It certainly appears that way. I, too, have lost all temptation when I go grocery shopping to get a small container of Ben & Jerry's Americone Dream or grab a Milky Way at the checkout. Now, after I have a couple squares of Green & Black's dark chocolate (Mark Sisson-approved, by the way), I think, "Man, what a fantastic dessert." Aside from that, the sweetest things I eat during the day are pears. I couldn't agree more. Yesterday, I did my week's grocery shopping and totaled $105. Granted, about $25-30 was in nuts, seeds, and assorted oils that will last a month, but there's no way you can do this nutrition plan properly on a tight budget. $50/week, Dcc? Godspeed. Speaking of purchasing quality meats & vegetables, I'm going to my local farmer's market this week, since they just opened last weekend. Me being a first-timer at a farmer's market, does anyone have any "hot tips" or things worth keeping in mind while I browse? All I have at my disposal right now is a produce seasonal guide. Other than that, tips I've seen online include "buy in bulk" and "shop early as possible."
I have no huge desire for any cookies, cakes, brownies, ice creams, etc. I JUST WANT SOME STEVIA IN MY TEA GODDAMNIT!
I don't know where you live, but around here the farmers markets are bullshit. The produce is usually 3x's as expensive as it is in the grocery store and if you aren't the second person in line, you get produce that I wouldn't throw into a pig trough. The few "tricks" I've learned along the way are mostly haggling if you are buying bulk or playing off one vendor against another. Stay away from all of the jams, jellies, relish, spices, etc that they try to sell you. 99% of the stuff is grocery store quality, but they put it in a mason jar and wrap a ribbon around it and charge you $8. If they have food trucks, a lot of the Mexican ones are paleo friendly if you leave out the tortilla. There is no way this diet is cheap unless you buy your meat in huge bulk quantities. Even finding decent veggies and fruit at an affordable price gets to be a little outrageous. The only things that help bring the cost down are waiting for some grocery stores to run BOGO deals on bags of shrimp, buying a lot of organ meat(beef tounge/heart/liver), and starting a fruit garden. Beyond that, good luck not spending $5-600 a month on food.
Go frozen. The generic frozen veggies have nothing added to them, or go with the Bird's Eye or Green Giant frozen ones. That helps a ton. Also - breakfast - 2 eggs, some hashed sweet potato, some onion, some cinnamon. Done. This is the rub with 'paleo' eating. I stay pragmatic. yes the meat at the grocery store sucks. I know that. But it's what a single mom w/three kids can afford, so it's the best I do. I'm not going to blow my entire paycheck on food. It's simply not going to happen. I do the best I can with what I have. Also, Farmer's Markets piss me off for the reason you're talking about - they're $$$. Thing is tho, most of that stuff is grown/tended/gathered by hand...so there's that. I just go to the produce store and be done with it.
I have a date tonight, and we specifically chose a local cafe because I can't drink alcohol, pop, milk, blah blah blah and this place has a good tea selection. I am fighting the pre-temptation to get a giant slice of carrot cake. I know when we walk into the restaurant it's going to smell like baked good heaven, and I'm jonesing bad. *sigh* I suppose I should go eat some chicken and avocado.
Honestly, if you can forgo all alcohol but break on fucking carrot cake... I don't even know what to say. Good luck though, eat a lot of fat before you head out.
If you told me all alcohol had disappeared, and that I could never drink a drop ever again, I wouldn't blink an eye. My guess is I'd never miss it, apart from when I was cooking Steak Diane. But carrot cake? Brownies? Them's fightin words.
She doesn't drink, that is how. Meanwhile, back in my hood....I had a shitty day, I hope my co-workers die a slow painful death in a fire, I have a suicidal bird who has been flying into my window for a week straight now but apparently not hard or fast enough because he keeps coming back, I received a bi-annual shipment of wine today from my one my favorite wineries, and I can't fucking touch it. Anyhoo.....got my first CSA meat delivery on Saturday. I roasted the chicken yesterday, today I cooking the rest into a thai soup which I am really hoping soothes my soul a wee bit. Frank - an update on the CSA since you were asking - for our $50 this month we received a whole meaty chicken, 3 lbs of ground beef, 1 lb of pork sausage, 2 lamb chops, and a dozen eggs.
I realize in a vacuum that this isn't a big deal, but stuff like this scares the shit out of me for the future.
I'll be honest in that I don't have a positive opinion of paleo but that article makes me really, really, angry. What the fuck is next? Telling people not to speed on roads that are known speed traps will count as practicing law?
Ok, serious/weird question. Heading to Asia tomorrow and want people to know I'm not fucking around, Is eating raw brain over there considered weird? I'm trying to find the boundaries and honestly if raw fish isn't going to cut it I need to dig deep.
It's not exactly common practice, but yeah people do it. When my dad was at a business meeting in Japan they placed a monkey in the center of a table, sliced off the top of it's head and scooped out the brains with a spoon. They had a small grill in front of each chair (think Korean BBQ style) where you fry the brains and enjoy. Some take it a step further, especially in southern China and do the same thing except they skip the grill. When in Rome do as the Romans do, so if you see a monkey bash it's head against a rock and grab a spoon. No seriously, don't. You're talking about people that gobble down more dick than an Etruscan orgy. Short of eating people, I don't think there are any food taboos.
Yeah, I'm giving up, this would be like a guy that just got into bondage trying to impress people at one of Scootah's parties.
