Saree's Log

[Saree_maree]

Day 0

 

My original plan was to start Thursday the 27th, but I finished up the last of my yogurt and cream today and prepared all compliant meals for work tomorrow, so I'm going to start a day early!

 

A little bit about me:

 

My goals in doing a Whole30 are to achieve consistent energy levels, end sugar and carb cravings, make some progress healing some chronic running-related injuries, and kick the last vestiges of my 15-year old eating disorder to the curb. At 4'11" and 89-90lbs, weight loss is not a goal although focusing less on my weight certainly is. I tried to do several Whole30s about a year ago without success, but over the past year have done a lot of ground work in terms of stress management, sleep hygiene, and other problem areas that were holding me back and I feel ready now to tackle this hurdle.

 

I run 30-40 miles a week (although lately my piriformis syndrome has really been bothering me and I have been doing a lot more cycling instead), cycle for cross-training, and do strength training once or twice a week (light weights and bodyweight exercises only). I work three days a week and do not train on those days although I am on my feet all day and typically log 10,000-12,000 steps on workdays.

 

I anticipate my biggest challenges will be eliminating snacking since I routinely have six or more hours between meals on workdays, giving up alcohol, and going without my beloved morning green smoothie.

 

Here's to a successful day 1!

[Saree_maree]

Day 1

 

Sleep: about 7.5 hours, woke up at 4:30AM for work.

 

M1: 2 hard boiled eggs, baked sweet potato (fist-sized), small banana. 16oz black coffee. Didn't get a chance to eat until almost 8:30AM.

 

M2: Chopped salad made with 2-3 cups mixed raw vegetables (tomatoes, carrots, celery, bell peppers), small handful of black olives, and palm-size portion of baked chicken breast, dressed with apple cider vinegar. Half a cup of fresh pineapple. 12oz sparkling water. Ate around 1PM.

 

Snack: Whole avocado, half cup of celery sticks. Ate this around 5PM.

 

M3: Can of water-packed sardines, half an avocado, a carrot, baked sweet potato (fist-sized). 12oz sparkling water. Ate this when I got home from work around 7:45.

 

Logged just over 10,000 steps today.

 

I felt ok, probably because this wasn't too far off from what I normally eat on a workday. Just missing the cream and sweetener in my morning coffee, the green smoothie with my breakfast, and the yogurt instead of the avo for my afternoon snack. I felt hungry a few times during the day but not unusually so.

[ShannonM816]

Hi, Saree_maree! Mostly, what you've listed looks good, but there are just a couple of things that will make your experience even better on your Whole30.

 

First, try to eat your first meal within an hour of waking in the morning. This will help reset your hormones/cortisol levels, and ultimately will actually help with improved sleep. (This article talks about it some, and It Starts With Food also discussed it, if you happen to have a copy of it.)

 

Second, don't be afraid to eat what may seem like a lot of food. If eggs are your only source of protein, have as many whole eggs as you can hold in your hand -- that's usually 3-4, possibly more if you're particularly tall/big boned/have really big hands or long fingers. If you don't want that many eggs at once, you could also mix your proteins, so two hard boiled eggs with a little bit of leftover meat from supper, say. And your M2 chopped salad -- next time try having what you listed there, but instead of a small handful of olives, have a heaping handful of olives, and add some oil to your dressing on your salad -- I bet you won't need the snack around 5 pm if you do this.

[Saree_maree]

Thanks for your input Shannon. I guess I'm afraid that if I eat at 5AM I'll be starving well before lunchtime! And then when I'm working there are almost always around 7 hours between lunch and the time I get home and can have dinner, so I think an afternoon mini-meal is going to be a necessity no matter what at least on the days that I'm working. I'm at the hospital for a solid 13 hours, isn't it ok to eat more than twice in that time??

[ShannonM816]

Yes, you would probably need to eat some kind of snack/mini meal at that time, I didn't realize how long your work day was.

