My post Whole30 diet has been less than stellar. First I went to the beach. In full vacation mode I consumed Oreos, ice cream, pizza, and LOTS of wine. I told myself it was ok because I was on vacation and I wouldn't be associating all this "bad" food with being at home.
Not true. When I got home I had a whirlwind of activities for 4th of July weekend. There was eating out (Ra sushi... YUMM), eating at BBQ's and then more eating out (Buffalo Wild Wings.. also YUMM). Tonight I have a softball game and I am already planning on eating a crab pretzel at the bar after. I've been eating a nice and healthy breakfast and then its all down hill from there. Oh yea, did I mention the girl scout cookies? Lots of girl scout cookies!
So clearly Whole30 was great for me but not long enough to break my habits. I am going to start again in September to control the beginning of the school year cravings and stress. In the meantime, I want to come up with my own rules. Maybe with written rules I will stick to a partial Whole30 diet in the long run.
So here it is... Jessi's Eating Rules:
1. Have a vegetable with every meal (how hard is it to add spinach to scrambled eggs? Not that hard)
2. No cow's milk. I will be eating cheese and yogurt occasionally, but not milk.
3. Dairy with only one meal a day.
4. Only gluten free grains.
5. No bread (This is a given based on the previous rule, but I needed to see it in writing anyway... ugh. Bread.)
6. No added sugar/ sweeteners. Exception: cane sugar in things like chocolate chips. But this can only be a couple times a week.
7. Only one "cheat" meal a week. Not cheat day, cheat meal. Just one a week. I will have to plan these out for now so that I can stay on track.
8. Only 4 servings of alcohol a week. This may seem high to some people, but I'm a teacher and its summer time. This can be 4 servings in one day, or one serving for four days. These expire at the end of the week. I can't "save up" my alcohol servings from week to week.
9. No processed foods.
Am I missing anything? This starts when i get back from Peru. I won't have control over what I am eating there, and I am going to eat a crab pretzel tonight.
Tuesday, July 8, 2014
Friday, June 27, 2014
Done??
I am writing this post on the morning of day 32 (apparently I'm not ready to stop counting my days in relation to the Whole 30 yet... if this conditions persists for much longer I'll seek help... promise). I have to say, Day 31 was obviously a little over indulgent (and AWESOME) but now that I'm "done" with the program I feel a little lost. But first, let me back up.
On day 30 I decided to try out the recipes in the back of the book It Starts With Food for their "fancy pants" meal. The purpose of the recipes was to show you that you can have a fancy dinner party and still comply with Whole 30. I wasn't quite ready to debut fancy cooking on an entire dinner party, but I knew I could convince my friend Susan to eat with me (she will be starting her own Whole 30 on July 7... there Susan, its in writing on the internet now, so it must be true!).
Anyway the meal was: Baked Salmon with hazelnut butter, green beans with a fig balsamic vinaigrette, roasted squash and garlic puree. Dessert was poached pears with raspberry cream and toasted almonds. If you want the recipes, well, you'll have to buy the book them won't you??? I promise I looked for them on their website and would have linked them if I had found them. But since I love the book and the program I don't want to rip them off by retyping the recipes from the book here. But here are some pictures to inspire you.
First, I got the butternut squash and garlic in the oven to roast. The recipe told me to take the papery outside off of an entire head of garlic and wrap it in aluminum foil. I was doubtful about how I was going to get the garlic out the clove later on... but it just squeezed right out like toothpaste.
Next up was the hazelnut butter. Yup, I chopped hazelnuts by hand. And then mixed them with A CUP of clarified butter. Some other stuff was in there too (garlic, thyme). After mixing everything, you wrapped it in saran wrap in a log shape (mine was a little flatter than most logs...) and put it in the fridge to cool.
I didn't take any other pictures of the preparations because I was in a zone. I literally spent 3 hours prepping for this dinner the morning of. I made the squash puree, hazelnut butter, and the vinaigrette for the green beans. I also poached the pears, which was a weird experience. I put 2 in of lemon rind, 10 peppercorns and vanilla extract in Boiling water with pealed pears for 30 min. Seemed like a weird combination to me, but the finished product was DELICIOUS. Anyway, because I had done so much prep work, when it came time to actually make dinner, all I had to do was pop the salmon in the over with some butter, salt and pepper. While that was baking, I boiled green beans and then tossed them with the fig vinaigrette (by the way... figs look weird. I stared at them in the grocery store for about 5 minutes because I couldn't believe this weird shaped thing was going to turn into something delicious).
