Challenge accepted! July 5th started

[gizmosan]

Started the challenge yesterday, i hope this will help me break my plateau of 224 I've been stuck on for so long even with eating somewhat clean and exercise every day.  

Makes it even worse that this is a daily occurrence in my office, they always smell amazing!

 

Trying light coconut milk for my daily replacement, its tough to drink, but i think i will need to invest in flavored coffee.  I definitely need to plan my meals, its something i'm not very good at, looking over other peoples meal plans, I will probably use that as a guideline
 

[Heidi14]

I also started yesterday!!  I have danishes and juice daily at my job, so I know how you feel.  Best of luck to you!! 

[gizmosan]

We can do this together!!

I weighted myself this morning at my local lifetime fitness.  I weighed myself on my own scale, but i wanted more accurate readings.  see you in 30 days!

 

weight: 224.4

[gizmosan]

1 week down, today is Day 1 of 2nd week

Its definitely been a real challenge to read the labels and buy food that I can read the labels of all the ingredients.  Finding the right almond milk in Austin, was tough, since i didn't want to spend lots of $$ at whole foods, luckily HEB had one with no sugar added and ingredients that were allowed.

---Breakfast:  have been consisting of eggs, avocados, ground turkey.  Occasionally after a workout I have been making my own smoothies in the blender with a combination of veggies and fruit.  I also put in plant based protein, which also has no sugar added, sometimes substitute water for coconut water.

 

---Lunches: usually a salad, sometimes a burger, but haven't had any bread, been keeping all the ingredients even when ordering out, simple.  Since we live in Austin, TX most places are very able to accommodate to your dietary needs.

---Dinners: about the same as lunches, just doing a variety of foods, experimenting with flavors.

---Snacks:  been eating cashews, freeze dried fruit, and in emergencies a larabar from the approved list.

I've been noticing that i'm sleeping a lot better, I can barely make it to 10:30pm but i sleep all the way through til 7am.  where as previously i was getting up and drinking some milk to help me sleep.  Energy levels are about the same, I workout everyday, since I've been trying to maintain or lower my weight for a few years.

One thing I noticed on this challenge is the need for planning your meals.  I can usually plan 2 days, but a week i'm not very good at.  also you really need to dedicate Sunday as the cooking day for the week, there's no way to do it on Sunday evening, when you are winding down.  trying to do it during the week is rough, especially with my job and i'm working late hours.

 

[ladyshanny]

---Breakfast:  have been consisting of eggs, avocados, ground turkey.  Occasionally after a workout I have been making my own smoothies in the blender with a combination of veggies and fruit.  I also put in plant based protein, which also has no sugar added, sometimes substitute water for coconut water. - plant based protein is not going to be compliant, sorry.  Usually it's pea protein and since peas are legumes, they are out on Whole30.  Read the "Do I have to start over" article linked below....but know that legumes can be a gut disruptor.  Our recommendation for post workout food is lean protein and starchy veggie.  Unless you worked out excessively or are in severe heat, watch the consumption of coconut water. It's really just a light fruit juice that has been well marketed.  Finally, smoothies for any reason are strongly recommended against.  Liquid food bypasses all satiety signals in the body, are usually fruit heavy and that fruit replenishes liver glycogen instead of muscle glycogen.

 

---Lunches: usually a salad, sometimes a burger, but haven't had any bread, been keeping all the ingredients even when ordering out, simple.  Since we live in Austin, TX most places are very able to accommodate to your dietary needs.

---Dinners: about the same as lunches, just doing a variety of foods, experimenting with flavors.

---Snacks:  been eating cashews, freeze dried fruit, and in emergencies a larabar from the approved list. Another strong recommendation is to avoid snacking all together by making your meals large enough to get you 4-5 hours. If you do need to eat between your meals the recommendation is to have a mini-meal of protein, veggies and fat. If you can't manage all three, go for protein & fat or protein & veggies.  Fruit alone or fruit and nuts is a poor choice and can leave your blood sugar out of balance, trigger false hunger/cravings and if you're eating a lot of nuts, can cause gut disruption.

 

Hi gizmosan,

 

I've made a couple notes above to clarify some of the rules and pointed out some of the places you may wish to make tweaks in order to get the best results from your Whole30 efforts.

[gizmosan]

thanks Ladyshanny, I will make those adjustments.  Glad I posted what i'm doing to make sure i was doing things correctly

I wasn't sure about the plant protein, i had looked on a few different sites.  I need to prep protein for after workouts instead of relying on smoothies.

 

going back to day 1 for me!

[gizmosan]

Ending my week 1 reboot, since i had the pea protein the earlier week for the protein supplement.  wondered if Hemp protein is considered whole30 compliant.  didn't see listed anywhere.

Been going pretty well, visiting the grocery store more often when I run out of food.   Adding more vegetables to my breakfast, growing tired of eggs for breakfast, need to look at something else.  Having a sweet potato on hand when snackish at 4pm, has been a good alternative.

 

Sadly, 'm working overtime at work until august 4th, and they have been catering food that I sadly cannot eat, mostly sandwiches, tacos, pizza, etc.  I told them i have to prepare it myself, or know the ingredients.  So i have been avoiding all catered food we get, and just prep my own.

Today, they bought cupcakes, they smell amazing!  

 

[ladyshanny]

wondered if Hemp protein is considered whole30 compliant

 

Hemp seeds are compliant as per the "Can I Have" list linked below. They would not be considered a protein though, they should be treated like other seeds; use occasionally.  Hemp protein powder would be suitable if you are doing this as a vegetarian but you would have to find a powder that does not contain any other offplan ingredients.  

 

In summary: probably don't bother.

