Whole30 Week Three

My husband and I have completed week three of the Whole30, an eating plan that is intended to reset and balance your system while helping to eliminate cravings and unhealthy food habits.  Let's start with this week's...

FOOD REVELATION:  Homemade sausage is a precious gift to oneself.  And if you do it my way, it's easy too.   It's so good I'll soon do a post dedicated solely to this happy thing.  Stay tuned!

Each week I reflect on what notable moments or lessons I've experienced.  Here are a few:

OBSERVATION #1: The Whole30 plan is self-perpetuating in a way similar to naturopathic medicine.  When you work with a naturopath, things get fixed.  Naturopathic physicians address the root cause of your conditions and everything just gets better.  It's addicting.  And therefore self-perpetuating.  For example your pain gets better so you work on your fatigue.  Your fatigue goes away and you ask your ND to address your allergies.  Your allergies disappear so you ask about weight loss.  The inevitable success of doing something the right way makes you do it more. 

In a way, the Whole30 plan is similar.  Surf the World Wide Web; you'll see that people everywhere are closing their Whole30 with resolve to just keeping eating that way.  Living without grains, sugar, dairy, and crappy seed oils just feels better.  So you keep doing it!! 

OBSERVATION #2: Being on the same page from a diet perspective brings a couple TOGETHER!  I'm already the luckiest gal in the world.  My guy and I are best friends with a pile of shared hobbies; we're always together and it's my favorite place to be.  Constantly cooking and planning meals as a team is a new & sweet bonus!  ("Sweet" as in awesome, not as in honey, frosting, and sprinkles.)  Some days, I'm the Chef and he's the Sous Chef; the next day we switch.  Sometimes he does dinner while I prep for future meals.  Whatever the gig, we're sharing the experience. 

This mutual effort is definitely the reason the Whole30 hasn't been very hard; good company improves everything.  And the togetherness is part of the increased health!  A naturopath will tell you that experiencing your food fully is an important part of absorbing the nutrients.  The tastes, smells, chewing; the breaths you take and the mood you're in all contribute to getting the full benefit of the meal.  Good company, low stress, and yes, love, all make a difference.      

OBSERVATION #3: My husband is looking very lean.  He already looked great beforehand - fit and thin.  But it's fun to get a look at his muscle definition so clearly!  He's even feeling inspired to put on some muscle weight.

HOW IT'S GOING

Bloat bloat bloat.  I'm bloated.  BLOATING.  In every tense and sense.  That's how it's going.

There's been much discussion of why; detox symptom most likely.  But it sucks and it went on all week, so by day 21 I was convinced I was probably a leaky gut victim.  And even if I'm not, clearly my system needed the Whole30 more than I thought.  Yuck.  Peppermint tea and Ginger tea are my friend.  (Thank you Mother Nature for keeping me out of the drug store!  Y'all with your tums and prilosec, go see a naturopath.  There are lots of healthy ways to make digestive distress feel better without drugs!)

We are both feeling normal energy levels in the exercise department again, which is nice.  But the idealistic "Tiger Blood" mentioned in the book It Starts With Food eludes us.  You're warned on the Whole30 not to expect too much or at a certain time, but there's all this chatter on the internet from people who are suddenly able to move mountains by now.  We've decided those people are probably 24 years old.  (Or akin to fisherman.  With delusions of really large fish.)

My sister, who is doing this with us, called one evening to ask if I'd been super emotional.  She recounted a pretty crappy day, with tears and all.  I assured her that I was feeling very precarious much of the time, doing ok though not fabulous in any way, but I hadn't had any crying spells.  When I called her two days later to describe my wallpaper removal meltdown, she shouted, "THANK GOD.  I thought it was just me!"

The moral to the story is, do not undertake any renovations that involve wallpaper removal while on the Whole30.  And if you do, don't do it with anyone around.  Oh...and expect some mood swings.  Wallpaper or not.

