Let's Do This

[bcaadd]

I have been miserable for far too long. As if 3+ years of daily headaches wasn't enough, the last month of nausea and major fatigue has pushed me toward change. Today, while looking through Whole recipes on Instagram, I came accross the Whole30. Just reading the 1st and 2nd steps (including the Program Rules) changed my life. I am SO ready to change my every day habits and turn them into healthy ones -- and I just KNOW the Whole30 is going to be my tool to do it. Mid-read I sent the link (whole30.com) to my mom and sister; this is exactly what we need! An easy to understand, educational guide to healthy living. I spent the good part of my morning/afternoon reading (and doing) steps 2-7 (printing out all the awesome guides and templates, cleaning out my fridge, making a meal plan, ect.). I ordered It Starts With Food and the Whole30 Daily. But of course, today is also the day that a realtor is showing the house I am currently renting to prospective buyers. So while I am stuck at home with all the doors unlocked and lights on, I am keeping my Day 0 momentum going and starting my Log. When I am free to leave, I am going to the store to stock up on a weeks-worth of food. I (and hopefully mom and sister) will be following Melissa Joulwan's Whole30 Week 1 Food Plan. I am so excited to get this grocery shopping done so I can get home and start prepping for the week! Here's to changing our lives. 

 

 

A

[jtee]

I also stumbled upon the Whole30 almost accidently... after reading the program a light bulb went off.  I am only 10 days in, but I already know this is the one that is going to stick for me.

 

Good luck!

[bcaadd]

Day 1 has officially begun. This morning I had a hardboiled egg (from a local farm) before a 45 minute walk in the hills of my little town.

Breakfast:
One egg scrambled with a big handful of spinach and a few chopped cherry tomatoes, 1/4 of an avocado, a few olives, and 10 or so blueberries. One cup black coffee
(mild nausea after the hardboiled egg, but went away after breakfast)

Black tea mid-morning
(still have headache, comes and goes)

Lunch:
A scoop of Melanie Joulwan's Chocolate Chili that I prepped last night (I left out the cocoa), asparagus, 1/2 an avo, and a few black olives

(still have a lingering headache, but not as bad as earlier)
(headache got nearly unbearable after another cup of black tea, is the caffeine causing them? caved and took ibuprofen, will get Tylenol tomorrow)

Planned Dinner:
(All pre-prepped/steamed) 3 baked chicken tenders w/ salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes, sauteed asparagus/carrots/zucchini/broc, with Melanie Joulwan's Sunshine Sauce and 1/4 an avo
(Added animal protein + fat per suggestions/meal template, thanks!!)

Sleepytime tea w/ added cinnamon & turmeric

(mild lingering headache)

[Beets]

You need more food! Especially in the early days. One egg is not enough unless you are very very tiny. (Like toddler sized.) Most ppl need three eggs or eggs plus meat.

Do not fear food or fat.

[bcaadd]

You need more food! Especially in the early days. One egg is not enough unless you are very very tiny. (Like toddler sized.) Most ppl need three eggs or eggs plus meat.

Do not fear food or fat.

 

I wasn't sure, since I had a hardboiled egg before my walk. (Toddler sized, LOL..definitely not ) Glad I posted, thanks so much for the tip!

[GlennR]

Here's the meal template for reference. Try to make each meal follow the template: 1-2 palm size servings of protein, fill the rest of your plate with veggies, add some fat, limit fruits to 1-2 servings a day. It'll be very hard to go wrong with your Whole30 if you simply follow this template.

 

Good luck!

[Beets]

Yes. The template is the key to the whole 30. I printed it and taped it to my fridge.

[Kmlynne]

I also had a headache for the first several days - can be from cutting back caffeine - but usually from cutting out your sugar.  Stay hydrated and eat enough (follow the template!) and that will help!

 

Welcome to the journey!

 

PS - one serving of eggs is how many whole eggs you can hold in your hand.  I can hold 4 and I'm an averaged sized woman - I could hold 5, but then they are stacked and I don't think that counts

[bcaadd]

Thanks everyone for the tips!! Definitely helps. Day 1 in the bag, and onto Day 2. So far....

Already with the food dreams! Last night I had dreams of "accidentally" sipping or eating something and realizing it had a non-Whole30-compliant ingredient. In the dream I was really upset for the mistake, and immediately put down the food. (One was "organic" vanilla ice cream topped with espresso, after one bite I asked the server what brand the ice cream was and he said Ghirardelli, oi) 

Salted hardboiled egg before a 40 minute walk, then:

 

Breakfast: 2 eggs scrambled with spinach and cherry tomatoes, 1/3 of a sweet potato w/ cinnamon, 1/4 of an avo, and about half a handful of blueberries. One cup Celestial Seasoning's Morning Thunder black tea

*feeling much more satisfied with this larger breakfast, yesterday around 1030 I was daydreaming about lunch, today not so much

 

(just a mild headache, was yesterday's due to coffee?! we'll see)

 

Cup of Decaf Earl Grey from the Coffee Co.