And here is the finished product:
See those white chunks on top of the salmon? THAT'S ALL BUTTER. Delicious, hazelnut butter. The butter melted and left hazelnuts on top of the salmon. I don't generally like fish and this was delicious. Everything was. I want to make more of the roasted squash, like today.
After dinner (and a detour to target to buy beach chairs) I made the raspberry cream with balsamic vinegar, raspberries, and coconut milk. Put that in the bottom of a shallow bowl and then put the pear and toasted almonds on top.
And yes, it did taste as good as it looks.
I will definitely be making this meal for some holiday/event/ Tuesday in the future. It was labor intensive, but worth it.
Alright, so that was my "last meal" on Whole 30. The next morning I went a little crazy and went to Chick-fil-A for breakfast. Chicken minis and a Chicken egg and cheese bagel are just as delicious as I remember.
When I got home from Boordy last night I had a half a glass of wine, a square of Dove mint dark chocolate and 2 Oreos.
What was interesting was that even while I was eating the cookies my brain was like "Eh, its ok I guess." The other part of my brain was like "hey, jerk, you're supposed to love this treat so that I have an excuse to eat a third one." I almost didn't even eat the second one. I just didn't want it. What a sad world to live in when you don't want to eat and Oreo!!!! I know, I know, that was one of the goals of Whole 30, but I still want to eat stuff like this as a treat every now and then... or maybe I don't?? So confusing!
Don't worry, the wine was delicious. While I don't plan to go overboard, wine is definitely a part of my diet again.
*Side note- the rest of the chocolate bar is getting thrown out. It has blue and yellow food dye in it. The Oreo may have three different types of sugar, but at least there is no dye.
For those of you interested here are some results I saw on Whole 30:
- Unintended weight loss. I LOST 10 LBS. No calorie counting, did not increase my work outs. Just followed the Whole 30. I also lost 3 inches off my waist, 2 inches from my hips, and 3 inches off my belly.
- Drinking less coffee. Today I didn't even have any, I had tea instead. In the past three weeks, I don't think I've finished my coffee any day. I end up dumping about a 1/4 of it out.
- Consistent energy all day. No afternoon slump. And this is without my normal amount of coffee (see above).
- Not needing to hit snooze a million times when the alarm goes off. This is only based on like a week because after that school was over and I didn't need to set an alarm. But even when we were in NY the week school got out, I woke up at about 7:30 am every day and was wide awake and ready to go.
- Almost no snacking between meals. Sometimes I'll have a piece of fruit of handful of nuts, but for the most part I haven't been hungry between meals at all (because my meals have protein and fat in stead of carbs so I am full until the next meal).
- Lower blood pressure. My blood pressure went from about 130/90 (this is on blood pressure medication) to an average of about 110/70 (also on medication).
- Falling asleep quicker. I also stopped watching TV before bed... so that probably has a lot to do with this one.
- I'm happier. This could be a placebo effect (or maybe its because I'm sleeping better, have more energy and am not hungry all the time). Knowing that I am putting quality, whole foods into my body instead of crap really is satisfying.
- Almost no cravings. Even as I was eating the Oreos last night, I didn't want them.
- Sounds cliche, but Whole 30 really has changed my relationship with food. I am appreciating tastes that I probably never noticed before, I am enjoying the process of making food. Most of all though, I enjoy that I am in control. I am not succumbing to cravings or mindless eating just because (if you're a teacher, you know that the teacher's lounge is the WORST place for mindless eating. There is always leftover cake in the staff lounge. ALWAYS.)
Moving Forward
So, now what? I have a busy couple weeks ahead of me. Tonight is a birthday party and wine tasting with friends. Tomorrow I am going to the O's game for an all you can eat/ all you can drink JMU alumni event (No, you didn't miss anything, I didn't go to JMU. Friends of ours are going and got us tickets). Sunday I leave for the beach for a few days. Shortly after that Tom and I are going to Peru for a 4 day hike up to Machu Pichu. I plan to stay on Whole 30 as much as possible. I am not going to go to the game tomorrow and eat only cookies and pulled pork with BBQ sauce on a potato roll. I will probably still have the pulled pork, but I'll take it off the roll. I'll swap the cookie for a salad instead. I won't promise not to eat crab fries during the game though. This is Maryland baseball after all.
What I'm Aiming For
- No added sugar. With the exception of occasional baking, I don't see any reason to bring added sugar back into my house.
