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Ready to Rock It! - GintyGirl's First Whole30


GintyGirl

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I've been a lurker for a few months now as I've tried to gain a better understanding of the paleo lifestyle and Whole30. Invested in It Starts with Food this past week and felt inspired enough to give my own Whole30 a go though it'll be my first foray into the world of paleo-ness. Yep, that's a word now. :P

Background:

I'm in my mid-20's, have a desk job and an admittedly sedentary lifestyle overall. Bounced back and forth on my fitness levels and eating habits for the past few years due to major life changes. Been slowly working on my overall well-being this year. Happily found a new job, been gaining ground on better eating habits (dagnabbit, eating out is just so fun!) and been trying to exercise more. Did a round of P90x a few months back with good results. Started on Insanity and lost my way a bit with that. Got a wild hair last month and signed up for a women's indoor soccer league (I played some indoor and intramurals in college) and have gotten used to running again. I've lost around 30 pounds over the course of the past year due to taking these steps. Starting to fit into most (not all yet) of my old clothes and only 10 pounds away from where I was back in college.

Pretty proud of how far I've come and I don't want to take anymore steps backwards. It's only forward from now on, thankyouverymuch! I believe attempting a more paleo lifestyle will be a good step forward for me and the Whole30 sounded like a perfect starting point to that.

When I used to think of eating well it consisted of everything I could buy in the Organic section of the grocery store. Ultimately I became dependent on breads, cereals, cheeses, sugar (sugar alternatives). I'll admit it, it's what I've always liked and leaned towards. I knew better and the times where I was truly fit I kept that in check. So my history with meats and veggies isn't a marvelous one (especially the veggies) but I do understand it's a change I need to make. Trying to inspire my husband along the way as well. He isn't resistant, he's rather supportive of my choices...he's just pickier than I am, which is saying something. ;) Oh, I'm also not a very good cook (read: I skim the instructions too quickly and it comes back to bite me in the bum) so I'm being forced to up the ante in that department as well. Purchased Well Fed a few days back and have already tried a recipe or two.

I intend to post on here every so often on my progress and what recipes/food combos I'm really digging. Hope to up my exercise as well, but we shall see after I settle into the Whole30 a bit more.

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Day one:

Breakfast: Browned ground beef with cinnamon and nutmeg, diced honeycrisp apple [idea from Whole30 daily].

(Thought it was pretty good, nice and subtle for morning time.)

Lunch: Leftovers from breakfast.

Dinner: Grilled chicken thighs and cumin-roasted carrots [from Well Fed].

(LOVED the chicken seasoned that way. Sadly only had a few carrot slices since it was getting late and I had mistimed how long it would take me to prepare them. Seems like the carrots need a bit more cinnamon or something else to me to really be tasty.)

Feeling pretty good! Should already be in bed, but wanted to kick off my Whole30 right. :)

Concern for tomorrow: Soccer night. Usually I have a chocolate meal replacement shake before an early game, then come home and drink a recovery drink. I already know those are likely the two things I am going to miss the most. Sugary, tasty, convenient. Oh I won't cave in, I just need to figure out what to do instead. Hmm...

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Thanks for the comment, Derval! :) I need to look into hard boiled eggs, I usually just scramble them.

Food report for yesterday:

Breakfast: Two scrambled eggs cooked with extra virgin olive oil (too much oil!), cracked black pepper and ground sea salt. Banana and tried a tiny bit of Sunbutter for the first time...that will take serious getting used to compared to my old friend peanut butter. :blink:

Lunch: Left over grilled chicken thighs and cumin-roasted carrots [from Well Fed].

Pre-Soccer Night Dinner: Small serving of browned ground beef with cinnamon and nutmeg, diced honeycrisp apple [idea from Whole30 daily]. Made Waldorf Tuna Salad [from Well Fed] for the first time and had a small serving of that as well. (Love the taste of it, will certainly repeat! I'm 90% sure I messed up on the mayo recipe, but I'm stubborn and will probably shake it well and attempt to use it all. ^_^ )

Post-Soccer Night Dinner: Another serving of Waldorf Tuna Salad. (It was tough to not eat it all!)

Soccer went well. Got some good running in, even played Forward a few times. During halftime I would tell my face was beet-red. That's how I know I'm kickin' it hard!

I do like the way soccer makes me feel, I need to invest more time in exercising on the other days of the week. I'm considering starting up Insanity in the mornings (sooooo not a morning person) again and perhaps doing sprints once in a while outside to amp up my soccer performance.

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Yesterday's food report:

Breakfast: Three scrambled eggs cooked with spray coconut oil, cracked pepper and sea salt. Banana.

Lunch: Left over grilled chicken thighs and cumin-roasted carrots [from Well Fed].

Dinner: Husband made pan-seared tilapia with the spray coconut oil, cracked pepper and salt. Canned green beans for the side. I was still hungry so I finished off the amazing Tuna Waldorf Salad.

