Corrie's First Whole30 Log

[CorrieJ]

So excited for this Journey! I think coming here to this thread and keeping a basic log will help insure I stick with this for the full 30 Days! I have had the Whole30 book and It Starts With Food on my bookshelf for a while now, but I was a little intimidated by the idea of such a drastic change and put off reading/starting the program.  I did a mini version of the program (kind of on the fly, did well but winged it, very little planning) with a friend for 15 days in October and I definitely noticed changes in how I felt, can't wait to see how 30 days turns out! Almost done reading the Whole30 book, and definitely took more time to plan this time.  Let's get caught up;

1/2/17-Monday-Day 1.  Had the day off, extra prep time, which I needed because I was behind.  Did a big  grocery shopping trip.  Made homemade Mayo from Whole30 book-delicious!  Cooked a big batch of chicken breasts in the slowcooker, my favorite way to prep a large amount of chicken.  season chicken lightly with salt and pepper, put in crockpot, add a little water and cook on high for 3-4 hours. Now I have chicken for different recipes for a few days. Made my absolute favorite chicken salad recipe-http://www.thepinningmama.com/greek-chicken-salad-recipe-paleo-whole30-compliant/?m  with my compliant mayo!   Great for lunches.  Also prepped tomorrows dinner-Braised Beef Brisket, recipe from the Whole30 book.  We are going to my parents house for dinner to celebrate my boyfriends birthday, and I plan on bringing my own food.  Haven't told them about my Whole30 yet, wasn't totally sure I was going to start on time and didn't want my mom stress trying to make me something-plus it was a birthday celebration.  I admit, I did not eat enough today-had scrambled eggs for breakfast, then just grazed the rest of the day on fruit, baby carrots and cherry tomatoes.  Once the chicken salad was done, had some of that too.  I was not hungry at all, same thing happened the first few days when i did my mini whole15.  Must be better going forward about eating enough to fuel my body.

1/3/17-Tuesday-Day 2. Woke up and turned on the crockpot with tonights brisket in it.  Banana and some almonds for breakfast at work.  Something I am terrible at and must work on is getting up in the morning with enough time to make a better breakfast-I have such a bad habit of hitting the snooze button!   Made a salad for lunch of spring mix, sliced cucumber, tomatoes and my chicken salad, no dressing.  Had clementines and an apple for snacks.  The plan was to go home, make the gravy/sauce for the brisket quick, then head over to my parents but of course, a monkey wrench got thrown in there and I had to stay at work an extra hour and a half.  Now we are super late and rushing, I just grabbed my brisket (and  the boyfriend) and booked it to my parents.  They had chicken parmesan with penne and garlic bread.  I ate my brisket and had some grapes they had in the fridge.  I'm proud to say it was not that difficult being around food that I enjoy but couldn't have-I was really fine all night! The birthday cake didn't faze me either, I was just fine being with everyone at the table and not eating cake.  I was worried about this meal being only day 2 but I didn't have crazy cravings! I hope that lasts as I continue!

1/4/17-Wednesday-Day 3. Quick breakfast at work again today, fruit and almonds.  Really meant to make eggs, but hit the snooze again.  More chicken salad for lunch, banana and grape tomatoes to munch on throughout the day.  Made the gravy tonight for the remaining brisket and roasted some broccoli florets with olive oil, a little salt & pepper and minced garlic- this dinner was awesome! So satisfying, I loved it.  Unfortunately, I did not do my prep for Thursday that I had planned-I was just kinda out of it, I got home, made my dinner then just fussed around till I went to bed-folded some laundry, watched some tv.  

 

**Full disclosure, I will be breaking one rule of whole30-I plan on weighing in once a week, on Friday mornings. I have joined a weight loss challenge that requires weekly weigh-ins. I am very overweight, and obesity is a health concern for me.  I love the whole30 approach and mentality of redefining our relationship with food and becoming more in tune with my body-that will be my main focus, and I will slowly work on weight loss as well.  **

 

 

[MTNan]

Welcome! Regarding the weekly weigh-ins, could you ask that you not be told your weight? I've done this for years at the doctors offices. The number has always had too much control over me, so I've just asked before stepping on the scale to not be told. Just a thought.

[CorrieJ]

On 1/5/2017 at 8:49 PM, MTNan said:

Welcome! Regarding the weekly weigh-ins, could you ask that you not be told your weight? I've done this for years at the doctors offices. The number has always had too much control over me, so I've just asked before stepping on the scale to not be told. Just a thought.

MTNan,thank you for the welcome!  That is a good idea, but the challenge group I am participating in is on-line only and I am required to submit both a weigh-in number and photos each week.  I am trying to keep it short and sweet and not think about it or dwell on it-just record the weight, submit it and done-out of my mind.

Goal this week-to post here daily so I don't have to have long catch up posts, after this one

1/5/17-Thursday-Day 4.  Avocado for breakfast.  Didn't prep well the night before so I had to wing it.  I brought spring mix, cherry tomatoes and a cucumber from home, as well as some fruit and almonds.  So come lunch time, I went to a place with a take out salad bar, got a few other veggies, grilled chicken, hard boiled eggs, balsamic vinegar and olive oil and threw together a salad with the stuff I brought from home. not the most satisfying meal but it got the job done.  Dinner I made a warm balsamic and brussel sprout chicken salad and butternut squash soup.  Soup recipe was from the Whole30 book, and it was delicious!  

