Last night, after I posted my first “journal entry” on the forum, I got an almost instantaneous response. At first I was, “SUPPORT!! Somebody either resonated with what I said or they just want to give me a high 5 for taking the huge step of committing.”
But that was very short lived.
I am using this part of the forum as a “Journal” of sorts. The first post in this forum even stated that it is to used this way and that “We will only comment when asked, or if we feel that significantly unhealthy or dangerous behaviors are taking place.”
I did not expect to have my first comment feel like a slap on the wrist. (And that is probably not what the moderator was going for)
It has turned me off a little. No scratch that, A LOT!
As someone struggling with body image issues, food issues, and low self-esteem, telling me that I am doing something “BANNED” from the whole30 rules, was hurtful.
Now, I am not saying all this because I am mad, I am saying because this is how I feel (I am not mad, ok, shocked and discouraged, yes). There is a reason why I waited until this evening to respond. I talked to my husband, and some friends that have done whole30 before, and I took a step back and tried to look at it through a moderator’s eye, and I searched to see if counting calories really was banned. Not to prove him wrong, but to learn.
This is what I learned, whole30 is about PORTION CONTROL, and changing the way you look and act about food. Licking out the sunbutter jar because you can have those extra 100 calories, is not whole30.
I get that.
I am working with a doctor, specifically for losing weight and healing my gut issue. She gave me specific guidelines to follow ALONG with the whole30 rules. I am going to be following that prescribed plan.
If that means I am not doing a “true whole30” to you, then that’s ok. I bet your whole30 doesn’t look like mine either.
Now, no more talk about calories and he said she said. (I will also try to refrain from talking about calories and macros throughout the rest of this whole30 journey.)
Grocery shopping today! Last week I made a menu; breakfast, lunch, dinner and optional snack when needed. I wrote out every single item that I would need for all those meals. I check off ingredients I already had, we went to Costco to stock up on a few things. And today, I went to get everything else.
Out of my list there were 2 things that I couldn’t find a whole30 compliant option: Fish Sauce and Pancetta. Only brand of fish sauce I could find was carried at my local food co-op, and had sugar. Looking through the forums, I hear that an Asian market might be a better option. We have one, I just haven’t had the chance to go to it, ever.
As for pancetta, usually the co-op has a couple of brands, but they were out. And I wasn’t too surprised that the second ingredient in the only brand I could find at the grocery store was sugar.
So, my options are, just not use the fish sauce, or go check out the asian market. And for the pancetta, just substitute bacon (I have compliant bacon!).