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June 7, 2014 – Day 7

What Did I Eat?

Love my purple plates!!

Meal 1

Scrambled Eggs

Spinach

Avocado

Meal 2

Turkey Sausage Pieces

Cucumber

Meal 3

Turkey Sausage Appies

Veggies from a platter

The Day

Sean and I had hair appointments with my good friend Dora today. Can I just say how talented she is for a minute? I have been friends with this lady since she was a receptionist in a non-hair-related industry. She found her passion, went to school, and has been cutting and styling hair for a few years now. I won’t go to anyone else. 

Needless to say I woke up in a good mood, stoked to see my friend and of course to get pampered. Sean needed a haircut before the big day next week, and for the summer, and I just needed to add some layers. I made myself some scrambled eggs, about 4, with a side of spinach sautéed in ghee and half an avocado and we headed out to get our hair did. I was not disappointed and was so excited that, for once, I had plans after. I usually end up having great hair and no where to go. 

Then I had to head to the store to get some ingredients for a potluck/housewarming party at another friend’s new place. This potluck, I was determined to do better than the veggie bowl I brought to the last one. I didn’t have a plan really though so I wandered Whole Foods for inspiration, reading labels and thinking of ideas. There were some good looking wings but of course they were coated with bread crumbs and I did not see any plain ones available. I sort of had the idea of toothpick appies before I got there and I found some compliant turkey sausage in the deli. I grabbed two packs of 4 and wandered to produce. I looked for veggies that could be cut up and easily stuck on a toothpick and came up with cherry tomatoes of varying colours and cucumbers.

Whole30 Appies!

When I got home, I popped the sausages in the oven and applied my makeup. I cut up the cucumbers and cherry tomatoes and methodically put them on toothpicks. I ended up with about 45-50 little toothpick appies when I ran out of tomatoes. I ate the leftover cucumbers and sausage (about ½ of one and the ends of the others) as 2^nd meal. On top of me eating them, they were a hit! They were gone within an hour of me getting there. 

When I got to the potluck, the only other thing I could have was veggies from a platter so I made a plate of veggies and some of my appies and was completely happy with that. It was so nice to chat and catch up with friends. It was a beautiful almost summer evening. There was live music, kids running around the back yard. It could not have been more perfect. Of course all good things come to an end and we all headed home.

How Do I Feel Today?

Woke up in a good mood. Was satiated all day long. 

June 6, 2014 – Day 6

What Did I Eat?

Meal 1

Apple

Banana

2 Boiled Eggs

Sun Butter

Meal 2

Roasted Chicken and Veggies from Urban Fare

Meal 3

Leftover Chicken

Leftover Mashed Yam, attempted to pan fry

The Day

This section should be titled “The Evening” today.

The day was pretty standard; woke up, went to work etc. It was after work when anything interesting happened - and I use that word lightly.

I went to meet up with an old family friend to pick up a handmade gift for one of my dearest friends. I haven’t given it to her yet so I can’t go into detail. But I have known the artist for longer than I can remember. Feels like distant family really. Our moms are really close. I picked up the gift and we chatted for a little while and caught up. It took me close to an hour to get home so I had a late dinner. For the first time in 2 months I felt hungry along with irritable and weak-ish. 

This was not a fault in the program but rather my own poor planning. I knew that I had these plans after work and I could have brought along a Larabar or Fruit. I was so cranky and tired when I finally got home, that I wanted to eat but not to cook. A night like this in my old life, and I would have ordered a pizza so I was happy to realize that I have come a long way and have learned a lot.

Since Sean is decidedly sticking to broths and shakes for the time being, I re-heated a chicken breast that was on reserve for him, for me. The only veg that I would not have to cook was the leftover mashed sweet potatoes that I made yesterday and couldn’t stand. I added some egg to bind and salt to cut the sweetness and tried pan frying like a fritter. No Dice. It did not hold together and then burned on the bottom. I mixed it up a bit to at least warm the mash through. The caramelization caused by the burning made them a little more tolerable. But still not great.

How Do I Feel Today?

Most of the day really good, but tired and cranky with a two hour delay on dinner.

June 5, 2014 – Day 5

What did I Eat?

Meal 1

• 2 Leftover Italian Baked Eggs (Oeufs En Cocotte)
• Over leftover ground pork and spinach

Meal 2

• Apple
• Banana
• Larabar
• See below for why

Meal 3

• Roasted chicken leg/thigh
• Mashed Sweet Potato 

  

The Day

Today was the opposite of yesterday in that it started off well and kind of went downhill – food-wise.

In the morning, I took the extras I had of spinach and cooked, seasoned ground pork from last night and put the two leftover Oeufs on top, for breakfast. I got to work and heated it up in the microwave. I try to limit my use of this appliance if you wondered. When I write about leftovers at home, assume I have used an oven or stove top. Sometimes I just chow down on cold food, depending on what it is. I mashed the eggs rounds over the other meat and spinach and it was delicious. I enjoyed a black coffee too. I felt satiated until 12:00.

