 1997, I have fluctuated from 300lbs to almost 400lbs. I did try Atkins in about 2002 and lost 80lbs but gained it back in short order. Fast forward to 2010 and I finally had enough of being limited by my weight. I started walking and basically starving myself. Later I started lifting weights with a friend and that helped even more. I got down to 308lbs and just stopped there, like I hit a wall. I was walking 5-10 miles a day and lifting 3 times a week. I felt better than ever before and I was "winning"! I was winning so well that I found my sweetheart, my first serious girlfriend. Unfortunately that upset the cart, per se, and I have been slowly gaining since about January 2012.

I have been reading a lot over the past few months and finally picked up "It starts with food" (go Amazon Prime!) and really enjoyed it. It was like it was written just for me, at me. It persuaded me finally really give paleo a try and in a strict way so that I can really see/feel the difference. I am also really curious to see how the reintroduction of certain things goes. It is a challenge for me, a journey and I am excited to get though it and see how I feel!

In the interest of doing this as "right" as possible, I have done almost everything they recommended. I took photos yesterday morning, weighted/measured myself, wrote down my end goals, my goals during the 30, my ailments, and lots of other thoughts. I want to be able to look back at it in 28 days and really compare. Here is some of that info:

My weight was 361lbs and my waist was 48in. My ailments include bad seasonal allergies, a few aches and pains, a few small GI issues usually brought on by over/bad eating, and sometimes sleep issues.

My goals during the 30 are:

- walk 30min+ each day and workout 3 times a week (these are close to normal for me but I wanted to keep them going)

- not cheat!

- eat each meal at my table and try my best to eat slowly and methodically

- go to sleep about 11pm so that I can wake about 7-8am, also read for at least 30min before bed

My end-30 goals are:

- be able to walk to work every day (3mi round trip)

- gain control of my appetite and the foods I eat

- learn how certain foods truly affects me (gluten, milk, etc)

- show my girlfriend that this works

Okay so maybe I am a bit long winded ... I get it ... really

Time to get to my actual log.

Day 1

Woke up at 8:30am and felt like crap. I binged the week before and so I have felt fairly crappy for the last few days. Day 1 was not great but I knew I would be better in a few so I was off and going. I had done all my prep work the day before and did well, so I was ready ... here I go!

Meal 1 @ 10:30am: Buffalo hamburger with bell pepper, onions , squash and 2 eggs cooked into it all, cooked with ghee sea salt and pepper. 2 small tomatoes and a few baby carrots. I made enough for 2 meals.

I got a late start for various reasons but I was okay with it. That was a good solid meal and it stuck with me well. I walked to work.

Meal 2 @ 2:30pm: I went to lunch with a friend but did not eat. I came back to my office and ate the second half of my buffalo meal, along with 2 more tomatoes, a few baby carrots and a small avocado.

That was another solid meal and I was fine for a while but 1-2 hours later I felt sort of hollow, like I was hungry but I knew I was not. It passed without issue. My energy level was way down and so when I walked home, I just relaxed all evening. I was not hungry until about 7pm.

Meal 3 @ 7:30pm: Free range chicken breast cut into strips and pan fried in ghee with sea salt and pepper, remaining half of bell pepper from breakfast raw, small head of broccoli steamed with olive oil and pepper, half a sweet potato nuked and plain, handful of asparagus steamed.

When I started this meal, I was just pulling things out and deciding on the spot what I wanted to try. I ended up with 1-2 extra things I really did not need but the overall quantity of food turned out to be okay. I was a little full but I felt good, so I take that as a win. I made enough chicken for lunch on Day 2.

Day 1 conclusion and thoughts ... I think I did well on my first day. The food was good and I feel good about my choices. I ate meals 1 & 3 at my dining table, on a plate with a glass of water. I did my best to slow down but am still eating too fast. I watched TV until 9:30pm and then read until just after 10pm, when I was tired enough that I kept falling asleep while reading.

My biggest fear in the weeks to come is the lack of variety and so I am going to do my best each day to eat a variety of things and not just boiled chicken and broccoli. If I can figure out this part, I feel confident about my 30

- Chris

[NWOL]

I like your attitude. I am starting my WHole30 over tommorrow. I am finally writing out my goals since I didn't before. I will be doing this with you so if you come up with some good food variations let me know. My Whole30 log is JWLS Whole30 Log.

