Starting February 20

[KendraHicks220]

Hey Everyone!

 

Day 3 here, yesterday was riddled with a headache but I feel better today. realizing I'm not eating as many vegetables as I should be so I'm doing a second supermarket trip today for things like brussels sprouts and sweet potatoes. thinking I should be getting more complex carbs since I do workout about 4-5 days a week and I'm feeling hungry all the time. Of course it's also that time of the month same week I started and I get these intense salt cravings so although it's not recommended, I had to go find compliant snacks, at least to get me through this first week.

eating plantain chips and larabars in between meals. let's go week one!

[ArtFossil]

2 hours ago, JenniferPasoFino said:

Hi BritNicki! 

Horses and dogs are a pretty good workout  I can relate. My teenage daughter isn't participating but over the last three days she has gotten curious and even ate a few of the same things like kale tomato frittata muffins, buffalo spicy chicken, and taco meat with scratch made seasonings. I think she secretly likes seeing me in the kitchen way more than I ever would have been, and wondering what kind of weirdness I am going to create. 

If you or anyone else has some suggestions for delicious "drinks" that could be sipped in the evening as a low calorie "mocktail" I'd love to see them. I have mint and ginger root and a juicer. There has to be some concictions that are not sweet but are interesting   

Jennifer

 

 

Here you go:

http://whole30.com/2013/04/mocktails/

It's not a good idea to go too wild on the juice aspect of any of these, especially if you have sugar cravings. Plain or lightly flavored water is best. A lot of people love LaCroix or drink herbal tea in the evenings (read the ingredients!).

[xfrapgirl]

4 hours ago, MButcher said:

The fat is how much fat you're actually eating. So if you just use olive oil for cooking and most of it stays in the pan, go ahead and add more fat to the meal. For the coconut milk, a serving is considered 1/4 - 1/2 of a can. So if your soup is four servings, does it have a least a full can of coconut milk in it? If not, have some fat (maybe some olives or avocado) on the side. Obviously there will be times when you can't just tell exactly how much of the fat is actually making its way onto your plate, so the important thing is to base it on how satisfied you are. Can't wait 4-5 hours for the next meal without feeling absolutely starving and hangry? Have some more fat next time. 

I hope this helps!

Thank you!!  That does help.  There was a can of coconut milk in the soup so we'll see how I do on just the 1/4 can as my fat today at lunch.

Day 3!  Still excited to be doing this Whole30 but feeling particularly tired today.  And unfortunately napping at work is frowned upon!  (darn work rules!!).   But boy .... a nappety nap nap nap.  Doesn't that sound nice?!   Sigh.  Okay, back to focusing and powering through!  Happy Day 3 everyone!!

[jen c]

Today's menu . . .

Breakfast:  Aidell's chicken apple sausage;  mushrooms, red pepper, spinach, sauteed in olive oil;  coffee with coconut milk

Lunch:  celery sticks filled with tuna mixed w/avocado, onion, garlic, salt, pepper;  kombucha tea

Dinner:  100% beef hamburger patty, butternut squash, apple slices;  tea with coconut milk

 

Quick fix tip:  roast a whole butternut squash in your slow cooker.  Simply scrub it clean on the outside, put it in the crockpot, cover and cook on low 6-8 hours or high 4-5 hours.  No need to pierce the skin first.  When it's done, a knife will slide right through the skin.  When it's cool enough to handle, cut it in half, remove the seeds, scoop the squash out of the skin, and there you go.  Drizzle on some coconut oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper . . . oh my, it's good.  And couldn't be any simpler to make. 

[CąrolEve]

On 2/21/2017 at 6:25 AM, MKFish said:

UGH! Absolutely!! I feel like that was the most expensive trip having to stock up on non-sugar nut butter and the approved condiments! Glad I wasn't the only one! 

Hello group!  

 

DAY THREE IS KILLING ME.  I feel ravenous and worst of all angry with the restriction.  Somewhere the sensible part of my brain is telling me to hang in there ..the chemical/sugar withdrawal is in full swing.  I am irriatable and emotional lol. All I want is a cookie or a bag of chips.  And it's only been 2 days!  I won't give up tho but right now I hate it and I am just trying to push through to get to the promised independence. Arg!  How is this kind of dependency not considered a medical condition?  All the stories are helping though. It's nice to see I'm not the only one. 

