Whole 100: From 8/19 - 11/27

[angelajl]

I did the July Whole30 (though mine was actually a Whole26 because I left for vacation on the 26th), and it went alright. In those 26 days, I was 100% compliant in effort, though there were a couple items that slipped by my radar: Listerine strips in the first week (clearly not on plan, in retrospect) and balsamic vinegar, the after-effects of which made it immediately obvious that I cannot tolerate sulfites.

 

My results were not too exciting, probably because I'd already cut out all grains (except the occasional rice), soy, and dairy for most of a year before this due to clear sensitivities to those foods. When I weighed and measured on the 26th, I found that I'd lost 4 pounds and a bit less than an inch from several different body measurements.

 

In that W30, I'd also hoped to resolve certain issues: digestive discomfort and irregularity, problematic skin, sleep issues, and whacky menstrual cycles. However, they still plagued me at the end.

 

Since July 26th, I've pretty much reverted to my old ways, though these ways still eliminate grains, soy, and dairy, so it hasn't been all bad. I've just enjoyed way too many potato chips and "paleo" cookies in the past couple weeks.

 

So I'm back now for a self-imposed Whole100. I will start 8/19 and finish 11/27, which - if I counted right - is 100 days. Thanksgiving is 11/28, so that provides a nice ending date.

 

Things I will do differently this time include limiting my consumption of nuts to 1 serving/day, preparing a better afternoon snack than nuts (perhaps chicken, snap peas, and olives?), and diversifying my vegetable intake. I find it very easy to get stuck in the rut of sweet potatoes, kale, carrots, and broccoli. I guess that's not the worst rut to be stuck in, but I need more variety.

 

I'll post my meals here every day. If anyone is reading this and has advice or words of encouragement, I'd love to hear from you!

[GFChris]

Sounds like you have a good plan in place. 

 

On the vegetables, maybe try introducing one new vegetable per week?

 

Look forward to reading about your progress!

[angelajl]

Thanks for stopping by, Chris!

 

Today was ok. Headachy and tired due to too little sleep and no caffeine. I drank lots of water, though!

 

Here's a rundown of today's food.

 

DAY 1

Breakfast (9am)

I can't stomach eggs, so my options are limited. This is something I have eaten for breakfast nearly every day for the last year or so.

 

* Coconut oil

* Aidell's chicken apple sausage, sliced

* sweet potato and parsnip, diced

* onion and bell pepper, diced (I actually use frozen, as it's much more convenient)

* kale, chopped

 

Lunch (12:30pm)

Leftover chili that I made yesterday:

 

* olive oil

* ground beef

* onion, diced

* 2 bell peppers, diced

* 2 ribs celery, sliced

* 3 carrots, sliced

* 28 oz diced tomatoes

* 8 oz salsa

 

Snack at work (3:30pm)

Nuts and banana - not the greatest (where's the protein?), so tonight I'm cooking some chicken breasts to slice up and take along tomorrow

 

Supper (7:00pm)

Roast beef + roasted vegetables + olives + mixed fruit (cantaloupe, blackberries, pineapple)

 

* olive oil

* carrots

* parsnips

* red onion

* Brussels sprouts

* rosemary

[KC Sunshine]

You may want to look into the post from earlier this year / last year on a Whole100.  A number of people tried to do it and documented their experience.

 

Good luck! Will keep an eye on you.

[angelajl]

DAY 2

 

Breakfast: (7am)

Same as yesterday

 

Lunch (12:30pm)

Leftover roast + roasted vegetables + olives

 

Snack (3:30pm)

Chicken (maybe 2 oz?) + snap peas + olives

 

Dinner (7pm)

Pepper steak + mixed fruit

 

* coconut oil

* flank steak, cubed

* 1 onion, sliced

* 2 bell peppers, sliced

* 4 carrots, peeled and shredded

* garlic powder

* coconut aminos

 

Snack (9:30pm)

