Cathy's log - Started 12/27/16

[csullivan18]

Day 1 12/27/2016

I started the Whole30 today.  I think I need to make my meals larger.

Breakfast: 3 eggs, 1 cup diced bell pepper and grape tomatoes, EVOO, black coffee (x2)

Lunch: Chicken breast, 1/2 sweet potato (topped with cinnamon and a few raw walnuts), a LOT of yummy steamed cauliflower with lemon, dill, garlic, S&P, Green Tea

Snack: Cucumber, Red BP, Avocado salad with Lemon-Dill-EVOO (S&P), 1/2 cup coffee

Dinner: The day 1 recommended dinner: Ground beef, tomato sauce (recipe from Whole30 book) and spaghetti squash, Green Tea (yeah I know it's late, but pretty sure it's not going to matter...no carbs = a very tired and unenergized Cathy)

Right now, I'm hungry.  I ate about an hour ago, but I'm contemplating some apple slices with almond butter.  

 

[Back2Schoolmom04]

Day one here too and I am going to bed hungry also ...I felt great all day until after I ate dinner. I think the book says to add more protein and if that doesn't help, add more fat. Good Luck! I have a log too, feel free to check it out

[csullivan18]

Last night I ended up slicing up part of an apple with some almond butter and a few macadamia nuts.  

I need to get some of the approved jerky on hand in order to increase protein more than fat.  

I went to bed with a headache, which I expected was the start of what the book describes as 'the hangover'.

However, when I woke up this morning I felt great!  I've been a little irritable, but I physically feel really good.  

So far my food today has been:

Breakfast: 2 eggs, over medium (cooked in EVOO), I formed about 1 cup of the leftover spaghetti squash and ground beef (from last night's) into a 'patty' with an egg white and about 1tbsp of coconut flour and seared it.  It didn't hold together very well, but it did what I was wanting it to do regardless.  I sliced 1/2 an avocado and had a banana.  It was quite a bit of food.  I couldn't finish it all, but I managed to not get hungry until right around lunch time.

Lunch: Chicken breast, seared Brussels sprouts and 1/2 sweet potato with cinnamon and macadamia nuts

 

The afternoon is when I have the biggest problem.  I could go 5-6 hours between breakfast and lunch, but after lunch it feels like I'm not satiated at all no matter how much I eat. I ate 4 times yesterday between 11am and 8pm though the last 3 'meals' were pretty small.  

I bought some organic cultured butter to turn into ghee because I am NOT paying $7 for a tiny little tub of the stuff. Hopefully it goes well.  I'm not much of a butter user without the Whole30 anyway, but so many of the recipes call for it, and I want to make the hollandaise sauce!

 

[csullivan18]

Day 2 cont'd and Day 3 so far

Yesterday was rounded out well with a small snack of leftover dinner from the night before.

The hubs and I were entertained by a dear friend of ours for dinner last night. I told him a few days prior upon planning the get together that I was starting the Whole30, and if there was anything I could bring to assist.  He took care of all of it and served us a delicious pork chop, steamed cauliflower, and a build-your-own salad.  It meant a ton for him to be so supportive. 

I still went to bed with a mild headache last night (which I also have one right now, actually).

I didn't wake up this morning nearly as chipper as yesterday.  For some reason my hips were really sore...still not sure why.

To start my day 3, I had 3 scrambled eggs with sauted red bell pepper and yellow onion, 1/2 an avocado, and some black and white grapes. I didn't really feel like my normal black coffee this morning, so I started my day with some organic gunpowder green tea instead.

I had my first lunch outing with my best friend today too.  I planned for this yesterday by looking at the restaurants menu online.  I selected a chopped salad with all compliant ingredients and added grilled chicken breast.  I asked them to leave off the dressing and provide a side of oil and vinegar instead.  It was super easy and I wasn't really tempted with any of the other choices at this time.  It was a nicer local restaurant I'd never been to, so I'm looking forward to trying there again when I'm done with my 30 days. I just asked my husband to make reservations there for close to Valentine's Day, which will be perfect timing to be passed the first 30 and the re-introduction period.  

I originally bought the Whole30 book on Kindle. Maybe it's just me but I'm having a hard time going through the recipes in that format, so I stopped by Barnes and Noble on my way back from lunch and picked up a hard copy of the book. I'm enjoying going back through and marking where things are that I need to make. 

I made ghee last night, and I'm planning to make the basic mayo soon.  I need to go pick up some light olive oil because all I have is EVOO on hand.  QUESTION: I don't see where it says in the book how long the basic mayo will last when refrigerated. Does anyone know by chance? I don't really want to make it every single time I need it even if it only takes a few minutes. Right now, I'm off work and my kids are away for the week (thus why I started this now), but starting next week my life goes back to 'normal' and the week after that I also start school again. Dinner in my house needs to be prepped and cooked in 20-30 minutes or I'll hate life.  

Also, I bought a vacuum sealer so I plan on making some broths and sauces that I can freeze in proper portions to use later on. 

The Whole30 is something I plan on doing about every 2-3 months, so having some of these things in the freezer will help with the next time even if I don't use it this time. 

[csullivan18]

Day 4:

Breakfast: More spaghetti squash leftover from Tuesday night with 2 eggs and a banana

Lunch: Hamburger with Sweet potato, celery and almond butter

Dinner: Hamburger with sweet potato, 1/2 avocado, 1 over medium egg, and a salad (also post-workout).

I had a lot of energy today.  I suppose I'm doing okay emotionally and mentally. 

[csullivan18]

This weekend has been pretty busy so I haven't had a chance to update anything until now.

Day 5 (Saturday):

Breakfast: 2 over medium eggs over spaghetti squash and ground beef, 1/2 avocado, 1 banana

Post workout: Strawberry Mango Almond Milk smoothie 

Lunch: Grilled beef tenderloin with sautéed veggies 

Dinner: Beef ribs, Tangy BBQ Sauce (from book), Sautéed Sweet Potatoes, and Green Beans

I felt GREAT on day 5.  I had a big confidence boost yesterday and felt better than I had in a long time.

I made the Tangy BBQ sauce and basic mayonnaise yesterday too.

