Whole 30 Round II Results

Okay, So Bob and I successfully finished Whole 30 with no cheats! I was kind of surprised by my results this time around. Eating strict was even easier and I didn’t suffer from the carb withdrawal symptoms like I did in September. I feel like I ate even better if that’s possible. For example, I ate a lot more vegetables and a lot less nuts. I did get stronger. I broke 3 pretty big PRs. My skin got clearer or at least I had been told a few times that I had a “glow”. One woman who I had never met before, told me she was convinced that I was pregnant (I’m not), because I was glowing and had “such a calmness” about me. What I am surprised about is that I only lost 3lbs. Considering I gained 6lbs between the end of the last Whole 30 challenge and the beginning of this one, I am very surprised I only lost 3lbs. At the very least, I thought I’d lose 6. I did start to weigh myself regularly after 10 days, which you are not supposed to do, so the pressure I put on myself over a number may have kept me from losing more weight. On the other hand, when I look at the before and after pictures I think it looks like I lost more than 3lbs. I think I may even look leaner than the after pictures from the first round of Whole30. What do you think? Maybe we shouldn’t get so hung up on the number on the scale (which is one of the main reasons you are not supposed to weigh yourself during the program).

 

  

  

The bottom two pictures are the before picture from my first Whole 30 challenge in September 2012 and the after picture from my second Whole 30 challenge in February 2013.

Experimenting in the Kitchen

It's Day 30! Last day of the Whole30 Challenge and with no cheats! The next couple of days are going to be pretty busy for me, but I should be able to post my findings on Monday or Tuesday!

Part of the fun of Whole30 is experimenting in the kitchen! It’s not always fun though. It’s incredibly disappointing when your food doesn’t turn out like you expect it to. Or worse – when it’s inedible after all that hard work! I mentioned a few posts back that I had made a garlic-tahini spread that I didn’t like, because it was too bitter. A day or two after that I used the food processor to make an avocado dressing that one of my CrossFitter-friends shared on her blog. I sampled it and it had that same weird bitter taste. In both recipes I used garlic... apparently rancid garlic! It was awful. It ruined my whole batch of dressing and I didn’t have time to start over! I don’t usually like to follow recipes --at least not verbatim. I like to do my own thing in the kitchen and usually it turns out fine or great. Then again, I have also baked a halibut filet into mush (I’m still not sure what happened there). I am not trying to discourage you from experimenting in the kitchen! Quite the opposite! If you are feeling crafty you should put the recipes away or maybe glance at a few and come up with your own! It's rewarding to become an artist in the kitchen and when you are in charge of the ingredient list, you use foods and spices that you like, so then ultimately you can not NOT like the end product!

The other night I used the recipe for pulled pork loin from PaleoOMG. I cooked the meat according to the recipe, but the second half of the recipe was for mashed plantains. I didn’t have plantains and didn’t want to buy some. I did however have half of a large baked butternut squash in the fridge. Instead of mashed plantains I made mashed butternut squash, by spooning the squash from its skin and mashing it in a saucepan with 2 Tablespoons of ghee, salt, pepper, and rosemary over medium heat. Voila! The sweetness of the squash easily took the place of the plantains and went really well with the pulled pork – which by the way definitely needs something like mashed squash/plantains or a sauce of some kind. Pork loin is lean, so therefore, kind of bland. But it was delicious with the mashed squash and avocado slices!

Recipe: Bob's London Broil

It’s Day 27 and we are almost there!

Per request I am sharing Bob’s London Broil recipe. You can pretty much bake a London Broil with whatever vegetables you like, but here is what we used the other night!

What you need:

1.5lbs London Broil

Onion powder

Garlic powder

Dried onion

Salt

Pepper

2 tomatoes, sliced

1 red onion, sliced

1 red bell pepper, sliced into rings

1 Jalapeno, sliced into rings

1 Anaheim pepper, sliced into rings

1 handful baby carrots

4 green onions

What to do:

Place London Broil in baking pan. Generously add spices to your meat. Top your meat with evenly spread out vegetables.

Cook in oven at 350 degrees, covered with foil for one hour. And then a half an hour uncovered. Take out London Broil, let it sit, covered, for 5 minutes before slicing and serving.

Half-way Update

It’s Day 16 and we are half way through Whole 30! As easy as day 1-10 was this time around, days 11-15 made up for it. OH MAN! The cravings! THE. CRAVINGS. I just spent the last 5 days dreaming about beer and chocolate… and oddly honey. Today I am back to feeling like a normal, sane person again! I’ve got some Creamy Paleo Red Shrimp and Tomato Curry in the Crockpot for tonight’s dinner. And I have been thoroughly enjoying my decaf coffee without the gnarly side-effects of too much caffeine!

