Mambo #5 - b.c.'s 5th round

[b.c.]

I've never kept a log on the forum, so I thought I'd give it a go this time round.

 

DH and I have both been under the weather, fighting off a strong virus that will.not.die.

So, while I bought all my groceries, had my meals for the week planned, and everything ready to prep, I didn't actually complete my meal prep last night.

 

I've set some goals for myself this week - get up at 5:30, ready to leave by 7 (I don't really have to leave the house until 7:30 but I have poor time management skills so I'm working to improve them.) and to put myself together/be more presentable than I've grown accustomed to lately - such as actually wearing makeup, changing up my outfit routine, etc.

 

Since I didn't prep yesterday, I knew I had to play catch-up this morning. 

So, I:

- woke up at 5:30 but didn't get out of bed til 5:45... progress but come on, I can do better than that!

- showered and got ready by 6:30 (put my makeup off til after I finished cooking to be safe...)

- put on a pot roast with potato and carrots for dinner tonight, then made a quick marinara with meat sauce and added some zucchini that I had (thankfully) pre-julienned and froze over the summer and cooked that up for lunches today

- determined it was too late (7:15) to cook breakfasts and packed an apple pie Larabar for myself and for DH along with our "spaghetti" and an apple/each, along with some carrots for me because my office is SNACK CENTRAL at the moment due to vendor holiday gifts and I *know* it will be hard to ignore

- got out the door right at 7:30

 

Today's meals:

Meal 1 - Apple Pie Larabar with water 

Meal 2 - Spaghetti with some carrots and an apple on the side, unsweet iced tea to drink

Meal 3 - Pot Roast with a small amount of roasted potato and plenty of roasted carrots, water to drink

* and, probably going to wrap up the evening with some herbal tea of some sort... we shall see *

 

As far as exercise goes, we are having a cold snap here in TN and the wind chill is currently 29* at 1:30 pm, and with this cough I have lingering around, I'm not sure how much I need to be out in the cold wind.  Still, my plan is to try to at least run the dogs around the neighborhood one time which would be a quarter mile stretch.

 

[b.c.]

Doing some math in the shower this morning, I realized this is actually my 4th Whole30, not my 5th.  I did a Whole7 last year and wasn't remembering how long that went... however, I can't edit my post so... fun times.

I feel pretty rough today.

I blame it on the medicine I've been taking to control my cough - so, I'm trying not to take anything today.

 

Didn't get up at 5:30 this morning, either.  Not my favorite.

It's okay.  I was still early for work and I have on makeup and my hair is styled, so I'm going to check this in the win column regardless. 

 

Meal 1 - pumpkin pie larabar - not so tasty - didn't finish it & won't be having this again. I really don't love Larabars at all. Tomorrow - I will cook! I WILL!

Meal 2 - more zucchini spaghetti with some carrots on the side.  I added some almonds and an apple yesterday and that rounded me out well, so I think I'll have that again today.

Meal 3 - steak and chicken stir-fry

 

Overall - today I'm trying to be optimistic but I feel blah.  I'm hoping that this cold/flu will run it's course about the same time as I get some tiger-blood.    

[b.c.]

Day 3!

 

Meal 1 - Homemade* Beef Stew

Meal 2 - Leftover Stir-fry from last night

Meal 3 - either Hamburgers or Oven Fried Chicken - I haven't decided yet!

 

* Do we really need the homemade disclaimer when doing a Whole30?  I feel like it maybe goes without saying.

 

On my lunch break yesterday, I ran to the grocery store for some supplies and I stopped at Sonic and ordered a Large Unsweet Tea, which at $2.50 is not something I need to be buying very often, but I digress.  I didn't try the tea until I got back to the office and guess what - it was sweet.  Not full sweet - I think they must have given me half & half, which is what I usually order on my happy-hour runs and most of the girls there know me, so I'm telling myself that's what happened. Anyway...  I drank it.  I drank it and I chose not to feel guilty about it or let myself fly off the handle.  I was halfway through Day 2, so I'm just adding 2 days on to the end of my original Whole30 and I'm going to keep on keeping on.

[Alisonlcarver]

b.c.--have you seen the templates for meal planning?  Each meal should include protein, veggies, and fat and should fill you to satiety for 4-5 hours.  A Larabar at M1 doesn't follow either of those, and is going to leave you with a blood sugar crash, premature hunger, and cravings throughout the day.  Meal 1 is crucial.  The beef stew looks like a good change though.

[Jenny B]

 

* Do we really need the homemade disclaimer when doing a Whole30?  I feel like it maybe goes without saying.

