Raven526 Log: First Whole30

[raven526]

Wooooo 1/3 of the way done and I feel like crap...

 

Before I started this, back in the middle of October, I was like I'm only going to do this until Dec. 23rd bc really who wants to do this during Christmas. Somewhere between then and the start of this, Nov. 30th, I decided screw that. I'm short changing myself. I will do the full 30 days. Right now, I'm saying crap why did I say that haha..

 

Also before I started, I printed out the timeline and wrote inspo notes to myself on the back of each day. I sealed them and put them in envelopes ready to read them during the challenge. Days 4-5 is still sealed because I actually didn't need it. Today, I did. And boy did it make me laugh. I woke up this morning and couldn't figure out why I was so cranky and annoyed at everyone. I knew before I went to bed that I was not looking forward to breakfast and when I woke up all I wanted was a bagel. Reading the timeline for today made me laugh because it literally said everything I was thinking. And my note made me laugh too because I wrote it when I was still only doing this for 23 days. But it reminded me to find something else to make me happy/feel rewarded instead of food. So I think I'm going to book a massage. I love them and don't do them often enough. Even though I shouldn't because I'm already breaking the bank with a hair appointment scheduled for this Saturday (another one of those pick me up ideas.) I've come to realize that my fall back reward is always spending money. But IDK what else to do... Everything else that I want to do, I do... I splurge when I'm want something to make me feel special. Maybe as I get older and my time necessarily isnt "my time", sneaking out to read a book or take a bath will seem just as tempting.... But right now, those things are "the norm" for me...

 

So hair appointment to mark my half way point and massage when this is finished, it is!

 

I have spin tonight that I'm a bit scared of because of how badly I injured myself last week. But I prepared this week snack wise.... I have a half an avocado & pork for my pre-wo and pork for my post-wo... We'll see if I make it the entire class today.... And finish without the passing out feelings!

 

Meal 1: (that I did not eat when I first woke up... I was too grumpy and cranky to attempt to eat when I really wasn't feeling it)

Warm Pear & Bacon Salad topped with pecans & a mustard vinaigrette

Two hard boiled eggs

 

Meal 2:

Pork Chop

Half an avocado

1 cup of cherry tomatoes mixed with EVOO & balsamic vinegar (I have a fav. balsamic from Oil & Co... So good!)

 

Meal 3: (that I will have make after I shower to space out my post-wo snack & dinner)

Baked rosemary & lemon chicken thigh

Baked sweet potato, topped with ghee

Roast asparagus

[SimpleNotEasy]

Hey Raven. 

 

Do you know how you injured yourself during spin last week? I remember reading that you had to spend the next day on the sofa. But do you know what happened?

 

Just thinking aloud here - what if you go to spin, but allow yourself a short break at the halfway point to stop for a moment (maybe get off the bike & go to the bathroom) and just evaluate how your body is feeling. If you are hurting - not just tired, but actually hurting - then do yourself a favor and stop then. There is no law that you must finish a class. It's great to set goals and push yourself, but not to the point of injury, right? It's something to consider.

 

Way to go on preparing yourself with the timeline & prewritten notes so that you were not derailed by your feelings! That is awesome!

[raven526]

Hey Raven. 

 

Do you know how you injured yourself during spin last week? I remember reading that you had to spend the next day on the sofa. But do you know what happened?

I wish I knew! All I know is that Friday I woke up and was in a ton of pain in a very uncomfortable place. Didn't bother me during spin and didn't bother me Thursday. Friday, idk what kicked in!

 

That's a good idea... I'm gonna see if I can switch bikes to closer to the door so I don't interrupt anyone... Thanks!

[SimpleNotEasy]

I wish I knew! All I know is that Friday I woke up and was in a ton of pain in a very uncomfortable place. Didn't bother me during spin and didn't bother me Thursday. Friday, idk what kicked in!

 

That's a good idea... I'm gonna see if I can switch bikes to closer to the door so I don't interrupt anyone... Thanks!

 

Aha - if it's issues with "girl parts," then get either some cushier bike shorts or a padded seat to take with you to use on the spin bike. Voila! Problem solved. 

[raven526]

Day 11.... Officially 1/3 of the way through.. Yay!

 

Woke up feeling MUCH better this morning. Idk what it was about yesterday but jeez I was not having it. And then, I had a pretty bad spin class, probably my worst but also because I spent a good deal of time OFF my bike... I lost my footing twice and my seat was too far away so I needed to get it closer. It was a mess.... I think I hurt myself again but I can walk today so that's good. I was paying more attention to what I was doing this week.

