Saturday, September 21, 2013

Whole30 day 20

Two thirds of the whole 30 done � and yesterday I nearly broke the rules by mistake! I was making breakfast, and still only half awake. For a change I decided to make some plain egg omelettes and use them to make roll ups with slices of Brunswick ham. I made the first one (very ugly, with bulges of messed up omelette) and was cooking the egg for the second one when I thought it might be nicer if I spread Laughing Cow cheese on the ham first. I�d already done so when I realised what I was doing� luckily I hadn�t added the egg, let alone started eating it, so the next thing I knew I was holding the ham under the cold tap and washing off the cheese. Yes, I washed my ham, and then ate it. As cheese doesn�t stick to ham the way it does to bread it was easy enough to get it off, but I did feel a bit ridiculous washing ham� Just 10 more days before I can relax about that, and of all the things you�re not allowed on this diet, I�m pretty sure the one I�ll be reintroducing first � possibly the only one I�ll bother reintroducing � will be dairy, as I�ve never been aware of any problems with cheese or yoghurt anyway.

After washing my breakfast I shopped for the week and then went into London. My original intention was to get the tube to Hampstead, where there are two National Trust properties within a mile of each other, spend the rest of the morning and part of the afternoon visiting both, then go to the Whole Foods Market on Kensington High Street and a Scandinavian Deli near Oxford Circus. I changed my mind about the deli anyway � I plan to go back in to London next month when I�ll be free to try more varied foods, as I figure it could be quite frustrating right now. Then I had to change more of the plan when I realised that a large segment of the Northern Line had been suspended for the weekend so that Transport For London could perform scheduled engineering works. (Next time I go in I�ll check that before arriving at the tube station so I don�t have to readjust my plans while waiting for a train. The secret is in the word scheduled�) Instead I moved over to the Piccadilly Line and took a train out to Osterley so I could visit Osterley Park and House, which is an NT property my mother recommended I try to visit some time. It was very well worth a visit! As the weather wasn�t great � in fact we had drizzle there � I didn�t spend any time walking around the park (I didn�t want to take the whole days and be unable to spend any time in the city itself anyway) but I did tour the house, which is an incredibly well preserved example of the architecture and design of Robert Adam, the most famous Georgian architect & designer. It was a really peaceful place, even though its under the flight path to Heathrow, and I thoroughly enjoyed my visit, to the extent that once again I plan to go back on a brighter day, earlier in the year, to explore the park. It�s about a mile from Osterley Underground station, so that gave me a two mile round trip walk. That was when I discovered that I had a couple of blisters � one on each heel � from walking six miles on Friday Sad smile

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After visiting the house I caught the tube back into London � to South Kensington and walked (limped/hobbled actually) to Kensington High Street. I love walking around Kensington, its one of my favourite parts of London, so that was really pleasant, and it was only about 2 miles so not too much of a trek for my abused feet. I did my shopping there � I�ve been hunting throughout Berkshire, Wiltshire and Avon for some jicama as it�s a recommended low carb substitute for potatoes, and hoped Whole Foods would finally end my search (it did � but I�d bloody better like the stuff now Winking smile) and also bought some horseradish root, celeriac, and a few other odds and ends. Much less than on past trips as I was ignoring all the processed food that I used to focus on. I confess I did make a very small amount of fresh hazelnut butter � and eat it on the train home Winking smile 

Foodwise it was a weird day. Rather than risk breaking the rules with some hidden butter or sugar in a restaurant I decided to buy food as I was walking around � food with an ingredient list, that is. I actually didn�t eat anything that could be recognised as a meal for lunch � I bought a pack of ham, some melon wedges, and had some cashew nuts and beetroot crisps (just dried slices of beetroot) and basically nibbled snacks through most of the day. It was surprisingly satisfying and I didn�t want much for dinner when I got home, so I settled for a bowl of homemade soup. Far less than on any previous trip to London that I can remember, and also the only trip I remember that didn�t involve having a coffee at Starbuck or any other coffee shop. As always Osterley Park�s caf� had absolutely nothing I could have eaten as a GF low carber even without Whole 30, and I must admit that as much as I love visiting the NT�s properties I do find it disappointing how little they cater for food allergies, intolerances and alternative diets. I suppose though they are always small venues and they are mostly supplied with fruit and vegetables grown either on NT farms or supplied by carefully vetted partners, so they do what they can with what they have (though the odd salad of leaves plus meat wouldn�t be that hard to provide if you ask me)

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