My Paleo Diary - Wrapping up My #Whole30 – Now What?

My Whole30 Challenge officially ended on January 30th.

To read my previous posts about this challenge and why I took it on you can check out:

And So It Begins
My Paleo Diary – Whole30 Days 1 – 5
My Paleo Diary – Whole30 Days 6 – 12
My Paleo Diary - Whole 30 Days 13 – 19

This last part of the challenge has only been 4 days long and was really just a continuation of everything that I had been doing all along… except that my cold symptoms are mostly gone so I am feeling better and very energetic.

I have all kinds of thoughts about where I go from here but first, let’s take a look at what I have been eating:

Breakfasts

I like to make something a little special on Sunday mornings.    This is an omelet with some spinach and wild Pacific Pink salmon.  Yum. I have to say I normally make this with a wedge of Laughing Cow cheese in it, and I did miss it.  Oh well.

 

On Monday, I put together these little Ham and Egg Baskets and they were delicious. I cannot recall where I saw this idea and cannot take credit for it.   If the eggs are cooked long enough, you could even pick it up with your fingers and it could be picnic food.  I baked these at 350 F for 15 minutes and they could have cooked a few minutes longer... I liked them but The Captain thought they were a bit runny.

 

My dear friend, Sharon, who lives in Nova Scotia recently started her own Whole30 Challenge and she came up with this Fruity Egg Cake, made with egg whites, coconut shreds, dates, dried cranberries, and some almond butter. I had to make it for my breakfast on Tuesday.

The simple omelet I made on Wednesday with some sliced onion and leftover cooked carrots was also pretty darned tasty.

Lunches

Mostly veggie-ful this week… beef chili on roasted butternut squash… salad with my homemade mayonnaise and canned wild salmon.  I also made a wicked garlicky Babaganoush this week so I had that one day with a plateful of veggies, with some canned tuna on the side. 

 

Then the next day had it again as a salad topper along with some sliced hard boiled eggs.

 

Dinners

 

One night I had a baked sweet potato topped with sauerkraut and lean deli ham.  Awesome.  And I have also had Coconut Chicken, this time with extra vegetables.

 

I made my Butterless Butter Chicken and had it over kabocha squash instead of farro or barley or brown rice, and I enjoyed it even more than I have before.   I used coconut oil to cook the onions, garlic, and chicken and I also subbed curry powder for the paste I would normally have used.  Did you know that you can eat the roasted shell of the kabocha squash too?  Yup, it is very thin.

 

 

 

 

And one other night I had a good ole beef burger with homemade baked yam 'fries' and coleslaw, again made with my homemade mayonnaise. 

 

Snacks

 

I made of of my banana ‘bowls’ with a chopped banana, some hemp seeds, some raisins, cinnamon, and sunflower seeds along with little splash of vanilla unsweetened Almond Breeze .  I would like to report that I have been very disciplined in my limited consumption of almond butter these past few days… I bought cashews to make cashew butter but it hasn’t happened yet.

 

 

 

And I have eaten a few cashews and almonds, some hazelnuts, and dates, too.  But I am snacking so much less than I normally would because my meals are so nutritious and so satisfying.

 

Exercise and Workouts

 

Beginning on Sunday morning, with a short run… and I have been energetic and raring to go ever since.  I am so happy to be exercising again after finally shaking my cold symptoms.  KAIZEN. I feel myself getting stronger and more enthusiastic.

 

Some Thoughts

 

So it is over…. this 30 days of ‘deprivation’ as some of my friends call it…. no grains or grasses, no dairy, no legumes or soy products or peanut butter, no sugar or artificial sweeteners and no alcohol.  I survived… heck, I thrived!

 

I weighed myself and I have lost 10 pounds… more than I would have liked, actually.  But here is the thing… I am eating nutrient dense foods. I eat when I am hungry and stop when I am satisfied and my body seems to know when that is and my brain listens.  I know I am eating a lot less overall…. fewer calories for sure but the proportions of the macronutrients has changed in my diet, dramatically.

 

I am now eating about 25% protein, a whopping 40% fat and only about 35% carbs.  I cannot believe I can eat that much fat and lose 10 pounds in a month, but I did.  Especially with the limited amount of exercising I have been doing.

 

I have no food cravings.  None.  And the 'hangries’ are gone.  No more lightheadedness, just real hunger pangs when it is lunchtime… and that might be 12:30  or even 1:00 p.m. these days… not 11:00 or 11:30 a.m. anymore… even when breakfast is early. 

 

And my fingernails and my hair are strong and growing like crazy.  My skin is softer.  Could the Paleo Diet be the Fountain of Youth?  haha

 

So where do I go from here?

 

A week or so ago I was quite nervous about getting to this point… wondering how I would be able to feed myself without the rules and restrictions that the Whole30 Challenge has laid down for me.   I am so good at rules.  They command respect.  They give me structure and take away some of the need to make decisions  I have made up little rules for myself all throughout my life…. even during my somewhat rebellious teen years… don’t hitchhike alone; don’t wear blue eye shadow!  And as I got older and was losing weight... don’t eat standing up;  don’t take that one cookie unless you really want 3 or 4 of them; don’t smoke on the street; wear your seatbelt… that sort of thing.

