Whole 30 Started on Mon 16 September

[Karyna]

So, after many weeks of 'cheating' and re-introducing foods I wasn't allowing myself to have on the Paleo diet, I found myself craving the breads, cakes, sweets, crisps so much to the point that I would have a bit of a crap-food fest and end up feeling ill and about to explode.

Instead of learning from that ill-feeling, I would wake up the following morning and think, "Hmm, I would love to have [insert crap food here]."

I then decided I would re-do Arbonne's 30 Days To Fit, but then thought, while I do love the Arbonne Protein Shakes, Bars, Fizz Tabs, etc., they do still have some artificial sweeteners in them (Stevia, cane sugar). I do believe the Arbonne products are fantastic, but I wanted to try 30 days without any sugar in my system whatsoever.

So, I decided to start yesterday. No excuses.

And you know what? My first day wasn't that bad. I planned out my week and now I'm really excited to see where I will be at the end of the 30 days.
 

Today's menu:
Breakfast
Pork, mushroom and spinach frittata with a side of strawberries
Lunch
Chicken curry (sauce made with ghee, coconut milk and garam masala spice) and steamed broccoli
Snacks
Banana
Cashew Nuts
Dried mango
Dried apple slices
Dinner
Sea bass cooked in ghee, with steamed asparagus and roasted carrots with paprika and oregano

I am missing my Arbonne shakes, my Nutrition Bar, and the Fizz Tabs but once the whole30 is done, I will slowly reintroduce them into my daily life as they are so beneficial to me.

And yesterday, I did find I felt a bit tired (I literally passed out on the bus for a good 15 minutes AND I took a half hour nap with Robyn), and I did have a bit of a headache but I just put that to my body getting used to not having any sugar and no caffeine. While I am able to have tea/coffee (with unsweetened almond milk), I want to see how my body reacts without it. Eek.

So far, day 2 is going well... but the challenge today is going to the movies with my husband. I will be having meal 3 before we go to the movies tonight but will bring a small snack  to stay away from the popcorn and junk. Cashew nuts, dried fruit... any other ideas?

[GFChris]

Watch the dried fruit, as some contain added sugar.

Instead of planning to have a snack (before you know whether or not you'll even be hungry), why not have a big meal 3, and then only plan to have a bottled water if you feel the need to consume something at the movies?

[Karyna]

Hi Chris,

 

Thanks for that. I will get myself a bottled water at the movies or an herbal tea.

 

The dried fruit I've purchased has no added sugar - I make sure to check the labels!

 

Thanks,
Karyna

[Karyna]

Day 2 - I woke up exhausted with a bit of a headache which then went away with an Arbonne Antioxidant & Immunity Booster (no sugar and all natural fruit juices). And today I realised the #whole30 is only about 3 meals a day with no snacking in between. Oops. Once I learned that I nipped snacking in the bud.

Meal 1 - sweet potato hash with pork mince and spinach
Meal 2 - chicken curry with broccoli (love me some leftovers!)
Snack - banana, cashew nuts, strawberries, dried mango and dried apple
Meal 3 - pork tenderloin sautéed in ghee with cauliflower mash

And I had coffee today with coconut milk. Not my favourite but could get used to it.

Overall a good day but will stop the snacking. I also only had a bottle of water at the movies - it's amazing how I didn't really feel that hungry but it's such a habit for us to just snack when we watch a movie or television. Super success!

[Karyna]

Day 3 - today I also realised that there are PreWO snacks and PostWO meals that I needed to incorporate into my day. 

 

PreWO snack - 1 egg in 1 tsp ghee

PostWO meal - sweet potato hash with pork mince and spinach (I did notice that I was quite hungry about 90-120min after this meal which means my exercise used up the 

Meal 1 - two hard boiled eggs, salad with cucumber and tomato, cashew nuts, coconut and strawberries and blueberries

Meal 2 - pork loin cooked in 1/2 tsp ghee, cauliflower mash, roasted courgettes, peppers and aubergines with dried shallots

 

Meal 2 I ate until I was quite full but now I'm feeling a bit light-headed and am craving my banana. I'm not sure whether I'm craving it just because I need something to snack on at this time of day or if I'm really hungry but I'm going to keep putting it off and keep drinking water or tea instead.

 

Meal 3 tonight is beef bolognese (made with ghee, onions, garlic, beef mince, passata, tomato paste, courgette and yellow pepper) with a side of courgette noodles. 

 

[Karyna]

I did succumb to the snack hunger at about 4pm today and had cashew nuts and a banana.

 

Meal 3 was improvised - I instead had a baked sweet potato to make sure I wouldn't want to snack after dinner as I sometimes tend to do.