 

The I get home and attempt to take a bath but ended up spending an hour trying to figure out why only the hot water was turning brown in all of my water sources. No clue what's going on but I went to bed grumpy after taking a freezing cold shower. I turned on the TV to find Jurassic Park (one of my favs) so that made me go to sleep just a bit happier

 

Not too much happening today... I'm trying out Mixed Bar at The Bar Method for the first time tonight... I've heard people go between it's easy and its really hard so I have no clue what to expect! My lunch today, so-so... I didn't get as much food prep done as I wanted to for the week so I had nothing planned for today. It's gorgeous here so I decided to venture out for a salad. Meh.... 1/4 of it is still sitting here... I'll eat it around 4:30 before I leave the office to go workout. My breakfast though was fantastic! I was inspired by the Whole30 insta page last night and ended up making the same thing this morning, just adding in potatoes...

 

It's Thursday so long day again... I'm gonna have to make myself more coffee again! I really could use that energy everyone keeps talking about

 

Meal 1:

Arugula drizzled with EVOO & balsamic 

Ground beef and really crispy potatoes fried in ghee (I boiled the potatoes first so they would get really crispy) topped with two poached eggs

 

Meal 2: (just realized I asked for walnuts and didn't get any!)

Salad from Chopt: Kale, Arugula, cucumbers, carrots, broccoli, steak, and avocado with Mexican Goddess dressing

 

Pre-WO Snack:

Rest of my salad & an Aidells Chicken sausage link

 

Post-WO snack

Aidells Chicken sausage link and a few pecans

 

Dinner: 

????

[jmcbn]

Pre-WO Snack:

Rest of my salad & an Aidells Chicken sausage link

 

Post-WO snack

Aidells Chicken sausage link and a few pecans

 

Hi again Raven (I love your name by the way  )

You need to switch your pre & postWO meals for best results - the recommendation for preWO is a lean protein & fat, and for postWO is a lean protein & starchy carb. The reasoning being that fat in your postWO meal will slow down absorption of valuable nutrients to the muscles, and any type of fruit/veg preWO is like pre-loading with carbs when you want to be depleting those glycogen stores during training & replenishing after.

Breakfast & lunch sound good! (althought you might want to experiment with holding the potatoes - or any starchy veg - back until meal 3 as this tends to aid sleep and avoid any energy slumps)

Keep it up!!

[raven526]

Hi again Raven (I love your name by the way  )

You need to switch your pre & postWO meals for best results - the recommendation for preWO is a lean protein & fat, and for postWO is a lean protein & starchy carb. The reasoning being that fat in your postWO meal will slow down absorption of valuable nutrients to the muscles, and any type of fruit/veg preWO is like pre-loading with carbs when you want to be depleting those glycogen stores during training & replenishing after.

Breakfast & lunch sound good! (althought you might want to experiment with holding the potatoes - or any starchy veg - back until meal 3 as this tends to aid sleep and avoid any energy slumps)

Keep it up!!

Thanks for the tip!

[raven526]

Okay, I promise I'm still here and I'm finishing up day 15!! So exciting!!

This weekend was a blur. I had so many errands to run.

And this week is a bit insane too. I have a training for my job and it involves 4 days of wine tasting and concludes with our holiday party. I have to taste so I spent the day swish around some really yummy wines and spitting them out. Self inflicted torture haha.... It's all in the name of making me healthier! Shockingly, I did not get as frustrated as I thought I would by not being able to drinking. I think just having the wines in my mouth made me happy haha. So weird, I know. Three more days of this, including some blind tastings....

The training is catered for breakfast and lunch everyday, Thursday night we have a team dinner and Friday is the holiday party. I obviously can't bring a full meal to restaurants but I am most certainly bringing my own food the rest of the week. Everyone is sitting around eating their bagels and I'm enjoying my pears and bacon

These days are starting earlier than normal days and I cannot wake up any earlier than I do now so I'm bringing my breakfast to work and eating during breakfast hour. Which probably helps. I'm not sitting there watching everyone else eat and feeling like I'm missing out. This week is taking more planning though. Lunch is not at the same time everyday and we can't eat outside of meal times. So for example, tomorrow lunch is 3 hours after we eat breakfast so I'm planning a light breakfast. But I'll need a heavier lunch and maybe a snack because dinner won't be until almost 6-7 hours later once I get home.