 

I do think ultimately you'd be better off trying to start with breakfast within an hour of waking up, and then spacing things out as evenly as you can from there. So maybe 5 am, 10 am, 3 pm, 8 pm-ish. I don't know how much leeway you have in when you eat, I know a lot of hospital jobs are go-go-go all day, and just grab something when you can, but maybe try to work toward this kind of schedule. And honestly, a lot of people find when they get their meals dialed in, they manage to go six or seven hours between meals if they need to -- not that we would recommend doing that regularly or intentionally, but people find that if they have to, they can, without much trouble. Again, not saying you ever need to do that, but it can be a nice side effect.

[Saree_maree]

Day 2

 

Sleep: Day off, slept almost 10 hours plus a 30 minute nap after lunch. Woke up shortly after 7.

 

Pre-workout (7:30AM): 16oz black coffee, 1 hard boiled egg

 

Morning workout (8:00AM): 2.5 mile run at easy pace (9:10/mile) followed by 25 minutes of strength work (light weights and bodyweight exercises). Also did some stretching and rolling of some problem areas in my left buttock and thigh.

 

Post-workout (9:00AM): small banana, 1 hard boiled egg. 8oz water.

 

M2 (noon): Chopped salad: 2-3 cups chopped raw veggies (tomatoes, carrots, celery, bell peppers), handful of olives, 4oz compliant water-packed tuna, apple cider vinegar. 12oz homebrewed kombucha.

 

After my nap I had a 12oz can of sparkling water.

 

M3 (5:00PM): baked sweet potato (pretty large, close to 2 fist-sized), half an avocado, 1 hard boiled egg. 12oz sparkling water.

 

Evening workout (6:30PM): 5 mile run at steady-state pace (8:35/mile)

 

Post-workout (7:15PM): 16oz coconut water

 

I didn't really fit in a full Meal 1 this morning along with my pre and post workout snacks, but I felt well-fueled for my evening run and didn't really feel super hungry at any point today. I often take an afternoon nap on my days off, not really because I'm sleepy or feeling listless but mostly because I really love naps and I consider them a special treat and a little gift I give to myself!

[Saree_maree]

Day 3

 

Sleep: A little over 7 hours, woke up at 4:30AM for work.

 

Meal 1 (7:15AM): 2 hard boiled eggs, baked sweet potato (fist-sized), small banana. 16oz black coffee.

 

Meal 2 (12:15PM): Chopped salad: 2-3 cups chopped raw veggies (tomatoes, carrots, celery, bell peppers), handful of olives, palm-size baked chicken breast, apple cider vinegar. Half a cup of pineapple. 12oz sparkling water.

 

Mini-meal (4:15PM): Half-cup carrot and celery sticks, half an avocado

 

Meal 3 (6:15PM  - transferred out both my patients and got to leave work early!): baby arugula (2 cups) and a sliced tomato dressed with EVOO and lemon juice, 2 palms baked chicken breast. 12oz sparkling water. I was going to eat a baked sweet potato too but that was a lot of chicken and I'm pretty full so I will wait awhile and probably eat the potato before bed. Saturday mornings I run long and usually ride afterwards as well so I try to get some carbs in the night before.

 

Logged 11,300 steps today.

[Saree_maree]

Day 4

 

Sleep: Almost 8 hours. Went to bed super early and woke up at 4:30AM for an early morning run.

 

Meal 1 (4:30AM): Baked sweet potato (1.5 fists), half an avocado, 1 hard boiled egg. 16oz black coffee.

 

Workout (6:00AM): 10 mile run at easy pace (9:10/mile) followed by 15 mile ride, also at easy pace (just under 15mph). Total workout time 2.5hrs. Between the run and the ride I ate half a banana and drank 12oz homebrewed kombucha. Halfway through the ride I ate the other half of the banana. I also drank a lot of water throughout, probably 48 oz. It was already 85 degrees at 6AM and well over 90 by the time I was done.

 

Meal 2 (12:30PM): Giant salad with mixed greens, chopped tomato, carrots, steamed broccoli, small handful of walnuts, small handful of raisins, half an avocado, and palm-size baked chicken breast, dressed with lemon juice. About 20oz sparkling water.

