October Whole 30 for Paleo/Primal Support Peeps

September brought our first Whole 30 challenge, thanks to Grokette. I'd like to do it again now that I have learned from the obstacles I overcame in September. Anyone game?

Here's the 411 - we'll post our successes, experiences and questions here. Recipes are great. We'll lament our 'oops-es' elsewhere (our food diary notes or wall). No one need do this perfectly. This is about progress in choosing healthier fuel sources and in living our best lives.

[Note on dairy: If it makes you sick, don't do it. If raw dairy is your religion, continue guilt free but understand one person's medicine is another person's poison. I do dairy to my health but would quit it in a heartbeat if it failed to improve my chances of living my dreams.]

And here we go...

Replies

ResilientWoman

I'll use my weight from the doctor's office (Sept. 29 - 248.0) and measurements from my coach (Oct 4) for my starting stats. Will not get on the scale until Oct. 31/Nov 1. Will have coach remeasure on Nov. 1, our regular training day and will weigh in on scale at doctor's office on the same morning. In between now and then, no scale. The home scale is being put away so I can focus on how my body feels.

I have increased my chances of actually doing the Whole 30 by paying attention to lifestyle issues that affected last month's attempt.

Starting today off with uncured bacon & eggs. Dinner will be grass fed beef burgers with mustard and Rocksalmic Vinegar (like Basalmic Vinegar but made from local apples). There may be curried cauliflower, if I have time.

CavewomanCoby

I'm in for sure! Great idea as a support group. Am out and about right now but when I get home I'll post a little about myself

momof8munchkins

I'm in.. I need to continue on this path.

justamyagain

I'm still very new to this lifestyle, but I am in.

MUDDERinTRAINING

Count me in, as well! Our family started eating modified (read-cheater) paleo about a month ago after my son was diagnosed with several food sensitivities. I'm having a really difficult time getting into the spirit of it, though. I have one heck of a sugar addiction that I need to break. I've been bingeing on sweets at work to avoid tempting my wee ones with it at home. It makes me feel like a total a** to limit my kids and not place those same limits on myself. Sooo, I WILL make October my detox month! I am committed to making myself and my family healthier!!!

Seeing as I'm new to the lifestyle, I'm rather inept at it. I spent an exorbitant amount of money on groceries this past month (~$1100 for a family of 4...kids are 11 and 4), and it seems like I've been living in the kitchen with all of the prep/cooktime involved. I'm hoping that some of you will be willing to share a few magic tricks to cut costs and time.

-Cavewomancoby: Which Tough Mudder event did you participate in? I completed NorCal last month. Holy awesomeness! Can't wait to do it again next year!

Stacy

TheGlen

I'm in. We are still transitioning to the lifestyle (some days are better than others).

Tonight we found a burger place that grinds their own, all local, grass fed beef, in-house daily. One person did look at us sort of funny when we ordered without buns (but it tasted great).

Unfortunately, the only exercise I completed today was moving new furniture from the car to the house (I'm going to enter it anyway though).

Good luck everyone.

iluv2travel

Hi everyone, i'd like to join in on this support group. I am very new to Paleo/Primal and started testing the waters last week after my doctor advised me to cut down on carbs to help with my frequent headaches and migraines. Having MFP as my food diary helps since I realized i've been unknowingly consuming about 200g of carbs a day (yikes) since I was more focused on calories alone.

I went grocery shopping today, grabbed some cauliflowers, lettuce, broccoli, carrots, avocado, limes, nectarines, plums, apples, peaches and ground beef for next week's menu. I like the taste of grass fed beef and I don't know if Whole foods is the best place to get it but I may scout around in my area to see if there's a local butcher that offers grass fed beef.

Jenny

hpsnickers1

I'm in the best I can be. This sugar addiction has gotten the better of me. My weight has gone up fast and my gut is inflamed - although the NOW Super enzymes and probiotics have done wonders for moving things along - better than any amount of fiber.

Back on track with a trip to the grocery store for some meat and veggies!! And hopefully some beef bones for some beef broth!

Going to do my best to fast today. Need to give my gut a rest from all the crap.

Grokette

I am in.

StephieWillcox

Hi guys - I am literally JUST starting the Primal way of life - just finished the Primal Blueprint book and have returned from the supermarket with many organic fruits, veggies and meats.

At the moment I get really bad migraines and menstrual pains and would love for that to be GONE from my life. My hubby-to-be is on board (at least with breakfast and dinner, not sure how he'll deal with the salads at lunch - but he can cheat on his own) so I'm hoping we can make this change properly.

We've already cut out nearly everything processed, so now it's just cutting out the whole grains that we need to work on. I've just changed my % carbs/protein/fat to be in line with under 100g carbs, 92g protein (in line with 0.7 * my lean body mass), and the rest fat to get up to my daily cal target of 1200 - I'm guessing I may go over this, but hopefully not over the carbs!!!

I'm excited about my body feeling good and working with me to lose this weight!!!

