Kate's Whole60

[kat2021]

Yesterday was the first day of the Whole60 I plan to accomplish as a lead up to this summer! Overall, I think I am fairly well-prepared for the challenge... I have celiac disease (diagnosed 21/2 years ago) so I'm used to having a somewhat limited diet, not eating out much, bringing my food most places, etc. I've been doing a mostly paleo-ish diet for quite awhile now - but I really want to clean things up in the hope that it'll help out with my seasonal allergies and some other lingering health issues. Also trying to get my husband to do it for at least 30 days. He's pretty much gluten free and does a good job with his diet for the most part, but he has a lot of trouble with food cravings and wants to lose some weight, so I'm hoping this will help him out with those issues. He's definitely not as committed as I am, but he's willing to try it out, and I'm hoping the benefits will be enough to make him stick with it.

Anyway, we started off well yesterday...

Breakfast: Large sweet potato, grated and mixed with two eggs, some chopped onion, salt & pepper, and fried in some olive oil (trying to get hubs to use coconut oil, but he's skeptical). This has been our breakfast for the past several months, but we had to make a few adjustments to make it Whole30 compliant. We used to top the sweet potatoes with plain yogurt, but instead, we're now eating it with an additional sunny-side up egg each and some spicy chutney my husband made over the weekend. Really good and keeps me full til lunch.

Lunch: Big salad w/kale, broccoli, cauliflower, peppers, cucumber, onion, carrot, snap peas, and a little leftover steak, dressed w/lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper. Handful of strawberries and blackberries.

Snacks: (for hubs, I didn't need it) Banana, handful of cashews and unsweetened dried cherries

Dinner: Lamb curry w/turnips, rutabega & spicy chutney, served over spaghetti squash w/half an avocado each on the side. Ended meal w/half an orange each, a few pieces of frozen mango and a couple of frozen cherries.

Only mistake I made was eating 4-5 trader joe's banana chips, which appear to be compliant, but upset my stomach. Will not be eating those again!

[Tom Denham]

You are eating a lot of fruit. Fruit is compliant, but there are several issues to consider.

Fruit never includes as much nutrition as veggies. You should never let fruit crowd a variety of veggies off your plate.

Fruit can trigger sugar cravings. The best way to handle sugar cravings is to feed them protein and fat and starve them of all forms of sugar, including fruit.

During a Whole30, we want you to avoid dessert, even if it is fruit. Dessert is a bad habit and you can keep it alive with fruit. If you eat fruit, it is best to include it in recipes as part of a meal and not as a separate thing. For example, sliced fruit in salads, dried fruit in stir-fries, etc.

[kat2021]

Thanks for the comments. Sugar cravings are not really an issue for me - I've pretty much given up sweets over the past couple of years, except for the occasional piece of dark chocolate or bringing my own dessert to a special event. Is the only purpose of lowering fruit intake so that it doesn't spike sugar cravings, or are there other reasons to do it? I don't need to lose weight and am not particularly interested in doing a low-carb diet, but I don't want to mess up my results, either. Also, for Whole30 purposes, does avocado count as 'fruit'?

[kat2021]

So food yesterday ended up being the same as Monday - except I cut back a bit on the fruit and had tuna in my lunchtime salad instead of steak. Breakfast today was the same sweet potato fry-up with egg and chutney, and lunch will be salad again, with fish if I'm feeling hungry. Didn't exercise much yesterday, but the weather has been warming up here (Chicago) so we've been going for a lot of long walks. I thought alcohol and dairy would be the tough thing for me to resist, but at this point (only day 3) I haven't had any cravings.

We're going to my sister's this weekend for my niece's birthday, which may be a bit of a test for us. For me, it's easier because I have celiac, so I can't eat whatever goodies are on hand even if I wanted to. For hubs, it'll be a bit harder, but he's seeming very committed at this point, too, so hopefully he'll be able to resist the b-day cake and snacks. At least my family is used to us bringing our own food everywhere so that won't raise any eyebrows. We're making another curry to bring with - pork w/coconut milk this time, I think, Yum!