 

So I wondered what I was going to eat on Day 31, and how it would all follow from there.  I have thought long and hard about this topic.

 

I have read all the ‘sciency’ stuff about the benefits of following a Paleo Diet.  I already knew from my own experimentation, that I cannot have gluten.  I suspect that the inflammation in my head and in my ears is gone because of something I have eliminated this past 30 days.  My left leg is not swelling nearly as much by day’s end either so I am hoping that healthy food and good nutrition may play a roll in clearing up my low blood protein count, too. 

 

 

It might be easier and more concise if I share my thoughts in point form so here goes:

 

• I  absolutely believe this line from It Starts With Food  “ The food you eat either makes you more healthy, or less healthy. Those are your options “

 

• Food is fuel.  It is not my friend or my enemy. It is not good or bad.  I choose to focus on foods that nourish me and I shall continue to search and experiment to find out what those foods are.... for me... for my body.

• I do think that this style of eating fits me, is satisfying to me, and makes me feel good.  But I don’t like labels… I am not going to say “  I eat PALEO “  because I know I will not 100% of the time.  I will have some red wine or an occasional martini… very dry and straight up with 3 olives, please…  I will probably have chocolate again, and I may even indulge in the odd bit of Greek yogurt or popcorn … but not every day, or even every week.  

• Please don’t advise me to do Paleo 83% or 92% of the time.  I don’t know what that means anyway. And please don’t tell me to eat Paleo but cheat occasionally. Cheat on whom anyway?  If and when I make unhealthy food or drink choices, it will be because I have weighed the options and I have CHOSEN to indulge anyway, with my eyes wide open…. and I will thoroughly enjoy it, and without the burden of feeling like I  am CHEATING.

 

• I know, too, that there are a lot of people who are dead set against this way of eating because they don’t believe in giving up whole food groups or they think you have to drink cow’s milk to get enough calcium or they think that people who eat Paleo are living on unhealthy bacon.  I have heard it all. And I appreciate the concern, thank you.

• I am not advising anyone else to follow Whole30 – I have some friends who have asked me about it and I have told them about the Whole9/Whole30 web site and named the books I have read and told them to check it out for themselves.  What is right for me, is not right for you. Everyone must blaze their own trail.

• I am not going to be discussing this a whole lot more…  even if I decide to do another Whole30 somewhere down the road. 

I Really Am a Runner…

It has been so long since I have written about running, that I am sure lots of people were beginning to wonder if I ever do it anymore.

For a couple of weeks since the new year started, I was feeling overwhelmed by head cold symptoms..  you know, runny nose, sore throat, ear aches and a bit of sneezing and coughing… I just didn’t feel like getting sweating and working out and I sure didn’t want to go outside and run in the cool wind or rain either.

But on Sunday I finally felt good and was chomping at the bit to get out there!  I did a short  solo run… only 3.35 km and just enough to whet my appetite for more.

Look at the big silly grin!

 

 

When I came in, I told The Captain to grab the camera. I didn’t care what I looked like, I just wanted to record this moment because I was just soooo happy!

 

Tuesday I did a good hard strength and core workout and today my tummy is sore so it must have done some good!  And for today’s workout, it was a tossup between a kettle bell session and a run. Tomorrow I am working a split day, so won’t be doing any workouts and if I didn’t run today, I wouldn’t get out till Friday… the sun was shining, and it was calm so I asked The Captain to come along with me and off we went.

 

We ran 5km today and during the first half my quads felt stiff and heavy but they finally warmed up and stretched out, and I finished strong.  I was glad for that and it was so nice to be out. The flowers are starting to bloom in our neighborhood and it was lovely.

 

Afterward we had a good streeeeetch, especially the quads,  and then I got out the immersion blender to make us each a smoothie…. vanilla whey protein powder, ice water, banana and half a kiwi, for him… powdered egg white, almond milk, banana, half a kiwi and cinnamon for me.  Awesome!  If you have never had kiwi in a smoothie you MUST try it…. and yes, I did say POWDERED EGG WHITES. This is my solution to not having protein powders while on this Whole30 Challenge.

 

 

When we were living on the boat and spending weeks at a time cruising, without being able to shop for groceries, I was always on the lookout for powdered eggs to keep in the locker for days we didn't have fresh eggs, but I never found any to buy. Then, this past Fall I found some at a health food shop so picked them up to try them… and then promptly forgot about them till I started this Whole30 Paleo Challenge and found protein powders off limits for 30 days.  I remembered the powdered egg whites and found that they mix up really nicely in smoothie to give it some protein power.

Have you even tried powdered egg whites?

Do you use protein powders?

Did you enter my Eat Smart Precision Pro Kitchen Scale giveaway?  Go do it now.

Eat Smart Precision Pro Kitchen Scale Giveaway

Did you read my Eat Smart Precision Pro Kitchen Scale review last week?

I am so excited to share this news… Eat Smart wants to give one of my readers a Precision Pro Kitchen Scale just like the one in my review.