[ShannonM816]

5 minutes ago, CąrolEve said:

Hello group!  

 

DAY THREE IS KILLING ME.  I feel ravenous and worst of all angry with the restriction.  Somewhere the sensible part of my brain is telling me to hang in there ..the chemical/sugar withdrawal is in full swing.  I am irriatable and emotional lol. All I want is a cookie or a bag of chips.  And it's only been 2 days!  I won't give up tho but right now I hate it and I am just trying to push through to get to the promised independence. Arg!  How is this kind of dependency not considered a medical condition?  All the stories are helping though. It's nice to see I'm not the only one. 

If you're truly hungry, eat. Eat a combo of protein, fat, and vegetables, or at least two of the three. You don't need to be hungry. And if you're hungry between meals, look at your meals and make sure you're eating enough.

It's also helpful to focus more on the things you can eat -- I can have steak with a baked sweet potato with coconut oil and cinnamon, or I can have eggs topped with hollandaise sauce, or a big plate of pad thai. Or whatever recipes you look at and think, wow, who would've thought that was healthy!

[KyraNova]

Happy Day Three, everyone. 

Wasn't able to get on yesterday, busy busy. But last night I made the sirloin steak for dinner with minced garlic and shallots. Still very bland, but the garlic and shallots made my mashed cauliflower much tastier!

Wednesdays are the days I leave the house at 8am and return home at 10pm, so I packed a LOT of food. However, it's almost 4pm, my blood sugar is a little out of whack and I'm probably going to run out of food. I have steak leftovers, broc and cauliflower on the side, and a banana left. I will plan better next time. More Food! 

Day 3 woes....

[TryingOver]

Hi all, 

My day 3 has been pretty successful, although I forgot how tired I get of the following 3 things: 

1. Chopping, dicing, slicing and washing. All the loads of vegetable prep (I didn't meal prep in advance over the weekend, so each meal or day entails lots and lots of vegetable cutting). 

2. Dishes. See, I enjoy cooking, but cooking a real, Whole meal means lots of knives, cutting boards, pots, pans, etc on top of the silverware and plates. Eating processed food that can be cooked in its packaging or a single pot (or eating out far more than I'd like to admit) meant way fewer dishes. 

3. Chewing. My diet isn't always the best (see above) so I've forgotten how much I have to chew on Whole30. Again, it is all of those vegetables.I feel like a horse gnawing on grass and yesterday my jaw started aching!  Lunch today was chili with everything nice and cooked down to give my jaw a rest, but day 2 had 2 salads loaded with carrots, radishes, cucumber, lettuce, peppers, etc all raw and crunchy. 

Okay, griping aside, things here are going well, aside from some slight headaches and evening cravings. 

[xfrapgirl]

6 hours ago, TryingOver said:

2. Dishes. See, I enjoy cooking, but cooking a real, Whole meal means lots of knives, cutting boards, pots, pans, etc on top of the silverware and plates. Eating processed food that can be cooked in its packaging or a single pot (or eating out far more than I'd like to admit) meant way fewer dishes. 

 

Don't forget all the darn Tupperware too!  Man .... there is a lot of dishes! lol

Day three done!  Woot!

Breakfast - sliced apple and breakfast scramble (again! lol)

Lunch - Thai soup.  I also brought a nice side salad but that soup was SO filling there was no way I was cramming in anything else.  The recipe says that Thai soup is 2 servings .... we split it into four since the recipe makes over 2 quarts (how is THAT 2 servings??).  And just that quarter portion was probably too much.  I may have to take my three remaining portions and divvy them up into four portions.

Dinner - Lettuce wraps using ground pork. 

Felt really tired today.  Like realllllly tired.  Also feel like a cold is trying to start which is really, really unfortunate.  Normally I have all kinds of homeopathic means of keeping the cold at bay but I can't take any of those since they aren't on-plan.  Boo hoo.  And what happens if the cold actually kicks in??  Does anyone know cold medicines (or preventers) on-plan?  Or perhaps are these symptoms possibly symptoms of the body detoxing from the sugar, etc?  Any ideas anyone?