Fun Fact: Sean accidentally broke our microwave before Christmas and we have not yet replaced it over 6 months later. The only place I really use one now is at work for lack of any other options.

I went for lunch and remembered that Freshii across the street from my work has a new(ish) Green Wrap, where they will Big Collard Greens as a wrap instead of a flour tortilla. I also knew that you can order a pre-made wrap, or customize one. There is no way that can’t be Whole30 friendly right? I used one of their checklists to order my ingredients and hand it to the cashier. I wait patiently for my wrap and am ecstatic when they hand it to me. It must have weighed about 2 lbs. I asked for double chicken, romaine, carrots, cucumber, red onion, tomatoes, beets, olive oil, and Pico de Gallo all wrapped in a big collard green leaf. The extra chicken, and Pico additions brought the wrap to around $12. A little on the expensive side but I don’t know anywhere else near my work that I can get food that fresh and healthy for less. As you can see by the picture, I was hardly ripped off.

I got back to my desk and began to eat. I had three bites across the top that were mostly collard green from the way it’s folded. I looked in the wrap and the sauce appeared to be creamy… I got a plate opened the wrap. There were clear chunks of goat cheese mixed in! I was beyond disappointed. I thought: What do I do? Do I keep eating? Because this is all I have for lunch and I am technically back on the clock. Besides I have already ruined my Whole30 right? I put it aside while I contemplated. 

I remembered seeing a recent post on a Facebook group I follow. It was regarding accidentally being served non-compliant foods and what to do. There are of course hard-core people who are dead-set about starting over for the smallest of breaches. Then there are people who say it depends on what it was and how much and the details. They believe it’s case by case. 

For me personally I feel it really does depend a) on the situation and b) on why you are doing a whole30 to start with. Your reasons are personal and so should your decision to carry on if you slip up be. The important thing that I keep reading is to not stress the small stuff. Your stress levels and mental health are just as important to your health as the food you eat.

For me, I am really early into this, I barely ingested any of the fillings, let alone cheese so I do have a hard time feeling this will be affecting me negatively by day 30. I will also be doing a proper reintroduction this time, unlike the last round, and I will be doing many more Whole30s in life. I decided that for me personally, these few small bites are not going to ruin my round. But I sure as hell was getting a refund. 

I recycled the wrap into the compost bin and ate my fruits and a Larabar instead.

I emailed via their feedback form and explained what happened. I explained that during a Whole30, when one consumes foods they are not supposed to, they have to start at day 1 and asked them to contact me regarding a refund. I got the nicest email back within 24 hours form their director of business development. Here is an excerpt: 

I can only hope that you caught it in time so as not to go back to day one on your eating regiment. This is especially bad as we are supposed to be the restaurant that helps with your diet and doesn’t hinder it.

I’ve let our team at ****** know to be very careful when building our meals so this sort of thing doesn’t happen again.

Rebecca, I’d like to give you a $20 gift card which can be picked up anytime at our ******** location, as our way off apologizing as well as thanking you for taking time out of your busy to write us which helps us improve.

I blocked out the location name for my own privacy (as I have said it’s across from my workplace) and because I am not here to call shed a negative light on this company. They beyond exceeded my expectations for rectification and I will consider going back there again, though I may just be very clear about no dairy. Perhaps I can even go so far as to say I have an allergy to ensure it’s not mixed in from tools, or the assembly boards. I knew previously and full believe that they intend to be accommodating for all diet types, be it paleo, allergies and sensitivities, vegetarian, vegan, or whatever else. I will take them up on their offer to give me a gift card, order lunch or dinner, and see how it goes. If another mistake happens, then maybe I can’t rely on them during Whole30, but for now, I will view this mistake as just that.

When I got home, I put a chicken in the oven and boiled some sweet potatoes. I thought I would try making them mashed instead of frying them up like I always do. After scanning a few recipes on how to do this, I set out without any one recipe in particular and began mashing and adding things. I added coconut milk and ghee and used my hand mixer to mix it all up. It turned out a bit liquidy while at the same time stringy. So I tossed it in the blender to smooth it out. This resulted in baby food for lack of a better description. I re-read a recipe after that recommended only 1 tablespoon of coconut milk. I didn’t measure but I would estimate that I put closer to ¼ of a cup in mine (based on the milk I would add to mashed potatoes – so not the same!). For me, the nuttiness of the milk and sweetness of the potatoes did not complement each other. Between the texture and the flavour, I was gagging on it. I forced some big bites down since lunch was so sparse. I saved the chicken and a big glass of water to chase it down and called it a day. 

These mistakes are important to share so that we all learn. I have now learned to specify how important it is for me to not have dairy in restaurants, and how not to make mashed sweet potatoes.

How do I feel today?

Disappointed in my food situations, but overall cleaner, clearer headed, and positive.

June 4, 2014 – Day 4

What did I Eat?