So, if you live in Canada or the U.S. and would like to have one of these scales, here is how to enter the giveaway:

Mandatory Entry:

Leave a comment on this post and tell me why you want to win. Make sure you leave an email address so I can find you easily if you win, PLEASE.

Bonus entries:

For an additional entry, tweet about the giveaway and include @EatSmartScales and @eatrunsail  and a link to this post in your tweet.  You do not need to leave an additional comment.   If you tweeted as indicated, I will find it.  Simply Retweeting my tweet or someone else's tweet does not qualify. You must post an original tweet.

The giveaway will be open until 11:59 p.m. Pacific Standard Time on Sunday, February 3rd, 2013.  I will select a winner on Monday, February 4th, 2013, and try to contact the winner by email and also share the winner’s name on this post.  If I do not receive an email in response from the winner by 11:59 p.m. on Thursday, February 7th, 2013, I will select a different winner.

The prize will be provided and directly sent to the winner by Eat Smart Products.

I am hosting this same giveaway for the same scale on my food blog We can begin to feed… there is only the one scale to be awarded and it is being advertised on both blogs.  You can enter there as well if you like. If you enter on both blogs you can have a maximum of 4 entries.

UPDATE!

This giveaway is now closed and the lucky winner is

kevershed

I have sent an email message to the winner and hope to hear back soon!

My Paleo Diary - #Whole 30 Days 20 – 26

Read about the reasons I am doing this Whole30 Challenge and my recaps prior to this one:

And So It Begins
My Paleo Diary – Whole30 Days 1 – 5
My Paleo Diary – Whole30 Days 6 – 12
My Paleo Diary - Whole 30 Days 13 – 19

I started and ended the week still sniffling and suffering a bit of an earache/sore throat from the cold I have been fighting.  That, along with a trip to the dentist on Tuesday to assess a broken tooth and then back on Wednesday to start the repair and have a temporary crown put in place, has taken its toll on my workouts again.

But I had a real breakthrough this week, healthwise and I am just over the moon about it.

For the past several months I have avoided doing any workouts/exercises that require me to move up and down rapidly.  The few I have done have left me dizzy and nauseous because there was inflammation in my inner ears and in my head.  I have been avoiding some circuit work, and Pilates and Yoga, in particular.  It was even bothering me to lay on my back and just sit partially up to do basic crunches sometimes.  So annoying and limiting.

I haven’t been feeling all that well but on Monday I was wanting to do something so I decided to see if I could pull off a Pilates workout.  I cranked up my favorite Pilates for Dummies DVD, and was able to get through the entire 30 minutes of the beginner’s mat without ANY symptoms at all.  I kept waiting for the dizziness to rear its ugly face but it never happened. Normally by the time I have done 10 rollups I am feeling ill.  I was so excited!  And still am because I repeated the workout one more time during the week and I also some Yoga movements that I have been dreading, too.  Hurray.  I am absolutely sure it is food-related and so I have been doing more reading about foods that can cause inflammation because I sure don’t want to start eating them again after this Whole30 Challenge is over.

So, here is what the week’s eats looked like:

Breakfasts

I am still eating eggs every morning, and have been since this Whole30 Challenge began on January 1st so is it any wonder that I woke up on Monday, Day 21 and decided I just couldn’t face another egg?  Not really…. but I do like to have eggs because they are the perfect food to keep me satisfied till lunchtime.

So what to do?

Why, cook eggs and hide the taste of course. I came up with a Sweet Potato Breakfast Bowl Scramble, that has banana and vanilla in it and turns out more like a hot cereal. I couldn’t tell there was eggs in it at all….. I have actually had this or some version of it a few times this week.  The day I went to the dentist for the crown work, I made it with 2 eggs for added staying-power and I did make it one other morning with canned pumpkin instead of sweet potato, too.

I also made Gabby’s Sweet Potato Bites one morning… they are just some mashed sweet potatoes blended with egg whites and cinnamon… then baked. And they are lovely and fairly quick. I had mine with some almond butter spread on them. 

Then another morning I made them with canned pumpkin instead of mashed sweet potato and I think they were even better.  I added cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and vanilla to the egg and pumpkin mixture.

Lunches

Fresh spinach leaves make a great base for salads, along with grape tomatoes and onion slices.  I have enjoyed this with shredded turkey breast and salsa, and also some chicken salad.  Give me a mess of greens and some protein and I am a happy girl.

I have continued to gobble up my homemade soups…  Curried Butternut Squash with Chicken…

and also Curried Coconut Butternut Squash and Carrot.   One day I had half a roasted kabocha squash topped with some sauerkraut and lean deli ham.  That was a real treat!


Dinners

I discovered a new bagged ‘supergreen’s at the market this week.  It came in 3 different mixes and the one I chose is a combination of spinach leaves, bok choy, and Swiss chard. 

The first time I tried it, I heated some coconut oil in a skillet and then tossed in several handfuls of the leaves along with some dried cranberries.  I sauteed it just a few seconds till it turned limp and then plated it and topped it with slivered chicken breasts.  Wow. So tasty.