Also, I finally had success making the homemade mayo!  After four failed attempts on Sunday ... I have made mayo!  Woot, woot!!

Hope everyone had a good day!  On to Day 4!

Linda

 

[Lilkathy]

Where is everyone? How was your day 4? 

I'm still doing well. I don't know if it's because I'm so busy at work, or maybe my body was really craving the things that I've been eating on W30, but so far so good. I still need to figure out a good morning routine, but I'm not going to let it stress me out any longer. It's not serving me. I know I will get into a good groove eventually. 

Hope you all are doing well! Have a great night! 

[MargaretAM]

DAY 4

Some updates. Day 3 actually went well for me. The fatigue I felt in Day 2 was gone and I got through the day pretty easily, even with a hard workout. I had a bit of craving after dinner - just this gnawing feeling and wanting to graze. But it was late and I was able to just go to bed.

Funny but the Whole30 timeline talks about dreams starting to happen and I had some last night. I basically accidentally ate non-compliant food and was so upset I had to start over.

The timeline also suggest that we may be extra cranky today and, lo and behold, I have found myself really on edge and impatient at work. So I have apologized to my colleagues and am trying to take deep breaths. Apparently I am having a pretty typical W30 thus far.

I would love to hear how Days 3 and 4 have gone for others.

Margaret

[MargaretAM]

@Lilkathy: thanks for your update.  What are you struggling with in terms of your morning routine?

[MargaretAM]

Anyone else try Trader Joe's ghee?  I thought it tasted like bleu cheese.  Yuck! (unless you are missing bleu cheese...than you should go get some!)

[CąrolEve]

Thanks for the heads up I'm not a blue cheese fan at all!  

[MKFish]

Hello! Well, I missed my day 3 check in there.. but I am alive and well and still hanging in there! 

Day 3 was tough.. I was tired a lot of the day, finally caved and took a nap at about 1. 

A little insight on my long days and maybe someone can give me some advice. So I work part time at Starbucks which requires me to get up at 3:45... well at 3:45, I am not hungry for anything.. but I have to have something in my stomach. Yesterday I had a HB egg and and orange. Later on my 7am "break" I had the almonds I brought. I don't know if anyone else has come up with a good early morning brekky? 

I have had headaches for 2 days now. I assume this is my body getting back to a "normal" place.. not sure.. it's pretty obnoxious. 

And today.. ugh.. where to start on today? All I can say it that my moods have been an absolute roller coaster! Didn't have to work this morning so I had an egg omelette and grapes with black coffee, lunch was a very unsatisfying salad (it was just too mushy (tuna, avocado, cauliflower,...) really wasn't in the mood to eat but I knew that I needed to. 

Dinner tonight was awesome though! Glad I took the time to marinate a flank steak! (It was the churrasco skirt steak recipe on page 40 of w30 cookbook), grilled it, and had pan friend plantains in coconut oil with sauted zucchini. Never knew how delicious plantains were!

Still super moody, and just ready for bed. It’s been a tough 2 days, but 2 less we have to do again!

Hope everyone had a good day!

[MKFish]

Went for a long walk this afternoon to try and shake the mood... nature always helps! It's practically springtime in Ohio! Enjoy the pictures  

[madisonbopbop]

Day 2:

 This morning I woke up and my chronic back pain was very flared up! More so then it has been in a very long time. I also did not want to get out of bed, I felt so tired. My pain and exhaustion improved as the day went on... I'm prescribed to a steroid for 5 days for a bacterial lung infection that antibiotics didn't take care of, that could have been what helped my pain and energy. I'm planning on extending my Whole30, incase the steroids hinder my results. 

 I attempted to make mayo and totally made the mistake of using extra virgin olive oil. The most bitter mayo I have ever tasted. Luckily, the flavor was perfect when I used it as a substitute in the Asian Vinaigrette (instead of extra virgin olive oil)....It made a delicious creamy dressing on an incredible salad! I used pulled chicken, ruby mandarins (accidentally bought these and it's one of the happiest mistakes I've ever made), red onion, green bell pepper, sliced almonds, sliced carrots, spinach and romaine.