So, musings on Day 11 of the Whole 30. I am not quite sure exactly what benefit I am supposed to be getting out of this, to be honest. On the website they claim all of these revolutionary life changing epiphanies from changing your eating habits for these 30 days, but I am just not seeing it. I was frustrated by my lack of, well, anything, and needed a reason to keep it up (other than accountability to a group of internet people), so I broke the rules this morning got on the scale this morning, and.....nothing. Down a couple of ounces but honestly that is the difference in taking a good pee. I know it isn't about weight, but if I am not seeing any other benefit, then I could at least hope to drop a couple of pounds. If that is not happening, they why am I doing this? If it is changing my relationship with sugar, I really don't have an issue with sugar cravings so I don't understand the value in giving up stevia in my coffee. If it is changing my relationship with grains, I had already given those up for the most part and wasn't really having any cravings. If it is changing my relationship with dairy, well, then that actually hasn't been so hard to give up. If it is changing my relationship with booze, that hasn't been so hard to give up except that I find my husband drunk is kind of annoying to me when I am sober. I have actually weathered a few social events without even being tempted to quit. If it is supposed to improve my athletic prowess, all I have noticed is that I have had to give up long distance running because I no longer have the stamina. So, tell me again, why am I doing this?
Mya, are you and I the same person? I started keeping a food log over on inStrength, in part for input and in part to keep me honest. I agree with you on pretty much everything; the only thing I'm noticing is that I'm craving stuff I was never craving before, I'm hungry more often, I have a bad taste in my mouth and I'd slap someone for a piece of cheese. I'm trying to have some awareness here and figure out why am I craving this shit. Does my body need something? Is this an emotional thing? It feels more physical than anything else, to tell the truth. I don't think I'm having any emotional ups or downs; I just want sweet things. Why am I hanging in there? To complete the challenge, #1. #2 is to see what happens when I start re-introducing some of the stuff (dairy, rice, sugar) back into my diet. If I don't feel ill after eating it again, then I see no reason to eliminate it. I don't know how sustanable this thing is. I can do it for 30 days. Living like this forever? I think it may take more willpower than I have to give. I'm also finding myself thinking things like, "When this is over, I'm going to eat [whatever] till I puke." Which is COMPLETELY not the point; I think you should endeavor to make an actual life change if you're trying to find a new nutrition plan. Obviously, so far, Whole30 isn't it for me. The only upside is that I was getting dressed last week and my clothes felt different. Contrary to instruction, I hopped on the scale and I'm down 4lbs. It'll come right back if I come off this plan, though.
I think perhaps that I will incorporate some of the things into my daily diet. I haven't had too much difficulty giving up dairy, but I do like cream in my coffee. Cheese, meh, I will have it on occasion, but I certainly don't need it daily. However, I am certainly not going to freak out if I discover that something that I pick up outside my own kitchen has been tainted by NON CLARIFIED BUTTER. Like you, I am also having cravings that are out of the ordinary for me. I am also craving sweet things, I used to tame those cravings by drinking a cup of coffee or tea with cream and stevia and be 100% satisfied with that. Tea was like a nice little ritual for me, just no the same if I can't doctor it up. As far as I know, drinking tea is pretty OK for you, so why am I depriving myself of it how I enjoy it? And like you, I have found myself counting down the days until this is over instead of looking forward to maintaining these habits over my lifetime. As far as the rest, I am loving the veggies and fruits and natural meats. I have been cooking home more and eating out less. I'll probably continue to do so. But giving up ALL dairy, ALL booze, ALL sweeteners, I really just don't see the point. Maybe this is better for the folks who haven't already made some of the changes, maybe they see huge results from giving up all the processed stuff (we had already done that) and feel fantastic and blah blah blah. But when you are already being a maintainable pretty damn good, why should you drive yourself crazy with striving to be perfect? If the exercise is to change your relationship with food, I am missing the point because all of this obsessing about whether a drop of sugar has tainted my food certainly can't be a healthy relationship with food. But, I feel like I have failed if I don't complete it because I said that I would and I always try to finish things that I say I am going to do. Now isn't that just a fantastic reason to do something. Oh, and my clothes fit absolutely no differently, and my measurements are exactly the same. So yep, I am just getting a whole lot out of this.
Aw. You guys are in the angry at every thing phase. Mya - consider it more about resetting yourself than anything. You're just resetting. Once the 30 days is over, bringing back your cream and sugar won't end your world. I haven't even started mine. I've been moving and being lazy and making excuses.
Honestly, the whole30 thing I would never do. It's too extreme for my tastes. Following the Paleo diet and the recommendations overall I have no problem with. For someone who already cut out grains and most processed foods, you aren't going to see many, if any, significant physical changes. 90% of the Paleo lifestyle is removing grains and processed foods from your diet. Cutting out all the other items like dairy and sweeteners really just reinforce the idea that eating beef that was treated with hormones or eating a manufactured sweetener really serves no purpose in your diet. With that said, going that extra mile probably isn't going to significantly increase your health. The cravings are just that, cravings. The reason you are having them is more mental than anything else. Even if you don't see it. The reason you are craving sweets is because you normally had a sweet aspect to your diet before (Stevia in tea). You even said it yourself that it was almost a ritual for you. Now that is no longer in your routine, it's not surprising you are craving something else to replace it. Part of the problem with the whole sweet thing is realizing the difference between sweet, and HOLY SHIT sweet. Apples are sweet. Berries are sweet. Dark chocolate is sweet. Frosted cupcakes are tooth rotting sweet. Even something like Stevia is ridiculously sweet. Being able to look at a handful of berries and think they are satisfyingly sweet will greatly reduce your cravings for other sweets. Dcc: The hunger thing is probably due to not eating enough food. You have to eat A LOT of food to get to the calories you are used to eating. I don't mean cheating your way to calories like adding in a bunch of nuts or extra butter. I'm talking about actually increasing your food amounts like adding in another 8oz more of steak or another 1/2lb of broccoli. There is no reason you should be hungry.