TAKE Control Of Your Food — STOP Letting Your Food Control You !!!

TAKE Control Of Your Food — STOP Letting Your Food Control You !!!

The Whole30 Program In A Nutshell

I lost 22 lbs in 30 days – I Feel Terrific 

Eight different friends and relatives have communicated with me as they watched my 30 day journey. They wanted information and started the Whole30 program themselves. I decided a blog entry would be a better way of sharing the information.  If not you?  Who??  You may not be interested for yourself but you many know someone (or many) who would be interested. Please, feel free to share!

For over two years I had been eating carefully and working to lose some weight! NOTHING was happening – NOTHING!  I am on medications for borderline blood pressure and type 2 diabetes. I know that these and other drugs interfere with weight loss.  It was a long time friend who told me about Whole30!  She has several years on me and takes many times more medications.  Her Doctor told her to do the Whole30 program and that she would lose weight even without increased exercise (bad knees).  She did and SHE DID lose 20 pounds in the 30 days!

I decided it was well worth a try after 2 years of no results!!  I started June 26th and did not stray for 30 days with the exception of ONE ear of corn on the cob which you will see below and which, as I enjoyed it, I did not know I was straying.

It is simple to start! Initially you just need the The Whole30 Program In A Nutshell , The Shopping List to guide you and the receipt for making your own Mayonnaise. (There will be more on making your own Mayo below!) Once you start making it fresh, you will never want to go back to the additive laced commercial “stuff”!

I had/have no interest in preparing three meals a day! (That as the hardest change for me, I had been eating two, breakfast and supper). I also have no issue with eating cold food!  Particularly this time of year. My system was to cook in bulk and have what I needed ready to pull from the refrigerator. Daily cooking was limited to scrambling eggs in the morning, often with sweet peppers, mushrooms and chives.

Steaming is my friend!  and a good way to prepare a big batch of assorted healthy vegetables

Here you see a selection of healthy vegetables ready to be steamed. The first picture was taken before I piled the kale on top! Red cabbage, cauliflower, sweet potato, butternut squash, rainbow carrots and Brussels sprouts. I used the local, organic kale under my breakfast eggs and my protein servings.

When it came to protein, I would bake a batch of boneless chicken w/ some Olive Oil & Seasonings

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Turkey or ground beef burgers would be cooked on top of the stove in batches using olive oil. Fish would be fresh for the meal!  Sardines and canned tuna would either be made into salad w/ homemade mayo or just dumped on the mixed greens as part of the salad.  Chicken salad became a favorite of mine – chopped/shredded chicken, celery, onions, red grapes and homemade mayo makes a delicious chicken salad.

Let’s discuss the Mayo here before we talk about the meals which are FULL plates of deliciousness.

For your first time making this Mayo, do a single batch!  The MOST IMPORTANT thing is that the oil MUST go in SLOWLY!  Otherwise you have a runny mess which you can still use as a salad dressing on your salads.  For me, I found the best way is to use a tsp to take the olive oil from the measuring cup and drizzle it in from the measuring spoon! It works for me every time.  I double the dry mustard and the lemon juice. Now I make double batches and am adding various seasonings and herbs.  WHEN YOU DOUBLE, you still only but 1/4 cup of olive oil in to start – doubling the other ingredients but not the oil!  Then you drizzle 2.25 cups of oil.  I will never go back to commercial.  Potato Salads and Chicken Salads are delicious when made  with this.

There you have the basics. Now a few example of the VERY FULL Plates of food that I enjoy.  You must not skimp!  You are not counting calories here. You are eating protein, fat, vegetables and fruit.  Fats are olive oil, nuts, ghee, avocados, olives and nut butters BUT NOT peanut butter!  PB is a legume. (check the shopping list)

Pic #1.) Breakfast, usually put mushrooms, sweet peppers, chives or chopped tomatoes in the eggs and serve on a kale leaf.  Pic 2.) My one stray during the the initial 30 days!  That corn (which I had with ghee & salt) should not be there – Ooops! – Tom was here and we were treating ourselves to fresh scallops. Pic #3.) Chicken and sardines on the salad. Pic #4.) Beef burger and olives, pickled garlic & pickled fiddleheads on the salad. Pic #5.) Fresh Tuna steak and anchovies:):)  Pic #6.) Liver!  Don’t forget the offal (organ meats) Use a LOCAL source and NOT commercial. I enjoy liver, heart & tongue.  Pic #7 & Pic #.) Two breakfasts with sugar free, nitrate free bacon. A treat but not something I now yearn for often. Pic #9.) A quick lunch of Tuna salad on mixed greens and fruit. Pic #10.) Turkey burger and shrimp – I made the cocktail sauce with some organic tomatoes and horseradish.

I am very lucky!  I have access to some locally made, sugar free, taste bud stimulators that I use on my salads.

Pickled Garlic, Pickled Fiddleheads, Pickled Dilly Beans and Dill Pickle Chips

The vinegars from these condiments get combined and I add the anchovy oil to make my salad dressing. The olive juices get used in cabbage and greens

Thank you Gizmo’s Pickles Plus

So, where does this leave me now?  It has been an interesting and positive journey so far and I find myself (surprisingly) having no interest in bringing much of what I eliminated back in!  I had a very interesting experience Saturday. I had pizza (2 slices). Back at the beginning of my Whole30, when I still thought I was changing my eating patterns for 30 days, I bought a $30 coupon at Positive Pie (Barre) for $15.  By Saturday, I was no longer longing for pizza!  And it was a beautiful pie!

I had said all along that I would have two slices and Tom could have the rest. I ate it with a knife & fork, small bites that I savored. As I looked at the first piece I thought I would have three pieces:)  But then said, no I said 2 slices – with the anchovies from the third slice:):)  That was ample. Tom had more Saturday and Sunday as I returned to Whole30 eating with absolutely NO yearning for more pizza!

So, with a few minor exceptions, I am content eating this way. I did pick up some crumbly bleu to use on my beet greens as a garnish w/ ghee rather than butter.  In two weeks, when Tom is here, we will go to a good locally made ice cream stand and I will have a kiddie scoop of ice cream.

We have another Positive Pie coupon that expires the end of October so there will be two more slices of pizza down the road.  I know the friends I will get together with soon for supper and my first red wine.  I know the friends I will see later this year and have my first drink – a Manhattan!  All occasions that are spaced out and special.

We we take our trip later this fall, I will enjoy eating out and will not be adamantly Whole30.  There will be certain things I avoid like white dinner rolls!  I will order food in the spirit of the way I am now eating.

Tonight, I am having steamed beet greens w/ beets still attached (a favorite vegetable for me) w/ ghee and the first crumbly bleu as a garnish along with a steak and salad.

As is usually the case with these full supper plates, I eat the protein and most of the vegetables (tonight I will eat all my beets:) and half the salad. The remaining salad and any uneaten vegetables roll over to breakfast when I add eggs and fruit.

This may not be for you!

It has been an amazing journey for me.