 

After lunch I took a delicious half-hour nap.

 

Snack (5:00PM): Half a baked sweet potato (less than fist-sized). I was getting hungry but my boyfriend wasn't ready for dinner. This tided me over.

 

Meal 3 (6:30PM): Large (2 palm size) grassfed beef patty (90% lean), half an avocado, half a tomato, baby arugula dressed with EVOO and balsamic. 12oz sparkling water.

 

Whew! That's a lot of food! But I burned a lot today so I feel pretty good about it. My workout felt good but I guess I still have some tweaking to do since I missed my post-workout snack and my Meal 1 wasn't really a template meal. I guess I'm kind of confused about how I'm supposed to eat pre- and post-workout snacks plus a full template meal all in the morning when I train early. That seems like too much. Plus I'm really nervous about not eating some carbs before a long effort like today's.

[MerAnne]

I had a long run today too! Day 14 for me. My first long run a few weeks ago I didn't follow template and did a sweet potato prior (I was worried about the no carb thing) Yes I had a good run but I was not burning fat, I was burning carbs, totall defeating the purpose. Today I had a couple bites of chicken and quarter of an avocado prior to my run. My legs still feel heavier, but better. My pace was significantly slower than normal (an 8.30 mi rather than 7:45-8). Some of that could be due to the fact that I did a speed day yesterday with 2 sub 7 miles and only slept for 4 hours the last two nights (baby has the stomach flu boo!). But I have to say, I feel like the fat adaption is kicking in by following template. After my run I had a big elk burger that had a quarter of a sweet potato baked in it as well as some cauliflower stir fry. I did not treat that as lunch but as a post WO meal. I'm trying to tell myself that it's not a meal, think of it as replacing my postworkout smoothie and I to still eat meals. I still ate a good sized lunch of Chicken, avocado and stir fried veggies and feel great. On long run days I don't get to rest (2 toddlers!) so I have to make sure I eat enough to sustain my energy. I'm trying to get ahead of the empty trigger by eating my pre and post, even if I'm scared of the food. Because I know I'll preform better in the long run. I can't do raw veggies, they totally mess with my digestion and I'm a bad fat eater, so I'm trying to sneak it in by putting coconut oil on my grilled veggies. It has helped a lot, today at least )

[Saree_maree]

My pace was significantly slower than normal (an 8.30 mi rather than 7:45-8).

Hahahaha I'm wishing for the day I can say this! 7:45 is a hard tempo pace for me! But you are right, I have not been too good so far about the pre/post workout recommendations. It's good to hear that they are working for you, thanks!

[Saree_maree]

Day 5

 

Sleep: Just over 8 hours. Woke up at 4:45AM for work.

 

Meal 1 (7:15AM): 2 hard boiled eggs, baked sweet potato (fist-sized), small banana. 16oz black coffee.

 

Meal 2 (12:30PM):  Chopped salad: 2-3 cups chopped raw veggies (tomatoes, carrots, celery, bell peppers), handful of olives, palm-size baked chicken breast, apple cider vinegar. Small apple and a few bites of honeydew melon. 12oz sparkling water.

 

Mini-meal (4:15PM): half cup of carrot and celery sticks, one whole avocado

 

Meal 3 (7:45PM): Can of water-packed sardines, half an avocado, baked sweet potato (1.5 fists). 12oz sparkling water.

 

Logged 11,000 steps today.

[Saree_maree]

Day 6

 

Sleep: 8 hours. Woke up at 4:45 for an early morning run.

 

Pre-workout (5:00AM): 1 hard boiled egg, 8oz black coffee

 

Morning workout (5:30AM): 5 mile tempo run - 1 mile warm-up easy pace, 3 miles at 7:50/mile, 1 mile cool down easy pace

 

Post workout (6:20AM): baked sweet potato (half fist), baked chicken breast (half palm), 8oz water

 

Meal 1 (7:30AM): 2 hard boiled eggs, baked sweet potato (1.5 fists), half an avocado. 12oz homebrewed kombucha.

