2014 Whole 20 - Week of 1/13

[SASM]

Guess I'll start this week's thread. I did well this past week but today I accidentally cheated. Went into TJ's for produce and eggs and stopped to get my black coffee. The Taste of the Day was fresh fruit with a mini multi-grain pancake. I took the plate and ate the fruit, intending to throw out the pancake, but started to talking with the TJ crew member and ate the pancake! I NEVER eat this kind of food so the idea of absentmindedly eating it threw me for a loop! It's all good...I'll just go about my Whole30 day and chalk it up as an oops.

Saturday's dinner: Spaghetti Squash Aglio e Oglio with shrimp (based off Well Fed's version). YUMMY!! Micro'd the spaghetti squash as I didn't have time to roast it. Melted some coconut oil in a sauté pan, added almond meal to toast. Seasoned with S&P, garlic powder and Italian seasoning, warmed through and placed in bowl. To the pan I added some Ghee and EVOO and tons of minced garlic & some red pepper flakes. Saute until tender. Added about 2# raw shrimp, S&P, and Italian Seasoning and cooked through. Then added the spaghetti squash to the pan to coat. You can sprinkle the almond meal "bread crumbs" on top of finished plate. YUM!! Straight up comfort food! Loaded with veggies but also had with a salad. Well Fed's version uses Zoodles (zucchini noodles) and no Italian seasoning. Kids loved this! They also had spaghetti squash with W30 approved sauce but preferred the above!

Yesterday's dinner: Well Fed's Best Chicken You Will Ever Eat with Moroccan Dipping Sauce. LOTS of flavor! LOVED the dipping sauce! SPICY dish...my kids actually brought some some over to my neighbors!! http://www.theclothesmakethegirl.com...ever-eat-ever/ DD1 made the sauce in the food processor.

Sooo wanted to makes the following 2 yesterday but beautiful weather kept me away from kitchen:

Making tomorrow's dinner today bc it takes 20hrs in crockpot: Nom Nom Paleo's Kahlua Pig - http://allrecipes.com/recipe/kalua-p...a-slow-cooker/ Not using the indicated salt. Good for leftovers throughout week.

Tonight's dinner: Well Fed's Italian Sausage and Eggplant Strata. This supposedly tastes fantastic on Day3...hopefully there will be some left for at least Day 2. This was time-consuming but smells fantastic and it is lasagna-ish so my kids will be happy. http://blog.grasslandbeef.com/beat-t...d-this-january There are several other recipes on this page that look interesting.

HTH someone! We LOVE big flavors but I HATE time-consuming recipes...so these are kind of out there me.

ETA: A quick meal for us is Taco Beef in lettuce wraps. My kids request this at least once/week. I make this in the Am before school for their lunches. Saute beef and throw in some additive-free taco seasoning (I make my own). Eat in lettuce wraps or on top of salad with tomatoes, peppers, and avocado/w30 guacamole.

We also love Nigella's Thai Crumbled Beef in Lettuce Wraps. I make this with either beef or ground turkey. Kids love both and they actually make this on their own.http://www.nigella.com/recipes/view/...tuce-wraps-212

ETA#2:
Salt-free Taco Seasoning: (just adding this so I have it somewhere other than my binder)

4T chili powder
2T cumin
2t onion powder
2t garlic powder
3t Italian seasoning
1/4t white pepper

I triple the recipe and store in a Mason jar with recipe attached. I go through a ton of this! Chili, taco meat, add to mayo, etc.

[essnce629]

Yum, I'm going to have to try those Thai lettuce wraps! I love lettuce wraps!

So today is day 8 for me, but my first week didn't go too well! Saturday was my best friend's dad's funeral in San Diego and I cheated that day. I ate at home before leaving, but after driving 2 hours to San Diego with DS2 and another several hours passing since eating I had to eat at the reception and the only options were croissant sandwiches, coffee, and desserts. So I said the heck with it and had 2 small sandwiches, cookies, and coffee with half and half since I cannot drink black coffee! Oh well! That night we did go out for dinner though and I had a big steak with roasted zucchini and summer squash so that was better!