I am enjoying roasted spaghetti squash or kabocha squash with my Beanless Beef Paleo Chili….

I also made some Cauliflower Rice one night and did a big stir-fry with chicken breasts.  I am really loving cooking with coconut oil these days where it works flavor-wise.

Friday I spent the morning in the kitchen.  We lucked into a good buy on some extra lean ground beef this week, so I made a meatloaf and also a huge pot of chili and put most of it in the freezer.  And then I cooked a batch of the Caveman Ketchup from this book I am loving right now….

 

I borrowed this copy from the library but a friend told me it is available at Costco and that there is a follow up edition there too, that is actually better.  Looking forward to our next trip to Costco now.

The meatloaf was really tasty on a bed of the supergreens too, but I did them in olive oil instead of coconut oil this time. A few steamed carrots and it was delicious. The Captain has always loved meatloaf so every once in a while I like to make one. This one had no oats or crumbs and I really liked it much better that way. I used lots of onions and garlic and celery.

On Saturday, I finally got around to clarifying a pound of unsalted butter for ghee.

Snacks

Still munching on nuts and dates occasionally, and this week I made a few apple or banana ‘bowls’…. cut up fruit with milled flax seeds, raisins, almond butter, cinnamon and a bit of almond milk splashed on the top and stirred into the mix.   I might have one of these around 3:30 or 4:00 p.m. and then put off dinner till around 7:00 or so.  It's more like a 4th meal than a snack, really.

I have never really been an icecream fan but we both really like Banana Soft Serve so I whizzed a couple of frozen bananas and some almond milk in the food processor one evening and we enjoyed it with some nut butters and cinnamon on on top.

What would I do without almond butter?

Observations

Other than the head/dizziness thing that I already explained, there were no changes this week.  I am still surprised at how deep and easily I am sleeping.  My cold symptoms are on the wain and I am starting to feel more energetic.

I don’t think I could do this Whole30 Challenge if I didn’t cook ahead and freeze some things such as hard-boiled or baked eggs, soups, chilis, pasta sauces, etc.  It just makes things so easy and it is comforting to know that I always have something appropriate on hand to eat in a pinch.

I am still not missing anything in particular.  Which amazes me.  I don't feel deprived.  Oh sure, I could have a glass of red wine or 2, and I would enjoy some of the goodies I like to make with protein powder such as my pancakes, and smoothies, and sludges.  But I am not obssessing or craving.  Sugar desserts and treats? Chocolate?  Not even a little bit, and I am so thrilled about that. I don’t even miss my Greek yogurt or Laughing Cow Cheese and I have all but forgotten about grains and g-f breads. 

I have focussed on the positive and all of the good things that I can like to have and that nourish me, fuel me, and make me feel good.

I have heard that some people get bored on this plan. If I were eating the same foods over and over, cooked the same way, I would get bored too.  I need some variety.   I guess this is is what I was feeling about the taste of eggs… but after not have them done in the more traditional ways for a few days, I welcomed some scrambled eggs with just salt and pepper again.

I cannot seem to get into the idea of eating chicken or beef at breakfast. I mean if it was steak and eggs, perhaps... but chili?  or stew?  Not at this point at least.  Maybe later. 

I know I am eating too much almond butter and milled flax seeds.  I know it.

 
Other Thoughts

I am finally reading It Starts With Food – thanks to Gabriella who writes Gabby’s Gluten Free.  I won a copy on a giveaway she hosted a short while ago and it arrived early this week and I have been reading it word for word.  The information is so pertinent to me and I cannot get enough of the ‘sciency’ stuff.  I keep going back and re-reading sentences just to make sure I understand it well.  And although I have not read it all the way through yet, one quote from the book that really stands out to me is this...



The food you eat either makes you more healthy, or less healthy. Those are your options.

 

 

BAZINGA!

 

This sends off all kinds of fireworks and sky rockets in my head.

 

I get it.

 

I completely agree with it.

 

I love it.

Day 30 arrives on Wednesday next week. I want to be well-prepared and armed with information and some decisions already made before Day 31 dawns.

Recipes

Sweet Potato Breakfast Bowl Scramble

Sweet Potato Bites – from Gabby’s Gluten Free

Curried Butternut Squash and Chicken Soup

Curried Coconut Butternut Squash and Carrot Soup

Beanless Paleo Beef Chili

Easing My Way Back In

My workouts over the past couple of weeks have been few and far between.

Due to last week’s sniffles carrying over into this week, along with the dental work I have had done this week, I have not been very energetic.

But this has been a good excuse for me to dust off a couple of my old favorite DVDs and give them another try.  I have been longing to do Pilates for several months now… but just was not able to because the up and down movements brought on an uncomfortable dizziness that made me nauseous as well.  And that is also what has been holding me back from getting more involved with Yoga. 

I thought that since I have learned to loves to stretch, that a Yoga practice might go nicely hand in had with that… but the same dizziness kept me from it.

I have found that following the Whole30 Paleo Challenge this month has cleared up whatever inflammation was plaguing my ears and my head, and I am not experiencing this same dizziness anymore.  Hurray!  So, I have been able to  welcome back Pilates and Yoga into my workouts, and they have been a really nice way to get in some exercise and stretching…. particularly on days I haven’t felt well enough to do anything more strenuous.

