Sarah's first Whole30

[NinjaSarah]

Perky Ninja's rock!

Thanks Derval!

[NinjaSarah]

Busy busy busy. That sums up the weekend. Baby shower and chili cook-off, lots of food and I stayed compliant!

Started the day with 2 jumbo eggs fried in ghee with bacon and some sweet potato.

At my friends shower there was at least a veggie tray and nice fruit bowl so I loaded my plate with that. It was tough though, it was a Harry Potter themed shower and they had Butterbeer! It smelled wonderful, pretty close to how I imagined while reading. So that was Very hard to resist. But I got the recipe and will just make it myself for Halloween Plus they had a candy "store" station. So pretty, and lots of Good candy. I did make a bag, but promptly locked it up when I got home. Chili cookoff: I took my own chili, and almost one, One darn vote! Pretty good for being a compliant chili. My friend, who knows what I'm doing with Whole30, made a chili she was pretty proud of, and insisted it was compliant for me, (she's not a Huge cook so to see her excited about making something...) I Had to have a taste of it, friendship rules > possibility of a little noncompliance in the bowl.

I drank Way too much coffee though. She had warned me she was going to have hot cider (hard and soft) and since it was such a chilly day I figured I should take my Own hot drink to help ignore that temptation. Even though I was exhausted-could have laid down and gone right to sleep-when I got home, I ended up staying up late. There were chores to be done before bed, and by the time that was all dealt with a second wind (aided by caffeine I'm sure) had kicked in. MUST get decaf coffee for weekends.

Sunday

M1: Made curried chicken salad with my homemade mayo. Ate it straight. Had meant to wrap in lettuce, but that wasn't too appealing in the am.

M2: Leftover chili, topped with avocado and green onion.

M3: More chili

Really wanted something, couldn't quite peg it (salty, fatty, etc). Nuked a sweet potato with coconut butter and chopped up a few macadamia nuts. Just right. Bed by 10.

Sunday

[ginsinnot]

you are rocking it:)

[NinjaSarah]

you are rocking it:)

Thanks!

[NinjaSarah]

Oh today. Not a typical structured Monday. Ended up only going to work for about an hout & a half. Up most the night, nit feeling well.

M1: yam with coconut milk & bacon, hb egg.

Slept. A Lot. My cats were Very happy

M2: curried chicken salad with home made mayo, on a lettuce leaf.

M3: taco salad! Yum. Tried jicama. Interesting. Can see why it's paired with dips, like an apple without the flavor. Tried some with lime juice & chili powder-pretty good.

Off to bed now. Even after sleeping like a hibernating bear still more than ready fora few zzzzs. Not s productive day maybe, but I did mow the lawn.

[NinjaSarah]

While I didn't wake up Before my alarm, I didn't get jolted awake by it. I had turned down the volume yesterday and forgot to turn it back up! Thankfully I woke up rested, happy and ready to go. I'll give 95% of that to Whole30, and 5% to the cat who slept with me All night. She doesn't do that often.

M1: "diner" food-chili eggs. Scrambled eggs and topped with leftover chili from the weekend. Good and very filling. couldn't quite finish it and wasn't hungry at noon.

M2: abbreviated taco salad. Grd beef, salsa, grape tomatoes and arugula. Sis's hubby made a big salad for his lunch and used the leftover veggies. But I'm cool with that-he's eating better and better. Raspberries & strawberries with coconut butter.

Sleepy. But I blame that on taking that day off yesterday ( I want a Nap!) and for the sheer boredom that is work today. I'm pretty sure I've answered over a hundred times the Same.5.Questions.

Looking forward to curried porkroast tonight. And ooh! just realized it is time for me to skeedaddle out of here. Woohoo! Workday over!

[NinjaSarah]

Ah...sometimes food just can't live up to expectations. Sis was excited (and so was I) about her red curry pork. But had to be tweaked a bit (soy and honey in regular version) and became a coconut curry. Coconut goes Great with shrimp. Not as well with pork, since it's already a "sweet" meat. I liked it, but it was drastically different from what we've had in the past. So I have a feeling I'll be eating a Lot of that, the others not so keen on it.

Our veg delivery yesterday had a ton of greens, so spent a good 2 hours washing up that on top of cleaining the kitchen, and still wasn't done when the others got home from shopping!

