Lawbride's First Whole 30: Oct 4th to Nov. 3rd

[runninglawyer88]

So, I started a log but it appears that it is gone after the forum maintenance. No worries. I will just start a new one. 

 

Today marks day 7. I felt like quitting for the first time today. A peer gave me a protein bar that I LOVE LOVE LOVE. It's seriously one of my favorite snacks. I took it and started rationalizing all the ways I could still be healthy without completing the whole 30. Then I decided to chat with a friend who has already finished (and had amazing progress afterward) and she encouraged me. I didn't eat the protein bar or anything else non-compliant. 

 

Instead, my day went something like this. 

 

• Pre-Walk: Olives/Almonds (just a couple) 
• Walk: 3 miles (few jog intervals--terrible shin splints right now) 
• Breakfast:
  • bag of whole green beans, 2 fried eggs, small orange. still hungry so i ate a bag of broccoli/cauliflower blend
• Lunch:
  • baked tilapia w/ a bag of cauliflower/broccoli/carrots and a bag of zucchini/peppers/broccoli (about 20-22oz frozen vegetables and 6 ounces fish) 
  • 1/2 small sweet potato baked coated in coconut oil and topped w/1 tsp coconut cream and bit of sunflower seed butter
• Pre-WO
  • bag of broccoli/cauliflower and 4 ounces tilapia
• WORKOUT: 45 minutes elliptical and short weight lifting session 
• Dinner
  •  2 bags of veggies --broccoli/cauliflower/carrots and 4-5 ounces tilapia
  • roasted turnips 
  • 10 almonds 

 

 

 

[amberino21]

If you're still hungry at breakfast, I would again suggest increasing your protein and fat, not your vegetable intake. The vegies take up a lot of room but aren't going to keep you satisfied for long.

Your lunch and dinner were also low in fat, and could have perhaps done with more protein.

Your preWO Should be fat and protein, lead out the vegies! Try and have a postWO too - this is more important than the preWO as you need the protein and some carbs for your recovery

[runninglawyer88]

Amberino--I completely agree. I think I have this fear of fats--not because I think fats will make me fat but because I have counted calories for YEARS and it frightens me that I might end up gaining with too much added fat. Oh, and I would have had a post WO meal but I worked out immediately prior to dinner (as in ate dinner within 15 minutes of finishing up). I am not a big fan of tilapia so it's hard to eat my normal quantity of protein lately.   For some odd reason the store had no salmon the last 2 times that we went and canned tuna has soy in it (can we say frustrating?). 

 

Thank you for your pointers. I greatly appreciate it. I'm going to try increasing my fat intake. 

[vkanders]

Are there other protein sources you'd be willing to eat? Do you eat poultry/red meat? Eggs?

[runninglawyer88]

vkanders--I eat eggs, salmon, mussels, shrimp, crab/lobster, scallops, mahi mahi, tuna, and halibut. That's about the extent of my protein sources. I bought the tilapia because it was affordable but I always regret that choice when I decide to buy it. I have been a vegetarian for ~10 years and added seafood back a few years ago; however, I am rather picky when it comes to seafood and get grossed out rather easily. 

[vkanders]

Hopefully your store has some salmon in stock soon! That's one of my favorites.

 

If you can do eggs (I can't anymore), a big batch of hardboiled eggs is a great way to keep extra protein around. Mix them up with some avocado, salt, and lime juice. Yum!

[runninglawyer88]

Funny you say that. I am from CA where avocados are always in abundance and I cannot stand them. haha. Not even guacamole. I've been trying to use coconut oil, coconut cream, olives, almonds, and olive oil to get in added fat but I feel like I'm "overdoing" it when I add fat just to add it. If I were cooking something in a frying pan then no problem but it feels so bizarre to say add oil to veggies that are in a steamable bag that I can just pop in the microwave. Sauteing fresh veggies is not a problem at all though.

[Physibeth]

I agree with Amber on increasing your protein and fat at breakfast. If it helps I eat 4 eggs for breakfast almost every day and usually have another fat with that and I've been consistently losing weight for months (10 lbs the first month and 1-3 on average each month after that). Does your store have frozen wild caught fish? I have found that to be much more affordable and found a wide variety at Fred Meyer (Kroger). If you are only eating eggs and seafood I would highly recommend switching it up as much as possible. I'm always interested in the whole tuna with soy thing as I don't think I've ever found a can with soy in it. Trader Joe's has a good price on canned salmon and tuna and they don't have soy. You can also buy wild planet brand on Amazon and those don't have soy.

