Priscilla's Whole 30 Log

[Priscilla]

Day 0

 

Starting my first Whole 30 on Jan 13.  I got It Starts with Food and have read parts of it, mostly the nuts and bolts of what to do, not the parts on why.  That will be one of my goals for this whole 30 - to read the Whole Book!  I was eating mostly paleo, with some dairy for a couple months, doing well but no weight loss.  Over the holidays, I was still mostly paleo, but a few deserts with grains and some wine.  Seemed like after that I got onto a slippery slope and need to clean up my act.  Just returned from a short vacation and Monday seemed like the perfect day to really get back on track and follow the Whole 30 for a whole month and see some real results!

 

I signed up for the Whole30 Daily with start date of Jan13.  Today's goals:  clean out pantry and refrigerator of any non-whole30 foods.  Write out my goals for the Whole30 and post them on my refrigerator. Read one chapter of It Starts with Food. Post my "before" picture.

[Priscilla]

Before photo

[Priscilla]

Day One

 

Selected a few recipes from the nom-nom-paleo app and will stock up on groceries.

 

Goals for week one:

 

1) Limit personal computer time to 15 minutes until my workout is done.

2) STAY OFF THE SCALE - this one's going to be tough for me. Hiding the scale.

3) Eat meals at the table.

4) Sleep 7+ hours/night.

 

 

Breakfast:  Scrambled eggs (2) used ghee for the fat + steamed broccoli. Felt full.

 

Started getting hungry at about 10:00 am and it's just 10:30 now.  I'm supposed to eat 3 meals/day no snacking.  OK, looking at the breakfast, I probably need to add another egg or other protein and a bit more fat,  perhaps add 1/2 avacado. 

Wondering what to do when you get into a hunger situation; is it better to eat something or tough it out?  Got good advice to go ahead and eat something if truely hungry. Will work on portion size and meal composition to increase satiety and keep from gettin hungry too soon.

 

Lunch: Salad with romaine, yellow bell pepper, tomato, 1/2 avocado, wild tuna, balsalmic vinegar, olive oil. 10 almonds.

Hungry again around 3 pm. ate about 15 almonds and had some more water.

 

Dinner: Crispy Smashed Chicken with Mango Salso (recipe nom nom paleo app) over a bed of fresh spinach.

Really good, satisfying

Bedtime for me in about 3 hours, so that's it for the day.

[Priscilla]

Day Two

Awake at 6 am, usual sleep waking up a few times during the night by 7am Hungry, slight headache - probably related to decreasing coffee to 2 cups per day with cut off at noon.

I signed up for the Whole 30 Daily and I'm getting daily emails to guide me along the way. All the info we need is in the book and available on the website, but it is so great to have the guidance on how to do this. Great to see that it's normal to feel a bit "hungover" on day 2-3. Great tips on how to get through it. Support, journaling, mental attitude, etc. I'm hoping this will all go a bit more smoothly for me because I was already mostly eating Paleo, just that the cheating was getting out of control...more wine with dinner, more yogurt and cheese, a cookie here and there. Glad to have the W30 to get me back on track and thankful not to be dieting!

7:30 Breakfast - sautéed crimini mushrooms in butter + scrambled eggs (2), steamed broccoli, black coffee. Full.

10:30 Workout - 1/2 hour intervals done, didn't push it today, drinking extra water. Suddenly realized my headache is gone!

12:30 Lunch - spinach + romaine salad with olive oil and wine vinegar dressing,, leftover crispy chicken and mango salsa. Eating all meals at the table slowing down with eating. Hungry, but just right, not like yesterday.

I emailed my son and let him know I was doing the Whole30 since he's been following paleo along with his crossfit with fabulous results. He told me he started his Whole30 on Dec 28. He finds it easier to do the plan 100% rather than 80/20 which is what we tried to do over the holidays.

3:30 Hungry - drank extra cup water plus several almonds

5 pm 30 minute walk

6:00 pm Dinner - Emergency Meat (cooked ground beef with onions, cabbage, and seasonings) from Nom Nom Paleo, 1/4 avocado, cooked carrots and broccoli

I felt more hungry at 3:30 than at dinner time. Hoping that as I adjust amts ant type of food I can get onto the three meals, no snacking meal pattern

[Priscilla]

Day Three

Slept OK, woke up feeling hungry at 6 am. Fought the urge to weigh myself. Fasting Blood sugar 109 (an improvement).

