The Last Supper

Well, I'm starting tomorrow. Originally I'd intended to start with my husband as soon as his March Break started, but we've decided it makes more sense to stagger our starts, so we're not both feeling like garbage at the same time. Fortunately, he's not a sweets-eater, so it's not like he'll be eating my biggest temptations in front of me. I can handle the lure of a little rice now and then!

We went out for supper tonight, and I completely went off the rails. Even being gluten-free and on Weight Watchers didn't hold me back! I had a bacon cheeseburger (only ate half the bun though) and a pile of fries. Now I'm drinking an enormous glass of white wine. I don't even want to admit how many miniature peanut butter cups I ate today! Even though this "experiment" only lasts 30 days, I know full well that it's unlikely I'll ever be able to stomach eating like this again afterwards. And that's a good thing! 

I have three major goals I'd like to accomplish over the next 30 days:

1. Slay the sugar demon. Seriously. I'm so over being a slave to these cravings! It would be nice to be able to walk past a bowl of chocolate-covered almonds or Cadbury mini eggs without diving face-first into the bowl.

2. Learn how my body reacts to different foods. Although I prefer to keep gluten out of my diet, I don't know how well I really tolerate dairy, so that awareness will be awesome. Of course, it will possibly (probably) mean giving up some favourite foods (like the peanut butter cups, chocolate-covered almonds and mini eggs...), but I'm okay with that. I think. No, I am. Probably. *sigh*

3. Change my body composition. I'm happy with the weight I've lost since having Baby Belle just over a year ago. Now, I know that there's stubborn fat that needs to go and muscles that need to be revealed. (I know there are muscles in there. Jillian Michaels' workouts are no joke!) I realize that my body needs time to heal over the next month, and this isn't the right time for a lot of high-intensity training. My plan is to take it easy for the first week or two until my energy bounces back, and then follow Primal Blueprint Fitness as my guidelines.

Tomorrow I'll post my official Day 1 stats - weight and measurements. Maybe even a "before" photo, if I'm feeling brave! In the next 30 days my posts will be primarily about what I'm eating and how I'm feeling. There may be the odd post with more depth here and there, but mostly I just need to keep track of how I'm feeling as I progress, and maybe my meal ideals will be of some use to someone else starting out on their first Whole30 adventure.

Let the good times roll!!

And What About the Kids?

My husband and I sat down the other night to discuss what we intend to do about the "big" kids when we do our Whole30. At two-and-three-quarters and four, Princess and Music Man both have definite preferences and opinions when it comes to what they will and won't eat! (Baby Belle will happily eat whatever I eat, so that's easy!) Fortunately, they're both fairly adventurous (or at least obedient) when it comes to trying new foods. But the bottom line is: they both love wheat.

Bread, pancakes, muffins, French toast, grilled cheese sandwiches... They'd eat wheat-products three meals a day if they were allowed.

So we've decided that we don't quite have the energy to make them eat *exactly*what we're eating, but we will be using those 30 days to cut wheat out of their diets for good. Even though it's against the rules for us, I have no problem with Paleo-fying stuff for them to eat, if it will help their transition. Coconut flour will find its way into pancakes and muffins, and I may even try my hand at almond flour bread for the occasional French toast brunch.

If we notice that there are other things that really affect us, we'll look at eliminating them from the kids' diets as well. But in the mean time, I have to choose my battles wisely!

The Back Story

Baby #3 was born just over a year ago, and for the first nine months of her life she was in near-constant pain. I have never met a baby with that much gas and digestive upset before! Since she was being breastfed, everything in my diet was a suspected culprit, and I tried eliminating several different potential offenders without success.

Our family doctor kept insisting that she would eventually outgrow the problem, and that adding solids (when she was old enough) would likely help. For a little while, it seemed to. The more fruits and veggies she ate, the less she nursed, so whatever I was eating that was bothering her was showing up in smaller concentrations in her diet.

I was optimistic, and thinking that the worst was behind us. I even started to think it might be possible that there may be sleep in my not-so-distant future.

Enter wheat.

Finally I was able to see what was causing the problem! It only took two times of serving her bits of a whole wheat pancake before I noticed that those nights were so much worse than any other night. Just for kicks (what did I have to lose?) I cut wheat out of my diet and hers. Within 48 hours there was a drastic change in her stomach issues. She stopped waking up in pain during the night! Within a week of no wheat, she no longer sobbed in agony every time she had a bowel movement! Why, oh WHY hadn't I figured this out months ago?

No sense dwelling on the past, though. Especially since I had something far more surprising to dwell on:
I felt so much better off wheat.


I'd been living with chronic hip pain for years. I assumed I was stuck with it, knowing that my mother has degenerative arthritis and needed a hip replaced by the time she was in her mid-fifties. Eliminating wheat has eliminated the inflammation that was causing the pain. I'm able to enjoy a level of mobility that I haven't had in years. (That makes me sound old, doesn't it? I'm really not!!)

I started reading up on the "evils" of modern wheat, which naturally led me to reading more about Paleo and Primal eating. That reading led me to discover Whole30, and I knew right away this is was something I wanted - no, needed - to try. Of course with a husband and three (very) young children, I also knew this was something that would take a great deal of planning and preparation.

So here I am. Close to my start date, and getting more excited by the day! I can't wait to find out how good I can feel!