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TJ's Second Whole30


TJHigh

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Day 1

Starting today after holidays abroad.  No huge slip-ups while traveling- I ate very light and no snacking, but couldn't avoid some of the off-plan foods (but I learned from my first Whole30 that they don't effect me significantly.) I fit into the slinky dress I had to pull off and all was well.

Now it's January, and back to work tomorrow. Always feels like a good time for a fresh start, so I've decided to start another Whole 30.  I also have a few interested family members who are contemplating giving it a try, and I'd like to be a good example.  I had a really successful first Whole 30 in the fall, and honestly enjoyed it quite a bit.

I've been prepping since yesterday and since today is a day off, I'm cooking up a storm.  All told, I'll have all my meals prepped for the week, with enough of each dish to freeze for the second half of the program.  Chicken chowder for lunches, chicken thighs with lemon and cauliflower rice for dinner, hamburgers with lettuce buns for tomorrow, and sesame zoodles and pork meatballs for the rest of the week's dinners.  A big batch of shredded chicken and then chicken stock prepping in the slow cooker, annnnnnnd just for good measure, a batch of marinara and meatballs to freeze.

Since I wasn't too far off plan when I started, I'll be interested to see if this one is easier or harder. I hope I don't have headaches or nausea (I lost my appetite almost entirely for about the first week last time.) Only halfway through Day 1, but so far, so good!

 

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Day 1 Meals

Breakfast- I don't stand on ceremony regarding "traditional" breakfast foods and I HATE wasting food, so breakfast this morning was half a hamburger leftover from last night. Ground beef patty made with caramelized onions, with tomato and red onion, sandwiched in some romaine. Black coffee, making sure I stopped before noon.

Lunch- Chicken chowder from the Whole 30 30 Day Guide. I loved the flavor but mine came out more of a pottage than a chowder (i.e.- very smooth with the exception of the roasted chicken chunks.). Thank goodness I love the flavor because I made a double batch. This will be lunch for the week, plus more frozen for either a dinner or more lunches later in the program.

Dinner- Pan sautéed then roasted chicken thighs, spiced with harrissa and cauliflower biryani. (Basically just cauliflower rice with finely diced onion and carrot, spiced with cumin and sumac with pistachios and raisins.). Really good, and enough for leftovers. I suddenly have more food than I know what to do wth, which is a good start for Day 1, I think.

So far I'm feeling great but really full. I ate little portions of meals while traveling because a lot if it was really heavy. Now I'm back on this incredibly healthy way of eating and I know I can and should basically have as much as I want, but especially with the amount of veggies I had makes me feel very full immediately after a meal. 

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Day 2 went great. Back to work with a new boss, so a tad stressful and busy, but no ill effects due to Whole 30.  In fact, I didn't have the same headache I had last time, not too hungry- I'm being more conscientious this time about getting sufficient fat at every meal and it's helping, I think.  Meal prep has paid off, I'm set for the week without really needing to think about anything, which is nice during a busy week.

Meals

Breakfast- Israeli salad with poached egg (tomato, onion, cucumber, and avocado)

Lunch- leftover chicken thighs and cauliflower biryani

Dinner- hamburger with lettuce leaves and baked potato slices

 

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Going strong. So busy at work I can barely stop to notice how I'm feeling with Whole 30.  Very few symptoms, I think.  Got a little grumpy towards lunch, but that was partially due to an interminable meeting.

Breakfast- Israeli salad with poached eggs and avocado

Lunch- chicken chowder

Dinner- sesame noodles (spiralized yellow squash) with Asian pork patties 

ready for Day 4, plenty of leftovers prepped and ready.

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Day 4- very, very tired today, so I'm giving in and just going to bed early. Good meals today, but pretty much all repeats.