6:30 Breakfast - joe's special - sautéed emergency meat with mushrooms and spinach then added two eggs and scrambled it all, served with a cut up apple and black coffee. Ate at the table.

I actually look forward to reading my W30 Daily each morning - so cool how it is synchronized with what I'm doing and right on with how I'm feeling. Glad to know that on day 3 it is normal to have out-of-wack hunger, Since the eating pattern is supposed to be 3 meals and no snacking, I though something was wrong. I just need to keep working it and give it time. Good to know that if I'm truly hungry and not just craving food, it's OK to eat something healthy. Also the W30 reassurance that tiredness is normal and to go easy on the workouts. oK to take a nap. I actually feel pretty good so far, just the hunger in the late afternoon and in the late evening. I did have an afternoon snack, but wouldn't allow myself to eat at bedtime. Also, when I cleared out my pantry, I saved a couple bottles of ginger ale "for emergency use only", in case I had a stomach upset. The W30 daily email had a good remedy of apples and ginger to nibble on. So now I can ditch the bottles or at least put them behind the wine bottles, which I also did not ditch.

8:30 Exercise - intervals 30 min full out, no problem

1:30 Lunch - I was hungry around 11 am, but drank some water and waited awhile. Got busy and "forgot about eating until late, because so busy with a project. Leftover crispy chicken, big salad.

5:00 Dinner - huge salad with kale, romaine, radicchio, jicama, and roasted chicken. Olive oil and wine ve negate dressing. Steamed cauliflower, broccoli, and carrots. I felt tired and had a small cup of coffee.

[Priscilla]

Day Four

Kept waking up during the night. Probably too excited by the printmaking class that started yesterday evening. Also had strong Peets coffee after dinner.

6:30 Breakfast - Simple fritata (recipe nom nom paleo app) with emergency meat, broccoli, eggs, coconut milk. Easy. Good.

10 am - (hungry) snack 20 raw almonds

11:30 lunch - 4 oz wild sockeye salmon grilled, steamed broccoli

5 pm dinner - emergency meat with ground pork, cabbage and onions, roasted butternut squash with coconut oil for the fat.

 

about 9 pm hungry - had small portion of dinner leftovers.

 

Hurray! Made it through another day!  Feels doable except for the hunger.

[Priscilla]

Day Five

Sleep - the usual pre-W30 pattern of waking up a few times during the night, not too bad.

6:30 Breakfast - small amt of leftovers from last night reheated. Not the best, but had to get off to an early start to take my car in for maintenance. Coffee.

Ordered the book Well Fed, hardcopy. Looks like it has great advice on organizing the cooking to keep it from taking over your life.

10:30 second breakfast - I was in a rush this morning and my earlier breakfast was ore like a snack to hold me over until I could make something more substantial. I made the simple frittata with broccoli. So good.

12:00 Lunch - Tuna, power salad with baby spinach, kale, and chard, oil and vinegar dressing, 1/2 avocado. blood orange.

 

5:30 Dinner - Flatiron steak, power salad, 1/2 avocado, roasted butternut squash.

 

Evening - wanted "something" to eat.  Looked in the refrigerator and pantry and looked around to see what I had.  Nothing appealing, so must have been cravings, not hungry enough to eat the real food that is in there.  Didn't want to go back to day one...Got busy doing something else and craving went away. 

[Priscilla]

Day 6

Wow! Nearing the end of week one and doing great. On the plus side, learning how to do this with minimal stress. Sticking with easy meals that take minimal cooking time, using leftovers. The Nom Nom Paleo app has helped me get going. The Well Fed book will arrive today so will try some new ideas this week. Challenges so far - not sleeping well, hunger, a few cravings, and occ headache. Nothing to the point of wanting to give up. Amazingly the Whole 30 Daily always seems to be right on with the challenges I'm having and gives good advice.

6:30 Breakfast - leftover frittata, orange, coffee.