 

I'm now sitting here and just watching Great British Bake Off while planning my menu for next week and ordering groceries... but doing so with a pounding headache which is leaving me feeling a bit nauseous. Ugh.

 

But it's all for the end goal!

[SimpleNotEasy]

Hey Karyna,

 

Sounds like you are doing great so far!

 

So where are you finding the info about no snacking and pre- and post-workout meals? From what I have read on the site, http://whole9life.com/2013/08/the-whole30-program/, I don't see anything about these things. I also read ISWF, but that has been awhile, so maybe it's in there and I just forgot. I sort of thought that the point of Whole 30 was simplicity. Just straight Paleo, no exceptions, no Paleo-ified treats. 

 

For what it is worth, I adjusted to coffee with coconut milk when I went paleo in Spring of 2012. It only took a little while to get used to it. I bet you will like it in no time at all.

 

Keep up the good work!

Sara

[SimpleNotEasy]

Aha - I found the link where you got the additional info about snacking and pre- and post-workout meals.  Looks like it comes straight from ISWF. Guess I skimmed over that or it didn't sink in or something. Thanks for the heads' up!

 

Something new to work on implementing.

 

http://whole9life.com/book/ISWF-Meal-Planning-Template.pdf

[Karyna]

Hi everyone! How is Day 4 going so far? It's mid-afternoon and I seem to be keeping the snacking monster away! I'm sipping a water and a coffee instead. And noticing that I'm not actually hungry! Whoo!

 

M1 (8:45am) - this unfortunately is almost 3 hours after I woke. I will try to get my meals in within 1 hour of waking. 

2 egg frittata with spinach, mushrooms and peppers cooked in ghee.

Strawberries

 

M2 (12:15pm)

Beef bolognese (onions, garlic, zucchini/courgette, yellow pepper, beef mince, passata, tomato paste) 

Zucchini/courgette noodles

Banana

 

M3 (about 7pm tonight)

Coconut chicken cooked in ghee

Salad with zucchini, red peppers, onion

 

I did wake up with a bit of a headache this morning which was why there was no workout. However, I plan to work out tomorrow morning with a planned PreWO snack and PostWO meal, plus all three meals.

 

I was offered a Krispy Kreme donut today which I declined. Whoo!

I also spotted quite a few cakes and treats around the office which I have avoided. It's now 3:45pm and I'm not hungry which is a really new feeling for me! I'm so used to snacking throughout the afternoon and to really take note that I'm not actually hungry is quite the realisation.

 

So far, so good!

[Karyna]

And half an hour after posting above, I did feel the hunger and had some cashew nuts. I would have had protein but did not bring any other than my portioned lunch.

 

Better than all the snacks I used to have prior to whole30.

 

Alright, bring on 5pm so I leave work, pick up my daughter, go home and get dinner in the oven.

[Karyna]

Hi everyone!

 

Day 5 is starting without a headache so yay! And I had my first 'food dream' - I dreamed that I ate a piece of banana bread, and in the dream, I felt so guilty and I got mad at myself and my husband for letting me eat it! It felt so real!

 

This morning, I will be working out to the likes of Jillian Michaels and headed to another temptation test - my daughter's toddler playgroup where a cup of tea and a biscuit were the highlights of my week before. Today, I plan to bring my own Arbonne herbal tea and say no to the biscuit! Another temptation today is the field trip that my daughter and I are taking to the farm - I plan on bringing my own lunch and saying no to any of the food sold there. That is the plan.

 

So, meal plan for today:

PreWO snack - leftover coconut chicken

PostWO meal - 1 egg, 1/2 burger (compliant as no sugar, no grains, no preservatives), sweet potato

M1 - 1 egg, 1/2 burger, sweet potato, lettuce, tomato and if still hungry, cashews, coconut, blueberries, almond milk

M2 - leftover coconut chicken, sweet potato fries, steamed broccoli, banana

M3 - Beef and Kale sauteed in ghee

 

Good luck to you all on Day 5!

[Karyna]

How was everyone's Day 6? Weekends are normally difficult for me as they are normally when I let myself indulge and being at home I end up just snacking. But today was super successful as there was no snacking, although I did delay Meal1 until about 3 hrs after waking. I just wasn't hungry and because of where I was and what I was doing, wasn't able to eat right away.

M1 - scrambled eggs, bacon (not cured with sugar but has nitrates :s) and kale sautéed with ghee

M2 - organic free range beef burger (whole30 compliant), bacon and egg fried in ghee with sweet potato chips and lettuce

M3 - organic free range beef, steamed broccoli, sweet potato chips and a banana

I had to find dried fruit today without sulfites as I accidentally had a small amount of dried mango dried with sulphur dioxide. Oops. Do I need to start completely over?

