katieblue Posted February 23, 2016 Share Posted February 23, 2016 Hi everyone! So, I started my first ever Whole 30 officially on Monday, February 22nd! I spent most of the day in the ER with gastritis (can we say motivation to eat better??), so I only wound up eating dinner. That consisted of a roasted turkey drumstick, half a sweet potato with clarified butter and cinnamon, and green beans with salt and pepper. It was awesome and I didn't feel uncomfortably full after, which was a nice change! I definitely felt myself wanting to go for something sweet as a dessert, but I just brushed my teeth and went away from the kitchen for the rest of the night! My boyfriend, who is grudgingly doing this with me, was hungry about an hour after dinner, so he added some celery with NSA almond butter as a small snack. Today, breakfast consisted of two eggs, scrambled with portobello mushrooms, green pepper, and olives, topped with homemade pico de gallo and sliced avocado. It was fantastic, but I can't say the same for the coffee with coconut milk - I forgot how bitter it is without any sweetener! But I got through it! I'm now still full, so I think lunch will be something really light, like some steamed broccoli with lemon juice or carrots dipped in almond butter. My boyfriend defrosted a beanless chili that I had prepped last week and stuck in the freezer for when I don't feel like cooking! Dinner is going to be the Salmon Cakes (from the book), with a side of a whole roasted head of cauliflower with garlic and clarified butter (split between the two of us, of course... I don't know if I could eat an entire cauliflower, even if it is my favorite veggie!). I also tried my hand at Whole 30 mayo and ketchup today. The mayo was amazing; it actually worked! I used the method with putting the ingredients in a tall, narrow container, waiting for them to separate, and then using the immersion blender to slowly work up the container rather than the drizzle. It actually looks (and tastes) like mayo! The ketchup tastes really tomato-y, but I think it will get better as I adjust to less sweeteners in my diet in general. I am SUCH a ketchup junkie; that was sort of my Achilles heel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Tom Denham Posted February 23, 2016 Moderators Share Posted February 23, 2016 A lunch of broccoli or carrots is not adequate. Our meal planning template lays out minimum requirements... if you eat less, you are setting yourself up for problems... How much to eat http://whole30.com/downloads/whole30-meal-planning.pdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katieblue Posted February 24, 2016 Author Share Posted February 24, 2016 Thanks, Tom. What do I do if I'm just not hungry? Do I force myself to eat more? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmcbn Posted February 24, 2016 Share Posted February 24, 2016 Thanks, Tom. What do I do if I'm just not hungry? Do I force myself to eat more? The recommendation would be to plate up a template meal (ie. 1-2 palm sized pieces of protein, 1-3 cups of veg, with 3 being optimal, and a generous serving of fat), then to eat as much of it as you can (ensuring you get a little of each food group), then wrap up the remainder of the meal to east as soon as you feel able to. Lack of appetite is a sign of a hormonal imbalance, and NOT eating will only perpetuate the problem. By making efforts to overcome this your appetite will soon increase... Hope this helps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katieblue Posted February 24, 2016 Author Share Posted February 24, 2016 Thank you! I really appreciate the guidance. Part of my motivation for trying the Whole 30 is actually part of an effort to correct a hormonal imbalance that's been going on for years, but I had no idea my lack of appetite could be caused by that. Do I pick specific times to try and eat, even if I'm not hungry? I feel like if I eat a substantial lunch (e.g. the serving sizes recommended), then I don't get hungry for dinner until about 9pm, which is usually when I'm winding down for bed (I wake up at 5am) so I don't want to eat a ton of food right before sleep. If I force myself to eat something, I feel uncomfortable and over-stuffed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmcbn Posted February 24, 2016 Share Posted February 24, 2016 If you're awake at 5am then you should be eating breakfast before 6am (within an hour of wakening - also pretty key in re-balancing hormones), then each meal should follow around 4-5hrs after that... If that means four smaller meals throughout the day then that's fine so long as they match the template. That said I go 6hrs between breakfast & lunch most days due to my schedule so it's okay to stretch it out a little, but skipping meals is not a good choice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katieblue Posted February 24, 2016 Author Share Posted February 24, 2016 Thank you again! I'll do my best. