Whole 30 Update

So it's been just under a month since I finished the Whole 30 experiment. I reintroduced all of the food groups and noticed that no particular food bothered me greatly. I did note that when I mix dairy and gluten together (pizza) I feel less than ideal, but it's not the worst feeling ever. I think most people might feel this way after too much pizza.

I have maintained my weight loss and I am still not really drinking alcohol. I've had a few drinks since the end of the challenge, but no beer.

My plan is to do another round of Whole 30 after I get back from my Christmas cruise. Right now I have a broken dishwasher and too many activities to try to be a good planner. Yes, this the lamest excuse ever. My stepdad is going to look at my dishwasher soon, so then I won't mind dirtying up a gazillion dishes. But this plan also gets me through the holidays. I figure as long as I'm still feeling well enough to train (did I mention I started running again?), I'll be fine. I'm sleeping well, and while my energy has faded somewhat, I'm notorious for wanting to hibernate this time of year.

So that's my update.

Whole 30...the results are in...

And I am NOT the father!

I'm also 12.4 lbs lighter on earth and lost 7.5" from my bust/waist/hips area.

I'm pleased with these findings,  though I personally think that much weight lost in one month is too much too fast. I'm hoping with the reintroduction of some foods that my weight loss will level off some. My pie in the sky goal is another 15 lbs or so.

Whole 30 Day 30: I told you I was a bad blogger

So, you may be wondering what I've been up to.  Or maybe not.  Anyway, I've been up to all kinds of good stuff.  Like learning what marimbas are, what "gate time" means at a marching band competition, and that I should buy stock in clarinet reed manufacturing companies.

Today's the last day of this food experiment starring moi.  And I'm really pleased with what I've learned.  In the last month I've learned that I feel great when I avoid processed foods.  I've learned that with a little bit of planning I really can eat lots of vegetables and delicious proteins with far less effort than I ever imagined.  I also managed to only eat out at a restaurant TWICE.  And I haven't had a drop of alcohol since September 12 when I went to see Madonna in concert.  I'm not a daily drinker by any means, but I did miss my weekend cocktail or IPA.

I have a plan for reintroducing the foods I've avoided.  It starts with legumes and I'll do that tomorrow.  I'm going to have hummus with lunch and I'm making taco bowls for dinner and mine will feature black beans.  The rest of my diet throughout this phase will be compliant.  I think on Sunday or so I'll try non gluten-y grains and then next week I'll have some cheese.  Cheddar, please.  Maybe some blue cheese on my salad.  Mmm.....cheese.  After that I'll have some wheat.  Will it be pasta?  Will it be bread????  I haven't decided.  Too bad I can't just have pizza and see what happens.  I'll have to keep each group on its own so I can (hopefully) identify which food is causing my problems.  If I can't decide which food is causing my problems, I think I'll try to live my life the Whole 30 way for the majority of the time and then also live. 

You're probably wondering how much weight I lost and all that.  And I'll tell you.  Tomorrow.  I'm weighing in and taking measurements.  People have definitely noticed that I look different though!

Lastly, I could not have gotten through this without the support of my friends, my family, and my voodoo chip maker.  Many thanks to all of you.  But mostly the chip maker.

Whole 30 Day 25: Five, five, five for my lonely...

Five days left!  Really?  Not sure why I made the Violent Femmes reference in the title.  I'm not lonely.

Anyway, things are going swimmingly.  I'm excited to have hummus next Wednesday.  I wonder if I'll explode from the legumes.  I sure hope not.  Yesterday was tough school wise with the kids and I totally could've used a potent potable when I got home, but I made do with some homemade chips using my voodoo chip maker.

I'm wearing my rings today.  I haven't worn them in at least two years, except for special occasions. I'm testing to see if they bother me at all during the day.  Other than that, it's been pretty boring.  I eat, I feel good, I sleep, repeat.

Whole 30 Day 22: Is this really over next week?

I never thought I could do this.  I really, truly didn't.  Well.  I haven't finished yet, but I really feel like the odds of me messing up at this point are super small.  I think the thing that surprised me most was how not hard it was to make these changes, so long as I planned my days in advance.

So that's my biggest take away so far.  Plan. Plan. Plan.

Yesterday I made chili for the crock pot, had tuna salad on bibb lettuce for lunch and some hard boiled eggs for breakfast. There were some other snacks and such in there, such as apples with almond butter.  Let me tell you about almond butter.  It's amazing and I love it...it's creamy and nutty but more sophisticated than peanut butter.  Try it.  You won't be sorry.  Later,  I did some shopping for the rest of the week and our menu includes:  chicken stir fry with this sauce (yes, I'm leaving the honey out), cauli rice, grilled chicken, spinach salad, and zoodles with marinara.  And leftover chili and tomato soup from the weekend.  I'm going to also try my friend's chicken shawarma recipe.

Next week I get to reintroduce legumes, so I think I'll do that by eating hummus at one meal and black beans at another.  Then I'll wait a week or so and see if there are ill effects.

So that's my update!

Whole 30 Day Twenty: Rain, rain go away!

It's been raining for days. Thanks nor'easter. It's perfect grilled cheese and tomato soup weather, though.

I made tomato soup in my crock pot for dinner. All that was missing was grilled cheese. Not even one ingredient of my perfect grilled cheese is allowed. Sigh.

We're going to watch Gremlins tonight with the kids. It's part of our "It's family time, dammit!" initiative. The kids are rolling their eyes now, but I'm sure they'll enjoy it.

I am considering going for a run tomorrow. I haven't felt like running in a while...so this is a definite improvement. I also got my first, "you look like you lost weight" comment. My face does look thinner,  I suppose. I can't believe I'm 2/3 through. It doesn't feel hard anymore, just sometimes like an inconvenience.

Whole 30 Day 18: Let there be mayo

I decided to try to make mayo again.  The last successful batch I had was emulsified, but not as emulsified as it could be.  I was using my stick blender with a whisk attachment which was part of the problem.  I tried fixing my broken mayo from last weekend in my Ninja blender and that bombed because the blender cup was just too big for the quantity of mayo.  Then I remembered I'm dumb and that I have a smaller food processor cup for the Ninja that might work.

Bingo!!!!

And just like that, I have a more emulsified mayo.  I can't wait to try it.  Maybe I'll make some tuna salad tomorrow.

Anyway, we're knee deep in Hurricane Joaquin memes here and I'm working on my plan for the weekend and what to do if the power goes out.  The answer is grill everything.

Oh!  How could I forget the biggest, bestest news of the week???  Yesterday I had my follow up with my rheumatologist.  As I expected, my blood work was all normal except for a borderline low D3 count.  The low vitamin D concerned me because I already take 1,000 IUI pretty regularly AND summer just ended.  And I was outside.  A lot.  Anyway, I told her I was doing Whole 30 and that since I started I'd been feeling pretty good and that I hadn't needed the Meloxicam that often.  She liked that and then suggested I up my D to 2,000 IUI.  And we'll check it again in a few months or whatever.  Anyway, that's the good news. 

Yay Whole 30!