Whole30 Week Four

We've got week four of the Whole30 under our belt!  As you may know, the Whole30 is a nutritional reset designed to restore healthy digestion, eliminate cravings, and create a positive relationship with food.  I'll soon post our results, from weight loss, to effect on symptoms, to our overall opinions on this process.  But first, let's cover this last week. 

FOOD REVELATION:   Caramelized onions are my new favorite food.  (Seriously.  Over chocolate.)  Each week I've pointed out some new culinary learning that happily changed our kitchen; week four made me realize I should have mentioned caramelized onions on day one!  Slice them thin, salt, and saute on low for as long as it takes for them to get brown and delicious.  (About 25-30 min for me.)  Then enjoy them with EVERYthing.

And now some things I noticed during week four...

Observation #1: I'm happy to report that we have both reached the point where emotionally, food equals fuel.  It's no longer the immediate answer to stress.  It's not the primary means to celebrate success.  It's not replacing something that's missing.  It's fuel!  Delicious, yummy energy.

At first on the Whole30, with no sugar, food can seems like something you are either missing, or that is controlling you...particularly if you had an unhealthy relationship with food.  But if you continue to eat this way long enough, the healthy approach becomes habit (versus just a set of rules).  Food becomes more friendly.  It's energy.  And a way to take care of yourself and show your love for someone.  And it's even uplifting!  As I've said before, doing something the right way perpetuates itself.  So it goes with healthy eating. 

Here's an example of how our perspectives have shifted: we've discovered that it doesn't matter if there aren't "breakfasty" foods available in the morning; we eat whatever fills our protein, veg, & fat template.  For example, leftover pork & peppers plus avocado = fuel!  Morning food doesn't have to be eggy or pancakey.  Also, if we try a recipe and it's not that great, we finish it anyway because it's fuel even if it isn't super-tasty.  When the Whole30 started, it felt so much like our entire lives revolved around food.  Turns out that the lesson we needed to learn was that it doesn't!  Hurrah!  And we don't mind the time that is "consumed" by food because of the innumerable benefits.  (As a lifelong sugar freak, that's a fun one.)     

Observation #2:  A new diet brings new recipes, and we've been getting a kick out of playing around in the kitchen together.  But after a month I noticed that I felt like we always had to be "creating".  Here's the thing!  We don't have to all the time!  Before the Whole30, we had certain dishes fairly regularly because we liked them and they suited our lifestyle.  It took us awhile to figure out that we can continue to do that with our new recipes.  So now, braised pork and sauerkraut is a staple; meatloaf muffins once a week?  Sure!  I could eat chicken apple salad for lunch seven days out of seven. 

HOW IT'S GOING

My bloat is way better.  My monthly naturopathic appointment focused primarily on digestion and after about a week on the new treatment plan things settled back down to normal.  Today, I'm finding that the bloated feelings are occasional, increasingly rare, and thankfully not painful (as opposed to feeling like some kind of parasitic alien was blowing up birthday balloons in my gut).

In all honesty, we didn't really notice the fourth week start or end; we'd stopped counting days.  All is well and we have nothing to report from our fourth week...except that we are not stopping on day 31.  We're not planning any re-introduction.  We're not celebrating with any particular food.  I intend to make paleo pumpkin muffins, but I'll only sweeten with applesauce and I won't be eating them as a pastry.  (They're fuel!)

Other tidbits:  When looking for recipes online, I search on my ingredient and "paleo" or "paleo auto-immune".  This yields a wealth of Whole30 friendly recipes since there is such a large community of cavepeople out there.  If you're unsure of the rules, add "Whole30".  The number of people out there working on their nutrition is supercool.

A suggestion: when planning and executing your own Whole30, do it one week at a time.  Think about your meals for a week.  Plan your workouts for a week.  Approaching this in chunks was a huge boon to our attitudes; we weren't burdened with more than we could handle.  It reminds me of how we learn math.  Until you learn to add & subtract, and then multiply & divide (etc) you can't fathom a quadratic equation. 

NOTABLE MEALS

We made Chicken Parmesan this week; holy cow.  (Holy fowl?)  For breading, we used almond flour.  For pasta we used spaghetti squash.  And at this very moment while typing I realize that we didn't seem to miss the garlic bread.  (Fun!)

Make homemade tartar sauce with avocado!  One avo, plus mayo, chives, salt, pepper, lemon juice, and capers.  Mmmmm.

Another super delicious/quick meal for us is a burger on a portabello cap.  Cook both with salt, pepper, and coconut aminos, then smother caramelized onions over the top.  Trust me: these will make you forget cupcakes.  At least for awhile....

We started precooking omelet filling to amp up our morning veg intake.  This version is fab: saute onion and the stems from Chard or other greens, along with zucchini plus dijon and rice wine vinegar.  Add greens and enough full fat coconut milk to create a little sauciness; cook until soft & reduced to your liking.  In the AM, add a plop of the mixture to your pan, reheat, crack 2-4 eggs over it, mix until cooked.  

WEEK FOUR RECAP:

We are not planning to stop our Whole30 eating habits.  My husband has a lot more energy at this point, but I've yet to feel any major physical benefit.  But believe me, I'm not complaining.  The increased healthy food intake as a household is awesome.  Having a partner in all of this is awesome.  The new recipes, changes in attitude, and even the effect on people around us is awesome.  Enough so that I'm willing to beat that adjective to death.  (At least I didn't use "amazing".  Uhg.) 

Finally, since this is my own blog & I can express my opinion freely, those folks who are weighing themselves on the Whole30? Even though it's not allowed? Cheaters.  :)  I wanted to check the scale as much as anyone, but I also wouldn't have minded getting a lightly flavored, decaf mocha latte & I'm not doing that either.

Stop back in to see our results from the Whole30 in a few days!