[tjinguy]

Thanks! And good luck in your restart. I will be sure to visit your page often

[tjinguy]

Day 2

Day 2 went well. Aside from some weakness/tiredness, I am feeling fine. Well aside from my jaw hurting from spending 3 hours with my mouth open at the dentist last week. It aches bad enough at times that I have to take some ibuprofen. Enough about my pain though, on to my meals

Meal 1 @ 8:30am: Half pound buffalo burger cooked in ghee, small head of broccoli steamed in microwave with

olive oil and pepper, and an avocado.

Meal 2 @ 1:30: This was mostly a repeat of Day 1 dinner, pan fried chicken strips, half of a nuked sweet potato, asparagus and a small avocado.

Meal 3 @ 6:30pm: A one-pan meal of onion, Bell pepper, squash and steak chunks.

I was well satisfied after the first 2 meals but not as much after the 3rd. Part of that has to do with the fact that I am away from home at my GFs place. Also we went to her grandmas house and it was filled with good smelling, non-30 food. I had no problem passing though.

I did not get a 30min walk in. We spent too long at her grandmas house and I was ready to sleep.

- Chris

[NWOL]

Great job on passing g'mas cooking! Maybe if you add a sweet potato or a hearty winter squash with dinner you will be more satified. Right now I am on an acorn squash kick.

[tjinguy]

I am back to my work computer and I can not fill in for the last few days without being tortured by using my phone

I had a good weekend. I spent it in ABQ with my girlfriend. We did lots of food shopping and we ate good food together, well aside from a few non-30 items that I kinda missed but not really. The biggest challenge was not eating good food, although there was plenty of chances to cheat, but the fact that it challenged my goals of eating at a table each meal and such, my routine in other words.

How do I feel? Good. I was fairly tired most of the weekend and my jaw ache did not help. It kept me from sleeping well on Saturday night. Otherwise I got enough sleep and feel okay. Day 4 I had my first perfect poop. Having done paleo before, I know it is a good sign that I am eating well. Lets just say my previous weeks poops were not as perfect. Well enough about poop ... here are my meals and notes:

Day 3

This was a day for being lazy and shopping. There is a farm store named Keller's and I have wanted to visit it for a while. They sell all sorts of meats including grass fed. Well I finally got to go and I was impressed. It was a little overwhelming but a really cool place. There was about 80ft of glass cases with meat in them, from turkey wings to ground ox. They also have a nice selection of locally made sausages but I need to look into them further to find out what is in them before I buy. We ended up buying some bacon, buffalo liver to try and some grass fed beef chuck roast. We will be back for sure. After that we went by Costco to pick up some other meats. It was a meat-centered morning for sure

Meal 1 @ 10am: We tried an idea in the Daily 30, ground turkey with diced apples and cinnamon. I put an over-easy egg on top and had a raw yellow bell pepper and an avocado with it.

The ground turkey/apple dish is pretty tasty and will likely become one of my normal dishes.

Meal 2 @ 3pm: I can't remember exactly but I think it was steak, most of a nuked beet and 2/3s of a nuked sweet potato.

Meal 3 @ 6pm: Leftover turkey/apples and avocado.

This one was in a rush. I wasn't hungry really but we were heading out to places unknown and I had no idea when I would be able to eat. So I grabbed the leftover turkey and an avocado.

I was pretty wired at 8pm-ish but the girl was crashing. So she went to bed and I went for a walk. I walked for about 45min and that was maybe a mistake. When I got home I was more wired and really not tired. It was close to 10pm and I knew I needed to go to sleep so I just laid down. I must have laid there for an hour or more. My jaw ached lightly and I just could not fall asleep. That was not a good night. We woke about 8am and missed our train north to Santa Fe. Which was fine cause we could drive without a problem.

Day 4

A good day, both in terms of time spent with my love and food eaten. We woke up later than planned and so we just made the most of it. We drove up to Santa Fe to meet with a friend of my girl and I got tested at a restaurant. We drove some nice back roads too. Nice day for sure and great way to end a weekend, especially one beginning with my Whole30.