- Stick with spaghetti squash and mashed cauliflower instead of pasta and mashed potatoes, most of the time.
- Limit bread. This one sucks because I have a $300 bread maker sitting in my basement that I used to use twice a week. But I feel so much better without all the carbs in bread, so why add them back into my diet?
- Limit other products with flour- pancakes, muffins, biscuits. Every now and then is OK, but not a lot.
- There will be cheese. I love cheese. But I'm not going back to cow's milk to drink or put in coffee. Almond milk and coconut milk are good for me.
- There will also be wine. In moderation.
- Eat more fat. From avocado, nuts, olive oil. I definitely was not eating this much fat before Whole 30. I plan to continue incorporating fat into every meal.
- No more peanut butter. My heart rate sped up just typing this. Its a little sad. I used to eat peanut butter every day. But I don't miss it. Almond butter is delicious. So again, why add something back to my diet that I don't miss?
Tuesday, June 24, 2014
Tricks and tips for eating out
I thought it was going to be impossible to go out and do things for 30 days because, seriously, what was I going to eat??? I carried a zip lock bag full of nuts and an apple almost everywhere with me. This way, if I was out and something unexpected came up, I had a snack I could eat to hold me over until I got back home. I would recommend looking at menu's ahead of time if you know you are going out. This makes it a lot easier and faster when you actually get there.
You can also check and see if places will let you bring food in. We went to an O's game during week 1 and I brought nuts, cantaloupe, and sausages with peppers and onions (wrapped in aluminum foil- they stayed warm until we got to the park and ate them!)
O's game: brought in cantaloupe, and sausage with peppers and onions.
Said no to funnel cake and had cantaloupe instead.
I had a bachelorette party to go to this month too. I was able to eat at both restaurants we went to that weekend.
Bond Street Social: Ice burg salad with olives, hard boiled eggs, tomatoes and balsamic vinegar/ olive oil instead of the dressing that came with it.
Abby burger: Chicken burger wrapped in lettuce with sweet potato fries. This place was delicious! I went here twice during the 30 days. Yes, the fries are fried instead of baked, but still.... better than a big mac.
Looney's: Chicken cheese steak with no bread or cheese and sweet potato fries. I scooped the chicken with the fries. Really yummy.
Warning: You're friends will make fun of you if you order this at a bar. Especially when they have been drinking and you haven't been....
Side note on not drinking alcohol at bars: You can still have fun if you have decided in your mind that you want to have fun. I danced my butt off at the bar without having a drink. Fun is certainly a state of mind.
Monday, June 23, 2014
Meal prep, then some more meal prep
This post is going to be picture heavy. I've been doing lots of cooking. The key to being successful with Whole30 has certainly been spending about half the day on Sunday doing meal prep for the week. Chopping veggies, hard boiling eggs, prepping dinners, packing fruit in containers. There is so much to do! I spent about 2 hours on a week night later in the week getting things ready for the end of week/ weekend too. Whole30 has also required that I go to Aldi for cheap produce and meat, then Giant for the things I can't get at Aldi, then Whole Foods for sausage (with no sugar added), salad dressing (with no sugar added) and clarified butter.
Anyway... here's what I've been eating.
Making this breakfast casserole has been a huge help! Then I don't have to cook eggs every morning. I just mix up 10 eggs, some sausage and veggies and bake for 30 minutes at 350. I cut it into pieces and put into Tupperware on Sunday and then I have breakfast for the week already packaged up!
Hard boiled eggs! Yumm. I found out about a week later that the mayo I was using is not Whole30 approved (I didn't realize canola oil was not allowed). I'll have to make my own mayo next time.
Paleo Pad Thai: http://www.savorylotus.com/paleo-pad-thai/
Some other things I've made in the past couple weeks:
Another morning I was really craving green beans so I had them with scrambled eggs and sausage. The Hartwigs say that you should think of your meals as Meal 1, Meal 2 and Meal 3 instead of breakfast, lunch and dinner. I guess this is a start in that direction. Green beans for breakfast.
My current obsession is sweet potato fries. I made them last week and again today. Peel the sweet potato and cut up. Toss with olive oil, salt and pepper. Spread out on a cookie sheet and bake at 450 for about 25 minutes. Halfway through, use a spatula to flip the fries. I didn't do that the first time I made them and the bottom was burnt. They were still delicious though. To reheat, use a toaster over or oven so that they get crispy again.
Anyway... here's what I've been eating.