11: 30 lunch - Emergency meat, super salad with olive oil and red wine vinegar

1:pm second lunch - chicken wings x 2 pieces, romaine salad with tomatoes, artichokes, carrots, olive oil, vinegar

6: pm dinner- salmon 3 oz grilled, broccoli with roasted garlic, 4 olives, melon, grapes

[Physibeth]

If you are hungry you should eat, but you are right in that if you are not hungry enough to eat a mini meal then it probably isn't really hunger. You could try adding a little more to your meals and see if that helps. Doing really well so far! 

[Priscilla]

Day 7

My Day 7 W30 Daily suggested looking over the eating logs to see if there were places where I was on target or "cheating" with respect to eating. One place where I can improve is to cut down on the almonds. I've been thinking of them as 1) something to eat when I get hungry between meals or 2) a way to get a little more during the meal to prevent between meal hunger. I haven't written all of them them down, because they are w30 and "almost nothing", at least in my mind. I've been working my way through It Starts With Food and realized that I should have nuts occasionally in small amounts - almost like a garnish - not by the handful.

7:30 am Breakfast - 3 eggs fried over easy in coconut oil, 1/2 baked yam, black coffee

11:30 Lunch - super greens salad with shrimp, celery, artichoke hearts, and EVOO vinaigrette, + an orange

8:30 - late dinner - working on a project due Monday and lost track of time. Didn't even think about dinner until after 8pm. Strange I wasn't looking around for food. My leftover salmon didn't seem that appealing and didn't have any other protein options on hand, so I had another huge salad with artichoke hearts and the EVOO dressing plus a bunch of almonds. Not exactly the template, but going to chalk it up to experience and have a back up plan for times like this.

[Priscilla]

Day 8

I went into my usual Monday routine and weighed myself this morning. Down 0.7 pounds - had that sinking feeling that I should have lost more with all the work I'm doing. Also kicking myself because I should have stayed off the scale like I'm supposed to. I know I shouldn't be relying on this number to tell me how I'm doing. Then.I checked my W30 daily - today's topic - staying off the scale! LOL Do they read my mind? Or am I that predictable? Anyway, I decided that hiding the scale in the closet isn't good enough; just like hiding chocolate or cookies - I will find it at a weak moment and cheat. I will remove the batteries from the scale until the end of the W30 and when I weigh myself not take too much stick in that number. I did measure myself and wrote down those numbers on day 0 and also will get my lipid panel done at the end of the 30 days. Paying attention to health improvements and how I am feeling in general. That's what it is all about. And being in the moment, not fantasizing about reaching a number goal.

7:00 breakfast- 2 egg omelet cooked in ghee, steamed cauliflower. Coffee with coconut milk
 

10:30 snack - 1/2 pear, 20 almonds  (should have had 3 egge, but only had 2 left)

 

12:30 lunch - homemaid chef salad with romaine, tomatoes, red peppers, green onion, artichoke hearts, 1 HB egg, chicken, tuna, EVOO dressing.

 

6:00 Dinner - roasted leg of lamb, baked sweet potato, broccoli, 1/2 banana

[Physibeth]

If you are hungry enough for that 10:30 snack you should add another egg (or 2) to your breakfast and maybe combine the snack in with that meal. Try to avoid eating fruit for snacks.

[Priscilla]

Day 9

6:30 breakfast- simple frittata with roasted lamb, onions, cauliflower, and two eggs. I learned this basic recipe from the Nom Nom Paleo app. I think I've made variations on this easy recipe four times already since the beginning of my W30. I can pretty much make it in my sleep.

10:00 interval workout 30 minutes, done.

1:30 lunch salad with romaine, butter, and redecchio lettuce, lamb slices, kalamata olives, EVVO and vinegar dressing. Kind of tired and crave "something" sweet. Will drink a cup of herbal tea and rest for a little while.

6:00 upset stomach and headache after taking a 45 minute nap. Enough that I feel tempted to drink some of my emergency ginger ale. I waited a bit, then decided to have some of my bone broth and tea. Don't want to have to restart the W30, but OK with it if I have to. Will hang in there as long as it doesn't get worse.

8:00 small portion ground beef cooked with onions, cabbage.

[Physibeth]

Day 9

6:30 breakfast- simple frittata with roasted lamb, onions, cauliflower, and two eggs. I learned this basic recipe from the Nom Nom Paleo app. I think I've made variations on this easy recipe four times already since the beginning of my W30. I can pretty much make it in my sleep.

