Day 35

I Posting on day 36. I haven't given up clean eating! I also have not reintroduced anything but those treats I mentioned and yesterday I had red wine. A little too much red wine. I had maybe 1/3 of a bottle over 3 hours and it was too much. It was organic minervois (my favourite!) but had added sulphites. I woke to a pounding headache. Not feeling hungover so much as poisoned. Double whammy of booze and sugar. Proud to say I didn't disintegrate into bad eating habits but I definitely had sugar craving while I drank. It sucks that I am so sensitive to everything, double edged sword for sure. I'd love to research the headache as a response to eating sensitive foods--why does the body respond like that? So here I am, chugging water with an aching head and BACK. Oh yes, the wine triggered a back ache for sure. So not worth it!

Meal 1

Meal 2

Meal 3

These are spicy buffalo drumsticks. Backed with salt and pepper for 40 mins at 400 degrees and then tossed in franks red hot and coconut oil and garlic powder which I simmered on the stove. Then I put them back in the oven for 5 mins and then broiled for 2 minutes. Served with extra dipping sauce which is just the leftover sauce from coating. Amazing!!!

Going out to dinner tonight. Not drinking red wine. Limiting to one glass of white wine and not eating grains. Open to dairy tonight and we will see how that goes.

Day 34

Meal 1

This wasn't enough food but it was very tasty.

Meal 2

I made up for the puny breakfast by having a big lunch. Cauliflower rice and leftover chilli and avocado.

Meal 3

The merguez sausages were amazing. Definitely getting them again! Unfortunately the plantain was too ripe so tasted like bananas. It's ok because I just ended up giving them to my kid. I made some coleslaw and tried to recreate the creaminess with coconut milk and cashew butter. Not too bad.

So I ended up having a treat last night. Coconut bliss ice cream! It was good, but I think all the food obsession is definitely a mental thing. The anticipation of having it was way more exciting than actually eating it. I had a bit of a headache after but I feel fine today.

Day 33

Just a normal day eating whole30 style. The only annoying part of the day is that I was super unmotivated at work. It's so hot out and I made the mistake of working from home so lots of procrastinating happened. Tomorrow is a new day and I plan on leaving the house to work! 

I also had a tight chest, anxiety-like heart fluttering. I think my herbal supplement I'm taking might be causing it.

Meal 1

This breakfast was awesome. I can't believed I lived all my life without cashew butter until today. I've been missing out!

Meal 2

The beloved tuna salad. Never disappoints!

Meal 3

Beanless slow cooker chili and an avocado. I didn't have enough starchy veg today so I'm already hungry! It's gonna be a long night. I might have to eat some more chili just to tide me over.

I'm going out to dinner Friday and I want to be able to test out either dairy or gluten, so I might just skip reintro until then, otherwise the schedule will be off. But, maybe I will treat myself to some coconut bliss before then!

Day 32

Day 2 of reintro went well, since all I had to do was eat compliantly. Yesterday I had wine, and I have felt tired today but I'm attributing that to menses rather than wine. I also felt cranky after a walk but it's 40 degrees outside and I had to cart a kid up a flight of stairs with grocery bags and sweat in my eyes so pretty sure it's that and not wine.

Meal 1

Husband made this while I slept in (ie hid in bedroom from toddler while drinking coffee and watching I am Cait). Egg pie with bacon rashers inside it, peppers, onions, arugula and fresh basil. Asian slaw and watermelon that I actually found to be too sweet. Wow, tastebuds on LSD.

Meal 2

Classic tuna salad. I've taken to this lunch option. I have it a lot and it always makes me happy.

Meal 3

Husband cooked from Whole30 recipe book. Baked cod with roasted pepper and mushroom salsa. In our case it was baked sole. Really good! I can see using the salsa, which is more like a stirfry on top of anything: shrimps, steaks...