Also, for Christmas I received the Mr. Coffee Latte Machine that I asked for but ended up not liking it. I ordered an AeroPress instead to make espresso and make my own lattes (after my Whole30). So the AeroPress arrived a few days ago and I had to try it out to make sure I liked it before I returned the Mr. Coffee machine. So I ended up making some espresso on two separate occasions and adding a little bit of heavy cream to it since there's no way I could drink it plain.

Last night we came back from San Diego so I quickly just made myself a TJ's chicken chili lime patty and a baked sweet potato. Today I'm going to be looking through my cookbooks to see what I want to cook this week. Will go grocery shopping tomorrow morning.

On a positive note, today is my weekly weigh in day and I did manage to lose a little over 1.5 lbs and lost a 1/2 inch off my hips and 1/4 inch off my waist and lower belly. So that's good! I only have 4lbs to lose to get back to my normal weight so a pound a week is what I'm looking for.

[bcafe]

Day 7 for me. I have not cheated although this morning I was packing school lunches and took a mindless bite of DS's rice, but I caught myself and spit it out. I need to cook simple meals or I won't stay motivated for 30 days. Tonight we had steak salad and baked potatoes. None for me though, I sauteed onions and mushrooms in ghee and smothered my salad with them. So good! I made mayo yesterday and it was ridiculously easy. I added more cayenne, onion, and garlic powder to it and couldn't stop dipping snap peas into it.

[SASM]

I need to cook simple meals or I won't stay motivated for 30 days. Tonight we had steak salad and baked potatoes. None for me though, I sauteed onions and mushrooms in ghee and smothered my salad with them. So good!

Bcafe...Did you eat the steak or another protein along with that yummy-sounding salad? You NEED protein with each meal.

[SASM]

I am not sure if this was included in last week's thread or the thread in the Lounge. Here are some PDF's to print out...

Meal Planning Template: http://whole9life.com/book/ISWF-Meal...g-Template.pdf This shows you the amounts of appropriate foods - for 3 meals as well as pre- and post-WO.

Quick Start Guide: http://whole9life.com/book/ISWF-Quick-Start-Guide.pdf

Official Program Rules: http://whole30.com/downloads/officia...gram-rules.pdf

Guide to Nutritional Off-reading: http://whole9life.com/book/ISWF-Nutr...ff-Roading.pdf

Grocery Shopping: http://whole9life.com/book/ISWF-Grocery-Shopping.pdf

Seasonal Produce: http://whole9life.com/wp-content/upl...oduce-2012.pdf This is my favorite PDF!

Shopping List (Omnivores): http://whole9life.com/book/ISWF-Shopping-List.pdf

Shopping List (Vegetarian/Vegan): http://whole9life.com/book/ISWF-Vege...pping-List.pdf Yes...it's possible!

Pantry Stocking Guide: http://whole9life.com/book/ISWF-Pantry-Stocking.pdf

"Ride Your Own Bike"...Ending your Whole 30: http://whole9life.com/2012/01/ride-your-own-bike-2/ Not a PDF but a good short read.

[SASM]

So I ended up making some espresso on two separate occasions and adding a little bit of heavy cream to it since there's no way I could drink it plain.

On a positive note, today is my weekly weigh in day and I did manage to lose a little over 1.5 lbs and lost a 1/2 inch off my hips and 1/4 inch off my waist and lower belly. So that's good! I only have 4lbs to lose to get back to my normal weight so a pound a week is what I'm looking for.

Do not weight or measure yourself until the end of your Whole 30. It's their rule.

In regards to trying out your espresso machine, you can still use it. Make Americano's. In regards to creamy coffee, I have become quite fond of "Bulletproof Coffee". Pour coffee (or your Americano) into a blender. Add ~1t coconut oil and ~1t ghee and blitz on high until it is tan and frothy. I also add a little cinnamon. Perfectly W30 compliant! Strange combo, I know, but yummy (flavored creamers are hydrogenated oil with artificial flavors, anyway)! I cannot have creamer, even when I am not w30, and this agrees with me.