 

Meal 2 (12:30PM): Chopped salad: 2-3 cups chopped raw veggies (tomatoes, carrots, celery, onion, bell peppers), handful of olives, can of water-packed sardines, apple cider vinegar. About half a cup of melon. 12oz sparkling water.

 

Took a nap after lunch, about 45 minutes.

 

Afternoon workout (3:00PM): 2.5 mile run, easy pace, followed by 25 minute strength workout, light weights and bodyweight exercises.

 

Post-workout (4:00PM): banana, 12oz water

 

Meal 3 (6:00PM): palm-size baked chicken breast, arugula dressed with EVOO and balsamic, about 3/4 cup baby potatoes roasted in EVOO with rosemary. 12oz sparkling water.

 

Proud of myself for meeting the pre- and post-workout recommendations this morning, but actually not sure I noticed any difference in my energy level for my second workout. To be honest, eating chicken at six-thirty in the morning kind of made me gag. Two things I did notice today: 1) I added onion to my lunch salad, and it made me a little gassy this afternoon whereas normally I don't have any problems with that meal, and 2) my stomach has been consistently taut and flat these past few days. Even though I'm pretty thin I still feel like my belly sticks out a lot sometimes and recently I haven't felt that way at all, which is really nice.

[Saree_maree]

Day 7

 

Sleep: A little over 8 hours. Went to bed super early last night. Woke up at 4:30AM for work but got a call at 5 from the staffing office saying the unit was overstaffed and I could stay home, which is sort of like having Christmas, your birthday, and New Year’s Eve all sprung on you at once. Since I was already up and ready for the day, I decided to go for a short run.

 

Pre-workout (5:30AM): 1 hard boiled egg, 16oz black coffee.

 

Workout (6:00AM): I set out to do 5 miles easy, but within 5 minutes my left leg and buttock were really hurting and affecting my form, and forcing me to keep a ridiculously slow pace (like up around 10:00/mile). I kept going for a little while to see if it would loosen up but had to call it quits and only went 2 miles. I decided to go for a ride instead, but it was still too dark out for that so instead of a post-workout meal (I hadn’t really exerted myself enough to warrant one anyway) I just went ahead and had a small Meal 1 and waited.

 

Meal 1 (6:30AM): 1 hard boiled egg, baked sweet potato (fist-sized)

 

Workout cont. (8:00AM): 16 mile ride, easy pace (15mph). Drank 24oz water during the ride.

 

Post workout (9:15AM): Small banana, baked chicken breast (a few bites, less than half a palm)

 

At 11:30 I was getting hungry but I had made a 12:00 reflexology appointment so I didn’t have time for lunch. I ate the apple that I had planned on eating with my lunch and drank a glass of water. I know, not ideal. (The reflexology was awesome, by the way.)

 

Meal 2 (1:45PM): Chopped salad: 2-3 cups chopped raw veggies (tomatoes, carrots, celery, bell peppers), handful of olives, palm-sized baked chicken breast. Apple cider vinegar. 12oz sparkling water.

 

Snack (5:45PM): I met my boyfriend for happy hour at our favorite bar and indulged in sparkling water with lime and 6 raw oysters with a squeeze a lemon juice. Delicious! And a personal victory since this is the first time I’ve been out on this Whole30 and I was okay not drinking.

 

Meal 3 (7:00PM): Can of water-packed sardines, whole avocado, celery sticks. Leftover roasted baby potatoes (about ¾ cup). 12oz sparkling water.

 

Overall I am feeling very tired and depleted today. I actually took two naps, one after my bike ride and one after lunch, and not just because I felt like spoiling myself – I really felt drained, sore, and worn out. I’m worried about that leg. It’s one of the reasons I’m doing this Whole30. Race season is coming up and I’ve got to be able to get my mileage back up but every time I do any kind of speed workout or go longer than 12 or 13 miles, the next day I am limping. I guess I’ll have to bite the bullet and go see my orthopedist but I know he’s just going to tell me to take two weeks off, which is the last thing I want to hear.

