Whole30 a go-go

[LoriLifts]

I'm always on the go. I'm in a hotel a couple times a week for work. Then I travel to do races. Before I cut out grains I was your typical chubby marathoner who lived on carbs.

 

I've attempted Whole30 several times but alas,didn't succeed. This time I'm doing things differently. I'm going to bring Whole30 with me on the road. Spending time in my own kitchen will be minimal. Occasionally I'll dust off my pans and cook a hamburger. Mostly I'll be relying on restaurants and filling up the hotel room mini fridge from a grocery store in whatever town I'm spending the night in.

 

I also have some meals from Pete's Paleo and Paleo on the Go in my freezer. They will help me stay on track.

 

I know this way of doing Whole30 is somewhat controversial. Planning and preparing your own meals is an important component to the program. Since that's not an option for me, I'll try Plan B.

 

Tomorrow, Sept 1 will be day 1 and guess what?, I'll be in a hotel room. I'm doing a half marathon on Labor Day.

 

Let the fun begin....

[LoriLifts]

Two posts in one day!

I'm on fire!

 

I'm proud of myself. I spent some of my day off preparing for my Whole30 project.

 

First I boiled some eggs. I'll probably be eating eggs for breakfast everyday. I can stick the hard boiled ones in my cooler when I'm on the road. And they're easy to order if I'm eating breakfast in a restaurant. When I'm home I can scramble those suckers with some veggies and bacon.

 

Second, I took inventory of my frozen paleo meals. Looks like I have enough for about 10 dinners. I may place another order from Pete's Paleo. Another place I was researching is called Living Paleo Foods. I like that both companies don't freeze their foods. Paleo on the Go ships frozen. 

 

My third project involved discarding (or in some cases, eating) any leftover dairy or paleo treats that were still in the fridge. In preparation for Whole30, I've been letting my supplies run out. There were still some (delicious) stragglers remaining this morning.My refrigerator is now Whole30 compliant.

 

Lastly, I am partacking of my final glass of wine. 

 

I'm drinking wine as I type in my Whole30 blog. It seems so wrong...

 

No more wine. Or dairy. Or paleo desserts. We've had fun but it's time to kick you to the curb.

 

[amberino21]

I think in your situation, relying on pre made meals a lot of the time is necessary - and a better option than not doing a whole 30!!

Good luck - I think I'd struggle not being able to cook often or be really in charge of my food!

[LoriLifts]

Day 1!

Lets go Daddy-o!

 

Here's how my day will be...

 

Drink a big cup of coffee and head to kettlebell class.

 

After I throw some heavy weight around,my next stop is Whole Foods. I need to stock my cooler for tonight's overnight trip. 

 

Back home to pick up husband. I cajoled him into doing the half marathon with me. He occasionally does races with me but usually does so under protest, 

 

Arrive at the lovely Hampton Inn in Roswell, NM (home of the Alien museum!) in time to eat my Whole30 dinner and watch Breaking Bad.

 

Lights out around 9. The race starts tomorrow at 5:30am.

 

Back tomorrow with a race report..

 

PS..Thanks for the well wishes Amberino21! 

 

PSS..Back from Whole Foods. Here is what's going in my cooler...

 

 

Big salad with Whole30 compliant dressing, hard boiled eggs with avocado and prosciutto,macadamia nuts, some fruit and a chia pod. Chia pods rock, they're made with 3 ingredients, chia, vanilla bean and coconut water. I love them!

 

[LoriLifts]

Day 2 and a half marathon.

Done and done!

 

I've finished lots of marathons and halfs but today was the first one completed during Whole30. 

 

The alarm buzzed me awake at 4:30am (Yikes!). The race began at 5:30, I wanted to make sure I had time for a cup of coffee. Thanks to giving up grains and following a low carb diet, my body is fat adapted. I can do 13.1 miles drinking just water without losing energy. It's like I have a superpower!

 

My first meal of the day was after the race, when we returned to the hotel. I packed 2 hard boiled eggs with avocado, some prosciutto and strawberries. I also had some salted macadamia nuts and coconut flakes. 

 

On the 3 hour drive home I ate a Chia Pod.

 

It's about 3pm, my husband and I are going out to dinner in a few hours. It's a place we go on a regular basis. I'm getting a bunless hamburger with a side salad and maybe some steamed broccoli. 

 

If any of my fellow racers are looking for a small town marathon or half to do, I recommend the Turtle marathon in Roswell,NM. People are really nice and after the race you can visit the Alien Museum.

 

At the finish, instead of a medal, you get a painted turtle. Mine will be placed in a prominent spot in my office..

 

Time to do some laundry and re-pack. Tomorrow night I'm out of town for work.

[LoriLifts]

This afternoon I was sitting in my car in the parking lot of a grocery store.

 

I'm a sales rep, sitting in my car is a big part of my day.

 

A lady knocks on my window. She's holding a bag of cookies. 

 

I roll down the window.

She says " Have a cookie, I just bought them"

I thank her but politely decline.

She persists "Everybody likes cookies, please take one"

I gingerly take one out of the bag, thank her and say I'll save it for lunch.

 

I wait until she drives away, get out of my car and toss it in the nearest garbage can.

