Recap

It feels good to be done. I was in no rush to reintroduce, but figured I needed to start today to be methodical about it. So I had an English muffin. It was delicious. I had a tiny smear of jam on one bite and immediately coughed and felt pain in my throat. I knew about the sugar problem, and was just testing and reconfirming. 

What I did not know about was the gluten problem. By the time I got home, my stomach started hurting. And soon after running to the bathroom, a headache started. And got worse for a few hours. 

I had a glass of wine this evening, and it was delicious. I feel fine so far. 

 I took off my band. I want to focus on doing other types of exercise than just pounding steps.

I ate too many nuts and dates today. That was really what I missed. Now hopefully I've got this out of my system and I can regain balance.

Here's how I started. The white is from day zero. The red from today.

note: I know #5 totally breaks W30 official rules. These are my rules. Some are beyond W30, some contradict it. 

I learned that I do not need to eat after dinner, and that I should go hours without eating. I learned that just writing down what I eat publicly (that no one reads, but they could), even just in a list without details makes me think twice about eating more than my planned meal. I would finish my illustration right after dinner most nights, and push the post, so I wouldn't want to have to go back and revise it, so I stopped eating for the day.

I really liked what we ate this month. I made a lot of really good food. I didn't feel like I was missing anything other than mindless eating.

I lost 6.2 pounds. I'm at 146.2 now. I'm happy with that for a month's work. It's not over. I have a plan for Feb. that I'll write about later.

Day 30 - DONE!

So, that wasn't too bad. When you work at home, love to cook, and the whole world slows down due to the worst winter weather in years, this really isn't so hard. I faced limited temptations and had time to shop and prep. And I'm good at all or nothing rules.

I'll write a summary post in the next day or two.

Day 29 - feeling the magic

I feel fantastic today. I slept SO well last night. Woke up to a freezing but sunny day. Had a good workout, made progress on some work stuff, restocked our bare freezer and fridge. Tomorrow is it. I'm half ready for a break, and already thinking about what comes next.

Day 28 - back in the safety of home

Leaving home on W30 is hard! I think I did a pretty good job at the intensive (which is usually a giant snackathon) - my only issue was portion control. I feel like I ate more than I usually do, since I wasn't eating the amounts of protein that I think I needed to fill up, so I think I ate more of other stuff (lots of fruit) than I probably should've. I'm fine going back to my normal W30 life for a few more days. I'm actually in no rush to stop, but I know if I don't start reintroducing slowly, I'll hit a point where I just go totally off, and I won't be able to isolate what I react to. So I'm going to start reintroduction on day 31. Even though I don't specifically want to go off plan.

I'm not doing my usual Monday weigh in - it's supposed to be brutally cold tomorrow so I'm not planning on leaving the house (no scale at home), and I'll just wait until Wednesday and get a final weight.

Day 27 - small improvements

Today was day 2 of 3 days of this quarter's grad school intensive. Which means over an hour commute plus 6-12 hours in the classroom. Sitting. I did get outside for a few short, very cold walks. And dragged myself out of bed early to walk on the treadmill for 45 minutes. I brought some food and have been eating fruit and veg from catering. And avoiding all the cookies and lasagne and candy.

3 more days.

Day 26 - 11 hours of class. Zero of exercise.

Still not sleeping. Surrounded by food I couldn't eat all day. Surrounded by people after spending most days working alone. Exhausted.

Day 25 - I thought I was supposed to sleep well

I've been wide awake at 5 the past two mornings, and up for hours in the middle of the night the night before that. I've got some stuff going on that is apparently stressing out my subconscious more than I thought. But it's killing my W30 energy kick. And making me want sugar and caffeine to wake me up.

Tomorrow I start 3 full days of school. 12 hours a day away from my kitchen. I'm going to have to bring a lot of food because catering is not going to have much that I can eat. And I'm going to be sitting in a classroom most of the time. So it'll be a challenge. But I'm sure as hell not blowing it on day 26-28.

Day 24 - looking ahead

I'm thinking a lot about what comes next, and where I want to go.

Day 23 - for the birds

I'm eating too much, too mindlessly. Need to get my head back in the game. After a super-productive week last week, I'm less productive this week and losing focus all over.

This is what I did to the duck. It was delicious. I did not make the glaze as it's full of things I'm not eating these days. Still delicious. And now I have a jar of duck fat. Not sure what I'll do with it.

Day 22 - the doldrums

I'm sticking with W30 due to sheer inertia. I'm bored with it. I'm bored with myself. I'm bored with drawing my daily journal. I'm bored with cooking. I'm bored with my workouts. Blah blah blah.

It is working though. Even when I think it isn't. As I said yesterday, I didn't think I had a great week. Turns out I did have a small loss. And I know I'm building muscle. But it's going to take another 10 weeks or so to get where I want to go. I'll make some changes after the 30 days, but mostly stay with it.

Day 21 - 3 weeks done

And I'm in a slump. I'm so ready to be done and go out like a normal person and not think about food all the time.

I am feeling good. I know this works and is good for me. But I want to go out and just order what looks good and have a drink. And not worry about every single ingredient.

I'm not confident that I'll have a loss on the scale tomorrow. I think I may have been eating too much fat - nut butter, coconut milk, avocado...

The thing I miss most is nuts. Which is my own rule. But my own biggest problem.

Day 20 - I want sugar!

I'm hungry today. And I want sugar. Crunchy cookies or graham crackers. I also want crunch. I'd be happy with nuts, but I know that I'm not good at just having a normal portion, so they remain off limits for the month.

