jent103's W30 #2

[jent103]

I'm back for more! I did my first Whole30 last July/August; I participated in a thread here while doing it, but didn't keep a personal log, so I thought I'd give that a try this time to see if it helps with finding patterns in feeling awesome/crappy. I've been eating probably 75-80% W30 and 85-90% Paleo since my first Whole30. But in the last month I've been offroading more than usual and have also taken a two-week vacation where it was very hard to eat Paleo, so I'm really looking forward to a reset!

 

I have PCOS with insulin resistance and some very stubborn belly fat (the worst place for extra weight, health-wise - this could be related to the PCOS, diet, or stress/sleep, or likely all three, as I have a tendency toward stress of my own making!). So my real goals are to get back to feeling my best and to focus not only on food, but also on stress and sleep. I don't have a scale anymore, but I'll be taking measurements later today. I'm also setting goals this month to make it to yoga 2-4 times a week and do some resistance training daily (pushups and planks mostly - I want to be able to do a real chaturanga sooner rather than later!).

 

The real fun starts tomorrow!

[jent103]

Day 1! Should have gotten 7 solid hours of sleep, but woke up an hour before my alarm thanks to a vivid dream, early sunshine in the summer, and/or jet lag. Not the best start, but oh well.

 

Meal 1: 1/2-3/4 cup sunrise scramble (Well Fed 2 - this is my default breakfast right now) with three poached eggs and a salad bowl filled with spinach topped with sliced strawberries, pecans, olive oil and balsamic

 

16oz black coffee at work

 

Meal 2: five-cup Tupperware filled with romaine, radishes, kohlrabi from my CSA, plus green beans, a whole can of tuna, half an avocado, a hard-boiled egg and a few pieces of (compliant) bacon, topped with creamy Italian dressing (Well Fed) + a cup of strawberries (I do love strawberry season)

 

Meal 3 should be slow cooker chicken and gravy (Nom Nom Paleo) with garlic mashed cauliflower and bok choy sauteed in ghee. (ETA: Plus a peach. A luscious early-season peach.)

 

I usually don't eat too many salads, but it's greens season with my CSA!

[jent103]

Movement yesterday: did 20 regular full pushups, 20 tricep pushups on my knees, plank for a minute and side plank for probably 30 seconds each. My arms were not feeling the side planks post-pushups - I might need to tweak that!

 

Got about 6:45 of good sleep last night before waking up early for yoga.

 

Meal 1: sunrise scramble with eggs and a bowl of Bubbie's sauerkraut

 

Cutting the coffee back to 12oz today. I got used to less caffeine on vacation and felt a little jittery yesterday - a good reminder that it's not the best for me. But I do love the taste of coffee!

[jent103]

Meal 2: Scotch egg, big salad with romaine, kohlrabi, radishes and avocado and creamy Italian dressing, one peach

 

Realized halfway through dinner last night that I hadn't been truly conscious of a single bite I'd taken - I was watching TV and on my phone all at once. That needs to be something I work on too.

 

Got tons of greens in my CSA box today - bok choy and regular cabbage, lettuce, two bags of Swiss chard, plus sugar snap peas, green onions, strawberries, three kohlrabi and more radishes. I am not pumped about more salad - we'll see what else I can come up with!

[jent103]

That lunch did not keep me full - I never felt fully satiated, and got hungry way before usual. Salads rarely fill me up, but I'm not sure what else to do with all this CSA lettuce!

 

Meal 3, eaten at work before a commitment at 7: slow cooker chicken and mashed cauliflower with gravy, bok choy with ghee (prepped last night when I made dinner). Since I'm eating so early (for me), I have some toasted coconut flakes in case I get hungry later.

[jent103]

Movement last night: 30 seconds each side of side plank, one minute of forearm plank, 20 of each kind of pushups (split into sets of ten after those planks - maybe one goal can be to do all this at once without needing to rest!). Skipped the squats because my hamstrings were already super sore, from squats or yoga I'm not sure.

