Whole 30 Reintroduction

As I wrapped up my Whole30, I have realized that even though it was difficult at times to complete I was way more nervous about the reintroduction period. I felt like there was some confusing information as far as added sugar and slow roll versus fast track. 

Specifically this statement, "First, to give yourself a little breathing room, relax on the “no added sugar” rule. This doesn’t mean you’re eating cupcakes washed down with energy drinks, but if you want some maple chicken sausage, bacon with your eggs, ketchup on your burger, or the vinaigrette dressing that comes with your restaurant salad, go right ahead. Note that we’re not actually changing your diet much here—you were already eating meat, condiments, and salads with dressing on the Whole30. We’re just broadening your choices a bit, in a way that is unlikely to send you running for the nearest donut shop."

This was on the Whole30 website but I also read it in It Starts With Food. For me, I actually felt (and slept) so well that I was hesitant to start really reintroducing troublesome items. BUT I was interested in adding pre-made salad dressings and condiments back in. The amount of time needed to make these every week was enough to make me want to reintroduce those. Sure I would love to eat clean dressings but so far they are very hard to find or pretty expensive. 

BTW, the answer I got to this question was, "Big picture-wise, salad dressing is a bad example for Whole30 to use for the "relax on the no added sugar" tip, because you can pretty much guarantee that any dressing in a restaurant is going to use soybean oil."

So my take away is that if I want convenience I may be consuming more additives than I would like. For me, this is worth it though because I can't spare the extra time. Maybe one day, but not in my current juncture in life. 


So back to the reintroduction: 

Day 31 Legumes -

I got some gluten free soy sauce and had stir fry veggies with breakfast and lunch. (no issues) For dinner I made pinto beans in the Instapot.

There are beans in there I promise. :)

Result: Delicious (and I wasn't even missing beans) and no issues. Not a grumble nothing. 

Day 34 Dairy -

I realize this is technically out of order but I rationalized what I was doing that day and it made more since because the restaurant my family was eating lunch at has home-made ranch! So dairy it was. I had cheese in my eggs (actually feel like I liked them better without). For dinner we had beef tip stroganoff. I ate mine over veggies. 
Result: Tummy audibly grumbled all afternoon. In retrospect the ranch was very spicy (jalapeno ranch) so probably not the best idea. I think I will do a second reintroduction and be more careful. 

Day 37 Non gluten grains- 

This is today! I made some gluten free oatmeal. It was disgusting and I threw most of it away. I had one tortilla chip as I was packing my lunch (Skinnytaste.com Chili Popper Chili with corn chips), and it was GLORIOUS!! A couple of things, today was probably not the best day to start a reintroduction because our house is showing and we spent last night cleaning so no elaborate healthy meal. We grilled some compliant sausage and leftover veggies. I think the sausage messed up my stomach because it is NOT ok. But I really wanted corn chips. ;) The corn chips I got were organic Kirkland brand. 

I will update with the continued Non gluten grains in my next post. 

Whole30 part 3

Today is day 29 of my Whole30. Let's talk about some NSV since I can't technically weigh my self (although I feel like I am much less bloated so I am hopeful for some kind of decrease there).

NSV:

• Less bloated
• Skin/complexion looks amazing
• Sleeping through the night (I just don't do this and it has been amazing)
• No stomach problems (minus one that I think was food poisoning because the whole family got it)
• WAY fewer headaches
• I have kicked my soda habit (this is huge and I love that I am not a slave to acquiring a Diet Dr. Pepper all the time)
• Overall feeling better
• More energy, but I still wouldn't say "Tigerblood" (although one day I had a ton and it felt like Tigerblood on that day)

My whole family is also eating better. My toddler and husband have been getting down on sweet potatoes, lean cooked meat, veggies and fruit for snacks. We have been doing so well that I am starting to really look at moving to a more Paleo lifestyle. I just bought this book:

I haven't finished reading it, but it is a fun read and she has lots of different recipes for easy cooking paleo ideas.

Here is what I have been eating:

Roasted chicken. I baked it in the oven, veggies in the pan with it, sweet potatoes on the side. Easy clean-up and easy prep. 

G eating her Whole30 meal. :)

This looks gross but was actually really good. Banger sausage from book. Then I scrambled the eggs in the same pan with some onions and peppers. 