Day 6 (Today):

Breakfast: Diced potatoes in EVOO, 2 eggs over medium, and 1/2 avocado

Lunch: Chicken with homemade tomato sauce (from book), steamed cauliflower and broccoli

Snack: 1/2 Banana, 1/2 cashew cookie Larabar

Dinner: Leftover chicken from lunch, sautéed zucchini and yellow squash

Snack: Black and white grapes

My husband decided to start the Whole30 today after seeing the results that I was getting already.

It's been a little exhausting trying to coach through every meal because he's experiencing the same Day 1 starvation I had.  I was a little hungrier today than I had been the last couple days, sadly. Maybe I'm subconsciously sympathetic to his hunger

I'm excited that by this time tomorrow I will have successfully completed a whole week of this program!  At the same time, today was pretty rough.  By the end of the day I was really wanting a cookie and a beer.  It could be that my husband keeps asking me "can I eat this? can I eat that?" and it reminds me of the things I'm eliminating right now.  I wish he'd just sit down and read at least a few of the chapters of the book in order to get through what to expect.  The potential issues I had were much easier to manage because I knew what to expect this last week.  

After 2 weeks off, I go back to work on Tuesday... I'm not looking forward to trying to figure out how I'm going to eat breakfast that early in the morning and still manage to not get hungry until noon.  I was planning to make a couple of frittatas to try to last the week for my husband and I.  I always do lunch meal prep anyway.  I'll probably stick to what I know and just add some nuts/seeds or avocado to get some fat until I can figure out my schedule a little better. 

[csullivan18]

It's been a few days since I posted, but I'm on DAY 9 and doing great!!

Here's what I've been up to the last few days:

DAY 7 - Monday

I spent all day long cooking and shopping.  This is the part I hate.  It takes forever to try to prep stuff for the week, but I've been meal prepping for a loooooong time so it's not a new hate. I just don't like spending a whole day of a weekend doing nothing but cooking.  

Here's the eats:

Breakfast - Veggie omelette 

Lunch - Plain egg white omelette with some diced potatoes

Dinner - Sweet Potato bun burger with side salad

DAY 8 - Tuesday 

Tuesday was my first day back to work since December 16, 2016 so I had some challenges of just trying to manage my hungry/sitting.  When I was at home I was always doing stuff or I was out somewhere.  At work I just sit all day so it's easy to think I'm hungry when I'm really just looking for a break.  I need to bring some sneakers to work so that I can walk periodically when I get like that.

Food time!:

Breakfast - Hashbrowns, 2 eggs, and 1/2 avocado.  

This is an accomplishment because I never eat before I leave the house in the morning.  We have a cafeteria at work so I normally would just wait until I arrived.  While they'll cook me anything I ask for, I think they use vegetable oil on their griddle surface, so I can't take the chance that their 'vegetable oil' is laced with mostly soybean oil... I need to ask, but I'd rather just save the money and cook at home.

Lunch - Chicken Breast, asparagus, and kalamatas.

For years now, I've been meal prepping for my husband and I lunches for work.  I've been bad about sticking with it in the past, and it got worse when I came to a workplace with a cafeteria. I'm determined to suck it up and eat what I'm cooking now though!

This week I just went with what I know instead of trying anything new, but I'm adding a fat of some sort with every lunch because that's something I wasn't doing before.

Snacks: Banana and Celery Sticks (not at the same time)

I held out as long as I could. Waking up earlier than I had been while I was off pushed breakfast back by about 90 minutes, thus pushing lunch back to 11 am instead of 1 or 130.  I ate the Banana around 2.  I know there wasn't any protein or fat, but technically I brought this in case I was hungry when I first got to work.  I'd brought some celery sticks with almond butter in case I got hungry in the afternoon.  I didn't end up eating the celery sticks because I munched on those during my drive home when I would typically be tempted to drive thru a nearby McDonald's for fries.  I figured this was a better option while I work on trying to eliminate the car eating

Dinner: Stuffed Red Bell Pepper (from Whole30 book)

Instead of using a red meat like the recipe calls for I used mostly ground chicken and 1/4 lb of ground beef.  I learned that I need to make about 6 of these in order to have enough to feed my family of 4.  I topped the peppers for my kids with some Cojita cheese that I had on hand, queso blanco would've probably been better but that's okay.  I may not be able to eat the cheese, but this way they enjoy it more and I'm not stuck making 2 different meals.  My 9 year old son actually did all the cooking of the inside mixture, I just prepped and added the ingredients. We had a lot of fun with it!

DAY 9 - TODAY!!

I started dreaming about food... I don't remember off the top of my head when the book said this was going to start, but it's started.  

The night before I started the Whole30 I dreamed that I had a beer a breakfast on Day 1 (which I never drink alcohol in the morning unless it's a mimosa at the occasional brunch outing), and I screwed it all up before I even started.  The last 2 nights I dreamed about bread and desserts.  I think Monday night it was donuts.  Yeah, this sucks so hopefully it goes away soon because I don't like dream about donuts.  mmmm....donut. Ok, so no donuts for a while lol.

Today's eats so far:

Breakfast - I had some of my hashbrown and eggs leftover from yesterday so I heated those up, added a little of the chicken mixture from last night's pepper dinner and added 1 egg.

I am all about reheating things to make them simpler.  I'm starting to see food as more of a function of sustaining life than I am of a daily pleasure.  It's working out for me because my mornings are usually trying to get dogs feed, kids ready, myself ready, and out the door in a reasonable amount of time.

Lunch - Today's chicken was paired with sauteed green beans and 1/2 avocado

This was an interesting mixture, but again...I'm just trying to incorporate everything and make it as easy as possible.  Tomorrow I'll probably go back to the olives because that was tasty.

I planned to make the Whole30 Chili in the crockpot today, but the beef I took out of our freezer to thaw was still frozen as of this morning so plan B is probably the chicken meatballs...I don't know yet though. If my beef is thawed when I get home then I'll probably still do the chili, but just on the stove top instead.  I need a pressure cooker and I wouldn't have these problems lol!  I'll have an Instant Pot by my 2nd Whole30, which I plan to start March 19.  