Meal 1 @ 9am: I carved off some chunks of the chuck roast and slow pan fried them in ghee. I also had an avocado and some broccoli.

The little steaks were very tasty and we enjoyed all the fat, knowing it was grass fed fat.

Meal 2 @ 1pm: Chicken breast with guac on it and some steamed veggies, broccoli and sliced carrots.

Ate at the Plaza Cafe in Santa Fe. I was frankly very worried but I had a plan of attack and I knew I could do it, if there was nothing "clean" I would just pass and eat later. When we got there, all I saw was plates of enchiladas and other Mexican food. Once I got the menu I felt a little better. I also found out that my girl's friend was trying to go paleo too! But she was not 100% by any means. I ended up ordering a chicken sandwich sans bun and cheese. I did not ask how it was prepared and in hindsight, should have. It looked like a piece of chicken grilled with some slices on it.

Meal 3 @ 6pm: Liver and onions, one-pot bell pepper, onion, squash and steak dish, half a nuked sweet potato and a nuked beet.

This was a long dinner that was in 2 parts. First was the liver portion. I have had liver a few times but have never cooked it. My girl had never eaten it and wanted to try some, and we are both glad we did. I pan fried a small piece in bacon grease until it was just past rare. I wanted to get a baseline for how it tasted. It was fine but not great. I assume that is how liver is always fine/edible but not great. Next I fried some onions in the remaining bacon grease until they were starting to brown nicely. I added in the liver and cooked it all until I thought it was good enough. We ate the remainder of the half pond of it and she ate the most. We also ate all the onions. While I was working on that, I also started a one-pot with bell peppers, onions, squash and some of the chuck. The liver partly filled me up but I went ahead and ate the rest. I was full but not unpleasantly. I

I then took 2 vitamin-I, as my girl calls them, or ibuprofen as the world calls it. My jaw was aching a little and I needed my sleep. I decided sleep was more important than vitamin-I.

I am really happy with my food choices this weekend. It may have been a little beef heavy but that was because we bought some good stuff and I wanted to try it. I am also worried I am eating a touch too much but hope the book is right, that my system will tell me I am as I get used to eating properly.

[tjinguy]

An odd note. For breakfast this morning I made another batch of the ground turkey w/apple. I ate it with an egg and an avocado. I also ate a whole yellow bell pepper raw, mostly because it was left over and I did not want it to go to waste. I now have heartburn. It is not terrible but it is there. I have eaten my lunch, the remainder of the turkey/apple, the remainder of the sweet potato last night and some broccoli, and it is still present. I rarely get heartburn no matter what my diet is, so I have to think it is the bell pepper, as I ate it after I finished eating the other things this morning. Odd.

[NWOL]

It sounds like your lady is very supportive. My husband is very supportive of me too. He is not doing Whole30, but inadvertantly he sort of is since I am the cook in the family and he eats what I serve. He does have his junk food, but he keeps it in the garage which I truly appreciate. I'm all about out of site, out of mind!

Hooray for good poops! I am so happy when I am regular. I have a smile from ear to ear. Sorry, TMI, but it's true!!!

[tjinguy]

Pictures!

I have added in the pictures I have taken with my phone. They are not awesome but they will have to suffice.

New discovery

I was reading over someone else's log and they made the point that with Whole30, there seems to be no waste. I would have to agree. Now that I am on day 5, I have not wasted a single thing I have bought or made. That is a nice feeling

[Nyx]

tjinguy, love your posts! It looks like your whole 30 is off to a great start. Good luck with the rest of the month!

[tjinguy]

Thanks JWLS and NYX

I skipped lifting the end of last week partly because I was busy and party because I felt pretty run down. This was not from the dietary changes, but rather from eating so badly up to the start of my Whole30. I ate that way one purpose, call it my last hurrah. Anyhow I was feeling pretty crappy and so I skipped. So the last time I lifted weights was last Monday and I did not do so hot. Today I picked it back up again today, yeah hehe, and I am still weak. I have lost a bit of strength over the past 2 weeks and I hope it comes back soon.