This will be an interesting week to navigate but I feel prepared!

M1:

Pears & Bacon with a mustard dressing

Hard boiled egg

Half an avocado

M2:

Salmon fillet

Arugula and pecan salad with balsamic and EVOO

Cauliflower soup topped with bacon

M3:

Mel Joulwan's Thyme Braised Short Ribs

Mashed Caulflower with leftover bernaise sauce

Sautéed Spinach

15 days left!!

[raven526]

Also typing this on phone so sorry for typos!

[raven526]

This week has been kinda difficult. I'm pretty sure I thought it was supposed to be get easier. I haven't felt or seen or experience any magic yet... I'm literally tasting 20 wines per day and can't enjoy any of the them and some of them are pretty freaking amazing... I'm still pretty sure some is getting into my system so it I'm worried it's going to effect my whole30 results. And I'm really starting to stress out about our team dinner. The president of the company is hosting a dinner for about 20 of us and from stories I've heard, he keeps the bottles coming and I'm probably stressing myself out more than I need to but it won't leave my head....

Honestly, right now I want enjoy the open bottle wine I was given at the end of today's seminar (I wanted a closed, full one Bc it's freakin amazing and wanted to enjoy in January) and eat a slice of pizza.

All this week has reminded me of the things I can't have right now. Yes, I'm fully aware I sound like a toddler right now. I don't want to sound like a toddler but my emotions are getting the better of me

Happy day 16!

[jmcbn]

Raven, you could probably do with upping your starchy veg intake if you're feeling low - it really can & does effect mood for many...

As for the Dinner - I can guarantee you that once everyone else has had a drink or two they won't be paying attention to what you are or are not drinking - honestly 

 

You're more than half way there - set your eyes on the prize!!

[raven526]

Good Afternoon! I'm on Day 22!!

 

Well I realized why I was feeling so crappy last week... TOM slammed into me.... That was interesting to deal with. Happy to say I survived. I am still not seeing a single bit of magic or changes but maybe they will come this week?

 

One thing I am concerned about though is my daily headache. I was hoping I would shake these after the first week. By the time I get to work, I have a headache from being so sleepy. I don't get these on the weekend because I tend to sleep in about an hour to two more than during the week. Anyone know what it could be from? And no, waking up at 6:15 on Saturday and Sunday is not an option, especially when I don't usually get to bed sometimes before 11. 

 

The work dinner was interesting as I was yelled at by the waiter for not eating my pasta or dessert but whatever. I devoured my steak haha. 

 

Oh! But I have started making my own ghee. Super easy! I can't seem to find any cheese cloths but my tiny strainer and spoon seem to be doing the job! Also found a love of Sunshine Sauce. I don't know why it took me till week 4 to make this... So good. I made a big batch of Chicken Pad Thai yesterday and used carrots in place of the noodles. I think I want to add in some cucumbers next time.

 

I definitely didn't eat enough for lunch today as I am now STARVING! Funny how food always looks like it will be enough while it's being prepared and then you're eating and like nope.... Need more food.... Hurry up 5PM so I can go home and cook dinner!!

 

M1:

A mix of spinach, mushrooms and onions baked with two eggs

Bacon

 

M2:

Arugula & Brussel Sprout Salad topped with a chicken thigh and almonds, dressed with a homemade balsamic vinaigrette

Grape Tomatoes marinated in EVOO & Balsamic Vinegar

 

M3:

Pork Chop

French "Fries" (need to figure out a dipping sauce...)

Roasted Cauliflower

[raven526]

Raven, you could probably do with upping your starchy veg intake if you're feeling low - it really can & does effect mood for many...

As for the Dinner - I can guarantee you that once everyone else has had a drink or two they won't be paying attention to what you are or are not drinking - honestly 

 

You're more than half way there - set your eyes on the prize!!

I've definitely started eating them more often, especially once I realized that plantains are a starchy veg. I'm Puerto Rican and we love our tostones. They are now made at least twice a week

[raven526]

Alright! Day 24!

 

Okay, I'm falling asleep much quicker... now within a half-hour, I think. That's progress, right? Sadly my joints in my hands have only gotten worse during this process. I was hoping that it was diet that was making my arthritis flare up again but I guess it's off to the doctor for me

 

I am so ready to tackle Christmas! Besides making all the apps, I also LOVE gravy like no other so my mom is putting some of the dripping aside for me so I can make my own with coconut flour and she's not making stuffing (which I love so win!) I'm bringing my own sweet potato mash and a cauliflower mash. I'm ready for you Christmas... Bring it!

