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Sunday, October 9, 2011

Facial explosion

I hope I caught your attention!

Last week, Forrest (at the gym) asked me if I noticed anything different since ending Whole30 and going back to eating some "normal" foods. I said no, not really, but carbs make me sleepy and cranky. He asked, "What about your skin or hair?" " Nope, no changes with skin and hair," I replied.

I was wrong! 2 weeks since Whole30 and I've since eaten oatmeal for breakfast, cookies at work, bits of chocolate here and there. And what do you know? I start breaking out like I did in high school again. Ahhhh!! Is this a sign? I think so! (AND it also tells me to listen to my coach more often. hehe)

I think I'm going to do Whole30 again, but I've gotten in trouble at work for heating up fish in the microwave (even though I turn on the fan to air out the lunch room and ask the people in the room if it is OK if I heat up the fish.) This leaves me with little alternative as to what I can eat at lunch that is paleo without resorting to meat. Hmmmm. Should I do Whole30 but with soy products? I'm still thinking about how to prep for this next round of Whole30, which I will start on November 1st. Some ways to prep and make this next round more fun is to incorporate different recipes, such as Roasted Kabocha Squash, Pumpkin Coffee Muffins and some yumminess from my recently purchased Paleo Comfort Foods. Even if you aren't doing paleo, this cookbook provides some great gluten-free recipes.

Sunday, October 2, 2011

What's going on post Whole30?

Now that I've finished Whole30, people have asked me what I've done since? Have I kept up with the paleo diet? Go crazy with "regular" processed food, grains, soy, etc? Both!

I've tried soy one day, grains the next, trying to see how my body would react. One thing is for sure-- my body doesn't like carbs! No way. Last Friday I had some carbs (1/2 a donut and a sandwich) and felt like crap the rest of the day-- tired, couldn't focus, and ended up in an argument with D. If that's the road carbs/gluten are going to take me down, I don't want to go that way.

Soy is fine- stomach is OK with soy. Dairy is fine as well. What I've been doing now is trying to figure out what to do with my diet. I'm tired of salmon, I don't want to eat as much soy as I used to. I've only read about 20 pages of The Vegetarian Myth by Lierre Keith, and my beliefs are already being challenged. I cooked bacon about a week ago (see last entry) and I felt so gross cooking it. Grease was everywhere and the smell of meat cooking was nauseating. (I'm fine going to KBBQ and people cooking meat in front of me, but when I'm cooking the meat, that's a different issue.) I get what Keith is trying to argue, but it is so hard to mentally digest. D and I went out for soon tofu and he ordered some pork bulgogi. I had a few bites, which were delicious. So I'm seriously confused. This blog might turn into a veggie/meat debate. What are your thoughts on the issue?

One thing I won't debate about- I made a delicious coconut pound cake today- extremely moist and tasty. Mmmm!

Sunday, September 25, 2011

Whole30- DONE and with good results!

Weird carrot I got last week from the farmer's market

I finished 30 days of Whole 30 last Wednesday. I am very happy I was able to stick it out for 30 days. There were times that I was sorely tempted and wished I could deviate (and did for a wedding), but it was soooo worth it!

So what are the results?

Energy levels- Energy levels are much higher than before. I tried a slice of bread on Friday and was sooo tired the rest of the day and into the next. I think I will continue to stay away from carbs, or at least stick with a gluten free carb dish.

Food cravings- My cravings for carbs went waaay down. Every once in awhile a crunchy slice of toast sounded tasty, but since we don't have bread in the apt, that thought went away quickly. Craving for meat went sky high, which is really weird. I'm repulsed by meat (always have been), but sometimes I wanted to eat a steak, a slice of bacon, anything that was actual meat. Very strange. I went to the store today because I've been wanting bacon like a crazy woman. I went yesterday and was grossed out picking up the package, but I went ahead and bought one today. I'm going to make some and incorporate bacon pieces into a batch of egg muffin frittatas. One thing I DON'T crave is salmon. I freaking hate salmon now since I ate it either every day or every other day. I'm fine eating eggs everyday because they are so versatile, but NOT salmon. Gross!

Weight- My weight went down 2 pounds. But body fat % went down 1.7%. That's a lot in a month. I think it would have gone down more if I cut down a bit more on the fruit. I've been periodically tracking my body fat % since March 2010, and this is the lowest I've ever been (except for one fluke measurement in 4/2010).

Measurements- Lost 1 inch around the waist, and 1/2 inch around the hips. Everywhere else stayed the same. Not bad!