 For dinner I tried the Pulled Carnitas recipe from the 'Whole30' over half of a baked potato with guac. The guac was incredible, but totally made me miss corn chips! The carnitas were way too salty and I think I'll keep russet potatoes to a very bare minimum this month..I felt too full. 

Went on a hike with my 2 year old little girl and dog and had a wonderful time! 

Tonight I am so full but I definitely can feel my sugar dragon breathing hard.....

[madisonbopbop]

40 minutes ago, MKFish said:

Hello! Well, I missed my day 3 check in there.. but I am alive and well and still hanging in there! 

Day 3 was tough.. I was tired a lot of the day, finally caved and took a nap at about 1. 

A little insight on my long days and maybe someone can give me some advice. So I work part time at Starbucks which requires me to get up at 3:45... well at 3:45, I am not hungry for anything.. but I have to have something in my stomach. Yesterday I had a HB egg and and orange. Later on my 7am "break" I had the almonds I brought. I don't know if anyone else has come up with a good early morning brekky? 

I have had headaches for 2 days now. I assume this is my body getting back to a "normal" place.. not sure.. it's pretty obnoxious. 

And today.. ugh.. where to start on today? All I can say it that my moods have been an absolute roller coaster! Didn't have to work this morning so I had an egg omelette and grapes with black coffee, lunch was a very unsatisfying salad (it was just too mushy (tuna, avocado, cauliflower,...) really wasn't in the mood to eat but I knew that I needed to. 

Dinner tonight was awesome though! Glad I took the time to marinate a flank steak! (It was the churrasco skirt steak recipe on page 40 of w30 cookbook), grilled it, and had pan friend plantains in coconut oil with sauted zucchini. Never knew how delicious plantains were!

Still super moody, and just ready for bed. It’s been a tough 2 days, but 2 less we have to do again!

Hope everyone had a good day!

I have trouble stomaching food early in the morning too! @mkfish What I did was hard boil a dozen eggs the night before so I can just grab  and go as I need them. I also find hard boiled eggs to be so much easier to stomach in the morning with a little bit of salt and pepper. Yesterday I cooked up some on-plan bacon which takes only a few minutes and wrapped the bacon around the eggs. I'm hoping to find some on-plan turkey bacon.  Also having some precut fruit ready to grab and go in the fridge next to those hard boiled eggs may make for an easy breakfast!

 

[*Aurora*]

37 minutes ago, madisonbopbop said:

 I attempted to make mayo and totally made the mistake of using extra virgin olive oil. The most bitter mayo I have ever tasted. Luckily, the flavor was perfect when I used it as a substitute in the Asian Vinaigrette (instead of extra virgin olive oil)....It made a delicious creamy dressing on an incredible salad! I used pulled chicken, ruby mandarins (accidentally bought these and it's one of the happiest mistakes I've ever made), red onion, green bell pepper, sliced almonds, sliced carrots, spinach and romaine.

I did the exact same thing!  I didn't read through the recipe and saw afterwards that they say not to use extra virgin - it had a pretty strong smell and taste!  Ugh.  I bought avocado oil to use next time.  

I hope everyone had a great Day 4!  I've had headaches all week, but I think they are weather related more then sugar withdrawal since I finished my first W30 and started my second two days later.  My sugar cravings have been kept at bay but I'm finding that I'm very tired in the evenings where I used to be a night owl.  I'm also tired of the food prep and washing dishes like a few of you mentioned!  I try and make a dish on Sundays that will be my lunch for the whole week (if you don't get bored easily...).

This one is very good:  http://paleomg.com/almost-5-ingredient-pizza-spaghetti-pie/ , obviously without cheese!  

I made this one last night - the cauliflower is blended with coconut milk to make a cream sauce that is delicious!  http://www.balancingbrca.com/creamy-chicken-casserole-aip-whole30-21dsd/

Friday tomorrow... thank goodness!

 

[xfrapgirl]

Hi everyone!

I love when you guys mention which recipes have been great (and/or not so great!)  Tonight my bf and I made the grilled coconut curry chicken from W30 - 30 Day Guide .... deeeeellllicciousss!

Stayed home from work today as the cold kicked in a bit and I hoped staying home would cure it quicker.  Drank some seeped ginger with lemon .... not the best without the honey but what are you going to do!? lol.  Hopefully the cold is better tomorrow or I may need to resort to cold meds if it kicks in full force. That would be a bummer.