Making this breakfast casserole has been a huge help! Then I don't have to cook eggs every morning. I just mix up 10 eggs, some sausage and veggies and bake for 30 minutes at 350. I cut it into pieces and put into Tupperware on Sunday and then I have breakfast for the week already packaged up!
Yumm. Lots of berries and lots of Tupperware. I used the berries as an afternoon snack.
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| Here is everything laid out for an afternoon of meal prepping: deviled eggs, spaghetti sauce with spaghetti squash, paleo pad thai, turkey roll ups with cucumber. |
Hard boiled eggs! Yumm. I found out about a week later that the mayo I was using is not Whole30 approved (I didn't realize canola oil was not allowed). I'll have to make my own mayo next time.
Turkey roll ups. Cucumber, turkey, guacamole, red peppers. They were good, but probably would have been better right away instead of the next day for lunch. The cucumber got kind of mushy overnight.
Spaghetti sauce with ground turkey, tomato paste, water, spinach, and garlic. I served this over spaghetti squash. Really yummy.
To make spaghetti squash: Cut in half. Put in crockpot with 1 inch of water at the bottom. Cook on high for 2 and a half hours. Then scoop out the seeds and use a fork to scrape the sides to make the "spaghetti."
Almond flour chicken tenders. I made these and served them on a big salad.
Paleo Pad Thai: http://www.savorylotus.com/paleo-pad-thai/
The Paleo Pad Thai was served on the other half of the spaghetti squash. This was seriously so good. SO. GOOD. As I was eating it, I couldn't wait to have the leftovers. It was delicious.
Some other things I've made in the past couple weeks:
Fried bananas with almond butter on top with a fried egg for breakfast. Yummmm.
Another morning I was really craving green beans so I had them with scrambled eggs and sausage. The Hartwigs say that you should think of your meals as Meal 1, Meal 2 and Meal 3 instead of breakfast, lunch and dinner. I guess this is a start in that direction. Green beans for breakfast.
Another morning I made kale chips as I was making breakfast and ended up eating half the tray with my eggs. Toss the kale with olive oil, salt and pepper. Lay them out on a cookie sheet and cook at 350 for about 10 minutes. The second time I made them I took the leaves off the stalk and they cooked more evenly.
Crushed peppercorn steak and mashed cauliflower. I also had a salad with this meal. My friends Justin and Susan did all the cooking and I just had to enjoy the delicious food. I hadn't have a steak in over 10 years. It was well worth the wait.
My current obsession is sweet potato fries. I made them last week and again today. Peel the sweet potato and cut up. Toss with olive oil, salt and pepper. Spread out on a cookie sheet and bake at 450 for about 25 minutes. Halfway through, use a spatula to flip the fries. I didn't do that the first time I made them and the bottom was burnt. They were still delicious though. To reheat, use a toaster over or oven so that they get crispy again.
La, la, la... I'm not listening
I want to be the happiest, healthiest me that I can be. A lot of times that's going to mean saying no to foods that are bad for me.
It is amazing to me how many people have had something to say about the Whole30 when I tell them about it. It is even more amazing how many people are extremely negative rather than supportive. Come on people!!! I'm not asking you to do this. I didn't even bring it up in conversation. You asked me why I wasn't drinking. So I told you. And now you are telling me how dumb this is???
In all fairness, a lot of my friends and family have been very supportive. But if you are considering doing Whole30, please be prepared to hear some negative feedback from people in your life. Make sure you know why you are doing this and can articulate it to others.
So here is goes... Why did I decide to do the Whole30?
- I am on medication for high blood pressure. A lot of the testimonials for whole30 say that people have lowered their blood pressure while following the program. Worth a try right?
- I also have PCOS. Its a hormonal imbalance. Guess what else eating healthy can do for you? Yup, even out those hormones.
- I have about 10 lbs to loose and have been unable to loose it with calorie counting. I'm the calorie counter that plugs in my wine and cookies into my counter and then eats less healthy food so that I have calories left over for the junk food at night.
- I wanted to prove (mostly to my husband) that I could go 30 days without wine.
- I wanted to challenge myself. Trust me, no sugar is a challenge in itself. It's in freaking everything!!!!!