Steph

jamk1446

Bumping to join the thread to offer support.

scagneti

I'm not sure how "Paleo" I'm being, but we decided to do a wheat free October after reading Wheat Belly. We already don't use sugar and now have cut out all of the wheat, cornstarch, grains, etc. I was trying it off and on the week before to get myself used to the idea, and yesterday was in a fair amount of pain from going way overboard on the 30th with pasta, cookie ice cream sundae, etc.

I'd love to try the challenge for this month. This morning we had fried eggs in butter, half an orange and 1oz of cheese each. We've got steak for dinner and will be having a romaine lettuce salad with olive oil/vinegarette dressing (didn't realize my salad dressings had wheat in them!) and likely either cauliflower or broccoli. Had homemade oven cooked sweet potato fries last night, so I'll lay off the starchy veggies/brown rice for another day or two. Might do some cheese, fruit & almonds for in between. Not really hungry enough for lunch. I love not having to force myself to eat because it's been 2-3 hours!

I do weigh myself regularly and am not willing to give that up. I'm not really trying to lose weight, but just get my belly as flat as possible. It's 30" right now because it's still taking a few days to get over the Friday PM wheat binge, but is usually 29" (hope it'll be that soon so I can fit in my dress pants for work!!)

msbanana

You know I'm in!

I have moved to a more maintenance style calorie intake and have found challenges eating enough to fill my calorie goals. I have found a paleo friendly egg white protien powder (lactose, whey and soy free) that is AMAZING mixed with almond milk and frozen fruit that has really helped add some calories without feeling like I was cramming my face full of unwanted food. I'm finally making gains again in my lifting. I'll hop on the scale today at the gym and see where I'm at and take some measurements. Right now my goal is more fat loss and strength and speed gains than weight loss so expect excited posts about big PRs this month!

Cheers to all my mudders and paleo/primal friends!!

Anna

msbanana

Oh and I have a great fall recipe to share. I just did this the other day and it was awesome.

Stuffed mini pumpkins

4 mini pumpkins
1 pound ground chicken sausage (spicy- I bought plain and spiced the bejeebus out of it)
Raw Maple syrup
1 yellow onion diced
10 mushrooms diced
1 sweet potato cubed

Pre-heat the oven to 350* F
Cut the tops off the pumpkins jack-o-lantern style and scoop out the guts. (set aside- you can toast the seeds later)
Place the pumpkins in a baking dish with a 1/4 inch of water in the bottom.
About 1/4 full of Maple Syrup cover the dish with foil and place in the oven.

On the stove top sauté the onions and mushrooms when the onions are clear add the chicken sausage when the chicken's almost done add the sweet potato. Sauté until the sweet potato is soft.

About this time the pumpkins should be done ( the pumpkin meat should be soft).
Remove the from the oven and turn the oven to broil.

Pour the syrup from 1.5 pumpkins into the sausage mix discard the rest or save it for your pumpkin seeds. Turn the heat
In the oven to broil.
Deglaze the syrup in the meat mix. When it has thickened stuff the pumpkins with mix and place them under the broiler to brown the tops.

Serve with a big green salad and enjoy! They're amazing!

livraynesmom

I'm game! I've been on primal since 20 Sep & am a believer!

ResilientWoman

So excited to have over a dozen of us! I'm gonna get fresh measurements on Tuesday and post them. That gives all of you 48 hours to post what weight, inches, strength, speed, distsance, etc. starting metrics you like. Anything you can measure and then remeasure at the end of October.

Thanks to Anna for reminding us that there are many kinds of health improvements we can measure, not just pounds shed. I would personally like to report inches shed from my waist at the end of the month, especially a healthier waist to hip ratio, as well as increased strength PRs with my Kettlebell lifting.

Today, having lots of herbal preparations that I don't usually require, otherwise, it was an on plan day! Bacon, eggs and grass fed beef with a Basalmic-style ACV plus mustard reduction from deglazing pan. Yummy!

msbanana

So besides being bloated from the BBQ pig out last night I have some good starting point numbers to share!

Height: 5'9.75" (figure that's not going to change)

Weight: 170.2 lbs (won't be talking about this again unless I hit 165lbs which is possible but not an actual goal)
Measurements:
Bust: 39 in
Waist: 30.5 in (woop woop down an inch since this time last month!)
Hips: 40.5 in (I swear these mf-ers just won't die.)
Right thigh: 21.5 in
Right calf: 15.5
Right bicep: 12.25
PRs:
Barbell bench press: 135lbs (3 sets of 8)
Dead lift: 185lbs (3 sets of 6)
Squat: 225lbs (3 sets of 8) today!!!

Speed:
1 mile: 7:45
5K: 27:56
12K: 67:34

Here's to a kick *kitten* October!

PS. Today was a weird food day as I met up with family from out of town for an early dinner and someone gave me gf chocolate cake. I ate it. Consider this my non paleo splurge day this month... Totally over it!

msbanana

Oops! Double post!

TheGlen

We've been moving towards the paleo/primal lifestyle for a little over a month now (still not perfect, but I try to make better decisions every day). I've seen some good results so far, and I can't wait to see how this month goes.

