Day Twenty-Five

Twenty-five days is a long time. In the past, I've tried to cut out dairy only to make it to lunchtime. So, I'm pretty impressed with myself. I think I like hard and fast rules versus "doing better." I need quantification. I'm thinking a lot about what life looks like next week and the week after. How to incorporate what I've learned into beyond-whole-30-life. I am a really good justifier, so I will still have to have some pretty hard/fast rules. And I will need to find some sort of replacement for tortillas and pizza crust. Fortuntely, lots of really good cooks have lots of blogs with recipes, so I've been collecting these over at my pinterest page.

Ate:

• spinach + eggs; grapes=breakfast is exciting! (waaa waaa) Breakfast makes me want to hit people.
• Leftover baked chicken tenders + green salad with mandarins and almonds
• Cashews
• Husband pulled through with random assortment of dinner items and made a kickin' vegetable soup. We didn't have many of the traditional veggie soup veggies, but it was still yummy and chock full o' goodness. He still laments his usual additions of Worchestershire and Sriracha sauces (sugar), and doesn't feel like he's doing his best work without them. I think those are things I can add back after whole 30. The size of the serving there is minimal.

Impressions:

I think I'm not experiencing the magical deep sleep because I'm already a pretty magical deep-sleeper. I have no trouble going to sleep and staying asleep on any given night. (provided I'm not awakened by a critter) I have been known to sleep through tornado-spawning storms, trees falling, people yelling, etc. I can report that I wake up better. I don't feel so sluggish and downright dead immediately. Some of the results and symptoms people describe on a Whole 30 program have not really happened to me. Some folks describe a "carb flu" when your body reacts to not having carbs on about day 4 and you feel kind of sick and flu-ish. I think my body has been very happy overall. I even found a few minutes to do some pilates exercises last night. Little guy was playing superhero, so I was doing my "superhero exercises." He seemed somewhat unconvinced, but I told him it was making me stronger and periodically joined him in saving the world from the evil queen at the museum. Hard to say if depression is at bay or not. I continue to take my medication for now. It keeps me even. That might be something to look into down the road. Joint pain is still present. Have some things I will tinker with on a dietary level in a few weeks. Though I think it also takes more than just 25 days to really detox 25 years of less-than-optimal food choices. Keeping at it. I'm tired of listing my medicine cabinet whenever I have to tell a doc what I'm on! Some folks report no asthma symptoms either. Wouldn't that be awesome!?

Day Twenty-Four (Monday)

Today is my last Monday. Well, my last Monday on Whole 30. Though, I kind of am seeing myself doing some version of this long-term. My inflammation hasn't quieted down, which is sad. I was hoping to see a tangible result in that arena. There is information to support a few other foods as inflammatory, such as eggs and nightshades (more on nightshades here). But for the sake of finishing, I am going to explore those in about two weeks. I don't think I'm the type to eat chicken and greens for breakfast. Breakfast really is the hardest meal. Not only do I not want to eat in the morning, there aren't many compliant foods that are healthy and get your protein going.

Ate:

• Spinach and eggs. Key Lime Larabar. I might need to learn how to make my own Larabars, or buy them in bulk. I try not to have one every day.
• EarthFare salad bar with spinach, oranges, strawberries, chicken + my own dressing with a few steamed veggies (and a $2 off coupon!)
• Some roasted cashews (compliant!!!)
• STEAK. I admit it. I love some beef. Jerod grilled rib-eyes. And some squash and peppers. Gosh, steak is yummy. I probably ate a little too much of it.

Impressions:

My last three days on whole 30 will be on a retreat. The good thing is, our meals are provided by an on-site cafeteria, and they're willing to work with dietary needs. I HATE being "that person" who has a list of issues. But, I will need a source of protein and vegetables that aren't soaked in butter. There aren't fridges in the room (though they offered me one--how nice!), so I'm stocking up on some fruit and nuts and Larabars for snacks. I'm fairly sure they have a salad bar, so I'll bring my own dressing. Should be interesting, to say the least. There's really nowhere to eat out that's 100% compliant and tasty. Every salad dressing served in public has soybean oil and sugar in it. And you really aren't talking to nutritionists when you ask servers and cashiers what's in the food. Most of them just shrug when you ask about gluten (what's that?) or soy. Lots of places have online allergens listed, and gluten, soy and dairy are generally listed. But there's really no way to know if stuff has sugar in it. Meats are glazed in it, MSG isn't always listed, and a whole host of other preservatives and chemicals. Not that I'll never eat out again, by any stretch; but this has been eye-opening in the sense of how much "cleaner" I can eat at home. That said, the move away from convenience foods is also a major challenge. I have no idea what's for dinner tomorrow night. We have salad, asparagus, and some ground beef on deck. What in the world sounds good with those components? I constantly have to think ahead to make sure I can stay on track. Hopefully, once we get a decent rotation of meals, I can look more toward planning out menus. Still not very good at that. SIX MORE DAYS!!!!

