16 days since my first whole30 - and something else!

Well, I'm not back at exactly where I was before I began. But I'm definitely not eating as well as I was during the whole30. I miss it. I know, you're probably thinking "why don't you just eat better?". I don't know. Lack of self-control maybe. But ON whole30, I had total self-control. I must figure this out.

This morning, I had an almost whole30 compliant breakfast. The only thing that wasn't compliant was my coffee. I had added a teaspoon of sugar and a bit of milk to it. The coffee at home isn't as good as the one I drink black at work.

I'm getting moody again. Tired again. Heartburn again. Not as bad as BW30 (before whole30). I miss the good meals. Ridiculous, I know. I should just eat the way I was eating which was making me happy and satisfied. OK, I will! Enough! Right?


Something else
I'm also trying something that I think might be life changing. I have read many online posts and a few books on cleaning and organizing. I have applied some of the things I've learned, but I still have much to improve upon.

I've also met someone who has inspired me with his blog. His blog is called The Month Project. So for a month, he picks something new to try which he works at every day for the month and then writes about the experience. Totally cool, right? Well I think so! By doing that, he's definitely growing and learning. There is no way he'll be the same man next year as he is now. That inspires me!

I strongly believe that the people we meet in life help us learn and grow. Whether we (or they) realize it or not. Whether the experience is good or not.

The Whole30 got me started this year on the right foot. So here is what I'm planning now that is not food related...

Every day until the end of the year, I want to get rid of 1 item in my home. I've been bothered with clutter in my house. I hate it. I'm not a hoarder. Not even close. But things could be better. And if I can let go of enough stuff before my next move, it will be that much cheaper to move. I've met a few people (mostly men) who lived with what I consider to be the bare minimum in their homes. Some didn't even own a kettle to boil water. They used a regular pot instead. And why not? Right? A kettle is more convenient and socially expected. However, a regular pot does the job. Not that I'm planning on getting rid of my kettle, but I have so many other things I can do without. My basement is full of things that I haven't touched since I've moved into this house over a year ago. Heck, I hadn't even touched most of those things BEFORE moving. So why did I bother bringing them with me?!?

I'm still trying to figure out the exact details. What I've considered so far is to get a box (or bag) and every day I will pick one thing to put in it that I will then donate when the box/bag is full. 

Today, I will start by getting rid of that one bag that is already filled with clothes to donate.

That means that I will get rid of at least 318 things by the end of the year! Woah!

The day after – Reflections on my first Whole30

So here I am, the day after my first Whole30. I made it!

The challenges

Having to make all of my meals, from scratch: I couldn’t rely on premade foods. Most had terrible ingredients that were absolutely not compliant with the challenge. Before Whole30 (like I’ve mentioned in a previous post), I used to buy my breakfast and lunch at work, AND could eat restaurant food for supper up to 5 times a week. Appalling!

Finding compliant ingredients: It’s quite the eye opener when you read labels to see how many things have sugar (and the other fancy names it goes by) and other undesirable ingredients (such as soy and gluten). Spice mixes I loved I couldn’t have because of these issues. I couldn’t find any compliant store bought broth or almond milk. Realizing that some of the things that pass as “healthy” can be quite far from it.

Trying new recipes that didn’t turn out as delicious as I expected them to be: However, once I relaxed and kept things simple, oh man was the food ever so tasty!! In fact, many of the meals I made during the challenge will absolutely stay in regular rotation!

When I got emotional or stressed, I couldn’t turn to food: I had no idea that I was a stress eater or emotional eater. Seriously! It became evident to me that I was during this process. And being a single mom of a teenager, having recently (October 11, 2014) lost my father whom I dearly loved, and having my mother move in with us – God knows I’ve been experiencing stress!! So what did I do? I just took better care of myself. Getting new lovely scented shower gels. Buying a perfume scent that I used to wear in my early twenties that I really liked and wearing it to bed, just for me. Watching my Big Bang Theory DVDs. Hiding out in my room once in a while. Reading.

The easiest

Eating the delicious food that I was making!: Eating so much restaurant food had left me unimpressed with food. I kept wanting tasty things. But you know what? I’ve come to realize that restaurant food isn’t as tasty as one would expect.

I didn’t have to count calories or limit portions: As long as you eat real food, your body pretty much does that on its own. It’s very difficult to binge on meat and vegetables. Your body is satisfied quicker than it would if you binged on pizza, chips, chocolate, and other “treats”. Go figure!

Resisting cravings: Really! I had them. Sometimes, they were quite intense. However, I was SO much stronger than them. I don’t know why. I suppose I was ready. And I think that reading It Starts With Food before undertaking the Whole30 probably helped. Knowing why and how we react to food the way we do makes it easier to control cravings – in my opinion.

The results

I don’t think I’ve felt the “magic” as strongly as I had expected. However, here is a list of subtle changes:

·    My joints hurt less.

·    I’ve only taken my heartburn medication 3 times (I think) during the whole month. I used to take it every other day.

·    I’m extremely proud of myself to have made it through this challenge! It’s about time I start treating myself with love!