[joanna_banana]

It sounds like you are doing very well on your whole30 journey! I'm in the same boat with the fruit. I don't really crave it for the sugar (I don't think) but I like to include it to get my calories and carbs up since I'm not looking to lose weight either. I don't feel like I could get the same amount from veggies since I would have to eat so much more and I already feel like I'm eating a lot of them. But I've noticed from posting on the forum that we're not really supposed to tweak anything, even if we already know it works for us, since the point of the whole30 is to follow it exactly to get the most benefits. I feel like a rebel sometimes and I'm afraid Tom is going to come after me!!!

How did you get your husband to join you in the whole30? I would love if my husband gave it a try for 30 days, but he's pretty set in his ways and doesn't think gluten is affecting him negatively at all. Just wondering if you have any secrets to share!

Good luck with everything!

[joanna_banana]

Ooops! Change that to Whole60!

[kat2021]

Yeah, I thought a lot about the fruit thing, and while I don't think it's a problem for me, I have the rest of my life to eat as much fruit as I want, so if I need to cut back for a couple of months, it's not a big deal. I've found that starchy vegetables like sweet potato and squash help a lot with keeping my calories where they should be, as well as lots of avocado.

My husband's diet journey has been a bit complicated. He always ate a lot of vegetables and fruits and was the one who got me started eating salads for lunch everyday years ago - but he's also got a bad sweet tooth and has a hard time controlling his portion sizes, so he's often been a bit on the heavier side. After I got diagnosed with celiac, we found it was best for me to have no gluten in the house, so he's been mostly gluten free for awhile now by default - the only time he'd eat it was when he'd go out with friends, or having something at work. He, personally, doesn't notice a big difference when he eats gluten, but now says he craves bread products less and doesn't enjoy them as much when he does eat them. Anyway, the past several months he's had a lot of problems with acid reflux. He doesn't like the idea of taking a pill everyday, so this has been a good incentive for him to make some more diet changes in an effort to lost some weight and get rid of the reflux. He really likes to cook, which helps too, I think, because he seems to be enjoying exploring some new foods and cooking ingredients like coconut milk and ghee.

[kat2021]

Feeling pretty good this morning. I've been having some stomach problems ever sense I ate a few Trader Joe's banana chips on Monday night, which seemed compliant but definitely didn't agree with me. They were labeled gluten free, but I have my doubts, as I got my usual celiac-related symptoms after eating them. Much better today, though!

Lunch yesterday ended up being salad along with a can of Cole's Mackerel in piri piri sauce (hot pepper & olive oil sauce) - it's really tasty if you like canned fish. Dinner was bratwurst w/mustard and roasted brussels sprouts, mushrooms and onion. The bratwurst was compliant, but didn't think to check the mustard we had until after I ate it. Luckily seemed ok when I looked at the label. Was still hungry afterwards, so also ate half and avocado w/onion, cilantro and lemon juice. Did about 40 minutes on the elliptical yesterday, but nothing too strenuous.

I really wanted a beer with my bratwurst last night. That was the first craving of any kind I've had - which is why I'm glad there's a lot of rules with this program. I'm finding this is a lot easier as part of a program than just trying to give things up on my own.

[kat2021]

Yesterday's food was the sweet potatoes with eggs and chutney, big salad & a can of mackerel, an orange and five cherries, and then pork curry for dinner. Curry was great - had unsweetened coconut, ghee, coconut milk, and tons of spices in it. Ate zucchini on the side. My stomach is sitll a bit upset from earlier in the week, but I've been taking magnesium supplements, which help a lot. Used the elliptical again yesterday, but wasn't very strenuous. Other than that, sleeping well and feeling really good!

[kat2021]

Post-Weekend update:

Feeling really good. Spent part of the weekend at my sister's house, and was tempted to cheat with a glass of wine, but managed to resist. Brought all my own food with, so I had pork curry for dinner Friday, eggs with avocado and kiwi for breakfast and pork curry for lunch on Saturday. Went to the zoo for my niece's 5th birthday - nice weather and had a great time. Made it back home in time for a late dinner on Saturday - snacked on some oranges and nuts in the car. Husband made burgers with avocado, green chiles, cilantro and onions, and sweet potatoes on the side.