[gizmosan]

starting week 4 today   my thoughts on my whole 30 Challenge.

 

I'm noticing that i'm reading labels more carefully looking for those hidden ingredients.  Been listening to the audio book of the whole 30, its very scientific!   but enjoying someone explain it to me, i'll have to listen to it again.  Everything has sugar!  its extremely hard to find everyday items without sugar, even Trader Joes and Whole foods, options that are considered healthy has some form of sugar or additives.  This challenge requires you to absolutely prepare your own food! which has been a challenge for me since I've been also working overtime all month and it will continue next month.

my food has been somewhat limited in selection, but I've been exploring Pinterest and Instagram for dishes ideas from others that have done the challenge. I've been occasionally having a larabar on the approved selection, but noticing that with its high sugar amount from dates, its sometimes better for me to eat fresh fruit instead.   The plan says that homemade smoothies are not recommended, when I put, avocados, unsweetened almond milk, walnuts and some fresh strawberries and blueberries in a blender it tastes amazing, its like strawberry ice cream!!  but still keeping with whole 30 ingredients

 

Health wise, I have been doing weight lifting, running, biking and swimming throughout this 30 day challenge as I was before I started, been noticing an improvement in my overall performance.  When i started could only do assisted dips at 160, and this morning i was down to 100lb assisted.  I'm also sleeping a lot better, usually hit the bed and sleep all through the night and wake up more refreshed that I did when I started.  although, i feel tired around the 4pm time, and usually need some coffee to keep me going, not sure what causes that.  The whole 30 hasn't affected my skin allergies, i blame Texas for that.

 

On week 2 I cheated and weighed myself, because i was curious to how things were going, but i haven't looked at the scale since then, no idea how my body fat and weight has progressed.  

 

The fat around my mid section of the body, hasn't drastically melted away like pictures I see on google from other people, my guess is that they are younger than I am, 43, or their metabolism is better, but whatever!   I'm going to continue on past the 30 days, shoot for the next 30 days since in September my bro-in-law is getting married at a ranch, and there will be hiking!

I definitely miss beer, even though I'm not a drinker, its nice to have on a hot day with others.  unsweetened ice tea, la croix or water isn't the same

Next week, i'll post my weight and body fat progress.  I also have a blog where I have been documenting my food and progress which I'll share too.  

Have a good week everyone

[gizmosan]

Overview

 

In this society and the amount of food that we have available, it was definitely a challenge to avoid everything which “was considered healthy.”  Listening to the audio book of the whole30 challenge was interesting, thoughtful and way too scientific for my needs, I should of just skipped to the what not to eat chapters and what it does to the brain.

What did I learn?...........Whole wheat is bad, rice is bad, legumes are bad, milk is bad, and honey is bad.  It was a real challenge to find product without the additives that are considered no whole 30 approved, H-E-B in Austin had a pretty decent selection

* Breakfast mainly consisted of eggs, maybe sweet potatoes or spinach, sometimes I’d do a unsweeet almond milk no added sugar smoothie with avocado and some fruit.

* Lunches would usually be salmon steaks and vegetables, sometimes I’d have a burger wrapped in lettuce with tomato and avocado.

* Dinners were about the same, maybe eat some chicken or steak.  

* Snacks consisted of a lararbar which was essentially a candy, because it used dates which has sugar, tried the RXBars they have a little less dates and more other ingredients.

* Mainly drink coffee with unsweetened almond milk, unsweetened tea, water, or la croix

I think what made the challenge even harder for me was that I have been working overtime at work, and they have been catering food which most of the time was not whole 30 approved, so I had to prepare my meals every day or go out and get food I could actually eat.  A few times they tried to work with my challenge, which was really nice of them.

Working out during the challenge was also important as it kept me from being to sedentary. I tried to incorporate weights on MWF and cardio on TTTHSS either running, biking or swimming.  Sometimes all three for my mini triathlon.   Usually in the mornings because it would wake me and I wouldn’t rely on the burst of coffee.

This challenge is sustainable, as a 42 year old with a gut from eating “healthy foods” and “crap” his whole life this challenge has definitely made me feel better, so continuing on, see ya next month

Scale

Started on July 6, but then had to start again, because taking pea protein in my plant based protein powder, which were the rules.  Stopped taking protein powder after that.
the picture results are pleasing, but i'm going to keep going another month

Non-scale victories

-sleeping better, head hits the pillow and i am asleep until the morning, no more getting up and night craving milk to help me sleep.

- Rash on my arms and leg has reduced, it’s still there, but much less, comes and goes still

- Not craving bread/crackers/chips used to be my go to for a quick snack at home or work, now I crave veggies, grapes. lol

- Lara bar turned out to be a good alternative, RXBars have a more lasting feeling.

- donuts/cookies/chocolate nugget bars/cliff bars don’t crave them anymore.  Tried to eat a small corner of a chocolate chip cookie at work and spat it out immediately, was way too sweet for me.  old me I used to be able to eat 2 or 3 of these.

- I can run on the treadmill longer and faster, ran level 6 for 10mins, 1 min rest, then another 10 mins.  Endurance has definitely increased.

- Definitely have more strength, since I have been weight lifting during this 30 days.  Started out bench pressing 65lb, now i can push 95lb without assistance.  Dip machine, started at 130lb assisted, now down to 100lb assisted.   Dumbbell press started at 10lb, now lift 22.5

[gizmosan]

Small update,

Been continuing on the Whole 30 plan,  my newest non-scale success is that I'm able to comfortably fit into a Large waist from XL.  Also, this morning i managed to run consistently at 5 mph for 15 mins on the treadmill  still hovering around 209lb and 26.6% body fat.