The more I read the book that accompanies the program, It Starts With Food by Melissa and Doug Hartwig, the more convinced I am that I am doing the right thing for my body by doing the whole30. They do a great job of explaining what happens to you psychologically and hormonally when you eat a diet that consists of processed foods (even the "low fat" and "whole wheat" stuff). It's really amazing. Seriously, read the book. It's great.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1936608898/?tag=mh0b-20&hvadid=3488745446&ref=pd_sl_3b957lnrmm_ee
It is amazing to me how many people have had something to say about the Whole30 when I tell them about it. It is even more amazing how many people are extremely negative rather than supportive. Come on people!!! I'm not asking you to do this. I didn't even bring it up in conversation. You asked me why I wasn't drinking. So I told you. And now you are telling me how dumb this is???
In all fairness, a lot of my friends and family have been very supportive. But if you are considering doing Whole30, please be prepared to hear some negative feedback from people in your life. Make sure you know why you are doing this and can articulate it to others.
So here is goes... Why did I decide to do the Whole30?
- I am on medication for high blood pressure. A lot of the testimonials for whole30 say that people have lowered their blood pressure while following the program. Worth a try right?
- I also have PCOS. Its a hormonal imbalance. Guess what else eating healthy can do for you? Yup, even out those hormones.
- I have about 10 lbs to loose and have been unable to loose it with calorie counting. I'm the calorie counter that plugs in my wine and cookies into my counter and then eats less healthy food so that I have calories left over for the junk food at night.
- I wanted to prove (mostly to my husband) that I could go 30 days without wine.
- I wanted to challenge myself. Trust me, no sugar is a challenge in itself. It's in freaking everything!!!!!
The more I read the book that accompanies the program, It Starts With Food by Melissa and Doug Hartwig, the more convinced I am that I am doing the right thing for my body by doing the whole30. They do a great job of explaining what happens to you psychologically and hormonally when you eat a diet that consists of processed foods (even the "low fat" and "whole wheat" stuff). It's really amazing. Seriously, read the book. It's great.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1936608898/?tag=mh0b-20&hvadid=3488745446&ref=pd_sl_3b957lnrmm_ee
Sunday, June 1, 2014
Week 1... feeling good but I want pizza
Wednesday- Friday were SO. MUCH. BETTER. with the almond milk/coconut cream mixture so that I could have coffee. I think I can probably continue using this stuff after the Whole 30 is over too. It's not the same, but I like it.
Wednesday I had a doctor's appointment so I wasn't at school for lunch. I made a salad with grilled chicken, hard boiled egg and lots of veggies. I packed one up for dinner on Thursday too. I have a kayaking class on Thursday's and we usually go out to eat afterwards, but I knew I probably wouldn't be able to eat anything at Five Guys...
I took advantage of the day off and did a whole lot of food prep. I was responsible for lunch Thursday and Friday. I made turkey burgers (ground turkey, almond flour, egg, salt, pepper) with grilled zucchini "buns" and a cucumber salad with olive oil, salt and pepper. We had this for dinner on Wednesday and I brought it for lunch on Friday. It was REALLY good.
I made the dip again today it was so good!
Friday night we had leftovers for dinner. Saturday I made eggs for breakfast and had two leftover turkey burger sliders with slices of avocado on top for lunch. I worked at the winery last night (I work at Boordy on the weekends for the summer). I was really nervous about this. Not only do we get offered wine after our shift, but there is usually bread and cheese out for us to snack on. I decided to combat this by making sure I had lots packed. I brought a hard boiled egg, two apples, cashews and grapes and strawberries. I did pretty good. I wasn't even tempted when our manager brought out cupcakes for everyone (and these were from a cupcake shop... not grocery store bought ones).
Today my family came over for our monthly family game night. I made the ranch dip with veggies, salsa and guacamole. I had chips out but I used the veggies for the guacamole. I didn't have any salsa because it came from a jar and had cane sugar in it. I don't like salsa anyway, so it was one less thing I had to make this morning. For lunch, we had chicken and steak fajitas with peppers and onions. We used salt, pepper and cumin on the meat and veggies. I had mine on a lettuce leaves. I drizzled some of the ranch dip on top in the absence of sour cream/ cheese.
Wednesday I had a doctor's appointment so I wasn't at school for lunch. I made a salad with grilled chicken, hard boiled egg and lots of veggies. I packed one up for dinner on Thursday too. I have a kayaking class on Thursday's and we usually go out to eat afterwards, but I knew I probably wouldn't be able to eat anything at Five Guys...
I took advantage of the day off and did a whole lot of food prep. I was responsible for lunch Thursday and Friday. I made turkey burgers (ground turkey, almond flour, egg, salt, pepper) with grilled zucchini "buns" and a cucumber salad with olive oil, salt and pepper. We had this for dinner on Wednesday and I brought it for lunch on Friday. It was REALLY good.
