2 days left! In terms of the recent conversation, maybe the benefit for me was that I was not paleo at the start (the person who introduced me to it dropped the program as well, but she was already about 95% paleo when she started). My wife and I will both be done on Monday and we can both see a difference in weight loss, inches lost, improved sleep, better sense of taste, and even my hurt shoulder is stronger. But I used this to kick-off paleo and get several things like sweet cravings and drinking under better control and it very clearly worked for me.
Fuck it, I must have some kind of dessert. <a class="postlink" href="http://paleointensified.wordpress.com/2012/01/24/banana-pudding/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://paleointensified.wordpress.com/2 ... a-pudding/</a> I switched it up by lining the bottom of the dish with banana chips, and I garnished it with chopped raw almonds. The temptation to eat it before it even sets is huge.
White potatoes aren't acceptable for the Whole30 challenge. Sweet potatoes are always fine, but if you're trying to lose weight you shouldn't indulge much. As I understand it, white potatoes aren't bad but they should probably be peeled.
Kim - There is a recipe on nomnompaleo for sweet potato hash that is great if you are looking for a hash-brownish type recipe (<a class="postlink" href="http://nomnompaleo.com/post/19886925277/sweet-potato-hash-with-fried-eggs" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://nomnompaleo.com/post/19886925277 ... fried-eggs</a>) I am starting to feel like a big fat failure that I wasn't able to finish it out and have halfway even considered restarting so I wouldn't have to know that I wasn't able to finish. Starting this morning, I began to understand why I was having such intense cravings, and probably even why I didn't see any changes on the scale. Anyway, since quitting the Whole 30, I can't even say that I have been following Paleo/Primal very well, but am back on the wagon starting tomorrow. I did make these short ribs tonight that were pretty darn fantastic. <a class="postlink" href="http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2011/09/short-ribs-with-wine-and-cream/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2011 ... and-cream/</a>
If it makes any difference, I'm finding myself hating this waaay less than I was last week. Either I've capitulated or I'm losing my mind. Then again, maybe all I needed was banana pudding to make me feel better.
Aaaannnnddddd . . . it is done! I lost 10 lbs in 30 days, but I would say that is net considering where my bench, squat, and deadlift are at. That is a total of 22 lbs since I started working out again in February. I fit into almost everything in my closet again. I wake-up with more energy, my skin looks and feels better, and I would argue that my problem shoulder is better (but I think there is a true physical issue there that will require at least PT, if not surgery.) I think something like this is a very strong "to each their own" type of life choice, but I am glad I did it and I think this was an excellent catapult into the next phase of my life.
Just out of curiosity, how much olive oil would you guys say you use in a month? I went through two 1-liter bottles (67 tablespoons per bottle) in April, and my daily usage was very consistent. It seems to me, compared to how I've always been used to using olive oil, like far too much. I don't track my calories too closely, but I know they're around 2000-2200 per day.
Is olive oil the only oil you use and do you use it for everything? Because I go through about 1 quart of peanut oil every 2-3 months, and peanut oil is the oil I use the most for cooking. Two liters per month seems like a lot to me, but I probably don't cook as much as you do.
I also use coconut oil, primarily for cooking my breakfast and also I put them in my protein shakes on the days I go to the gym. The olive oil I put on my huge lunchtime salad, and I cook my dinner with it (usually some kind of meat and vegetables. Those are the only two cooking oils I use.
You might want to invest in some Ghee, clarified butter, as well (it's not that expensive). I really prefer it for pork chops and steaks since I always used to put butter on those when cooking them.
I've come to the realization that I don't like coconut oil. It leaves a funny taste. From now on, I'm using only olive oil or butter. Rob, that's a shitton of oil.
What's the take on Larabars? I read they are Whole 30 approved, so I picked some up. They are nice as a quick grab and go when you are in a hurry, but in the back of my head I feel like they are a "cheat". Probably because it is covered in a foil wrap, like a candy bar.
Total cheat day. Two glasses of wine, Worcestershire sauce in the mushrooms, and probably the salad dressing at the restaurant had sugar/oil/bad stuff in it. Eff it, though. It's my birthday and I did well just to avoid the cake.