Meal 1

1 Boiled Egg

1 Banana

1 Larabar

Meal 2

everything in one bite

Salad

• Romaine
• Tomatoes
• Avocado
• Shrimp
• Walnuts

Meal 3

2 Italian Baked Eggs (Oeufs En Cocotte)

 The Day

I FORGOT TO BUY EGGS!!!!

I did not start the day off right. I forgot eggs when I did my grocery run last night. I grabbed some things out of the fridge that would enable me to make a salad for lunch at work. We have a decent kitchen in the office to if need be, salads and things can always be assembled on my lunch break rather than having to get up super early or make something the night before. Unless I need to make for Sean too, then he doesn’t have the luxury of a kitchen since he works outdoors. With his digestive issues of late, he has been sticking to mainly liquids and soft foods lately and I really only need to worry about me.

I got to work and stopped at that little café in the lobby. I grabbed a black coffee, banana, and apple and I asked the lady for 2 eggs. She says “oh no! They are just cooking now if you want to wait… otherwise there is only one left from yesterday.” I was already late so I take the one, pay and head up stairs to the office. I peel my eggs and eat it. I bite the apple and it’s gritty. I look at the apple and it’s bruised. I decide I better cut it up and I take it to the kitchen only to find, once I’d cut it in half, that the bruise surrounded the whole apple just under the skin. I have never seen that before but what a letdown. I pouted as I tossed it in the organics bin we have at work. I went back to my desk and started on the banana. This was relatively bruised also but most of it was salvageable so I ate what I could. I waited until I was hungry again to eat the Larabar which was a longer time than I thought.

Lunch rolled around and I chopped all my veggies and assembled my salad. I think I need to bring a decent sized bowl to work for my salads. Once I had all the ingredients in the bowl, there was no room for the shrimp. I put it on the side and ate them together as best I could. I opted for no dressing as I had an avocado as a fat and tomatoes, and avocados on salad kind of blend together to make their own delicious dressing any way. After eating in the lunch room (not at my desk) I went out into the sun, over to Urban Fare, to buy eggs.

When I got home I was excited to make the baked eggs dish mentioned above. I had pinned it for my first round of Whole30 and always seemed to be short one ingredient or another. When I went grocery shopping yesterday, I bought spinach purposely for this dish. Everything else, I had. I get home only to realize we forgot eggs and couldn’t make the dish. So tonight was the night! I was going to make them for breakfast for the next day. After prepping and making the dishes, I decided we would have them for dinner tonight instead. They were easy but made a few dishes and there were many steps. Once they were in the oven, I did not feel like making another meal for dinner so I thought, why not have these fresh tonight instead? I ended up making 6 instead of 4 anyway, I could serve 2 to each Sean and me for dinner and have 2 for breakfast tomorrow as left over. They were soft enough for Sean to eat, and probably the healthiest thing he has had all week. He was living off of Mr. Noodles and juice.

Sean has diverticulitis and has had 3 major flare-ups in 4 months. It is uncommon to have a second flare-up at all, let alone within a year of the first one. And it is uncommon for people under 50 or so to have this condition period, then it becomes increasingly common after that age. It’s the reason old people need to eat high fibre. You have to keep everything moving, or there is too much pressure on the large intestine and these pockets form. Then when they become infected, they cause a lot of pain. We’ve been told when he has a flare up, he should move to a liquid diet and get antibiotics. For the three major flare-ups, we have gone to the hospital, he has been on pain meds, diagnosed, and sent home with antibiotics. He is missing so much work and it’s causing him so much pain, so frequently that the doctors have decided to operate. This is the surgery that he is having Mid-June. It will not be laparoscopic like we had initially been told and had read. It will be a full invasive procedure, he will be in the hospital for up to 5 days, and then home resting and healing for up to 6 weeks. It’s kind of a big deal. This will hopefully be the best thing for the long run. He should be in less pain, less often moving forward. Unfortunately he has diverticula throughout his entire large intestine. The part the surgeon is focused on is riddled with scar tissue from past flare-ups and they want to remove it. They obviously cannot remove his entire large intestine. Well technically they could, but the benefits do not outweigh the cons just yet, and hopefully we never get to that point.

All in all, we are feeling nervous but optimistic.

How do I feel today?

The clarity I feel continues to amaze me. I had another small headache in the morning that went away pretty early on. I had more sugar and crap food before this round than the other so I fully expected some withdraw in the first week or so. I also have had cravings and small fantasies of cheating. I have asked myself things like “I know dairy isn’t my issue, so it wouldn’t hurt if I added cheese here and there right?” but I remind myself that I did not do a proper reintroduction after my last W30, so I don’t really know that I am ok with dairy. I also have been tempted to weigh in this round. This is weird to me because I was so set on not doing it last round. But I have really noticed a huge difference in my belly size from day 1 to now and it’s got me curious if that translates to pounds. Again, I remind mself it’s not about that. Who care if I lost 1 lb, 5 lbs, or no lbs? I am feeling great!!