Today, another day

Grey, cold and rainy(um, there was Ice falling at one point), a great Fall day, for cozy clothes, a blanket, tea and good book. But I'm here, at work, in dress clothes. I did at least have my tea

M1: microwave eggs (awed and amazed some coworkes ) and chili. Black coffee. Trying for less. May have a slight caffeine deficiency headache. Sign to continue to only drink 1 rather than 2 cups.

M2: Hungry on the way home for lunch, but by the time I got there....not so much. Grabbed some chili, and berries with coconut butter. Ate most of the chili and all of the side of fruit n fat. Off to home for leftovers for dinner and going going going.

[Christina Savage]

I just read through your entire post - amazing! I wish I had someone to do it with close to me like you are doing with your sister and all of your food sounded so yummy!

[NinjaSarah]

I just read through your entire post - amazing! I wish I had someone to do it with close to me like you are doing with your sister and all of your food sounded so yummy!

Thank you! I know it would have been harder for me if I was doing this alone. I can pretty much guarantee I would have had to start over at least once. Seeing the healthy changes happening to her has been as inspiring and motivating as experiencing my own! And to have someone reaffirm I'm not imagining it, my body comp really is changing for the better.

I've seen a lot of people seek out a forum buddy, and some have even discovered they're practically neighbors. Maybe you could find someone that way?

[NinjaSarah]

Sadly I think I've caught the cold in the house, but I'm working through it. Drinking lots of tea and water, and trying to not fall asleep on my keyboard. While I really don't want to, I have a volunteer obligation right after work so hopefully will go straight to bed after that (9ish). So much for watching the debate.

M1: Microwave eggs again. Had some chili leftover at work, and forgot veggies had to add so.... Coffee with coconut milk

M2: Chili! It's done, finally. It was good but 5 days....

Made some more tea, getting achey.

M3: Won't have much time, so planning on grabbing some leftover porkloin and microwave steaming a yam. There should still be coconut milk left.

It's a beautiful day out there, sunny, breezy and Brrr! I like it! The ride in was enhanced by a beautiful sunrise.

[NinjaSarah]

Yeah, I felt like crap by the time I got out of work yesterday. Sis was so kind as to heat up a big bowl of chicken soup for me to eat before I zipped off to volunteering. I kind of hoped they'd just send me home, usually they don't want any sickies there (we work with kids) but my co-volunteers were absent so...I was stuck. I just sipped on lots of water. And was thankful I couldn't actually smell any of the food. It's always such a hodge-podge, but this one seemed particularly...overkill. Hotdogs, brats, bj steak sandwiches, super sweet bbq chicken (from what I was told ) the requisite pepperoni pizza. Rolls and croissants. Granola bars. Individual applesauces. Oh, there was a bowl of grapes. Yeah, and we're not supposed to bring in anything desserty because it's not healthy! Geesh. Ok, rant over

Ate another bowl of soup when I got home, dosed myself with some meds and went to bed pretty quick.

Slept in a bit, feeling significantly better. Sleep is such an amazing thing.

Omelette-style eggs with left over taco beef. Coffee with a good dollop of coconut milk. Was going to grab my lunch and just eat here. But I didn't, so I"ll bike home for lunch. Off to Whole Foods tonight to stock up on meat.

Less than a week to go. I think we're going to do a Whole30 feast our last day, to highlight to ourselves all of the delicious foods we Can and Have eaten for the past month.

I can say with all honesty there are a few things I'm looking forward to eating after this first w30, even though I know how not-natural they are, like candy corn. Tis the season. But I'll def be eating Less than in years past. I'm Not going to "make up" for the last 30 days because I haven't felt deprived of anything. Also, I'm looking forward to working in some Good cheeses again. I don't eat a lot, but a little parmagiano-reggiano...or drunken goat cheese-Yum. Alcohol. Some good, Real Cider. But I'm still going to follow the reintroduction plan. Start with dairy. Going to see what I can find for well-sourced cream, have managed to find a grass-fed happy cow butter. But coconut milk is here to stay. Just maybe not always in the coffee. Going to keep out grains, I don't really see myself indulging in pasta, or bread for the most part. What breads I have in the future, will most likely be one's I make myself. So 1) I know what's in them and 2) it won't be an insta-fix item because the best breads take Time. There will still be some baking in the house (um i'm pretty sure I've mentioned I'm a cupcaker ) but again, those are not a quick item. And I'll plan more when things are happening: large gatherings, work parties, so that they won't be just sitting around the house calling our names.