Oh and I rode to work today and my butt is not impressed. I have not ridden to work since last fall and it will take me a week or two of riding every other day or so to get back in the saddle without pain. That is the problem with weight over 300lbs ... it makes doing even normal things hard. Anyhow my plan for getting to work this spring is to ride MWF and walk TTR. That way I save gas and get steady daily exercise.

[tjinguy]

Day 5

Ah back to the normal grind, and Monday to boot! I woke up in ABQ promptly at 6am without the aid of an alarm clock, and wandered to the shower. I was feeling better than most mornings but not awesome, yet. Next on my list was to wake the girl and start breakfast.

Meal 1 @ 7am: Turkey w/ apples, avocado and a raw bell pepper.

Having really liked the turkey/apples dish on Saturday, we decided to do it again. Of course I forgot to put in the cinnamon, but it was still tasty so no real loss.

A quick note on avocados ... I have found that I quite like them, just cut in half and a little fresh ground pepper. Unfortunately may like them too much. I have limited myself to one a day and some days I fail. Just thought I would put that down on web paper.

Meal 2 @ 12:30pm: Remainder of turkey, remainder of sweet potato from last night and broccoli.

A simple meal of left-overs. I am liking the fact that I am eating everything I make. Feels good.

Meal 3 @ 5pm: Two chicken apple sausages from Costco and half of a sweet potato.

Lunch left me feeling okay but not for long enough. I had nothing else to eat and so when I got home at 5pm, I ate before working out. I as really feeling hungry.

Meal 4 @ 8:30pm: Burger, nuked beet and spoonful of Justin's Maple Almond Butter.

This is an odd day with 4 meals but it is what I felt I needed. About 8pm I got hungry again and so I went to the fridge to make a small 2nd dinner. It was just right. Afterward I decided to treat myself a little and have a spoonful of maple almond butter. I thought hard about whether to eat it but decided it would be okay. I does have a tiny bit of maple sugar, 3g per serving, but I decided that was acceptable.

[tjinguy]

Day 6

I have not been using my alarm clock for a while. I just sleep until I wake up for whatever reason, be it full bladder or the cat banging around somewhere. This morning my girl called me at 7:40 and that woke me up. I snapped awake, like 100%. No grogginess this morning. I got up, felt level energy and my morning went well.

Meal 1 @ 8:30am: Turkey breast, avocado and half of a sweet potato.

I was not feeling like cooking this morning and I had stuff that was ready to eat, so I did that. I also ate it off my cutting board because I was also not in the mood for dishes. The turkey is precooked from Costco and the last ingredient is sugar. I am okay with it because once you drain off the liquid in the packaging, it should be just a turkey breast. Also the nutritional data says 0g of carbs, so I assume it is a tiny bit to preserve it. Anyhow it is tasty, cheap and easy. I just chunked it up and ate it with the other stuff.

Meal 2 @ 12:30pm: Hamburger patty, nuked broccoli and squash, and baby carrots.

I went home for lunch and didn't have much in the fridge. So I cooked up a small burger patty and nuked some broccoli and squash. Feeling like I needed one more thing, I grabbed the baby carrots and ate about 10.

Note: Man do cellphone photos suck! I am a decent photographer and I have some nice equipment but for some reason I keep using my cell phone to take these shots. Mostly it is because it is always with me and is easy. Anyhow my cellphone camera freaked out when I took the first pic, so I took another once I was half done. If I get more inspiration to take better photos, I will break out the DSLR

Meal 3 @ 8:30pm: Baked wild caught white fish, wilted spinach, and Brussel sprouts and asparagus sauteed in ghee.

This was sort of my birthday dinner with the girl. She asked me to come back up to ABQ last night and so I did. We went shopping and found ourselves at the fish counter. They had a wild caught white fish of some sort ... can't remember what, maybe mackerel or something. The package said rock fish. Anyhow I buttered a backing sheet with ghee and used that to coat the fish. Then a little dill and into the oven. We also wilted some spinach in olive oil with a bit of garlic in it, and we sauteed some Brussels sprouts in ghee. I am not the greatest cook and so nothing was perfect ... the fish was a touch over-done, the spinach had a touch too much garlic in it, the Brussels sprouts were not quite done ... but it was all very edible and we ate it happily. In the end it was a fun meal and something different than we usually do, so that was good!