Tomorrow is a new day...

[Karyna]

Day 7 - I was extremely tired today. The plan today was to go to a birthday party where I was going to bring my own #whole30 compliant lunch (my friend was kind enough to let me bring my lunch and didn't mind at all), but Robyn ended up... Vomiting on the bus. Again. Ugh.

M1 - steak, egg, bacon and sautéed kale and a coffee with coconut cream

M2 - compliant burger, bacon, sweet potato chips, lettuce & spinach, and a banana, cashew nuts and some dried mango

M3 - meatloaf (recipe adapted from @paleomg), cauliflower mash and sweet potato chips

One week of Whole30 complete!

[Karyna]

Day 8 (Mon 23) - first week of #whole30 done! Today I started reading#itstartswithfood and it is such great insight into the way the body works and how food can react with your body. I also bought a new cookbook today - WellFed by the same authors of #iswf - can't wait to get it in the post and try it out!

Today's menu:
PreWO - grilled chicken and cashew nuts
PostWO - pork, parsnip, sweet potato, courgette breakfast casserole
M1 - spinach, chicken, hard boiled egg, coffee with coconut milk
M2 - grilled gammon, cauliflower mash, sweet potato chips, coffee with coconut milk
M3 - fish curry, steamed broccoli, cashew nuts

I was so satisfied from breakfast which I are at about 9 that I didn't eat lunch until about 1:30 which is rare for me. And definitely no snacking today as I was not hungry between lunch and dinner. 

Another successful #whole30 day!

#paleo #paleodiet #paleolove #cleaneating #foodporn #foodlover #wwfooddiary#iswf #itstartswithfood

[Karyna]

Day 9 (Tues 24 Sep) - I am already starting to worry about what will happen after the whole30 is completed, the entire process of reintroducing foods back into your system. I miss my treats but I want to be able to have them without going crazy. Something to think about...

PreWO - chicken and cashew nuts
PostWO - egg, pork, parsnip, sweet potato and courgette casserole
M1 - spinach, chicken and egg scramble, and a coffee with coconut milk
M2 - grilled salmon, cauliflower mash, broccoli, banana and cashew nuts 
M3 - pork medallions, broccoli, sweet potato chips, dried mango and cashew nuts

I still feel tired but snacking in the afternoons is almost non-existent now which is amazing. 

I have also been reading #iswf #itstartswithfood and it's so far enlightening learning about the biological and hormonal processes that govern our bodies and how food, both good and bad, can affect them.

#paleo #paleodiet #paleolove #wwfooddiary #foodporn #foodlover #igersldnfood

[Karyna]

Day10 (Wed 25 Sep) - I discovered that the coconut milk I was having with my coffee at work had... Sugar! Gasp. Frick. Great start to the day. 

And I was stressed today so I did some stress snacking... On cashew nuts. Better than gorging on cake. But yes I did snack today. And I knew it was down to stress more than actual hunger. And I just felt headachy and light-headed all day. Bleh.

M1 - bacon, egg, steamed asparagus, breakfast casserole 
M2 - salmon, cauliflower mash, broccoli, banana and cashew nuts
M3 - meatloaf, sweet potato chips

Now to relax with some knitting and #greatbritishbakeoff 

#paleo #paleodiet #paleolove #whole30 #wwfooddiary #cleaneating #hashtagpaleo#igersldnfood

[Karyna]

Day 11 - I woke up with a bit more energy which is great. I normally press the snooze button on my alarm 6-10 times, but today, just once, got up, and did my workout. I didn't have my PreWO snack as my stomach was a bit iffy, so just did my workout and had my PostWO meal afterwards and I feel good.

 

However, this morning was a huge case of the 'I WANT TO KILL ALL THINGS' when I went to the fridge and realised my husband had accidentally taken my packed breakfast and lunch with him to work and instead left me with his ham salad (not whole30 compliant and would never fill me up). I threw a HUGE temper tantrum. Slippers flying off my feet, me growling with rage... to the dismay of my 2 yr old daughter who burst into tears seeing me so angry. Ugh, I felt terrible. And angry. 

 

But, to see the positive in this, at least I've been thrown into a situation where I've had to think on my feet to find breakfast and lunch that is whole30 compliant.

 

AND I brought coconut cream to work so I can have coffee! Whoo!

 

Tonight's challenge is my weekly knitting group. I CAN SAY NO TO THE CAKE! I WILL SAY NO TO THE CAKE!  Although I'm sure at least one of the mums will say, "Why the hell would you do that?!" Eh. 

