4. th weeks in to my Whole 30

Let me start by saying that I do believe that eating paleo-style is really really worth it in terms of improving ones health and well being.  But man, is cutting out grains, sugar, alcohol and dairy for 30 days hard!

I have bombed on my self imposed Whole 30 challenge.

I actually had every intention of doing it right up until Christmas (so it was more like a Whole 50) but only really made it properly for 2 weeks.  These past 2 weeks I have eaten bread and cake and even lollies.  I have had 3 sips of alcohol - had to try the port that went into the Christmas pudding (it was very port like).  I have even had a few meal replacement shakes.

I think I bombed for a few reasons:

• My food variety was lacking.  
• I was not preparing enough extras before hand - you know cook a whole zucchini slice and freeze some of it for those days when you suddenly realize you haven't had lunch and now you're starving.  
• I stopped meal planning dinners - I did 2 weeks worth at the start and I stuck to it even if I shuffled meals around a bit.  After that I got complacent I think.

I need to re-evaluate what I am eating in terms of variety and need to ensure there is emergency "omg I am starving right now and I can't be bothered cooking from scratch" food.

I also need to get back into the habit of planning what we will eat for the next week for dinner - write it down and stick it up on the fridge.

I am not going to be hard on myself over this attempt.  Hell I did it for 14 days and feel so much better for it.  No more falling asleep watching tv early in the evening - in fact so alert at times I don't want to go to bed at a reasonable hour.  I am still following  paleo eating stlye - sort of.

I used to have 4 toast for breakfast, then possibly 4 more slices of bread at lunch or pancakes.  Dinner could be a casserole/stew or pasta or crumbed chicken/fish cooked in the oven with steamed veges.  In between there was the biscuits/cookies or cake mid morning and mid afternoon or a muesli bar.  Then after dinner there was often a similar snack even if we had dessert.

Now I try to eat a 'proper' breakfast (though this morning it was 2 toast with jam) and I try to have soup or eggs with grated veges for lunch and not have any grain things for dinner.  I did have home made spaghetti bolognese for dinner the other night - the pasta was sooo good, the sauce not so much.

In two weeks hubby and I go away to our caravan for 3 weeks - this is where I usually go a bit crazy with food.  It has been a tradition for years that I take cocoa pops with us - a big box - for breakfast; We always have cream biscuits and chocolate too.  Not to mention the lollies and nuts and muesli bars.  Dinners are usually quite good - bbq meat with salad; only occasionally will we do a pasta dish.  To top it all off there is a bakery in town that sends around a van selling their wares - bread, rolls and cakes.  My mum used to call the van meals on wheels.

At this point I don't have much of a plan to combat 'bad' food choices whilst away.  Maybe I will make some granola and some bars to take away with me - I don't know.

After 5 days of my Whole 30

I woke up with very little knee pain!!!  Very surprised by this. 

Last night I felt as though I had a lot more energy too and was quite alert, even at 10.30pm.  Usually a get an energy slump around 3-4pm and then again around 10pm.  Not last night.  I also woke up and felt alert - not my usual just woke up groggy feeling at all.

So what have I been eating?

Most breakfasts have been eggs of some sort - fried with bacon, fried with sautéed grated sweet potato, etc.  One morning I had 2 pork sausages with sautéed veges and this morning I had left overs from last night's dinner.

I made a batch of chicken soup and have been having that for lunch.  Dinners have been Apricot chicken (my fave), Lasagne with zucchini noodles (a bit wet), slow cooked Beef Goulash (forget the other 2).

The day I made the soup felt like I was cooking all day.  A draw back of this style of eating I suppose.  But now it is made all I have to do is reheat a bowlful.  I think that is the key to making this easier - precook a bit of food and batch it into single serves to be reheated over the next few days.

When I went shopping on Monday my fridge was chock fill of meat and veges - so much so that I couldn't fit it all in the appropriate areas.  But I did plan and shop for 2 weeks of meals.

I will admit that I have not been following the Whole 30 plan strictly.  I have tried it and decided that I still need/like to have 3-4 cups of tea a day with milk.  I have cut down the amount of milk I use to around 1 tablespoon - enough to make it a brown tea as opposed to black or white.  The Whole 30 police will probably be on my back about this but it is my life and diet and I should be able to do and eat as close to the program as I feel I can possibly manage.  Who knows, once summer hits I may not drink tea at all.  I have not eaten anything made from grains of any sort, not eaten any legumes or sugars - except what is naturally in fresh/frozen fruit.  So there....

Oh, my sleeping patterns are still roughly the same - disturbed at least once a night.  Unless of course the cat sleeps with me.  Then it's more like every time I need to turn over I get disturbed.  He likes to sleep hard up against me or even on me.  I have a large personal space and when he invades that of a night I find it hard to sleep well.  Solution - shut the bedroom door and hope that hubby keeps it closed when he goes to work at ridiculous am.

Starting a Whole 30

is going to be tricky.  I have read the book 'it starts with food' and it all makes sense.  I have also read a bit about eating paleo and the reasons behind it all and that all makes sense.  So now it is time to be the lab rat and JFDI.

I will try to be here daily to write about what I eat and how I feel - both physically and emotionally.