They fall under the technically approved category, but they are easy to over consume. If you're sticking to one a day as a pre-planned snack then I think they are fine. If it's replacing the candy bar that you have every night after dinner, then I think they should be off limits.
Making your own is REALLY easy, and tastes better. Chop some almonds with a food processor, stop before they become powder. Pit some dates and put them in the food processor til they make glop, then put the glop on wax paper. Fold the almonds into the glop. Depending on what flavor you want, from here you can do carrots and cinnamon (carrot cake), banana and cinnamon (banana bread), strawberry, raspberry, etc. Just take whatever it is and put it in the food processor then fold into the almond/date mixture.
So, am I the only one still doing Whole30? I was counting up my cheats today. Not all have been on purpose: - Homemade hamburger that might have had chickpeas in it (can't remember). - Protein pancakes with a cup of oatmeal that Freecorps seduced me into making. - Maybe a pack of gum. - One Mentos candy. - About one inch of candy cane. * The following three were to get rid of that funny taste in my mouth, which seems to have abated somewhat - 1.5 glasses of wine on my birthday. - Cooked with alcohol twice. - Cooked with a Korean BBQ mix twice that had some sugar and soy in it. - I think the vinigrette dressing at the restaurant last week was a bottle, sugar-filled kind. - I used a powdered chicken stock mix when I made stir-fry this weekend. - I had a Booster Juice smoothie today. Can't say it was a cheat, but I don't know what was in it. - Evidently bacon is a cheat, but I was already too deep into the challenge to quit eating bacon. Srsly. Who stops eating bacon? I will say that the biggest "cheat" day - my birthday - saw the most pronounced digestive issues. Super upset stomach after the wine and whatever was in that salad dressing. There's one week left to go, and I don't know what I'll do at the end. Certainly, the cravings are less. When I examine how I feel after these minor cheats I don't know how I'd go back to eating "normally," even if my normal was mostly Paleo. Do I reintroduce dairy, sugary condiments and soy? I honestly don't know.
Take this for what it's worth, but I've found it to be an excellent happy-medium: Throughout the entire week, I eat completely clean. No dairy, soy, grains, sugar, etc. Paleo, for the most part, has become my "normal." On Saturday, when I do my grocery shopping for the following week, I'll cut myself some slack by getting a piece of cake from my fancy grocery store's bakery. It's how I reward myself at the end of the week for eating well. If I slip up during the week, I don't get that reward on Saturday. That way, I'll feel like I've earned it, while still maintaining my dignity. You'd better believe that I savor every bite, too. Also, while I understand that red wine isn't allowed by Whole30 for illustrative purposes, there's no way I'd ever consider a glass to be a cheat. Never. Same goes for dark chocolate and bacon (which you already mentioned). Some exceptions are worth being made.
Once I come off this challenge I'll have no problem not sweating most of the cheats that I mentioned. What I'm finding through this, though, is how shitty even a small deviation back into 'bad' eating makes you feel. Holy shit our bodies are sensitive and it seems we never notice what they go through. My worry with this Whole30 thing is that I've ruined myself for all the 'before' foods, simply because I'm finding it easier not to deviate rather than indulging and feeling the digestive problems later. It's an interesting self-examination, too. If my body appears to be rejecting the sugar and wheat and chemicals I feed it when I cheat, why exactly am I craving it? Who/what am I eating for? I also notice it's easier once you gain momentum. Slip a little with sugar, and I begin to crave more of it pretty much within a few hours.
I'm still rolling strong. I've had two instances of "cheating", one was a beer w. my old man two weeks ago and the other was many, many beers & a hamburger bun on the 5th. The day after I finished this in Jan/Feb, I thought I'd "treat" myself to some pizza at lunch and it just wrecked me. Felt like a massive hangover with the added bonuses of hayfever & digestive issues. Since then I've pretty much kept dairy & refined carbs (aside from moderate alcohol consumption) out of my diet. It's the dairy that bothers me most, but I don't feel like I'm missing out on anything keeping the grains & refined carbs out either.