[Saree_maree]

Day 8

 

Sleep: 8.5 hours. Even after 2 naps yesterday I still went to bed at 8PM and slept like a rock. Woke up at 4:30AM for work.

 

Meal 1(7:15AM): 2 hard boiled eggs, fist-sized baked sweet potato, small banana. 16oz black coffee.

 

Meal 2(12:00PM): Chopped salad: 2-3 cups chopped raw veggies (tomatoes, carrots, celery, bell peppers), handful of olives, palm-sized baked chicken breast. Apple cider vinegar. An orange. 12oz sparkling water.

 

Mini-meal (4:00PM): Whole avocado, handful of celery and carrot sticks, 2 hard boiled egg whites.

 

Meal 3 (7:15PM): Can of water-packed sardines, half an avocado, the last of the roasted potatoes (about ¾ cup). 12oz sparkling water.

 

Logged just over 10,000 steps today.

 

I felt very hungry today, especially mid-afternoon. Even after I ate the whole avocado and celery I brought for my afternoon mini-meal my stomach was still cramping with hunger so I went to the hospital cafeteria, but all I could find that I was sure was compliant besides fruit (I had already eaten 2 pieces today) was some carrot sticks and hard boiled eggs. I’m kind of afraid to have more than 2 whole eggs a day so I just ate the whites. And I was still famished again by 6:30.

[cottagequeen]

Thanks for your input Shannon. I guess I'm afraid that if I eat at 5AM I'll be starving well before lunchtime! And then when I'm working there are almost always around 7 hours between lunch and the time I get home and can have dinner, so I think an afternoon mini-meal is going to be a necessity no matter what at least on the days that I'm working. I'm at the hospital for a solid 13 hours, isn't it ok to eat more than twice in that time??

Saree, I work in the hospital too, 7a-7:30p with 1/2 drive to and from. I eat m1 around 0530, m2 is around 1030-1100. then I don't eat m3 til I get home, usually around 2000-2030. I could go longer, hunger wise between m1 and m2, but it doesn't work out well work wise, so have a long period between m2 and m3. I have found, that most of the time I don't get hungry in that long stretch eating by the template and the rare times I do just drinking some water settles it down. Hope this helps...

[Saree_maree]

Day 9

 

Sleep: 10 hours. Nice! Woke up a little before 7:00AM.

 

Meal 1 (8:00AM): 2 hard boiled eggs, half an avocado, fist-sized baked sweet potato. 16oz black coffee.

 

Morning workout (10:15AM): 2.5 mile run, very easy pace (9:20/mile, babying my left leg a little) followed by 20 minutes of light weights and bodyweight exercises.

 

Post-workout (11:15AM): small banana, 16oz water plus 6oz home brewed kombucha

 

Meal 2 (12:45PM): 2-3 cups chopped raw veggies (tomatoes, carrots, celery, bell peppers), handful of olives, half a can (the big kind) of salmon (skin and bones included) – so probably 2 palms worth. Apple cider vinegar. An apple. 12oz sparkling water.

 

30 minute nap after lunch.

 

Meal 3 (5:00PM): Baked sweet potato (1.5 fists), whole avocado, palm-size baked chicken breast. 12oz sparkling water.

 

Evening workout: 4 mile run, steady-state pace (8:35/mile)

 

Post-workout: 12oz coconut water

 

I feel better today, not so tired. I’m sure sleeping in didn’t hurt! Starting tomorrow, I’m going to take the good advice that has been offered to me and eat something before leaving for work so that I get something in that one-hour window after waking. I bought a jar of Bubbies Sauerkraut today and I’m going to have some of that with one of my breakfast eggs and see if that makes a difference in my hunger levels later in the day.

[Saree_maree]

Day 10

 

Sleep: Just under 8 hours. Woke up at 4:30AM for work.

 

Mini-meal (5:00AM): 1 hard-boiled egg, half cup sauerkraut. 8oz water.