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katieblue Posted February 24, 2016 Author Share Posted February 24, 2016 Day 3: Breakfast: Green tea (not as bitter as I thought with no sweetener, probably helped by the extreme bitterness of the coffee yesterday!) Two eggs, scrambled in butter with onion, green pepper, mushrooms, and olives, and topped with homemade pico de gallo. Lunch: Turkey salad with homemade whole 30 mayo, pecans, raisins, chopped celery, and salt and pepper, over a bed of lettuce. Dinner: Leftover salmon cakes and roasted cauliflower from last night's dinner. I'm in the middle of the day, and still not feeling hungry, so hopefully I will be able to eat at least most of what is planned for us! Feeling a little foggy and tired, but not as bad as yesterday. Last night I crashed REALLY hard, was in bed by 8:30 and was asleep by 9, which is ridiculously early, even for me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katieblue Posted February 25, 2016 Author Share Posted February 25, 2016 Day 4: Oh. My. God. The throbbing headache. The nausea. The shaky, achy, anxious, horrible feelings. I feel like someone is trying to dig their way out of my skull with a pickax. This is SUCH a motivator to keep going. I don't want to be eating crap that will make me feel like this if I stop. Please tell me this will be over soon!! Breakfast: Ginger tea (trying to calm my tummy). Steak and fried eggs, kale and mushrooms sauteed in olive oil with salt, pepper and lemon juice. Lunch: Leftover salmon cakes over a bed of lettuce. Possibly some homemade dressing if I feel good enough to try making some... maybe just oil and vinegar. Dinner: First time going out to a local pub! I made a call to ask some questions ahead of time. I'll be having a bunless burger with lettuce, tomato, and avocado, and bringing my own ketchup, with some steamed veggies as a side instead of fries. My boyfriend plans on the NY Strip steak with a side salad with oil and vinegar as dressing and a baked potato. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmcbn Posted February 25, 2016 Share Posted February 25, 2016 ....The throbbing headache. The nausea. The shaky, achy, anxious, horrible feelings.... Sorry to stalk you here but it doesn't look like you're including any starchy veg with your meals (think all varieties of potatoes, beets, plantains, turnips, parsnips, rutabaga etc). Our recommendation is at least a fist sized serving daily - this would really help with those feelings of anxiety, the headache, and your mood in general as your body gets used to this new way of eating.... You are going to need a BUCKET-LOAD of lettuce if you're not having any other veg at lunch by the way! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katieblue Posted February 25, 2016 Author Share Posted February 25, 2016 I usually use a head of romaine to make a salad - is that a bucket load? Also usually add things like carrots, tomatoes, cucumber, olives, etc. so it's not just lettuce! (That would get totally boring, especially since I somewhat loathe oil/vinegar dressing!) Also please don't apologize - stalk away! Maybe I should get the baked potato too with my burger tonight instead of the veggies, or add it on along with? Or maybe have a sweet potato with lunch? Sweet potatoes have pretty much become my favorite food. Thank you for the advice!! I do really appreciate it. You are most helpful! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmcbn Posted February 25, 2016 Share Posted February 25, 2016 I usually use a head of romaine to make a salad - is that a bucket load? Also usually add things like carrots, tomatoes, cucumber, olives, etc. so it's not just lettuce! (That would get totally boring, especially since I somewhat loathe oil/vinegar dressing!) Also please don't apologize - stalk away! Maybe I should get the baked potato too with my burger tonight instead of the veggies, or add it on along with? Or maybe have a sweet potato with lunch? Sweet potatoes have pretty much become my favorite food. Thank you for the advice!! I do really appreciate it. You are most helpful! A lot of folk (myself included) find that if they eat their starchy veg with meal three it also helps them sleep better - plus Baked Potatoes from Pubs always have a much better skin than home-made IMHO... I'd probably get the veggies too - but that's just me And yes, if you are including some other veg in with the romaine leaves that's fine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katieblue Posted February 25, 2016 Author Share Posted February 25, 2016 You're awesome. Thank you again! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katieblue Posted February 26, 2016 Author Share Posted February 26, 2016 Day 5! Feeling totally motivated. We had great success going out to the pub last night! If we can survive the temptation of gooey, cheesy nachos, then we can survive anything! I feel WAY better than I did. The headache and anxiety is gone! I'm tired, and still a little fuzzy, but we had a late night, so I'm attributing it to that. So, on to today! Breakfast: Last of the steak and two fried eggs, sauteed mushrooms and kale in butter. Lunch: Leftover half of my burger (still 5oz of meat, dear God!), leftover half of my baked potato with butter, and maybe the last of the roasted cauliflower for some extra veggies. Dinner: This BBQ chicken with steamed broccoli and a baked sweet potato with butter. Just a question if any mods are around -- how much is a serving of a sweet potato? Half of one or a whole one? I know jmcbn said that we should have a fist-sized serving daily, but half a sweet potato is more than my fist. But I feel like I can ALWAYS eat a whole sweet potato. