Sunday 24 February 2013

After Whole30

Well, I'm officially 21 days into my new Whole30 but last week I decided that I wanted to go off plan (in a reasonable amount, mind you!). It becomes different when you are no longer tracking your eating by putting it in a notebook or a blog and just living normally. I'm still eating basically the same way, except I have been cooking with butter and not ghee - didn't make the time to make it last week. I have also had things like almond flour carrot/apple cake (no sugar, though) and coconut pancakes on the weekend. I even found myself in a restaurant for a business lunch unable to find ANYTHING that fit in with my plan, so I ordered something with potatoes, cheese and wheat. Hello, bloated belly! But it's ok. I feel ok with making choices. I'm also very aware of how I feel afterwards.

Today is Sunday and I will be making a big batch of borscht, some ghee (I do prefer it), some braised cabbage and some grilled chicken in the oven.

At this point I'd like to be working on getting workouts into my weekly schedule. I have everything I need at home to be working out, so there are really no excuses other than me being too lazy and not feeling like it. I will do a flow yoga class via myyogaonline.com today and I know I'll feel better for it.

I was planning on posting some recipes with photos but I'm not there yet. I promise it will be coming soon.

Wednesday 6 February 2013

my second Whole30 day 3

Alright, I'm back in the saddle! I just feel a million times better for eating clean again, too!

So far, it's been easy to slip into my Whole30 compliant eating. The only thing is because I was away all last weekend, I wasn't able to do a big cook up on Sunday, like I usually do. But I'm still managing because JM was able to buy groceries and stock up on all the stuff he knew I wanted.

Come this weekend, I'm going to start getting creative in the kitchen and post a few photos and recipes!

Monday 4 February 2013

Whole30 wrap up and new start!

Ok, so I kind of ended my Whole30 in a miserable way, but I did get a lot out of the experience and loved it so much that I'm starting again today. I won't be posting here about everything I eat, but I will try to post about good recipes and start adding photos.

Here are the things that I have gained:

  • energy
  • a good sleep every night
  • waking up without an alarm and feeling awake
  • a sense of control over my choices
  • no afternoon slump in energy
  • excellent recipes
  • confidence
  • happiness!


Here is what I lost:

  • 2.5 kilos or 5 pounds
  • my belly (it's flatter now)
  • cravings - I watch my co-workers eat chocolate after lunch with their coffee and I don't feel any urge to join in


5 pounds is not a huge loss, but I'm happy with it. I can only imagine what a few more months will bring. I think that losing steadily is the way to go and I'm happy with the rate of just over one pound per week. Don't forget that I only exercised seriously for the first week. I think that my last two days in Paris might have had an effect on my weigh-in today (I was constipated to put it bluntly) so I may have even lost more than that in the end. At any rate, I have started again today with all my tools in hand: my go-to recipes and websites and cookbooks full of great ideas. I'm hoping to ease into exercise in a way that is sustainable.

Whole30 day 30

Well, as you know, I can't say I have completed a whole Whole30 due to going off-plan yesterday. Here's what happened anyway.

breakfast
I had a boiled egg that I took from home, 1/2 an avocado, a piece of pumpkin bread and a mandarin orange.

lunch
I was in a fancy part of Paris and had no time to get a real lunch. I ended up at Fauchon (fancy bakery) of all places. Luckily they had some deli items, so I ordered a plate of chicken breast and vegetables. It came with lentils but I didn't eat them. I later had a small coffee.

supper
Back at the hotel cafeteria, I had a piece of veal in tomato sauce with some veggies and an apple for dessert.

After supper, we went out for a drink. I was planning on just getting a perrier or something and then I don't know what happened. I got tempted. I ordered a hot chocolate (what?) with whipped cream on top. I don't know how I got to that decision, but it was like I had already gone off-plan so what was one more thing? Then the people at my table ordered a plate of cheese and I ended up taking a few bites of various cheese. I lived to regret it though. I immediately had a belly full of misery and my digestion was not comfortable.