Breakfast- sausage/sweet potato balls

Lunch- chicken chowder

Dinner- Israeli salad, poached eggs, avocado 

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Day 5- I am sick! Legit sick, not carb hangover sick. Fever, chills, the whole bit. Blech. But now I'm even more glad I had food prepped. Had simple scrambled eggs this morning (glad I restocked my ghee last night), and a big pot of chicken (no noodle) soup for the rest of the day.  It's a little lite, so I'm supplementing with some nuts just to get enough calories because they're easy. But my body is craving fruit so hubby is bringing home oranges for me.  I usually try to be judicious with the fruit on Whole 30, but I'm craving oranges- which I don't even particularly like- so I think it's my body needing vitamins.  Other than that, lots of water and naps and I hope this is the worst of it today.

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Day 6- feeling a lot better this morning, still sick, but I think my fever is gone. I realized part of what was contributing to my headache yesterday was lack of caffeine, since I was too sick to make it yesterday. Learned my lesson and made sure I made it this morning along with breakfast, and it has helped.

Since this is my second Whole 30 I'm a little less surprised by, or I guess interested in, the timeline of how every day is supposed to go. I remember last time I was so excited to cross off days and look at what the next day was supposed to bring and see how it compared to what was actually happening.  This time, I'm just kind of cruising along, with the fact that I'm doing W30 NOT being at the center of my focus at all times.  Which is good! It feels much easier and much more sustainable. I also have other stuff going on in my life to take my attention, which does satisfy that need for something "shiny and new," so I think that's a helpful sub. The newness of W30 really helped me get through the first one, as did the challenge of it all. This time I'm building just on how great it makes me feel, how it makes my skin glow (I've been told I look ten years younger, no joke!), and my energy levels. Annnnnd, of course the weight loss. I can tell it's happening by not only clothes fit, but I can also start to see muscle definition.

One other physical difference- last time I went through about two weeks where I had a lot of trouble with my appetite and getting nauseous while eating.  Not even a hint of that this time- now I'm appropriately hunger at meal times and have no prob finishing meals.  Based on research and info from these forums, I think it's because my hormones were so imbalanced when I started the first one- which makes sense, I was eating really poorly before I started. Now before this one in between the last, I was eating pretty much Whole 30 compliant most of the time. So I think I maintained the good hormone balance I achieved from the last one.  I also think the change I continue to see in my body composition is due to the shift I made from "sugar-burner," to "fat-adapted" from the last time is still in effect (I continued to lose weight after my first Whole 30 and have lost about 20 lbs since I started.) I hope this Whole 30 just further solidifies my results and helps me continue this lifestyle forever. The Food Freedom book is wonderful for that, and I plan to just transition to that lifestyle strategy after this Whole 30. 

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Day 6 meals- same as yesterday- scrambled eggs for breakfast and chicken soup, plus orange slices.  Still recovering from this flu, but I can tell I'm on the mend. Spent the day planning meals for the week and starting pre prep (just went to the store, cooking in earnest tomorrow, I hope.). Looking forward to feeling even better tomorrow, off to bed early to make sure I don't get too worn out.

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Day 7 meals- going to declare this day complete! It's early, but I'm likely going to bed early (may finish watching this football game though), still fighting this flu. Was able to cook again today, so that was great! These last three days have made so grateful for my prep- every time I would make a batch of lunches for the week, I'd freeze a serving, so I've had plenty of single serving compliant meals to sustain me when I can't cook.  

Breakfast- two sausage balls with a poached egg

Lunch- green curry with veggies and shrimp over cauliflower rice

Dinner- filets with mashed potatoes (made with ghee and chicken stock) with sautéed leeks, carrots, squash and pancetta, and arugula salad.

i also made pulled pork for dinner tomorrow and a few lunches.  Feeling ready for Week 2!

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Good Whole 30 day, but prettycrappy day otherwise. Back at work but still recovering from this head cold, so I was pretty miserable. Bad sleep last night due to my symptoms, so I'm ready for a good night's sleep tonight.  Found myself in a bit of a fog, not paying a lot of attention, and I almost sprinkled some Parmesan on my compliant meatballs and spaghetti squash (I'd just put cheese on my husbands versions almost dosed mine automatically.). Made me realize that this Whole 30 is much easier since I'm not learning the rules, I have a bank of foods I know work, etc. But the downside is maybe not being as vigilant as I was when I was totally new at this. Anyway, lesson learned, I'm glad this time around isn't as hard, but at the same time, can't rest on my laurels!