[NinjaSarah]

Day 25! Had an early eye exam and didn't plan well this morning so had to run without eating. Hit some stores afterwards and had No trouble walling by all the Halloween candy. Came home & had a Big sweet potato with coconut butter and c-milk. Also picked up some decaf coffee. Very good day for it, cold and monsoon level rains. Jamabalya for lunch over turnip greens. Prettydang good! I discovered I really like baby white turnips. I think it may be nap time.

Also, my end of whole30 reward? My sassy new purple eye glasses

[NinjaSarah]

Tried pork belly this morning. There was such a variety of spice recommendations I tried a couple. My fav was one I concocted , salt, pepper, a little celery salt, white pepper and paprika. That with some scrambled eggs and coffee tonstart the day. Unfortunately then Had to go the store, ugh. Crabby after that, and rushed to make guacamole, my contribution to family day meal of tacos. Bro kept some beef seperate for sis & I, sadly other family ate it too so only got one portion. Brought compliant salsa, and with all the veggies, pretty good. I think a fe of them even tried some of the jicama. They are at least willing to listen to What whole30 is, why we are doing it and all of the benefits we've seen, without it feeling like we're preaching. Been sleepy all day. Didn't sleep very well lat night (thank you cats) and haven't been able to nap.

[NinjaSarah]

Felt quite off by the time I got home, I was beyond overtired. Fuzzy head and all. Drank some water, and had a sweet potato with coconut milk. Read in bed for a bit, fell asleep with a cat snuggled up, book in hand and soft light on. At somepoint, sis came in looking for cat and turned off my light. Slept through my alarm right up to 7. Well, actually a little after, so I was super rushed.

But I still made time to cook food.

M1: Bell peppers/green onions (thankfully already chopped from yesterday) in a good bit of ghee, then poured 6 eggs over and let that cook into a nice omelette while I got ready. Took half, topped with compliant garlic salsa, and grabbed black coffee.

Today is really the first time since starting I haven't woken easily, but having not slept well Saturday night, staying up too late Friday and then no nap on Sunday I had a debt in the sleep bank.

Something that made me really Happy yesterday. Without thinking grabbed a certain pair of jeans, they have been my go to pair for a long time now. 2 months ago (almost to the day!) I couldn't even do up the button. That was pretty traumatic, especially because it happened while up north and they were my only pair on hand...yes they'd been snug for a while & I'd been wearing them less and less, but the button wouldn't meet the hole....oh my god I was upset. Well, those jeans fit awesomely yesterday!!! I have a stack of clothes that I was waiting until After this Whole30 to try on. One day in picking up I must have grabbed the jeans and hung them up without thinking....So I have real, concrete evidence that my body comp is improving, beyond how I feel and what I see in the mirror.

M2: rotisserie chicken chopped up with some romaine, abt a 1/2 cup guac and chopped up jicama for a salad. Where does the time go?! An hour just zipped away. Grabbed some apple and cashew butter, just in case. Since I had to wolf down the food (not my favorite) wasn't 100% sure if actually full or not. I truly believe there are black holes on my walk to/from work and in my house. No other explanation.

[NinjaSarah]

M3: looked to Julia childs for inspiration. So many of her recipes are easily adaptable. Fricassed chicken thighs in ghee with fennel, oregano, thyme, s&p. So good. Tried broccoli rabe cooked in olive oil with garlic. Nit my favorite green, but it has potential. Had to make a store run, treats for Boss Day tomorrow, so grabbe a fruit tray. The only one had caramel or fruit dip, but I'll ignore the dip. It's nit even good caramel so not tooo hard I should think. Also grabbed some pineapple. Had just a couple of hunks with raspberries, strawberries & cocnut butter. Stayed up later than I prob should have but, Walking Dead man! I recorded it last night since I was beyond tired. And can't watch it when other housemembers are present so.... g'nite.