This was the first day on the diet I was home all day.  I've got to say, puttering around the house on this diet sucks! lol.  I'm so used to grazing when I'm home and not feeling well apparently.  But I resisted.

Breakfast: banana and breakfast scramble

Lunch was a can of tuna mixed with my homemade mayo.  Had with some mixed greens, grape tomatoes, cucumber and red bell pepper.  The tuna was bland ... my bad ... wasn't feeling up to "cooking"

Dinner: the aforementioned grilled coconut curry chicken, with roasted sweet potatoes cut in chunks and drizzled with olive oil and thyme, and green beans.  Delish!

Friday here we come!!

 

[DotinTO]

Good morning, Day 6!

I've been pretty quiet on here so far because my experience has been largely negative (headaches, exhaustion, food frustrations), but I'm hoping that things will start to turn around heading into week 2. I'm home with a cold today, and have no idea what I'm making for dinner yet (just about to make breakfast -- ground turkey and sweet potato hash with chili seasoning and on-plan salsa, side of avocado), but I've got the whole day to figure it out and run out for any missing ingredients.

It's been great reading about others' experiences. Some of you are facing the same issues I am, so it's good (for me, at least!) to know that I'm not alone.

Here's to a happy day 6!

[YvonneB]

Hey everyone. So I've been feeling pretty good until today. Now feel like so spaced out and definitely need to nap! They weren't wrong about the phases!!! It's actually nice knowing that it's normal though and just your body's way of getting used to not having the rubbish it's used to (sugar for me!). 

Really helping having you guys to chat to though! Support definitely makes a difference! And love the recipe ideas @*Aurora* posted above. Will be making them for sure! 

[KatKat]

Hi everyone!!!  I am so glad I found this thread.  I started on Monday and Ive been wanting to talk about it ever since!  I have so many questions and doubts but Im motivated to do this!  

So far found 1pm every day I feel tired.  This is about one hour after lunch so Im not sure whats causing it.  Other than that Im doing fine.  I cannot believe how much fat Im eating!  Im used to eating 7 micro meals a day so this is a challenge!  So far I only  has to snack once.  

Whats your fav recipe so far?

I did not measure, weighted, or took pictures of myself.  Did anyone else do that?

Happy FriYAY!

Kat

[TryingOver]

Hi All, 

Day 4 was rough for me. I wasn't agitated/Kill All the Things. But I had a serious flare up of my medical condition and I think my meals weren't quite on template (a little light on both vegetables and fat) so by the end of the day I felt ravenous. I didn't make the best choice (had an RxBar before my evening medications) but I was still technically compliant. Instead of beating myself up about this, I'm going to be buying some better snack options (boiling up some eggs to have with mayo, grilling some extra chicken, and having some compliant olives on hand). I know I need to be prepared so when this happens again I don't make the wrong choice. 

Here's hoping today is a better day! 

 

[MButcher]

@*Aurora* Thanks for the recipe ideas! I think I'll make those next week. This week was kind of a "throw together whatever I can think of" week, as I didn't take time to do a real prep day. So I've been looking for some new recipes to get excited about - and these look great!

Quick update:

Day 2 I was very tired, nearly started to nod off in class.

Days 3 and 4 were much better, and today is going well so far, too.

I usually eat pretty close to Whole30 during the week when I'm cooking for myself, and it was only recently that I was starting to slide, so I'm not feeling too bad so far. (But I know what you guys are feeling who are doing it for the first time - it can be brutal!)

The real test will come when I go home to my parents' for the weekend, which I often do (I'm in college), and I'm surrounded by all kinds of off-plan food. THAT'S when I usually just eat whatever I see, in whatever amount I feel like. But it's important to me to spend time with my family, and I want to get better at doing that without caving into pressure to indulge unhealthy habits.

Another thing I need to work on - sleep. During my last Whole30, I think I halfway expected eating well to just magically give me endless energy - but it doesn't work that way without sleep. I didn't do too badly this week; I always got at least 7 hours. But I really need at least 8 hours to be at my best, so that's definitely something I'll be concentrating on in the coming weeks to got the best results possible from my Whole30.