Julene's August Whole30 Log

[whoisjulene]

Day 17: Having coffee with dinner last night was such a rookie mistake - I couldn't fall asleep until after 1AM, and I was awake around 7am, which leaves me with roughly 6 hours of sleep. No more caffeine in the afternoon/evenings, I think. (Does that make me sound like my mother? I think it does. This is quite depressing.)

Breakfast: Iced coffee with a smidge of coconut milk, 2 chicken/turkey sausage, 2 eggs, cauliflower and ~3/4cup of homemade baba ganoush -->

Lunch: big ol' salad (1 cucumber, 1 handful baby spinach, scallions, olive oil & lemon juice), 1 can tuna, 1 medium avocado, small organic fuji apple & 1 lemon Larabar

Something was definitely off today with the hunger issues. I think all the animal fat in the AM for the last two days did a lot to keep me from NEEDING to eat until later in the day... and thus, not getting bitchslapped by a hunger-demon halfway through my afternoon.

Snack: entire package of organic turkey slices (no funny non-W30 additives either), 1/2 avocado

Pre-workout: 1Tbs. coocnut butter

Leg dayd = yay! Since I know I have a "training day" on Sunday, I thought I'd go the course and do some lifty stuff.

I forgot to hard boil eggs (which is to say I forgot to walk by the deli that has hardboiled eggs still in the evening) so I stopped by WF and had one of their grassfed locally sourced burgers a la Bowery Burger to hold me over until I got home. The guys behind the counter gave me some weird looks over the instructions of how I wanted it considering there was no bun involved...

Dinner: Burger mentioned above wrapped in lettuce, tomato, red onion, grilled onions and jalapenos. As I was walking home -- yes, eating the burger, because I have no shame -- I realized the jalapenos weren't fresh, probably came out of a jar, and therefore weren't Whole30 approved. I peeled those suckers off and left them... on the street. Sorry, little spicey homies.

So I walked home and had a sweet potato with cinnamon, salt & pepper, as well as 2Tbs. coconut butter and several almonds. Oh, and a couple scoops of baba ganoush because I love the stuff. This brings me to realization number infinity: my salt sensitivity is through the roof right now. I already use less salt than most recipes call for (BBG included) yet as I was eating it my mouth was NOT happy.

As another aside: why does Whole Foods cook EVERYTHING in canola oil? This has been driving me nuts since my last Whole 30 a few months ago. When I was in there today I realized 98% of hot bar/deli/fresh stuff they offer is slathered in it. Downer.

Conclusion: I ate pretty okay and I worked out and now I'm tired so I'm gonna watch Boardwalk Empire and hermit my little hiney off.

[whoisjulene]

Day 18!

Last night was a Friday and I had no desire to go out/was exhausted from leg day. I was IN BED at like 9:50pm, woke up once at 5:30am to pee but slept through til 9am. That's so much sleep I can barely handle it! (No really, I am so excited by sleeping that much. Clearly I really needed it.)

Pre-Workout: Small Morroccan pork chop --> http://www.theclothe...can-pork-chops/

Today was cardio day. I am really not a big fan of cardio day(s), so I have made two rules for them: only 2-3 days of cardio per week, and never for more than 30 minutes. Today I did "2+1"s (two minutes sprinting, one minute walking) -- in 23 minutes I did 2.22miles. It was miserable, but short-lived.

Post-WO/Breakfast: 4 eggs with chives & 5 Chinese Spices. 1/2 a small red bell pepper. 1Tbs coconut butter.

After eating I realized what I really wanted was coffee, so I bought some & threw it in the blender with 1/2 a frozen banana, 1/4cup of coconut milk, some ice cubes & cinnamon. Delicious!

So this is where I made some major deviations from every other meal I've had during my Whole 30... I wasn't hungry after this. Like I tried to be hungry, but it just wasn't working out. So I had 1/2 a cup of baba ganoush (seriously I have so much of this stuff leftover it's not even funny) and went off to meet up with a friend... we wound up seeing a movie and then walking around Manhattan for 5 hours, so that was pretty neat.

