my whole 30 journey

[ranisa8]

this is my first attempt at participating in the whole 30 diet. I'm going to try to keep track of my mood and how food affects me throughout these 30 days.
day 1: I woke up feeling really groggy. getting up to do my daily hour of exercise was a challenge.
I was a bit hungry before I went out to walk so I had scrambled eggs. my energy levels never really picked up in the morning though, even when a small sized dog attacked my leg during my morning stroll.
I ate some vegetables and eggs when I got home. although I felt more awake, my mood was not as upbeat as I would have liked. I especially noticed that my facial muscles were turned down.
I was starving after coming home from an errand. I knew I should've gone straight to my apartment, but I visited my parents instead. they have two cats, and I wanted to cuddle with one of them for a bit before I went home. as soon as I got to their house I had a peach and a huge mango. that filled me up. I'm concerned about eating a lot of fruit on this diet though, so I'm focusing on only having two servings of fruit per day.
it's Difficult telling the difference between when I'm hungry for food and when I'm just bored and feel like eating. my habits regarding food are slightly erratic in that respect. this happened around 5pm when i prepared dinner. looking back now, I'm happy i had steamed vegetables and pan fried chicken. it really held me over during the evening. I hope these next few weeks will be extremely easy and fly by. time will tell though

 

Day 2: I went to bed at 1 am last night after watching marathon episodes of 'The Grand Hotel'.  Waking up to go for a run was not easy, however I plan on doing another marathon of the show tonight.  Waking up groggy isn't so bad, I guess.  I wasn't hungry, so I went straight to the park to run.  I tried to run for 35 minutes today and walk the rest of the hour, but it was not a success.  I managed to do 25 minutes before my shoelace came untied.  I have this rule that once I stop running, it's pointless to start again.  The willpower and stamina needed to get going again is too much work so I just end up walking.  

Once I got home, I cooked up two scrambled eggs and  two cups of vegetables (Same as yesterday)  The eggs that I buy are from whole foods supermarket and they are so good and the yolks are a vibrant yellow.  I think eggs and veggies are going to be my go-to morning meal.  I was planing on meeting up with a friend today to get a foot massage and then go have tea and pastries after.  However, since I am doing the whole 30, I asked to postpone our tea date.  We ended up making dinner at my apartment, which was amazing.  We had bell peppers stuffed with a thai-style almond-butter chicken dish.  It's difficult for me to tell when I've had enough food to eat.  I'm so used to stuffing my face until I feel uncomfortably full that knowing when I've had enough is a challenge.  I'm going to try to eat one serving of food then go out and do something.  It could be chores, it could be washing dishes, anything.  If I feel like I need more food after that activity, then I will serve myself a second helping.

As a final note, I cut back on my fruit intake today.  I had a mango for desert and a quarter of an orange when I was preparing the chicken dish.   It would be nice to do this diet with someone else.  I'm trying to convince my dad to start with me tomorrow.  It's all about willpower and habits though.  Right now his house is full of bread  and chocolate.  I'm not quite convinced he's willing to part with what he just bought yesterday.

 

Day 3: I ended up eating a handful of nuts and a handful of berries after I signed out last night.  Watching TV  makes me want to munch away on snacks.  I Have to focus on ways of changing that habit.

This morning I woke up with a bit more energy.  I think it's because I was able to catch up on sleep the night before.  Looking back, I realize that I was starving for breakfast because when I went to prepare my leftovers from yesterday, I ate them straight out of the stove top while the burner was on.  Right after I did that I went for a one hour morning run.  I was able to do 35 minutes of running without stopping and it felt amazing. I'm going to try to keep that up on my other runs this week.  

When I went home I had two scrambled eggs and some mixed veggies.  I had a ton of laundry to catch up on today, so I decided to visit my parents.  Chores are tough work.  What's weird is that there isn't really any chore that's enjoyable, but I still find myself preferring one over the other.  For instance, I hate washing clothes, but I don't have a problem washing dishes.  I'd rather not have anything to wash but i'm not about to go out and stock up on disposable plates.  .As I finished up my second load of clothes,  I ate an apple at my parents house to get some energy, but still felt a bit hungry even after I ate it to its core.  