[runninglawyer88]

Thank you Physibeth. I'll look for the salmon on amazon. I think every single can of tuna in the supermarket has soy, oddly. Today I am a lot less ravenous!

[Physibeth]

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_c_0_8?url=search-alias%3Dgrocery&field-keywords=wild+planet+tuna&sprefix=wild+pla%2Caps%2C285

 

You can even do a couple of these on subscribe and save I think.

[runninglawyer88]

Let's see if I can remember today's eats..I couldn't sleep so I had a snack really early in the morning and then took a walk at ~7:45am or so. 

 

Pre-WO/Snack

• 1 plum, 1/4 cup green olives

 

4 mile walk

 

Breakfast: 

• 2 eggs + 3 whites 
• bag of frozen broccoli
• coconut cream, pumpkin, sunflower seed butter mixed together

 

Workout 

• 2 x T25 workout videos

 

Post-WO/Lunch (30 minutes after workout) 

• 9-10 ounces tilapia
• 2 bags of frozen veggies--1 green beans, 1 spring mix
• 3 small plums (~6-7 ounces...I know because I know how many plums were in the bag when I bought them and how many pounds there were) 

 

Walk 3 miles --errands/chatting with mom

 

Snack

• 1 small plum, small handful cashews

 

Dinner 

• 8 ounces salmon
• 1/2 small sweet potato w/ coconut oil and sunflower seed butter 
• bag of steamable green beans
• 1.5 small oranges (shared them with my husband) 

[amberino21]

Don't be afraid of fat!! I'd be more afraid of carbs personally, but that's just me...

You don't need to get rid of your yolks - have 3-4 whole eggs!! Your dinner also didn't have any fat added - salmon is a fattier fish, but you could have probably used something on your vegies.

If you're starving and need a snack, have a proper mini meal of protein, fat and vegies instead of fruit and nuts. Include the fruit with a meal, like you did at lunch!

[runninglawyer88]

Thank you Amberino. I'm going to have a perfect day today. I only have pineapples for fruit and I won't even cut them until dinner time so I should do to a great job of staying on track. Here's my plan:

 

Breakfast: 

 almonds

2 eggs cooked in olive oil 

1 bag of veggies 

1/2 small sweet potato with sunflower seed butter 

 

Workout (close to breakfast time) 

-elliptical (45 minutes) 

-stair mill (10 minutes) 

-weights (15 minutes) 

 

Post WO 

-2 eggs 

-broccoli/cauliflower/carrots w/ nutritional yeast 

 

Lunch

-Tilapia

-broccoli/green beans/carrots

-1/2 small sweet potato w/ sunflower seed butter 

 

Dinner

-Tilapia 

-brussel sprouts roasted in olive oil  

-almonds

 

After Dinner (OOPSY! )

-3 small plums

-~2 cups pineapple

-2 larabars 

[runninglawyer88]

Yesterday SUCKED! It's a rough week--just started AF after 5 days of progesterone and I've been craving carbs for the past 3-4 days. I kind of "snapped" yesterday. I had a few teeny plums, just shy of 2 cups fresh pineapple, and 2 larabars (I don't have anymore than goodness). My only consolation is that I didn't dig into something noncompliant (like the ice cream in my freezer or protein bars).

I'm on day 10 today. Aside from yesterday's mishap it was actually a good day and I wasn't even HUNGRY. Just craving I guess. Pretty embarrassing.

I woke up so full today that I didn't have much for breakfast/pre work out.

Early morning walk: 4.5 miles (6:45 am)

Breakfast: (9am)
Coconut cream (fat)
Veggies with nutritional yeast

Workout: (10:45)
45 minutes elliptical
15 minutes stair mill

walk to/from gym

Post wo: (noon)
7-8 ounces tilapia
1/2 small sweet potato

bag of frozen spinach

 

1.5 mile walk to/from store

 

Lunch (3pm)
Sautéed spinach and eggplant (in coconut oil)
7-8 ounces tilapia

black olives

Dinner (6pm)
2 bags of veggies
Pan seared salmon with skin in olive oil
1/2 small sweet potato with sunflower seed butter

[amberino21]

If you're craving carbs, have carbs!! Loading up on starchy vegies helps

[runninglawyer88]

amberino--I know it really does help. for some reason I told myself no to a sweet potato last night and then it was all downhill. I should have known better. I don't do well with rigidity like that. It was a damn sweet potato and I say "NO!" Why? I don't even have the answer but I learned my lesson on that one. 

