I haven't been making a lot of new recipes, so I stopped posting on this blog. But today, I start the Whole30.
What is Whole30 / Whole 30? It's a Paleo "diet" and I put diet in quote since it appears that a lot of people stick to this style of eating after doing the whole30. It's a very strict paleo diet that removes all grain as well. Here are the rules (from the
Whole30 site):
"Eat real food – meat, seafood, eggs, tons of vegetables, some fruit, and plenty of good fats from fruits, oils, nuts and seeds. Eat foods with very few ingredients, all pronounceable ingredients, or better yet, no ingredients listed at all because they’re totally natural and unprocessed. Don’t worry… these guidelines are outlined in extensive detail in our free shopping list.
- Do not consume added sugar of any kind, real or artificial. No maple syrup, honey, agave nectar, coconut sugar, Splenda, Equal, Nutrasweet, xylitol, stevia, etc. Read your labels, because companies sneak sugar into products in ways you might not recognize.
- Do not consume alcohol, in any form, not even for cooking. (And it should go without saying, but no tobacco products of any sort, either.)
- Do not eat grains. This includes (but is not limited to) wheat, rye, barley, oats, corn, rice, millet, bulgur, sorghum, amaranth, buckwheat, sprouted grains and all of those gluten-free pseudo-grains like quinoa. Yes, we said corn… for the purposes of this program, corn is a grain! This also includes all the ways we add wheat, corn and rice into our foods in the form of bran, germ, starch and so on. Again, read your labels.
- Do not eat legumes. This includes beans of all kinds (black, red, pinto, navy, white, kidney, lima, fava, etc.), peas, chickpeas, lentils, and peanuts. No peanut butter, either. This also includes all forms of soy – soy sauce, miso, tofu, tempeh, edamame, and all the ways we sneak soy into foods (like lecithin).
- Do not eat dairy. This includes cow, goat or sheep’s milk products such as cream, cheese (hard or soft), kefir, yogurt (even Greek), and sour cream… with the exception of clarified butter or ghee. (See below for details.)
- Do not consume carrageenan, MSG or sulfites. If these ingredients appear in any form on the label of your processed food or beverage, it’s out for the Whole30.
- Do not eat white potatoes. This is somewhat arbitrary, but if we are trying to change your habits and improve the hormonal impact of your food choices, it’s best to leave white, red, purple, Yukon gold and fingerling potatoes off your plate.
In addition, no Paleo-ifying dessert or junk food choices. Trying to shove your old, unhealthy diet into a shiny new Whole30 mold will ruin your program faster than you can say, “Paleo pizza.” This means no desserts or junk food made with “approved” ingredients—no coconut-flour pancakes, almond-flour muffins, flourless brownies, or coconut milk ice cream. Don’t try to replicate junk food during your 30 days! That misses the point of the Whole30 entirely.
One last and final rule. You are not allowed to step on the scale or take any body measurements for the duration of the program. This is about so much more than just weight loss, and to focus on your body composition means you’ll miss out on the most dramatic and lifelong benefits this plan has to offer. So, no weighing yourself, analyzing body fat or taking comparative measurements during your Whole30. (We do encourage you to weigh yourself before and after, however, so you can see one of the more tangible results of your efforts when your program is over.) "
More importantly, here’s what NOT to eat during the duration of your Whole30 program.Omitting all of these foods and beverages will help you regain your healthy metabolism, reduce systemic inflammation, and help you discover how these foods are truly impacting your health, fitness and quality of life.
Crazy right? I go back and forth about what I'm going to miss the most but I think it will be soy. I use soy sauce in a lot of dishes and I eat it often as tofu. I have already started removing cheese from my diet (not a big milk drinker). Also, I drink a lot of artificial sweetener (diet coke anyone?) and that will be hard to give up. Coke is my only form of caffeine...we'll see how my energy level holds up. And then there is alcohol. I have a drink of some form probably every night so it'll be good to go cold turkey for a month. I'm not addicted and have gone without for just as long prior, but it'll be hard during this time for social reasons. It's in the middle of football season, halloween, and just regular outings that always involve alcohol.