Forgot the "It Starts With Food" book sitting there. The girl is blazing through it and seems to be enjoying it.

[tjinguy]

End of week-1 reflections ...

Crashing - For a few weeks before and during the start of my Whole30 I have been crashing a little in the afternoon, say 3:30pm. Yesterday was finally a little better. I felt a touch tired but nothing I couldn't handle. I hope to loose these annoying little low spots totally soon. Maybe today is the day?

Sleep driving - For the past 10 years or so I have started having drowsiness issues while driving. Sometimes it is just a little bit annoying and other times I can not keep my eyes open. I have never had a problem with it but I would prefer to have it go away. Well my drive up to ABQ on Friday and back on Monday both had times of drowsiness involved, and Friday was way worse than Monday. Well my trip up last night lacked drowsiness. Yay for me! I am hoping this is a new thing.

Poops - I was so excited Sunday when I had a perfect poop. Then Monday brought a less than perfect one and Tuesday was worse yet. Today was better but not perfect. Looking back over my food for the days leading up to Tuesday's bad one, I see that I was lean on green veggies. I had some but not enough. Also the bad turn on Monday may have been related to the meal I ate out on Sunday. Who knows. I will try to put more green things on my plate in the following weeks and I hope things clean up down there.

Pee - In related news ... lately my pee has been darker than usual. Yes I ate 3 beets over 3 days and that does impact it but it was like this before the beets too. I love water and drink it often but maybe I am not drinking enough? I will try to get a few more glasses in today and see if that clears it up.

Nose - We are in the middle of the worst of the allergy time right now. I had a bad flair-up at the end of February and then random issues since and those were in the lesser pollen times. I am fairing well now though. Not sure if it diet change related or just different pollen counts right now, but my hope is that I am loosing some of my sensitivity to it. It would be awesome to be able to breath out of both nostrils all year round and smell, actually be able to smell well!

[NWOL]

You are doing great and your symptoms are all normal from what I hear. You might want to try rasberries for your poopin' problems, they have lots of fiber compared to other fruits. They help me out. I also take Natural Calm which is a magnesium supplement. You may want to try drinking more water. I like Perrier Lemon, Lime or Grapefruit essence, or Spring bubbly water for variations. It can get expensive so I just drink one a day.

Today has been difficult with the cravings but I made it through work and I am leaving in 15 minutes! I am thrilled I did not cave in.

[tjinguy]

I live in a small town with very little organic produce but I will see if I can find some organic raspberries. I need another item for my meals anyways and I have thought of blueberries, raspberries, etc. I will see what they have in town.

[tjinguy]

Day 7

The end of my first week just happened to coincide with my birthday. For some eating Whole30 that would be a problem but I knew it would not, even when in the presence of a Pepperidge Farms Coconut 3-layer cake, one of my favorites and there in celebration of me. The day was an odd one but I never strayed from my Whole30 in terms of what I ate. I did overindulge a little on dinner though and I paid for that some last night ... but more on that in a little bit. For now let me get my meals laid out.

Meal 1 @ 7am: Ground turkey w/apples, an over easy egg, small sweet potato, leftover asparagus and Brussels sprouts.

I was in ABQ with my girl and we made one of our new favorite breakfasts, the turkey/apple dish. I topped mine with an egg and nuked a sweet potato, and then got the leftover veggies out to round out the meal. It was all tasty and we were almost done eating when my girl put the plate down and exclaimed "CRAP!". She was supposed to be fasting for some blood work that morning. Oh well, she rescheduled and all was well. Aside from that, we had a great breakfast on my birthday

Meal 2 @ 12:30pm: 2 chicken/apple sausages, asparagus, leftover broccoli and squash.

This was a tossed together meal that I assembled when I got home and before I ran off to work. I knew I needed to eat the remaining broccoli and squash I had made and so I grabbed the container and tossed in 2 sausages. I also grabbed a bag of frozen asparagus to round out things. It was an okay meal but not great. It did hold me over till dinner though, so that is all that really matters I suppose.

