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Starting Nov 2nd with husband, but I'm nervous!


AVazquez

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Hiya!

 

Yes, the chicken pre-workout went quite well (and remaining 1/2 breast and roasted squash post-workout - I brought it in a Tupperware container to the gym and got a few funny looks as I opened it up immediately after my workout and dug in, haha).  I am, however, feeling more sore than usual from my workout today but I have no way if it's connected to my Whole30 style of eating or it was just a particularly tough workout - I haven't done this particular one in over a month. I ditched my intraworkout BCAA's and my post-workout creatine that I was taking to try to enhance recovery to be in keeping with both the spirit and the technicality of the program - my BCAA's had artificial sweeteners and other strange crap in them and I'm sure the protein in the template meals will keep me going with whole food sources of BCAA's and complete proteins as well.

 

I'm happy to report than "demo* day 2" seemed to go well.  The meal timing was a little weird, but that's normal for the weekend.  By the time I was done my workout and showered it was nearly noon by the time i had my first template meal, and I also tagged on a smoothie (technically compliant ingredients, and I tried to follow the advice about "if you're going to have a smoothie, at least have it with a couple of eggs, okay?"  Then I had my usual Saturday afternoon nap (I'm hoping my energy levels will improve with the Whole30 but I have been a napper for my entire adult life - rightly or wrongly - and the habit only intensified when I had my son because I wholeheartedly followed the advice, "sleep when the baby sleeps" - he still naps, and so do I!).  I had my next template meal around 4pm but deliberately kept it on the small side because we were heading out to dinner at 6pm.  Then it was Italian Restaurant Success (see my post in the Travel & Dining out forum).

 

Demo Day 2

Pre-workout: 1/2 baked chicken breast with mixed herbs (rosemary/sage/thyme)

Post-workout: 1/2 baked chicken breast + open handful size roasted squash

M1: 2-egg omelet cooked in ghee, served on a bed of wilted greens with compliant salsa (so funny that 1 of the jars of salsa in my house is compliant but the other one isn't - all part of the "weeding out" that I am doing in advance of my "official" Whole30*) + smoothie (full-fat compliant canned coconut milk, orange juice, beef collagen protein powder, frozen banana)

M2: Cold cooked shrimp with 1/2 avocado on a large bed of wilted greens, topped with EVOO and (non-compliant) balsamic vinegar (knowing that it's not compliant, you might wonder why I continue to use it.  It's one of the only English-language balsamic vinegars I have seen in South Korea so I will live with the sulfites and source a compliant option for my official Whole30*)

M3: Starter: prosciutto-wrapped melon Entree: Grilled beef tenderloin with roasted vegetables.  I felt pretty slick avoiding the Italian bread basket and ignoring all of the pasta options on the menu (their eggplant ravioli is/was a favourite of mine), plus I turned down the complimentary in-house-made caramel gelato for dessert and enjoyed a mug of Earl Grey tea instead (until someone tells me that Earl Grey is not compliant - I didn't check that).  And I was pretty excited that i had leftover tenderloin for a steak-and-egg breakfast on day 3!  I doubt, however, that I will eat at this particular restaurant (or any restaurant at all, for that matter) during my official Whole30* because the language barrier with the staff is just too high, unless I can get one of my Korean co-workers to come with me and successfully explain that NO, I don't want the au jus!

 

Demo Day 3

M1: 1 egg, leftover beef tenderloin, onions and cubed white potato all sauteed in some ghee, topped with compliant salsa and washed down with coffee with a few tbsp of full-fat coconut milk (I'm not a habitual coffee drinker but 1 coffee or latte on the weekends was normal for me)

M2: 1 baked chicken breast, 1-2 cups steamed broccoli, open handful size roasted squash + this "treat" from paleOMG (skating around that grey area about baked goods - again, you don't bake it and it's apples, cinnamon, coconut oil & coconut butter & sea salt) - maybe by the time I get to my official Whole30*, I won't even be thinking about things like this.  But I deliberately considered it and its nutritional composition relative to the rest of my template meal.

M3: 1 bell pepper stuffed with a skillet of ground beef & onions sauteed in EVOO with tomato sauce and chili powder.  

Looking at it now, I can clearly see that M3 was not big enough (not enough veg), which leads to why I had:

M4: Two small tins of tuna with hot pepper sauce, cubed white potato and two wedges of roasted squash slathered with full-fat coconut milk

 

I considered going to bed (or trying to go to bed) after M3 but I was honestly still hungry and I really need to resist the urge to under-eat, especially coming from a period where I was eating as little as 1,200 cal/day EVEN on days I was working out.  (Yikes, I know!).

 

*Here's my (lengthy) aside: Remember of course that I am *not* doing an official 100% full meal-deal, 100% compliant Whole30 - but surprisingly close.  The program itself is pretty black-and-white and I get that it needs to be -  you can't compromise the sanctity of a program or you won't have a program any more - it's like the position on vanilla extract; sure it's self-admittedly extreme but it makes it easy to follow.  I'm hopeful - confident, in fact - that if I can get to >95% compliance I will be a lot better off than just continue down the path of my old eating habits - even if they were relatively "healthy" by traditional SAD standards.  It's bucking the all-or-nothing approach that says "I have to do this perfectly or there's no sense doing it at all."  Do I agree that I would get better results by committing 100%?  Absolutely - which is why I'm gearing up to commit to a fully compliant Whole30 in early 2016 (I was thinking February + March 1), but I might be able to bump it up based on the success of my demo days.  I'll be very happy to get 21 "demo" days before my upcoming trip to Europe, and I will indeed eat a croissant (or two) in Paris and just live with the consequences because this is my first (and maybe only?) trip to Paris.

 

Cheers,

 

-Lauren (GGG)

 

P.S - If anyone would be inspired to "see" my meals in all their (poor-quality) photographic glory, I'm keeping them on my Instagram account - search for thegoldengrahamgirl!

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Bronwyn, yes I did try the canned coconut milk and I didn't like it.  I think I will just stick with tea.  Day 3 and I'm feeling super foggy headed today.  Doing okay food wise, not having any cravings or crankiness yet.  My niece made eggplant sliders for our dinner last night and both her and my daughter did not like it.  She also made homemade Ranch dressing and they didn't like that either.  I like it but I ordered Tessamae's Ranch dressing for them today.  Hopefully they will like that.  I had leftover chicken apple sausage casserole this morning and a banana for breakfast, will have leftover eggplant sliders and salad for lunch and blackened salmon, asparagus, green beans and baked potatoes for dinner.

Chicken apple sausage casserole?  Do you have a recipe for that?

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Bronwyn, yes I did try the canned coconut milk and I didn't like it.

There are many compliant brands, so there's hope if you want to try again. No need to force it in your coffee or course, but maybe as you use coconut milk in various food dishes, try different brands and leave a spoonful aside each time for the next day's coffee, see if it's a better fit.

I drink coffee black, and I really do think it (all brands of grounds) tastes better brewed in my AeroPress rather than traditional drip machines.

It can be fun to experiment with the various tips of putting things in grounds before brewing: cinnamon, salt, egg shells, etc.

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