It's now close to 1am and I'm having my dinner, which is a ton of steamed broccoli with olive oil, lemon juice, salt & pepper and... mint & parsley pesto ---> http://www.theclothe...5/presto-pesto/

Plus a handful of almonds and 2 heaping Tbs of "Let's Do Organic" coconut cream. (That stuff is nowhere near as thick or delicious as Artisana coconut butter, by the way. Which is why I just ordered four jars online -- for less than $10 a pop for 16oz. with free shipping. EFF YES!)

I'd say I feel bad but given the sheer amount of protein I've had in the last 17 days I really don't think it's a big deal to listen to my body, eat my veggies, and drink a lot of water. Tomorrow I have an intro to barbell training at 2pm, and I will make sure to get lots of delicious meat into my mouth before the day is over.

[whoisjulene]

Day 19: Failed at sleeping last night - went to bed around 3am, woke up of my own accord around 9am

Breakfast: Morroccan pork chop, half an avocado and steamed zucchini. Black coffee thrown in a blender with ice, half a frozen banana, cinnamon and a drizzle of coconut milk.

Pre-workout: Several slices of cucumber with baba ganoush, 2 eggs over-easy with coconut aminos, pepper & lemon juice.

Barbell training was rad - I made a new friend (and potentially 15 new foes for taking my sweet ass time learning the movements necessary)

Lunch: 1 boar burger with pineapple, grilled onions & tomato, wrapped in lettuce. Coconut oil & avocado massaged kale salad.

Then I went and hung out with some friends for a few hours of trivia before coming home, brining/cooking chicken and making 4 bell peppers… which I accidentally left in a pinch too long. :/ Hopefully they are salvageable (not as moist as I'd like, top layer of filling a little crunchy, etc.)

Dinner: Leftovers from baked bell peppers stuffing, cucumbers with baba ganoush, 2 Tbs coconut goo that is not as delicious as the "real stuff"

Tomorrow I am starting a new lifting program, looking forward to big gains in the next few months. (Bulk for winter, cut for summer!)

Day 20! Slept about 7.5 hours last night, then got up and prepped my breakfast & lunch for the day.

Breakfast: 1 stuffed bell pepper, steamed zucchini.

Lunch: Big A** Salad (sorry Rho, stealing your fake-cussin' salad talk) with mixed greens, baby spinach, some assorted tiny tomatoes

Snack: Smaller stuffed bell pepper, 1 small organic fuji apple, 1 packet cashew butter.

Dinner: Coconut oil & avocado massaged kale salad on top of a Huge A** Pile of Mixed Greens, 1 Moroccan pork chop (staple in my diet? yes. yes they are.) and 1 sweet potato with 3ish teaspoons of coconut goo.

Day 21: Overslept because I (ugh) brought my laptop to bed with me. I need to stay strong with my bedroom being a "no laptop" zone.

Breakfast: Pork chop, some veggie I don't remember. Olives.

Lunch: Big Frickin' Salad (mixed greens, chicken breast, black olives) with the remnants of the last of the Coconut/Avocado Salad at the bottom.

Snack: Bing cherries, olives, rest of my salad.

Dinner: Running late, tired… got out of a movie later than expected so I went to Chipotle & had the Carnitas salad (no beans) with two different salsas and guacamole.

When I got home I was still hungry (I walked home from 34th St. to enjoy the weather...) so I had some bing cherries and a scant 1Tbsp. of coconut goo. I'm realizing the stuff I bought the "hold me over" is rather gritty and totally thrashes my tongue/roof of my mouth. Good thing some Artisana is on its way to my greedy, coconut goo-hoarding hands.

I was in bed by 11 and woke up just shy of my 7:30am alarm, so I'm definitely seeing the difference in my sleep patterns - provided I pay attention to them.

[Rho]

It's cool...I stole Big A** Salad from Mark Sisson so it's fair game.

I want to know what your lifting program consists of!

[whoisjulene]

It's cool...I stole Big A** Salad from Mark Sisson so it's fair game.

I want to know what your lifting program consists of!

I've been reading a lot of MDA over the last few days... his post yesterday about fat metabolism in women vs. men was SUPER interesting. (And you know, a little on the common sense side, which I feel like a lot of Paleo-ish chicks could use a reminder of every now and then.)