Once I went home, I had an orange and a handful of nuts.  That seemed to settle me for a bit.  I went to the store to prepare dinner for my dad and lunch for me tomorrow.  He's on day one of the whole30.  I got what I wanted and I'm happy that someone else is doing this challenge with me. I made a list of what I needed at the store and made sure to only buy those things.  I have to use my phone now to make sure something is whole30 approved.  Looking at the ingredients used for bacon was a bit of a challenge.  I wish there was one ingredient and that it just said 'bacon' on it, instead I saw something like nitrite on the list.  Sometimes exceptions have to be made, although I'm happy I was able to find bacon without sugar.

When I got home, I prepared dinner (cauliflower fried rice and lemon mushroom chicken).  It took a bit of time to finish it but I'll thank myself tomorrow when I don't have to prepare so much food for the rest of the week.  I ate a bowl of the 'rice' and I'm pretty happy with it, although it was at room temperature by the time i got a taste.  It'll be better when I heat it up tomorrow.  My dad brought a large Tupperware container and took his share of the food.   After the rice, ate some frozen fruit and two handfuls of nuts again.  I shouldn't have, but I'd been craving it all day and so i'm going to view it as an extra treat for myself.  Once I finish these nuts though i'm not going to buy more. I can't eat them in small quantities like it's suggested. Right now I feel exhausted.  I attribute that to the running, the chores and the cooking, all of which took at least one hour each to complete.  That's all for today, time to finish this marathon of episodes.

 

Day4: I didn't have time to write last night because I was cooking up a storm.  Prepping three meals in one 1/2 hours is no easy feat, but I succeeded.  I was too tired to wash the dishes last night,so I did them early this morning.  I woke up with a strong pain in my left knee when I got out of bed yesterday (I've actually been feeling pain there for about five days now).  Every time I stand up and walk after sitting for a  period of time, my left knee feels stiff and out of place.  In my field of work, I sit and stand a lot, so i was constantly limping around the office, although no one seemed to notice.  For breakfast yesterday I ate a spinach frittata and an orange. I gave the other half of the frittata to my dad.  I put a little too much salt in the recipe, next time I won't follow it word for word. I brought a chicken breast and cooked mushrooms to work along with a side of cauliflower rice.  Is it just me, or are they engineering chicken breasts to grow abnormally large.  i'm so happy we don't scientifically engineer humans to look a certain way or grow a certain height. I didn't take enough food to eat yesterday at work because by 5pm I was starving.  I had to go to the local running store to meet up with runners and go out for a jog.  It's the first time i've done this, and although I followed someone who got us lost from the pack it was definitely an enjoyable and competitive experience.  When I got home after my run, I visited my parents and ate an apple at their house.  That should have been my two servings of fruit for the day, but I had been thinking about eating a ripe plantain all day, so when I finally got home I baked it for 40 minutes and considered it a reward to myself for not stopping once during the run.  I also had a handful of nuts before I went to bed.  I didn't feel as tired as I usually doyesterdat, Although it wasn't very easy to fall asleep. hopefully that changes soon.  I enjoy thinking about the meals i'm going to make.  However, I am concerned that I will soon become bored of eating eggs for breakfast.  

 

Day 5:  Today It was so difficult to get up.  My eyes were dry from keeping my contacts in for so long yesterday.  I noticed that the pain in my knee is subsiding, which is a relief since i don't want to stop my exercise regimen. I plan on going for a swim after work today - Low impact exercise is important right now.   I actually bought a pair of goggles and a snorkel to use during my swim today.  I hope the snorkel purchase  makes sense - as I don't want to use unnecessary energy to lift my head out of the water and risk swallowing chlorine.  I ate a fried egg with spinach, a banana and tomato soup for breakfast. I'm definitely making the tomato soup again in the near future.  For lunch I had a spinach egg 'omelet' and leftover cauliflower rice.  Tonight I am not cooking (yesterday was not something I want to repeat on a daily basis).  I have enough food prepared for tomorrow, so when I get home today I can just relax. I'm really proud of myself that I've been able to do 24 days of exercise consistently for an hour a day.  It almost feels like a habit now and that's good.  I notice that my endurance and stamina are building up.  Yesterday during the run, I was 4th out of 9 runners.  when i got out of work traffic was horrible.  it really brought my energy levels down plus I was hungry so I was really cranky. I got to the gym and tried to do an hour of swimming. It was really difficult though.  The lifeguard on duty didn't let me use my snorkel. I managed to do 45 minutes and then I called it a day.  I got home watched my marathon episodes and ate two handfuls of nuts.