I'm still having low blood pressure issues & I noticed a correlation.  When my blood pressure was low, so was my mood, which reminded me of the two or three times I've done very low carb diets in my life.  They made me sad.  Sad, unmotivated, and irritable.  Sweet potatoes and various squash help!  Don't forgot your starchy veggies, folks.  Without the right balance of food, your neurotransmitters will be outta whack.  That means sad, unmotivated, and irritable.

My hands were a little numb this week, which is an an issue I got rid of with my ND's help, but I'm not surprised to see it pop back in for a few days. Detoxing can bring up old issues. I like to think my body is getting more balanced so the little devils lurking in corners are being forced out. They just like to go out kicking and screaming.

What else.....  My allergies still suck and I can't wait to talk to Dr. Birr about them next week.  I don't think I have lost any weight, and though it's not the goal, I'd be full of it if I didn't say I couldn't wait to see what the scale has to say.  And lastly, cravings were much less common this week.  We're looking forward to our meals instead of craving crap. 

I wonder if I should be taking anything for the bloat, but I'm not internet-dosing myself based on what people are saying on blogs and paleo forums.  We'll see what my naturopath has to say.

NOTABLE MEALS

Chicken Salad with homemade mayo is sooooo deliciously yummy.   I shredded baked chicken, added mayo, celery, white onion, apples, white pepper, salt, coriander, and paprika.  Good gosh.  It's also pretty tasty for breakfast when a quick fix is in order.  (The website to which I linked is filled with fun Whole30 and Paleo stuff.  I'd like to have lunch with author Melissa Joulwan.)

For a treat, I like to slice Fuji or Honeycrisp apples and shake cinnamon all over them.  Then I add cinnamon and vanilla to coconut cream and the pure joy of real, natural food coats us like honey...without the honey.

Ribolita must be on your Whole30 meal list.  It means "Reboiled" in Italian and is usually a mix of whatever veg are available plus spices and tomato sauce.  Make homemade Italian sausage and brown it, then set aside.  In the same pot, saute onion, celery, and carrots, half a head of thinly sliced cabbage, and fennel until soft; add garlic and Italian seasonings. Add a bunch of chopped greens and then let it meld a bit.  Add chopped tomato, tomato sauce, and some rich balsamic vinegar to taste then add the sausage back in.  Simmer and eat!

WEEK THREE RECAP

All of the rules and preparation and food management has become pretty automatic by the end of week three.  The only thing I'd like for us to improve upon is the availability of emergency dinners.  Even cooking a fish dish can take more energy than one has from time to time.  Then again, we didn't prepare any large pot meals this week.  That would have helped.

Aside from the air pressure crowding my belly from within, this week felt like a normal week...except we're on the Whole30 & eating better.  No big woop!  Pretty cool.

Here's a fun little quote I found from a cool kid who did a presentation on the industrial food industry versus natural farming: 
"It seems to me that we can either pay the farmer or we can pay the hospital." -Birke Baehr
 
Aside from the onions left from fall, we are paying the grocery store - but it's way better than a hospital.  I can't wait until spring when we can pay the farmer again! 

Whole30 Week Two

This particular "Naturopathic Patient" has completed week two of the Whole30 plan.  The Whole30 is a nutritional reset on which you can eat meat, veg, healthy oils, and a little fruit.  You don't eat grains, sugar, dairy, legumes, white potatoes, seed oils, or alcohol.  You can read more about what it is and why we're doing it here....and here.....

FOOD REVELATION from week two: full fat coconut milk is the bomb when it comes to making, flavoring, & thickening a sauce.  Who needs heavy cream from cows?

OBSERVATION 1: This has been easier than expected & I think it's because trying to change and making a commitment to change are two entirely different things.  When you mentally decide upon a new path and accept it as a must, it gets easier.  Not easy, but easier.

Until something snaps/clicks/gels, people will struggle and cheat and lament their inability to stay the course.  It's that internal switch that, once flipped, allows us to do as we set out regardless of the obstacles (cupcakes, parties, insert stressor or temptation here).  As long as you have a choice, you struggle between good and bad. 

