Whole30 Whole Experience-- a first timer's log

[alynn91]

I posted yesterday, but it didn't let me actually save the post.

My fiancé and I are getting married in July and want to start eating right and getting healthy so that when we decide to have kids, we can set a good example for them. Our weight has kind of spiraled out of control lately as a result of filling our bodies with garbage every day and failing to work out regularly. My immediate goal is to lose weight for my wedding, but developing a more healthy lifestyle is the most important thing. I'm so excited to do this reset-- I'm sure my body needs it!

Day one was kind of rough. I'm not a very good preparer... I procrastinate! So yesterday morning I didn't have anything planned out for breakfast but managed an egg omelette with veggies and had a dry salad for lunch, which was good at first but hard to finish, no matter how much I tried dressing it up with salt and pepper.

I made chicken primavera from the Whole30 book and it was SO tasty, even though I accidentally over spiced it. Then, I prepared a Greek salad with chicken, some sugar snap peas, and grapes for tomorrow. I also boiled some eggs. Very productive for me!

Around 11 AM I got a splitting headache that lasted through the rest of the day. Normally, by 10 AM I have had quite a bit of sugar from the cream I have in my coffee and whatever I have for breakfast. But yesterday, I only had black coffee and an egg omelette with veggies-- no sugar for me! Hopefully the headache is lessened on day 2.

[alynn91]

I posted yesterday, but it didn't let me actually save the post.

My fiancé and I are getting married in July and want to start eating right and getting healthy so that when we decide to have kids, we can set a good example for them. Our weight has kind of spiraled out of control lately as a result of filling our bodies with garbage every day and failing to work out regularly. My immediate goal is to lose weight for my wedding, but developing a more healthy lifestyle is the most important thing. I'm so excited to do this reset-- I'm sure my body needs it!

Day one was kind of rough. I'm not a very good preparer... I procrastinate! So yesterday morning I didn't have anything planned out for breakfast but managed an egg omelette with veggies and had a dry salad for lunch, which was good at first but hard to finish, no matter how much I tried dressing it up with salt and pepper.

I made chicken primavera from the Whole30 book and it was SO tasty, even though I accidentally over spiced it. Then, I prepared a Greek salad with chicken, some sugar snap peas, and grapes for tomorrow. I also boiled some eggs. Very productive for me!

Around 11 AM I got a splitting headache that lasted through the rest of the day. Normally, by 10 AM I have had quite a bit of sugar from the cream I have in my coffee and whatever I have for breakfast. But yesterday, I only had black coffee and an egg omelette with veggies-- no sugar for me! Hopefully the headache is lessened on day 2.

[alynn91]

Day 2, 1:30 PM

I would usually post at the end of the day, but I'm feeling really good! 

Yesterday at this time I had a horrible pounding headache and I was HUNGRY! Today, I am feeling much better. I did much more food prep last night to better prepare for my day and it's really paying off. After 2 hard boiled eggs and a banana for breakfast and a Greek salad (from the Whole30 book) with grilled chicken for lunch, I feel like I actually have a little energy. Yay!

 I was so worried eating this way would be boring, but after dinner last night and lunch today, I am no longer afraid

[alynn91]

Day 2 - 

Day two went pretty well! I am proud of the willpower I had all day, as I was constantly tempted. After the post I made yesterday,. I went to the movies with my family. Everybody had popcorn, and I ate a carrot cup. Then, everyone went to McDonalds and I didn't get anything. I sat in the car while the smell of cheeseburgers and fries permeated the air and ate a small salad when I got home.

[hotironskillet]

Movies without popcorn and then McDonalds? Good for you for staying on track!

[alynn91]

Movies without popcorn and then McDonalds? Good for you for staying on track!

Thank you!!

[thegoldengrahamgirl]

Way to go getting through the first few days, Alynn!

 

I have some suggestions/recommendations that might make the coming days even easier.  You've already identified that preparing is key - keep it up!

 

Now, have you seen the meal planning template?  Google Whole 30 template and a PDF should pop right up.  You're missing veggies at every meal (just banana at breakfast - be careful of fruit as the sugar in it can cause you to have a blood sugar crash and hunger later).  You should have 1-3 CUPS of vegetables at every meal.  The recommendation for eggs is the number you can hold in one hand - for most adult females this is 3-4, not 2.