Sweet potato hash which is really just caramelized sweet pot in coconut oil. Tasted like desert. Salad and roasted salted cashews from Prana. The cashews were so much better than the ones from the cheap grocery store. Damn you expensive health food nuts! I'm going to do nuts as my fat more often as I am officially. Sick. Of avocados.

Looking forward to going shopping for more produce and meat later this week. I like having options.

Tomorrow is another day of regular whole 30 eating, then I will decide what to reintroduce.

Day 31

Heyo!

Today I look back on all the improvements I saw on w30. I finally weighed myself and lost 11lbs. I feel so much better now than I did 30 days ago:

- 90% less back pain

-less bloated

-great digestion

-great energy

-awesome mental outlook, like the feeling  that I am able to tackle any problem or any task without worry

-I learned that if I am stressed I want to eat

-I broke the habit of snacking

-stopped eating after dinner

-no cravings!

-no obsessing about food

-no guilt about what I am putting in my body

-tried new veggies

-learned new recipes

-I was able to commit to something that benefits my health

-improved sleep, waking rested 

-sounds weird, but my eyesight improved

-I really love that the 30 days made healthy eating seem normal and become habitual. 

Before and day15 face

So there you have it! I'm still taking pictures of my meals as I am still eating compliantly as I reintro different foods.

Meal 1

Hard boiled egg, Toulouse sausage, avocado (unripe, sob!) and some lettuce to make wraps with all that stuff. I also had Starbucks coffee (yay!) made at home with coconut milk. 

Meal 2

Picnic style at the park so no photo. I had Asian slaw, Toulouse sausage, plantain chips and guac and my beloved glass of white wine. It was terrific but not as awesome as I was anticipating. I'm pretty sure it was the fact that I couldn't have any for a month that made me want it even more. I kind of have a headache now...

Meal 3

Taco salad!

Tomorrow I go back to eating whole30 for two days and then onto reintro of legumes! I'm thinking peanut butter and hummus and black beans, oh my!

W30 day 30!!!

I did it! This was truly a big commitment but so worth it for my wellbeing. I cooked a LOT, chopped lots of veggies, and probably at 5 dozen eggs in these 30 days. We went through 2 litres of olive oil, over 30 avocados. I tasted jicama for the first time. I learned to make baba ganoush. My tastebuds are more sensitive--no savoury food requires sugar anymore for flavouring, like marinades and dressings. All that is sugar free now. Treats are apple or banana with almond butter. Dates and toasted coconut are sinfully delicious. Lara bar equals chocolate bar. I don't miss dairy. I don't miss bread, rice, tortillas or all the other grain foods I thought I'd be pining for. Still looking forward to my glass of wine tomorrow, though!

Meal 1

Husband made breakfast. Yummy fried eggs with sweet pots, bacon rashers and fried tomatoes. I forgot the fat so that meant I was hungry 3 hours later instead of the usual 5.

Meal 2

Lunch was scrumptious. I mastered plantain fries cooked in palm oil. Asian slaw and red peppers rolled in compliant salami dipped in mustard. Avocado on the side for fat.

Meal 3

No photo as we went out to a piri piri place for charcoal grilled chicken. I enquires about the sauce and it is compliant. Had it with salad sans dressing and oven potatoes. I'm thinking the potatoes had no no's in them because I feel so full.

Tomorrow I weigh in and report on all my victories!

W30 day 29

Tomorrow is my last day of whole30! I can't wait to weight myself and report back on that and my non scale victories as well! I'll do a recap and post my goals for reintroduction too.

Meal 1

Breakfast was quick and awesome. Leftover cauliflower rice, which my son adores by the way, hard boiled egg and leftover sausage with a bit of avocado.

Meal 2

Lunch was a bit odd because at first I felt really hungry, but as I prepared this I completely lost my appetite. I picked at this salad and could only finish half. My appetite and ability to scarf down food has completely changed. The salad had arugula, hard boiled egg, olives, crispy prosciutto and shredded chicken. Evoo and balsamic dressing.

