Whole30 Day 3

I’m still in what I call “the sleeping phase” of the Whole30. Starting on Day 2 and lasting through about Day 7 or 8, I tend to sleep A LOT. This means that I’m not only getting up later, I’m also taking naps in the afternoon a lot and feeling sleepy when I’m trying to get things done. It’s a frustrating time, especially on the days I’m at work, but fighting through it means I get to the good part eventually!

If this is your first Whole30 you may be tempted to give up. Hell, this is my 2nd (well, 2.5 if you count the one I messed up a few months ago ;)) and I’M tempted to give up! But if you stick it out, you should see some results after about day 8 or so. Things start changing and it really does get better. In the pit of the hangover, that’s hard to believe but when you reach the Tiger Blood portion, you understand the low is worth it because the high is SO HIGH!

Anyway (I also ramble a lot during this period :P), today I slept in until noon, then got up and had a lazy breakfast before taking my husband to work and going to Whole Foods to pick up a few things. This was poorly planned on my part. I’m used to dropping my husband off at work on Sundays and then going shopping during the Saints’ game while most New Orleanians are at home glued to their TV sets. I failed to take into consideration that the season is over and, unfortunately, the Saints didn’t make the playoffs so there was no football distraction to keep people away from where I wanted to shop.

BIG. MISTAKE.

Whole Foods was insanely packed. People were fighting for parking spaces and yelling at each other and it took all I had not to just drive home. I finally found a parking space only to have a lady in a Mercedes almost hit me as she started backing out (she was in the space next to the one I was parking in) and so she had to swear at me for a few minutes. As she drove off, I took note of her “Keep Christ in Christmas” bumper sticker and smirked. Hmm, where is all that Christian sentiment now? ANYWAY – BACK ON TOPIC!

Of course, this parking spot was NOWHERE NEAR the entrance to the store – problematic for a person with a bootie on one foot and a pronounced limp (though I got my stitches out on Friday I still have to be very careful because movement can be painful). Not fun. Especially when someone runs over your foot with a cart in the hurry to get in front of your “slow ass.”

Yes, it’s a lovely day in New Orleans. Did I mention it was raining?

Anyway, after some slight swearing, I managed to get inside the store which was mass chaos. I spent about 10 minutes trying to find the Brazil nuts (great source of selenium!) which was confusing because they have so many different kinds of nuts, granola, etc. I ended up with more than I wanted but that’s okay. I also grabbed some macadamia nuts and then I went off in search of the Thai Kitchen full-fat coconut milk (MY FAVORITE!) It was not on the aisle by the other coconut milk. Instead, they put it on the “ethnic” aisle. I’m guessing this is because it says “Thai” on the label? Whatever, I found it. Then I had to go all the way back to the other side of the store because I forgot that’s where they keep the uncured ham.

Surprisingly, after all that there was only one person in front of me in the check out line. Thank god – I was so ready to get out of there! I checked out and then headed home (after a quick stop for gas).

Once at home, I started prepping for my lunch – a crustless quiche. I was originally going to make a frittata, however I realized this morning that all our skillets have rubber on the handles so none of them are oven safe. It was easy to transition the frittata idea to a crustless quiche – it’s very similar. As the oven preheated, I chopped half an onion and some fresh spinach and then diced some of the ham I bought at Whole Foods. I whisked together 5 eggs, 1/2 cup coconut milk, and 1/2 tsp of baking powder in a bowl, then stirred in the goodies. The oven wasn’t quite heated yet so I took some coconut oil and greased my cake pan. I was just washing my hands when it started beeping to let me know it was done. I poured the mixture in the bowl and then popped it in the oven and set the timer for 30 minutes.

While I waited for the timer to go off, I collected towels and put them in the washer and then played around on the internet for a bit. When the timer first went off, the quiche still looked a little light so I left it for another 8-10 minutes until it started getting brown on the edges. I could hardly wait to eat it! As soon as it was out of the oven, I cut it into 8 slices and immediately scooped 2 onto a plate. It was a little loose but I didn’t really care because it tasted FABULOUS! I originally planned on eating some for breakfast but at this rate, I may have it for dinner and then there might not be any left after that! Nom nom!

Okay, now it’s 9pm and I can officially say I had quiche for dinner and it was delicious! It was not my intention to eat the whole thing in one day but… oops… At least it was Whole30 compliant and yummy. 🙂

Getting Back on Track

This will be brief, largely because I just took some medicine and I hope to be back to sleep ASAP.

I mentioned in my last post that I was planning on doing some nutritional off-roading… Well, I went a little beyond that and went completely off the rails. I figured a day or two before getting back on track wouldn’t be that big of a deal.

I was wrong.

Here I am on the computer instead of asleep in bed with my husband. I went to bed at 2 last night (not unusual on weekends – my husband works late and I am his ride most nights) but I didn’t go to sleep until almost 4. Then I woke up at 6:45 feeling like I’d been hit by a train.

I had. The Paleo Train jumped the track and ran my ass over for not staying on board. And, I’ll admit, I deserved it especially after last night.

Because I went to McDonalds.

Yep, I went to the grocery store last night which was packed and had NOTHING I needed and then somehow I decided to go to McDonalds after. The silver lining in this story is that I drank about 3 sips of Coke and almost puked so I poured it out and I ate about 5 fries and couldn’t eat any more because they tasted so greasy and disgusting. However, I did manage to wolf down a double Quarter Pounder with cheese along with 2 bites of a s’mores pie and a whole apple pie.