1/6/17-Friday-Day 5.  Knew I would be traveling for work today, had scrambled eggs for breakfast.  Went to mix up my chicken salad at my desk for lunch later-I brought my chicken, Whole30 mayo, some grapes and celery, when TRAGEDY striked- I have two identical small containers in my pantry.  One holds my seasoning mix that I like to use in my chicken salad, the other....holds cinnamon and sugar that we would sometimes use for baking or french toast breakfasts.  I was just about to put in the seasoning when I realized...I grabbed the wrong container!  Really not a big deal at all in the grand scheme of life, but in that moment it was so upsetting!!  I made the best of it, found some salt and pepper packets in the breakroom and put that into the salad.  Drove down to NYC with coworkers and we didn't stop for lunch until after 2!  I had eaten a banana on the car ride down, but I was hungry.  Now, my lunch was in the car deep in a manhattan parking garage (We were on a construction site in a basement, had to carry equipment so I left my lunch in the car), and my co-workers didnt bring anything and wanted to go out.  I went with them, didn't really have a choice, and ordered a side salad with oil and vinegar while they got burgers.  I felt a bit tempted, but I knew I had compliant food in the car so I just waited it out then ate a late lunch on the drive back.  Leftover soup for dinner-wasn't that hungry since I ate late lunch.

 

1/7/17-Saturday-Day 6.  I bought some Whole30 compliant bacon, breakfast sausage, ground beef and chicken from US Wellness Meats last week after seeing them on the Whole30 website.  Had some of that bacon and eggs this morning-bacon was pretty good.  Also got to break out one of my christmas presents-I got a grease collector/canister and I am pretty excited about it!  I've never saved my cooking fat before, but I saw it in a few recipes while researching the Whole30 and decided I want to try it.  I will be careful to only save grease from the whole30 compliant bacon so I know i am cooking with an approved fat.  Had some more butternut squash soup later-I made a double batch so I still have quite a bit left.

1/8/17-Sunday-Day 7.  One week already!  I have realized something-I feel significantly less hungry and eat less at home as opposed to at work.  Today, I hardly ate anything but I felt fine.  I need to watch that.  Another observation-I definitely have more energy this past week which is great!  But, it makes me stay up very late which turns into inadequate sleep, snoozing in the mornings, then rushing to get to work!  I had this pattern before starting the whole30, but it was definitely exaggerated this past week.  I think I need to implement a stricter bed time.  Lots of prep today...into tonight.  Tonight was by far the worst I've done with staying up late....I was up till 4:30am-tomorrow will not feel good.  Prepped a big batch of chicken breast, made more mayo, roasted a whole bunch of veggies-not for any recipe in particular, just to have on hand.  Roasted beets, a couple heads of garlic, red bell peppers and some spaghetti squash.  Made more of my trusty chicken salad, and put together a meaty spaghetti sauce in the crockpot for tomorrows dinner.  I used this recipe http://www.paleocupboard.com/meaty-spaghetti-sauce.html and omitted the honey, which was listed as optional anyway.  It smelled so good! Also wrote out a rough meal schedule onthe white board on the fridge, so I feel better prepared for this week than I was last week.

 

    

[CorrieJ]

1/9/17-Monday-Day 8..  ugh.  Not sleeping last night made me feel awful.  so tired all day.  Avocado for breakfast, chicken salad and butternut squash soup for lunch.  Banana for snack.  zoodles and sauce for dinner.  went to sleep earlier than normal, I was so tired.

[CorrieJ]

1/10/17-Tuesday-Day 9.  Got some better sleep Monday night to Tuesday.  Bananas and pistachios for breakfast-still struggling with the snooze button and having enough time for a hearty breakfast at home.  leftover zucchini noodles with sauce for lunch.  Apple for snack in the late afternoon.   Made a BBQ from scratch and used it in a BBQ chicken, bacon, and spaghetti squash casserole-it was pretty good!  Between that and the spaghetti sauce, the fridge is pretty stocked with left overs.  I have got to go to bed earlier-I just feel fine and have energy late into the night, but then I struggle the next morning. 

[Emma]

You're doing it!  Day Nine!  That's pretty dang awesome and you have leftovers in your fridge.  I sure wish I had that!!!  What BBQ sauce did you use?  I made one once and didn't like it, but I think my kids would did a casserole like you made.

It looks like you're eating healthy foods, but not always the full template at each meal.  Whole30 asks us to have protein, veggies, and fats every time we eat.  For snacks, it's more of a mini-meal.  I have a bunch of hard boiled eggs in the fridge that I use for those snack occasions coupled with some carrots and nuts.  I usually hard boil the eggs in the oven in cupcake tins, but this time, I totally cheated and just bought hard boiled ones from Costco.  It seems so crazy to buy something I could make so easily, but it did take one thing off my plate for this week and those little protein power houses keep me from slipping up when I'm craving something to eat or feeling tired.

[CorrieJ]

Hi Emma-here are the recipes I used for BBQ sauce and the casserole;

http://www.jaysbakingmecrazy.com/2015/05/01/paleo-whole30-barbecue-sauce/

http://www.jaysbakingmecrazy.com/2016/10/02/paleo-barbecue-chicken-casserole/

I've been buying compliant bacon from US Wellness Meats, and its pretty tasty!  Thanks for the tip about the template and hard boiled eggs-those would be a great snack! I am concerned I've been eating more fruit than is ideal, it's just quick and easy and I always get hungry late afternoon before leaving work.