Also, snacks. I'm a snacker and i love my midday snack. Since i don't eat breakfast, i'm going to use my second meal as my midday snack. Still in rules, just not spread out as much.
Why? I have been gaining weight and I'm finally sick of it. Well, to be honest, I've been sick of it for awhile. I did my normal change my bad habits routine and have always been successful - drop to 1200 calories a day and run 5 days a week. This time, nothing changed! I'm now running 2.5 miles 5 days a week and eating 1200 calories (which is actually a good amount of food for me) and I'm not losing weight! So Whole30 will allow for me to see if it's something I'm eating (please don't be soy or alcohol) that's now causing a change in my body...or if I'm just getting old.
Day 1
Exercise - Running: 2.67 mi; Walking: 2.2 mi
Food:
Being the freak that I am, I decided to create some recipes ahead of time to see if I could even do this diet. So I mad this
chili from theclothesmakethegirl.com:
"Prep 20 min | Cook 2-3 hours | Serves 6-8
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons coconut oil
2 medium onions, diced (about 2 cups)
4 cloves garlic, minced (about 4 teaspoons)
2 pounds ground beef
1 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
2 tablespoons chili powder
2 tablespoons ground cumin
1 1/2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1 teaspoon salt
1 can (6 ounces) tomato paste
1 can (14.5 ounces) fire-roasted, chopped tomatoes
1 can (14.5 ounces) beef broth
1 cup water
Directions:
1. Heat a large, deep pot over medium-high heat, then add the coconut oil. When the oil is melted, add onions, stir with a wooden spoon and cook until they’re translucent, about 7 minutes. Add the garlic and as soon as it’s fragrant, about 30 seconds, crumble the ground meat into the pan with your hands, mixing with the wooden spoon to combine. Continue to cook the meat, stirring often, until it’s no longer pink.
2. In a small bowl, crush the oregano between your palms to release its flavor, then add the chili powder, cumin, cocoa, allspice, and salt. Combine with a fork, then add to the pot, stirring like you mean it. Add tomato paste and stir until combined, about 2 minutes.
3. Add the tomatoes with their juice, beef broth, and water to the pot. Stir well. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat so the chili enjoys a gentle simmer. Simmer uncovered for at least two hours. Do not skimp on the simmer! Serve in deep bowls with big spoons."
I did it without the chocolate, added mushrooms and a whole lot more spice. I did it over a stove top vs in the crockpot like I normally would do chili so it's probably not as good as I would prefer. Also, I was too lazy to go to two stores so instead of using ground turkey, I used the recipe's ground beef. I say all this because I'm not the largest fan at this time. I used it with lettuce to eat as tacos with salsa and guac so far but for lunch / breakfast today, I put it over
spaghetti squash with home made
marinara sauce. yum! The drink is soda streamed water with lemon.
 |
| Delicious but note how meaty the chili is |
Lunch / snack:
1. Handful of Costco nuts (I know you're supposed to limit nuts but I wanted them).
2. Carrots with guac
For some strange reason, no matter how much I ate of the carrots, I wasn't feeling full. I finally stopped when my husband was coming home and I knew dinner would start soon. Then it hit me - I was so full. I couldn't even image eating dinner. But hubby was starving so we ate!
Dinner:
2.
Best chicken ever (from www.theclothesmakethegirl.com) - yes, I'm making a lot of her food...but she gets rated so well!
3. Steamed broccoli.
It was good. Really good. Especially the sweet potato fries.
Day 1 thoughts: I'm stuffed. I ate less than 1200 cals and I'm stuffed. Also, my tummy is making gassy sounds. I don't really have a lot of gas (unless I drink beer) so this is odd. We'll see how I'm feeling tomorrow.