The Whole30 is built upon the idea that you do not slip or cheat; it's a commitment.  There's no question of cheating because it's not part of the plan.  You suck it up, act like a grown up, and just do it cuz it's only 30 friggin days.  I love how direct authors Melissa and Dallas Hartwig are about cheating.  You can't.  And it's not that hard to do anything for 30 days.

OBSERVATION 2: I was talking about some of the yummy stuff we can try to eat once the Whole30 and re-entry are over, and my husband said he didn't feel deprived at all.  Well great, Mr. Perfect.  30 minutes later we were driving down the road with me thinking how unfair it is that I have spent my whole life craving sugar while he is content with the occasional treat.  He interrupts my thoughts and says, "I want to eat everything I see!"  (Phew!  He's human!!) 

So I told him about real cravings versus triggered cravings.  If you are sitting at work and apple pie visions start floating around your mind, that, friends, is a real craving.  But if you're watching tv and a character serves themselves up a steaming slice and THEN you decide you're craving pie, you are not.  They were.  And that's a trigger.  You've just been reminded of some pleasant pie past & the memory made you want more.  But it's not real.

While you're on the Whole30, take note of the trigger cravings you get (a million) and the real ones that come your way.  If it is real, and distraction techniques don't get rid of the Big Want, then decide if it's something you should plan to have once the program is done and you've figured out if you can tolerate the ingredients.

When the time comes, be honest....is it still a real craving or has it become an ideal you don't really want anymore?  Still real?  Get the best possible version of it, make coffee, serve it on china, and pay attention to Every Single Bite.  (Otherwise you won't savor the moment and you'll still be craving the  darn thing later!)

HOW IT'S GOING

Low carb diets make me feel like crap.   Granted the Whole30 is not specifically a low carb plan (it's a good carb plan), but it's possible to have too few of them.  If I don't have at least one hefty serving of sweet potatoes at every other meal, my low blood pressure kicks my ass.  I'm dizzy when I stand up from a horizontal position.  Climbing a couple stairs feels like hiking up Rainier.  I feel funny.  Like fizzy and funny and not at all fine.

I can fix it in the moment with salty olives and lots of water, but only more carbs makes it stay away.  Hopefully this will level off as my body adjusts. 

Low BP aside, apparently the thrill of a new plan, this mutual effort with my husband, is over.  The newness is gone and the cravings are back.  Why do I keep thinking about cheap grocery store cake mixes?  I don't even use those things!

Some other stuff: My normally clear skin is back.  Fatigue and weakness are gone.  My allergies still suck.  Energy is fairly good.  We haven't seen any change in our various symptoms - but we didn't expect it yet.  And my guy is a rock star; he hasn't complained or wavered or had issues.  So proud!

Finally, a musing....I wonder if Whole30 disciples would consider it cheating when we snack on coconuts and carrots and such while prepping our meals?  No matter.  The prepping, sampling, smelling, and crunching raw food helps your body produce the enzymes that will allow your meal's nutrients to be more fully absorbed.  
 

NOTABLE MEALS

• Napa cabbage leaves make awesome wraps, taco shells, tortillas, bread, or pitas.  Name a vessel for protein and veg; napa cabbage leaves can replace it.   
• Costco carrots are awesome.  You can get a massive amount, organic & cheap, even though your farmer's market is closed for the season.  And check out recipes for carrot ginger soup like this one.  (I also put paprika in mine, and I added the leftover sludge from a beef roast.)  http://paleomg.com/ginger-carrot-soup/      Mmmmmm.
• Chipotle!  We are fairly certain we can eat there safely.  We can't eat most of the menu items but you can get carnitas in a bowl with mild salsa, lettuce, & guacamole.  We went Friday night...bliss.  Someone else cooked it.  There were no dishes afterward.  Hurrah!

WEEK TWO RECAP:

Downside: Nothing has really changed from an overall health perspective, and the excitement of starting the Whole30 was replaced with the inevitable cravings.  Wah.

Upside?  Very up!  Our meals have been delicious and we aren't feeling deprived in any way.  Moreover, we've pretty much gotten used to (and better at) prepping all our food at home; meals are much easier and faster to put together.  Looking forward to what week three will bring!

And I miss mints.