[NinjaSarah]

Slept Really well last night

M1: Egg fried with coconut oil, large sweet potato with coconut milk. Kind of forgot about cooking this morning, I'm not sure how, so had to move move move!

Treat day at work for Bosses day. I brought in the fruit tray, got a hug from my boss because Everything else was baked goods. Except for some really nice smelling minestrone soup...

Had my first grapes today. Oh my goodness. They were good, but Sweet! Just a handful was more than enough for me.

[NinjaSarah]

M2, rotisserie chicken, the other half of my sweet potato, 1/2 apple & cashew butter. This morning just didn't feel very hungry.

M3: an awesome concoction. Red cabbage, chorizo, onions over sweet dumpling squash cooked in coconut oil. We have s weekly service that delivers organic, local fruit & veggies. We've been getting our egggs sourced from happy free roaming chickens . Now they have a farm that has humane, natural (happy, free to frolick) pork. And their chorizo & pork sausage are compliant! Yay!!!!! Sadly their bacon isn't but they responded to my emailed questions quickly and honestly ("our brown sugar bacon has a Lot of brown sugar") he was familiar with paleo too.

Very productive feeling, and tired. Cleaned up the kitchen, laundry, cleaned out the fridge, got rid of stuff we're not going to use after whole30 is over, and washed all the veggies delivered today. Even though it was both of us, wow. As sis said, people loose weight on w30 because they never stop moving!

snack while watching debates: apple slices cooked in ghee and cinnamon. Warm, cozy food. May not make it to the end of the debate (Again)

[NinjaSarah]

M1: Leftovers. Red cabbage, onion, spinach & chorizo. No squash leftover, didn't think to grab a yam. Coffee w/coconut milk.

Rode my bike into work this morning, that really does make me happy Picking up my new glasses tonight after work. And oh yeah, today is day 29!

Walked home on this lovely day with my sis for lunch. Lots of trying ot get stuff done And make lunch, where does the hour go. And then we discovered the pork shoulder we were going to pop into the slow cooker was Still Frozen! Oh well, grd beef and salad to the rescue

M2: greens with rotisserie chicken, half avocado, half tomato, red bell pepper, some compliant jalapeno cilantro salsa (nice kick!). also popped some raspberries and strawberries in a jar with a little coconut butter, but I haven't eaten that yet. Actually didn't finish my salad. When I started to put the lid on and reach for the berries, I mentally smacked my brain and said if I'm full enough to stop eating my main portion I'm too full to eat the berries.

[NinjaSarah]

M3 for yesterday. Cabbage mix leftovers with delicata squash microwave cooked with coconut oil. Have quite a few squashes at the moment, so I went ahead and split 2 of the delicatas open. Nuked one for immediate use and oven roasted the 2nd to have on hand. Wow, did that ever smell good. Like cookies mixed with super buttery (and I mean Real butter not movie popcorn butter ) popcorn. But it didn't trigger any cravings, just a Wow that smells Good!

Today.....Day 30! We had originally planned to do a Whole30 feast on this day, to celebrate and remind ourselves of all the wonderful foods we Can eat and still feel awesome. But life gets in the way....so we'll do our feast on Sunday.

M1: thanks to my sis had fluffly scrambled eggs (i just don't know How she does it ) with pork belly and coffee, black.

M2: Found tuna that is Only tuna and water! Mixed a can of that with a good helping of homemade mayo and mixed with some greens. Realized as I was walking back that I didn't grab any food to bring with me. I had a moment of panic. I have, lets say 90% of the time, been content and full after lunch. But I've almost Always had something compliant on hand-Just In Case. I did Not want to be stuck at work for 4 more hours HANGRY.

But I've been fine. Brewed some tea to sip on.

We (sister and I) are both feeling ready to start some reintroduction. We've got some good cheeses that have patiently been waiting, will use those and perhaps some icecream to start the dairy introduction. Saturday is the rivalry football game (Go Blue!) but we're not going ot go overboard. We want to stick to just dairy at the moment. So I'm thinking some whole30 compliant chicken wings/legs, taco salad with sour cream...

Excited and nervous. I've experienced so many good changes. My body comp has improved (I think I've lost close to 2 dress sizes), my skin has cleared up some and the redness has decreased in my face, I'm Happier feeling overall, my mood swings (and they were pretty bad) have Significantly improved, my overall ability to handle stress has improved, I haven't felt deprived or hangry, I'm sleeping better overall (still don't like getting Out of bed, but I"m at least waking up most days before my alarm).