 

Packed Lunch: Heaping scoop of Chocolate Chili (thank goodness for prepping!!!), asparagus, 1/2 an avo, and a few olives 

       

 (heaaaaaaadache an abnormal one too. hits me really hard for about 5-10 seconds then settles to a linger)

 

Planned Dinner: (All pre-cooked/steamed) Ground turkey thigh, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots & asparagus cooked with coconut milk, curry powder, turmeric, & cardamom. 1/3 an avo + a small handful of olives 

[Jlee]

Hey, we're starting at the same time so I'll be looking to you for meal ideas and also we can compare any effects we feel.   Hopefully it will cure you of your headaches. 

[bcaadd]

Hey, we're starting at the same time so I'll be looking to you for meal ideas and also we can compare any effects we feel.   Hopefully it will cure you of your headaches. 

 

Thank you and yay! I've been looking for people who have started around the same time as me and have been finding mostly people who are close to ending there's now (maybe I'm not looking in the right places?) Looking forward to following your journey, and definitely a buddy to compare with.

 

 

My mom and sister and with me, -ish. They read the Intro and Program Rules, and also the print-outs on my fridge. We all pitched in on groceries, I prepped/cooked/steamed my little heart out, and the past 2 mornings have made breakfast for the 3 of us, packed my mom's lunch, and told my sis what to have while she's home. The rough part for me is finding a nutritionally equivalent or somewhat equivalent replacement for avocados for my mom. She is extremely allergic (anaphylactic reaction almost immediately with even the smallest cross-contamination), so I have been making her plate first and serving up the avo for my sis and I after she is away. I've been giving her olives (ingredients on can read: water, olives, salt) as a healthy fat? Any suggestions would be GREATLY appreciated!! 

[Kmlynne]

Olives are a great fat - so is coconut. Cook with ghee or olive oil or coconut oil to bring fat into your food. I also cook with duck fat, lard and tallow for different tastes. Nuts are ok to use occasionally as a fat. The shopping list is great - it tells you he best cooking and eating fats, as well as occassional use fats and not so good fats.

Www.whole30.com/downloads/whole30-shopping-list.pdf

[bcaadd]

Sounds like I'm on the right track then Thank you!! Day 2 down, and onto day 3...

Boyfriend spent the night which means I slept in and no walk

Morning Thunder black tea w/ added cinnamon & cardamom

Breakfast: 2 eggs scrambled with spinach and cherry tomatoes, 1/4 of a sweet potato with cinnamon, 1/4 an avo, and a few blueberries (Subbed mom's avo with a handful of coconut flakes)

(no headache yet!!!!!)

Yogi Blues Away tea

Planned Lunch: Heaping scoop of Chocolate Chili (SO good by the way), asparagus, raw zucchini, 1/2 an avo, and a few olives

(very very mild aching headache)

Making a Costco run (we are flying through veggies!) so dinner is to be determined. Think I'm going to try the Thai Basil Beef from the Whole30 Daily Day 1 email

[bcaadd]

Yesterday's dinner ended up being baked salmon w/ lemon, capers, and rosemary, garlic cauliflower mash, asparagus, green beans, and a few olives. Super delish, and another day in the bag! Onto Day 4, what I think is going to be one of my most challenging days....Im currently headed to a Giants game, where I normally indulge in a few beers and some kind of yummy greasy cheesy ballpark food. Today I packed an alternative lunch, although I know the smell of garlic fries and the sight of my boyfriends fresh cool beer is going to taunt me but I can do this!!! Maybe some seltzer and lime over ice?

Morning Thunder black tea

Breakfast: Leftover salmon scrambled with 2 eggs, spinach, and tomatoes. 1/3 an avo, a few blueberries and raspberries

Packed Lunch: 3 baked chicken tenders (salt pepper and garlic powder or red pepper flakes), asparagus, 1/4 an avo and a handful of cashews
Wish me luck!!! (More like willpower and strength )

Pure Leaf Unsweetened black tea

Yogi St Johns Wort tea and a hardboiled egg (was suuuuper hungry when we got home from the game)

Dinner: Chicken stir fry w/ broc, carrots, and asparagus over cauliflower rice and a few olives
(Had a surprise guest and ended up not being about to stretch the food far enough so I ate a hardboiled egg and some raw carrots afterwards)