I'm doing a modified version of beginner StrongLifts: http://stronglifts.com/stronglifts-5x5-beginner-strength-training-program/

Day A: Squat 5x5 reps, bench 5x5, pendlay row 5x5, machine assisted chin-ups 3 sets of as many as I can do

Day B: Squat 5x5, overhead press 5x5, deadlift 1x5, machine-assisted dips 3x as many as I can do

That's 3 days a week, swapping between A & B days. I up everything by 5# per session except the deadlift, which goes up 10# per session. Is it weird that I find hitting my chest with the bar during Pendlay rows to be... really, really awesome? Like, making up for everything wrong in the world level of awesome?

I need to incorporate cardio, though I do a lot of brisk walking on the daily -- example: yesterday I walked a little over 3 miles home from the movies instead of taking the subway. And when I walk... I walk. Long legs, you're so useful after all!

The hard thing for me is I've read a thousand differing opinions on how to do my "cardio" for fat burning. MDA had something about... seconds of sprinting vs. walking recovery but now I can't find it. Isn't that what you do?

[Derval]

Looks great, I did starting strength in '10 which is similar.

[daisydaisy]

Black coffee thrown in a blender with ice, half a frozen banana, cinnamon and a drizzle of coconut milk.

This sounds absolutely amazing!

Oh - and THANK YOU for your refreshing honesty, it was really really good to see plenty of that! Seeing a food log (this is the first time I've looked, as am on day 2) spells out the true stages of feeling pretty sh*tty about life and then seeing the improvements, whereas I think it's all too easy to get to day 30 and think "woohoo I feel amazing, sure it was tough along the way... but the benefits are worth it", and genuinely forget quite how tough it was!

[Rho]

I read that fat metabolism post as well. Definitely good information. I wish he would've expanded more on ways we can benefit more from exercise & diet since that advice is tailored more towards men. But then that kind of goes against keeping shit in perspective. Oops!

Any high intensity cardio is great for fat burning. Just as long as it isn't a chronic stressor like running 7 miles everyday forever. Walking is awesome. Here's a good article from MDA on the science behind sprinting:

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/why-we-dont-sprint-anymore-plus-a-primal-health-challenge/#axzz24Ju9KsAd

And some sprinting workouts:

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/the-book/references/sprint-workout-suggestions/#axzz24Ju9KsAd

I try to mix up my sprinting so I don't really have a set workout.

[whoisjulene]

Day 22!

Okay, I'm really getting the hang of this sleeping thing. Like, really really. A key component for me is leaving my laptop in the living room - I cannot be tempted if it's far from me! Also, that's meant not "working" in bed, meaning once I do lay down I fall asleep faster. Left to my own devices I'm waking up somewhere between 7am and 9am, depending on the day. Last night I was in bed around 11pm.

Breakfast:

- large black iced coffee

- 1 stuffed bell pepper

- 2 eggs

- Spinach with ginger

- 1/3 avocado (turned out it was dysfunctional, not fully ripe but half overripe? I dunno man, that sucker got thrown out)

Lunch:

- Big A** Salad: mixed greens, diced red onions, chicken breast, coconut oil, ginger powder, cinnamon and lemon juice

- 1 mango (it was big, it was delicious. I have realized the only sugar I'm craving is fruit sugar, and not even all the time)

- 1/2 an avocado (purchased a new one at the store)

Snack:

- 2 hardboiled eggs (eating these is so attractive, right?)

- 1/2 avocado

Day 2 of the new lifting program (Day B as detailed in response to Rho)

- walked to the gym,

- 5 minute walking warm up on the treadmill, movement stretches

- 5x5 squat: 50#

- 2x2 overhead press: 45#

- 4x5 overhead press: 35#

(My shoulders are... goofy. There's just no other way to put it.)

- 3x5 deadlift: 55#

- 3x? assisted dips: 60# -- 7, 6, 6

Dinner:

- 2 Moroccan pork chops

- 1/2 sweet potato

- Big A** Salad: mixed greens, chives, mint & parsley pesto w/ 2 capfuls of red wine vinegar

[Rho]

There's gotta be a way to make hardboiled eggs sexy...

