a peek inside the fishbowl

On April 2 I posted an update with the gleeful news that we’d finished the Whole 30 dietary reset and that I was feeling pretty good AND hit my goal weight. Well, I couldn’t let that be the last thing you heard about our Whole 30 because what happened afterwards deserves a mention.

It was Easter weekend when we finished. We went to a wedding and ate some Easter chocolate. We decided we’d enjoy the weekend and then go back to our “regular” family meals and reign in the extras, such as chips, beer, sugar. Well, imagine my surprise when my weight bounced right back (let me rephrase, right back UP) within a couple of days.

I did not eat several pounds worth of Easter chocolate, I swear.

In my wrap up post about Whole 30 I shared a screenshot from MyFitnessPal about the weight I had lost so it’s only fair that I update it here now:

You can see the upswing there, right? What also returned is that bloaty puffiness that had disappeared during the Whole 30 regimen. Also worth noting: Mark’s weight went back to what it was before he did the Whole 30.

So, something is amiss, that’s for sure. I’m certain there are issues with sugar and sensitivities to gluten that have not been officially diagnosed. Maybe you’re also wondering what is it about the foods that we eat that creates all that extra padding?

I recommend you watch this short video. It pertains to IBS but it explains the idea of gut inflammation really well and illustrates what’s actually happening when the body can’t absorb certain types of carbs.

It’s left me wondering: what if *everyone* has those issues with carbs, but some people don’t actually feel the pain of the inflammation that’s occurring? What if what we’re carrying around isn’t actually extra weight, but water and inflammation due to us eating too much of something that doesn’t agree with us AND WE CAN ACTUALLY DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT that doesn’t involve becoming a gym rat?

If I can feel better, and get rid of my muffin top by cutting back on some foods, I’m all for it. So, what we’re doing now is a modified Whole 30 for a week to see what happens. We’re still eating meat, veg and fruit, dairy, and a few whole grains (like oats) and legumes. We are temporarily cutting out, once again, alcohol, gluten, and sweet treats to see how we feel.

The question is, is it enough to scale back, or will we need to cut things out entirely? This will require some experimentation.

This was my lunch today:

… a kale Caesar salad with Whole30 style dressing, fried Prager ham, grape tomatoes, a sprinkle of Parmesan, and a fried egg on top. Thankfully, I like veggies enough that this kind of meal is a treat for me, not a hardship!

Dinner tonight is eggs, sausage, veg and fruit.

Once upon a time I read about someone who only ate superfoods, and designed crazy “menus” of meals around them. So for example she’d eat a handful of blueberries, a slice of fish, bunch of walnuts, and a serving of swiss chard for breakfast. She ate foods that didn’t even go well together just for the sake of eating the “best” foods possible. She saw food as fuel and as medicine so she could live a long and healthy life. A part of me understands what that lady was getting at, but I want to live a life in which food is joy; something to be shared with loved ones. Food is not just fuel, it’s life too, isn’t it? So although I don’t want to get too mired in all of this, I do need to figure out what foods make us feel good, and which ones don’t.

Yesterday, the three of us motored over to Kingston to visit the eldest at Queen’s and have an early birthday dinner for our youngest daughter. You see, it’s family tradition that the four of us have dinner together, so we couldn’t let a bit of distance get in the way, right?

I snuck out to Strawberry Blonde Bakery before we left Ottawa and bought some of their amazing (AMAZING) Nanaimo bars. They’re vegan and gluten-free, which is now something we have to pay attention to in our family. (Long story, but a couple of family members have issues with gluten.) I also tucked a candle in my pocket as well as our BBQ lighter for an impromptu pre-birthday treat for the youngest upon arrival.

Once we hit Kingston we stopped to get coffee. It seems wrong to have Nanaimo bars without coffee! The youngest got a chai latte.

Of course, it’s always a sweet reunion, with or without Nanaimo bars. The eldest lives in Leggett Hall, which has a really nice common area on the ground floor with huge windows and comfy leather couches. While the girls were out of sight I whipped out the candle and stuck it into one of the bars and lit it.

Have I mentioned how delicious those Nanaimo bars are from Strawberry Blonde? I didn’t even have time to take a photo, that’s how quickly they were eaten.

We hunkered down with our treats, chatted for a bit and then dropped off some stuff in her residence room. We also had to drop off an emergency parcel for a friend, which we did, and then parked and wandered around downtown Kingston. I bought a dollar’s worth of moss (YES. MOSS.) and a little bunny figurine at a cute little shop I always look forward to visiting called Minotaur. It’s a very fun little gift/toy/card/puzzle/kid/adult/plant store. They have all sorts of doodads, and it’s hard to leave without buying anything.

They have cute cacti, for example:

FYI, I used my new moss (it’s dead, dead moss, ok?) to cover the base of one of my orchids, whose roots are getting a little unsightly. I hope this doesn’t kill it somehow.

Anyway, wandered a bit more and later enjoyed a really nice family dinner at Kingston Brewing Company – I would recommend that place to anyone – and all too soon it was time to drop her back off at school and head back home.

It’s hard to believe that the eldest is actually DONE her classes and is studying for final exams. (Some of you fishies may remember when she left and how I felt at the time.) Her first year is almost done! The good news is that she’ll be home for the summer and the four of us will be together again. I couldn’t be happier.

What can we do to address the extraordinary advantages and disadvantages that fortune plays in all our lives? Please watch my recent @TEDxKanata talk, ‘Running, luck and the ovarian lottery’ to find out: https://t.co/MjwCZ0IMK8

— Mark Sutcliffe (@_MarkSutcliffe) April 4, 2018

• When You Can and Cannot Say ‘No’ When Someone Asks to Switch Seats With You on an Airplane, melmagazine.com
• Mexico and Hungary tried junk food taxes — and they seem to be working, vox.com
• Jon Hamm Would Like to Buy a Time Machine, wealthsimple.com
• Will We Stop Trump Before It’s Too Late?, nytimes.com
• What Everlane gets right about marketing to women, washingtonpost.com
• Being A Teen Girl On Social Media Is Like Having A High-Pressure, Full-Time (Unpaid!) Job, chatelaine.com
• What about the Breakfast Club?, newyorker.com/

On the nightstand: The Throwaway Children