Meal 3 @ 5pm: Small avocado, half of a sweet potato, 2 small tomatoes.

This was a snack meal meant to both hold me over till dinner at a friends and to get some more variety in. I knew I would be having brisket for dinner but I was unsure whether there would be any veggies there. I could have taken some with me, but I thought I would just eat some before and then enjoy the brisket by itself.

Meal 4 @ 7:30pm: Brisket and more asparagus.

This was a stinky pee kind of day, asparagus for all three meals! My friend hosts a gaming night at his house every Wednesday and I usually attend. Last night he took a whole brisket and laid it on 4 pounds of onions in a large backing pan. Then he covered it in green chile and baked it all day. The result was a bath of liquid with a nicely cooked brisket and some very cooked onions below it. Before he brought that out though, he brought out 6 pounds of asparagus that he drizzled in olive oil and baked. There were 6 of us, so we all got as much as we could handle. I probably ate a pound of it. Next he brought out the brisket and I grabbed a large chuck and a decent amount of green chile and onions. It was pretty tasty and the green chile was nice and spicy. Unfortunately I ate it quickly enough that I passed right over the point where I should have stopped and thus I was over full. I was not sick over it or anything but I was too full all night. At least I overate green veggies and protein instead of cake! That is a positive change for sure.

In celebration of my birthday, if you can call it that, he also bought a Pepperidge Farm cake for them to enjoy and "made" me a paleo coconut cake. Right. Way to rub it in there dude!

Yes folks you are looking at a block of lard with coconut topping He is a character for sure.

Note: While shopping yesterday I did look for some "fresh" fruit options to add to my meals. I did find berries of various sorts but all were non-organic. I even looked in the freezer section and found organic berries but they were way expensive, so I passed. I will plan to get some next time I am up north.

Note: After having darker pee than usual for days, I drank more water yesterday and it did indeed result in nice clear pee. Unfortunately I had to get up to pee at 3:30am and then again at 6:30am. Apparently that was too much water. I know some will say you can not drink too much water but when it interferes with your sleep, it was too much. That or I needed to drink more earlier in the day.

[Derval]

I love your friends sense of humour!

Happy birthday

[NWOL]

Happy Birthday! I love brisket! Great job on passing that cake and your friend is quite a character!!! I am going to try that with green chile and onions. Yum. I like your breakfast picture. I am going to have to try that turkey and apples topped with an egg or 2.

Have a nice day!

[NWOL]

Are the ingredients in your just turkey and apples?

[tjinguy]

It is ground turkey, apples, and a sprinkle of cinnamon. The recipe, if you can call it that, was in the Day2 email I think. It gave several combinations of ground meat that are ease to make and tasty. I chose the turkey/apple dish because it sounded good. I start by cutting an apple into 1/4in chunks. Next I put a big spoonful of ghee in a deep pan and let it melt on a medium heat. Once hot, I toss in the apples and saute them for a minute, then toss in a pound of ground turkey and cook until the turkey is done. Last I salt and pepper it to taste and then toss in a few shakes of cinnamon. The recipe also called for nutmeg but I did not have any at my girl's place. I plan to make it tomorrow again and I will try some fresh ground nutmeg on it to see how I like it.

[tjinguy]

Day 8

Today is the first day I have felt good all day. Seems like all my systems are functioning really well. I woke up at 7:30am and was not drowsy, I had no hint of a crash at 3:30ish this afternoon, and I was doing great energy wise all after work. I walked to work today and got lots of stuff done afterward, and energy never wavered. Now it is just after 10pm and I am starting to wind down, sleep is not far off. This is a good thing.

Meal 1 @ 8:30am: Turkey breast, avocado and 1/2 sweet potato.

Same breakfast as yesterday and it is a good one. I will likely do this several times a week for my W30.

Meal 2 @ 12:30pm: Brisket w/green chile and onions, asparagus, broccoli.

This was leftovers from my friends house last night, and then I tossed in some nuked broccoli.