I also made shredded chicken in the crock pot with hot sauce, lime juice and garlic. I served that for lunch on Thursday with mashed cauliflower. I steamed the cauliflower, put it in the food processor and then added a little bit of olive oil and salt. This meal was delicious! Like really, really delicious. I also brought peppers and celery with this dairy free ranch dip.
I made the dip again today it was so good!
Friday night we had leftovers for dinner. Saturday I made eggs for breakfast and had two leftover turkey burger sliders with slices of avocado on top for lunch. I worked at the winery last night (I work at Boordy on the weekends for the summer). I was really nervous about this. Not only do we get offered wine after our shift, but there is usually bread and cheese out for us to snack on. I decided to combat this by making sure I had lots packed. I brought a hard boiled egg, two apples, cashews and grapes and strawberries. I did pretty good. I wasn't even tempted when our manager brought out cupcakes for everyone (and these were from a cupcake shop... not grocery store bought ones).
Today my family came over for our monthly family game night. I made the ranch dip with veggies, salsa and guacamole. I had chips out but I used the veggies for the guacamole. I didn't have any salsa because it came from a jar and had cane sugar in it. I don't like salsa anyway, so it was one less thing I had to make this morning. For lunch, we had chicken and steak fajitas with peppers and onions. We used salt, pepper and cumin on the meat and veggies. I had mine on a lettuce leaves. I drizzled some of the ranch dip on top in the absence of sour cream/ cheese.
Oh man, I wanted cheese on top. Really bad. Since day one, this was probably the first time I really felt like I was missing out. Even when the girl scout cookies went on the table for dessert I was ok not eating them. But the freaking cheese, I wanted it. My aunt and uncle brought fresh fruit salad for dessert too. It was delicious.
Now everyone is gone and I want pizza. Not dominos or papa johns. I'm crazing pizza on the grill. If you've never done this look back through my posts because there is a whole post on grilled pizza from last summer. Its amazing. I found a recipe for Paleo pizza that uses almond flour and just puts sauce and toppings (I'll probably do chicken and veggies) with no cheese. But I feel like it might be cheating a little bit. We have a support group for the Whole 30 on facebook so I'm waiting to hear back from someone else to see what they think.
All in all, I feel really good. It feels good to know that I can stare at girl scout cookies and not eat one (or ten). It feels good to know I can be around people drinking and feel comfortable not drinking. It also feels really good knowing that I'm only putting healthy foods in my body.
BUT....
I am getting bored of water. I might try making infused water but it seems like a waste of fruits and veggies to me. I'm in the process of sun brewing green tea on the porch. Hopefully that will be yummy.
It's also exhausting to do all this cooking! I got up at 8 this morning. Made breakfast, went to the grocery store and then spent 2 hours chopping and mixing things for today. Now that everyone is gone I don't want to have to go through all the labor to make dinner as well. :( I may browse some local take out menus and see if there is anything other than a salad I can get (I refuse to pay for a salad when all the ingredients are in my fridge). I am craving sushi really bad. I might see if I can order it from some place without rice. But I don't have a soy sauce substitute so I'm not sure how good it will be...
Tuesday, May 27, 2014
Whole 30
So, right after I decided to try and go gluten free, a friend of mine mentioned a program called the Whole 30 to me. A few days later, another friend was talking about how great she feels since she's gone Paleo and also told me about the Whole 30. She was about to start her third round of the Whole 30. After some googeling, I decided to join her. I also suckered two coworkers into joining me. :) Bonus, we set up a lunch rotation so we only have to make lunch two days a week and just bring enough for the three of us. So three or four days a week you have no lunch packing to do! Wa hoo.
Anyway... what is the Whole 30 you ask?? The Whole 30 is basically Paleo but on steroids. It's so intense. Here is their website:
whole30.com
First off... whole 30 is not intended to be a life long diet change. The purpose is to strip all things from your diet that could potentially have a negative impact, give your body 30 days to heal, and then as you reintroduce the foods, really pay attention to how they affect you.
Before you think I'm crazy and I tell you all the things involved, I have "seasonal allergies" ALL. YEAR. LONG. It's super duper annoying. I blow my nose every day, all year, multiple times. It wasn't until people around me (nephew, student at school) started getting diagnosed with gluten intolerance that I started to wonder if something in my diet was causing my allergies. So this is why I'm doing this. 30 days for my body to reset and heal and then hopefully figure out what's making me stuffy.