I made the beef broth from the Whole30 book while I'm going to try to freeze tonight.  At least what I don't need to make the chili.  

Tomorrow night the hubs and I have an event to go to for his work.  I have absolutely no idea what will be served at this thing and I'm nervous as hell that there won't be anything we can eat there.  I think last year they brought in Mexican food which will be a giant NOPE for us.  I plan to try to bring an extra meal tomorrow to eat before I leave work and head to the event so that I don't have to worry about it too much. I feel bad for not partaking, but I'm almost halfway there...I'm not turning back now!

 

 

[csullivan18]

Well Day 9 finished as I'd hoped.

I was able to make the Whole30 Chili for dinner.  I made a lot extra because my family loves chili and it's always better with leftovers.  I usually add beans to my normal chili but no beans this time since they aren't allowed.  No complaints from the kids or the hubs though.

Today is Day 10 and I have no desire to call it quits like the book suggested might happen between days 10 and 11.

Even though it's a windy 22 degrees outside today I dared to wear a dress that I haven't worn in probably a year because of how ill-fitted it was with my lovely muffin top and belly pudge. 

I put it on this morning and literally cried... I CRIED because I was so astounded by how much my body has changed in just 10 days.  My tummy is flatter than it's been in a long time, my legs are smaller, my face is thinner... I just can't believe it! Why would I even think about giving up what caused me to get rid of what's been bringing me down for so long?? I'm starting to build quite a collection of recipes on Pinterest, and I'm having fun cooking again! I'm screaming this program from the rooftops because I'm so in love with what's happened to me in just a week and a half that I literally cannot shut up about it!  Everyone should have the opportunity to feel this good.

On to Day 10 so far:

Breakfast: 2 over medium eggs and hashbrowns cooked in ghee. 1/2 avocado (this is my go-to; it used to be avocado toast before Whole30 but I'm just as happy with potatoes.

Lunch: Chicken breast, asparagus, and kalamata olives

Snack: Braeburn apple and almond butter

Dinner will probably be chili leftovers or chicken meatballs with mashed cauliflower (which will be new to us). We have an event tonight for my husband's work, and they (fortunately) aren't serving food after all... or at least that's what he says. I think the leftover chili will win over because I don't like being rushed to cook. 

 

[csullivan18]

Ah Day 11... here we are.  I feel like this program is becoming more of a way of life than a sacrifice of things.  

I got to stay home today because in Oklahoma when you have anything greater than 2 inches of snow the state shuts down.  It's been good because one of my dogs needed some extra TLC today and I've been able to stay home with him.  

As each day progresses I find myself staying fuller for longer periods of time, so I don't really know how many calories I'm taking in since I'm not tracking that I'm hoping it's enough though... I eat when I'm hungry, and I'm eating a little larger meals than I probably was before. 

Food today:

Breakfast: Shredded sweet potato, 2 eggs, 1/2 avocado

Lunch: Sauteed Brussel sprouts, Chicken and Tangy BBQ (from the Whole30 book)

Dinner tonight will be the Chicken Meatballs and Cauliflower Mash from the book.  I'm going to have to wing it a little on the mash because I haven't made the CHICKEN bone broth yet; I've only made the beef.  I haven't been able to find a suitable whole chicken to roasted so that I have the chicken carcass.  

I'm feeling good. I'm a little miffed that there's snow on the ground/roads even if I got to stay home today because I want to go to the gym when my husband gets home from work, but it starts getting dark so early that I'm concerned about all the slush on the roads is going to become ice while I'm gone... I may just stay home and pop in an Insanity DVD and do some ab work... I also have a couple kettle bells so I'll figure something out.  

[csullivan18]

Again I skipped logging this weekend, but Day 12 went as any other really:

Saturday, Day 12

Breakfast: Breakfast Frittata from Whole30 book

This was not a hit with either myself or my kids.  We decided that the next day we'd try it with different ingredients.

Lunch: While I was at the gym my husband thin sliced some zucchini in an 'egg noodle' style, mixed it with some chicken breast and coconut aminos.  It was tasty!

Dinner: We went to acquire a GOOD spiralizer, made zoodles with sauteed shrimp.  It was great!

Sunday, Day 13

Breakfast: Breakfast Frittata take 2.  This time I used onion, red potato, and some Pederson's Bacon.  It was a big hit!

Lunch: I had some leftover chicken and asparagus that I ate with some Tangy BBQ

Dinner: More chicken and leftover cauliflower mash.

The last few days haven't been easy.  I desperately wanted some red wine on Friday and Saturday. It's really the only thing I miss.  Making recipes without cheese kind of sucks. If I make stuffed peppers or something that is an individual portion then I'll add it for my kids, but leave it out of mine and my husband's portions. I'd like to see how it enhances the cauliflower mash and rice though and there are a lot of tasty looking chicken recipes that incorporate cheese or dairy that I'd like to try.  I think I'll try to limit those to once or twice a month when we're off the Whole30 though.  My husband plans to stay on it when he's 30 days are up.  Maybe he'll make an occasional exception for family dinner.  I think most of our recipes will follow the Whole30 platform anyway. Everything else I'm pretty much okay with eliminating unless we go out to dinner or something.  I'm not going to be too strict on those special occasions. We've been trying to remove dining out from our budget for a long time, and this was the easiest way to do that.  

Since I started I've been out to eat twice which is a pretty big deal since we'd normally eat out all weekend long.  We try to plan our days and make sure we eat before we leave. We're sitting down at the table with the kids more for dinner also, so we get some more quality time with them too.  It's been a really good change overall.  

My Whole30 will be more of a Whole32 or 33 for the first time.  My husband started 6 days after me, so if I reintroduce red wine first then we'll be on the same reintroduction cycle because he doesn't drink alcohol at all.  

Today is my day 14! Two whole weeks of managing my diet successfully.

Other than missing my wine I'm loving it!

 

 

 

[Emma]

You're doing so well and I loved reading through your posts, especially the part where you cried at how much your body has changed. 

[csullivan18]

Thank, Emma.  It's really not been too bad aside from missing the red wine.  