I'm pretty FUCKING excited about your lifting regimen.

[whoisjulene]

Day 23!

I passed out just shy of 10:30pm last night - which is sad, because it meant going down into the buildings basement when I woke up this morning to get my whites. Thankfully, they were dry. (This, btw, means I got 9 hours of sleep. W.T.F.)

Breakfast:

- Iced hazelnut coffee, black (hazelnut roasted, not flavored)

- 3 eggs scrambled into sauteed zucchini noodles

- 1 stuffed bell pepper

- 1/2 avocado

I feel like hacking breakfast; after my discovery that pork chops in the morning led to me feeling sated longer, I started wondering about the fats I was consuming in the morning. So I ate everything else first, felt full, and then ate the 1/2 an avocado. I felt a little too full after 30 minutes, so this might need some tweaking.

Lunch:

- Big A** Salad: mixed greens, little tomatoes, scallions, mint & parsley pesto, 2 capfuls red wine vinegar

- 1 chicken breast

- 1/2 avocado

- 1 banana

I wasn't hungry til almost 2pm - a rarity for me! But then, by 4pm I was just… itching to eat, I guess. Stopped through Essex St. Market to pick up some essentials to make dinner becauuuuuse it was new recipe night up in this b*tch.

I definitely snacked on some pineapple while I cooked. What? It's not like I was going to NOT chow at least a little bit...

Dinner:

- Pina Colada Chicken with Calypso Confetti Califlower --> http://www.theclothesmakethegirl.com/2009/09/23/dinner-and-a-movie%E2%84%A2-the-emmy-awards-and-pina-colada-chicken-with-calypso-confetti-cauliflower/

Since I don't have a food processor I grated the cauliflower, but the consistency came out just fine. I definitely doubled up on the chicken (and still think, maybe, it needed MOAR CHXN) and was absolutely faaaaamished by the time it was ready to go. Note to self: do this sh*t in advance. Also, I didn't have time to screw around with finding additive free canned pineapple, so I bought fresh & diced it up really fine with my handy dandy… knife.

Anyway - verdict? Amazing. Delicious. Scrumptious. So glad I have enough to eat it again tomorrow night.

Looks like cauliflower rice will become a staple in time for winter.

Since I have a Saturday deadline for a 3000 word article I haven't exactly written yet, I'm pretty sure it'll be a late night. And tomorrow might, too. These things happen. Which means no, I didn't go to the gym to do sprints... but I'll do them at least once this weekend, and considering I live in Manhattan I walk all the time. (Look at me, rationalizing my slackerdom.)

[whoisjulene]

Ruh oh... okay, so.... I binged like crazy last night before bed. Sorry world!

Binge breakdown:

• 4 frozen bananas (I think - I break them into halves)
  
• 3 handfuls of raw almonds
  
• cinnamon
  
• god only knows how much coconut oil
  

Welp, it was bound to happen. Under deadline (which I, of course, got nothing done on) and I freaked and binge ate. Although, to be fair, I was sure I was hungry. I just kept... going back for more.

Whatever. Fuck it. I tried! I TRIED AND I AM NOT PERFECT, WORLD!

.... talking to yourself on a message thread has got to be a sign of insanity. I have 2500ish more words to push out before this time tomorrow. Either send help or a package of coconut/cashew butter.

[Rho]

How's your water intake? I've increased mine recently and it's helped with nighttime hunger pangs, hunger pangs in general. I'm not going balls deep into the jar of coconut butter like I used to. I also force myself to only eat within a certain time frame. That last bit may not be the healthiest route, but whatever works...

[whoisjulene]

How's your water intake? I've increased mine recently and it's helped with nighttime hunger pangs, hunger pangs in general. I'm not going balls deep into the jar of coconut butter like I used to. I also force myself to only eat within a certain time frame. That last bit may not be the healthiest route, but whatever works...

Funny you mention this - I've doubled my water intake and I think it's helping. Been doing a lot of research about LG/IF over the last few days, as I think a big part of what I need is the "stopping point" time-wise to keep me from munching through the night.

