21.3.12

Get your shit together

The Whole30 was like a fad diet for me. I ate well before I started, went hardcore for 30 days, and then fell into a bottomless pit of gross eating habits.

It makes me feel sick, but it's like I'm defying authority or something - a weird thrill? To hurt myself?
Gawd, what's wrong with me?

I sit here, typing this, as my gut churns and bubbles from the crap I ate at work today.

So I need to get my shit together. I need to do the Whole Ariane. Meaning, my whole body will feel good if I eat whole, good food. Makes sense right? Not complicated, no rules to abide by. Just whole food. Plain and simple.

I am really good at following a plan. I like the challenge, but I also like to break the rules.
Hence the failure of Whole30.
I did awesome, and then snap, terrible - breaking the rules is fun, right?

So I'm cooking.
I'm having a glass of wine if I want to. Because if I have a few drinks at a birthday party, I'll have fun, be happy, and won't want to break the rules! Magic.

This is the plan. It's a good plan.

Starting now, I'm Whole ArianeTM.

15.3.12

Butter chicken - again.

I made a butter chicken recipe while on the Whole30, but modified quite heavily and made some silly decisions along the way. It turned out mmm-okay. (see original original post)

Because I cut up the chicken it ended up over cooked. Because I used whole spices and hand-ground them, I had to strain the whole thing.

But this time. Oh boy - it's good!
  • 2 Cool Springs Ranch chicken legs & thighs - whole
  • 2 onions diced
  • 1 clove garlic minced
  • chunk of butter
  • dollop of oil
In a slow-cooker with:
  • 2 tbsp curry powder
  • 1 tbsp mild cayenne powder
  • 2 tbsp tandoori masala
  • 1 can coconut milk
  • 1 cup full fat yogurt
  • 1 small can of tomato paste
 Mix gently and cook on high heat 4 hours.

I was on fire last night and also made a potato and leek mash and blanched some rainbow chard with kale.

I have 3 prepared meals with all of the above, plus an extra serving of butter chicken.

lunch!

I'm pretty proud of myself.

6.3.12

Whole 30 Results & Conclusions

Well, this is it. I completed my first Whole30.

I can't say that I feel all that much different. I think the success of this program banks on incredible transformations, but those are experienced by people who go from McDonald's to this -cold turkey.

That was not my case. I've been Paleo for approximately 18 months, at some times more lax than others, but it wasn't a big change to strictly live by these few rules:

Eat real food;
Do not consume added sugar of any kind, real or artificial;
Do not consume alcohol;
Do not eat grains;
Do not eat legumes;
Do not eat dairy;
Do not eat white potatoes.

In addition, no Paleo-ifying dessert or junk food choices.

The last point is the only one that I broke a few times. I don't really think that my apple muffin recipe should be considered "junk food", but for extremists, maybe it is.

I will get my calliper measurements done this week and compare them to my last test. The numbers don't lie, right?

Before & After pictures up soon. I can't really see a difference; maybe the gut has shrunk a bit? I'm still wearing the same clothes in any case.


Before Whole 30 - February 6, 2012
After Whole 30 - March 6, 2012
My main goal was to work my way down to the 63kg category, and in that respect, Whole30 was an epic fail. I stayed at pretty much the same weight.

Sigh.


5.3.12

Whole 30 Day 30

March 5 - Day 30:
I guess it's my last day?
It makes me feel old when I think gosh, time sure does fly by.

Breakfast: eggs and decaf coffee
Lunch: butter chicken with rainbow chard
Supper: more butter chicken and... kale? (and rainbow chard; steamed)

The last supper.

Thirty days are done.

4.3.12

Whole 30 Day 29

March 4 - Day 29:
Brunch with Grandma, snacks at work (yes, that's overtime on a Sunday) and leftovers for supper. Lady gang supper; Blair is an amazing cook and she whipped up some delicious soup and salad for us all to enjoy.

Brunch: scrambled eggs with salad
Snacks: nuts, clementines, coconut water
Supper: kabocha squash, ginger and apple soup and garden salad with spinach, avocado, cucumber, tomatoes and walnuts.

1 day until March 5.

Whole 30 Day 28

March 3 - Day 28:
Big birthday celebration day. Birthday brunch, birthday supper, birthday ping-pong party.

Brunch: frittata du jour from Table 10; with ham & broccolini, side salad and fresh fruit
Supper: steak with seasonal grilled vegetables (asparagus) from La Bodega
Party snacks: apple muffins and bubbly water with lime

Mock Oly meet was today. Snatch was terrible; hit 107lbs and then failed at 112lbs repeatedly. C&J was significantly better. I didn't squat (shame on me) but got 130lbs, 135lbs and 140lbs, which is a PR.
2 days until March 5.

Whole 30 Day 27

March 2 - Day 27:
I've been super busy at work; hence the 3-day late blog update.
And when I get busy, I don't eat. It's not a good habit, but it's hard to break. I eat breakfast at home and I pack a lunch, but I get so caught up in work that I go right through my lunch break without noticing.
It makes me really antsy and probably very disagreeable to work with.

Breakfast: eggs and some tasty apple muffins
Lunch: -
Supper: butter chicken that was meant for lunch.

Last Oly session before mock meet.
3 days until March 5.

1.3.12

Whole 30 Day 26

March 1 - Day 26:
I'm tired! I blame it on the dried fruit I at yesterday; it tore through my gut all last night - quite unpleasant.

I made a butter chicken recipe yesterday. A stated previously, I can't seem to follow instruction when cooking. I decided to make my own spice mixture instead of being "lazy" and using a pre-mixed, properly balanced and ground garam masala. Have you ever tried to grind 10 different spices in a motar pestle and have it come out fine? Ya, it's impossible. I thought of using cheese cloth in the slow-cooker, but I forgot to buy some, so... it's filled with spice chunks. Which is kinda gross.
I picked out bits of chicken for my lunch today, but I think I'll have to strain the rest of the sauce if I want to actually enjoy this recipe.

Breakfast: fried eggs with apple slices, decaf coffee
Lunch: butter chicken with steamed broccoli, cauliflower & rainbow chard
Supper: strained butter chicken

I didn't lift yesterday and I'm already feeling rusty! I'll try getting a snatch session in at lunch and some squats right before coaching tonight. We have a mock Oly meet scheduled for this weekend and I don't want to embarass myself! I've discovered that it takes me a few sessions of snatch and C&J to get "warmed up". Friday is ususally terrible, Saturday is okay, and I hit my stride on Sunday.
Can't wait until the new Flux space opens and I can start going to the mid-week Oly class again.

4 days until March 5.