Jump to content

Wrapping up Day 5 and starting to overthink things... Meal critique please!


Recommended Posts

I'm winding down on my Day 5 (hubby and I are doing this together) and I'm feeling pretty good.  We have both noticed energy surges after we eat, which is enough to keep us hooked on the chance that we can get to the coveted Tiger Blood stage.  I guess I just wanted to see if we are really doing this right.  I am a classic over-thinker so I've been analyzing our meals to the point where I'm starting to take the fun out of experimenting with new foods/ways of cooking.  So that's where you come in... I'm hoping that a little reassurance (or constructive criticism) will help me get past that hurdle and just go with the flow.  Without further ado, here's what we've been eating for the last 5 days...

 

Day 1

M1- organic black coffee; 3 eggs scrambled with onions, red & orange peppers, mushrooms & spinach; 1/4 avocado; handful black grapes

M2- salad (organic butter lettuce) with 3 boiled eggs, organic baby carrots, handful cherry tomatoes, 1/2 green pepper, 1/4 avocado with lemon juice/light olive oil and pepper; kiwi

Snack - spoonful almond butter

M3- baked chicken thighs (ghee & cajun spices); sweet potatoes sautéed in coconut oil with cinnamon; Cherry Pie Larabar

 

Day 2

M1- organic coffee with 2 Tbsp coconut milk; sautéed asparagus (light olive oil); 3 fried eggs (in remaining oils); 3 rings sliced pineapple

M2- salad (organic butter lettuce) with green peppers, cherry tomatoes, organic baby carrots, and yellowfin tuna in oil (used this oil and pepper as my dressing); 2 1/2 rings pineapple

M3- grilled steak; baked potato (ghee, salt & pepper); sautéed snow peas in light olive oil & garlic salt; small bowl cantaloupe and black grapes

 

Day 3

M1- organic coffee with 2 Tbsp coconut milk; organic baby carrots; banana pancakes (1 banana, 2 eggs, & cinnamon) ** NOTE: I HATE regular pancakes so I didn't feel that this would be a trigger meal for me **

M2- salad (organic butter lettuce) with grilled chicken (salt & pepper), 1/4 avocado, organic baby carrots, & cherry tomatoes with olive oil/pepper as my dressing; 3 rings pineapple

M3- grilled shrimp (ghee & cajun spices); baked potato (ghee, salt & pepper); leftover snow peas; banana ice cream (frozen bananas blended) **NOTE: I'm lactose intolerant so I rarely ate ice cream. **

 

Day 4

M1- organic coffee with 2 Tbsp coconut milk; 2 scrambled eggs with onion, red & orange peppers, spinach & mushrooms with a bit of ghee; remainder of leftover snow peas; cantaloupe

M2- grilled chicken breast with hot sauce (compliant); 8 cucumber slices lightly salted; 6 organic baby carrots; 1/2 apple sliced with 1 Tbsp almond butter

M3- grilled steak; baked potato (ghee, salt & pepper); mix of grilled brussels sprouts, eggplant & squash with olive oil & garlic salt; handful frozen black grapes

 

Day 5

M1- organic coffee with 2 Tbsp coconut milk; breakfast casserole (shredded white potatoes, turkey sausage, eggs/coconut milk); cantaloupe

M2- grilled chicken breasts with diced tomatoes and Italian spices; leftover grilled veggies (eggplant & squash); 1/2 apple with 1 Tbsp almond butter

M3- Deconstructed Pizza from the ISWF book (grass-fed ground beef, onions, mushrooms, green pepper); baked apple (coconut oil & cinnamon)

 

There you have it.  My meals for the last 5 days.  Any help is appreciated.  Thank you!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Administrators

Hi jsk. Thanks for posting. Overall your meals look pretty close to template! There are a few tweaks and non compliances though.

If you are going to eat salad as a meal, make sure it's HUGE. Salad greens compress down into nearly nothing so while it may seem like lots, you actually need a pretty absurd amount of greens to really satisfy you. Try adding a cooked or more robust veggie. The way you know your salad wasnt enough is based on your almond butter snack between M2 and M3. ;)

Larabars are compliant on Whole30 but *only* as an emergency food, not to be added in as a wrap up to a meal. Eat more of your protein, fat and veggies to negate needing that larabar. Also note that any sugar cravings you may have will only be kept alive by eating the larabars, they are as close to a candy bar as you can get on Whole30.

Overall I would suggest more veggies with your meals and only after you've eaten protein, fat and a good amount of veggies (1-3 cups is a minimum recommendation) should you eat fruit. Check in with yourself and see if the fruits are keeping alive a "need" for something sweet to wrap up your meals.

As far as the non compliances, regardless of your personal context surrounding pancakes and ice cream, the egg/banana pancakes and banana "softserve" are non compliant for every single person who undertakes a Whole30. Leave them off, eat more protein, veggies and fat.

As far as the overthinking, protein, veggies and fat. That's all it really takes. :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

For starters, I would skip the lara bars, paleo pancakes and frozen banana 'ice cream'. Those are serious SWYPO, and there are better things to have then the lara bars, which should be for emergencies at the very best. If you need a snack, you are better off with a mini meal rather than a spoonful of almond butter. If you needed the almond butter, you would be better served to stuff some celery and have a hard boiled egg or some chicken (like a leg or 1/2 a small breast) so you have veg/fat/protein. If you do feel the need for a snack, try also bumping up the amount of food you had in the previous meal. Personally, I eat a 1/2 a large english cucumber with a bit of salt-- shoot for 1-3 cups of veg per meal, preferably cooked as cooked veg is easier on the system. One more thing, don't allow fruit to push more nutritious food off your plate and don't allow the fruit to take the place of dessert from your pre whole 30 days--the frozen banana 'ice cream' really screams that to me, even if you didn't care for ice cream before. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank you all for your input!  I think you're right that I'm allowing the fruit to give me an "end" to a meal and serving it up rather like a dessert.  I will definitely watch that one as I hadn't even noticed I was doing that until it was pointed out.  I also didn't realize that the paleo pancakes and frozen banana "ice cream" weren't compliant AT ALL.  I just thought it was because it triggered other things that weren't pre-Whole 30 foods for me so I'd be ok.  Nope!  I won't repeat those going forward.  Also, that Larabar was purchased prior to Whole 30, so I made the decision to "get rid of it" early on in my Whole 30 to avoid the sugar demon later on down the line.  Not smart thinking, but there it is.  I don't have any left in the house and I know to avoid it.  This is exactly why I wanted feedback before tackling another 25 days!  I'm feeling more confident after my last couple of days (and I think those days are my best thus far in terms of feeling the benefits of healthy eating), so I will stay strong and get creative!  Thanks so much everyone!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

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

×
×
  • Create New...