I started back to school this week.  I started the Whole30 the week after Christmas for this very reason.  I didn't experience a lot of the early detox symptoms that the Whole30 guide advises might be an issue, but just in case I did I needed to have those behind me before today. Today I attend my first on-campus class (my other is online).

I'm going back to school in hopes of becoming a veterinarian.  I have a ton of science classes to take before I can apply.  I already have a career and a family, so piling on top of that with school is sometimes overwhelming.  This semester will especially be. It's only day 2, and I'm already freaking out as to how I'm going to fit everything in...

I've got to come up with some other breakfast options for work too. I just don't have time to get ready and cook/eat breakfast. I need to get out of bed earlier, but my bed is warm and comfy so it's really difficult! lol

Day 14: Monday 1/9

Breakfast: 2 over medium eggs, 1/2 avocado, sweet potato hash.

So my husband makes the sweet potato hash in advance so all I have to do is cook a couple eggs. The problem really comes with taking the time to eat. Yesterday and this morning presented the same issue.  I ended up packing up my breakfast and taking it with me to work, but by the time I drop the kids off at their destinations and drive 40 minutes to work, the meal isn't as hot as I'd prefer.  I just really isn't good anymore by the time I get to the office. I've got to come up with some better make ahead breakfast options...

Lunch: Shredded chicken, brussel sprouts, 1/2 avocado

This is going to be relatively standard for a work day lunch.  

Dinner: BLT w/ Chicken tacos... ok so this was my stroke of genius for the week probably.  

I knew I didn't have a lot of time, and I wanted to get started studying and going through things for my online class.  I had some shredded chicken already cooked, a few pieces of leftover Pederson's bacon (which is so yum!), basic mayo, some green leaf lettuce already cleaned, and a lone tomato.  I cooked up the bacon, used the lettuce as the 'taco shell', and reheated some of the chicken in the leftover bacon grease to give is a little bit of a different texture.  I smeared a bit of the mayo on the lettuce and topped it with a little tomato, avocado, shredded chicken, 1/2 slice of bacon.  My husband sliced some hard boiled egg on his too.  It was great and super easy! I tried to find butter lettuce when I knew I wanted to make lettuce wraps but I couldn't find it at any of the grocery stores I shop at, so I settled for green leaf.  I'll probably try romaine the next time since it has larger sturdier leaves.  I didn't have a lot of lettuce left, so I used what I had for my husband and I to have our Whole30 meal and used regular corn tortillas for my kids with sour cream and some cojita cheese... they were very happy with their plates too! 

Day 15: Tuesday 

Breakfast: Same as yesterday 2 over medium eggs, 1/2 avocado, sweet potato hash.

Lunch: Shredded chicken and garlic cauliflower mash

Cauliflower mash is going to be my new favorite thing I'm quite certain.  

I have class right after work tonight so I'm a little concerned that I'm going to be starving when I get out of class.  I brought an apple with some almond butter and a banana to try to hold me over.  I meant to grab a cashew cookie Larabar too and I forgot this morning as I was scrambling to pack my lunch, breakfast, gym bag, school gear, and get 2 kids out the door.... I guess if that's all I forgot then I should count my blessings! There's a supermarket down the street from my work.  If I get really desperate I'll just run down there and pick one up if I need to.

Last thing: so my weight/size has fluctuated a lot in the last 18 months.  I have jeans in my closet ranging from a size 12 to a size 4.  The size 12s were always a little too big, but I felt at one point like I was in between being a 10 and a 12 and I'd rather have them a little more comfortable than tight... Well, I decided to take a chance one the 1 pair of size 8 jeans I have in my closet this morning and they fit great!! I was too stressed and busy this morning to dwell on it much, but I'm making progress and that's the important part!

[Emma]

Oh my gosh - a size 8!  You are making progress.  I had to go look for new snowpants yesterday because mine don't fit.  Ugh.  I so don't want to spend the money on something that I don't want to be part of my future.  Getting out of bed is really rough these days.  I empathize! The bed is warm and everywhere else is freezing!  I feel for your schedule.  It sounds intense, but also good, but yet still pretty intense.  I'm a terrible breakfast eater so my go-to food for the car is hard boiled eggs, almonds,  and microwaved sweet potatoes that I just eat like an apple.  It fills me up and gets rid of any cravings.  Good luck with your day!

[csullivan18]

Thanks again, Emma

Day 15 Continued:

So yesterday I had my first evening class of the semester.  I didn't want to starve during class so I ate a banana and an apple before class.  I know that eat stand alone fruit isn't recommended and eating on the go isn't ideal, but I live in reality where I'm a full time career woman with a family trying to go back to school to change my career all while doing the Whole30, so I'm just happy that I didn't drive thru McDonald's at this point... Also, fruit is not a dessert to me. Unless there's ice cream on top of that banana with some hot fudge I'll never consider a banana to be a dessert... just sayin

In the past after my night classes I would almost always go to Sonic for dinner, but I bypassed that last night.  Even though I was beat, I had a headache, and I was really hungry.

I came home and fixed a bun-less burger, diced red potatoes sauteed with sliced mushrooms, a fried egg and part of an avocado.  I was still pretty hungry after that, so I fixed a cup of hot tea.  I had a headache from not eating well and thinking too much when I got home, and I still had some studying to do. 

Day 16, Wednesday:

I am finally on the downhill slope and it's taking everything I have right now to last 2 more weeks.  I could use a glass of red wine right now.

I didn't sleep very well last night, woke up around 4:30 am to let one of my dogs outside, and had quite a busy and eventful day at work. I did not eat good meals today. I didn't eat anything non-compliant, but I just didn't have the time to eat like I normally do.  

Breakfast: 2 eggs and some hashbrowns.  Waking up earlier allowed me to cook and eat breakfast without feeling like a basket case. I thought about putting some avocado with breakfast, but I cooked the potatoes in ghee so justified not adding the extra fat because I really didn't feel like cutting up an avocado.

I had an insanely busy day at work and didn't have time to heat up and eat my lunch.  I bought a cup of fruit from our onsite cafeteria.  It had blackberries, strawberries, grapes, and pineapple in it mid-morning because I ate breakfast so early.  