Days 21-23 (Friday-Sunday)

Who has time to write about food on the weekends? Particularly when it takes you an hour to make a simple dinner? I'm a 30-minute meal kind of gal. That's why I love a good casserole or something you can zip together and let the oven do the rest...I'm going to have to get used to prepping ahead or waiting longer to eat. There is no "fast" food. Yes, I said that last week, too. That's my current hurdle. Real food takes time to prep and cook.

I honestly can't remember everything I ate on Friday. It was all compliant.  :)

Ate/Saturday:

• Spinach eggs 
• Grilled and sauteed veggies a la tacos (no tortillas): zucchini, onions, red peppers, squash--with salsa and guacamole. One leftover meatloaf "muffin"
• Banana and almonds
• Pot roast, 1/2 sweet potato, spinach salad with dried berries; homemade bordeaux dressing (no sugar)

Ate/Sunday:

• Almonds and banana (in the car)
• Panera Fuji apple salad with chicken, tomatoes (took off sugared dried apples and cut up a fresh one on it) and my own dressing
• Almonds
• Tapioca and coconut flour-breaded baked chicken tenders, cauliflower "mashed fauxtatoes," and green beans
• Very hungry late, so I ate about 1/2 c. of pot roast

Impressions:

Almost to the finish line! Just about another week to go. Thinking about how to stay on plan next weekend while I'm away. Also thinking about cheddar cheese and coffee creamer. Will have those two things at the ready next Monday morning. Fingers crossed my body is ok with a little dairy. I don't need to go dairy-crazy, but the thought of ZERO dairy makes me beyond sad. I still can't believe I've gone 23 whole days without sugar, wheat, dairy or soy. I ate fast food once at chick-fil-A, but it was pretty much just chicken and salad with my own dressing. I thought I couldn't do that many days without chocolate. The cravings have pretty much subsided, and I'm interested to get into the reintroduction to see how my body responds. Would love to find a good option for tortillas. The veggie "tacos" tasted fantastic, but it would have been nice to wrap them all up in something for eating. I'm sure there are some recipes out there...

Day TWENTY. (Thursday)

Yes, I typed that 20 in all caps. 'Cause I'm 2/3 done to the done. However, I'm doing lots of thinking about how I will never really be DONE if I'm pursuing long-term health. I'm gathering recipes and doing a lot of thinking about how my eating life should never look like it did 21 days ago. I will definitely be adding something back to the coffee, even if it's just a little agave juice or something to the coconut milk. Starting each day with old ashtray taste just isn't pleasant. And it's just one cup.

Ate:

• By Thursdays each week, I seem really done with eggs. Particularly when I'm out of spinach. Tried turkey and eggs with some salsa. Not my favorite moment.
• Banana and almonds
• Leftover fajita chicken and peppers with guacamole and grapes
• Cashew larabar (oh my. So yummy)
• Dinner was very good. Made a paleo meatloaf (muffin-size) with a half crock-pot sweet potato  and fresh green beans. Looking forward to my leftovers already. Had to buy a few things to make it, but it's stuff I can use in the future like coconut flour and tapioca flour.

Impressions:

Even though the Whole 30 people say NOT to weigh yourself, I mean...really? I understand it's not about weight loss; it's about health. But be hanged if I'm not eating a morsel of sugar, bread, corn, etc. for a month and not seeing if it's helping my poundage! So, I've lost 8.5 pounds in 20 days. I'm searching for ways to keep my activity levels up as well. I have done a LOT of walking in the last 10 days or so, some on purpose and some just due to work. My next goal is to get 10-20 minutes of some push ups and pilates-style strength work on the floor at some point during the day to get my core firmer and stronger. I can't think about where to fit in cardio just yet.

I'm thinking a lot about God's creation in the midst of all this. How he put so many wonderful things on the earth to nourish us. How plants are full of everything we really need to sustain us and keep us healthy. So much of the food science and food creations we have pale in comparison to what He made for us. I'm really in love with this idea of eating things that don't have long, scary lists of ingredients, made by companies who profit on our sickness and cravings. And for real, I'm not that girl who is big on conspiracy theories and hippie food. I'm a regular person on a quest to live better.

