Whole 30 and the new grand experiment

So as we have established, keto was a bit of a bust. I did learn that bread/wheat/gluten might be a problem for me. The real problem is I don't know if I can cut it out of my diet completely.

The other day at BJs I ran across The Whole 30 - which is less of a 'diet' than it is an experiment with food and learning what causes you not to feel well. I was skeptical but I read the book and the things I like about it are these:

* Weight loss is not hyped - the book discourages before and after weighing and stepping on the scale at all

* It varies from keto in that the goal is to add foods back in after 30 days and see how they affect you.

* It is only for 30 days, and it's discouraged to make this a 365-eating plan

* There are no Whole30 prepackaged meals or bars that you 'should' buy. They're not selling chemicals packed as healthy foods like Atkins or Weight Watchers

* You're not encouraged to make cheater foods like faux brownies or eggless muffins, etc. The idea is not to 'trick' yourself into thinking you're eating something 'bad' when you're not

* Recipes and ingredients are simple

So I've decided to dedicate the 30 days of June 2015 to this new 'grand experiment' and see what happens. We're going down the shore in August, so by then I will have been able to add foods back in and see what that does for me.

The downsides: No chocolate.

This could be a deal breaker - but I'm willing to try it for 30 days. Chocolate will be the FIRST thing I add back in.

The rules are simple and yet impossibly difficult.

*No alcohol. [A cinch for someone who doesn't drink.]
*No dairy. [keto at least allowed cheese and heavy cream, but not Whole30]
*No sugar. [Yeah. Here's the kicker. If I can go no sugar I can pretty much fly.]
*No grains. [the bread thing]
*No soy, or legumes. [difficult but not impossible]

You can eat green beans and sugar snap peas though. Nuts and seeds are fine, but no almond milk that contains carrageenan which basically means no almond milk. No artificial sweeteners, but caffeine is ok. This means no coffee - another tough one for someone who went 46 years without coffee and now can't go for a weekend without it.

We'll see how it goes. I'm going to jump into it whole hog because for those few weeks on keto I actually felt great, and I'd like to feel great again. I'm also considering actually telling people about it. I know - I don't like involving other people in my dietary endeavors because A) it's none of their business, B) I'm not a walking advertisement for someone's diet plan C) I don't want to be accountable to anyone else for what I do or what I eat, but I think the key to this success will be not keeping it a secret. It won't be easy to eat like this, so I'm going to need help.

Wish me luck.

A shot of my jungle terrarium. 

Only if it's purple...

As promised, the desk accessories:

 

The washi tape accent really makes it.

 

 

I also redid some of my gardens:

 

Here are two red maple saplings I rescued from the front yard. I'm hoping to turn them into bonsai - my new obsession. The sweet little pot is from today's garage sale excursion.

I bought a sedum mat at Lowe's today and used pieces of it everywhere. A nice sized piece of it makes a fantastic ready made fairy garden in a glass ivy bowl.

The ivy terrarium was doing really well on my desk, but I just wasn't happy with it, so I replanted the ivy into an open jar and turned it into a proper fairy garden using some pink fencing I found at an estate sale and that cute little terra cotta pitcher I've had floating around in my junk box for years.

 

AND...

 

I've also discovered the Japanese art of Suiseki - or the contemplation of rocks. Of course real suiseki is one amazing rock, usually that looks like a landscape set in a custom made wooden tray. This is a set of rocks in a heart shaped wooden bowl, but you get the idea. I plan to contemplate them.

 

Over dinner we did a lot of talking about a major paint job for the basement...so it looks like in the next couple of weeks I'll be working on the faux rock wall along the basement steps.

 

I have to say that my guilty confession is I have let go of writing. I do still have to complete a novella, but I'm in no hurry. For the first time in about 10 years, I don't feel the need to write, or the guilt of not writing. I'm just living my life - and as much as writing has been who am for the last 38 years, I feel a tremendous sense of freedom in NOT having to do it. I'm sure I will go back to it. There are still things I want to write, but for now, I feel incredibly liberated and I'm enjoying so many more things now that I don't feel like every moment not spent writing is a moment wasted. Is that wrong?



Project salad

A little bit of everything...

My organization obsession is still in full swing.

 

 The Filofax and planner have their own drawer along with a cute little pouch to hold supplies.

 The garden is going along. Potatoes are taking over their pot, and the salad bowl garden is doing great. The cool weather has been nice for the lettuce and spinach. Carrots, radishes, beans, cucumbers and peppers are holding their own. Hopefully warmer weather will speed up the growth process because a lot of the plants seem like their in stasis, just waiting for more sunlight to kick start them.

Lastly, I've planted another DIY bonsai...

 

A little maple I found growing near the deck and some fern that was clinging to the barren eastern side of the house along with a lone moss patch. I'm still scouting for more bonsai pots - that's my garage sale mission for the summer.

 

Yesterday's project involved working on redoing my desk accessories. Pictures to come of the repurposed pen holder and the footstool shelf.