Sunday, I got up and made sweet potato hash with ground beef patties and scrambled eggs. Husband and I took the dog for a long walk in the forest preserve - nice to get outside for awhile! Had a little picnic during the hike - cold bratwurst with mustard, cashews and some frozen raspberries. More pork curry for dinner, along with a spicy sweet-potato/jalepino/coconut curry, which turned out to be more of a spicy sweet potato stew. Delicious.

This morning, woke up before the alarm after 8 hours sleep, feeling energized and well-rested. Had leftover sweet potato stew with poached eggs and chutney for breakfast. Indian cuisine turns out to be a great place to find Whole30 compliant recipes - we're working out way through a 600 curries cookbook my sister got us years ago. Gotta go find some Mexican and Thai recipes to add into the rotation next...

[kat2021]

Day 9

Feeling excellent. Lots of energy, sleeping well, and getting some good workouts in - still drinking black coffee in the morning, but I don't feel a need for it like I did before, because I'm feeling rested and energetic when I wake up. Coffee just tastes good

Yesterday lunch was a big salad with a can of wild-caught salmon, a plum, and 4 strawberries. Another big salad for dinner, this time with some steak and half an avocado. Yum. Breakfast again was poached eggs with spicy sweet potoatoes and chutney - my new favorite!

Did about 45 minutes on the elliptical along with some body-weight exercises. My energy levels are high enough that I'm having a hard time sitting still at my desk today, lol. Hopefully, things will keep going like this!

[kat2021]

Day 10 - Good morning!

Stil have lots of energy - so much that I've been feeling a bit wired the past few days. Almost difficult to fall asleep last night! Didn't have a chance to work out yesterday, but otherwise, it was a good day. I've been converting my cubicle at work to a standing station lately, which I've been doing on and off for a year or so now. Nothing fancy - I stack my monitor on a box and put my keyboard on a stack of books. But it's nice to stand up and move around a bit rather than sitting around all day. Really, I'll need a career change to something more active if my energy levels stay this high!

Yesterday's lunch was a big salad with leftover steak from Monday night and a plum. No longer really feeling hungry between meals, which is nice. My husband is the cook in the house and he makes our lunches in the morning, so I asked him to give me less fruit, since I haven't been eating it. Dinner was the last of our pork curry, with spaghetti squash, chutney & avocado. Also ate a slice of smoked salmon as a pre-workout snack, before I realized I had an appointment and couldn't do the workout. Breakfast today was spicy sweet potatoes with poached eggs & chutney again.

Husband has been keeping up, mostly. He's not technically doing a Whole 30 - but he's trying to eat the same as me for the most part. He drank some wine over the weekend and had a piece of my niece's b-day cake - but he told me he felt lousy afterwards, and thought it was due to all the sugar in the cake, so it was a good lesson for him. We're out of town again for part of this weekend, so he's making a fish/coconut milk curry and more sweet potatoes for me to eat while we're gone.

[kat2021]

Happy Day 11!

Yesterday was good. Had big salad w/a can of sardines packed in olive oil for lunch, and a plum. Did try a pre-workout snack yesterday since I was a little hungry - just a few pieces of smoked salmon. Worked out on the elliptical for about 40 minutes and did a little housecleaning/dishwashing. Hubs was at a conference yesterday, so I was on my own for dinner. Had a repeat of breakfast (spicy sweet potoates w/chutney and poached eggs) as I didn't feel like cooking. Was still hungry, so I ate a few more slices of smoked salmon, a little bit of leftover spaghetti squash and a small orange.

We were out of spicy sweet potatoes for breakfast today, so I had two poached eggs with an avocado instead, Good - but not as good! Hubs will be home this afternoon, so he's going to make more sweet potatoes and a fish/coconut milk curry, which will hopefully last us through the weekend.

He hasn't been totally strict with the plan, but he does seem to be having a bit of a breakthrough. Told me last night that he feels better and he wouldn't mind eating this way forever, as long as we relax it enough to have cheese occasionally and meals that include things like rice or corn tortillas now and then. We'll see what he says after my 60 days are done, though!