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmcbn Posted February 26, 2016 Share Posted February 26, 2016 Hey katie - our recommendation is for a minimum of a fist sized serving of starchy veg daily - feel free to eat more if you like - some people feel better eating more than this, and some feel better with the bare minimum, so judge it on how you feel - your mood, your energy, your level of clarity/focus etc Just a quick question - when you say 'butter' you mean clarified, right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katieblue Posted February 26, 2016 Author Share Posted February 26, 2016 You are totally becoming my best friend on here, haha. Thanks again! And yes, definitely only eating clarified butter! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenny B Posted February 26, 2016 Share Posted February 26, 2016 Glad I read your blog. I was just thinking I might be eating too much potatoes, but I think I am pretty much on track with a fist sized a day or maybe more on some days. Phew. This makes me feel so much better! I started my second round on Sunday the 21st, so right there with ya! Stomach issues run in my family (Colon cancer, ulcerative colitis, diverticulitis). I have been having bouts here and there and went in a couple weeks ago and have mild diverticulitis at this points, as well as severe constipation. I am happy to say the constipation has gone away with only 6 days in. I sure hope that stays the course. I am hoping if I change my diet around and keep it there for the most part my symptoms of diverticulitis will not worsen. Anyway, good luck to you on your journey. I will poke my head in time to time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katieblue Posted February 26, 2016 Author Share Posted February 26, 2016 I'm so glad you're feeling better, Jenny, and thank you! Best of luck to you, too! xo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katieblue Posted February 26, 2016 Author Share Posted February 26, 2016 Definitely finding myself feeling hungrier for both lunch AND dinner yesterday and today! Normally, it takes me forever to get hungry for lunch, and I never want dinner, and I always feel bloated and gross. I still feel kind of bloated; my pants are tight and my rings don't fit on my fingers. But I'm getting hungrier, which is good! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katieblue Posted February 27, 2016 Author Share Posted February 27, 2016 Day 6! Oh my gosh, tomorrow will be the end of the first week! Feeling really encouraged because this week FLEW by. I don't feel particularly different/special today. No headaches/anxious feelings, but also no super energy or super tired or anything. Just pretty normal, which is fine by me. Still bloated, even though I don't feel particularly bloated, I still can't get my rings on my fingers and it's almost painful to button my jeans (even though I wore them all day yesterday which normally would have stretched them out). I think this may be just from eating a lot more than I was used to (I've really been trying to follow the template with 3 meals/day, and I would very commonly skip dinner or just snack for lunch because I just generally wasn't very hungry). I also noticed that I was really warm at work yesterday, and normally I'm freezing. This might be nothing, or could have been from the building, but definitely something to pay attention to. It would be REALLY cool if I didn't have to freeze my butt off all the time!! Today's plan: Breakfast: Two scrambled eggs cooked in clarified butter, homemade turkey breakfast sausage, and lots of steamed broccoli! Lunch: Leftover salmon patty over lettuce with tomato, olives, cucumber, walnuts, raisins, and homemade balsamic vinaigrette. Dinner: Leftover BBQ chicken, steamed broccoli or cauliflower (whatever the boyfriend doesn't want!), and a sweet potato. I'm so pumped for that sweet potato. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katieblue Posted February 27, 2016 Author Share Posted February 27, 2016 I realized I never quite logged my reasons and goals for undertaking the Whole 30, and I think it's important for me to write them down so I have them to refer to if it gets hard. I want to: - Break my obsessive relationship with the scale and calorie counting - Improve my anxiety and depression without medication (not that any of it has ever worked, anyway) - Get my hormones on track (I haven't had my period in two years) - Develop a better relationship with food (I've been chronically restricting/afraid of it for several years) - Get my appetite back! (Because of the undereating, I'm just never hungry now) - Break free of my sugar addiction - Improve my relationship with my body and mind to a positive place - Develop a greater love for/variety of foods that are good for me! - Break the cycle of binge on weekends/social events and then suffer for days - Improve my chronic headaches (at least two to three per week... would love to not have them at all anymore, but less is good!) - Ultimately learn the best ways to take care of myself! I know these are big dreams, and I know they may take more than just 30 days, but I wanted to have them here to remind me to push on!