These are the DVDs I have been using.  Are you familiar with either of them?

Do you practice Pilates or Yoga?

What kind of exercise do you do when you aren't particularly feeling well?

Eat Smart Precision Pro Kitchen Scale

I was really quite excited when a package arrived a couple of weeks ago and I opened it to find an Eat Smart Precision Pro kitchen scale inside.

 

I have a long history with food scales.  I first started using one in the mid 90’s when I became a Weight Watcher.  In those days on the program, we were encouraged to weigh and measure every morsel that we consumed.

 

My first scale was a very small spring-loaded analog version and I had several variations on that theme, in succession, for about 16 or 17 years.  When we moved onto the boat in 2002  I had no room on my galley countertop to keep a scale out for use all the time, and these little analogs were easily stowed in a galley locker, with no real worry about breakage.   Like every other tool in my galley, I just got it out and used it when I needed to, and then promptly stowed it away afterward.

 

I cannot imagine not having a scale in my kitchen now, after all these years. I rely on them for:

• Portion Control
• Recipe Development
• Measurement Accuracy
• Calorie Counting/Nutrient Tracking

And this Eat Smart Precision Pro food scale certainly does all of those things, and more, with the simple push of a couple buttons.

 

 

 

 

The left button is used to turn the scale On and Off and it is also used to reset the weight measurement display to Zero.  It’s a very useful function because it allows you to keep adding items to the scale, but weigh them individually.

 

The right button allows you to select the Unit for your weight measurement.  It can be grams, kilograms, ounces, or pounds. 

 

And the scale accurately weighs up to 5kg or 11 pounds.

 

It automatically turns itself off if left idle for 3 minutes to save your battery power.

 

I like to carry a little package of nuts in my purse, or pocket or daypack whenever I leave home.  It’s an emergency snack that will be enough to get me to the next meal, should a case of the hangries attack.  I like to take 14grams, approximately half an ounce, in each container and my Eat Smart Precision Pro food scale helps me portion them out. 

 

Normally the scale sits on my counter between the fridge and the stove, but for the sake of these pictures, I moved it to the table.  I set out the scale and my containers and the bags of nuts.

 

 

 

 

Then I pushed the left button to turn the scale On, and placed some containers on the top.  Check out the easy to read display...

 

Now, I don’t care how much the containers weigh.  I just want to weigh the nuts, so I pushed the left button to Zero the display….

 

 

 

And added almonds to one of the containers till the display read 14g.

 

 

Then I pushed the TARE button again to Zero the display…

 

 

and filled the second container till the display read 14g.  And  then Zeroed the display again and I repeated the process until they were all done.  So easy!

When I am working with new recipes I want to keep track of accurate measurements. I don’t like to try to follow a new recipe where the author uses ‘a handful of’ spinach or tells you to use a ‘medium’ potato…. what does that mean? (I realize I have been guilty of that myself in the past.)   I would much rather read a precise ingredient list that I can easily duplicate, especially for recipes where I am not familiar with the outcome.  And I require that accuracy when I am calculating the nutritional information for my recipes. A food scale is needed here, obviously.

And yes, sometimes you can use measuring cups, but I do prefer those for liquid measures.  I like to use a scale for solid food measurements.  Why? 

Here is a good example.

This rolled oats package gives the nutritional information for 1/2 cup or 40 grams.  In Canada all our labels are in both English and French.

But when I  measure out 1/2 cup it actually weighs 53 grams not 40 (and yes, I did Zero out for the container).  That is a difference of 13 grams… almost half an ounce.  Does it matter?  Well, it does to me and if you are concerned enough to be checking the nutritional information in the first place, it likely does to you as well.

If you are into calorie counting,  or tracking your nutrients like I am, this scale is a really good tool.  I like to keep a diary of my food intake so I can make sure I am getting in my important vitamins and minerals each day, along with an appropriate number of calories… broken down into proteins, fats, and carbohydrates.

The Eat Smart Precision Pro comes with an added little tool to help you count calories.  It is a booklet that lists hundreds of foods, by category, and gives the USDA calculated number of calories per gram of food.

 

For example, an apple with the skin, is listed at .52  - so you would weigh the amount you are going to eat in grams, and multiply that number by .52 to find out how many calories are in your apple.

In most calorie guides I see medium apples listed at 80 calories so I would normally use that number.  Let’s see how many calories my apple really has.

I removed the core from the apple and sliced it up into a little bowl, and after Zeroing out the weight of the bowl, I determined that the weight of what I am going to actually eat is 138 grams.  When I multiply that by .52 I come up with 71.76 calories for this apple.  

This is a wonderful little added feature if this level of accuracy is important to you.

Overall I am very impressed with this little Eat Smart Precision Pro kitchen scale, and would definitely recommend it to anyone who already uses a food scale, or as a first-time purchase for anyone wanting to start using one.