·    My face looks different. I can’t quite explain how. It’s subtle. But I see it. Less bloated maybe?

·    My daughter and my mom both got colds, but I didn’t, even though we all live in the same house.

·    I don’t get the same afternoon “want to nap” feeling as strongly as I did.

·    I don’t feel the need to eat between meals.

·    When I’m hungry, it’s not the hurting kind of hungry. It’s just a matter of fact “hey it’s been more than 3 or 4 hours since I last ate, I should probably eat something” kind of hungry.

·    I don’t use food for comfort, reward, or stress management.

·    I understand the difference between hunger and cravings.

·    I’ve inspired a few people around me to incorporate some of my healthier meals into their meal rotation.

·    I haven’t eaten restaurant food in 30 days.

·    I have a bigger good food recipe repertoire.

  

Weight loss:                   11.8 lbs

Centimetres lost:            Arm – 2 cm

                                       Chest – 6 cm
                                       Waist – 2.5 cm
                                       Hips – 2.5 cm
                                       Thigh – 2.5 cm

What’s next?

Reintroduction, that’s what.

So for the next two weeks, I will reintroduce food categories I’ve eliminated one at a time to see how my body reacts to them.

First, grains (wheat, rye, or barley). Then dairy. Then other grains (like rice and corn). Then legumes (although I’m not a super huge fan, so I don’t mind not bringing them back into my diet – they weren’t there much anyway).

But no matter what, I will most likely eat a Paleo diet most of the time.

I want to keep the good habits I’ve developed during this challenge. I want to keep making my meals from scratch. The difference, if I’m invited to the restaurant or to eat at friends or family’s homes, I won’t worry about what will be served. In restaurants, I can make the healthiest choice possible within the limits of the menu (with possible modifications if needed – yes, I will be THAT woman).

 
So there you have it. This was my first Whole30 journey. I expect to do it again, maybe yearly, or every 6 months. We shall see.

 

 

Day 30

Breakfast: 2 scrambled eggs, 3 sausages, a mango, and a black coffee

Lunch: 3 turkey patties with ranch dressing, steamed carrots and broccoli, and a clementine

Supper: chicken wings and crudités, and mixed berries

Day 29 – More protein!

OK, so yesterday I was VERY hungry. It felt like I could not get enough food into me. I was ravenous at every meal and got hungry before it was time to eat again. Possible reason? I think it may be the baked potatoes. I think I may be having them too often. I actually had two of them yesterday. One at breakfast, and one after my supper. So, today I’m avoiding them. It might also be not enough protein.

Breakfast: 3 hard-boiled eggs, a banana, pistachios, and a black coffee. (I really like this breakfast at work combination)

Lunch: chicken and kale soup, shrimp, green beans, a cucumber, and a pear.

Supper: turkey patties with homemade ranch dressing, steamed carrots and broccoli, olives, and mixed berries

The steamed carrots tasted soooo sweet! I don’t remember carrots being so sweet! It was almost sickening. I ate them because I made them. But I’d rather eat them raw. I was wondering if my palate changed at all during the Whole 30. Diets usually made me “suffer”. But the food has been so good, it hasn’t been a pain to be Whole 30.

Day 28

I think that I’ve figured out how to deal with my constipation issues – eating mixed berries at every supper. Since I’ve started, things have been better in that area.

Breakfast: baked potato, 2 hard-boiled eggs, banana, pistachios, and a black coffee

Lunch: spaghetti sauce, olives, a pickle, and a clementine

Supper: leftover pork Italian sausages with onions, yellow bell peppers, button mushrooms over zoodles, and mixed berries. And a baked potato.

I don’t know why, I was extra hungry today.

Day 27

Breakfast: leftover brochette, hard-boiled egg, banana, pistachios, and a black coffee

Lunch: leftover pork Italian sausage with onions, yellow bell peppers, button mushrooms over zoodles, and a clementine

Supper: bacon and eggs, fried baked potato with green onions, mixed berries

Day 26 - Inspiring others?

Well, it looks like the people around me are starting to get curious about what I'm doing. Maybe it's because I keep raving about how delicious the food I've been eating is. I've started a Whole 30 food photo album on Facebook. And I'm just so happy to talk about it when asked.

I'm finally to the point where some of the meals I've been making will certainly be part of my regular meal rotation. My go to "comfort" foods. So very different than what I used to eat.

I haven't had restaurant food in 26 days, unless you count hard boiled eggs, bananas and black coffee as restaurant food. I certainly don't.

Breakfast: chicken wings and a black coffee. I probably should have more, but I wasn't all that hungry today.

Lunch: leftover turkey patties and homemade ranch dressing (Yum!!), green beans, and a cucumber

Supper: pork Italian sausage, onions, yellow bell peppers, button mushrooms over zoodles, mixed berries for desert

The hardest thing to date, making food for every meal. I went from hardly ever cooking to pretty much cooking for every meal. It's tiring. The easiest thing, eating what I'm allowed to eat. Simple foods are so tasty! I haven't felt this excited about food in years!