[kat2021]

Day 12!

Felt tired/rundown last night and have a slight headache today. Might be the weather - it's been chilly and rainy here, and weather changes sometimes bring on a bit of a headache for me. I skipped my workout yesterday and went to bed early - I think my body needed a bit of a break!

Husband made fish curry yesterday and it turned out really good - very creamy with the coconut milk, and tasted a bit like an Indian version of clam chowder. Has cod, unripe mango, turnips, coconut milk, coconut oil, ginger, hot pepper and curry leaves in it. The unripe mango gives a nice tang to the broth. I don't think hubs expected to like it (he's not a fish eater) but he ate a second bowl, so it was definitely a success! He also made more sweet potatoes, so we had those with poached eggs for breakfast again. Lunch yesterday was a big salad w/a few walnuts on top and a can of sardines on the side. Also ate a couple of strawberries before dinner - we found some really good ones at the grocery store.

Tomorrow we're taking our two nephews (9 & 4) on an overnight trip to a hotel with an indoor water park, which should be a lot of fun. We've asked for a microwave and fridge in the hotel room, so we're packing up the sweet potatoes and fish curry to have over the weekend. Hubs is not strict Whole 30, so he may eat with the boys, but we'll see. One nice thing about my celiac disease is that no one ever asks why I bring food everywhere or why I can't eat meals with everyone else!

[kat2021]

Day 15

Weekend was good, though a bit exhausting! Husband and I took our nephews (ages 4 & 9 ) to an overnight trip to an indoor waterpark on Saturday. Had a great time, but it was pretty tiring chasing those two around all weekend. Spent about 5-6 hours total at the waterpark (so I think I got my exercise in!) plus time at the arcade, shopping, playing in the hotel room, etc.

Brought my own food with, so I was good to go. Ate fish curry, sweet potatoes, hard boiled eggs, salad, and a bit of fruit over the weekend. We'd requested a room with a fridge and there was a microwave down the hall, so food was easy to do. I was a bit tempted by the treats - there was a huge candy stand with all sorts of chocolates and other goodies - but that's where my celiac disease can be a blessing in disguise. Even if I want to eat that stuff, it's mostly contaminated with gluten anyway, so it's off limits regardless.

Still feeling pretty good overall - and 1/4 done with the Whole 60!

[kat2021]

Day 16

Yesterday's food was sweet potato curry w/poached eggs, salad w/leftover steak, a plum, two cherries and a few raspberries, a small scoop of fish curry, two applegate farms hotdogs (compliant) w/mustard and onions, and some roasted brussels sprouts, garlic, onions and mushrooms. Having a bit of a chocolate craving - which I put down to having been around candy all weekend (and b-day celebrations at work yesterday) and it being that 'time of the month'. Didn't have any, though, and it's not something I think about unless it's around and people are offering it to me. Otherwise - day 16 and all is good!

Had sweet potato curry w/eggs again this morning. Will have a salad for lunch w/maybe a can of sardines. I've got some fruit, too, but i haven't been eating as much of it lately. I think dinner tonight will either be hamburgers or the last of the fish curry. We'll see what sounds good later.

[kat2021]

Day 17

Still feeling pretty good. No cravings yesterday/today (so far), which is nice. Yesterday ate salad and the can of sardines and a plum for lunch. Dinner was the last of the fish curry, and breakfast today was the last of our sweet potato curry with poached eggs. We went to a Black Crowes concert last night, so I was out a bit late - but I don't feell all that tired today. Much more energy than I would have had pre-Whole 30!

[kat2021]

Here we are on Day 22.

Still doing well. A bit of a crazy week/weekend - we had flooding in our house on Thursday due to the astronomical amount of rain in the Chicago area. Nothing too dire, but ended up staying home from work Thursday/Friday to keep the water at bay & clean up afterward. Didn't lose anything this time except for some junk my husband should have tossed years ago, so I'll take it as a win.

