What I ate this week
I didn’t have a very active social life before this pandemic, however I thought I was doing some interesting things that I could make into a fun blogpost. It seems harder than it looks. I will try to do better the next weeks.
The stress of this pandemic and the question: “Do I still have a job after this?” is weighing heavy on my mind and also literary on my body. I was all ready to start exercising again on May 11th when 2 days earlier I woke up with excruciating knee pain. This is still lingering even when doing a gentle walk for about 3 miles/5 kilometers.
I stopped having pity on myself and took at least one part of my life back, namely my nutrition.
Last year February I started the “Whole30”, this is no diet but more of a reset where you figure out how your body and mind react to certain kinds of food. For 30 days you:
- Do not consume added sugar, real or artificial
- Do not consume alcohol, in any from, not even for cooking
- Do not eat grains
- Do not eat most forms of legumes
- Do not eat dairy
- Do not consume carrageenan, msg, or sulfites
- Do not consume baked goods, junk foods, or treats with “approved” ingredients, e.g banana pancakes with only banana, eggs, almond flour
- Do not on the scale or take any body measurements for 30 days
This looks real strict and not feasible at all but if you have a reason beyond the scale, for me it is a thyroid issue, and if you are in a clear headspace it becomes easy to say no to things on the “not allowed” list.
I surprised myself by finishing it, and at the end of it I really felt accomplished, less anxious, less stressed. I slept better sleep and had a better complexion. And off course losing those last 3kg of vanity weight was a nice bonus.
Flipping through last years bullet journal it seems transitioning from my Whole30 into my Food Freedom didn’t really happen and I slipped back into old habits again.
There are certain things that I learned during reintroduction that I unconsciously still remember but forget in times of stress. For example blue corn tortillas are ok, but regular corn or flour tortillas easily lead to binging especially when there is chocolate spread or Lotus Biscoff spread in the house.
While the whole world started a collective Whole 30 on April 1th, I mentally didn’t feel ready to participate. It is not hard, but it takes time in the store to read labels of products and of course also doing meal prep.
Last Saturday I purchased some compliant and non-compliant produce and dived right into my food freedom. With in the back of my mind the idea that if it didn’t work out I could always start the Whole 30 again. But so far so good. On Sunday and Monday I finished the last of my chocolate Easter eggs, and I also have some meat with sugar in it and vegan cheese. What probably helped the most was that apart from a full head of cauliflower I bought all my vegetable already pre-cut and I didn’t have any elaborate meal plans.
The only recipe I had was a tweaked version of Broccyourbody’s “Cauliflower gnocchi skillet” (https://broccyourbody.com/2019/12/03/cauliflower-gnocchi-skillet/). Maybe I didn’t check our shops freezer section enough but I haven’t found cauliflower gnocchi in Belgium. So my version uses pork sausages and cauliflower florets/rice. I usually make 2 or 3 portions of this for Breakfast/lunch or dinner.
As the Whole30 doesn’t think in terms of breakfast, etc, but just meal 1, meal 2 and meal 3 I didn’t have a problem eating something else than an omelet for my meal 1. Eggs are certainly a big part of my diet, also before when I was following the WW plan as they were low in smart points (sp) or didn’t have any sp at all. Hence I used my silicone steamer (similar to this one from Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Unbekannt-Mastrad-Steamer-Silicone-gr%C3%BCn/dp/B017E3XREQ/ref=sr_1_3?crid=2AOEJ0IN1U45D&dchild=1&keywords=mastrad+silicone+steamer&qid=1590346443&sprefix=MASTRAD+silicone+%2Caps%2C327&sr=8-3) to make a crust-less quiche with zucchini and smoked chicken filet, and as my meal 2 today I had an omelet with Mediterranean vegetable mix and turkey bacon.
The other meals were just a mix of meat and vegetables and/or (sweet) potatoes:
- Egg salad with avocado, tuna and baked potatoes
- Beef mince with a mix of “dutch” vegetables, or the same vegetables with pork sausage
- Pork sausage with (sweet) potatoes
- Spaghetti sauce with mince and zoodles (zucchini noodles instead of pasta)
- Chicken filet with cauliflower or broccoli rice
Because there were no grains or a lot of sugar I didn’t have the urge to snack at 10 or 16 o’clock. So I just kept it at 3 meals a day.
I’m still tired, but that is because I’m sleeping very late (too much worrying) and of course detoxing from all the sugar I put in my body during the previous weeks of quarantine (Did anyone say lots of chips/crisps, cookies or a whole tub of ice cream/tiramisu for dinner, yes unfortunately this happens when I’m stressing).
While I feel on track with the meals, the stress is not yet dealt with. I’m still seeking and finding distractions in my Ipad games and too much television. So that is something to work on in the next couple of weeks if we want to bring our overall 2020 goals back on track.
If you want to learn more about Whole30 please check whole30.com or Melissa Urbans books:
- It starts with food
- The Whole30’s food freedom Forever
- The Whole30 Day by day
