Day 1 - Trying to keep it real

[4Alexa24]

I've introduced myself in another thread, but I decided to jump in and do a log to keep myself honest and accountable.

 

TLDR about me: 36-year-old first time mom to an 18-month-old. In these months I've battled severe postpartum depression/anxiety and just as I came out of the fog somewhat, my beloved grandfather who was basically my dad passed away a few days before my daughter's first birthday. I'm teary as I write this, but I think I need to type it out. For me.

 

I'm 20 lbs heavier than my pre-pregnancy weight and have an impressive (almost) nightly wine routine. Life got really hard and it got away from me and I really worry about being healthy and alive to enjoy my beautiful marriage and amazing gift of a daughter. I'd like to lose the weight I gained, but most importantly, I want to be healthy. I don't want cancer. I don't want to have any disease caused by poor habits. I hate the way I look and feel and can just see how much I've aged and how tired I am since becoming a mom (and going through a devastating loss).

 

So here is my day 1 log. I had company last night so I'm improvising today. I will start prepping tonight and also read the book, which I've purchased just haven't read (I wanted to do the challenge in May so I'm a bit behind).

 

Also, I have been lurking the heck out of the Whole30 IG account(s), googling, and reading through this site. I do feel informed even if I haven't read the book yet. That said, here's what day 1 looks like:

 

B: 2 soft-boiled eggs (I didn't like them this runny I realized), handful of organic strawberries, black coffee

 

L: Huge salad with a ton of baby spinach, a few roasted sweet potato chunks, grilled chicken, a few cherry tomatoes, shredded carrots, oil & vinegar, a few pumpkin seeds, radishes, cucumber, and blackberries.

 

I would love feedback on the salad (attached photo). Since I didn't prep I made this salad at my work's onsite cafe. They are a sustainable, locally sourced, organic, blah-blah, catering company --- so theoretically this should all be quality stuff with nothing weird added. Does this salad have the right mix of fat/protein? I normally would not put oil & vinegar or pumpkin seeds on this salad, so I'm curious if it makes the cut...

 

D: I'm planning to have a left over burger patty with avocado and tomato. It's not exciting or probably enough but my daughter has a late afternoon doctor appointment and we won't be home until late.

 

Okay, that's it - day 1. I'm officially in.

 

 

[jmcbn]

Hey Alexa & welcome to Whole30   

So sorry to hear about your difficult year - hopefully eating a diet of healthy nutritious food will get you right back to where you want to be, both mentally & physically.

Ok, some feedback on food:

Your breakfast is too small - when eggs are your only source of protein in a meal you need to be eating the number of whole eggs you can hold in one hand, which is 3-4 for most females. If you don't to eat that many eggs add in another protein source - mackerel & salmon work well with eggs, as does ground beef or turkey. Your also missing vegetables here - aim for 1-3 cups per meal, with 3 being optimum, and I see no added fat... Fruit is fine to eat, but it shouldn't push the veg off of your plate.

Your salad looks good - it's hard to tell how big it is so bear in mind how much spinach reduces down when chewed so you need to be eating a bucketload of greens alongside your other veg. Most of us eat salads out of serving bowls... The oil & seeds provide the fat which is good. Limit your seed intake though as they can be hard on the digestive system, and an inferior fat source due to their poor omega 3:6 ratio.

Dinner sounds good (what time are we eating?  ) although you could definitely do with more veg there too....

Hope this helps!

[4Alexa24]

Thank you very much for the feedback! I know breakfast sucked. It was a terrible combo too - the runny eggs and strawberries.  I have some compliant chicken sausage and I plan to make an egg casserole bake thing with veggies tonight.

 

The salad was probably 4 cups of spinach. As much as I could fit into the container. It was easily twice as much as I'd normally put onto a salad from our cafe.

 

Thanks for the tip on the seeds too - I was just scouring the salad bar for something with fat to add in. I'll probably skip them next time I get a salad from work. However, it's great to know that I can make due in a pinch. 

 

Thanks for the kind words and advice