Here are my end of September stats:

Height: 5'10"
Weight: 229.5lbs
Neck: 17.25"
Waist: 44"
5K: 38:57

Donna808Mauka

I'm game!

justamyagain

I'm so excited

. Lol. I'll have my numbers up sometime tomorrow morning.

scagneti

Spent last night making a spaghetti squash lasagna today with lots of meat and cheese and some veggies I don't normally eat. Hope it was worth the trouble -- it was way too much work. Next time I'll just make it into a sauce and pour it on the "noodles". Still figuring all this out!

Measurements
Bicep - 10.5
Chest - 34.5
Waist - 27
Stomach - 29 (finally got rid of that bloat!)
Hips - 34.5
Thigh - 20
Weight - 126.6 (a lb heavier right now, but going to start off with my "real" number, not my inflated one).

Not expecting a huge difference in numbers, but hoping to feel the difference on November 1st!

justamyagain

Starting weight and measurements

10/3/11
SW 169.4
Bust 36.5”
Waist 33”
Hips 41.5”

iluv2travel

Morning everyone! I stepped on the scale this morning to get my starting weight for this month and will be taking measurements when i get home tonight.

So far since testing the Paleo/Primal waters last week, i've noticed that my tummy hasn't been growling a lot and I haven't been feeling ravenous (except for the first 2 days where I felt like chewing my arm off).

msbanana, that pumpkin recipe sounds good!

jstamyagain - hi there! i see you are from SoCal too

My menu for today:
Breakfast - hard boiled egg, avocado, bacon, coffee, half and half
Lunch - canned tuna, romaine lettuce
Dinner - chorizo, scrambled eggs, sweet potato

Jenny

momof8munchkins

I will go with my last weight in.. 214. I am not comfortable sharing measurements though but I do have them recorded and will take them again at the end of the month and report any losses.

Hope everyone is getting off to a good start.. I did last month's challenge and was not 100% by any means.. sugar in my coffee has been one of the hardest things to give up My goal is to be sugar free by Mid-October and also to cut down on the amount of nuts I am consuming. I am also doing the leptin reset.. strict paleo with 50 grams of protein within 30 mintues of waking, no cardio, strength training, under 25 grams of carbs per day if you have more than 30 lbs to loose low to no fruit and nuts.. have not been 100% with that either. so I am going to continue the challenge. I did loose 4 lbs last month breaking my long time plateau. Changes I can report from last month is my quality of sleep.. before the reset.. I slept very poorly.. I took magnesuim and calcium and drank tension tamer tea every night in the hopes it would help.. half the time I slept some what decent. the other half I was up and down all night long. now I fall alseep easily without the vitamins( I've been out for a few weeks) or the tea and sleep soundly all night!. I have more energy and stamina.

Day three of this challenge.. I have 2 very significant observations to share.. weekends are always a little off- food and routine wise- around my house.. my husband is home and the focus on Saturdays are on sleeping in, a large late breakfast and basically lazying around. Sundays are busy rushing to get everyone ready for church, rushing back home for lunch then back to church that night. Most Sundays I do not eat until late afternoon.. I am doing well to get a cup of coffee and a little water. Yesterday though my husband was up before dawn cooking breakfast.He brought me a plate while I was still sleepily drinking coffee.. awww so sweet.. it was scrambled eggs. fruit salad and tator tots, and yeah I ate it ( fed half the tots to the dog even though they were really yummy lol) . however it was a lot more sugar and much less protein than I am used to consuming early in the morning.. I spent the whole day being hungry,tired and finding myself mindlessly snacking on sweet stuff. today by comparision I put 1 tbs of coconut oil in my first cup of coffee.. was instantly so full that I did not want my normal second cup or any food..ate half the protein of the reset 2 hours later. I'm completely stuffed, satisfied and not thinking about snacking. I am also wide awake and feeling alert. huge difference! I function so much better on higher fat and protein intake.

jmeeej

Good luck to everyone trying out a new lifestyle!

I wish you all the best and hope you guys see some pretty dramatic results both physically and physiologically.

........remember.......you get out of it what you put in.

Next time you go for the oreos.....or for the mashed potatoes.....or that bag of fuzzy peaches, just keep that statement in mind. After a few times of turning them down you'll probably find yourself not even missing them or wanting them anymore.

Grokette

I will post my stats tomorrow morning. I have been so stressed over this biopsy that I am just lucky I haven't eaten myself out of house and home...............

Leaving work in a few minutes to head to the Dr. Have 2 appointments this afternoon. First at 1:00 to review my blood work for Diabetes control again and thyroid control.

2nd appt is at 3:30 to get biopsy done. Grrrr.

racmac

Hello

I have just found out abour primal eating and Im not ready to jump in 100% yet but thought maybe I could hang around here!

EdelweissViola

I would like to join this group! I am fairly new on MFP. I have have been eating this way for the past 6 months, have lost a LOT of weight, and have since come to learn that I am incredibly sensitive to gluten. Because of that, this lifestyle suits me well and my stomach issues have just about disappeared. I am not always great about buying completely organic but I try! Anyway, hello to all!

firedragon064

I just change to low carb 2 weeks ago and still adjusting and learning.
This weekend I was so bad-high carb, high fat, high cal.
I still ate at 1AM yesterday. I'm fasting until dinner today.