Today is Day 1.

Physically:

My knees hurt when I stand, so much so that getting out of bed in the morning is a slow and painful process.  My legs seem really stiff too.  It does loosen up during the day and I am sure the pain killers I take with my morning vitamins help take the morning pain edge off.

It is spring here in Australia so my hayfever is playing up too.  I spent the last week bush camping among trees that were shedding their seed fluff and that certainly hasn't helped the allergies.

I find I don't sleep well either; possibly due to allergies but more likely due to age related hormonal changes.  As a result I wake up groggy and it takes a bit for that feeling to go away.  Though i find playing some games on the computer helps with that.

Emotionally:

I am apprehensive (is that an emotion?) about doing a Whole 30.  I can get my head around dinner and lunch - I just need to be organised.  Dinner is probably the easiest meal to plan.  Lunch I need to ensure I have food ready to go - either precooked or at least easily and quickly cooked.  It's breakfast that I am going to struggle with.  What is breakfast if it's not toast or cereal or pancakes?  Ok, I can do bacon  and eggs and even add in some grated sweet potato - but eating that everyday is going to get rather boring after awhile.

Snacking is not allowable within Whole 30 'rules', but at least if I get really hungry I know I can eat some fruit or some nuts.  Eating anything else is not difficult as I tend to not buy biscuits or cake, etc anyway.

I am going to miss my tea - haven't had sugar in it for over 30 years but I do add milk.  Looks like I will be having weak black from now on.  At least I will be if I can stand the taste.


So why am I doing this?

Initially it was to lose weight, but after reading a few blogs and some books on eating paleo I am now doing this to see if I feel any better - with my knee, with my sleeping habits, etc.  Previously I have cut grains from my diet for around a week and noticed less knee pain and an alertness in the afternoon not felt before, so i am hopeful this will do me good.

So, wish me luck.  I am off to have some eggs and bacon and sweet potato and plane some meals for the next week....

Feel too Fat to be Photographed?

Well read this link and feel that way no more.

I have had my eyes opened.

Thank you Theresa!

Another Fast Day

Under my belt.

Yesterday I ate 1 yoghurt and 1 nectarine at around lunch time.  Then I had pasta bolognaise for dinner.

I was starving most of the afternoon - copious amounts of water did nothing to alleviate it today.  I was even hungry after dinner.  So much so that at 10pm-ish I had a jarrah hot choc in a tall mug.  I'm sure I was hungry when I went to bed!

Today I am alert and whilst having had 2 slice of toast and a banana and 2 cups of tea I am still hungry!!!

And I thought I was going to be lucky and not be very hungry on/after fast days......

Post Holiday thoughts

Hi there - it's been awhile hasn't it?

I went away with most of the immediate family for 2 weeks.  I was going to try to eat well and get in some pool exercise but that did not eventuate.  About the only thing I did 'healthy' was to do 1 low calorie consumption day.  I had intended to continue this whilst on holidays decided against it.

I ate morning tea - cakes usually - and had desert - choc coated soft serve - most days.  I did have cereal or berry bruschetta for breakfast and dinner was usually bbq meat and salad.  I also drank a lot of water.

Back home I weighed myself - gained 1.2kg.  Not too bad considering.  So back on the wagon I go.  Starting the whole 5:2 lifestyle thing and 5 days later I have lost 1.3kgs.  Today was supposed to be another fast day but I had to have breakfast early as I had an early appointment.  I prefer to 'fast' on days where I don't have to go anywhere early.  That way I can have breakfast later in the morning, like around 11am.  This then tides me over until dinner at around 7pm.

One thing I have found with the whole 'fast' days or low-cal-consumption days is how hungry I don't really get.  From what I have read and from what those I know who live like this have said is that initially they are ravenous a lot of the day.  Not me.  Maybe I am just lucky in the way.

So for my 2 fast days this is what I have eaten:
Day 1 - 1 nectarine, 2 kiwi fruit, 1 banana, handful of fresh berries (breakfast); chicken stir fry (dinner)
Day 2 - 2 rustic white toast spread with choc philly and topped with raspberries (breakfast); 1 1/3 snags, 1/4 large steamed kumara, steamed carrot and peas (dinner).
Day 3 - I forget what I ate, but I know I snuck in 3 lindt balls...
Day 4 - 2 toast with marg and jam, followed by half a chicken breast baked in the oven and topped with salsa and a sprinkling of grated cheese, two thirds of a potato sliced into chips and oven baked, steamed carrot and peas.

Each day I have 2 cups of tea and lots of water.  I will admit to being hungry when I go to bed of a night.  I have found that I have approx. 16 hours of not eating before I break my fast and a further 8 hours till dinner followed by a further 13 hours before breakfast the next day.  I try to be strong and not have anything else but those 2 meals a day.  I could do better with the calorie count I'm sure.

I am back to writing up on the fridge a weekly meal plan.  Breakfasts and lunches are all sorted and I have even gone so far as to decide what type of meat we will have for dinner - beef or chicken, etc.  At the moment I have the next 4 nights dinners planned in my head.

Oh and I have lost 2.1kg since I got home from holidays......