Ok so here it goes.... What exactly do you eat on the Whole 30?
Eat:
Protein- Chicken, beef, pork, seafood
Fruits- all, but limit dried fruit
Vegetables- all of them, all the time
Fat- Healthy fats like olive oil, almonds, cashews, avocado, coconut oil
From their website, "Eat meat, seafood, eggs, tons of vegetables, some fruit, and plenty of good fats from fruits, oils, nuts and seeds. Eat foods with very few ingredients, all pronounceable ingredients, or better yet, no ingredients listed at all because they’re totally natural and unprocessed. - See more at: http://whole30.com/step-two/#sthash.txtOMZOv.dpuf
What you can't eat:
From their website:
Do not consume added sugar of any kind, real or artificial. No maple syrup, honey, agave nectar, coconut sugar, Splenda, Equal, Nutrasweet, xylitol, stevia, etc. Read your labels, because companies sneak sugar into products in ways you might not recognize.
Do not consume alcohol in any form, not even for cooking. (And it should go without saying, but no tobacco products of any sort, either.)
Do not eat grains. This includes (but is not limited to) wheat, rye, barley, oats, corn, rice, millet, bulgur, sorghum, amaranth, buckwheat, sprouted grains and all of those gluten-free pseudo-grains like quinoa. This also includes all the ways we add wheat, corn and rice into our foods in the form of bran, germ, starch and so on. Again, read your labels.
Do not eat legumes. This includes beans of all kinds (black, red, pinto, navy, white, kidney, lima, fava, etc.), peas, chickpeas, lentils, and peanuts. No peanut butter, either. This also includes all forms of soy – soy sauce, miso, tofu, tempeh, edamame, and all the ways we sneak soy into foods (like lecithin).
Do not eat dairy. This includes cow, goat or sheep’s milk products such as cream, cheese (hard or soft), kefir, yogurt (even Greek), and sour cream… with the exception of clarified butter or ghee. (See below for details.)
Do not eat white potatoes. This is somewhat arbitrary, but if we are trying to change your habits (chips and fries) and improve the hormonal impact of your food choices, it’s best to leave white, red, purple, Yukon gold, and fingerling potatoes off your plate.
Do not consume carrageenan, MSG or sulfites. If these ingredients appear in any form on the label of your processed food or beverage, it’s out for the Whole30.
No Paleo-ifying baked goods, desserts, or junk foods. Trying to shove your old, unhealthy diet into a shiny new Whole30 mold will ruin your program faster than you can say “Paleo Pop-Tarts.” This means no desserts or junk food made with “approved” ingredients—no banana-egg pancakes, almond-flour muffins, flourless brownies, or coconut milk ice cream. Don’t try to replicate junk food during your 30 days! That misses the point of the Whole30 entirely.
- See more at: http://whole30.com/step-two/#sthash.txtOMZOv.dpuf
Doing this involves lots of meal planning, lots of grocery shopping at Trader Joe's and Whole Foods and lots of will power. Yesterday I went to Trader Joes and got a few things (kale, clarified butter, Lara bars). I was pretty disappointed by my shopping experience. The prices were good, but the selection is so much smaller than Whole Foods. After school today, I went to Whole Foods and finished shopping: almond milk mixed with coconut cream, almond flour, sausages, lots of veggies, salad dressing, marinades, more Lara bars, coconut milk).
Today was Day One for me. I woke up and realized that since Trader Joe's didn't have any coconut milk or almond milk without added preservatives, I had nothing to put in my coffee. I also am not using stevia for 30 days. Just perfect. I decided to have green tea instead because I knew I could drink that without milk or sugar. I also made scrambled eggs instead of my normal toast with peanut butter.
By 9 am I wanted to break things. Not having coffee was not a good idea. On the Whole 30 website they have a timeline for how you might feel each day. On day one you are supposed to feel great and empowered. I did not. I felt cranky, tired and pissed off. I took a bite of a Lara bar that had cherries and dates and that gave me a little bit of a sugar boost. I also drank A TON of water (causing me to have to get my class covered twice before lunch so I could use the bathroom). By lunch time I was starting to feel a little better.
Today was Emma's day to bring lunch. She made tuna salad with avocado, peppers, and onions. We ate it with celery and carrot sticks. While I definitely was aware that it would be even more amazing on a piece of bread, lunch was really yummy.