Visual changes- I took pictures back in July right before I started CrossFit. I took pictures yesterday and compared them to the July pictures. No, I'm not comfortable posting these pics online, but there is a huge difference- legs smaller, waist smaller, arms more toned.

Digestion- My stomach has been bothering me since Oct 2010. Ever since trying Whole30/Paleo, my stomach has been very, very happy. My stomach now gets upset when I eat something with sugar (sweets), is very oily (cooked in canola oil, veggie oil, etc.), or is a carb. I tried some ice cream tonight from Mother Moo Creamery and so far my tummy is OK. I really need to see what soy will do so I can reintroduce tofu back into my diet.

What now? I'm definitely going to keep up Paleo and keeps the carbs out of my diet or maybe splurge once in awhile on a piece of toast. I'll continue to document my journey and some meals here on the blog. I'm toying with the idea of maybe seeing what it would be like eating meat for 30 days and see if there is a difference. I think part of the reason why I've been craving meat is because I've become limited to fish and eggs on this diet. I bought "The Vegetarian Myth" and will read it with a huge dose of skepticism, simply because I've noticed a lot of her references are to wikipedia articles or online sites. College taught me (among other things) that online references are NOT references.

Maybe I'll post the before/after pics in the future, but now I'm going to cook some bacon. :)

Saturday, September 17, 2011

Whole30- Day 26

This is what I made today!

Breakfast- scrambled egg

Snacks- fruit samples at farmer's market, pluot, strawberries, macadamia nuts, dates

Made a quick trip to the farmer's market in the morning to pick up a week's worth of produce. My hands were so full with so much food that I dropped my strawberries. :( Luckily they were wrapped up in a plastic bag, but many of them got smushed that I had to eat them as soon as I got home.

Used a LivingSocial deal D bought for my birthday and spent the afternoon sailing with friends. It was a bit scary in the beginning because I forgot what it was like and it was unusually windy in the morning, but it was fun! There are blue whales hanging out these few weeks in the South Bay area, so we tried to see some but only the sailing instructor saw the whale spouting. He told us a few days ago he was out sailing with a group and a blue whale jumped right in front of them! I don't want to mess with a 100+ foot long whale!

Lunch- Our group picked up food at the best place in Redondo- The Standing Room! They were able to modify their portobello mushroom sandwich to a sandwich style for me. If you haven't been, you NEED TO GO!!!

Spent the rest of the afternoon cooking 2 dozen mini egg frittata muffins, apple cinnamon cookies (Paleo cookies!!!!), and strawberry protein balls while watching football.
They may not look good, but they taste good!

Dinner- Baked cod, cauliflower fried rice, Chinese green beans

Dessert- Paleo cookies and nutty protein ball--DELISH!!! I was so excited to try the apple cinnamon cookies, and they were OK. I miss the texture of real cookies, but I'll take what I can get for now. :)

Friday, September 16, 2011

Whole30- Days 24 and 25

I had written down what I ate yesterday, but somehow it got deleted. Basically it was probably the same as the day before-- eggs, cod, veggies, and a pluot.

Today- Day 25

Breakfast- egg muffin frittatas
Snacks- macadamia nuts, roasted red bell peppers
Lunch- cod with julienned zucchini
Dinner- We were both tired from a long day, so we headed over to Pinkie's BBQ. We were both sorely disappointed. I had the smoked salmon plate with a side of southern greens and coleslaw. The southern greens were doused with a ton of vinegar and made it hard for me to even want to eat them. The smoked salmon was on the small side and served slightly warm. D had the hillbilly sandwich and a 1/2 rack of baby back ribs plate. He didn't like his food either. :( Bummer!
Dessert- Pluot and canned peaches

A co-worker brought in some special chocolates earlier this week. Since going paleo and doing the Whole30, I wasn't going to eat the chocolates. But, they are a special, regional chocolate, and I'm a sucker for stuff like that. So I saved myself a piece. It's been chilling on my desk (wrapped up), and there have been times this week that I've had to talk myself out of wanting to eat it. This diet (it's more of a way of life) has helped me think about the motivations behind wanting to eat the chocolate. Do I feel that the chocolate will help me feel better? Am I looking for an indulgence? Am I bored? Am I looking for a something to get me through the day? It's been a yes to all of those questions at various times, and it has helped me think about other ways to help myself instead of food and treats. I'm feeling good about myself that I can stare at it and say, nope, I am better than you, chocolate! Take that! There is nothing wrong with a little splurge now and then, but holding myself strictly accountable regarding food is so new to me and actually empowering. But I will eat the chocolate when the 30 days are up!