 

Woke up an hour before my alarm again, so only 6-6.5 hours of sleep. If this were me waking up refreshed without an alarm, I'd be thrilled, but it's either the early sunrise or dreams (last night I dreamed my neighbor had snuck into my garage to use my recycling bin, and had also grown dreadlocks - good times). So that needs to stop.

 

Meal 1 today: scramble, eggs, kraut

 

16oz coffee, as I was dragging. Not sure if that's lack of sleep or the W30 timeline - I'd been hoping to avoid the worst effects, since I've been eating W30ish for months, but maybe that second week of vacation affected me more than I even realized. At least I didn't dream about cinnamon rolls like I did on my first day 3!

 

Meal 2, eaten outside with a friend (yay): Scotch egg, broccoli salad from Well Fed 2, carrots dunked in remoulade

[jent103]

Meal 3 yesterday: Slow cooker chicken and mashed cauliflower with gravy, plus probably 1/4 head bok choy sauteed in ghee, salt and pepper. Ghee makes everything better. Also my last peach.

 

Dinner was early and I got home late, so had a hard-boiled egg with a little mayo, pepper and Himalayan sea salt on top when I got home. Yum.

 

Movement last night: 20 of each pushup, 30 seconds side/one minute regular plank, 50 squats while I brushed my teeth.

 

Sleep: Got to bed later than I hoped due to some big events in the friend-family. Woke up pre-alarm again, so probably 6.5-6.75 hours. Ideally I'd go to bed earlier so the sun doesn't wake me, but since that's not happening I need to find my eye mask!

 

Day 4, meal 1: sunrise scramble, three eggs, a little kraut and strawberries - not enough vegetables because I didn't realize how little kraut I had left and didn't have anything else prepped. Hope to make up for it later! I have some homemade sauerkraut going, so we'll see how that turns out.

 

Today was the day in my first Whole30 when I yelled at my iPod for no real reason. Here's hoping I avoid that this time! Feeling pretty good so far.

[jent103]

It was one crazy weekend, so I'm playing catchup on the log!

 

Day 4, meal 2: last Scotch egg with remoulade, broccoli salad, I think more carrots with remoulade

Meal 3: Eaten at 9:30pm after a yoga class and a series of unexpected events! Slow cooker chicken with mashed cauliflower and gravy and sugar snap peas from my CSA.

 

Movement: vinyasa flow class. Sleep: nine hours. Awesome.

 

Day 5, meal 1: scramble, eggs, kraut

Meal 2 - small, since meal 1 was more brunch and I was going out for dinner: one salmon cake, broccoli salad

Meal 3 - pulled meat and steamed veggies (surprisingly good, actually) at a bachelorette party dinner

 

Sleep: ugh. Bachelorette party involved piano bar followed by karaoke. Went to bed at 2am. Woke up on my own at 7:45. What?! At least I didn't feel terrible.

 

Day 6, meal 1: scramble, eggs, kraut, eaten around 9:30

There really wasn't a meal 2. I hosted a bridal shower at 1:00 and ate some grapes and raw veggies there, but nothing else was compliant. Ended up getting some things done when I got home and didn't eat again till meal 3. Poor form, I know.

Meal 3: Three salmon cakes with remoulade, zucchini noodles with olive oil and garlic, butter lettuce/radish salad (CSA!) with olive oil and red wine vinegar - thought I might have an apple with almond butter since I skipped lunch, but was too full after dinner.

 

Movement this weekend: lots of cooking and general activity, mowing the yard, but no formal.

 

Sleep: Just under 7 hours, again woke up before my alarm went off (set for 5:20 for yoga). This is so unlike me, the waking up before the alarm. I have no idea.

 

And now, day 7!

 

Meal 1: scramble, eggs, kraut. Currently drinking my 16oz coffee.