Surprises:

Bummed that just this week, my LEFT hand started to ache as my right hand does. Both hands now have some symptoms of inflammation. Not cool, hands. Not cool. Not sure what might have started it, but perhaps all the hauling of stuff I had to do on Friday and Monday for work. I realize it might take a while to get my inflammation calmed down, so I will wait. And not go crazy on October 7 (day 31). Retraining the brain to think of food as medicine and not just as pleasure is no easy task.

Days Eighteen & Nineteen (Tuesday/Wednesday)

Trying to keep record of each day is like trying to pin down a housefly. The darn things just move so fast!  It is interesting to see what my eating triggers are...not that I'm surprised by any of them, but just interesting to see what my brain is doing in the midst of this.

I am highly motivated at lunchtime by food that is already prepared. I don't want to do much more than toss a salad or reheat in the microwave on my lunch break. Pre-prepared food is a little tough on this program, since I am the original preparer of most of it. We generally survive the mid-week madness with the help of some of our tried and true "heat and eats" (as my friends Carmen and Jonathan call them). A heat and eat would be something like a bag of prepared chicken bites with orange sauce that we just have to make a quick fried rice and broccoli to accompany. The whole thing takes less than 30 minutes. Since little man comes home from school ready to eat every carb he sees, 30-minute meals are ideal. This program is a LOT more intensive in the food prep and purchasing department. I have to drop by a grocery store at least every 3-4 days to keep my produce up and running. You can't bulk-buy bananas to last you two weeks! In addition to the chef I've hired in my head, I now am considering a personal produce shopper (not really. but kind of.). All of this seems to be the reason for my fast-food lunches. I'm hungry. Someone else cooked it. Boom. Done. No thinking. I have to focus on making my own "fast food" in the sense of always making enough dinner for leftovers or cooking extra on the weekends. If I have something good available, I won't transgress in a drive-thru line.

Ate/Tuesday:

• Salsa eggs. I'm out of spinach. I need to get some spinach.
• Tuesday I gobbled up the last of my chicken salad with a green salad while trying to prep dinner (on lunch break).
• Well, once again, we realized why Husband cooks more often. My cilantro-lime baked chicken was a little heavy on the lime (tangy!). With broccoli and wilted greens with a slice of bacon. The good news is, Little Man wasn't a fan of the chicken, but ate about a cup of broccoli. This would have been ever so much better with some rice to temper the strong flavors.

My breakfast is going...cooking the eggs every day.

Ate/Wednesday:

• Pepper and onion eggs. I still need some spinach. Those are the best. And some baked bacon. So much less greasy and crispier. (or is that "crisper?" I don't know.)
• Cherry Larabar since the eggs disappeared around 11 am.
• Exhibit "A" on why I need to make my own fast food. So hungry after a full morning of campus touring. Ended up with an apple-walnut salad and a quick grilled burger with dijon. I don't care for hamburgers unless there's a bun involved. Not my fave texture.
• Pistachios and a banana while waiting for dinner. I am totes hungry by dinner time.
• Dinner was all about redeeming that lime-tastic chicken. We made fajitas with the rest of it and added peppers and onions with a side of salsa and guacamole. Much, much better on Wednesday.
  

  

  Fajitas are a KEEPER. Husband's tortillas looked GOOD.

Impressions: 

The magical deep sleep that many people report on whole 30 has not really happened to me. I think I just need more overall. Food will not help or hinder that. Feeling a little sluggish just from life. Looking up recipes all the time, but hopefully will get more in my recipe arsenal so this isn't hard forever.

Surprises:

I don't think I'm really craving things in the true sense of craving. The guys made a pizza the other night, and while I definitely wanted some, I didn't feel desperate to have some. I'm going with progress on that front. Also, good cashews are crazy expensive. You'd think they were surrounded by some sort of poison in the giant pod...oh, wait.

Day Seventeen. (Monday)

Did you enjoy yesterday's Bon Jovi sing along? 'Cause I did. Today, I kind of feel like playing some "Rocky" theme song. I am kickin' this whole 30 thing in the TEETH. Boo ya. And stuff. Still trying to reconcile the fact that I know in my knower that I feel much better. It doesn't seem to take me until 10 am to wake up mentally. But the rub lies in the fact that in my food-craver, I still dream about October 10th, when I am able to eat a slice of pizza. Yes, the date is marked on the calendar. Me and Papa John or somebody are going to have a party. And I'm guessing that after 34 or so days with no wheat, it might make me sick. And then I get sad. Roller coaster. I probably shouldn't be obsessing about what I can have on October 10. I should probably get thinking about what we're having for dinner, say...tonight, since I have no plan for that. EarthFare is running specials on all kinds of food I don't like lately, like kombucha and lobster tails. What up, EarthFare? How about some pastured beef? Hmmm? Help a sister out.

