Whole30 Started July 5th!

[hank]

Hey Everyone,

I only learned about paleo last week. I first read about paleo on Sunday after injuring myself running (I was determined to exercise more and eat better in July...I even bet on it). I'm fine (just did something to a rib...it's healing) and I decided to start my Whole30 on July 5th. I used the holiday to stock up on supplies and to read about how to do things like cook salmon (seriously never done it).

Day 1 (7/5) was a good day. I didn't even really notice the change save for when I exercised. Here was my meal plan & exercise regimine:

Breakfast: 2 hard boiled egg whites (I don't regularly eat breakfast so adding food in the morning is new. Also, I don't particularly like hard boiled egg yolks so I just eat the whites).

Lunch: Baby spinach & romaine salad with carrot slivers, almond pieces, and about 12 raisins for some sugar. Dressed it with extra virgin olive oil, balsmic vinegar, lemon juice, and spices. Never had it on a salad before...usually stick to ranch or caesar. However, it was pretty tasty and I'll have to figure out a better mix of oil & other flavors. I also had a grilled chicken breast I cooked the night before. I dressed the chicken with olive oil, pepper & salt before cooking it on the Foreman. I reheat the chicken and eat it separately after the salad as an inducement to finish the salad. I drank more water all day and had Honest Green Tea with lunch.

Snack: Maybe a dozen baby carrots on the way home in the car. Didn't need them for hunger, but knew I was going to exercise before dinner and wanted to eat something.

Exercise 1: Walked an hour in 90 degree heat. It was good but more tiring than I would have thought.

Dinner: big piece of grilled salmon coated with olive oil & spices, mixed vegetables from TJ's microwaved. Lots of post-walk water to rehydrate. I didn't think I was a big salmon fan, but it was the best salmon I've ever had and I didn't cook it well (trust me, it was the first time)

Exercise 2: 20 minutes on the exercise bike in front of the TV. Cut it at 20 minutes so I wouldn't be using blue screens within 1 hour of bed. I also blacked out my room the best I could (got rid of all LEDs) and read Good Calories, Bad Calories for an hour before bed.

Day 2 (today) was better and worse:

Breakfast: 2 egg whites & 1 Archer Farms' Chicken & Spinach sausage link from Target (I couldn't find any reason it wasn't compliant, but let me know if it's not).

Lunch: same salad minus the raisins (I forgot them), same chicken, same green tea.

Exercise 1: another hour walk in 90 degree heat. I haven't been bringing water but will definitely need to start!

Dinner: about to be the same salmon & TJ's mixed vegetables before I defrost more food.

Today I also drank a ton of water, trying to get up to a gallon a day. Next week I will start carrying a gallon around. However, today I was filing at work at about 3:30-4:00 and got really antsy. It could've been the filing drudgery (which I don't usually do) or the diet. I wasn't hungry but also stopped drinking as much when filing. Any thoughts on the cause? Not a big coffee, soda or sweets guy so I doubt it was sugar or caffeine I was looking for.

Let me know if you have feedback for me . I'm hoping that combining the Whole30, lots of water, and an 1.5 hours of exercise (including an hour walk each day) will help me get past losing 16 lbs this month. Also, I love applesauce and almonds, but am going to try to avoid them in order to stick to the better foods on the diet. Otherwise, I'd use them as a crutch. Thanks for reading this tome.

[Adagio]

Welcome! Glad you are here!

[Melissa Urban]

Looking good! I like the low-intensity activity you're doing, but definitely make sure you stay hydrated in this heat. And I'd also love to see a heartier breakfast - throw some fat in there, and perhaps a bit more protein. (Egg whites don't have much of either.) If there is one meal you can afford to splurge on, it's breakfast, and your energy levels will take a hit around the end of your first week if you're underfeeding yourself. Otherwise, looks like you're off to a great start! Keep up the good work.

Melissa

[hank]

Thanks for the advice, Melissa. I've been adjusting to eating in the morning and need to make more time for it. Tomorrow I'll cook some eggs (yolks included) and have more of the sausage. I have some hard boiled eggs ready in case I'm short on time.

[Tina]

Hank,

I hope that you are healing well.

I unofficially started last week (officially started today), and I found the hardest thing was making sure I ate enough at breakfast, as well as eating enough fat with each meal. Thankfully I have developed a taste for coconut milk, because when I realize I am running on empty but not hungry, I just have a couple sips and that seems to fix things.

If you have duck eggs available near you, give them a try hard boiled. The whites are a bit chewier, but the yolk is super creamy. I was surprised when I tried them and liked the yolk because I don't normally eat HB egg yolks either.

Good luck with your Whole30!

[hank]

Thanks for the ideas, Tina. I think if I cook the eggs fresh, I'll have a better time with it. But I'll see if I can find duck eggs.

Day 3:

B: 4 scrambled eggs with olive oil in the pan, two Archer Farms Chicken & Spinach sausage links, water.

S: about 20 baby carrots

S: three crab strips (I've never heard of these and a friend gave them to me. He said that they were just crab meet. Does crab meat taste sweet?)

S/D: Applesauce, cashews, 3 fried eggs in oil, 3 fried eggs no oil

Exercise: hour walk after breakfast (polished off 1.5 liters while on the walk) and 30 minutes of stationary bike after dinner.

I think I did well on water, but it's difficult to know since I get water from multiple sources despite having a gallon jug in the frige. I would like to have had lunch yesterday, but I went to see a friend and ended up staying much longer than I expected and didn't bring any food. Lesson learned. I also note the lack of veggies yesterday, which has to do with not eating lunch and not feeling meat/veggies when I finally got around to dinner.

[hank]

Day 4:

Breakfast (11:00): three fried eggs & oil, 2 chicken sausage links

Snack: cashews

Dinner: salmon & applesauce

Didn't have much of an appetite.