You can find out more about the Eat Smart Precision Pro kitchen scale at:
Amazon
and on their Social media sites:
LIKE EatSmart Products on Facebook
Twitter @EatSmartScales
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I was given the Eat Smart Precision Pro kitchen scale but all opinions are my own.

My Paleo Diary… #Whole30 Days 13 - 19

If you want to read about the reasons I am doing this Whole30 Challenge and my recaps prior to this one you can find them here:

And So It Begins
My Paleo Diary – Whole30 Days 1 – 5
My Paleo Diary – Whole30 Days 6 - 12

My goal this week was to spend less time in the kitchen inventing new recipes so that I could spend more time working out.  The first part happened but the second did not.

I was not feeling well when I woke up on Monday morning, Day 14.  My head felt a bit ‘off’ and I had a sensation of my whole body being tilted to the left.  It was enough to make me feel a bit nauseus so after breakfast I laid down and slept till noon.  Then I slept for a few hours again after lunch and then when I did go to bed at 11p.m., I slept soundly all night long.

I must thank The Captain for getting the thawed Christmas turkey carcass into the crockpot on Tuesday morning and making a nice new batch of homemade turkey broth. And also for cleaning up and storing the broth. I do appreciate his taking over and doing that job.

I woke up feeling only a bit better on Wednesday morning, but managed to go out grocery shopping with The Captain.  After lunch I had a nap for a couple of hours.  When I got up I was hungry and the first bite into my snack broke one of my left lower teeth…. it is a molar that has a large filling in it and I broke off one of the inside corners.  It must have been cracked.  So far there has been no pain and I am seeing my dentist in a couple more days.  I have been putting off going and now I have no choice. 

Thursday I worked all day and into the evening, and on Friday morning I woke up feeling very weak with a sore throat and a bit of earache.  Yuck.  Ditto Saturday and with a runny nose.  Double yuck.
Thank goodness we had some things in the freezer to fall back on for this week’s eats… chili, cooked turkey breast, a couple of different soups.  This is how the week’s meals went:

Breakfasts

Still eating eggs every morning. I know that the protein in the eggs keeps me going easily till noon and I do just really like them. It's almost starting to feel like a security blanket.

I made a variation of my Sweet Potato and Flax EggCakes using a leftover cooked Carnival Squash, and it was fabulous.  I also put some cooked onion and salt and pepper into the mix and that really enhanced the flavor of the sweet squash. I was surprised at how much it puffed up as it cooked.

I have also eaten banana omelets and other assorted egg and veggie scrambles.  And I made Egg Foo Yung one morning with some of the turkey breast and a bit of cabbage slaw. 

I often have half a navel orange with my breakfast.

Lunches

Since I found the coconut aminos I can make one of my favorite salads that my friend Kate nicknamed Crunch Lunch. This time I used a cabbage slaw mix instead of broccoli slaw, and added a few rasisins. It has chunks of baked chicken breast and slivered almonds too.  I changed up the dressing a bit… I  made it with coconut aminos, white vinegar, minced garlic and shredded ginger root.  Lovely.



I have also been eating green veggie salads with  or baked chicken on them. One day I mixed a can of sardines with dijon mustard, chopped onion and chopped red pepper... tasty but a bit dry.   I have been enjoying my Curried Coconut Butternut Squash and Carrot Soup…. and I also came up with a new one I call Curried Butternut Squash and Chicken Soup… lovely.

Dinners

I revamped one of our old favorites called Prawn Curry Over Avocado and we enjoyed it without the sugar and without the sauce being thickened with cornstarch… amazing what you don’t miss. I made it with coconut oil instead of canola and I had mine on a bed of Cauliflower Paleo Rice.  So tasty. And yes, the sauce is quite green.

A couple of  night we thawed out some cooked turkey breast that was in the freezer.  I had mine with some carrots and roasted kabocha squash.  And the night I was not feeling well, I had a bowl of soup and some turkey breast alongside. Simple, but filling and very good.

The day I worked, I had an early dinner of leftover Beanless Paleo Beef Chili over leftover roasted kabocha squash and thoroughly enjoyed it. Did you know that you can eat the skin on the kabocha squash cause it is very thin and gets soft in the roasting?

On Friday night The Captain made me up a mess of yam ‘fries’ to have with a wild Pacific salmon patty, and on Saturday I miked a piece of spaghetti squash and smothered it with a tomato-based veggie sauce full of peppers, onions, zucchini and garlic,  and slivers of baked chicken breast.

Snacks

Kale Chips with my Homemade Balsamic Ketchup are always a big favorite in the afternoon. I don't even miss the parmesan cheese.  Lots of freshly ground sea salt instead.

And I like to have a few cashews or almonds with raisins… or a  sliced apple with cinnamon and almond butter, too. 

Observations

I have come to realize that not every dinner needs to be a feast for the eyes and the belly.  Sometimes you have just need to get something to eat. I make things more complicated than they need to be because I like things to look great as well as taste good. 

My fingernails have gotten really strong since I have been on this food plan. They do tend to grow quickly, but they seem very thick and hard right now.