Yesterday I felt pretty good! Tried to get to bed earlier, but didn't sleep very soundly.

This morning my husband got up early for an out of town errand. I messed with my alarm and inadvertently turned it off. Yay for waking up less than an hour before needing to be at work! :huh: Rushed around quickly and managed to cook breakfast, throw it in a container and grab my lunch before heading out of the door. Booyah!

So far today:

Breakfast: Four scrambled eggs (I noticed I was getting hungry with less, I'll probably not add any more). Banana. I was awesome and accidentally threw my eggs on the floor as I was eating them. Uh...that didn't stop me from finishing them off. :ph34r: I told myself it was very paleo of me. :P

Lunch: Small serving of browned ground beef with cinnamon and nutmeg, diced honeycrisp apple [idea from Whole30 daily]. Cumin-roasted carrots [from Well Fed]. Opened up a new package of Organic Prairie beef jerky and really liked the few small pieces I had. Then I saw it...how on earth did I not notice that in the ingredients it had listed "Organic cane sugar"?! :wacko: I looked at the nutrition facts and ingredient list more closely and it's pretty much a negligible amount, and the second to last thing in the list. Ah well, it certainly didn't taste sweet and wasn't intentional at all! No harm no foul, I say.

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The rest of yesterday's food:

Dinner: Ginger Lime Grilled Shrimp [from Well Fed]. Canned green beans with some sliced almonds on top.

(First time we've cooked shrimp in our house in a long time. Instead of grilling we pan-seared them. Adored this recipe and gobbled it up! Sadly that meant no left overs...)

Felt really good yesterday! I certainly do feel less sluggish without all of those carbs I used to eat.

Today so far:

Breakfast: Scrambled four (or three, I can't remember) eggs, cracked pepper, sea salt. Banana.

(Packed that up and ate it at work due to time constraints. I'm getting used to it though!)

Lunch: I didn't have anything to pack so I scoured menus online, praying that I could find something Whole30 friendly. Lo and behold I found the Spinich and Fruit Salad at Noodles and Company. I rushed there through the cold and rain and told them to leave off the dressing, bleu cheese and croutons. Added a grilled chicken breast. It was pretty good! The salad was left with: Spinich leaves, diced strawberries, diced pecans, crumbled bacon and red onion. Plus my chicken. I think I'll be ordering it again sometime!

Not sure what's for dinner, I'll be crunched for time again. Also need to run to the store tomorrow so perhaps I'll start looking over recipies tonight.

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Yesterday's Dinner: Husband made beef hamburger patties with a side of canned green beans. Not bad for a super quick dinner!

Headed out early (for me) this morning in order to hit up the Farmer's Market before everything was sold out. And brrr was it cold outside! Grabbed lamb bones (first time I've ever bought bones), pork sausage (links and patties), beef (ground and patties), more sweet potatoes, three apples (various kinds), pickled jalapeños, hot salsa, tomato juice and a dozen eggs. The Farmer's Market scene is still new to me, I've only been a few times. It's refreshing to actually meet the people that create your food. And they're so grateful for your business. Love it. :D

Stopped off at HyVee to pick up some other groceries (happily not a huge trip!), got home and sat down for about an hour before I was in the kitchen trying to figure out how to turn the lamb bones into bone broth. That became a much longer undertaking than I had planned. By the time the ingredients were in the Crock Pot it was time for me to figure out what to do for dinner. Whew, a long grocery shopping and cooking spree all in one day! I'm pretty beat at this point but proud that I'm putting for the effort to better my choices and ultimately my health. :)

Food for the day:

Breakfast: Scramble of three eggs, crumbled left over hamburger and chopped fresh jalapeño. Banana.

Lunch: I was so busy cooking that I didn't end up having a real lunch. Tasted just a bit of the almond butter I created at the store and snagged a small piece of beef jerky just to keep momentum going.

Dinner: Baked chicken tenders based on the Grilled Chicken Thighs recipe [from Well Fed] and Creamy Spice Market Kale [also from Well Fed]. Banana and some almond butter. (Over-cooked the chicken just a bit but it was still good. First time both I and my husband have ever had kale and we were shocked we liked it in this form! Usually wouldn't have two bananas in a day, but I was trying to make up a bit from the lack of lunch earlier in the day.)

Bone broth finally was brought to a boil and is now simmering. I'll keep that going for the next day or so. First time for me to try bone broth too, I'm excited!

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Sunday I slept wayyyyyy in. It felt nice to get a bit of extra rest. That said, breakfast had come and gone as I was asleep.

Lunch: A few left over Baked chicken tenders based on the Grilled Chicken Thighs recipe [from Well Fed]. Banana and some almond butter.