I ate a really large apple around 12:45pm because we had massage therapists onsite and my appointment was at 1, so I had to hurry.  After my massage I had 4 back-to-back meetings until I finally left around 5:20pm, which is about an hour later than I wanted to leave. Somewhere in the middle of all that insanity today I ate a cashew cookie Larabar because I was starting to not feel so hot. I wanted to get home and walk my dogs before it got dark.  That didn't happen, sadly... they needed to get out because it's going to be icy this weekend in Oklahoma, and I have a blue heeler that does not take kindly to being cooped up for very long... 

I just got home ate a banana, and my husband just left to go to the store to pick up some romaine, avocado, sweet potatoes, and more Larabars.  He's going to make egg salad on lettuce wraps because he's an awesome man that I couldn't do this without.  

On a positive note: I wore some leggings today that I've had for awhile and always fit me just fine, but I've been trying to keep the stupid things up all day long lol!  Guess it's lucky I decided to order a new pair of black ones that just came in yesterday!  Also, it's abnormally warm for January in Oklahoma this evening, and so when I got home my thin sweater was a little hot.  I took a chance on changing to a tank top I had hanging in my closet. It's a junior's size medium. I wouldn't wear it in public but it looks pretty good considering there's no way 2 weeks ago I could've had it on comfortably.  

Also, if it weren't for the Whole30 there's no way I could've made it through today without wanting to collapse as soon as  I got home.  I still have a couple hours of reading and studying to do before I call it a night... Tomorrow I must have a better solution because I have class until potentially 10:30 PM...

[csullivan18]

TGIF!!!! Also Monday is a holiday, today was a snow day... I needed a break, badly.

I struggled yesterday something bad. I don't have a problem with restricting my diet for the Whole30...well, except for red wine; I'm ready to have my wine back.  What I do have a problem with is the constant, never ending cooking.  I don't really like cooking that much, and I certainly don't like cooking after being at work all day, coming home to get my kids' homework worked through, my dogs taken care of, and my own homework/studying.  I haven't got to bed before 11:30 or midnight every night this week and my dogs wake me up around 5 so life is sucking right now.  

My husband is trying to help with the cooking some too, but he has stuff going on too it's just a nuisance. 

We're looking at trying to get some pre-prepped compliant meals shipped to us (not the Whole30 ones bc they're too $$, but we found some others).  We won't use them every day bc that is far too expensive but we're trying with 2 dinners each a week probably.  Still prepping our own lunches, but having to worry less about dinners during the week especially since I have class 2 nights a week it'll be a lot easier for both of us.

I'm pretty much at the end of my rope with this cooking business. I can't go out anywhere because it's too complicated and I don't want to ask the server 50 questions about what kind of oil they use or if something has butter in it... It's just a racket, so I've got to find an easier way to manage dinner.  The crock pot just instant realistic unless I take tie to put it all together the night before, which I don't have time to do because I'm too busy cooking, running a household, and studying.  I knew the last 2 weeks of this were going to be a nightmare because when I'm in school I just don't cook.  I eat something very simple and quick and I work on school stuff.

I'm still doing fine diet wise

Yesterday (Day 17, Thursday):

Breakfast: Diced potatoes and 2 eggs

Lunch: Brussells and Butternut squash and chicken breast

Snack: Larabar Cashew Cookie

*My daughter had an appt after school, and I didn't have time to eat dinner before I had to be in class so this was the best I could do until I got home.

Dinner: Diced potatoes, jalapenos, and 2 eggs... This is how much I hate having to think about cooking.  I've started just eating breakfast for meals I actually have to cook...

Today, Day 18

Breakfast: Diced potatoes, jalapenos, and 2 eggs.

Lunch: Diced potatoes, jalapenos, and 2 eggs... See what I mean...tired of cooking...

Since it's Friday, I'm going to cook tonight.. I'm probably going to make seared skin salmon and cauliflower rice. I bought some frozen Cauliflower rice from Trader Joe's, and we've never had that.  I need to cut down on the potatoes because I'm eating the crap out of potatoes because they're convenient.  I buy frozen of those too, and just dump some in a pan with ghee and move on with life.  It's easy and I love potatoes. 

We're probably going to be house bound tomorrow... we're expecting a pretty bad ice storm tonight, so tomorrow I'll hopefully feel a little better about doing some cooking.  I have a whole chicken I need to cook up so that I can make bone broth.  I'm going to try to make that for lunch tomorrow so I can start the broth tomorrow night.  

I will be far happier and more successful with this if I can find ways of making my life easier because right now it's not as easy as I need it to be.  I've spent hours cooking every sunday for years so that my husband and I could have lunch for the week, and I really don't want to spend more trying to prep dinners too.  It's just exhausting...

  

[csullivan18]

Oh but on a much more positive note: When my husband left this morning he gave me a hug and felt my waist.  He was amazed that he could actually feel my abs and obliques.  I haven't really had a lot of time to work out as much as I would like, but apparently that's okay

[Emma]

I laughed as I read your breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  I'm tired after a long day and thinking I'll just eat what I had for breakfast and lunch.  But it won't go over with the kids so I'm going to have to figure something else out.  And what's up with dogs needing to go out at 4:30?!  Mine rarely make it through the whole night, but at least they've learned how to tell me, so that's a positive thing.  The cooking thing is exhausting.  I haven't figured out my rhythm yet this go around, but in the past I think we learned to make double or triple batches so there was always leftovers in the fridge.  Chocolate chili was one my family liked and then we'd thrown that over a squash or spinach.  Oh my gosh - there's my own answer for what to do for next week!  Hope you enjoy the ice storm and the weekend.  The weather reports around the country are crazy.

[csullivan18]

Emma, chocolate chili? That sounds interesting Would you please share the recipe? 