I have always been a good sleeper but I am sleeping very deeply these days. I am not sure if that is because I am somewhat under the weather, or if it is attributable to the food. Normally when I nap I don't sleep well at night...  I haven’t had any leg cramps at all during the night, either. Nice bonus.

Exercise and Workouts

Almost nothing.  I got in a walk on Sunday and a great long kettlebell workout on Monday, and since then have done no exercise.  After being on my feet for about 10 hours on Thursday, I am giving in to my body’s need for rest to shake this bug.  I really hope I am back on track and able to workout very soon. Mentally I feel like a wimp... physically I know I am doing the right thing.

Other Thoughts

I need to make some more ketchup.

I want to try to make some Whole30 approved mayonnaise.  I don't eat a lot of it and have eaten none since being on this challenge, but I can see that any I make would be better for us than any I might purchase in the future.

I want to make some coconut manna.

And, I am going to make some of Gabby's Sweet Potato Bites.  I had hoped to do it today but didn't get to it and so maybe tomorrow.

I have been thinking a lot, cause I have had so much time on my hands this week, about what is going to happen on Day 31 and beyond.   I think that the Whole30 Program is a wonderful way to be introduced to the Paleo way of eating.  I also  think it is likely know that I will not want to be this strict with my choices all of the time.  I can see myself enjoying almond meal breads and cookies occasionally, along with coconut crepes and I must say, I do miss protein powder pancakes! Oh and is anyone still bottling red wine anywhere?

I am going to give this a lot more thought over the next week or two, and keep reading about how and when to add different foods back to my diet. I know that gluten is out... but ALL grains?  Likely.  Sugar?  Yes, I know it is bad, but on occasion?  I am not sure about dairy and I am not sure about legumes. I need to do more research.

I found this book at the library today when I ventured out for a short while, and I am already planning to try some of the Paleo recipes that are not Whole30 compliant – yes, there IS a difference. 

Recipes

Sweet Potato and Flax EggCakes
Egg Foo Yung
Crunch Lunch
Curried Butternut Squash and Chicken Soup
Curried Coconut Butternut Squash and Carrot Soup
Homemade Turkey Broth
Beanless Paleo Beef Chili
Prawn Curry Over Avocado
Kale Chips
Homemade Balsamic Ketchup

Tommie Copper Giveaway Winner

This morning, bright and early, The Captain and I pooled our resources and got together all of the entries into our Tommie Copper Long-Sleeved Compression Shirt giveaway.

I went through all of the comments and tweets, and wrote the names onto a slip of paper, one for each entry (some people had just one, others had 2, 3 or 4) and then put them into a bowl…

The Captain stirred them up….

And then drew one…

 

And the winner is…

 

 

Disney Bride & Groom

 

Here is the mandatory entry:

 

I have no email contact for this person.  And when I looked at the blogger profile and found their blog, I see that there is no contact information there either, not even a Twitter id.  I will leave a comment on the blog.  If I do not hear from this person by midnight PST on Thursday, January 17th, I will select another winner, as per the guidelines in my giveaway post.

UPDATE
I did hear from Disney Bride and Groom as you will see in the comments and I am happy to pass her information along to Tommie Copper so that she can receive her prize as quickly as possible.

Congratulations,  and thanks again to Tommie Copper for supplying the giveaway prize.

My Paleo Diary… #Whole30 Days 6 - 12

To get the background on why I am doing this Whole30 Paleo Challenge/elimination diet and to see how I fared the first 5 days you can read these posts if you like:

And So it Begins
My Paleo Diary… #Whole30 Days  - 5

Immediately after breakfast on Sunday, Day 6, I took my vitamins with a glass of water, and as I sat and chatted with The Captain, enjoying the last few sips of a cup of coffee, I noticed the weirdest sensation.  My face was getting really warm and I could feel heat creeping down my neck to my upper chest.  I mentioned it to The Captain and he said he could see the centre of my face getting quite red, along with my ears, too.  And there were red blotches on my neck.

I went into the bathroom and checked it out in the mirror and then sat down in the living room, drinking more water, trying to stay calm and assess how I was feeling, and talking with The Captain about what might be happening.  I was making a pointed effort not to panic because I know I get short of breath the few times I have in the past.  I had no other discernible symptoms so off I went to my computer and started searching the internet for possible causes to my plight.

The only thing I could find that seemed to make any sense was that I might be having a reaction to histamines in my food.  So what did I eat that might have caused that, and what did I eat that The Captain didn’t?  The only thing we can think of is some sauerkraut that I had eaten at lunch on Saturday, the previous day.  Perhaps, because I hadn’t eaten any sauerkraut for years it affected me and then histamines in the spinach I had for breakfast tipped the scale… apparently it can be a cumulative effect and happen like that. 

So, I did take an antihistamine tablet and it cleared up within minutes.  We always have some on hand cause The Captain reacts badly to bee stings and wasp stings or bites, and these tablets help him immensely and immediately.  Anyway, now I have something new to consider.