[jent103]

Meal 2: Last of the slow cooker chicken, cauliflower and gravy; bok choy apple slaw

 

Meal 3: Two salmon cakes with remoulade, zucchini noodles with olive oil, big CSA salad with olive oil and red wine vinegar

 

Movement yesterday: vinyasa yoga in the morning, walk in the agriculture center with a friend after work, 20 each of both pushups and regular/side planks

 

Sleep last night: over 7 hours. I'm getting there. Finally. I finally took the duvet out of my duvet cover to cool myself down at night - just been too busy/lazy to do it so far this year. Actually a little chilly when I woke up, so I'll stick a blanket on the bed tonight in case I need it.

 

Meal 1 today: scramble, eggs, kraut. Sipping on 12oz coffee.

[jent103]

Meal 2 yesterday: plantain nachos, bok choy slaw, broccoli salad.

 

Meal 3: taco salad from one of my favorite places in town (veg, meat, salsa and guac). They use good ingredients, including local grass-fed beef, so even though I was sad to miss the tortilla chips, I feel good about eating there. And honestly, I didn't miss the chips as much as I thought I would!

 

Movement yesterday: pushups, planks.

 

Sleep last night: about 6.5 hours. Not ideal. Got up at 5:30 for 6am yoga.

 

Meal 1: the usual. Now at work, have 12oz coffee to last through the morning. (Side note: I adore my Thermos mug. I routinely sip my coffee over three hours!)

[jent103]

Meal 2 yesterday: plantain nachos, sugar snap peas, bok choy slaw

Meal 3: salmon cakes, remoulade, broccoli salad. (Sadly I think those salmon cakes do not really agree with me - I tend to have mild to moderate stomach issues after. Maybe the almond meal?)

 

Movement: 25 tricep pushups, 20 regular, 45 seconds each side plank, nearly two minutes in regular plank with several down dog breaks

Sleep: just under 7 hours, but thunderstorms in the middle of the night, so not great quality. Plus I was anxious about this morning.

 

Today is going to be a weird, not-ideal food day, due to an early start and a class after work.

 

"Meal 1" = apple with almond butter, before a 7:30 coffee date that I didn't want to eat a big breakfast before. Had an herbal tea at the coffee shop.

 

Meal 2 = black coffee, scramble and poached eggs at work at 10:30. (Side note: this is the first time I've ever poached eggs ahead of time, and it worked really well! I kept them in a separate container and put them on top of the hash after I heated it up.)

 

Meal 3 = plantain nachos with avocado and lime cumin sauce, bok choy slaw, broccoli salad

 

Meal 4 = can of tuna with homemade mayo and pecans + very generous handful of sugar snap peas. Thrown together after finally getting home and before going to bed. This is why I keep tuna around!

[robotarmy]

Hi jent103! I'm just perusing the whole30 logs today, enjoying reading about how it's going for everyone, and one of your posts caught my eye with a mention of a Scotch egg! Do you have a reliable recipe that's w30 compliant? I LOVE Scotch eggs and was just trying to explain their awesomeness to a friend!

 

Hope you're having a great whole30!

[Contessa]

Do you have a reliable recipe that's w30 compliant? I LOVE Scotch eggs and was just trying to explain their awesomeness to a friend!

 

 

I'm kinda elbowing in on this conversation, but this one appears to be W30 compliant and looks pretty tasty:

http://theclothesmakethegirl.com/2010/05/17/scotch-eggs-a-k-a-protein-pellets/

(I think it's compliant if you leave out the fried pork rinds!) 

 

Haven't tried it myself, but I love this blogger/cookbook author. Her recipes are reliably delicious. 

[jent103]

The one Contessa posted is the one I used! It's in the original Well Fed cookbook, and she lists some flavor variations too. Worked really well, except I needed to wrap my sausage better, I think - all but one of the eggs had the sausage come apart in the oven so the egg showed through. No big deal though! I didn't find pork rinds in my store so just did without and they were still good.

 

I'd never made them before, but was inspired on my vacation - I started in London and had lunch at a place called Scotchtails, where they did Scotch eggs with runny yolks served with arugula salad and sweet potato fries. YUM. (Theirs had bread crumbs and I'm sure the fries were coated in something, so definitely not Whole30-compliant, but a great jumping off point!)