I love breakfast, so eating it all the time really doesn't bother me, but this time it was out of sheer lack of will that I cooked the same thing over and over again lol!  I wish I knew why my dogs keep getting up so early.  I have 3: 15 yr old chihuahua, 3 yr old lab mix, and a 1 yr old blue heeler.  The chihuahua is up and down all the time anyway because she's old and is on a lot of medicines that impact her thirst and bladder. My lab is usually pretty good, but the last few nights he comes in and wakes one of us up to go outside.  If he sleeps in the bed at night he doesn't ever get up, but we can't always get him to stay.  The real problem child is the heeler.  Even though he's generally the last to get up, once he's up he's up... he doesn't/won't go back to bed/sleep, he wants to be up working and playing regardless of what time it is.  

I made chili in the crockpot my first week back to work, but I froze half of it to have for another time too.  I'm trying to prep for the next time I do the whole30 (which I plan to start in late March), as much as I'm trying to get through this one.  I can't believe that starting tomorrow I only have 10 more days until I can have wine again. Having dairy again in moderation would be nice just because it's so hard to go out to eat and not have butter or cheese on something.  We haven't been out to eat since my husband started the Whole30 2 weeks ago, which is really unusual for us.  The day before he started we were out with a friend of ours ,and fortunately the place we were at had a paleo option on their menu. That's really uncommon here. Oklahoma isn't one of the most overweight states in the US because for no reason. The Whole30 has got us out of the habit of eating out all the time! Kind of nice since it gets so expensive. We're probably saving a ton of money. We plan to go out the weekend before Valentine's Day, and I want to be able to enjoy our meal without having to be so restricted.  When I'm off the whole30, other than my glass of wine, I plan to adhere to the program except for 2 meals max per week: one lunch with co-workers and one dinner with my family. I may have weeks I don't do either, but I'm at least going to make accommodations for a couple times a week. 

Day 18, continued

After my husband got home from work last night we went to the gym, and I had a great workout.

For dinner last night I made Seared salmon and cauliflower rice (which I bought frozen at Trader Joe's. I'll made from scratch cauliflower mash, but I'll just get the frozen for rice)

Day 19, Saturday

Today has been much better, but then I don't have to go to work !  The ice storm was not anything like what the meteorologists were anticipating so that's a good thing.

My husband and I hit the gym early, and I was kind of weak...I wasn't really feeling it.

But when we came home I made salmon eggs Benedict from the book for breakfast. Eggs benedict is my favorite breakfast ever.  I tend to take a short cut and serve the eggs over medium instead of poached bc it's a pain to poach eggs if you don't have water already ready to go.  

I ran out of ghee today, so I had to make more of that.  I also have my stuff out getting ready to make more mayo.  It turned out perfect the first time I made it, so I'm trying to do that again.

Right after I finished with the ghee, I put my whole chicken in the oven to roast for lunch.  Which I served with some steamed red potatoes.  I immediately took the remains of my chicken and dumped them in the crockpot to make chicken broth. 

I haven't decided what I'm going to do for dinner yet.  I bought a couple of filets the other day, so I'll probably make those.  I have some cod that I need to fix too, but I don't think I really want fish twice in the same day... 

[csullivan18]

What?? Two posts in one day??

I'm procrastinating on reading Biology lol.

So for dinner tonight, I gave my husband 4 options: steak, burgers, pork chops, or cod.  He chose pork chops and requested applesauce, so that's what I made.  

I made the applesauce from scratch and it was soooo good.  I also made some green beans that cooked with some cut up portions of Pederson's bacon.

I'm done cooking for the day!! yay!!  

[csullivan18]

So I didn't even sit in front of my computer yesterday to update Day 20.

My husband and I ventured to Whole Foods to see if we could find some of the compliant brands that our Trader Joe's doesn't have... We found the Epic bars and the Tessamae's dressing/marinades so I was pretty happy.  

Day 20, Sunday:

Breakfast: My husband made diced sweet potatoes, zoodles with an avocado sauce, and eggs.  It was yummy!

Lunch: While we were out running around we tried to eat at Zoe's Kitchen. This will not happen again. We both ordered the Protein plate which was listed as grilled chicken and onions on top of slaw (so we're thinking cabbage)... What they failed to mention is that the 'slaw' was overly sprinkled with feta cheese ... we ate the chicken and left.

Snack: After the lunch failure we each tried an Epic bar.  For those of us that have never had these before I figured they were more like jerky than what we typically label as a 'bar'... We only bought the turkey, venison, and lamb.  The ones with bacon had cane sugar and the salmon doesn't sound appealing to me.  We haven't tried the lamb yet but the venison is sooooo good, and the turkey was pretty good too... 

Dinner: My husband fixed us lettuce bun burgers with some japanese sweet potatoes we found at whole foods.  

Day 21, Monday:

We both had today off as a holiday, thankfully... I wish I only worked 4 days a week all the time because I'd be a much happier person with 3 whole days to do the things I want/need to do.  

Breakfast: The hubs let me sleep in and cooked breakfast again.  He made me some Pederson's bacon, over medium eggs, and some shredded japanese sweet potato.

Lunch: I cooked this time, and I made some oven baked bacon wrapped avocado slices with ranch, steamed lemon-dill broccoli, and filet mignon.  Kind of a heavy lunch, but I really wanted to try the avocados and I needed to cook those steaks.

I also cooked our lunches for the rest of the week (grilled chicken in Tessamae's cracked pepper marinade, brussell sprouts, acorn squash, and roasted cauliflower with balsamic reduction), I prepared the inside filling to make stuffed peppers one night this week, I have chili verde chicken going in the crockpot, and I made the chicken meatballs with an asian variation (using the recipe in the Whole30 book, I removed the cumin, added: ground ginger, coconut aminos, coconut flakes, and orange zest). 

This is what happens when I don't have to work 5 days a week! I can still manage to get all my school work done and prep food for the whole week.  

My husband grilled the chicken for me but everything else I did in a couple of hours.  I'm super thrilled that I have so much done for the week, but I am pretty tired.

I don't know what I'm going to do for dinner yet... it may just be a 'fend for yourself' night... those are my favorite anyway.

[csullivan18]

Day 21 finished as I expected: with breakfast (eggs, bacon, potatoes) for dinner lol!

It's the easiest thing, and I'd been cooking all day! I didn't mind so much because we had a very good lunch and a lot of variety this weekend.