So yeah. My meal-planner seems to be broken. I need to call out a repairman. The problem with meal planning isn't so much the planning as the execution. I mean, I have to go to a store on my lunch break, hunt for things, and then make food. My success rate on new things is pretty low, so I am usually disappointed. Also, we are usually famished by the time the meal is ready. And Shepard is full of pretzels, because he just can't wait. Bless him. Clearly, the solution here is to hire a chef.

Ate:

• Some eggs. With spinach and green onions. And some grapes. One day I'll branch out, but these are fairly fast and easy.
• CHICKEN SALAD (recipe)! This is a recipe I've been making for years, and all I had to do was make some mayo so it would work. Ate it with a green salad. Do note, this chicken salad is good when you make it, but the magical curry morphs it overnight into a thing of beauty.
• Had a banana and almonds, because I can barely make it to 6 pm without some true hunger.
• Leftover spaghetti squash and marinara/meat sauce. (While husband and little man had pizza! The smell.)

Impressions:

This whole thing is supposed to break food addictions. Even though I wouldn't classify my food thoughts as true cravings, I do think a lot about sharp cheddar and other no-no's. I don't think there's a magic button that will turn that off. I don't lunge at cupcakes, but then, I never have. I am not allowed to get near potato chips (maybe ever), and I really really want some chips and salsa. So, I'm not sure if it's working on my brain. I just have to keep telling myself that after this, I can maintain about an 85-90% paleo eating plan and have one day when I eat some things I miss. Keeping it in a one-day limit should set some firm boundaries for me. And still, need to have my pizza with a large side salad. Also, need to find a portable salad dressing container, 'cause I am not eating commercial salad dressing. (and as soon as I write that, I think longingly of really good blue cheese dressing...sigh)

Surprises:
There was homemade pumpkin dip with graham crackers and 'nilla wafers at small group tonight. And I had water. Cue Rocky theme.

(Days 14-16) Ooooooh. We're halfway there.....oooooooh....

....livin' on a prayer....take my hand and we'll make it I swear....ooooooh. Livin' on a prayer!!!

Y'all. Seriously. Halfway.

Clearly, I had precious little time to blog over the weekend. And clean, folded laundry is still stacked up on the sofa...and there's a crock pot that needs to be washed in the sink. But, that's life.

So, we're going to do a speedy-recap of the last three days. And......GO!

Ate:

Friday: eggs with spinach, banana, leftover chili; had to work, so I grabbed some sliced turkey and some pistachios...then ate zucchini with onions, butternut squash and more turkey for dinner at 8:30.

Saturday: eggs with spinach, bacon...went to Festival in the Park (which is basically an upscale FAIR with FAIR FOOD). Surrounded by funnel cakes, anything on a stick, hot dogs, pizza, Greek gyros...Lord, have mercy! Waited it out and swung by Chick-fil-A on the way home for a grilled chicken salad. Yes, their grilled chicken has some soy, but otherwise no other issues. Ate it at home with my own dressing and a few almonds. Dinner was spaghetti squash with marinara/meat sauce.

Sunday: my to-go breakfast in the car was sliced turkey, almonds and a banana. Not my finest hour. Then, Qdoba failed me at lunch. (not really their fault, I guess). The shredded beef was ok, but the salad was way too spicy and tasteless all at once. Salsa was very hot today. Could not really get much of the salad down. There's not much worse eating-wise than going to one of your favorite places and getting gross food.
Soo hungry. I think I ate a few grapes. Then had a Larabar to get myself to dinner. Dinner was finally a good meal, with grilled chicken, butternut squash, half a zucchini, half a red pepper, & half a yellow pepper. Thanks again, Chef-Husband.

Also the only meal I took a picture of...

Total yum after a day of total bum.

Impressions: Halfway feels really, really good. This is totally do-able. Provided I don't have major soy issues, this is even do-able long-term for the most part. The gist of it will be eating just meat and vegetables, cutting out vegetable oil, and eating protein for breakfast. I can live without a lot of things.

Surprises: Fairly surprised I've made it day 16 with little to no cheats. Coffee is my only stumbling block. But, I've cut back on the stuff I put in it by at least 95%, so I'm going with improvement in that category. No cheats anywhere else unless it was accidental. I tightened up some things this past week to improve over week one. I made my OWN MAYONNAISE, y'all. So, there's some delicious chicken salad in my future. Did I mention that I made my own mayonnaise? 'Cause that's a big deal. I'm not exactly the most adept person in the kitchen. It only took me two weeks to get all the ingredients together. But it's made.

Let's all sing together...ooooooooh we're halfway there!