[Karyna]

Day 11 - today started with my discovering that my hubby had taken my packed M1 & M2 to work and I had a mini meltdown (not my proudest moment) in front of my 2 yr old who then burst into tears at my angry outburst (which made me feel terrible). So today I had to improvise.

PostWO - parsnip, sweet potato, pork and egg casserole (my stomach was not feeling great first thing so I skipped the PreWO snack)
M1 - parsnip, sweet potato, pork and egg casserole and spinach, with coffee with coconut cream
M2 - hard boiled eggs, smoked salmon, spinach salad, banana, cashew nuts (I found compliant smoked salmon at Sainsbury's which was heaven sent. Yum!).
M3 - coconut crusted chicken, sweet potato chips, cashew nuts and dried strawberries

Today my energy levels were consistent throughout the day, unlike the fatigue I had felt before. And not as much snacking as yesterday. I also was so thirsty all day so I have had about 4-5 pints of water. Quite a good day considering the rocky start... and I didn't have any cakes at my weekly mums knit group. I just had my herbal tea and was fine!
 

[amberino21]

you either have the worlds biggest fork, or your postWO is tiny!! you should be aiming for a meal sized portion of  lean protein along with the starchy vegies.

 

good job on the improvising - when I was preparing for comps last year, forgetting my planned food would send me in to a panic!! I know how stressful that can be when you're trying to stick to a plan.

[Karyna]

you either have the worlds biggest fork, or your postWO is tiny!! you should be aiming for a meal sized portion of  lean protein along with the starchy vegies.

 

good job on the improvising - when I was preparing for comps last year, forgetting my planned food would send me in to a panic!! I know how stressful that can be when you're trying to stick to a plan.

 

Haha, it's not a huge fork. It was the angle of the photo. It was about a regular pie size of a piece. I get quite full eating it.

 

It's amazing how situations that make us so frustrated and angry to begin with end up being situations that are meant to teach us and make us stronger.

[Karyna]

Day 12 - sorry for the late post but was feeling completely demotivated last night.

I started the day with good energy and a great workout... Then Rob called and I turned into this lunatic over the phone. I guess I'm in the #whole30 'want-to-kill-everything' stage. Not fun.

And it's about the time where most people want to quit and believe me, I had moments today where I thought, "Why am I doing this?! I just want that cake!" Bah.

PostWO - parsnip, sweet potato, pork and egg casserole
M1 - bacon, eggs, and steamed spinach
M2 - smoked salmon, hard boiled eggs, spinach, banana and cashew nuts
M3 - meatloaf, sweet potato chips, steamed asparagus, dried strawberries

And ended up snacking on dried fruit and cashew nuts. I'm removing dried fruit from my cupboards as I think it is a no-brakes good for me.

On to day 13...

[Karyna]

Day 13 - maybe it's because it is the 13th day where my resolve was so low to the point that I even wanted to eat a low fat cereal bar, definition of all things processed and yuck. Many instances today where I just wanted to have a glass... correction, bottle... of wine. And funny enough, I had a food dream last night where I gave up and ate three bags is Doritos Cool Original. I woke up and it felt so real and I was so torn about what happened that I didn't even know if I had actually given up or not.

M1 - eggs fried in ghee, bacon, sweet potato hash, wilted spinach and strawberries
M2 - coconut chicken, sweet potato chips, spinach, a banana and cashew nuts
M3 - steak, sweet potato chips (see a pattern? I'm addicted!), sautéed kale and cashew nuts

Instead I stuck to plan and even avoided dried fruit. On to day 14!
 

[SimpleNotEasy]

Hi Karyna,

 

I like seeing your photos of meals. Sounds like you are doing well with your Whole 30. Good work!

 

I'd have been frustrated if my husband had taken my food, too. Maybe you need to pack yours in a different looking container or lunch bag so it never happens again.

 

What type of workouts do you do?

[Karyna]

@SimpleNotEasy - I do the Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred at the moment. I had worked my way up to doing her harder workouts but had a hip injury a few months ago so starting back up again. I'm on level 2 of the 30DS and am sweating buckets after the 25 minutes!

[Karyna]

I am was at a kids birthday party this afternoon, surrounded by the thing I love most - cake, and so many different kinds of cake. I was literally dying inside because I just wanted the cake so bad. In my head I think, "I am missing out on one of my favourite things that I truly enjoy!"

Instead I ate some barbecued chicken then after I ate it realised it had been marinaded in soy sauce. Crap.

Today I asked "WHY AM I DOING THIS if I'm missing out on something I truly loved eating?" I don't think it was a comfort thing but I truly enjoyed the tastes and textures of any type of baked good.

I had to rant.