[robotarmy]

Excellent, thanks y'all! Normally I'd google and all that, but with whole30 I like to ask about tried and true recipes, because leaving out certain ingredients can alter results, you know?

 

sr robotarmy is not even ready for how many Scotch eggs he's about to eat...

[jent103]

Movement yesterday: nada, except walking across campus to the farmers' market. Long, exhausting but good day.

Sleep last night: very nearly eight hours. Glory be.

 

Taking today off work. Random weekdays off feel so delicious. Since I ate meal 1 pretty late, and have afternoon and evening plans, my meals might be weirdly timed again, but will all be compliant!

 

Meal 1 (around 10): scramble, eggs, kraut, coffee

[jent103]

Meal 2: Plantain nachos with avocado and lime cumin sauce, bok choy slaw, CSA lettuce and radishes with EVOO and red wine vinegar

 

Meal 3: Giant salad - mesclun greens, pulled turkey, pecans, apples, avocado, cucumber, dressing made with homemade mayo + balsamic

 

Got home late and ravenous; ate some roasted almonds (just dry roasted with salt). No easy protein on hand. Boo.

[jent103]

Day 12:

 

Meal 1 - friend came over for brunch (entertaining is such an easier way to socialize on Whole30 than eating out!). I made some sunrise scramble and eggs, plus a salad with romaine, chard, strawberries, pecans, walnut oil and red wine vinegar. My sweet friend brought me some banana Nutella bread and strawberry jam - I told her I'd freeze it and make sure to have it when I'm done.

 

Meal 2 - plantain nachos, avocado, lime cumin mayo, broccoli salad

 

Meal 3 - half a huge roasted chicken breast dunked in a little mayo, zucchini noodles with olive oil, something else green that I can't remember, and I think a peach?

 

Sleep: LATE night combined with having to be at church early Sunday morning, so six hours if that. It was a really fun night (great 90s cover band!) but I crashed hard the next day. It's been a crazy couple of weeks.

 

Day 13, meal 1: scramble with eggs, plus a tiny bit of kraut (last of my batch - I have another one going).

Meal 2: kale salad with a plain burger on top

Meal 3: plantain nachos, avocado, lime cumin mayo, sugar snap peas, romaine/chard/strawberry salad, plus a peach

 

Day 14:

Sleep - eight hours. Put myself to bed at 9:30. It is HARD for me to go to bed that early, even though I was completely exhausted. Got up at 5:30 for yoga.

 

Meal 1 - scramble, eggs, romaine/chard/strawberry salad

[jent103]

Meal 2 - braised Mexican brisket (NNP) with mashed cauliflower and guac, bok choy slaw, sugar snap peas

Meal 3 - taco salad with brisket, pico, salsa, guac (takeout again)

 

Movement: yoga in the morning, none at night on account of the fact that I feel like I got hit by a truck

Sleep: 7.5 hours

 

Meal 1 today: scramble, eggs, chard/romaine/pecan salad (no more strawberries, sad)

[jent103]

Meal 2 - Mexican brisket, mashed cauliflower and guac, bok choy slaw, sugar snap peas

Meal 3 - plantain nachos, avocado, lime cumin mayo, big bowl of broccoli salad, one peach

 

Movement: jack squat. I'm exhausted.

Sleep: 7 hours.

 

Meal 1 - scramble, eggs, small chard/pecan salad, one peach.

 

It's CSA day today, so I'm nearly out of my previous stash, hence the light veggies at breakfast. I have sauerkraut going that should be ready tomorrow.

 

I have GOT to get the sleep under control. I sleep fine, I just don't get enough. It's been a very crazy two weeks in my life and that happens, but I'm exhausted and need to focus on that. Fortunately things should be calming down, I think. So starting tonight, for the second half of this Whole30, hopefully I can get that going!