Meal 3 @ 7pm: While cooking I ate a tiny avocado and had a spoonful of maple almond butter, I was really hungry. Grass-fed chuck roasted with green chile, mushrooms and tomatoes, and wilted spinach.

Wow that is a terrible photo ... I am getting closer to caring, which means getting out my DSLR.

I needed to do something with the remaining chuck of chuck roast I bought last weekend. So I salt and peppered it, and laid it in a small backing pan. Then I searched the fridge and came up with some mushrooms and green chile. So I added that. They I took my remaining small tomatoes and tossed them in. Last I plopped in two spoons worth of coconut oil and off it went to the oven. The result was really good and it used up a few ingredients that I needed to do something with. Small things like this make me very pleased with myself

Okay, time to read some more of "Naked Calories" and then off to bed. Nite-nite.

[tjinguy]

Day 9 - March 22, 2013

Today was busy for me. It was not work but the other things surrounding it. My girl was coming down and I was hosting a get-together for us + 2 more. I know, a small party for most, but I am not used to this sort of thing and am very inefficient, so it was a big deal. I had to clean/organize my house, figure out what I wanted to make, do my normal things like workout, and then cook. Now I have to clean up but I think I will leave that for tomorrow. One challenge was deciding what to make. I know that everything I eat these days will be happily accepted by most, so no problem there. I just had to find that sweet spot between too much work and still wowing them. I think I pulled that off

Meal 1 @ 8am: Ground turkey w/ apples, cinnamon and fresh ground nutmeg, 2 eggs, and an avocado.

Yup, this is the forth time this week for this one and I think I have played it out for a week or two. This time I used both cinnamon and fresh ground nutmeg and as I suspected, the nutmeg soft of got lost. Maybe for a more refined palette than mine it makes a difference, but not for me. So I say the cinnamon is optional, as it is tasty without it, but the nutmeg is not beneficial.

Meal 2 @ 12:30pm: Leftover ground turkey/apple dish, leftover asparagus from yesterday's lunch and half of a sweet potato.

Nothing special here, just leftovers and sweet potato. It was not awesome but it worked, and it got me though the afternoon and to a late dinner without issue.

Meal 3 @ 7pm: Chocolate chili, chicken chunks cooked in coconut oil, baked sweet potato discs, and steamed broccoli.

I was going to get my grill out and cook some steaks on it for my guests but it was really windy out and so I changed my plans. I grabbed 4 decent sized chicken breasts and cut them into decent sized chunks. Then I salt and peppered them and cooked in a pan with coconut oil. The sweet potato discs are courtesy of my brand new mandoline slicer. It is sharp and I did cut myself on it. Anyhow, drizzle a little olive oil on them, crack some fresh pepper over them and into the over for 20min. The chocolate chili is the one I keep seeing referenced here and was easy enough to make. I had to buy a few spices for it though, but otherwise I had most of it. The broccoli I steamed, cracked some pepper over it and then tossed in some coconut oil to coat it. The overall result of the dinner was good and I happily watched my guests get seconds and even thirds, mopping up every last drop of the chili juice with pieces of sweet potato. Of course I had one serving and was quite content. It was a good night

[tjinguy]

Day 10 - Saturday, March 23

Today was a odd day of eating, but a fun one. The girl and I were planning to head to Roswell, NM to meet my parents for the afternoon, both to see them and to get some furniture from them. I knew I would have a hard time finding 'Good Food" and I was ready for the challenge. In the end we had a great time being blown away by the rolling dust from 20-30mph winds all day long, and I ate some good food.

Meal 1 @ 8:30am: Costco roast turkey breast, avocado and 1/2 nuked sweet potato.

We were a little late starting out due to a late night entertaining, so I just did a simple breakfast. The girl ate the leftovers and I ate easy to grab items. I like that meal because it is easy and it holds me well.

Meal 2 @ 1pm: 8oz steak, 1/2 baked sweet potato, salad bar.