[hellokitty]

Day 7 for me and I haven't cheated. SASM, I have to laugh, but it's funny that you ate the pancake by accident while chatting. I might have done the same thing, so that's why I think it's so funny. I've almost accidentally eaten things too, while opening something for the kids, etc..

Well, I have done whole30 before, so I was expecting to feel great. The problem is that, I am having a really weird reaction this time. I have had, for the past 3-4 days, really sore and swollen hands. It's not do to sodium intake, in fact, I'm probably taking in less sodium than before. I am really confused as to what is going on, and started to just write it off as part of the detox that can happen when starting whole30. However, I did not have this reaction last time. In fact, last time, my hands (which have hurt before, but never this bad, from residual carpel tunnel), have always improved a LOT! So, I am really hoping that this is temporary. It hurts despite massage, heat, and I never take pain meds, but yesterday popped a few ibuprofen (helped only a little bit, in general, it seems that the joints throughout my entire body seemed really flared up right now), that only helped a little bit. Every morning I keep waking up hoping that my hands, which were, "normal" just a wk ago when I started whole30, will go back to normal again. I cannot even get my anniversary ring on, something I could wear less than a wk ago and I've scoured the whole30 site to see if anyone has had similar issues, but haven't found anything.

Otherwise, I am doing well on the diet, but I have to admit that this swelling issue is discouraging. I'm also NOT losing any wt, which I find to be odd. Last time, I lost wt much more quickly, and honestly, the main reason I wanted to do whole30 again was to kickstart my wt loss.

On a brighter note, I got to try out aqua aerobics today with a friend. I really liked it. I injured my knee (running) last May and have struggled with knee pain and swelling since then. I have gained back wt, b/c I haven't been able to be as active as before, and while diet helps, I am someone who needs to be active to be fit, but having a bum knee (they want me to have surgery on it), has made me lose noticeable muscle tone, and it's really bugging me. I've never had flabby looking legs, but they are now flabby.

[SASM]

Again, not sure if this was already mentioned - thought I'd bring it up! If you are new to this way of eating (paleo, low carb, etc), you MIGHT experience something dubbed "paleo flu" while your body starts to detox. It feels like a mild flu - headaches, aches, weakness, etc. Everyone varies but a lot of ppl experience it around Weeks 2-3. It's perfectly normal. You'll climb out if this flu rut and feel absolutely AMAZING (kind of like 2nd trimester)!! :) We were on vacation and I remember by Week 3 actually being able to sense if I was eating an ingredient (in a ? store-bought item) that wasn't allowed. I could sense the slightest bit of sugar. It's a fantastic feeling! So...if you start feeling crappy, don't give up...there IS a rainbow on the other side. That being said, if you have a fever, that is probably the real flu...make bone broth!!!!

[bcafe]

Oh yes, I had steak in my salad. I meant that I didn't have a baked potato. I also had a dollop of mayo on top of the hot 'shrooms. Yummy!

[hellokitty]

Again, not sure if this was already mentioned - thought I'd bring it up! If you are new to this way of eating (paleo, low carb, etc), you MIGHT experience something dubbed "paleo flu" while your body starts to detox. It feels like a mild flu - headaches, aches, weakness, etc. Everyone varies but a lot of ppl experience it around Weeks 2-3. It's perfectly normal. You'll climb out if this flu rut and feel absolutely AMAZING (kind of like 2nd trimester)!! We were on vacation and I remember by Week 3 actually being able to sense if I was eating an ingredient (in a ? store-bought item) that wasn't allowed. I could sense the slightest bit of sugar. It's a fantastic feeling! So...if you start feeling crappy, don't give up...there IS a rainbow on the other side. That being said, if you have a fever, that is probably the real flu...make bone broth!!!!

Yeah, I keep hoping it is just paleo flu. I didn't go through this last time. I felt lethargic through a period of time, but that was it. This time, the swollen hands is ridiculous, I have achey joints in general this time, but the swollen hands are kind of freaking me out, esp since I'm definitely not over-doing the sodium.