Jump to content

W30 Down Under - 12th July


magritte

Recommended Posts

I kicked off my Whole30 today. Anyone wanting to tag along and share the journey with me is more than welcome. 


 


I'm a married father of 5 in my late 40's, live in Melbourne, Australia, and I'm 100% committed to making some massive changes in my life.


  • About 9 weeks ago I gave up smoking. I guess I could have stopped there and that would have been a pretty major achievement, but I would have been short-changing myself.
  • Just over 4 weeks ago I gave up drinking alcohol, having committed to a minimum of 3 months off of the booze. This was a massive step for me as I've been drinking pretty much every day for years and my drinking levels were wayyy too high. (If you're struggling with this part of the Whole30 yourself, check out http://hellosundaymorning.org for help and support).
  • 4 weeks ago I began training every day. I hadn't worked out in over 3 years and hadn't done any running since I was in high school. 3 weeks later (last Sunday) I ran my first ever 5K without stopping. Considering that when I started training I couldn't run for any more than 30 or 40 seconds without having to stop to catch my breath and was a total wreck after 1K, I'm pretty pleased with my progress. I'm signed up for the 10K at the Melbourne Marathon in October.
  • Next step is to clean up what I put on my plate - so for the next 30 days I'm committing to a Whole30. I want to be the healthiest possible version of me and by the time September rolls around I know I'll be in the best shape I've been in years.

See you on the other side  :)


 


M.


Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 51
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Day 1:

 

Breakfast:

Fresh Celery, Kale, Apple, Banana, Mango Smoothie courtesy of my Vitamix (divided 3 ways between me and my boys)

Ground Beef with onion & cumin, 3 small semi-dried tomatoes, 5 olives

1 Boiled Egg

4 small cubes of Melon

 

Lunch:

Tuna and Zucchini omelette (was using up Tuna I'd set aside after making the boys sandwiches)

 

Dinner:

Homemade chicken curry

Cauliflower rice

Sauteed Julienne Zucchini

 

 

Found I was full and couldn't finish my dinner but felt immediately snackish afterwards. Was tempted to have a piece of fruit but didn't give in. Having some herbal tea instead.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wow! Sound like you are making (and succeeding) some major changes in your life! It's going to be hard, but in the end your body will truly thank you!

I found that the best thing for me, in the beginning, was to get a copy of the meal template and post it in my kitchen. Your protein and your fats will keep you from being hungry before your next meal. (Ie, was there fat in your dinner? I am assuming coconut milk in the curry?)

Although smoothies are not prohibited on w30, they are highly discouraged. You hit your body with a lot of sugar in the morning and may wake up your sugar dragon with that much fruit.

You are making an awesome start! Good luck on your journey!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm a runner too-ran two half marathons and signed up for a full marathon when I was sidelined by a mysterious sciatica-like pain (doctors could find nothing physically wrong). After a year and a half of feeling sorry for myself (and working up to two beers a night), I started running again. I am hoping the Whole30 will address the inflammation issue in my hip. 

 

Good luck to you from the U.S.!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hey Kmlynne - thanks for the sound advice. It hadn't quite dawned on me about the impact of the smoothies so will definitely address that (I've been giving the kids green smoothies in the morning as a sneaky way to get extra veg into them). Re: fats in the dinner - you're right, there probably wasn't enough fat in there. There was coconut milk in the curry but probably not enough to contribute properly to satiety.