Day 22, Tuesday

I can't believe that next Thursday I'll be on Day 31! This has been a lot easier than I anticipated even though it's been hard.  I just keep telling myself when times get tough that a month ago I wasn't this small, I didn't have this much energy, and that I was in a lot more pain. Sure, I miss wine and having dairy would make dining out a lot easier, but for the most part I'm perfectly content to keep eating this way. 

Breakfast: 2 eggs and diced Japanese sweet potato

Lunch: Chicken and roasted cauliflower

I have class tonight so I have some celery and almond butter and an Epic bar to hold me over until I get home tonight around 730.  Lunch didn't really fill me up but I'm trying to drink more water instead of eating again right now.  If I can wait until about 3 to have a snack that would be great but I'm not sure that will happen.

I think tonight when I get home I'll heat up some of my Asian style chicken meatballs and cauliflower 'fried' rice (no peas or soy, of course).  If I feel like it I think I'll see how making an orange 'teriyaki' sauce (made from coconut aminos) goes. 

[csullivan18]

ahhh Friday... finally....

It's been a horrendous week and more than once I wanted to cave and go get a bottle of wine, Mexican food, sushi, or something that would make me just have some normalcy again, but I didn't... I didn't cave to my stress, my agitation with people, my lack of sleep, my headaches, my longing for just less chaos... I have 5 more days until I make it to the end of my Whole30.  I've never committed to a diet this extreme for this long, and I'm not giving up now no matter how ridiculous the people at work are, how much school work I have, how rambunctious my dogs are...

I know I haven't updated since Tuesday afternoon, so here's how the rest of my week looked.

Day 22, Tuesday I did have Asian chicken meatballs with cauliflower 'fried' rice... it was everything I hoped it would be!

Day 23, Wednesday

This was an exceptionally bad day.  I was recently assigned a project at work that I know people are going to fight me on, and it causes me a great deal of stress and exhaustion because people argue with me and they don't want to do what we ask or what we need to make the project successful.  The whole thing has had me so angry and frustrated that it's almost brought me to angry tears about 6 times this week. I hate that feeling so much. When I got home I immediately changed, went to the gym and lifted the heaviest weights I've lifted in months.  I was mad. 

Breakfast: Eggs and hashbrowns that my hubby fixed for me

Lunch: Chicken and Brussell Sprouts

Snack: Banana Bread Larabar before I went to work out.

Dinner: Baked sweet potato topped with avocado, bacon, egg, ghee, and some homemade ranch...sounds weird but it was delicious, and I felt a lot better after hitting the gym...

Day 24, Thursday

Thursday's are a tough day because I leave work early to take my daughter to an appointment after school every week.  This week I had to not only do that, but go take a quiz at the school for an online course while she was at her appointment, go pick up medications for my dogs at 2 places, and go pick up my son at his child care facility... also I have class until 10:20 pm on thursdays so it was a long day.  I came home with the start of a migraine.

Breakfast: I was a little tired of potatoes, so I made the kitchen sink eggs with mushrooms, bacon, and avocado. I don't know why I think I like mushrooms and eggs because I don't lol

Lunch: Chicken and Brussell Sprouts 

Snack: Larabar Cashew Cookie and Celery with Almond Butter

Dinner: I managed to eat a couple Asian chicken meatballs and part of a baked Japanese sweet potato with a little ghee.  It was what I managed to get down before I had to leave for class.

Late: Half a banana.  I don't normally eat late, but when I got home around 9:30 (I got done with my lab a little early) I was starving and had a headache and neck tension so bad I could barely keep my eyes open. I split a banana with my husband and drink a bunch of water and went to bed. I had a hard time getting out of bed this morning, too.  If I hadn't had so much work to do today I probably would've just stayed home and in bed... 

Day 25 (5 more days!!), Friday

Today was almost as stressful as Wednesday.  I listened to the Presidential inauguration while I worked, and pondered the future of our great country.  I updated some information for my project, which a director as me to modify, and when I asked for his help to corral his people into doing what they need to do to make this successful he basically just ignored me... really helpful.  I didn't feel good when I woke up today at all.  I couldn't bring myself to eat before I left the house.  Fortunately we have a cafeteria so I had them cook me a couple of eggs with some hashbrowns and a bowl of fruit. 

I was so stressed and busy and just nauseated because of the people at work today that I couldn't eat lunch.  I had a venison epic bar around 3pm and when I got home I fixed breakfast again because I just couldn't anymore...

 

[csullivan18]

Wow this weekend, sadly, flew by... back to the grind tomorrow sadly

On the plus side I can finally let go a little on Thursday, which I'm going to follow the reintro plan to a tee.  Since I really just want red wine right now I'll start there.  I probably won't actually indulge myself until Friday because I have class until 1020pm on Thursdays... That's a little late to be drinking anything but water.

This weekend has gone pretty well.  Today officially started a couple of challenges at work for fitness and food, so I do have to track myself in MyFitnessPal for awhile.  That won't last forever, it never does.  I hate tracking things in there because it takes forever when you throw things together like I do.

Meals for the weekend:

Day 26, saturday

Breakfast: Hashbrowns and Eggs. 

Lunch: Chili Verde Chicken with sauteed onions, peppers, mushrooms.  Topped with avocado, lime, and cilantro. Yum!!

Dinner: Chicken Salad (homemade mayo, celery, apple, grapes, and some slivered almonds

Day 27, Sunday

Breakfast: Scrambled Eggs and Avocado - I intended for this to be relatively light because I thought I'd be going to the gym shortly after.  I ended up going a lot later than I'd planned because I wanted to get meal prep done first.

Lunch: Slice of Sweet potato, Hamburger patty, Fried Egg, Avocado, and a Banana

Dinner: We went to Texas Roadhouse with my mom and stepdad.  Steakhouses are the easiest place to get a reasonable Whole30 meal, in my opinion.  It wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be to resist their rolls with cinnamon butter and never ending peanuts.  My daughter ordered fried pickles which came out as an appetizer, and those were the most tempting thing... I had a 6 oz steak with a plain baked sweet potato and steamed veggies.  In the past when we'd gone to Texas Roadhouse I'd get full before our meals came because of those rolls! Tonight I was able to eat my meal in whole because I didn't even want to touch the rolls. 