[jent103]

Meal 2 - Mexican brisket with cauliflower and guac, carrots dunked in mayo

 

Meal 3 will be roasted chicken with broccoli salad, eaten either at work or a friend's house. The kohlrabi I roasted last night specifically for dinner tonight is... still sitting on the shelf of my refrigerator. Whoops. If it's not super late when I get home I'll eat it then.

 

The CSA box was pretty light this week - the farm got some pretty bad flooding last week, so I'm not surprised, but I'll be hitting the farmers' market tomorrow! Sadly the meats I got were pork sausage and brats (they rotate cuts), and both have sugar in them, so I'll have to freeze them and figure out other proteins. Here's the other irony: I let them know that three of my eggs were rotten last week, in case they needed to tweak any processes, and they were so apologetic that they put "extra goodies" in my box. "Extra goodies" being... Amish baked cinnamon rolls. There's no nice way to tell those awesome people "thanks, but could you have put in some broccoli or beef instead?"

[jent103]

Movement yesterday: power vinyasa class in the morning.

Sleep: 7 hours, post-friend time. Socialization is key, after all. Taking the day off tomorrow so I'm hoping to sleep in!

 

Meal 1: scramble, eggs, kraut, a peach. Working on 12oz coffee.

 

Meal 2: brisket, mashed cauliflower, broccoli salad.

 

Meal 3: taco salad per above on my way to a class. God bless the taco place.

[jent103]

Sleep Thursday night: Five hours. Long story involving work and waking up early, yet again, without my alarm. I swear that hardly ever happened to me before this Whole30 - it'd be nice if it weren't on nights when I'm not sleeping enough as it is!

 

Friday:

Meal 1 - scramble, eggs, kraut.

Meal 2 - plantain nachos, avocado, lime cumin mayo, broccoli salad, sugar snap peas

Meal 3 - Mexican brisket and mashed cauliflower with guac, some other vegetable I can't remember

 

Sleep: Nine glorious hours.

 

Saturday:

Meal 1 - scramble, eggs, kraut

Meal 2 - kale salad and plain burger

Meal 3 - last of the plantain nachos, avocado, lime cumin mayo, broccoli salad, a little grilled zucchini

 

Sleep: 7.5 hours.

[jent103]

Sunday:

Meal 1 - scramble, eggs, kraut

Meal 2 - out with friends after church. We went to a new higher-end Lebanese place in town, and there wasn't many W30 options on the menu, but I ended up with their special salad, which has greens, a fig vinaigrette, toasted almonds, what I think were dried apricots, and I added grilled chicken. I had to leave off the goat cheese (sad) but it was really good. Score. Also two glasses of their unsweet mango iced tea.

Meal 3 - Nom Nom Paleo Big-O bacon burger with homemade peach compote (awesome), grilled zucchini, broccoli salad.

 

Went to bed at 9:30, but honestly that didn't help me much. Going to bed two hours before I have been going only threw my schedule off, especially since I'd had extra caffeine in that unsweet tea at lunch. It took me over an hour to get to sleep, judging by my sleep app. Lesson learned.

 

Sleep: <7.5 hours. Up for yoga this morning.

 

Monday:

Meal 1 - scramble, eggs, kraut. Had my coffee with breakfast instead of at work; I think that'll help with me drinking more water in the morning, but I drank the coffee too fast to get out the door and was unpleasantly full.

[jent103]

Meal 2 - bacon burger with peach compote, broccoli salad, sugar snap peas

Meal 3 - salmon cakes with remoulade, grilled pattypan squash, citrus cauliflower rice from Well Fed 2 (first time making it - AWESOME. and fast. Faster than actual rice!)

 

Movement: vinyasa yoga in the morning.

Sleep: 8:15, waking up once at some point. I'm exhausted today, which I'm taking as a sign that I'm running on actual fuel and not cortisol!

 

Tuesday:

Meal 1 - scramble, eggs, kraut. Made a full Thermos mug of coffee and drank half at breakfast, working on the other half now. Hoping for a happy medium!