Nuts and an apple

 

~~~~

 

Probably didn't need that late-evening snack. Bad habit.

[angelajl]

DAY 3

 

Breakfast

Usual

Lunch

Leftover chili from two nights ago.

Snack

Chicken, snap peas, and olives

Dinner

A variation on Tuscan Minestrone (no beans or pasta, of course) + mixed fruit + some nuts
 

* olive oil

* 1 package of Jennie-O "Lean sweet Italian turkey sausages", cut into 1/2" slices 

* 2 cloves garlic, minced

* 1 onion, chopped

* 3 ribs celery, sliced

* 3 parsnips, peeled and diced

* 4 carrots, peeled and sliced

* 3 leaves fresh sage, coarsely chopped

* 1 sprig fresh rosemary, finely chopped

* 4-6 cups water (enough to nearly cover the ingredients in the pot)

* 1 cup coarsely chopped kale

[angelajl]

DAY 4

 

Ugh. It's only Day 4?? Seems like I've been doing this forever. 

 

Breakfast

Usual

 

Lunch

Leftover minestrone

 

Snack

A few nuts (like, 1/2 serving) and 1/2 banana

 

Dinner

Leftover pepper steak + mixed fruit

 

Snacks

Olives + snap peas

Apple + almond butter

 

~~~

 

Too many snacks. Today's eating opportunities were oddly inconvenient due to work constraints and after-work activities, so I ended up snacking more (and more poorly) than I should.

[angelajl]

I felt so congested yesterday evening - almost like my hay fever was flaring up. No idea why.

 

And then last night I dreamed that I ate two huge (size of a dinner plate) oatmeal raisin cookies, and in my dream I was so mad at myself that I couldn't even make it 4 days in a Whole30!

 

I was so relieved when I woke up.

[angelajl]

DAY 5

 

Breakfast

Usual

 

Lunch

Chicken, snap peas, and olives (with a banana a little later)

 

Dinner

Puerto Rican Beef (minus the avocado) + mixed fruit + a few nuts

[angelajl]

DAY 6

 

Breakfast

Usual

 

Lunch

Leftover pepper steak + olives

 

Dinner

Carnitas with pico, salsa, guacamole, and lettuce + a little pineapple

 

Snacks

Apple with almond butter

A few nuts

[angelajl]

DAY 7

 

Breakfast

Usual + pineapple

 

Lunch

Leftover Puerto Rican Beef

 

Dinner

Rogan Josh (from Well Fed) + Cauliflower pilaf (also from Well Fed) + berries and nectarine

 

Snack

*sigh* Nuts. I need to stop this.

[angelajl]

DAY 8

 

Breakfast

Usual

 

Lunch

Leftover Rogan Josh + cauliflower pilaf + green olives + snap peas

 

Mini-meal

Chicken + olives + snap peas

 

Dinner

EZ Coconut Curry + green beans + nuts + mixed fruit

 

~~~

 

Last night I had another food dream. In this one, I put a chocolate chip in my mouth (soy free, dairy free even!). As I was letting it melt in my mouth, I realized what I'd done and tried to spit it out. But melted chocolate doesn't spit out well, so I was trying to decide whether to just swallow the chocolate chip and start over from Day 1.

 

Again, SO relieved when I woke up!

[angelajl]

DAY 9

 

Breakfast
Usual, but my serving was pretty small (maybe 2/3 normal) so + a few bites of leftover chicken

Lunch
Leftover chicken curry + cauliflower pilaf + olives

Mini-meal
Chicken + snap peas + olives

Dinner
Italian pork roast + roasted vegetables + nuts + mixed fruit

 

Roasted vegetables:

 

* olive oil

* onion

* carrots

* cauliflower

* Penzey's Tuscan Sunset seasoning 

* salt

 

~~~

Nothing profound to add. This is pretty routine now. I'm excited because tomorrow night we're going out to eat. I haven't picked where yet, but it'll be nice to have a night that I'm not cooking. (I'll be cooking in the morning - for breakfast - though, so it won't be a whole day without cooking!)

 

Question for anyone reading this: Why can't I get the blasted bulleted lists to work in this forum? They show up in the editing window, but when I save, all the formatting disappears. So annoying.

[angelajl]

DAY 10 (10% done!)