One of the biggest reasons why I wanted to do the Whole30, other than I'm trying to shed some inches, was my skin.  For the last couple of years my skin has become increasingly dry, so dry that areas around my fingertips and knuckles on a few of my fingers would crack and bleed regularly. Imagine being subjected to multiple paper cuts all the time...that's what it was like. There was never anything I could do that would help.  I tried taking vitamin E supplements, using coconut oil, argan oil, even olive oil on occasion, I bought every expensive and drug store super dry hand cream on the face of the planet and used them all religiously.  I would carry Neosporin and bandages with me every where I went, and usually had 2-3 bandages on my fingers at any point in time.  This was super bad.  I'd gone to my doctor and a dermatologist and I just really don't like taking prescription pills if I don't have to. I was at the end of my rope with the skin issue. I knew that I was going to have to try something pretty drastic unless I wanted to subject myself to expensive medications with expensive doctor's visits, and not really know if the side effects would be work the fix.  

I am happy to say that over the past 4 weeks, my skin has improved to the point where my hands no longer get cut at will. My fingers are still relatively dry, but they don't hurt anymore. I haven't had to keep bandages on my hands or in my purse, my cuticles don't hurt, I'm not scared that if I accidentally graze my fingers against something even slightly sharp (like a fingernail) that my skin is going to tear.  My skin is getting healthier a little more everyday.  On Thursday when I look at a scale again for the first time in a month, if it says I haven't lost a pound that's ok.  I'll probably be a bit disappoint, but I'll know that my body composition is extremely different than it was on December 26th, and that my greatest victory will be having strong skin again and feeling beautiful in myself.  I'm ready to end this first part of my Whole30 and set forth new goals and have new victories, but first I'm going to have wine

[csullivan18]

I MADE IT!!

I'm on Day 30!

The last 2 days have pretty much been status quo, like today will be...

Eggs, sweet potatoes, avocado for breakfast

Chicken and brussel sprouts for lunch

I made stuffed peppers on Monday for dinner, and last night I had leftover pepper filled with 2 eggs (I like eggs). I have class on Tuesday, and it makes for a late night. I try to keep it simple and relatively light.  I have a lot going on tonight too, so I'll probably try to keep tonight's dinner pretty simple as well...

Moving forward

I'm not quitting the Whole30, and the only reason I'll go through any kind of reintroduction is for red wine (Friday because I have class tomorrow, so more status quo) and to see if foods aggravate me so that when we go out to eat I know what to avoid.  I don't want to be so strict every meal all the time, but at the most I'll give myself 1 meal a week where I might have a burger and fries, a small side of mac and cheese, or a little ice cream... Otherwise, this is my life now. I just went to heat up my lunch and right behind the microwaves are vending machines with chips, candy, and snacks... things that I'd used to occasionally get and then feel guilty for craving it at all... I starred all those snacks down and didn't have any desire to consume a single one...not even a little bit!

My New Goals

I still have a long way to go to get to where I want to be. I may be shrinking, but I still want to be lean and trim. I have a good start to getting there, but still a long way to go.

Beyond today, I'm going to focus more on WHEN during the day is an appropriate time to eat certain foods. Some foods don't digest well at night, and I want to capitalize on my efforts as much as possible.  I'm going to make a better effort of adding more cardio to my weekly workouts so that I can stimulate the fat burning I want so badly. Also, I need to find a way to do this on a better budget. We way overspent our grocery budget this month.  We've got to get better about that.

What I learned

The last 3 days I started a couple of challenges at work: one is for fitness and one is for meal planning.  Fortunately, I already do both, so not a whole lot to change.  Part of the meal planning challenge is to track meals in MyFitnessPal at least 3 days a week. Not a big deal either; I've done this before for my own purpose. However, I always found it difficult to stay below my calorie goal. Since I hadn't tracked any food or numbers for the whole time I've been doing the Whole30 it really brought some perspective to my diet before and after the program.  I'm glad I started with a few days left because now I know without a doubt that I can stay below my calorie goal everyday just by continuing to eat Whole30 compliant meals. Even on a day I kind of ate more than I normally would (Sunday) I still ended with a 200 calorie deficit.

By excluding grains and legumes from my diet, I've easily cut 300-500 calories a day... that's a piece of toast in the morning, 1 cup or brown rice or quinoa at lunch, and pasta or beans for dinner... I eat things now that are relatively high in calories on occasion, like nuts and bananas, but I don't have them 3 times a day like grains which are loaded in calories. One piece of whole grain bread has 100-120 calories...are you kidding me? That doesn't sound like a lot until you top it with half an avocado, 2 eggs, and pour a glass of orange juice to go with it...all things that are seemingly healthy but you've just racked up a 4-500 calorie breakfast.  My standard breakfast with black coffee is 250 calories... I'll take my option instead, thank you.  

One of the most important things I've learned is that some things are greater than weight loss... My energy, concentration, and motivation are all vastly improved from where they were a month ago.  My clothes are looser, my waist is smaller, my arms, back, and legs are all showing signs of the work I put in at the gym, my confidence is better, I actually (for the first time in YEARS) feel beautiful again, my skin (which I talked about earlier the week) has healed on my hands, and my face looks younger. I even changed my makeup from a heavy full coverage makeup, which I dreaded putting on for work because it's time consuming, to a CC Cream that is light and easy.  

Walking away from my first 30 days, I recall that this is the first time in my life that I've actually stuck to a diet without a single cheat in a whole month... There were days I wanted to so bad. Especially last week because it was stressful, and I was just at the end of my rope with things. But I didn't give in. I stuck with it determined to get through to the end. It's only 30 days! It taught me that I do have power over my choices of food. That I don't need pasta, dessert, fancy coffees and alcohol everyday. That I can say 'No thanks' if I really don't want something and that's okay! I hope that my story has been an inspiration to my friends and family because this program changed my life.  I know that it's a completely attainable goal now to have the body I really want by summer! Food no longer owns me, I own it...