LOL, that is how I feel.  I also write "compliant bacon".  I mean its not like I would eat non compliant bacon. 

[b.c.]

b.c.--have you seen the templates for meal planning?  Each meal should include protein, veggies, and fat and should fill you to satiety for 4-5 hours.  A Larabar at M1 doesn't follow either of those, and is going to leave you with a blood sugar crash, premature hunger, and cravings throughout the day.  Meal 1 is crucial.  The beef stew looks like a good change though.

Thanks for the feedback - yes, I follow the meal template but as I explained in my posts about having been sick for so long and not prepping like I needed to, I ended up with Larabars as emergency food, as approved by the Hartwigs in various places, such as here:

 

 

Emergency Food, Please This change to our marketing strategy comes as a desire to provide the best guidance we can during y9our Whole30, and help you make the healthiest choices for your long-term goals. RxBars, Larabars, and other dried-fruit-and-nut bars are still appropriate emergency food for your Whole30, as long as the ingredients are compliant. But as always, include these in your Whole30 cautiously, as there is serious potential to use these bars in a less healthy manner during your program. As on-the-go or emergency food? Yes. As a replacement for your mid-day sugar boost, daily late-night treat, or to satisfy your Day 3 raging Sugar Dragon? While it’s not an official Whole30 rule, we’d strongly suggest no. 

http://whole30.com/2015/06/future/

 

Given that I don't really like/enjoy Larabars and only used them as emergency protein, I think I'm okay given the circumstance.

[b.c.]

LOL, that is how I feel.  I also write "compliant bacon".  I mean its not like I would eat non compliant bacon. 

Exactly 

[b.c.]

Day 4!

 

Meal 1: Beef Stew - Homemade

Meal 2: Leftovers from what I settled on last night: Turkey, Compliant Bacon, Romaine lettuce, and some diced sweet potato and white potato that I sauteed

Meal 3: Hamburger patties, salad, maybe some kraut or whatever other veggie DH wants to throw in the mix - probably broccoli if I know him 

 

Feeling good... so far!

[b.c.]

Day 5 - and... I'm out.

Meal 1: Apple Pie Larabar (after I explain my evening you'll understand why I went back to this again)

Meal 2: Compliant turkey, spinach and greens salad with olive oil and pecans and grapes - and non-compliant goat cheese

Meal 3: TBD - I know it will be strict paleo/primal, but that's all I know at this point in time

 

Ya'll, I hesitate to write this because I don't want to discourage anyone else, so please just take this as my individual choice and not something you should do, but... I'm bowing out.

 

Let me preface this by stating that I've made a few drastic changes to my schedule and life this week - which I think I've mentioned above - the least of which is the Whole30. 

 

Last night, when I got home, I felt like I just hit a wall of exhaustion.  I'm not sure how to explain it, but I went straight to bed and wanted to stay there.

My husband and I had a long talk because we both are such strong believers in the Whole30 program and how much it has helped us.  However, I expressed how overwhelmed I feel with all of the changes and that I felt I was transferring that to obsessing about getting things just perfect for the Whole30.  It's not meant to be that way.  DH mentioned how much doing the Whole30 reminded him that he really just feels so much better when we are strict paleo.  We have been paleo since February 2014, but got a bit off track toward the end of 2015.  We discussed how moving forward we both are determined to stay strict, but where does that leave us now?  He helped me get up, got us set up with a compliant dinner, and we agreed to talk it over when things were calmer and I felt more level headed.

 

This morning, nothing had changed - I mean, I feel better but I don't feel any differently about stopping the Whole30 for now. 

DH and I have been talking today and he thinks we need to just stop the Whole30 for now and be strict paleo/primal (just bc we have a bit of dairy from time to time.)

So I had a compliant breakfast and a mostly compliant lunch - all but a tiny bit of goat cheese on my salad (the one we had yesterday at work that I passed on) and I think this is just going to be my life for now - eating mostly compliant meals, but not being so uptight about it.  I know I don't owe anyone here an explanation, but I guess for posterity's sake for if/when I happen back around to the forums again, I wanted to note what's going on.

 

It doesn't really feel that good stopping, but at the same time, I feel like a giant weight has been lifted off of my shoulders. 

 

Whole30 has changed my life - it truly has - and I'll always be a Whole30'er at heart, but I think at the moment I have other goals and my focus is in a different place, and that's ultimately more important to me... so TTFN.  

[ladyshanny]

Sometimes it's just the way it is.  The fact that you feel a great amount of relief should tell you that you are making the decision that is right for you, right now.