The next day (day 31!) I had the same thing for breakfast and made two none-compliant choices: a Korean dish of chicken and veg that had some rice. I ate the rice. But wait, it gets worse! I was lured in by a Starbucks and ordered a latte AND a piece of carrot cake/bread. Don't worry. I lived to regret that even more even though it tasted good!

Whole30 day 29

Ok, here is where my story goes a little awry. As you know, I had to go to Paris (for work) and I wanted to be compliant for my last two days. But eating out for every meal and being in Paris kind of made things difficult for me. And I made some poor choices. I'll 'fess up now. I went off plan. Here's how it went down.

breakfast
I had some pumpkin/banana pancakes and two fried eggs. Later in the train I had a few almonds and cranberries/raisins and a mandarin orange.

lunch
I went to a restaurant at a train station where I thought I could get something reasonable. I saw a piece of fish served with crunchy vegetables and thought that would do. Except the fish was served in a beurre blanc sauce and the crunchy vegetables were veggies in filo pastry that was deep-fried (fancy, though). I was super hungry, so I ate up and finished with a little coffee. Oh well, I thought.

I had to pick up a group that I was showing around Paris and later in the day, when I was walking around with them, they came across the famous "Berthillon" ice cream place on Ile Saint-Louis. They all wanted ice cream. I was going to hold out, but then I thought "I've already eaten off-plan today and I AM in Paris..." and so I asked which sorbet had the least amount of sugar added and went with that in a cup. It was a small single scoop and it was ok, but I kind of regretted it after when my stomach was going all gurgly.

supper
We had meals where we were staying. I had a piece of fish with some veggies with an apple for dessert. I was kind of hungry afterwards, so I had a piece of pumpkin bread and a couple of almonds/raisins.

It feels strange to go off-plan when there's no real reason to - I was feeling great and loving what I was eating. But circumstances put things a little out of whack.

Whole30 day 28

Well, I'm a little behind in these posts, but I'll explain why a little later on.

breakfast
I had leftover pumpkin pancakes with some applesauce and 2 fried eggs.

lunch
We had lunch provided at work and luckily I could eat it! I had pork roast with carrot purée with an orange for dessert.

supper
JM made some curried turkey that we had with a veggie fry up. I fried some apples in some coconut oil and we ate that topped with a few toasted nuts and cranberries.

After supper I made a pumpkin/apple/carrot cake with a bit of almond flour. I know this is somewhat not compliant (it's a cake - albeit with NO sugar!) but you see, I had plans to go to Paris for the weekend and I knew that breakfast would be impossible at the hotel where we were staying, so I thought I'd pack up a bunch of stuff. I made some hard-boiled eggs and packed an avocado (1/2 for each morning), some mixed almonds and raisins/cranberries and some mandarin oranges, along with a few slices of the pumpkin bread.

Wednesday 30 January 2013

Whole30 day 27

Three days to go! I already know that after these 30 days, I will be pretty much sticking to the same way of eating, with just the occasional "paleofied" (or not) treats. It feels too good to be this in control of what I put in my mouth!

breakfast
Pumpkin pancakes with some grated apple and almond butter.

lunch
Mashed cauliflower, cabbage and meatballs, followed by a mandarin orange.

supper
Fried cod, braised cabbage and sauteed spinach, plus an endive salad with walnuts.

We're pretty much out of leftovers now, so tomorrow at work will be a challenge. I can always bring up a frozen piece of cod and some spinach and be done with it. We have a full kitchen at work, so I can cook it up in a frying pan at lunch.

One other "problem" I have is that in two days I am going to Paris for three days to help translate for a visiting group. I'm going to have to stock up on breakfast items because I know otherwise I'll be looking at a baguette, butter and jam first thing in the morning. I don't want to blow it. I figure eating out for lunch and supper will be easier. I can always order a piece of meat (or a stew dish) with some veggies on the side. Or a big salad! The only thing I may not be able to control is whether things are fried in butter or canola oil...