Day 9 meals

Breakfast- pear with prosciutto (note to self, this was NOT enough, had to eat lunch at 11)

Lunch- leftover carnitas and pico de gallo

Snack- pear and proscuitto

Dinner- spaghetti squash and meatballs

Tomorrow I have to make brownies for work- it'll be a good test of my vigilance to remember not to lick the spoon!

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Day 10- Feeling just exponentially better, whew! I'm not completely well, but I just feel 10x better today.  Such a relief as I can now start to discern again what may be Whole 30 effects and what might be sickness symptom. For example, I really have no idea if I experienced Whole 30 "I just wanna nap" or flu "need rest" effects this weekend. Now today I feel amazing! It's close to Tigers Blood- which I had right on schedule during my last Whole 30. It's obv a little early for that this time around, so I suspect it's just feeling way better in comparison to yesterday and some positive stuff going on elsewhere in my life. But I'll take It! 

Food today was good, but I'm now starting to run low on some prepped/frozen emergency supplies I dug into this week. Looking forward to the long weekend to restock.

Breakfast- two sausage/sweet potato balls.

Lunch- leftover spaghetti squash and meatballs

Dinner- leftover carnitas, pico de gallo and avocado over romaine

Oh, and I did successfully make brownies without licking the spoon! Tomorrow is big work/social event, so I'm gearing up to successfully navigate that.

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Whew, what a week. Ready to crash, just want to put in my food for the last two days. Skipped logging yesterday due to a work event, but stayed compliant even as I had to slice and plate my homemade brownies that got all over my fingers! 

Day 11 meals-

Breakfast- pear and prosciutto

Lunch- chicken chowder

Dinner- salad with oil and vinegar, cherry tomatoes, olives and grilled calamari 

Day 12 meals-

Breakfast- scrambled eggs

Lunch- leftover carnitas, pico de gallo

Dinner- chicken chowder

Feeling awesome, running low on prepped food, do I'm ready for the weekend! Excited to cook some new things, and I have a fun challenge to cook a nice Whole 30 meal for my inlaws who are interested in trying W30.

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Made it to the weekend! Day 13. I've had a busy week and today is really the first day in awhile that I've had any down time (I was sick last weekend).  This morning for the first time this Whole 30 I woke up and found my mind considering some not-great options. I had plenty of time to cook anything my heart desired for breakfast and all I wanted was a huge plate of fruit.  I rejected that notion right away, but just thinking of it kinda led me to some other cravings (that I also didn't succumb to). Another post about cravings being linked to boredom struck a cord- it was really the first time this week I had to use my brain and discretion to pick whatever I wanted. The rest of the week was incredibly busy and had to be highly structured to withstand my busy work schedule. I did an awesome job of prepping and planning last weekend and just executed that plan throughout the week without needing to think much. So today was my first opportunity to think and my brain tried to immediately choose bad options! Bad brain!

So. I ignored my brain and flipped it back to autopilot. I had some basic scrambled eggs and veggies and only then did I let my brain loose.  I bought the Well Fed cookbook and spent the rest of the afternoon looking up good recipes and planning my upcoming week.  I love to cook, so meal planning is relaxing for me. I deserve a relaxing weekend- I didn't want to have to occupy my brain with something non fun, so that was perfect. And it was a good reminder that cravings can sneak up on you, and there may be triggers lurking around other than just a sugar dragon!

Meals- Day 13

Breakfast- scrambled eggs and veggies

Lunch- three sweet potato/sausage balls with two poached eggs

Dinner- piri piri spicy roasted chicken, roasted potato wedges and cherry tomato skewers

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