A large glass of seltzer water with lime

Can't believe I didn't eat even a bite of nachos! Definitely feeling accomplished

[bcaadd]

Woke up with a headache but went away after breakfast

Morning Thunder black tea

Breakfast: 2 eggs scrambled with spinach and tomatoes and half an avo, salted

St Johns Wort tea

Lunch: Ground turkey w/ onions, broc, and carrots, curry style over cauliflower rice. 1/4 baked & salted sweet potato and a small handful of olives

St Johns Wort tea

"Sassy Water" (water w/ cucumber, lemon, ginger & mint)

Planned Dinner: Baked chicken (salt, pepper, and garlic powder or red pepper flakes) w/ sunshine sauce, a small artichoke, few slices of salted sweet potato, and a handful of olives

Sleepytime Tea w/ added cinnamon, turmeric, and cardamom

(mild achey base of my neck headache tonight)

[bcaadd]

Holy food prep! Playing a little catch up this morning, yesterday was crazy. The highlight was my mom surprising me with an immersion (stick) blender!!! My Day 6 was spent prepping: Crockpot carne asada, Chocolate Chili, 2 lbs ground turkey thigh, Silky Gingered Zucchini Soup, broccoli soup, cauliflower rice, steamed broccoli and carrots, pesto, Sunshine Sauce, mayo, and sour cream. Phew!

Morning Thunder black tea

Breakfast: 3 eggs scrambled with spinach and tomato, a few black olives

Sassy Water

Lunch: Ground turkey thigh, onions, broccoli, and carrots curry style with a few black olives (a new house favorite, SO delicious and super quick/easy)

Sassy Water

St Johns Wort tea

Dinner: Crockpot carne asada lettuce wrap style (romaine lettuce, 2 small) topped with store-bought compliant salsa, homemade "sour cream", and guac. A small bowl of zucchini soup & a few olives

St Johns Wort tea

Sleepytime tea w/ cinnamon, turmeric, & cardamom

(pretty bad headache all day, drank lots of water to try to get rid of it and took a supplement broynia(?) but ended up taking ibuprofen a little while after dinner. still need tylenol)

[bcaadd]

Now today....Day 7 (already?!)...

Morning Thunder black tea

Breakfast: 2 eggs scrambled w/ chocolate chili, 1/4 of an avo, 1/3 of a small sweet potato w/ salt

Packed Lunch: Heaping scoop of Chocolate Chili over cauliflower rice w/ a little sour cream, broccoli and 1/4 of an avo

Dinner is to be determined. My family and I are going to a Broadway show this evening and due to the timing of it we will be having dinner in a restaurant. I will research today and see which nearby one will be the easiest for us all to stick to. Feeling confident though!

[bcaadd]

Alright, restaurants are harder than I thought. So hard to find the needed information, I found myself wishing I just brought a meal from home that I knew was compliant! After much research, we ended up at Chipotle, their ingredient list looked completely compliant!! After the meal, I was a little nauseas so I decided to dig further, and found out their chicken AND fajita veggie mix is cooked with rice bran oil!!! 😩 Luckily, it doesn't require a restart but I'm still bummed that something non-compliant made into my dinner. Feeling bloated (maybe just from being on day 7, but maybe not). Well, lesson learned.

(headache to the point of taking excedrin, dangit I need Tylenol)

Dinner: @ Chipotle, salad w/ chicken, fajita mix, pico de gallo, hot salsa, & guacamole

Stash's Chai Spice black tea

Sleepytime tea w/ cinnamon, turmeric, & cardamom

[bcaadd]

On the bright side, my copy of ISWF came today

[bcaadd]

Day 8, no headache all day!!!!!

Breakfast: 2 eggs scrambled with spinach, zucchini soup and a few olives

Morning Thunder black tea

Lunch: Hard boiled egg and a few olives (I know better, just had a crazy day with lots of driving and no time)

Pure Leaf unsweetened black tea

Seltzer & lime

Dinner: Large breast of chicken (salt, pepper, red pepper flakes) w/ sunshine sauce, cauliflower rice, zucchini soup, handful of olives

[bcaadd]

Day 9

Morning Thunder black tea

Breakfast: 2 eggs scrambled w/ spinach and tomatoes + handful of olives

St. John's wort tea

Lunch: Baked chicken tender, hardboiled egg, olives (totally lacking veggies, was in such a rush this morning but no excuse!!!)

Yogi Relaxed Mind tea

Dinner: 3 baked chicken tenders slathered in Sunshine Sauce (obsessed), garlic cauliflower mash, and broccoli.

(very very mild achey headache tonight)