 

FAT.  You should be adding 1-2 servings of fat to each and every meal.  This will help you to feel full from one meal to the next with no need to snack and will teach your body to use fat as fuel (both dietary fat and stored body fat).  This process is called becoming "fat-adapted."  For instance, drizzle extra virgin olive oil on your salad (no need for dry salads!).  Add 1/2 an avocado to breakfast.  Add a generous handful of olives to dinner.  Make your own mayo.

 

Finally, make sure that you are drinking at least 1/2 an ounce of water per pound of body weight.  So if you weigh 160lbs, you need 80 oz of water (2.5 L or ten cups).

 

Hope this helps!

 

Cheers,

 

-Lauren (GGG)

[alynn91]

Way to go getting through the first few days, Alynn!

 

I have some suggestions/recommendations that might make the coming days even easier.  You've already identified that preparing is key - keep it up!

 

Now, have you seen the meal planning template?  Google Whole 30 template and a PDF should pop right up.  You're missing veggies at every meal (just banana at breakfast - be careful of fruit as the sugar in it can cause you to have a blood sugar crash and hunger later).  You should have 1-3 CUPS of vegetables at every meal.  The recommendation for eggs is the number you can hold in one hand - for most adult females this is 3-4, not 2.

 

FAT.  You should be adding 1-2 servings of fat to each and every meal.  This will help you to feel full from one meal to the next with no need to snack and will teach your body to use fat as fuel (both dietary fat and stored body fat).  This process is called becoming "fat-adapted."  For instance, drizzle extra virgin olive oil on your salad (no need for dry salads!).  Add 1/2 an avocado to breakfast.  Add a generous handful of olives to dinner.  Make your own mayo.

 

Finally, make sure that you are drinking at least 1/2 an ounce of water per pound of body weight.  So if you weigh 160lbs, you need 80 oz of water (2.5 L or ten cups).

 

Hope this helps!

 

Cheers,

 

-Lauren (GGG)

That is very helpful! I had a feeling I wasn't getting enough veggies. I'm still working on meal planning/prep, so I'll definitely incorporate these tips. Thank you!! 

[alynn91]

Day 3

It doesn't feel like day 3, it feels like it's been a week! 

 

Yesterday, I was cranky and sad. I have clinical depression that I have had under control for a while, but some days are really hard and yesterday was one of those days. All day long, I wanted to just grab a quick bite to eat, then eat some cake, and then go to bed. But I fought really hard against my sugar dragon and came out on top (yesss). 

For breakfast, I had my standard 2 eggs and a banana.

For lunch, I ate some greek salad (well, the lettuce was a little soggy so I ate some lettuce, but mostly cucumbers, tomatoes, and olives), some snap peas, and an apple.

For dinner, I made pork chops with spiced apple sauce (from the Whole30 book), and it was delicious. When I was making it I thought, "Onions with apples... okay... >.>" but it was delicious and easy to make. I served it on a huge bed of spinach, which I ate afterward. The spinach had remnants of the applesauce on it so it was tasty! 

I also snacked on some almonds and some carrots throughout the day... I know snacking isn't recommended but where I was having a rough day and wanted to eat bad snacks, I thought I better eat something and make it healthy so I don't go off track. 

I drank a lot more water than I have been and didn't get a headache. 

 

I am going to try to incorporate more fat, more veggies, and just a little less fruit to my diet. I'm also trying to work out more... my working out has been in short bursts, not trying too hard. But next week I'm ramping it up! 

[thegoldengrahamgirl]

I've also suffered from bouts of clinical depression alynn, so I can understand those days.  Good on your for resisting poor food choices.  I can tell you that you can help yourself to feel even better by making the even better food choices you've been talking about: fewer servings of fruit and adding more vegetables and fats.  This will help with your blood sugar levels which will also improve your mood.

 

Let us know how the next week goes!

[alynn91]

Day 6 (forgot to post for a couple of days, but I stayed complainant and tried to eat more veggies)

Yesterday was goodbad haha.

It was good because I woke up feeling happy. I wasn't in an okay mood, I was happy. I hadn't felt that way in weeks. Yesterday I actually felt like myself for a while. I don't know if it was actually the better food I've been eating or just feeling good about what I've been doing and eating lately, but I was feeling great!

