Today at lunch time at the parents' house, I ate 2 mushrooms, a radish and a stick of celery. That was all I ate because there was nothing else I could eat available. The supermarket bought grilled chicken was pumped full of wheat. The ham was coated in bread crumbs. There was hummous, mayonnaise and cheese. Normally I would have eaten all of these things just to make do, but with the rules in place I happily said "no thank you", knowing that I had eaten a good breakfast and that I would eat a good dinner later on. Simple

My DH had made sweet potatos with butter and "just a tiny drizzle" of agave. I passed them up without a second thought. I don't think I've ever passed up sweet potatos in my life! Of course, I wasn't in a situation where there was nothing else to eat, but I know I would have passed nevertheless.

I did the same thing. I went for a day without and then decided, nah, I'll keep the coffee for now. I drink it black and I've easily cut it down to one cup.

I made Waldorf salad yesterday with homemade mayo using hemp, walnut, and coconut oils. It was divine. I think I've finally hit on a mayo I can live with long term, even though it is a tad green from the hemp. I posted the recipe in the recipe thread at the top of this forum.

I too am feeling the freedom ...

Hi everyone! I'm feeling much better now...my cold only lasted five days. I remember when I was a kid a cold would last for five days, but as an adult they seemed to linger on and on and on....but NOT since I went Paleo! I have hardly been sick at all while eating Paleo (except for this nasty skin fungus that is driving me insane, but that's another story...help, I've been colonized!)

ANYWAY...

I had my one "cheat" of Irish Whiskey on day one, but since then have been fine and dandy. I really relate to what people have been writing about "freedom in restriction." Isn't it just great that we understand that if there is nothing available that we can eat, we just don't eat, and don't freak out about it? That we can go hungry for a few hours and not obsess about it, and certainly not die from it? This is liberation.

BlueSjorn, you know about agave syrup, right? It's mostly fructose... it is very processed as well. It is very clever marketing that they've managed to pass it off as something natural and healthy. You might as well be swilling the worst kind of HFCS.



You'd probably be better off using brown sugar than Agave syrup, at least it's only 50% fructose as opposed to the 90-some % that Agave syrup is.

Thanks for the article on agave, Nancy. I didn't think it was good, but I didn't have any facts to base that notion on.

We cheated a bit. There is a Mexican BBQ stand in Nashville that is great. We volunteered at the Hot Chicken Festival and were going to eat there but the lines were horrendous and the heat was excruciating. I ordered a cheese and smoked brisket quesadilla. UGH! It tasted great but I feel awful. So back on task today for dinner.

Good morning, fellow challenge-mates!

It's 4 AM, dark (of course), muggy from thunderstorms last night, and 80 degrees! It never cooled off much here last night, and I felt like a wet sock all night. That's Arizona monsoon season for ya! And I'm in the high desert!

Aside from finishing my steak last night when I was too full to do so, I'm doing absolutely grand, loving the food, loving the slimmer feeling, loving my state of mind. Lots of deep breaths, sighing, and contentment.

I can certainly see continuing in this way of eating indefinitely.

Happy Holiday Recovery Day!

Day 21, and I have to say that I HATED bypassing my mother's potato salad and my aunt's homemade ice cream yesterday. These two items are only made for the Fourth. Hope I don't get hit by a bus before the next Fourth!

I'm still on track and beginning to plan my WOE for after the challenge. I think the Jaminet's The Perfect Health Diet is what I'll work toward.

Hope everyone is hanging in there!

Chiming in from hot 'n sunny Saskatoon (finally!) Doing very well here. Skipped supper last night because I just didn't want it! Appetite is well in hand...it seems easier to say "no" to things without a pang of regret either. Family is fully on board and supportive! I am SO GRATEFUL that coffee is allowed on this challenge...not entirely sure how coffee got in there, since it's HARDLY paleo...yeah, I can just see our paleolithic ancestors, naked on the savannah, with their drip coffee pot...I so enjoy my 2 cups in the morning, and it's been a PLEASURE to re-discover the joy of BLACK coffee...I was getting a little too liberal with the whipping cream! I think what I like best about this challenge is going dairy free. Never thought I had it in me to do that, but it was actually pretty easy. Cut out a lot of extra calories for me. Sometimes I would have a piece of cheese "just because." Not a good enough reason!

Celtia,
I handle the Jaminet's recommendations better if I use yams & sweet potatoes for the starch. I don't do as well on the rice and white potatoes. I'm actually combining the Whole 30 with their starch recommendations (without measuring though, so not entirely accurate as far as their weight loss recommendations).

This all sounds incredibly familiar Much easier to say "'no" to things. A colleague asked me if I wanted any chocolate earlier today and I said no without any hesitation. She was persistent, but I wasn't tempted even for a split second. She thinks I'm crazy for eating this way.

Maybe the person who designed this Whole 30 challenge is a coffee lover as well! I'm not complaining!

I am so surprised at how easy it has been for me to cut out dairy. I know that my daily calories have fallen because of it too.

I have a confession to make. I went ever so slightly off the challenge this morning... I really felt the need to weigh myself, so I did! I'm allowing myself that I'm pleased to report that I am at the lowest weight that I have been in probably a couple of years.

I love my coffee black now, since I gave up dairy a few months back.

So I understand the coffee "bean" is not really a legume, but it is a seed from the inside of a fruit (the coffee berry).

The same is true of cacao; it's a seed from inside of a fruit. I have some raw cacao powder that I put in the blender with hemp seeds, water, and a couple dates to make chocolate "milk." It's an acquired taste because of the hemp, but I've grown to love it.

I'm not sure why there's no real mention of coffee in the posted guidelines, but merely a reference to it in connection with dairy, mentioning that even a splash of cream in your coffee will disrupt the "reset" of this program.

I also wonder why there's no mention of poultry, nuts, or seeds in the allowable foods.

I can only guess that it's because these guidelines are not as detailed as the part that you would have to pay for.

Oh no, now I want to do it! Congratulations on the low weight!

Day 5 and so far so good. I was surprised to experience some fatigue and headaches yesterday and this morning, since I cut out the starches and sugars over three months ago. The main "cuts" for the Whole 30 are dairy (butter and cream cheese, mainly) and artificial ingredients (mainly Diet Coke, but I'd already reduced that to once a week on my "night out"). Bacon and eggs for breakfast, meatballs for lunch, and salmon and mushroom fried "frice" for dinner. Oh, and some fresh local strawberries I picked up yesterday at the farmers market. EDIT: forgot about the bowl of turkey broth.

Still weighing because I'm participating in a number of challenges, but I don't let the fluctuations stress me.

You might try having some salty water. I think cutting out butter/cheese you might not be getting the amount of sodium you're used to. Anyway, try a tsp of salt in a glass of water and see if you feel better.

Possible. I'm probably getting LESS salt, although normally getting ENOUGH salt isn't an issue for me since I'm a bit of a saltoholic. Yesterday I salted everything except the bacon and strawberries.

I was tempted to use store mayo this AM for an egg salad to try to up my fat a bit (coconut oil is a bit pricey to slather it about the way I do with butter), but instead I made an omelet and threw in half an avocado. Need to get some light olive oil so I can make some mayo.