Great idea to post the meal template up there in the kitchen as a constant reminder :)

 

Mike - sorry to hear about your running troubles. I had a disc prolapse at the base of my spine a number of years ago which caused similar sciatica-like symptoms so I know what you're talking about. I'm getting so much benefit right now from running and all the endorphins that it supplies that I think I'd be quite lost without it - it's definitely helped me with overcoming the drinking (it was an average of a bottle of wine per night and significantly more at the weekend). It's become part of my daily routine and can understand why you'd feel miserable when not able to do it without pain. I really hope the Whole30 will help with that. Stay positive and all the best to you!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Day 2:

Breakfast:
Grass fed beef sizzling steak

Roasted peppers,mushroom, eggplant and zucchini

1/2 avocado

Boiled egg

4 cubes of Melon

 

Lunch:
Omelette - tuna, semi-dried tomatoes, zucchini

Sweet potato

Handful of Olives

 

Snack:

Banana

 

Dinner:

Bottle of Kombucha

Home made Chicken Broth (swede, carrot, onion, leek, chicken)

Mashed sweet potato with Coconut milk

Handful macadamia nuts

 

Exercise: 5.5K run

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Magritte,

I started yesterday too so I'll be happy to follow your progress along with mine. I think we are thinking alike in that I want to be the best person I can be as I approach 40. Ugh! I am a current smoker and hoping the whole30 will change my mindset (and pocket book for that matter) on this. I also found myself drinking more than necessary so here I am. Went out for my first run/walk this morning and am feeling pretty good.

Good luck and keep at it!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Have to say I'm not really finding this too much of a struggle - even when I had to make the kids their breakfast and one wanted cereal and the other wanted Nutella on toast I just thought "yeah, that smells nice" but didn't feel the need to take a bite. I figure the things I'll miss the most are potatoes and cheese. Bread I've gone without easily enough for lengthy periods.

 

My main issue has been that I tended not to eat Breakfast or Lunch at all. My work is incredibly sedentary because I'm chained to a desk all day (and I work from home so there's no activity involved in a daily commute). So my metabolism has slowed right down so that having just 1 meal per day and topping up with calories from alcohol in the evening meant that I'm overweight.

 

Stopping smoking resulted in more snacking during the day and I ended up putting on more weight.

Stopping drinking alcohol has meant that I'm now hungrier during the day but it's still a challenge to eat 3 square meals a day - I'm getting there though.

 

Starting the physical exercise has helped a huge amount I reckon.

 

Anyways - Day 3:

 

Breakfast:

Scotch Egg (made these last night from the original Well Fed cookbook - so easy and very convenient)

Mashed sweet potato

Macadamia nuts

 

Lunch:

Chicken Broth (packed with dense veggies)

Leftover chicken curry without the cauliflower rice

Macadamia nuts

Bottle of Kombucha

 

Dinner:

Ground Beef Chili with Cauliflower Rice

Banana

A spoonful of macadamia nut butter (freshly blended tonight and still warm - yum)

 

Exercise:

3.5K Intervals at 6 and 12 kmph

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As well as the structured exercise, you should try and work in as many steps a day as you can - there's lots of research to show that hitting the gym/pavement doesn't make up for sitting on your butt for 8+ hours a day, and working from home you don't even have the extra movement of heading out for lunch, printing to the furthest away printer, etc to get some motion.

 

But, man, you've made huge changes! Your kids will thank you for it when you're spending their inheritance well into your 80s :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hey GoJo - exactly the reason I went off and bought myself a Garmin Vivofit bracelet a couple of weeks back - it's basically a fancy pedometer but it prompts me if I've been sitting stationary for too long and also sets me daily challenges. So I've been at least standing up and walking (occasionally jogging) round the house while on or in between conference calls when I can although sadly sometimes it's unavoidable.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I too am at a desk most of the day. I spent ten years waitressing which kept me in great shape. Now I am a slave to the desk. I have seen a few different things coworkers have done to keep moving. Instead of going to the closest bathroom in the building I walk to the farthest. I also used to have a standing work station (I was very pregnant and had a lot of hip/pelvis pain when sitting) which was a great way to keep me up and helped with posture. A friend of mine had some peddles under the desk she could rotate while working.

Glad to hear things are going well!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Day 4:

Breakfast:

 

This breakfast thing is killing me - not used to it at all.