Forgive me Paleo gods, for I have sinned. I have ingested gluten and sugar and… ingredients I cannot pronounce… And for that I endure the wrath thou has put upon me.

I couldn’t get to sleep last night, I couldn’t stay asleep, and now I can’t get BACK to sleep even though I’m totally exhausted. My stomach hurts, I feel vaguely sick, I have a minor headache, and my TMJ is acting up like whoa.

In a way, I’m glad this happened – it validates all that I’ve done and learned during the Whole30. I’m also pissed at myself because I hate feeling this way but whatever – live and learn.

The plan for the rest of the day is to go back to sleep for a few hours, then to eat a healthy Paleo breakfast of eggs, bacon, and avocado (along with my usual coffee and coconut milk!) and then to go back to the store to get the few things I need to make dinner for the next few days. My husband is supposed to be off today and tomorrow so maybe I can con him into going with me, haha. We shall see…

Next time on “Here We Go, Paleo!”- Weekly Plan for 9/3/12 – 9/9/12

Going Paleo in Nawlins

I live in New Orleans and have for the past 7 years. I moved in Memorial Day weekend in 2005 and Hurricane Katrina hit on August 29th. My husband and I evacuated to Dallas (where my family lives) the day before which means that I was in New Orleans for only 90 days before we had to leave. Hey, at least that’s longer than Kim Kardashian’s marriage! Anyway, after staying in Dallas for a few months, we found an apartment and came back in January of 2006.

New Orleans is a very special place with its own unique culture and feel. Most people either love it or hate it and sometimes you end up in a weird love/hate relationship with NOLA. You really love some things about her but really hate others.

For example, NOLA is about 20 years behind modern civilization in most respects. Okay, I’m exaggerating a bit but still… Everything here seems to take longer than it should (something we call NOT – New Orleans Time), many things are ass-backward, and they haven’t caught up with a lot of the current trends. When I lived in Texas, I had a gym membership with 24-Hour Fitness and there were several other gyms within the area that I could have chosen from (Gold’s, Bally, etc.) New Orleans has exactly zero of these fitness chains, just a few individual gyms. That alone should tell you plenty about NOLA priorities… Within the last few years, we have gotten Anytime Fitness and Snap Fitness franchises around town but it’s still lacking in comparison to other places.

Food-wise, there is plenty of yummy stuff for your tummy in NOLA providing that you can tolerate it. If you have a food allergy or sensitivity don’t expect restaurants in NOLA to cater to your needs – they don’t like to do it and generally treat you like a pain in the ass when you ask. Don’t get me wrong, some places are better than others but it’s still rough. When my sister comes to town, we have to think about where we go to eat because we have to either choose a restaurant with a gluten free menu or a place with menu options that can be easily tweaked.

As far as cooking/shopping, we do have Whole Foods down here which is good though I try to avoid shopping there when I can because it’s really expensive. There are also some specialty health stores but again, they are expensive. So what is a girl to do?

For working out, I’m just going to exercise at home. There is enough stuff that I can do at home to keep me busy and I don’t want to spend extra money on a gym right now anyway. I’m looking into a local crossfit box for the future but I’m not planning on doing any of that right now.

Food-wise, I plan to get most of produce from local farmer’s markets. I used this website to get information on what markets are available locally. One of them, the Hollygrove Market, has a special deal. For $25 you can purchase a box that contains a share of produce from farmers in Louisiana and Mississippi. The items in the box change depending on what is seasonal and available but they always include enough produce to meet the needs of 2 adults for a week. And if you are unable to get to the market (or pickup site) to get your box, you can have it delivered to your house for a small fee. Boxes are available on Tuesdays and Saturdays and they post what will be in the box on their website the day or two before. $25 isn’t bad, though I wonder how well the supply can meet the needs of two adults that are not supplementing their diet with grains. Of course, you can always go to the market and buy additional items (or skip the box entirely). They also sell local dairy products, eggs, and honey. I plan to go sometime next week to check them out.

Crescent City Farmers Market is another available option. They don’t have the same “box” type deal that Hollygrove Market has but they are open three days a week and appear to have multiple, diverse vendors. They also have several options for payment including “market tokens” which serve as their very own currency.

Sankofa Community Development Corporation appears to have several vendors with various options. I like that they offer coupons and specials as well.

The only CSA I found was through Super Natural Organic Farms of America or SNOFA. Their location isn’t terribly close to us though it looks like they may have a pickup site in NOLA. The CSA is seasonal and somewhat pricey (cost is up front) but it seems like it is something worth looking into, especially if their weekly baskets have 11-12 pounds of food. They are also seasonal and currently closed (they start up again in September).

As for meat, I’m going to price things at Whole Foods and see what that will cost me. As I said before, I work for a non-profit so I don’t have money coming out of my ears. If I can afford grass-fed beef, etc. then I will buy it. Otherwise, I’ll make do with what I can from Winn-Dixie or Robert’s. Fish I will DEFINITELY be buying at Whole Foods because it’s the only place I trust for fish.

I am also considering online retailers for specialty things because I know some of them have better deals than the local stores. However, I’m not ready to jump into all of that yet.

Eating out… well that’s going to be a problem of its own. I am hoping that we will be able to find places to eat for special occasions that won’t be too put out with me making special requests 😉 That I’m sure will be a topic of a lot of posts to come!

That’s all for now – I have a busy afternoon filled with clients and thinking about food is making me hungry!

Next time on “Here We Go, Paleo!” – The Whole 30