Part of the Whole30 transition is the body's response to fuel, and as a result, changes in energy levels, sleep patterns and other bodily functions. Today, I am noticing that my obsession with nut butter is subsiding. I still love it and want it, but last night when I saw it in the cupboard as I was getting supper ready, I didn't have that undeniable pull to snack on it. Maybe it's awareness, maybe it's just my body adjusting to new food patterns.
I had a pretty big day yesterday - I biked to the gym and worked out in the morning, worked, biked to the gym again to do a mini-session in the afternoon (I got some pointers on bench pressing, ab work and kip [pull] ups from my power lifting friends) and then biked home. My meals were focused on getting sufficient protein and fats with my fruit and veg, and I wasn't as desperate to snack in the evening, although I am still in love with the cracker recipe from Shasonta's blog and used them late in the evening as a vehicle for some yummy coconut butter. But again, no big surges of cravings.
As is typical in my life, just as something comes to the forefront of my awareness internally, something externally reinforces that new knowledge. I am reading two books right now: 'It Starts With Food' By Dallas and Melissa Hartwig - the creators of the Whole30 plan, and 'The Emotional Eater's Repair Manual' by Julie M. Simon. The amalgam of what I got from reading both books yesterday was right in line with what I was experiencing. I learned the difference between satiety and satiation and how our cravings satisfy our emotional/psychological desire for comfort and emotional nourishment, but that the less-than-nourishing foods we crave (like cookies, for example) will not trigger satiety nutritionally in your body, so we keep eating - it's a vicious cycle. So by addressing our emotional issues, we help temper the cravings for foods that do not satisfy our nutritional needs. Or something like that. But I am embracing a new understanding of how my emotional cravings drive my physical desire for randomly non-nutritional foods, or foods that I know to be triggers for over-eating or just generally do not make me feel good physically after eating them. So, I'm looking within to find other ways to nourish my emotional needs as well as the cravings I have for fresh, interesting flavours.
Which leads me to today's recipe.
I read a few days ago on a blog about 'Paleo barbecue sauce' and apparently that casual glance stuck in my head. I'm not usually a fan of barbecue sauce, but I've never figured out what was missing from commercial sauces (or what was added that I didn't like). When I got up in the morning and made some chicken/turkey meatballs, I figured it was worth my time and effort to attempt to create my own barbecue sauce recipe. I quickly looked up a couple recipes on the internet, but neither of the two I chose used ALL the ingredients that I wanted to use, so I used both of them as templates to create my own recipe from what I had. The result is not bad, but not perfected by any means. Next time I will rework it with tomato paste and beef broth instead of just tomato sauce, and perhaps add more vinegar and/or mustard. Give it a try and see what you think:
14.5 oz can tomato sauce
1 T. Balsamic vinegar
1/4 c. Fresh Apple juice
1 T. Honey
1 t. Trader Joe's African Smoked Seasoning
1 t. Ground Chipotle chili
1 t. Powdered garlic
1 t. Salt
1/8 t. Cayenne
1 T. Stone ground mustard
Put it all in a saucepan and simmer for 30 min (or more). Pour over cooked meats, or baste it on meats destined for the barbecue. Or both!
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