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loverly Posted February 27, 2016 Share Posted February 27, 2016 Thank you so much for posting your first week...I am starting tomorrow and this has been really helpful to read through!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katieblue Posted February 28, 2016 Author Share Posted February 28, 2016 Thanks, Loverly!! Best of luck to you! Day 7!! Today I am tired. Like, even though I slept in by an hour and a half today, I had to drag myself out of bed to go work out. I barely managed to finish my weight training, and it was arms and back today, which is one of the easier days because I have shoulder issues so I don't ever push too hard. I'm going to wait and see how I feel later and maybe try to get to the park to do some cardio. Anyway, Pre-WO I had black tea with some coconut milk and one hard boiled egg. Post-WO, I am currently feeling pretty nauseous. I know I'm supposed to eat right after. But I don't normally feel physically sick after I work out... right now I really, really do. I wonder if it's because I ate right before it and normally I hadn't been. I know there's supposed to be a post-WO meal separate from breakfast, but I just don't feel like I can do it. My window of fifteen minutes or so closed. Hopefully next time I can do better. Today's Plan: Breakfast: Three eggs scrambled in butter with, olives, tomatoes, mushrooms, and a ton of broccoli. Maybe some salsa if my stomach feels a little better, but don't want to push it. Ugh. Lunch: These chicken fingers with homemade ketchup and baked sweet potato fries. Dinner: Last of the BBQ chicken with a delightfully yummy veggie tray with homemade ranch dip! (Really excited to try this - when we went out on Thursday the hardest thing to resist was honestly the creamy salad dressing everyone was devouring!!). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katieblue Posted February 29, 2016 Author Share Posted February 29, 2016 I made it through the first week!! Day 8! Feeling anxious and pretty grouchy this morning; stressing over making sure there is enough food for both of us. We're eating a LOT, and I didn't plan for this much. I'll have to stock up on some chicken or steak that I can grill and put over salads, just so we have in a pinch. There's still a ton in the freezer from all my prep, but we keep not eating it, so I keep forgetting it's there. Must. Relax. Because I'm anxious, it's been really hard not to get on the scale (usually use this as an excuse to be nasty to myself further... but I'm avoiding it!!). And REALLY tired... probably worse than yesterday. I skipped the weight training and just went for a walk in the park today because it was gorgeous out and I was so exhausted, but I could barely keep up seventeen-minute miles (normally I'm doing fifteen-thirteen minute miles... definitely a significant drop). But I'm trusting it will pass! So, for today: Breakfast: Two scrambled eggs, half a tomato sliced with salt and pepper, mushrooms, and homemade turkey sausage. Lunch: Leftover chicken fingers, homemade ketchup, last of the sweet potato fries, and maybe a little broccoli. Dinner: Big salad with lettuce, tomato, olives, walnuts, grapes, and hard-boiled eggs and homemade balsamic dressing. I definitely have to go food shopping soon to get some veggies that aren't FODMAPs... I realized all we have in the house are things that are high FODMAP! Need to see if this alleviates some of my bloating! I'm not a fan of all my chins that have suddenly appeared. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katieblue Posted March 1, 2016 Author Share Posted March 1, 2016 Day 9! I went to sleep at 9pm last night and slept until 6:30 this morning, which is late for me. I'm still sssoooo tired. I couldn't bring myself to go to the gym, again. This is very frustrating for me. I miss the gym. I only got there once last week, and already two of my four available mornings this week have passed me by without having the energy to go. However, I'm staying positive that this will pass! It's been really nice not waking up after a weekend of bingeing and feeling gross and bloated and sluggish. I feel pretty good (albeit sleepy)! Today's plan: Breakfast: Two eggs scrambled with a little coconut milk (omg, YUM) in butter, mushrooms, half a tomato with salt and pepper, and homemade breakfast sausage. Lunch: Salad with leftover chicken fingers, tomato, cucumber, olives, walnuts, red wine vinegar, olive oil, and lemon juice for dressing. Dinner: Last of the chicken fingers with homemade ketchup, sweet potato, and some roasted cauliflower. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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