As the bone broth simmered throughout the day it made the house smell really good (and it also made a HUGE mess). So my expectations were super high when I finally had the chance to try it later that evening. When I tried it though it really didn't taste like anything to me. My husband thought the same. That was kind of a downer after working for so long on it. So I stuck it in the fridge and I hope to come up with a way to use it as a soup base sometime soon.

Dinner: Tilapia a l'Afrique du Nord based on Salmon a l'Afrique du Nord [from Well Fed]. I marinated it and my husband grilled them in the pan. We had a side of canned green beans. (Don't look at me like that, it's quick and easy! :P ) We really liked the tilapia fixed that way, we will definitely do that again!

After dinner I tried my second attempt at ketchup from a recipe I found on the forums. (First attempt was before dinner, I used cider vinegar and yeah....no.) Also tried my second attempt at mayo from Well Fed. (First attempt was about a week ago and an utter mayo fail.) Both condiments seemed more agreeable the second go around, but I haven't had the chance to truly taste them.

Tried to pick up the disaster of a kitchen, but will finish the rest tonight with my husband. Yay teamwork!

Today's food thus far:

Breakfast: 3 scrambled eggs. Banana. Some almond butter. (Trying to be a good citizen and limiting myself to only that much almond butter a day, if that.)

Lunch: Left over Baked chicken tenders based on the Grilled Chicken Thighs recipe [from Well Fed]. Raw baby carrots.

Feeling pretty good! A little tired since I didn't sleep marvelously last night (that's a usual Sunday night thing for me).

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Last Night's Dinner: Waldorf Tuna Salad [from Well Fed]. (Had to eat some out of a bowl so I wouldn't just inhale the whole thing. I love it that much.)

Didn't sleep all that well, and really didn't want to get out of bed this morning. But my energy levels are still pretty good despite that.

Breakfast: Three scrambled eggs. Banana and almond butter.

Lunch: Last of the left over baked chicken tenders based on the Grilled Chicken Thighs recipe [from Well Fed]. Raw baby carrots.

Soccer tonight! I'll probably have some Waldorf Tuna Salad before I go play.

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Yesterday:

As I was getting ready for work I wanted to scream this from the rooftops: "I can finally fit into my dress slacks!" Of course I knew my neighbors wouldn't appreciate it. :P Really though, I was thrilled to pieces when I decided to try on some of my smallest sized slacks and they fit...and fit well enough to wear and be comfortable in! I know I'm young, but I'd always wondered if I could really get my body down to this size again or if I just had to let that go. I'm darn curious if I've lost weight, but I'll be a good girl and stay away from the scale until after day 30, even if then. Still....yay!

Breakfast: Three scrambled eggs. Banana and almond butter.

Lunch: My favorite natural resturant downtown had an interesting special: Almond Eggplant Quesadilla. So I decided to be adventerous and go try it. Asked for no cheese, no tortilla and no avocado (sorry, just don't like the taste of them). I suggested they just put it on some spinich. The nice helper lady said of course and then offered to add something that I had no idea what it was. Sounded safe though. I agreed. So they brought my food out and behold, that strange word must have been some cousin to rice because it was all underneath what I had ordered. Dagnabbit. So I picked at that and avoided the rice-cousin. I don't know if I've ever tried eggplant before. I certainly wasn't a big fan of it prepared the way they did it (kinda mushy). I had ordered a cup of soup though, Organic Sweet Potato Coconut. That was good! Forgot they served little baguette slices with it, so I just ignored those. So it wasn't a marvelous lunch, but that's what being adventerous earns you sometimes.

Dinner: Ginger Lime Grilled Shrimp [from Well Fed]. Canned green beans. (We love this dinner and are totally hooked!)

My general outlook and mood on life is greatly improving. My husband and I are making strides to try to keep our house tidy (and all of those darn dishes/pans clean) and I know that's typically a reflection of how good I'm feeling about myself. So yeah...good things!

Today:

Breakfast: Husband was kind enough to scramble my two eggs plus some Eggbeaters (I forgot to tell him to get eggs at the store, oops!) this morning since I was running late. Ate it as I worked. :) Next goal: Start waking up earlier so I don't have to be late or so darn stressed in the mornings!

Lunch: Tuna Waldorf Salad [from Well Fed]. Made it quickly this morning and so glad I did. I'll have plenty for tomorrow lunch as well!

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Apologies for the MIA-ness, this past weekend I was feeling under the weather with nasea (not normal for me), had a day off of work Tuesday, etc. I have remained fully compliant, just haven't been around to visit my log. (Oops!)

That said, I even had a bout of nasea this morning. This really isn't normal for me and I am starting to wonder if it's my food intake changes over this month that are the key factor or if it's a variety of other possible things: hormones, sleep, etc. I have not introduced anything different over the weekend or today as far as food or drink goes, so I don't believe that's the culprit. Perhaps my body is just out of balance slightly. Surprising, since I have not had any issues during the beginning of Whole30.

Starting my food log back with today's food:

Breakfast: Three scrambled eggs, banana, almond butter.

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