Other than that, a very good week.  Food-wise, I did a bit more experimenting with some new ingredients and recipes.  I purchased some coconut aminos – recommended to be used in place of soy sauce.  I had to visit a few stores before I found a bottle, and it did cost about 3 times what I pay for soy sauce, and about 1-1/2 times what I pay for tamari, which is a glute-free soy sauce.  It is a bit fizzy but apparently if it is refrigerated that subsides.  And it is bitter tasting, but when I mixed it with some vinegar and grated fresh ginger, it was fine.  It is not soy sauce but all right just the same.

I have found that I am eating less overall.  And it makes sense to me that when I am eating good, nutritious food, my body actually needs less volume.  I am eating more fats, more proteins, and fewer carbohydrates, but still getting in lots of fibre and making sure to drink several cups of water and herbal teas each day.  Coffee?  Yes, I love coffee and thankfully enjoy it black… the darker the roast, the better I like it.

Okay, so let's see what I ate this week.

Breakfasts

Eggs continue to be my breakfast staple.  I did come up with some alternatives to scrambled eggs and omelets though.   This week I enjoyed fried Eggs with Sweet Potato Hash…

 

and one morning I had to take my breakfast along to eat out so I toted along some  Baked Eggs…

 

 

and I came up with Sweet Potato and Flax EggCakes one morning when I decided I needed to use up some leftover cooked sweet potato.

 

 

I do love some eggs scrambled with leftover roasted squash and onions, though, so I won’t be giving that up anytime soon.

 

Lunches 

I have been enjoying my Curried Coconut Butternut Squash and Carrot Soup.

 

And  I did eat some sauerkraut and ham over a big plateful of cooked spaghetti squash.  I enjoyed  the Sweet Potato and Chicken Salad again, on a bed of mixed greens this time.

 

 

I am also still loving my Beanless Paleo Beef Chili on a pile of cooked spaghetti squash.

 

Dinners

The Captain loves shrimp, so we had rather large salads with lots of jumbo shrimp and avocado slices on them.  Very tasty, and I was surprised that he asked that I make this again cause he is not normally a salad fan.

 

Another night I made up huge bowls of an Asian-inspired soup with carrots, onions, bokchoy, and shredded chicken in my Homemade Turkey Broth and drizzled a bit of dark sesame oil over the top.   I also made something very similar but a bit smaller for lunch one other day. 

 

 

And because we do love ‘em so much, I did a stir-fry with garlic, onions, carrots, yellow peppers, mushrooms, Chinese cabbage, and chicken breasts.  I made a sauce with some of the coconut aminos, vinegar and grated fressh ginger – it was delicious.

 

 

One evening The Captain had pizza so I feasted on a wild Pacific salmon patty on a bed of rainbow slaw with some avocado slices.  I do love salmon.

 

I finally got around to trying the Cauliflower Paleo Rice recipe that I found at Frolic Through Life.   I used it as a base for Garlic Shrimp in Coconut Milk and Tomatoes.

And, I also had a big plate of it with some baked chicken the next night. This Cauliflower Paleo rice is a wonderful dish and I would be eating it instead of rice even if I weren’t following this Whole30 Challenge… it is so good and I bet no one could tell it was cauliflower.  Such a clever idea.

 

 

Snacks

I have been cutting up an apple or a banana and putting the chunks into a bowl along with some milled, gluten-free flax or almond meal, hemp or chia seeds, a few raisins or other bits of dried berries, sprinkles of cinnamon, and a couple of tablespoons of unsweetened vanilla almond milk.  Stirred altogether and eaten with a spoon, it makes a great afternoon or evening snack.

Sometimes I nibble on a few nuts such as almonds, or cashews or hazelnuts… but they do not really  satisfy a want to chew – I use them more for  actual hunger and always make sure to have a few in my purse or my pocket, just in case I need them.

Other Thoughts

I need to find something that I can use as a thickener for sauces… obviously cornstarch is out right now but I am not sure what else I might use…  If you have any ideas, please leave me a comment or tweet to @eatrunsail.

I am eating a LOT of sweet potatoes… or at least some sweet potato quite often… various squashes, too.  They are in season right now and so delicious.

I feel great!  On the morning of Day 9 I realized that I am no longer dealing with the sniffles in the morning anymore. I am used to waking up and walking around with a tissue for a few hours cause I have a runny nose.  It’s gone, and I know it’s because of what I am NOT eating… but now to determine just what.  But I am really happy about it.  My ears feel less congested and I haven’t had any dizziness whatsoever… if this continues I will be attempting Pilates again – that will tell the tale – all the laying down and sitting up usually aggravates my ears and causes dizziness.

Exercise and Workouts

Another really low key week in this area.   I have done some walking, attempted to do some Zumba, some core work, and we did get out for a 5km run on Saturday morning.  Not enough, I know.  I am spending way too much time in the kitchen.

Recipes

Curried Coconut Butternut Squash and Carrot Soup
Baked Eggs
Sweet Potato and Flax EggCakes
Garlic  Shrimp in Coconut Milk and Tomatoes
Cauliflower Paleo Rice by Frolic Through Life
Eggs with Sweet Potato Hash

Have you entered our Tommie Copper Long-Sleeved Compression Shirt giveaway yet? 

 

It ends Monday, Januar 14th at midnight PST.