Food has been fine. Don't remember everything I ate over the past few days, but it was all compliant. Had some local sausages over the weekend that were really good - also ate some burgers and a lot of sweet potatoes. Yesterday we made another curry dish - this one has beef, shallots, coconut milk, and unripined mango in addition to all the spices. Made cauliflower to go with it. Weather was nice yesterday (finally!) so took the dogs on a long walk. Otherwise sleeping well and feeling pretty good.

[kat2021]

Day 23

Dinner last night was a beef curry w/shallots, coconut milk, spices & unripe mango. Had some chopped avocado w/onions and lime juice on the side. Breakfast this week is, again, sweet potato curry w/poached eggs and chutney. Lunch is going to be salad w/a can of fish - I rotate between wild-caught salmon and sardines, occasionally switching it out for tuna or leftoever meat, if we have it.

My seasonal allergies have yet to take off this year. It's still a little early, but I'm cautiously optimistic - I've been spending quite a bit of time outdoors and I have yet to have any symptoms. I don't know if it's due to what I'm avoiding - or prehaps just getting more vitamins and such with this diet. I'm eating a lot more fish, too, and the omega 3's are supposed to be anti-inflammitory, so maybe that's having an effect. The real test will be in May, when we're planning to go camping twice. Excited to see if the allergies stay away, or at least aren't as bad!

[kat2021]

Day 24

Feeling pretty good. Yesterday dinner was a taco bowl - avocado, onions, tomato, sliced beef, cilantro, cumin, lime juice, and crispy sweet potatoes. Really good - and the crispy potatoes make a nice sub for tortilla chips. Was still hungry later, so I ate an orange, too. Had a good workout yesterday and a pretty good night of sleep. Breakfast was the usual sweet potato curry w/chutney and poached eggs. Got a salad w/a can of wild salmon for lunch, and an orange if I want it. Hoping to have another good workout today and/or go for a walk this evening if the weather is good.

[kat2021]

Day 25

Had a good workout on the elliptical last night. Dinner was a small steak with onions and shallots, a steamed artichoke (my favorite!) with a sauce of ghee, garlic, salt and pepper for dipping, and some avocado. Had some mango slices, too, because we've been getting really good ones at the store lately. Yum. Usual breakfast today, and it'll be leftovers for dinner tonight.

Had a dream that I was eating a granola bar, which is weird, because I haven't had a granola bar in years. It was one of those chewy ones with the chocolate & peanut butter chips. While peanut butter & chocolate is one of my favorite combos, I'd like to think that if I was to cheat, it would be on something better than a granola bar.

Weather is starting to warm up - supposed to hit 70s in the next few days - so we're getting toward the time when I'll be able to see if the cleaner diet is helping my allergies. I haven't had any so far, which is a good sign - and I've also noticed that my skin feels softer and I haven't had much acne lately. I don't usually get a lot, but I do get some on my stomach when I workout regularly, and that's virtually gone.

[kat2021]

Day 26

Feeling pretty good. Had a good workout on the elliptical last night - also did some bodyweight exercises. Drank a ton of water yesterday. Lunch was salad w/a little leftover steak and an orange. Had leftover beef curry for dinner, as planned, and my usual breakfast. Hoping to spend a lot of time outside this weekend - supposed to be really good weather. Husband's going to make a chicken curry tomorrow, I think. Might have to start expanding beyond Indian food soon!

Still no sign of allergies (crossing fingers) and stuff is starting to bloom here. I'm taking it as a good sign, but it'll be awhile before I know weather or not the diet is really helping. And then I'll have to do the whole re-introduction tihng. Quite a process, but worth it to feel better! Also, though I haven't done this for weight-loss purposes, I do feel very trim lately, and my muscles feel firmer. My face looks thinner in the mirror, and I think I've lost around 5-6 pounds. Good experience so far - excited to see what the next 34 days brings!

[kat2021]

Day 29 - almost half way through!

Weekend was good. Ate sausage and roasted vegetables for dinner Friday. Did a shorter workout on the elliptical, as I was feeling some muscle soreness. Had sweet potatoes and poached eggs for Saturday breakfast. Took our two dogs for a 90 minute walk along Lake Michigan. So nice to have good weather again! Put on some music and danced around/cleaned up the house on Saturday afternoon while husband cooked. Had sausages with onions and peppers for lunch and burgers w/steamed artichokes for dinner. We've been getting really good oranges (small ones) so we ate a few of those, too.