 

Breakfast 

Usual - slightly larger portion than usual, though, because I've been getting pretty hungry within 2 hours of breakfast

 

Lunch

Leftover Rogan Josh with cauliflower pilaf + snap peas + olives

 

Mini-meal

Chicken + snap peas + olives

 

Dinner

Chicken + sweet potato + green beans + nuts + raisins + mixed fruit

 

~~~

 

I felt pretty congested last night and *very* itchy all night long. Was there something in the raw pork loin?? I know it wasn't seasoned. Is it just the "contains up to x% solution"? I'm sick of every little additive making me miserable.

[angelajl]

DAY 11

 

Breakfast

Usual

 

Lunch

Leftover pork loin + cauliflower pilaf + olives

 

Snack

Snap peas + olives (chicken was getting oldish and tasted "off" to my paranoid tastebuds, so no protein in this snack) 

 

Ate a few nuts while cooking dinner. I worked later than expected and had to stop at the grocery store on the way home, so dinner was about 1 hour later than usual. I was getting really hungry.

 

Dinner

Ground beef concoction + mixed fruit

 

* coconut oil

* ground beef

* diced onion

* minced garlic

* diced bell peppers (1 each red, green, yellow)

* diced jicama (first time ever buying/cooking one of these!)

* minced 1/2 jalapeno

* cilantro

* lime juice

* chili powder, oregano, cumin, salt

* avocado

 

It was pretty good, though the jicama crunch took some getting used to!

 

Snack

Nuts + raisins

 

~~~

 

Poor snack planning. Too many nuts. Wasn't even hungry when I ate that last snack. Bad habit. I need to stop it.

[angelajl]

DAY 12

 

Breakfast

Usual

 

Lunch

Leftover ground beef dinner from last night + olives

 

Snack

Compliant deli turkey + snap peas

 

Dinner

Salad with romaine, chicken breast, bell peppers, olives, and avocado from a local restaurant. It was pretty good! I had a little fresh fruit as soon as I got home.

 

Snack

Apple + almond butter

Nuts

 

(The nuts are almost gone, and I don't plan to replenish them. They're way too easy to overeat.)

 

~~~

 

I'm starting to question the necessity of calling this a Whole100 rather than just eating according to Whole30 guidelines with occasional off-roading when it's worth it. After my previous Whole30, I didn't bother with the reintroduction protocol, since I knew (and have known due to a previous elimination diet years before my first Whole30) which foods cause me the most problems - wheat, corn, soy, and dairy. Those four things make my life miserable, so I won't be reintroducing those anyway, even after a Whole100.

 

If I don't need a strict regimen to perform an elimination diet before doing a sort of reintroduction, why do this? Doing this, I can't off-road AT ALL for 100 days. That's going to be difficult. Can I do it? Of course. Do I want to? ... I'm wavering on that. No off-roading opportunities are looming, so it's not that I'm being tempted to sway. I'm just reassessing.

 

As I posted in my first post up top, I do hope to get some good results in the way of clearer skin, better sleep, and better digestion, but if I'm honest, I think the thing I want most is fat loss.

 

I guess that's the thing: I know I can't do moderation. I know that if I allow myself to indulge in chips and chocolate occasionally, I'll start allowing them more than occasionally. Pretty soon, I'll be back to scarfing down 1/2 bag of chips every night. Committing myself to a Whole-whatever forces me not to do that. So perhaps, deep down, this 100-day period is just a way to force myself not to eat any potato chips and chocolate.

 

There has to be a happy medium, though. I just don't know how to get to it or what it would even look like if I found it. After so many years of yo-yo dieting and Weight Watchers, I don't know how to eat normally.

[angelajl]

Ok, I'm going to stop posting in this thread in the "Your Whole30 Log" forum since I've decided to take occasional off-roading for a spin. This makes me no longer officially Whole100, so I think I don't qualify here anymore! I'll post elsewhere. (Perhaps the post-Whole30 forum.)

 

This post here is what helped me change my mind. I need to learn to take off the training wheels! I know how to eat well. Now I just need to do it!

[angelajl]

Well...that was a failed experiment! Without my training wheels, I crashed. I certainly haven't gone back to my old ways entirely, but I've  had a "treat" of some sort every day: Coke Zero (3x). A little dark chocolate (3x). White potatoes (2x in the form of fries). And all of that in, what, 5 days?

 

Clearly I am not ready to attempt this on my own. So, as of now, I'm back to logging my meals every day.

 

At least I can console myself with the knowledge that I can admit to myself when I need help!