Meal 3

Dinner was delicious. I unfortunately over cooked the pork in the slow cooker, so it was dry, but the the flavour was on point. With it we had some baked sweet potatoes. I also made an Asian style slaw with cabbage, cuke, celery and carrot. The dressing consists of a splash of sesame oil, the juice of a lime, coconut aminos, olive oil, a bit of coconut milk and lots of Korean red pepper powder. It was definitely the highlight of the meal. 

 

Eating this way has become the new normal and I am really looking forward with a bit of trepidation about how to eat long term. I think I'll do reintro and then go back to w30 but with occasional off plan eating. The only things I can see really wanting are dark chocolate, wine and coconut bliss ice cream. I don't miss anything else. Crazy! I thought I'd at least be sad about cheese or baguette, but no.

W30 day 28

Posting on day 29! Yesterday was a good day of eating.

Meal 1

I couldn't finish this meal, too full. Great scramble with onions and fresh herbs. Leftover sausage and potatoes with avocado. Al lovingly prepared by husband.

Meal 2

Tuna (packed in evoo) salad made with arugula and spinach, olives, lime juice, and julienne carrots. I love tuna salad for lunch!

Meal 3

Husband made an epic shrimp city from scratch. I made an excellent cauliflower rice with fresh coriander, shredded coconut for fat, curry powder, coconut aminos and apple cider vinegar, curry powder, cinnamon and turmeric. 

Going to look up w30 and bloating because I still feel bloated...probably pms related. Yay.

W30 day 27

Only three more days, then a victory glass of wine and some slow re-introduction. After that, I'm going to do another whole30. Why? Because I feel fantastic and I'm motivated to eat well so that I can keep my inflammation down and lose more weight. Next time I think I will take my measurements, because I am not sure how much I shed, but it definitely shows in my face. So much of looking and feeling better is down to less bloating which might not show up on the scales.

Meal 1

Egg pie made by husband with avocado and nectarine. There is like a two week window every year when nectarines reach their flavour zenith. Yeah, it's this week.

Meal 2

Leftovers fun! Kofta and last nights salsa chicken and veggies with salad and tahini sauce. So delish!

Meal 3

Salad, broccoli, roasted potato wedges and Italian sausages with kimchi. Amazeballs.

Part of my re-introduction goals include mindful eating/drinking. We still sometimes have our dinner in front of the tv, but recently started watching Dexter which puts me off food. All in all there is 90% no snacking, and about 30% TV dinner. Used to be 100% snacking through the day and 85% TV dinner. Winning! Another part of mindful drinking is the social aspect of it. I vow never to drink alone again, nor do I ever want to have a hangover again. To celebrate, I will drink wine at a picnic I am organizing on Sunday, with compliant food. Hopefully I can find a low nitrate wine so I can have a better idea of what may cause reactions.

I'm proud of myself for coming this far! 

W30 day 26

Wow, day 26! I think I slayed my sugar dragon. No cravings at all for a few weeks now, not many after day 15. In the beginning I didn't want to look at forbidden foods at the grocery store. But now I shop and go down the aisles I need and sort of feel bad for the folks buying only boxed food/smug that my cart is all green and colourful fruits with cans of olives.

Meal 1

A big morning for us! My baby went to daycare for the first time. I needed to eat well but was out of eggs, so I whipped up leftover hash. It consisted of sweet potatoes, onions, peppers, pulled chicken, pulled pork, spinach and avocado on top. It was great! My son had fun at daycare and when I picked him up he was happily eating lunch (not whole30 but what are ya gonna do).

Meal 2

Quickly made a salad for lunch: chicken warmed up with hot sauce, olives and tahini sauce for fat.

Meal 3

I wasn't very hungry but managed most of this. Plantains, peppers, onions and chicken stir fry in coconut oil with cumin and salsa. Salad with avocado and olives.

Throughout the day I ate some fruits, a few grapes and half a Lara bar.