10:00 interval workout 30 minutes, done.

1:30 lunch salad with romaine, butter, and redecchio lettuce, lamb slices, kalamata olives, EVVO and vinegar dressing. Kind of tired and crave "something" sweet. Will drink a cup of herbal tea and rest for a little while.

 

Do you have some starchy vegetables planned for meal 3? I have started to realize when I skip post workout starch I am more snacky and start craving things I don't normally crave.

[Priscilla]

Day 10

Feeling back to normal. Good nights sleep, feel fine. Glad I didn't give up on the W30 during my episode of stomach upset that lasted a few hours but nearly set me back to day 1.

7:00 breakfast- 2 scrambles eggs with emergency meat (cooked ground beef, onions and cabbage) added, steamed broccoli, black coffee.

12:15 lunch - salad with romaine, spinach, kale and assorted greens, EVVO vinaigrette, mixed veg broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots, short rib.

5:30 dinner - salad with vinaigrette dressing, lamb, almonds

[Priscilla]

Back to square one

I didn't have time to post meals yesterday, but I was fine until dinner when I went out to eat at a local Panera. I ordered a cob salad. I forgot to ask for the blue cheese to be left off. When the salad came out, I started eating it without realizing about the cheese. Once I realized I would have to start the W30 anyway, I decided to eat the cheese and start up again the next day.

7:00 breakfast - 3 eggs, scrambled, cauliflower

OK, based on comments from the moderators - thank you, thank you, thank you, I'll go ahead and call this day one and keep moving forward. It's all part of the leaning process and how I want to eat anyway. I want to call it day one, because otherwise tracking consecutive days could be difficult. Going to stock up on good W30 foods for the weekend.

[Physibeth]

Don't think of it as starting over...think of it as a W41. Based on their "nutrition" calculator it probably had soy in it is well (says contains egg, dairy, and soy). 

 

Put it behind you and keep on trucking.

[GFChris]

What Bethany said!

 

I avoid Panera, period. Too tricky to eat Whole30 there.  The cobb salad you ate has chicken coated with sugar and rice starch, its dressing has soy and corn, its bacon has sugar. Their chicken seasoning contains sugar and they recently added wheat starch to even their hidden menu items, for example.  Here's the details if you'd like to see for yourself: http://paneranutrition.com/  

[Priscilla]

Day one

The W30 Daily, reset me to day zero yesterday, so calling this day one, to keep it simple.

7:39 breakfast - 2 eggs cooked in coconut oil, 2 slices of Canadian bacon, asparagus, butternut squash.

Near where I live, there's a year round farmer's market with fresh local organic produce every Thursday and Saturday. Just picked up some fresh pastured eggs, strawberries, blackberries, arugala, baby spinach, baby chard, and golden cauliflower.

12:00 lunch - leftover grilled salmon, fresh mango salsa, arugala, baby spinach blood orange, EVOO vinaigrette.

 

5:30 dinner - beef brisket, broccoli, fresh berries

[Priscilla]

Day Two

7:00 Breakfast - two eggs scrambles in 1 tsp ghee, Canadian Bacon 1 sl,, chard, sweet potato, coffee

12:30 Lunch sweet potato, beef brisket, blood orange, berries

3:30 almonds, berries

5:30 beef brisket, sweet potato, romaine salad with vinaigrette

[Priscilla]

Day Three

7:30 breakfast- 2 eggs cooked I. Butter, sweet potato, chard

12:30 lunch - romaine and baby spinach, EVVO vinaigrette, grilled asparagus, leftover roasted chicken, hard boiled eggs, olives

3:30 snack orange, almonds

5:30 - dinner - leftovers from liunch

[GFChris]

Day Three

7:30 breakfast- 2 eggs cooked I. Butter, sweet potato, chard

Is that butter?  Or is it clarified butter or ghee?

[Priscilla]

Had some grassfed butter, but usually use ghee. Is it OK?

[GFChris]

Grassfed butter is not ok on a Whole30.  If you did have that, sadly, that means a restart.  

 

Only clarified butter or ghee is ok on a Whole30.

[Priscilla]

5:30 breakfast- 2 eggs, cooked in ghee, steamed golden cauliflower