 

Despite falling asleep quicker, I am still exhausted, all the time. I was contemplating canceling my spin class today but realized that spin will set the tone for the next two days so I'm going. I have two and half hours between work and class. Maybe I'll try to get home and take a nap.

 

M1:

Leftover steak mixed with a microwaved egg (life changing), sauteed mushrooms, onions, and spinach

 

M2:

Chicken Pad Thai from Well Fed

 

PostWO:

Chicken sausage

**Lunch is MASSIVE so I'm thinking I won't need a PreWO snack**

 

M3:

Pork Chops (which I just remembered are still in the freezer so must go home after work)

Sweet Potato & ghee

Brussel Sprouts and Bacon

[raven526]

This article, right here...   http://www.refinery29.com/2015/12/99731/big-girl-book-excerpt-kelsey-miller?utm_content=everywhere&utm_medium=editorial&utm_campaign=151229-love-horoscope-predictions-for-2016&utm_source=email#.byd9ok:rAtE

 

I love this author and I plan on buying her book when it comes out...

 

The night before I started my Whole30, I knew I was going to eat foods I LOVED because I wasn't going to eat it again for at least 30 days, and maybe longer. I knew, and happily accepted, that the Whole30 would change my relationship with food. My mom even asked me what my "last meal" was going to be. So on November 29th, I had an amazing pepperoni and beef pizza from Pizza Hut and a glass of wine. I bid farewell to them, kinda sad, kinda hopeful. 

 

I was sure I wasn't going to do 30 days. I was going to stop the day before Christmas Eve because who wants to miss out on Christmas dinner?

I was certain I wasn't going to do the reintroduction phase because, pizza.

 

Today, I want the wine. BUT I can take or leave the pizza. I do want a slice of NY style pizza from down the block (I live in NY) but I'm not in a rush. And I did do 30 days! My husband asked me this morning if I was "done" after I did my weigh in (I'll take measurements tonight.) I paused and thought for a second and said, yes BUT I'm not in a rush to go back to my old way of eating. I spent 30 days putting really good foods in my body. I didn't head into work and have a bagel for breakfast, which I planned to do. It's not worth it. Instead I had half a thing of frozen spinach with some butter (I'm reintroducing dairy today). half a serving of steak, and an egg. I have beer that I literally spent 20 minutes picking out yesterday for me to have today that I am uncertain I will have tonight.

 

I want to keep eating paleo, with whatever foods that I cut out that my body now allows back in. I am proud to say, I went food shopping yesterday and besides the beer and cheese for NYE, my cart still looked very Whole30. I was still reading labels - I picked up lemonade for my mom to use to make a drink with tomorrow night and even though I have no intention of drinking it, I still read the label to see what was in it. Anything more than lemons, water, and sugar was put back on the shelf. I know that if I make mashed potatoes, they will be from scratch and not the crappy boxed stuff because it's time to eat real food and not just for convenience. Will I still go out to dinner and order a pizza and wine? Yes. But I will do so knowing that 90% of the time, I am giving my body the good stuff. I will NOT be buying frozen pizza anymore because it's easier than cooking a meal after a long day. I am hoping that if I want something convenient, the cost will outweigh the time to cook.

 

So while my joints are still killing me, I know my relationship with food has changed. For how long, who knows. I hoping forever. Something feels different this time. And while I would love to say I didn't do this for the weight loss, I know I was hoping to lose. And I did - 4.5 pounds. A very healthy, sustainable weight loss.

 

I'm thinking of trying another one in March... So till then my fellow Whole30ers... Thanks for the support and guidance and putting up with my whining.... Happy New Year!!!

[thegoldengrahamgirl]

Congratulations on your Whole30, Raven!  I knew you could do it!  And seriously, who loses almost 5 lbs while eating steak and eggs (so glad you discovered microwaving eggs!) and having to miss some workouts???  I wish you good things (P.S. I am doing dairy, well just butter, reintro today, too!).  I encourage you to stick to structured reintroductions so that you can clearly document the impact certain foods have on you (or not) so that you can make informed decisions about how and when to "off-road" instead of slipping back into old habits and ways of relating to food.

 

Cheers!

 

-Lauren (GGG)