  • Scotch Egg
  • Celery with Macadmia Nut Butter
  • 5 Olives
  • Black Coffee

I know - not enough veg/carbs in this but seriously struggling to finish this lot. Can't face sweet potato this early in the morning. Might try adding some mushrooms & zoodles tomorrow

 

Lunch:

  • Home made grass fed beef burger
  • Mashed sweet potato
  • Roast veggies - mushrooms, eggplant, capsicum, zucchini, shallots
  • Bottle of kombucha
  • Macadamia Nut butter - loving this! Had never tried it before I made it yesterday for the first time.

 

Dinner:

Chicken Broth - heavy on the veggies

small handful of grass fed beef steak strips

Tsp macadamia nut butter

 

Exercise:

5K Run

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Oh wow like a little bike? Although it's a short step from there to being required to pedal to generate enough power to run your computer...

Yes, kind of like a bike but it fits under the desk. Kind of cool!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hey GoJo - the vivofit doesn't vibrate but the longer you sit stationary a little red bar starts to creep across the display, getting longer and longer until it SHAMES you into moving. You have to take a specific number of steps in order to reset the indicator.

 

Kaylward - thanks! Will check that Nom Nom recipe out.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Day 5:

Breakfast:

Scotch egg

Small bowl of chicken broth, mainly veg (carrot, leek, onion, swede)

2 Tsp Macadamia Nut butter

Black Tea with Lemon

 

 

Lunch:

Chicken Broth (said I'd made a ton of this stuff)

1 Apple

 

Dinner:

Rockling baked with tomato, olives and red capsicum

Stick of Celery

Mashed Sweet Potato

Bottle of kombucha

 

 

Exercise:

3K run

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Felt pretty tired yesterday - so much so that I fell asleep sitting in the car waiting on my kids to come out of the gym. This would have been at 5pm. Very unusual for me and I guess it's a sign that something in my metabolism is changing.

Of course, by the time I went to bed I couldn't get to sleep and was lying there awake until after 1am.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Day 6

 

My appetite not where it needs to be this morning to be able to finish this breakfast :(

 

Breakfast:

Ground Beef

Boiled Egg

Roast veg - capsicum, zucchini, shallots, mushrooms, eggplant

 

 

Lunch:

Chicken Broth

Cold Drip Coffee with Coconut Milk

 

 

Pre-WO:

Boiled Egg

Macadamia Nut Butter

 

Dinner:

Baked Rockling (again) with tomato, olives and capsicum

Mashed Sweet Potato

 

Exercise:

6.5K

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Day 7: Yayyy - 1 week down.

 

Breakfast: Scotch Egg

Cold drip coffee with coconut milk

 

Lunch:
Boiled Egg

Home made square sausage (1/2 pork/ 1/2 beef)

2 tsp Macadamia Nut Butter

Apple

 

Dinner:

Baked rockling, tomato, capsicum and olives

Sweet Potato

1 bottle kombucha

 

Exercise:

6.5K

Upper body /pull

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Day 8:

 

Breakfast:

Home made Lorne (square) Sausage

Sauteed mushrooms, zucchini noodles

2 fried eggs

Coconut Oil

Cold drip coffee with coconut milk

 

Lunch:

Chicken Broth

Macadamia Nut Butter

Banana

 

Dinner:

Chili minus the beans

Small baked potato (yay the spuds are back)

1 Bottle Kombucha

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Day 9

 

Breakfast:

Scrambled egg

Home made lorne sausage

Zucchini noodles

Cold drip coffee with coconut milk

 

Lunch: Was out in the city today with the kids. First time I've been out at lunchtime while on the whole30. Found out the hard way that it's next to impossible to find something compliant in the city centre at short notice. So ended up skipping lunch and having a late snack when I got in.

 

Boiled Egg

Celery

Macadamia Nut Butter

Coconut water

 

Dinner:

Roast Chicken

Broccoli

Carrots

Handful of Olives

1 Bottle of Kombucha

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.


×
×
  • Create New...