 

Day 6: my alarm didn't go off today. Fortunately, i my internal clock was on check and I woke up just in time to prepare my breakfast and lunch.  I had a nice slice of watermelon for breakfast with squeezed lemon and salt.  For lunch i had the leftover tomato soup and cauliflower rice.  Now that I don't really have any food in the apartment left I'll have to go grocery shopping tomorrow.  I went running today.  my endurance is building up. I ran a lot further than I usually do and in a shorter period of time.  I'm looking forward to seeing how much further I get in the future.  after my run, I wanted to go to trader joe's but there wasn't enough time.  I had to volunteer at an event.  There were cookies and cheese there. It was really difficult not to get any and eat them.  Thankfully there were veggies and fruits as well, so I ate those guilt-free.  When I got home, I wasn't planning on eating anything else, but every time I see a show online, I like to snack - hence my two handfuls of nuts.  keeping it short and sweet tonight because I am TIRED.

 

Day 8: Time really does fly by. I just realized I haven't written anything for the past two days.  I'll start with what I can regarding DAY 7(although it's a bit difficult to remember):

 

I woke up early and went out for a run, went grocery store shopping ,came home and ate a big slice of watermelon. I was starving by the time I got home.  soon after, I went to my parent's house and prepared for some more grocery things I needed to get at trader joe's.  I had a banana before I left. Trader Joe's has the best snack items.  I actually stared longingly at some of them before heading to the cash register.  I don't know why i punish myself this way.  I made sure to read all of the ingredients before purchasing anything at the store.  It's very difficult to find a marinara sauce that does not contain sugar.  Luckily, I found one.  once I got home I prepared dinner - salmon with avocado salsa and a side of sauteed spinach with mushrooms and shallots.  before leaving, I had another banana and two apples.  I know it's more fruit intake than I wanted to eat.  I'll cut back tomorrow on that.  I hung out with my parents for a bit before going out to a Christmas cantata performance with my mom.  Even though it's still September, Christmas celebrations are in full swing already.  It was great though. When I got home I was very much tired.  I read a bit before going to sleep and had a great night's rest.  This is probably the first night in this whole 30 diet that I've slept soundly.  I did dream about deserts and bread though.  I woke up feeling so guilty, I actually thought for a minute that I did indulge in those treats, but then I remembered it was a dream and all was well in the world again.

 

DAY 8:

I woke up feeling guilty for confusing my dream with reality.  Got dressed, ate the leftover sauteed spinach, and headed to the gym.  I was looking forward to taking a spinning class or two at the gym but I failed to remember that they were hosting a mini triathlon today.  I had to rearrange my workout routing for it so I did 20 minutes on the stair-master, 20 minutes on the treadmill and 20 minutes on the bicycle machine.  I definitely feel stronger now.  I have to push my body a little bit more to feel the same burn I did when I first started exercising at the beginning of the month.  When I got home I took a shower, got dressed and ate a nice big slice of watermelon.  It was amazingly good.  I bought tickets a few weeks ago to an event called Taste of Paleo.  I was looking forward to checking it out and seeing what it was all about.  When I got there around 1:30 pm, I was very hungry.  The event was pretty small with enough booths to fill up just one room.  There were a lot of paleo deserts there and sadly, I couldn't eat any of them.  However there were some paleo chefs out there as well and their food was delicious. I had two servings of pork salad and I shared a pork belly cauliflower rice lettuce wrap with my friend.  I also indulged in a nut bar.  the only sweetener it had was dates, so I felt pretty good about eating it, although it did cost me $3.  I also ate a stick of salty jerky.  Surprisingly, I enjoyed it even though I normally don't like jerky.  when I came back home I wasn't necessarily hungry, but I still wanted to eat.  Maybe I was a bit anxious from having driven all day; Or Maybe seeing all those samples at the event used up all my will-power so I felt like I needed to give myself a reward.  I ate the remainder of nuts that were in my freezer (a handful) and I ate another big slice of watermelon.  I feel pretty full now.  I'm happy to go out dancing tonight.  That should be a good workout and help get rid of this stuffed feeling in my belly.  

[Deb.]

How is it going?