After school, I went to Whole Foods to finish all the shopping I couldn't do yesterday. Thank goodness, I found almond milk mixed with coconut cream. And, the only ingredients were almonds, coconut and water. I am excited to try it tomorrow morning with coffee.
Anyway... what is the Whole 30 you ask?? The Whole 30 is basically Paleo but on steroids. It's so intense. Here is their website:
whole30.com
First off... whole 30 is not intended to be a life long diet change. The purpose is to strip all things from your diet that could potentially have a negative impact, give your body 30 days to heal, and then as you reintroduce the foods, really pay attention to how they affect you.
Before you think I'm crazy and I tell you all the things involved, I have "seasonal allergies" ALL. YEAR. LONG. It's super duper annoying. I blow my nose every day, all year, multiple times. It wasn't until people around me (nephew, student at school) started getting diagnosed with gluten intolerance that I started to wonder if something in my diet was causing my allergies. So this is why I'm doing this. 30 days for my body to reset and heal and then hopefully figure out what's making me stuffy.
Ok so here it goes.... What exactly do you eat on the Whole 30?
Eat:
Protein- Chicken, beef, pork, seafood
Fruits- all, but limit dried fruit
Vegetables- all of them, all the time
Fat- Healthy fats like olive oil, almonds, cashews, avocado, coconut oil
From their website, "Eat meat, seafood, eggs, tons of vegetables, some fruit, and plenty of good fats from fruits, oils, nuts and seeds. Eat foods with very few ingredients, all pronounceable ingredients, or better yet, no ingredients listed at all because they’re totally natural and unprocessed. - See more at: http://whole30.com/step-two/#sthash.txtOMZOv.dpuf
What you can't eat:
From their website:
Doing this involves lots of meal planning, lots of grocery shopping at Trader Joe's and Whole Foods and lots of will power. Yesterday I went to Trader Joes and got a few things (kale, clarified butter, Lara bars). I was pretty disappointed by my shopping experience. The prices were good, but the selection is so much smaller than Whole Foods. After school today, I went to Whole Foods and finished shopping: almond milk mixed with coconut cream, almond flour, sausages, lots of veggies, salad dressing, marinades, more Lara bars, coconut milk).
Today was Day One for me. I woke up and realized that since Trader Joe's didn't have any coconut milk or almond milk without added preservatives, I had nothing to put in my coffee. I also am not using stevia for 30 days. Just perfect. I decided to have green tea instead because I knew I could drink that without milk or sugar. I also made scrambled eggs instead of my normal toast with peanut butter.
I used Power to the Greens from Trader Joe's in my eggs, with garlic powder and pepper. I cooked them and put them in Tupperware to eat at school. In the car on the drive to work, I had an apple and green tea.
By 9 am I wanted to break things. Not having coffee was not a good idea. On the Whole 30 website they have a timeline for how you might feel each day. On day one you are supposed to feel great and empowered. I did not. I felt cranky, tired and pissed off. I took a bite of a Lara bar that had cherries and dates and that gave me a little bit of a sugar boost. I also drank A TON of water (causing me to have to get my class covered twice before lunch so I could use the bathroom). By lunch time I was starting to feel a little better.
Today was Emma's day to bring lunch. She made tuna salad with avocado, peppers, and onions. We ate it with celery and carrot sticks. While I definitely was aware that it would be even more amazing on a piece of bread, lunch was really yummy.
After school, I went to Whole Foods to finish all the shopping I couldn't do yesterday. Thank goodness, I found almond milk mixed with coconut cream. And, the only ingredients were almonds, coconut and water. I am excited to try it tomorrow morning with coffee.
When I finally got home around 6:30 pm, I heated up a chicken kabob and grilled zucchini (with olive oil and salt/ pepper) that was leftover from a cookout on Monday. I went through all my cabinets and made one cabinet Whole 30 ingredients only. I also did the same thing with shelves in the fridge. Then I washed and cut strawberries, grapes, celery, lettuce and peppers. I hard boiled some eggs too. Now there are plenty of things to grab when I want a snack. I really wanted a glass of wine while I was doing all of this, but I survived on water.
Side note- Tom thinks its going to be hardest for me to give up alcohol for 30 days (which might be true because there is a bachlorette party in there...). I think dairy is going to be the hardest. I really like cheese. Sugar is tough too. And lets be honest, I just got three boxes of girl scout cookies that will be hidden for 30 days until I can devour them again.
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