 

Meal 1 (7:30AM): 1 hard boiled egg, fist-sized baked sweet potato, half an avocado, small banana. 16oz black coffee.

 

Meal 2 (12:30PM): chopped salad: 2-3 cups chopped raw veggies (tomatoes, carrots, celery, bell peppers), handful of olives, palm-size baked chicken breast, apple cider vinegar. An orange. 12oz sparkling water.

 

Snack (4:00PM): handful of carrot and celery sticks

 

Meal 3 (6:00PM – left work early): Can of water-packed sardines, baked sweet potato (almost 2 fists), whole avocado. 12oz sparkling water.

 

Logged 10,000 steps.

 

I did not feel well at all today. My leg and butt are really hurting after yesterday’s double session, even though I took it pretty easy, and I am limping. I already made an orthopedist appointment but it’s not for almost two weeks. I think it might be smart to just preempt him and take some time off running before I see him and focus on riding instead, because the way things are going I fear I’m headed for a more serious injury. To make matters worse I’ve been taking way too much ibuprofen, something I definitely know better than to do, and woke up this morning with terrible epigastric pain. I had one of the residents write me a week’s prescription for a proton pump inhibitor, but I hate taking a pill to chase the side effects of another pill! So no more ibuprofen for me for awhile. Between my stomach and my leg I finally couldn’t take it anymore and left work a couple hours early.

 

However, I do have some positive news: eating a few bites at 5:00AM and adding some fat to my Meal 1 absolutely did make a difference in my hunger levels throughout the day (provided it wasn’t just that burning pain killing my appetite …) My total food intake was totally unchanged apart from the addition of a little sauerkraut, but just shifting the timing around did have a much bigger impact than I had anticipated. I never got that cramping hunger that makes it so hard to focus on anything else. In fact, when 4:00PM came around, I just ate some veggies and didn’t even feel the need to have the avocado I usually eat at that time. So that is very heartening. Thanks to all who encouraged me to take that plunge.

[Saree_maree]

Day 11

 

Sleep: About 9.5 hours. Woke up at 5:30. Actually I woke up at 4:30 to see how my leg was feeling so that I could possibly go for my weekly long run, but it was definitely still hurting so I went back to bed for another hour.

 

Meal 1 (6:00AM): 2 hard boiled egg yolks (saved the whites for post-workout), baked sweet potato (1.5 fists), half an avocado. 16oz black coffee.

 

Workout (8:00AM): 40 mile ride, moderate pace (16mph), so 2.5 hours total. During the ride I had 2 compliant baby food pouches (beet-blueberry), one at mile 15 and one at mile 30, plus 24oz water.

 

Post-workout (10:45AM): 2 hard boiled egg whites, small banana. 12oz home brewed kombucha.

 

Meal 2 (12:30PM): Giant salad with mixed greens, chopped tomato, carrots, steamed broccoli, small handful of walnuts, small handful of raisins, half an avocado, and palm-size baked chicken breast, dressed with lime juice. 12oz sparkling water.

 

Hour nap after lunch.

 

Meal 3 (5:00PM): Chopped salad: 2-3 cups chopped raw veggies (tomatoes, carrots, celery, onion, bell peppers), handful of olives, half of a large can of salmon (bones & skin included), apple cider vinegar. I ate this and was still hungry so I also had a fist-sized baked sweet potato. 12oz sparkling water.

 

Really missed my run today – cycling never gives me that same amazing feeling and for some reason I also find it harder to really push myself to higher levels of exertion when I’m on the bike. But it still felt like a fairly decent workout and more importantly it was almost pain-free. Plus it was a beautiful morning to be riding along the ocean, not too hot, and I was treated to some really stunning views.

 

Can’t believe I’m over a third of the way through – and that I haven’t had a glass of wine for eleven days!!

[Saree_maree]

Day 12

 

Sleep: 9 hours. Went to bed super early and woke up at 4:30AM for work.

 

Mini-meal (5:00AM): 1 hard-boiled egg, half cup sauerkraut. 8oz water.