Shrimp salad again. I love seafood in the summer and shrimp are quick to cook. 

I seriously have been forcing myself to only eat this every few days. I would eat it everyday if not. 

InstaPot Deal!!! For Amazon Prime Day!!!

Since I started Whole30 I keep reading about the Instapot. It is a one stop shop for cooking healthy meals in minutes. It is a pressure cooker, slow cooker, saute' cooker (so you can only have to use one pan), rice cooker, yogurt maker etc. There are whole facebook groups devoted to how many things you can do with it. 

I have really been wanting one but for $130 I couldn't bite the bullet. Today on Amazon Prime day it is $69!!! For the Duo (the newer module with high and low pressure). I got the 6 quart. 

This is also a good deal if you are wanting a bigger size. All three sizes are onsale on the link below. 



InstaPot Deal

You do have to be an Amazon Prime member to access the deal, but if you aren't here is the link for the free trail: Prime Free Trial.  Trust me once you go prime you won't be able to go back. 

If you already have an InstaPot let me know what your favorite recipes are. I can't wait to try it out!!!

Whole 30 Part 2

I am now on day 25 and the end is in site. 

Some General Thoughts:

- I still miss cheese but not as much
- I feel amazing
- I have slept through the night twice since I started this and haven't done that in years. And just in general I feel more well rested. 
- I have only had a few headaches and NO migraines
- I feel like I have a little more energy but not "tigerblood"
- I miss Chinese food.
- I have only had one stomach issue this whole time and I think it might have been food poisoning because the entire family was ill


Overall that is a lot of positives. Looking ahead to next week I have made a reintroduction plan that may or may not be edited. I haven't finalized but I liked laying it out so I know. 

I ate out once so far during this and it was at Chipotle with all approved ingredients. We are currently selling our house and had to leave last night at dinner time to let the house get shown and we seriously debated about going to the local Mexican place. Well I am glad that I did some research because the manager let me know they cook everything in some kind of soybean oil. I would have been so mad if I messed up this close to the finish line. My other inquiries have determined that you can eat at Chuy's (grilled chicken salad with salsa dressing) and Pita Pit (Philly steak salad no dressing) but I haven't tried those. 

My eyes have been opened to the amount of preservatives, fillers and crap that is in our food. I am seriously considering making a lifestyle change for my family and doing Paleo after I wrap this up. 

This has been a lot of work (especially while trying to sell a house) but it has definitely been something I would recommend. 

Here are some of my favorite eats from the past two weeks:

A play off of bang bang shrimp from Skinnytaste.com. I used Franks red hot mixed with a little dump ranch. 

Sweet potatoes taste sweeter now. This is with clarified butter that I made.

Leftover roasted chicken with compliant salsa from Whole Foods and Guac. 

Steak! Grilled potatoes and green beans. 

Banger sausage patties that I made from Whole30 book over spinach, onion and a fried egg on top. 

Crispy skin grilled chicken. 

Roasted potatoes, Premade turkey burgers from Costco and green salad with dump ranch. 

This was a game changer. Bananas with a drizzle of Almond butter and some cinnamon. It was like a real dessert after all this time with no sugar. (I ate this with and without green apples)

Crockpot Chuckroast, with carrots and potatoes and green beans. 

Fresh Blackend Red fish we caught over a green salad with dump ranch. 

Grilled Chicken salad with dump ranch and Tessamae's Zesty ranch. I added boiled egg and some leftover compliant bacon. 

My two favorite dressings. I added paprika to the dump ranch. Yum! Also, I was not a fan of the Tessamae's Ceasar. It tasted like straight up horseradish. I was pissed that I wasted $6. 

Scrambled veggie eggs with my favorite banana mix. 

Who knew butternut squash with cinnamon was so good. Everyone in the house approved. 

Same salad as above this time with grilled shrimp. 

Bone broth turned out to be super easy and I used it in everything from gravy to mashed potatoes. 

Whole30

So as of June 14th I am officially on Whole30. It has been super helpful and motivating for me to read about other people's experiences with it so I figured I would post about mine.

I will tell you so far it has been hard but as of today (10 days in) I feel like I have turned a corner. I think the first week was so brutal because I am a Diet Dr. Pepper junkie, I was eating WAY more sugar and junk than usual (part of the reason I decided to do this), and most importantly I did not properly plan.