It was bad because I didn't eat enough. It didn't hit me until around 3 when I started feeling weak, hot, and sick that I had barely eaten in my haste to get out the door and go grocery shopping. I had eaten a couple of eggs and a little turkey breast, but that was it all day. When I got home from shopping, I ate some almonds and some carrots and celery and drank a lot of water (I have a hard time drinking water on weekends-- I forget) and I felt worlds better. We had a pot roast for dinner (of course, from the Whole30 book), which was amazing, but I learned in preparing it that I get contact dermatitis from touching peeled butternut squash! I guess it's pretty common, but it was a strange discovery.

This week I will be ramping up my workouts, going farther than just doing some extra walking. I am going to start taking the stairs at work every day (I work on the 4th floor) and work out when I get home as well.

[alynn91]

I prepared the worst ever olive oil and vinegar blend. Blech. Dry salad again!

[alynn91]

Day 7 

Yesterday went alright. I'm starting to realize that I'm not eating enough. I need to work on putting more substantial ingredients into my lunches. I also realized that I've been giving my fiance the same amount of food I give myself, which is NOT enough for him. He told me last night he's starving by the time the next meal rolls around! I wish I'd known that sooner, but at least I know now so that I can work on packing his meals a little bigger.

 

Yesterday I ate my standard eggs and piece of fruit for breakfast. I had a salad with tomatoes and mushrooms for lunch and snacked on some carrots. I made the Chili from the Whole30 book for dinner and it was delicious. I am going to start doubling recipes from the book so that we can have leftovers to take to work.

 

Breakfasts are easy for me since I basically have the same thing every day and I'm not bothered by that. I don't like eggs that much, but they're healthy, so I like eating them hard boiled because it's quick. Dinners have been amazing, I've been following recipes from the Whole30 book, but this week I'm venturing to recipes from the internet, so that's been fun. I've never liked cooking, but this week it's been really great! I just need to figure out some better lunches, because I was dreading lunch time.

[alynn91]

Days 8 and 9

I haven't posted in a couple of days because I've been feeling under the weather. I've been experiencing waves of nausea and it's brought me down. 

Yesterday was day 9 and I'm happy to report that I've stayed on track, even though all I've wanted the last two days have been saltines. I have had my standard eggs and fruit for breakfasts, salads for lunch, veggies and almonds for snacks. Yesterday for dinner I made chicken stir fry, and it was pretty tasty. Tonight I'm making chicken primavera again and I'm so excited because it's been my favorite meal! 

 

I haven't had a huge problem with sugar cravings like I thought I would (although yesterday I pinned about 100 dessert recipes on Pinterest), but I've craved bread on and off. The thing I'm struggling most with right now is not weighing myself! I have woken up for about 3 days wanting to step on the scale! I haven't done it, but the temptation is really strong. I am doing this because I need to get healthy, but I would be lying if I said that losing weight wasn't a huge desire of mine. I'm 5'4" and weighed 198 when I started doing this, so not stepping on the scale to see if I've shed any of that has been hard. 

 

Anyway, I'm staying strong and actually quite enjoying the program! I think doing this for 45 or even 60 days would be beneficial and not as hard as I originally thoughgt.

[alynn91]

Day 10 - Accidentally Off - Track

Well, I accidentally went off track last night. My fiance and I ordered Indian food (my FAVORITE-- I should have known it would be my downfall). I called ahead to make sure there was no dairy, no sugar, and ask what kinds of oils they cooked in. I ordered it without rice and without flatbread, and even made cauliflower rice to eat with it. I started eating it, and lo and behold -- I forgot there was peas and chickpeas in it!!! NOOOOOO! Oh I felt so dumb, I couldn't believe that a little mistake like that would make it so that I have to start over. I did feel happy that I didn't go offtrack for a donut or something else that's definitely unhealthy, at least it was for peas. But still, I was so upset. And without going into too much detail, I paid for my mistake dearly in the bathroom this morning.

 

Luckily, my fiance and I were already planning on doing this through February, so it's not too big of a blow. 

 

The rest of my day was good. Standard breakfast, green salad with a chicken breast for lunch, and the dreaded mixed veggie curry for dinner. I also ate some freeze dried mangos for a snack-- freeze dried SO GOOD!

[alynn91]

Day 3 (Again)

Ahh again with the not posting!! This weekend was pretty busy, but really good. Everything has been going well, I've been really good about eating. I feel like I'm finally eating enough! 

I have started dreaming about food and having weird food cravings. Last night, I dreamed that I was drinking Dr. Pepper and getting ready to eat some cookie dough that I had in my fridge. The night before, I dreamed I was eating Girardelli chocolates with caramel inside. I haven't had soda in 2 years, it's amazing that I'm dreaming about it! Yesterday morning, I also had an intense craving for corned beef hash, which I don't actually like-- it reminds me of dog food.