 

Meal 1 (7:30AM): 1 hard boiled egg, fist-sized baked sweet potato, half an avocado, small banana. 16oz black coffee.

 

Meal 2 (12:30PM): chopped salad: 2-3 cups chopped raw veggies (tomatoes, carrots, celery, bell peppers), handful of olives, palm-size baked chicken breast, apple cider vinegar. An orange. 12oz sparkling water.

 

Mini-meal (4:00PM): handful of carrot and celery sticks, half an avocado, a few bites of melon. 8oz decaf black tea.

 

Meal 3 (8:00PM): Can of water-packed sardines, half an avocado, baked sweet potato (1.5 fists). 12oz sparkling water.

 

Logged 10,500 steps.

[Saree_maree]

Day 13

 

Sleep: A little over 8 hours. Woke up at 5:15AM.

 

Meal 1 (5:30AM): 2 hard boiled egg yolks (saved the whites for post-workout), baked sweet potato (1.5 fists), half an avocado. 16oz black coffee.

 

Morning workout (7:00AM): 20 mile ride, moderate pace (16mph, 1h15min total ride time). No fuel, 24oz water.

 

Post-workout (8:30AM): 2 hard boiled egg whites, small banana, 12oz home brewed kombucha

 

Meal 2 (12:30PM): Chopped salad: 2-3 cups chopped raw veggies (tomatoes, carrots, celery, bell peppers), handful of olives, can of water-packed sardines, apple cider vinegar. 12oz sparkling water.

 

30 minute nap after lunch.

 

Afternoon workout (2:30PM): 1 mile warm-up jog/walk, followed by 20 minutes strength training. My leg is already feeling better but I’m going to try to take a full week off from any real running.

 

Post-workout (3:15PM): 12oz coconut water, half a palm of baked chicken breast. I’m not sure I worked out hard enough to deserve this, but I felt hungry.

 

Meal 3 (6:45PM): I actually cooked tonight for a change. Sautéed ground veal with tons of vegetables (carrots, onions, celery, tomatoes, white potatoes). My serving was probably 1.5 palms protein and at least 2 cups of veggies that included about half a fist of potatoes. I didn’t add fat because the veal was pretty fatty and I just didn’t drain the meat after cooking like I normally would have. 12oz sparkling water.

 

I met some girlfriends mid-morning at a raw, cold-pressed juice bar that we like. I was sad to pass on the juice – I love green juice, and they also have awesome cold-brewed coffee with house-made almond-coconut milk, but I’m pretty sure it has date syrup or some other sweetener in it. So I just had a black iced coffee and my friends thought I was nuts. Oh well. I’m pretty sure I will be adding the occasional green juice back into my diet, but two more weeks (plus one day!) without is no biggie.

 

I’m a little worried that I might be losing some weight. Both of my girlfriends made comments and I’m starting to notice some things in the mirror that are red flags for me. I haven’t weighed myself (which is huge, by the way, since I used to weigh more than once a day) so I can’t be sure but it’s something I have to be mindful of.

[Saree_maree]

Day 14

 

Sleep: 8 hours. Woke up at 4:30AM for work.

 

Mini-meal (5:00AM): 1 hard-boiled egg, half cup sauerkraut.

 

Meal 1 (7:30AM): 1 hard boiled egg, fist-sized baked sweet potato, half an avocado, small banana. 16oz black coffee.

 

Meal 2 (12:00PM): chopped salad: 2-3 cups chopped raw veggies (tomatoes, carrots, celery, bell peppers), handful of olives, palm-size baked chicken breast, apple cider vinegar. An orange. 12oz sparkling water.

 

Meal 3 (8:00PM): Leftovers from last night. 1.5 palms ground veal, 2-3 cups sauteed veggies including about half a fist of white potatoes. 12oz sparkling water.

 

I had an extremely busy afternoon at work with a very unstable post-operative patient and did not get a chance to have any kind of mini-meal or snack, so I went a full eight hours between lunch and dinner with nothing to eat or drink. I was definitely hungry but I could tolerate it and wasn't weak or shaky so that is an improvement.