Sunday had some leftover beef curry for breakfast, with a can of mackeral and an orange later on. Ate some chicken and sweet potatoes for lunch, and had chicken in a cilantro/cashew sauce for dinner, along with sweet potato curry. Split a (delicious) mango with husband. Went on a shorter walk with the dogs. They're getting a little older, and were still exhausted from Saturday, so we weren't out as long - maybe 30 minutes or so. Also did a bunch of bodyweight exercises. I've definitely gotten stronger - I can do more pushups and squats and I can hold a plank for 60 seconds - before I was around 30. My muscles have more tone, too - you can actually see that they exist now, in other words

Still no allergy symptoms, even with all the time I've been spending outside!

[kat2021]

Day 30 - half way through!

My stomach is a little upset this morning. I think it's too much spicy food, but we'll see. Otherwise, doing fine. Had leftover chicken and sweet potatoes for dinner last night & did a good workout on the elliptical. Woke up very refreshed this morning and did some bodyweight exercises (pushups, tricep dips, squats, calf raises, and planks). Had sweet potatoes and eggs and coffee for breakfast, as usual.

Finally had a warm night, so we slept with the windows open, and no particular allergy symptoms this morning. I've been sneezing or blowing my nose maybe 1-2 times a day - usually, at this time of year, I have a box of tissue with me wherever I go and I can sometimes sneeze 15-20 times in a row, so there's definitely been an improvement!

[kat2021]

Day 31

Little bit of allergy symptoms, but nothing very severe. I think it's related to the bit of mold growing in our shower where we need to re-caulk. Hubs promised to take care of ASAP. Slept with the window open again last night, and took another walk yesterday evening. Even with the bit of sneezing this morning, it's still going better than it usually does this time of year. I've been looking into foods that lower inflammation and those that contain natural anti-histimines as well as getting my vitamin levels checked. I've been very low in magnesium and vitamin D in the past, so I'm going to find out if that's normalized or I still need to be supplementing.

Didn't do the elliptical yesterday, but did bodyweight exercises in the morning and went for an after dinner walk with hubs. Stayed up a bit later than usual to see the end of the Blackhawks game - was half asleep at the end, but we won! Surreal watching hockey when it's 80 degrees outside, though.

Food last nigt was more chicken in cilantro/cashew sauce and sweet potatoes. Ate a few frozen sweet cherries, too. Yesterday's lunch was the usual big salad - lots of kale and broccoli this week, along with bell peppers, celery, onions, cucumber, and whatever else hubs feels like putting in. Had it with a can of wild planet sardines and a small orange. Usual breakfast of eggs, sweet potato curry and coffee this rmorning.

Half-way point evaluation:

Pros: Feeling good and sleeping well. I've not had many food cravings and I generally enjoy my food and the diet. I've had more energy, lost a few pounds (5-6 I think), and gained some muscle tone/strength. I didn't take my measurements at the beginning, but between the weight loss and the way my clothes fit, I've probably lost an inch or two in the waist area.

Unkowns: Still don't know if the diet is helping with my allergies. I THINK it is, but I feel like it's too early to tell for sure. A little bummed to have had a sneezing fit and itchy eyes this morning, though feeling better now. Cautiously optimistic!

Another unknown is my husband's long-term response to the diet. He hasn't done the Whole 30 with me - but has stuck with my eating about 80-90% of the time. He seems to like it, but he struggles more with food cravings and still has a good amount of weight he should lose, so I don't know how it'll go for him long-term. Cautiously optimistic about him, and i help/encourage as much as I can - but it's really up to him to do it or not in the end.

Cons: Really the only con is with socializing. It's been difficult to go out to eat, and I've definitely missed alcohol in social situations, though not as much as I thought I would. At least people are used to me being difficult to go out with or me not eating at restaurants/parties because of the celiac. Other than that, it's been a good experience so far.