Whole30 - Day 25

Here we are, just five days away from the end. 

As hoped and expected, though, the end of this strict eating regime will not mean returning to our prior eating habits. Yes, there might be a small plate of nachos now and then, but our eyes are open, and mindlessly stuffing processed "goodies" in will not be happening.

This morning, Pierre hopped on the scale and realized that he's down almost 20 pounds from the week prior to our start date! (We actually started cutting out junk a little before the actual beginning -- eased in to make the transition less abrupt.) He's lighter than he's been in 15 years. Woohoo! My darlin's getting healthier every day!

I've only dropped about four pounds, but then I'm not very overweight, and this diet isn't so different from my usual one. 

Pierre's comment: "I now realize just how efficient my body is at converting simple carbs into fat."  Indeed. :)

I especially like the feeling of knowing that we're building healthy cells by eating almost exclusively whole, real foods.

The only exception we've made to the perfect W30 rules has been a recipe, that I made last week, which the Whole30 group calls a "Sex With Your Pants On" food. SWYPO refers to anything resembling a simple-carb food (paleo muffins or cookies, for example) that will eventually lead you back to the real thing. 

Ours are Coconut Flour Tortillas. They're actually more like crepes than tortillas and act as a grain-free sammich holder alternative to the cold-and-messy romaine. They taste fine, freeze well, and we know that everything in them is healthy (eggs, arrowroot powder, coconut flour, coconut oil, water, and salt). I'll make a second batch this evening. Yep, you could call this a bit of a cheat, but this diet is not supposed to be torture, right? And we've decided that finding something that will keep Pierre off bread is a giant win.

We made the decision to purchase the annual subscription to RealPlans, the meal planning / shopping list / recipe app recommended by Michelle Tam at NomNomPaleo. I've tried a few more recipes from them and we've been happy with them all. The team at RealPlans were totally accessible, answering my "How do I..." questions, as well as starting our lower-priced annual subscription at the beginning of last month. Handy, creative, AND kind!! Gotta love that.

Last week a couple of girlfriends inspired me by introducing the concept of Once A Month Cooking (OAMC). I spent part of a day researching OAMC / Whole30 / crockpot / freezer meals, and wound up with a list of 21 recipes that I want to try! Of those, I've chopped, bagged, and frozen five, and we've already eaten two: Beef, beet, and cabbage borscht, which was yummy, but wasn't meaty enough for Pierre's taste; and last night's scrumptious peppers stuffed with spiced ground beef, grated onion, carrot, mushroom, and cauliflower. Who knew rice-free stuffed peppers could be so good?

This has been a grand adventure of discoveries! I'll write again next week to address our other goals, and fill you in on how this final leg goes. 

Hope you are enjoying your summer. 

If you have a moment and are so inclined, please pray for rain and for the safety of the residents and firefighters in and around my native Washington State.  

Until next week...
 

Whole30 - Day 11

Hard to believe that it's already 11 days into our Whole30!

Thus far, it's been a pretty easy journey. The biggest change, as I mentioned before, is Pierre's switch away from bread. He has discovered the deliciousness of romaine wraps, and sounds as though he'd like to continue this trend after the month is over! Yay!

Our days have been crazy-busy full (as usual), and the food has been fab. Breakfasts have consisted of a combination of pan-fried zoodles, hash browns, eggs, left-over meats, homemade pork sausage patties (YUM), and fermented veggies. We usually have two of any of the above. Pierre's doing fine with black coffee, instead of having it with his usual glug-glug of milk. I'm still loving iced sun-tea. And we enjoy three or four ounces of booch each morning, too.

That's been keeping us full until lunchtime. Then, Pierre usually has a canned salmon or tuna sammy and a bowl of gumbo. Last batch -- and the one I'll make tomorrow -- are without the usual brown rice addition, but he's liking the extra veggies in each tub. 

My lunches vary wildly. Usually there is some sort of ferment -- cortido, currykraut, or kimchi/kaktugi. Egg salad with homemade mayonnaise is yummy in either romaine or just on a fork. Sometimes there's a piece of meat left over from dinner the night before. And ocassionally, I'll join Pierre in a small tuna or salmon romaine wrap.

Eating dinner at a decent hour is still my biggest challenge. (Can you say a lifetime of eating late?) I'm trying to set a goal to eat by 7:00, which I know is still late for many, and most of the time we're sitting down closer to 8:00. Students, art, friends, writing... so many things mess with that goal, not to mention the fact that I've always been a forget-to-eat person. Perhaps setting a timer to begin preparing dinner would be a wise plan.

We stayed on the RealPlans schedule last week, only switching a few dinners to fit our tastebuds and timing. Fresh Italian sausages and chard from the garden got slipped in one night, as we'd been out boating and didn't have the patience to defrost and then cook. Picnics at the marinas have been easy, though, with cold bbq chicken or steaks barbequed out there, along with big mixed green salads. 

 I'm not sure whether or not I'll continue with RealPlans. The first week, I input breakfasts, lunches, and dinners, and it was a LOT of work. Because of that, I haven't kept up with it. There may be time in the next couple of days to do dinners only for the upcoming week, but we shall see. The recipes are so very tempting...

My only slip up has been a small one. I ran across town to buy ingredients for our kitty, Penny's, raw food at T&T, the giant Asian grocery, and forgot to eat before I left. (See?) By the time I was finished shopping, it was 1:30, and my stomach was complaining. Across from the grocery was a Saint Hubert's roasted chicken joint, so I went through the drive-through and ordered a quarter dark, no slaw (because the dressings are made with sugar) and no fries. 

The woman on the headphones (good salesperson that she is) said, "Are you sure? Fries are just 70 cents more." 

Ugh. 

My brain said, "Potatoes are okay on the Whole30. And so is oil."

My mouth said, "Okay. Fries."

The tray came with a LOAD of deep-fried spuds. 

My brain said, "Oops! Deep fried = not allowed!"

My mouth said, "Just a few..." and my hand agreed.

Luckily, my brain stopped my hand before too many made it to my mouth, and at least three-quarters of the cold fries got tossed into the compost when I got home. The chicken was about as far from organic as one could get, but it was roasted with no sauce, and was scrumptious to my hungry belly.

Speaking of which... here it is, almost 1:30 again, and I've not had lunch. Off to eat! 

Hope you're all enjoying your summer, and enjoying delicious, healthy meals. :)

[Oh, and did I mention that I'm down 2.8 pounds, and Pierre's lost 6 over the past 11 days? It's not our only goal, but it's an easy one to track.]

'Til next time... bon appetit!