[whoisjulene]

Day 24!

I went to bed at 11pm stuffed, I woke up at 5:30am inexplicably and kinda... half-dozed until I got up around 7:30am. To be fair, i had a lot of anxiety about missing my deadline (which I still might - this post? Further procrastinating.)

Breakfast: a scramble of all of the below

- 5 eggs scramble: 1/2 white onion, 1/2 yellow bell pepper, garlic with black better, 5 Chinese Spice

- 1/2 container raw macadamia nuts (these are better than anything ever. ADDICTIVE.)

Lunch:

- Big A** Salad: baby spinach, 1/2 red bell pepper, baby tomatoes, one diced plum tomato, 1 avocado

- 2 cans tuna fish (drained & mixed into the BAS)

- 1 Minneola orange

- 1/2 package raw macadamia nuts (like I said above...)

I do not miss lifting days, though I have been known to skip a cardio day without hesitation. These are known as 'priorities'.

Day A:

Squat 55# 5x5

Bench press 50# 5x5

Pendlay row 50# 5x5

Assisted chin-ups: 60# 3x 5, 4.5, 5

Dinner:

- Half the leftover Pina Colada chicken (a hefty pile), plus another half of a sautéed chicken breast and a few more pieces of pineapple

- 1 baked sweet potato

And now, you are all going to want to kick me in the head, which is fine: I stayed up all night (as in it's now 10am and I have a full day ahead) to make sure I met my deadline. I had one cup of coffee around 1am and just water since then. Today I'm going to be taking it easy and in bed VERY early. Meal things to follow.

[whoisjulene]

Day 25!

So I was up all night, took a 1 hour nap (ha!) before I had things to do.

Breakfast: (roughly 1pm)

- 1 Morroccan pork chop

- steamed broccoli

- medium iced black coffee

Then I went to see this really amazing movie ('Sleepwalk With Me' -- if you're into This American Life on NPR it's right up your alley!) and I wanted a snack to go along with my huge bottle of water… so I made due with what I could find that was W30 approved in CVS.

… needless to say, my options were limited.

Snack: 2-3ish servings unsoldered, organic dried fruit (raisins, cherries, apples & mango)

I'm gonna go on a limb here and tell you guys that my eating pattern for the rest of the day pretty much sucked, and that's just how things go when you're up all night sometimes. I don't feel bad or guilty because I still ate WELL, did a lot of walking out of necessity

Lunch: (6pm?)

- 1 6oz grass-fed lamb burger with bell peppers, apple smoked onions, & avocado wrapped in lettuce

- 1 cup iced coffee, black

Dinner (after midnight)

- 8oz organic burger

- 2 eggs

- 2 strips of bacon

- 1/3 avocado

served over mixed greens

Went to bed at 2:45am, gonna try to get up and work out first thing tomorrow (closer to midday, of course) since I have a ton of not-job-work-but-still-work to do tomorrow.

Day 26!

I decided to try something a little different today at a few friends' insistence, so I went to my workout fasted, after taking 10mg BCAA's. Drinking chalk water might be the least awesome way to get yourself hyped for a workout… but it worked, I think.

squat: 60# 5x5

OHP: 36# 5x5

DL 65# 3x5

dips w/ 60# assistance: 3x 9, 5.5, 6

Lunch: 7oz Denver steak

-broccoli

- 3 eggs with chives & 5 Chinese spice

- 1/2 avocado

Dinner:

- remains of pina colada chicken & f'rice

- 1 extra chicken breast

- 1 sweet potato

& SWMPO

- 1/2 banana

- 1/2 avocado

- 1/3cup of coconut milk

- cinnamon & cocoa powder

Trotted off to bed around 11 - not too shabby!

[whoisjulene]

So I didn't log stuff here (but stayed on plan) -- and now I have a problem:

A co-worker brought me an iced Vietnamese coffee after lunch. "Delightful!" I thought.

... I made it through half the coffee (not a huge glass by any means) and now have horrible stomach problems and a horrific headache. Because there's both dairy (condensed milk) and (presumably) sugar in this concoction, I feel like I kinda let myself down by drinking it. Also, now I feel like crap.