Day 12 of 30 - Elimination Diet

Hubby and and I are more than a third of the way through the Whole30 program.  I'm feeling good - not super energized - but, not bad.  I'm not as hungry as I was week one which is really good. I thought I would discuss more of the specifics - if you're not into over sharing skip over a section.

FOOD:
We have tried a lot of new recipes and thrown in a few old favorites.  We joke that we are eating like my Dad insisted we did growing up - meat, potato and vegetable.  I have been using the book,  The Whole30: The 30-Day Guide to Total Health and Food Freedom as a guide. All the recipes that are not mine come from this book.   I made their salmon cakes substituting pumpkin for sweet potatoes.  They have been my go to for breakfast.  They taste great and are very filling.  This week we tried Melissa's chicken hash - colorful and tasty with shredded sweet potato and diced granny smith apples - sweet, tart and walnuts give it crunch.  I made my Bloody Mary pot roast one night and last night we had their stuffed peppers and a salad.  I made a version of my thousand island dressing - I combined my failed attempt at making mayonnaise (tasted great but was very runny) with the homemade ketchup (tastes great but, is really thick), a little Worcestershire, apple cider vinegar and dill.  So far, all the food has received a "keep this in rotation" review.  And trust me, the family would say otherwise.  The kids and I decided the stuffed peppers needed a little bit more spice next time. I would add a little more herbs to most of the recipes in the book. I also made a big batch of the chicken stew - using cauliflower instead of broccoli and smashing it with a potato mashers instead of pureeing it in a food processors - less work and clean up. This is the second time I made this recipe. It's really easy and tastes great. I added a bunch more vegetables to the stew as well.  If you haven't figured it out by now, I use recipes as a guideline or inspiration and then make them my own.

SUPPLEMENTS & MY BREASTS:
I stopped taking my herbal supplements as they are alcohol tinctures.  I also stopped taking the few vitamins I was taking.  They are gel tabs and contain contraband ingredients.  I don't taking a multi vitamin just a couple key ones - one I show deficient on in blood work without it plus I have so much more energy when I take it - and the other because when I stop taking it my breasts hurt.  It took a week but, by day 8 my breasts started to hurt.  It's not noticeable all the time - you wouldn't want to wear anything tight and you definitely do not want to have your nipples touched.  Just sayin'.

BOWEL MOVEMENTS:
I normally have a bowel movement every morning pre-coffee.  I still do.  I have noticed that though still formed they are softer.  Instead of a solid brown they are now a more yellow-brown. Hey, I warned you.

WEIGHT:
I'm not supposed to be weighing myself - it might wreck my self-esteem so says the book and its rules.  It is the only rule I'm breaking - It's an elimination diet and I've been perfect about avoiding all those things I shouldn't eat. And if you know me a scale is not going to wreck my self-esteem.  My jeans fit a little better, my wedding band comes off a little easier most mornings (it wasn't before I started) and according to the scale I'm down five pounds.

NECK PAIN:
In the fall I was having stress related back spasms.  I have increased my visits to the massage therapist, eliminated a few things from my life, added exercises and herbs, delegated more to the family and spent a lot of time with the chiropractor.  My back pain is really related to tension in my neck radiating down. Once we were able to release the back I was left with the root cause - a pain in the neck. I am just about ready to break up with the chiropractor - the visits are farther in between.  I'm feeling great.  I have noticed that I am less inflamed since starting the Whole30 and I can really NOT feel it in my neck.  That's a really good thing.

Elimination Diet - Week One

People often come into the studio and ask me questions.  I often suggest an elimination diet.  Many of our dis-ease can be eliminated through what we eat.  I have cut foods out here and there to see what may work for me but, I have never fully taken my own advice.  I was looking for a plan, a guide to walk me through the process.  A friend suggest I pick up the Whole30  book at the library.  She had tried it and was very happy.  So, it took a few months and getting through the holidays before I took her advice.

I like the book.  It walks you through step by step of what you are eliminating and why, tells you what you may experience throughout the process, explains how to reintroduce foods back into your diet and gives you plenty of recipes and on-line support if you need it.   I asked my hubby to get on board and support me throughout the journey and to my surprise he decided to join me.  My young adult children were told they didn't have to follow the program but, if the were eating dinner at home they would get what I cooked.  They were OK with that.

I must state that before I started I ate pretty clean.  I love to cook, shop and try new recipes.  We buy organic vegetables and organic grass fed meats as much as possible.  I make most of my ingredients from scratch so for me this was not a difficult transition as far as cooking.   This is NOT for vegetarians! 

You eliminate all grains, sugars, dairy, beans, soy, processed foods, alcohol and tobacco.  You eat animal protein (including fish), vegetables and fruit. Plus you are not supposed to weigh yourself - some crazy idea about ruining your self esteem.  Besides, this is not a diet to lose weight.  This is a way to determine if you have any food sensitives or allergies.  OK, it doesn't say no processed foods but if you read the labels (I've been doing that for years - scary stuff) it most likely has one of the contraband ingredients in it.  We rarely eat processed foods and neither one of us use tobacco so that was easy.  We are not drinkers so for us giving up alcohol meant no herbal tinctures. You can have coffee - just no sweetener or dairy (almond milk or coconut milk is OK as long it doesn't have banned ingredients - read the label).  I eliminated the cream and started drinking my coffee black - hubby switched to coconut milk.  I couldn't find an almond milk without rice flour in it. My saving grace is that you can have potatoes. Hallelujah!   It said you could experience numerous challenges (like headaches and fatigue) the first week as your body detoxes from sugar consumption, and relearns to pull energy from fat stores rather  than sugar. 

We just finished seven days.  Other than both of us feeling hungry all the time we have not experienced any adverse affects.  I'm not a sweets person and ate very little breads and grains prior to starting - I can't stop at a serving and then I feel yucky.  My hubby is a two bagel a morning kinda a guy so I was a little surprised he didn't have any issues.  He has had to increase his food intake - going from two meals a day to three.  And he has had to step up to the plate and make food for his lunchbox. 

It takes a little thinking outside of the box and preplanning meals.  Superbowl Sunday we have appetizers for dinner.  I made the kids their nachos and I made hubby shrimp cocktail (a little homemade ketchup and horseradish), sausage stuffed mushrooms (with homemade sausage) and lettuce wraps with the veggie filled taco meat left over from the nachos.

Meals this week have included walnut crusted pork loin over a bed of greens with raspberry vinaigrette, grilled shrimp over a bed of sauteed vegetables and roasted salsa chicken. We are not deprived.

It says it will take a week or more to start feeling really good - more energy, clearer skin, etc.  I will let you know.