For now, I'm going to focus on maintaing healthy intake while introducing the foods I've missed. My next goal will be to get my booty moving in the morning so that I can sit down and eat breakfast Before getting to work. And to build exercise back in-yoga, running (just started that for the first time not long before w30 came on the scene). With the holiday season upon us I'm realistic in that I will eat more less-good food, but I really am going to work on only having those Special foods. Homemade, seasonal. Not candy. Not store bought crap people will surely bring into work to share. And sis and I are already planning on doing another whole30 in January.

[ginsinnot]

I'm so proud of you. I'm a little verklempt about it.

[NinjaSarah]

Well, this is my last entry here. I'll be moving (swaggering ) on over to the post Whole30 log. But wanted to complete my day 30 entry.

Dinner was slow cooker pork shoulder that was sooooo fall apart tender I think if you Looked at it sharply it would just shred Super good. Had some salad greens, topped with the pork, 1/2 an avocado and bell peppers.

Didn't drink nearly enough so by the time I got home from volunteering felt off, took me a bit to figure out Why. Sheesh. Chugged down some water and got ready for bed. Slept well, for the first time (during the w30) woke up at 4 and couldn't get back to sleep for a chunk of time. Nerves perhaps? I'm Kindof extending my w30 to w31, to make it through the work day. It's the day before the big rivalry football game in our area and there are tailgate food tables EVERYWHERE.

Cooked myself some scrambled eggs with spinach, pork belly and half an avocado.

I started writing my success story last night. Taking the time to write it out Really drives home how much has changed, improved, in just 30 days! I"ll upload it this weekend. But a quick revisit to my goals

Get back to eating Real food that I truly enjoy: CHECK. I hadn't realized just how much crap I was allowing into my body. Well, I was and I wasn't. I knew overall I could be eating better, but it just seemed like a lot of work. And reading labels....I had thought I was pretty good at that, but wow what a revelation!

Be conscientious of what I'm sticking in my mouth, and Why: Check. Am I Hungry, hangry, snacky, bored, thirsty? I occasionally made an attempt to distinguish between all of those signals, but really, the past year at my new job I snacked MINDLESSLY a Lot! Sometimes I don't even think I realized how much I was, because I was truly mystified by how I had gotten up to, aack, 145 lbs.

Which brings me to my next goal: Lose weight. I actually haven't weighed myself yet. I Know I've lost inches, probably close to 2 dress sizes. Pants I couldn't even button up 2 months ago fit perfectly. Dresses I haven't worn in nearly a year because they were difficult to get over my chest and then pulled at the buttons. Fit! I am going to weigh myself tomorrow morning just to compare start to end but after that our scale is going to go in a deep dark corner of the basement. And no matter What the number is that shows up tomorrow morning, I FEEL great, lighter, healthier, Happier.

And a couple of goals that I didn't write down, but they were there.

I've dealt with depression on and off since I was 16. I actually started talk therapy just before starting the Whole30. Between the 2 my mood swings/reactions to stress have improved significantly. Enought that my housemates have commented on it. There have still been some bad days, and there is still work to be done, but I feel....Happy. My therapist actually had a lot of questions about Whole9/whole30 and said he's going to look into it.

Skin. ugh. While i don't have terrible acne, my skin as an adult has been worse than it was as a teenager. I haven't changed any of my beauty routine. The redness I usually have on my cheeks and chin, decreased. Overall breakouts, minimized. My undereye circles are still there. But I've had them forever.

Allergies. I used to brag how i was one of the only ones in my family who didn't have allergies. And then they hit me in my mid20s. I stopped taking the allergy medicine a couple of weeks before starting w30, and until Tuesday, hadn't had Any problems. With the rain and warm up we've had this past week, Everyone I know who has tree/mold allergies have had problems. Yay mother nature. Give us some warm fall days, only we can't breathe/see to enjoy them

I've been pleasantly surprised by the support on this forum. And will continue to utilize the site overall. I"ll just see you on the post whole30 log, until January....

[Derval]

Great post Sarah , look fwd to reading the full report