 

Crazy but true story. Here's the proof..

 

It's like the universe (and one old lady) conspired to get me to break my Whole30!

Instead I persevered!

Day 3 is complete!

 

[Physibeth]

Nice job on the cookie. I detest food pushers. I think from now on when someone doesn't respond to my first 2 "no thank yous" I'm going to ask them why they are bullying me and see what kind of response I get.

 

Sounds like you are making the best of your situation and I applaud that! Looking forward to following your journey. 

 

I hope to get down to NM at some point...one of my good friends is a runner who lives in Los Alamos so will probably eventually try to join her in a race down there...preferably at one of the lower elevations available...this sea level runner might die otherwise.

[LoriLifts]

It's blood pressure Wednesday! 

 

Since I'm in and out of grocery stores everyday, I like to occasionally check my blood pressure numbers. This morning I read 109/66. 

 

When I was a carb-o-holic, my blood pressure would be bumping up to the pre-hypertensive level. This really freaked me out. When I was freaked out I usually fell into a bowl of ice cream or a plate of cookies.

 

Here's a photo of my breakfast from Whole Foods. Hard boiled eggs, brussel sprouts roasted in olive oil (gotta watch out they don't use canola) walnuts and strawberries...

 

 

Tomorrow is Pamper Me day. Haircut and color!

[LoriLifts]

Before Whole30 I was doing a ketogenic diet, low carb, high fat and moderate protein. The big difference in Whole30 is the elimination of dairy. I was consuming cheese and/or heavy cream with most of my meals.

 

I regularly checked my ketones and glucose number with a blood monitor. If my ketone number was .3 or higher, I was in ketogenisis, meaning I was burning fat for fuel.

 

Just for the heck of it, I checked my numbers this afternoon. Glucose was 78 and ketones were 1.5. I'm still burning fat for fuel even though I'm eating fruit and sweet potatoes. Nice!

 

Speaking of sweet potatoes, here is a photo of my breakfast that was eaten in my car. It's a Pork skillet scramble from Pre-made Paleo. I topped it with arugula. Also ate a peach and cherry tomatoes. Delish!

 

 

ps..Hi Physibeth! I hope you can visit NM, you'll love it!

[LoriLifts]

Hey kids, look who's back in town!

As you can probably guess from my absence, my last Whole 30 wasn't completed. I won't go into the carb filled details, let's just say that it wasn't pretty.

I am determined to complete a Whole30 challenge in 2013. I still have time...

Looks like December will be the month. If my start date is Dec 1, my end date is Dec 30.

I'm a busy bee in December, traveling most weeks for work. I'll also be in Las Vegas next weekend for a half marathon. I'll also be ducking and dodging all the holiday desert grenades that will be launched my way.

December will definitely be challenging. But not impossible.

Back on Day 1...,

[LoriLifts]

24 hours before Day 1

- shopped for compliant foods......great

- hard boiling eggs for the first couple days breakfast....great

- eating the Thanksgiving leftovers all day.....not so great.

[LoriLifts]

First meal....

Fried egg and bacon on top of leftover roasted Brussels sprouts. Couple dates with almond butter to finish.

To celebrate my first Whole 30 day, I attempted to move up a rank in my kettle bell class. Similar to karate, you rank test on certain moves. If you pass the requirements, you get the next color wrist band. I'm happy to report that even though I'm probably holding about 5 lbs of Thanksgiving food water weight, I moved up in rank.

Dinner tonight is the last of the turkey. None of the carb-y sides. I'm going to roast some broccoli and maybe a sweet potato.

[GFChris]

First meal....

Fried egg and bacon on top of leftover roasted Brussels sprouts. Couple dates with almond butter to finish.

To celebrate my first Whole 30 day, I attempted to move up a rank in my kettle bell class. Similar to karate, you rank test on certain moves. If you pass the requirements, you get the next color wrist band. I'm happy to report that even though I'm probably holding about 5 lbs of Thanksgiving food water weight, I moved up in rank.

Dinner tonight is the last of the turkey. None of the carb-y sides. I'm going to roast some broccoli and maybe a sweet potato.

 

Welcome back! Just checking that your bacon is compliant: no sugar or other nasties.

[KJ!]

Congrats on your tenacity! What is a Chia Pod and who makes them?

[LoriLifts]

Hiya Kj!

Chia Pod is made from the Chia Company. They are made with chia seeds, coconut water and either mango, blueberry or banana. There is also one made with chia, coconut water and vanilla bean. Whole Foods sells them in my area.

Although I love them, I'm going to exercise caution during this Whole30. Last time I would eat one after dinner. Soon I started topping them with coconut cream. Then I added chopped nuts on top on the coconut cream. Although it was a big bowl of awesome-ness, I think they were the slippery slope that caused me to fail on my last Whole30 attempt.

Chia Pods were my gateway food to paleo brownies. I'm determined to not make the same mistake again!

[KJ!]

I looked them up, yep they look pretty scrumptious! Isn't it bizarre how treat-minded we all are? One of the things I like about ISWF - the primary emphasis on psychological effects of foods, including simply how they are presented. Each time we have a do-over, we also get a big Aha! with it - you have the right attitude! Keep sharing those trip hazards!