1st challenge, lunch. It was my birthday meal so I choose the location. I knew I needed a non-chain, or something like that, so I chose the Cattle Baron. There are several around NM and they are decent steak houses. Before ordering I asked the waitress about the steaks. They only use cracked pepper on the steaks. I could deal with that, so I opted for the baked sweet potato and added a salad bar, as I knew I could find enough veg to finish out my meal. The salad bar was big and good. I piled a plate with all sorts of veggies and then sprinkled on some olive oil, balsamic and grapefruit juice, and it was pretty good. The steak was fine but the sweet potato looked like it had been covered in sugar before it was baked. I asked her to check and she reported that the sweet potato is washed, wrapped in aluminum foil and then baked. That was all. Okay, so all those juices and sugar had come out of the well baked sweet potato, I guess I can get behind that. The meat simply fell out of the skin and it was very tasty. I may need to bake some that well for myself.

Meal 3 @ 10pm: 4 eggs w/chocolate chili on them, avocado.

Dinner was another story. We went to a place called "Rib Crib". It was a BBQ place and I thought they would have to have something I could eat ... nope, not a single thing. Their special "seasoning" contains both wheat and sugar said the waitress, after asking the cook, and they use it in/on everything. Well at least they knew and were honest. So I passed and got to watch everyone else eat. It was easy enough for me, as I am committed to my Whole30. What I should have done next was to go across the street to WalMart and get something I could eat. Instead we jumped in the truck and drove the 3 hours home. That put me at home about 10pm and I was fairly hungry. I was not weak, shaky, or anything, just hungry ... as I had been for about 4 hours at that point. So I made 4 eggs and smothered them in chili. Felling like I needed something else, I grabbed an avocado and called that dinner. Then wehit the sack about 30min later. Long day of horrendous winds.

[tjinguy]

Day 11 - Sunday, March 24

After the two previous days, today was slow paced and simple. Aside from having to partially rearrange part of the house to accommodate the new desk I got from my parents, we slept in, had a leisurely breakfast and then hung out until my busy girl had to head back to ABQ just before lunch. The afternoon I spent tinkering on things and talking to folks on the phone, before tackling a shed organization project I have been meaning to get on. Now I am settling down to some Star Trek Original Series, while I play on my new Nexus 7 and read on the forum. I may go for a walk before grabbing "Naked Calories" for some reading before bed. \

Meal 1 @ 9:30am: 3 eggs over sweet potato hash w/chocolate chili mixed in and an avocado.

I decided to try something new today, so I got out my new mandoline slicer and made finely sliced some sweet potatoes to make a hash. I used the NomNomPaleo recipe for inspiration and they turned out pretty good. They were not sweet in the slightest but more like normal hash browns, in that they were more savory. I also tried my hand at sunnyside-up eggs and that was a bust. I mean the eggs were edible but they were not great sunnyside-up eggs. I will have to experiment more. About half way through the meal, my girl asked me "hey where is the chili?" Ah the chili, oh how we enjoy you. Yup gonna have to make that one again, as it is a crowd pleaser for sure. Anyhow I warmed some up and we mixed it in with out hash and eggs. Not bad. Of course I also had an avocado. I seem to have a $1 a day avocado problem ... but I am okay with that

Meal 2 @ 2pm: Leftover grass fed steak, spinach, mushrooms and tomatoes, and a spoonful of maple almond butter.

I needed an easy lunch so I warmed up the container with the steak and sides in it. It was tasty, especially the mushrooms. I need to use them more. I also had a spoonful of maple almond butter, it sounded good.

Meal 3 @ 5:30pm: Leftover brisket, Brussels sprouts and broccoli.

Needing to eat up the remainder the brisket, I warmed some up and made a few sides to go with it. I ate a few too many veggies but I am sure I will survive

(New item for each day, list my activities)

Activities: Lifted weights - 5x5 stronglifts @ 95lbs, including squats, bench press and barbell rows.

This was an unexpected lifting session. I was watching TV and winding down, about to grab my book and read for a bit when I get a text from my weight lifting friend, the "Coconut Cake" guy. He was in the mood to lift and asked if I was interested. Sure, so I went over his place at 9:30pm and we did our normal "A" workout. We had decided that we needed to reset from 120lbs to 95lbs and build back up, as we were both feeling weaker than usual, me with my diet changes and him ... with whatever reason he has. It was a good session but it wired me a little and I had a hard time getting to sleep.