[ShannonM816]

If you want to be sure you don't lose weight, the first thing you should do is eat more. A serving of eggs, if they are your only protein, is as many whole eggs as you can hold in your hand -- probably at least three, maybe more. (here's an example: http://forum.whole9life.com/topic/20964-what-a-serving-of-eggs-looks-like/ )

For more tips on keeping weight on on your whole30, you might find this article helpful: http://whole30.com/2013/12/keeping-weight-whole30/

On your longer days, it's not that you should divide up your meals to eat the same amount over more meals to trick your body into not feeling hungry, it's that you actually should eat more food, to provide your body more energy to get through those longer days.

[Saree_maree]

Hi Shannon,

 

I've seen that article recommended to some other members and read it. I think I'm doing pretty good - I eat at least one whole avocado every day, and most days at least two and more like 2.5 fists of carb-dense vegetables. I always have 2 fruits a day. I admit the egg think is a bit of a mental block for me. I guess if I can't get over that one I should think of a different protein to add to my eggs for the mornings. I've seen some compliant sausages at my supermarket but they still seem like a pretty highly processed food product to me so I've been avoiding them. I'll keep working on it.

 

But anyway I think it was pretty cool that as you mentioned to me a couple of weeks ago, it has become possible (although certainly not something I'd like to to everyday!) to go loooong stretches between meals like I had to yesterday without getting all faint and irritable. I would never have been able to do that before. So I must be doing something right, right?!

[ShannonM816]

Hi Shannon,

 

I've seen that article recommended to some other members and read it. I think I'm doing pretty good - I eat at least one whole avocado every day, and most days at least two and more like 2.5 fists of carb-dense vegetables. I always have 2 fruits a day. I admit the egg think is a bit of a mental block for me. I guess if I can't get over that one I should think of a different protein to add to my eggs for the mornings. I've seen some compliant sausages at my supermarket but they still seem like a pretty highly processed food product to me so I've been avoiding them. I'll keep working on it.

 

But anyway I think it was pretty cool that as you mentioned to me a couple of weeks ago, it has become possible (although certainly not something I'd like to to everyday!) to go loooong stretches between meals like I had to yesterday without getting all faint and irritable. I would never have been able to do that before. So I must be doing something right, right?!

 

The way I understand it, that is a sign of being fat adapted, which is one of the goals of Whole30, and a really nice side effect on busy days -- but definitely don't get so comfortable with that that you skip meals regularly.

 

Have you considered even having your eggs prepared a different way? I can eat scrambled eggs a lot more easily than hard boiled ones for some reason, although I get that hard boiled are convenient. You could do something like a frittata, which you could make one evening and have for several days. That one says serves six, but I'd think it's probably more like 4-5 (at least two full eggs and a couple ounces of meat in each serving).

[Saree_maree]

Day 15

 

Sleep: 9.5 hours. Slept in till almost 7:00, woke up very refreshed.

 

Meal 1 (7:45AM): 2 hard boiled egg yolks (saved the whites for post-workout), fist-sized baked sweet potato, half an avocado. 16oz black coffee.

 

Morning workout (9:15AM): 20 mile ride, moderate pace (16mph, 1h15min total ride time). No fuel, 24oz water.

 

Post-workout (10:45AM): 2 hard boiled egg whites, small banana, 12oz home brewed kombucha

 

Meal 2 (12:45PM): half a large can of salmon (bones & skin included), whole avocado, about a cup and half of carrot, celery, and bell pepper slices. An orange. 12oz sparkling water.

 

Nap after lunch.

 

Afternoon workout (4:00PM): 1 mile warm-up jog/walk, followed by 20 minutes strength training.

 

Post-workout (4:40PM): 12oz coconut water

 

Meal 3 (6:15PM): turkey burger topped with grilled onions (2 palm size), green salad with chopped tomatoes and cucumber dressed with lemon juice (2-3 cups total), fist-sized baked sweet potato. 24oz sparkling water.

 

Halfway done!!