[runninglawyer88]

All I have is frozen spinach for veggies and some eggplant so I wasn't to keen on that this morning...here's the plan. 

 

Breakfast: 

4 eggs

7-8 ounces tilapia

coconut cream and coconut milk in coffee

 

Workout (11am--right before lunch) 

T25 --thinking I'll do 2 workouts for a total of 50 minutes

 

Lunch: 

8 ounces salmon cooked in olive oil

bag of spinach

 

Dinner: 

same as lunch 

[SaraRuns]

RL,

 

I get controlling like that as well and after years on WW, it is really strange to be adding fat to meals and not measuring/counting everything.  It sounds like you are learning from each experience, so that's a good thing!

 

Hang in there!

[runninglawyer88]

Thanks Sara!

Went apple picking with my husband and ate a hefty amount of fresh apples while picking. All is well though. I'm not worried.

[runninglawyer88]

Day 12 for me today. I will not cave. I'm actually bot even fighting off any cravings. They're fleeting and nothing serious. I think I miss dairy more than anything else. I wasn't huge on eating gluten filled grains anyway. When this is over I plan to allow myself one gluten free protein bar a day and I might start using stevia or erythritol in paleo baked goods.

I'm not REALLY noticing much in the way of physical benefits. My goals were/are as follows:

~improved sleep

~flatter stomach--it's been poochy lately

~de-bloated face

~reduced temptation to snack outside of meal times

~weight loss (hoping for 3-5 pounds)

~reduced sugar cravings

So far it seems that my stomach MIGHT BE a little flatter but im not totally convinced of that yet. My sleep is certainly as bad as ever. I'm not sure if I've lost weight --haven't checked but I'm doing this workout program that's divided into phases so I'll weigh myself this Saturday which is day 16. Then I won't weigh again until it's over.

Anyway--kind of bored with my food lately. I'm basically eating fish, fruit, veggies, eggs and a few nuts and olives. But meals are basically fish and veggies with a 1/2 sweet potato--trying to switch up how I prepare things.

[SaraRuns]

From my reading on the boards, a lot of the benefits seem to come towards the end of the 30 days.  It sounds like you have met one of your goals, reduced sugar cravings.  So focus on that until some of the other benefits start seeping in.  Of course, I'm on Day 2, so what do I know!

 

Could you swap in butternut squash or spaghetti squash for the sweet potato to mix things up a bit?

[runninglawyer88]

Thanks for the ideas--I actually have 3 spaghetti squashes that I just picked up from a local farm. I love spaghetti squash but I never do anything special with it! I also have an acorn squash that's just been waiting for me to make it.

 

My sugar cravings were never BAD but I had a tendency to go overboard with "sugar free" chemically stuff. That's one of the biggest habits I'm trying to kick--the artificial sweetener addiction. I should probably look around online for some recipes. 

[amberino21]

Fish curry with coconut cream, stirfrys, coconut crumbed fish, fish cakes, shakshuka eggs, frittatas....just a few ideas to throw in the mix

[amberino21]

And from experience, erythritol isn't friendly either!! I know lots of people who have issues with it...I, for one, get massively bloated on it!

[runninglawyer88]

I hate bloat. EEKS! Forget that. I just read that it's the "friendliest" sugar alcohol. I've used it before but was also using a lot of other crap so if it was making me bloated I wouldn't be able to isolate it. 

 

Fish curry with coconut cream --> Must try this. 

stirfrys ---> not sure how to do that without teriyaki or soy sauce

coconut crumbed fish---> that sounds yummy. It seems like a good idea for tilapia but not salmon.

fish cakes --->recipe please! all of the ones I've ever made require non-compliant ingredients.    

shakshuka eggs--->I have no idea what these are  

frittatas ---> I always find it odd to make frittatas or egg muffins since I don't add meat. Seems like a waste of time since it's effectively the same as making an egg on the stovetop, right? I could be completely wrong but that's what has always stopped me from doing it.