Sure I read the book and even went to Costco and loaded up on meat and fresh veggies, but I am a dip person. I didn't realize that every sauce and condiment in my stash weren't Whole30 friendly. No soy sauce, ketchup, bbq, mustard sauce, salad dressing etc. This was a problem.

I will also tell you that I have never been a huge grilled chicken fan and that mixed with the soda withdraw and overall tiredness were enough to almost do me in.

But fast forward a week and I am great! I seriously haven't had the digestive issues that I normally do (I see a specialist), no headaches and I swear I think that I am thinking more clearly. I buckled down somewhere in the week and decided to plan better and get busy. It seriously made a huge difference.

One of the most helpful things I did was to make a pot of Slow Cooker Paleo Jalepeno Chili from SkinnyTaste.com (I just love her). I am a soup girl and this one was seriously good and I had lunch ready for the next two days and had one to put into the freezer. I will probably double this next time. She also has a ton of recipes for paleo (very similar to Whole30) just check the ingredients for complacency.


I also roasted a chicken in the oven. This recipe was delicious. You can throw in some carrots, potatoes or whatever with it and dinner is done. But wait there's more! The leftover chicken can be used in some soup, or Mexican taco salads the next night (I found some compliant salsa and Whole Foods aka Whole Pay Check). Then I took the whole carcass and threw it in the crock pot with some water, celery and carrots to make bone broth (so I didn't have to buy and organic non-gluten stuff).

So I will continue to update about my progress as I work through the 30 days. I can't wait for the Tigerblood phase if I feel this good already.

Cravings:

CHEESE!!!

Diary of How I felt:

Day 1: Fine. Hungry.

Day 2: Headache. Might die. Realized I should have prepped more. Came home and made dressing.

Day 3: Dying. Headache for days. Found the joy of guacamole and felt better. More prep cutting up stuff and making stuff. Sigh.

Day 4: Woke up feeling pretty good. Lasted all day until about 3 p.m. Then a proverbial bus hit me. Lack of caffeine was serious today. Found the joy of NutPods (I'm sorry I can't drink coffee black. I am not that strong). They give you the creaminess back. Still not sweet but not bad. Realized I hadn't had a bm since day one.

Day 5: Woke up make coffee. Sat on couch. Felt like a truck hit me. "Might Kill All The Things." Also this is TMI so don't read the next line if you are squeamish, I had the biggest bm I have ever seen. (Gut healing???)

Day 6-7: Extremely tired. Didn't want to come home and cook. Just wanted cheese. Damnit I am a grown woman I can have cheese (I didn't). Soooo tired of meat. No headaches. BM at every meal (WHAT? Totally not like me.)

Day 8: Pretty good mood. Good energy. Still tired of meat. Still regular.

Day 9-10: Felt great. No headaches. No tummy trouble. Hubs cooked for me (all compliant ingredients).

Memorial Day Sales Round-up

With a what looks to be a lovely three day weekend approaching the marketing teams at our favorite stores are doing their best to keep us inside and shopping. Here is a sales round up that I have done so far. (I plan on updating this throughout the rest of the week so check back).

Calvin Klein 35% with code Memorial35: click here

Tom's up to 75% off: click here

Loft 40% off New Arrivals and 60% off sale: click here

Kate Spade Suprise Sale up to 75% off (you have to enter email): click here

Gap everything 50% off: click here

Father's Day Gift Ideas

Well Father's Day is quickly approaching and this one is just dang hard for me. I normally have an idea of what to get the hubby, but my dad and his dad allude me. My dad just buys himself items that he wants and Jason's dad pretty much does the same. Not to mention that the things I think they would want are expensive! So I rounded up some options in various price ranges and personalities to help you (click the links in picture captions).

Armani Cologne

Vineyard Vines Baseball Cap

Atlanta Braves Baseball Cap

Leather Shoulder Bag

Leather Padfolio

Tag Heuer Watch

Under Armour Shirt

Under Armour Cold Gear (Hubby got this for Christmas and LOVED it)

Of course if you are still confused like me Amazon has set up a site for Father's Day ideas just like Mother's Day. You can search by category or price range. Plus many of these are free shipping (SCORE)!

Let me know what you decide to get in the comments below. I struggle with the Dad's at Christmas time too so any brilliant ideas I will share on here. Thanks!!!