It Gets Hard Sometimes: A note on stress, weight, and decaf coffee

Last night was the closest I have been to breaking down and intentionally cheating on Whole30. I didn’t do it. BUT it was the closest I have been to throwing in the towel in either of my Whole30 Challenges. I had a particularly annoying and stressful shift at work. I was dealing with a lot of drunk people. I really wanted a shot and a beer! I mean REALLY wanted a shot (or two…. of tequila) and a beer. To be honest, I probably would have dishonored my commitment to myself and maybe even my commitment to my gym (and all of my fellow crossfitters who are doing Whole30 this month as well), but it was my commitment to my partner, Bob that really kept me from giving up. I have too much respect for him and his effort in this with me to just give up. I knew I just had to get through 8 hours of social irritation. I knew that if I had cheated I would have woken up this morning really disappointed in myself.

Besides being under some stress, there may have been another factor involved for me to even consider the option of cheating, which in Whole30 is NOT AN OPTION. I know you are not supposed to, but I weighed myself yesterday morning. It had been 10 days, I was feeling a lot less bloated and confident in my food choices this time around. To my surprise and dismay, I hadn’t lost any weight. This bothered me. I have been working so hard and have been so strict. To be perfectly honest I was bummed out yesterday. I think this played a vital role in my mood and in my consideration of just throwing in the towel! I was justifying cheating by telling myself “well it isn’t working , anyway, so I might as well.” My advice to you, is to not weigh yourself during the 30 days (only before and after), like you are supposed to. Just because I haven’t lost weight in 10 days doesn’t mean “it’s not working” and it doesn’t mean I won’t lose weight. The point of Whole30 is not to lose a bunch of weight (even if that may be one of the outcomes). It’s very easy to get obsessed with the number on the scale, instead of paying attention to eating well (not light) and to more accurate indications of health, such as how you are feeling after you eat, how much energy you have throughout the day, and how your skin looks. I have made this fatal mistake and strongly urge you to refrain and not do the same.

On a positive note, I found some decaf French roast coffee at Trader Joe’s that uses pure glacial water to decaffeinate instead of a chemical solvent! Most decaffeinated coffees use a chemical solvent to extract the caffeine. It is very unlikely that there won’t be chemical residue in your decaf coffee if this kind of process is used. If you are very sensitive to caffeine, but love your coffee, like I do, find a decaf coffee that uses water as a solvent. If the packaging doesn’t say how the beans are extracted of their caffeine then assume chemicals are involved.

Recipe: Roasted Sweet Potato

Well, it’s day 11 and we are one third of the way done!

Roasted Sweet Potato

What you need:

1.5 Large sweet potato, cubed (I prefer keeping the skin on)

Olive oil

Rosemary

Pepper

Salt

½ cup beef (or chicken) broth

3 Tablespoons lemon juice

What to Do:

1.)    In medium sized mixing bowl combine cubed sweet potato, generous amounts of olive oil, rosemary, pepper and salt

2.)    Bake at 425 degrees

3.)    After 15 minutes, add broth

4.)    After 15 more minutes, add lemon juice

5.)    Cook for 15 more minutes or until the edges are crispy and browned

Recipe: Oven-Roasted Leg of Lamb

Lamb is my favorite meat, so I thought I would try cooking it for the first time. We had it for dinner last night. Along with a small starter salad, roasted rosemary sweet potatoes and a home-made tahini and roasted garlic spread to go with the meat and potatoes. I will share the recipe for the sweet potatoes soon. I made the spread based off of a recipe in Practical Paleo. I found it to be too bitter and probably wont make it again.

 Last night's dinner

What you will need:

1.5-2lbs leg of lamb

4 Tablespoons coconut oil (softened, but not melted)

Zest of one lemon

4 minced garlic cloves

1 Tablespoon garlic powder

1 Tablespoon rosemary

2 teaspoons oregano

1 teaspoon parsley

1 teaspoon thyme

Black pepper to taste

Instructions:

1.)    In small bowl, combine all of the above ingredients, besides the lamb.

 This is how much lemon zest I used

2.)    Apply seasoning herb paste on every part of the lamb.

3.)    Set the leg of lamb on a rack, fat side up, with a pan under it to catch the drippings.

4.)    Cook the lamb on 450 degrees in the oven for 10 minutes.

5.)    Cover the leg of lamb with foil and reduce the temperature to 350 degrees. Cook for 50 more minutes for rare to medium rare. You will need to check the meat’s temperature with a meat thermometer. The temperature of your meat will depend on it’s size and your oven. You want your lamb to be at about 135- 140 degrees for medium-rare.

6.)    When the meat has reached desired temperature, take it out of the oven and keep it covered with foil for 10 minutes before cutting into it.