 

If I hadn't eaten chickpeas, it would be day 16 for me, which means food dreams and cravings are pretty much right on time. 

 

In other news, I got a Costco membership and that place is like food dreamland. They have EVERYTHING there. I did spend over $100 and it didn't feel like I got that much, but I got a lot of meat, so that's good.

 

Last night I made burgers wrapped in lettuce and asparagus for dinner and it was delish. For breakfast I had a steak and eggs with some fruit (love weekends!).

[alynn91]

Day 4

I want to admit right here and now that even as I type "Day 4", I am thinking "Day 15" (I know I said yesterday would have been 16, but as it turns out, I don't know how to count). I fully intend on going on for the full 30 days after my mishap, and probably even further than that, going all the way through February, but it has been VERY hard to wrap my head around the fact that this is just day 4 again. For chickpeas. Sigh.

 

Anyway, yesterday was great. I had my standard breakfast of hard boiled eggs and fruit. For lunch I had leftover chicken primavera. I had made this batch with TONS more vegetables, so basically I had a vegetable soup with a few pieces of chicken and it was excellent. For dinner, my fiance made us a fabulous dinner of steak and steamed vegetables. Let me just tell you-- THAT MAN CAN COOK! Wow, who knew? He made the dry rub from the Whole30 book (minus the cayenne pepper and turmeric, because we were out) and grilled them on our little counter top grill. It was delicious. I don't usually eat very much red meat, it's not my favorite, but I wished that I could have another steak when I was done. Good job, future husband!

 

I am still struggling to get exercise. My commute to and from work is about an two and a half hours round trip, so sometimes I get home so late that I lose motivation after making dinner. And I have to leave so early that it's really not plausible for me to wake up super early to exercise without going to bed at 8 PM. But this week I have made a commitment to working out at least 4 times a week.

 

I did not dream of food last night, so that was a relief. My sugar cravings are hitting much harder now than they did at the beginning of the program. But I have resisted temptation better than I ever have in my entire life, and I'm feeling pretty confident about my ability to do great for the rest of the program! 

[alynn91]

Day 5

Yesterday was pretty good. I got home kind of late because I went shopping at the craft store for paper (making my own invitations) and got a little lost in all the crafty goodness. But my fiance made dinner again, and it was delicious. We made the green beans mushroom side dish from the Whole30 book and it was pretty good. Not my favorite recipe to date, but it was alright. 

I feel bloated today, so I'm not too happy about that. I keep wondering, "Did I accidentally eat something that's not compliant? What did I have, what did I have??" But I can't think of anything. 

 

I am having a problem with looking at baked goods. I don't even necessarily want to EAT them, I just want to make them. I have a cookbook, The Back in the Day Bakery Cookbook, that is chalk full of wonderful recipes for amazing baked goodies. I went through the entire thing yesterday. Page. By. Page. I wasn't craving the food in the book. I was like, oh, strawberry cupcakes with fresh strawberry frosting. Look at that recipe, I want to make that. But I thought, "I could make it and take it to work!" Of course, I didn't, because I don't quite trust myself not to want to eat them when the real thing is right in front of me. My fiance says I'm a glutton for punishment, pinning recipes and looking at baking cookbooks. But I have always loved baking. There's not much call for baking anything besides chicken on the Whole30 and I miss it, I guess.

[alynn91]

Days 6-7

I am feeling extremely discouraged. I feel like at this point, I should be feeling good but I am absolutely exhausted, and ALL I WANT IN THIS WHOLE WORLD IS A GRILLED CHEESE SANDWICH AND TOMATO SOUP! 

The last couple days, my depression has been out of control and all I want is comfort food. I have never had this hard a time resisting food. I am making an appointment with my doctor to talk about my symptoms, but I am struggling. BUT as of right now, I am still on track, so I suppose it could be worse. 

 

If I hadn't eaten those chickpeas, today would be day 18 and I would be in Tiger Blood phase right now.

[alynn91]

Day whatever:

Alright, I've stopped keeping track of the days. I am doing the best I can to remain upbeat about the program, but lately that's been really tough to do. I haven't been planning things as well as I know I Should and I know that's part of the problem. We are planning on doing Whole30, or close to Whole30 eating, all through February. I feel okay.