I seem to need to eat every three hours, and end up having 3 meals and a fruit/nutbutter or larabar every day. So far its working. I'd like to eliminate the snack if possible, but perhaps with the amount of exercise I'm getting I need it.

Day 19 - dreaming of cookies

I woke up thinking that I had ruined my W30. I dreamed that I was at my parents' house and I ate some kind of bready/cakey thing, then dove into a tin of either Danish butter cookies or my mom's cookies. And my first thought was that I'd have to confess to my transgressions in this blog, and draw a picture of myself failing.

In my waking life I am still on track. And I do not sleep eat. So I'm good.

And today for the first time (I think) I only had 3 meals. And my only snack was some jicima.

Day 18 - om

I'm noticing that I'm getting more comfortable at yoga. The Tuesday class I go to is easier, more relaxing and more about stretching. The Thursday class is hard. There are some really advanced people in it, and the instructor always shows a few variations. I'm trying harder poses, and my balance is improving.

Day 17 - all work and no play...

I had a good workout this morning and was on track to hit my fuel target, then I got really busy with work and school, and it was too cold to take the dogs out, so I ended up short of my goal. Oh well. Had I not changed my goal a few weeks ago, I would've hit it. That extra 20% makes it so much harder to reach!

Day 16 - not as planned

I didn't do much cardio at the gym today because I'd planned to go on a long dog walk with a friend. Then this afternoon was SO windy that I was afraid that the little dog would get swept to Oz. So I jumped on the treadmill for a little while. Not quite the same.

Day 15 - half way there!

W30 Midpoint. 2 week weigh in. Down 2.2 pounds this week for a total of 3.2 pounds. Dialing back fruit and nuts seems to have helped. It was 65 degrees warmer today than last Monday. Sunny and beautiful out. I was able to be outside a lot today which really helped my mood.

I had a few meetings involving a lot of coffee and tea, and didn't cook at all today (other than just roasting some veggies), which was a nice change. A good day overall.

Day 14 - streak broken

I realized that hitting my NikeFuel goal every day is too much for me. I can't get it without a ton of walking, or a high intensity workout, and it's not good to do that every day. So I took a day off.

I liked the Chicken Tikka, M didn't love it. (I had some drumsticks from our meat CSA and some thighs in the freezer, so searched for a recipe to use them).

The huevos rancheros/shakshuka breakfast that I invented was really good.

1/2 lb chorizo
1 onion, diced
1 jar salsa
1/2 zucchini, diced
eggs

Brown chorizo in skillet, once oil has released, add in onion. Let soften.
Once onions are softened and chorizo is cooked through add in salsa and zucchini.
Make indentations in the mixture for each egg, gently crack eggs into indents.
Cover skillet and let simmer, checking frequently. Turn off heat once whites begin to solidify. Keep covered until eggs are cooked to your liking.

Day 13 - date night

We went out for W30 dinner tonight at GrassFed. It was good, but I came home hungry - not enough veggies, and the same tiny lamb chops that I made a few nights ago. It was really nice to eat a slow-paced meal that someone else cooked. We stopped at David's Tea and got a few new flavors for after-dinner drinks - since that's all we're drinking these days.

Day 12 - feeling somewhat better

I'm still not feeling the magic, but I feel much better than I did yesterday. Still have a little headache. Might be the crazy weather. Nothing much going on today - resulting in not much to doodle.

Shepherd's pie is a mix of these two recipes: one and two.  Asian pork is a W30 version of this made in the crock pot.

Day 11 - feeling off

Crabby, anxious and down all day. Not really sure why. My legs felt like lead when I tried to run. Yoga hurt. Everything just felt off.

The kale and sweet potato cakes were really good. Recipe here. I used a small amount of coconut flour instead of the chick pea flower, and didn't have any ginger, but they turned out quite tasty ( and spicy) anyway.

Day 10 - 1/3 through, holding strong

Nothing exciting to report today. Work, gym, the usual...

Day 9 - out in the real world

I had my first meal in 9 days out of the house. We didn't go out over break at all after we started W30. Today I had a lunch meeting, and had a salad with grilled salmon. I'm trying to think of places to go for a real date.

Running is getting easier. I'm feeling much stronger. And nothing is hurting. Yoga is really helping my ankle and back/butt issues.

Day 8 - one pound

A loss is a loss. I feel like I lost more than one teeny pound. I'd really like to get under 150. Hopefully next week. Just got to keep on doing what I'm doing.

The dip recipe is one of my favorite W30 finds. Paleo ranch dressing. Surprisingly delicious. 

Day 7 - one week done

I feel less bloated. Still have a long way to go.

Lamb Stew recipe. Good but not worth the amount of time and touching it took.

Day 6 - Fancy dinner - yum

Since we're not going out, I'm trying to make a nice meal on Saturday night so we don't feel so deprived. Tonight's was good. I used this recipe. It was delicious. I've never made pork belly before. We got it in our meat CSA, so I had to find something to make with it.

Day 5: I keep reminding myself that we're not eating at restaurants

when I freak out about the grocery bills. Second grocery run of the week. Two active adults on W30 eating every meal at home go through a lot of food!

Day 4 - I'm a real runner!

Well the real runner milestone just happened, and it's day 5 (I'm posting about the previous day) - I lost a toenail. Yes, that's a big milestone for me. Good thing I don't have any beach vacations planned (no, really, I'd rather stay here with all the snow and freezing cold. really.)

Here's yesterday's story...

Day 3 - so hungry!

I need to eat more. I have trouble recalibrating to how much good food I need when I'm not eating crap.