diary Sam's First Whole30 Journey

[s3D]

Hi,

I'm Sam, a 27 year-old female from Canada. I started my first Whole30 on March 4, 2017, almost 2 months after purchasing the Whole30 guide. I've tried Paleo/LC "diets" before and lost a considerable amount of weight but would gain it all right back after falling off the wagon. I didn't learn anything from the new habits I was trying to form on these "diets". I was looking for quick results and wanted so badly to be thin. Thanks to reading the Whole30 guide, I now feel like I have a better psychological understanding of my relationship with food. I'm so happy to have started my first Whole30, and I cant wait to see what it has in store for me.

I wanted to document this journey. Mostly for myself, but If anyone else is out there who can take something from all of this, then this journal is just as much for you as it is for me. I don't know if I necessarily want this to be a food diary per-se, I more so want to track my feelings and physical things I experience while on the Whole30.

DAY 0- Friday March 3, 2017: PERSONAL REVELATIONS, BUY ALL THE GROCERIES! *Insert hyperbole and a half meme here*

I was having a rather stressful week at work. Friday afternoon I found myself sitting at my desk fantasizing about what I would make for supper. My options were endless: Pizza, Nacho's, or, if I really wanted a quick fix, McDonald's drive thru. Normally I would follow through with these thoughts and slink over to the grocery store or "Fast Food Boulevard" and get my fix. But not this time. Something in me clicked.... Will the pizza solve my problems? How are the nacho's going to make me any less stressed? Is McDonalds going to magically relieve all the stress I've been feeling? NO. None of this was going to help and I realized in that moment that I was the only one who could take control of the situation.  Instead of falling into temptation, I picked up a pen and paper and started to write a grocery list. Not just any grocery list, a WHOLE30 compliant grocery list. I decided in that moment to take control and start my first Whole30 the very next day. I left work and went straight to the grocery store. I drove past "Fast Food Boulevard" without blinking. I filled my cart with everything on my list and nothing more. I didn't even have a "last hurrah", I bought a salad for dinner and ate it that night while reading my Whole30 book. I went to bed that night excited to take control of my eating habits, my health, and my life.

DAY 1- Saturday March 4, 2017: MORE GROCERY SHOPPING, ALL THE EGGS, WHOLE30 MAYO?!!

I woke up feeling so excited. I cooked some eggs and had some fruit. I decided to take a little trip to the local organic store to pick up some fresh eggs. Here's a little back story. I actually have a mild allergy to eggs. I tend to "break out" with eczema. It's not a huge deal, however I normally tend to stay away from eggs because of it. I made the choice to incorporate eggs to my Whole30 because I felt that dealing with a bit of eczema over the next 30 days was better than falling off the wagon because I didn't know what to have for breakfast. Plus, I'm really optimistic that my "allergy" to eggs is going to be one of my Non Scale Victories at the end of all of this. Anyway, I was telling the owner of the organic store about my eczema and how I was hoping that the fresh eggs would make a difference compared to the store bought ones. She started telling me about her battle with eczema and other skin related issues and how she "cured" it by taking some Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV) with water twice a day. I decided to pick up some ACV while I was there too to try. I stopped at another grocery store on my way home to pick up some Whole30 compliant Lara Bars. Not that I want to have these hanging around for temptation, but I want to have them in case of emergencies so I'm not tempted to fall off track. When I returned home it was later in the afternoon so I decided to cook some dinner and try my hand at Whole30 Mayo. I had all the ingredients on hand and was excited to make something new. While my dinner of ground hamburger, mushrooms and peppers were cooking, I prepared a salad and started on my Whole30 mayo.I followed the recipe exactly as it is listed in the book, however it didnt turn out exactly as planned. It was a little runny so It made a nice salad dressing for that night.  I went to bed still feeling excited.

DAY 2- Sunday March 5, 2017: SUNDAY DINNER, MASTERING WHOLE30 MAYO, MORE EGGS!!

I love eggs. Thank goodness they are Whole30 approved. I had leftover hamburger and eggs with salsa for breakfast. I didn't do a whole lot that day, ran few errands, went for a drive, took the dog for a walk. I decided to make chicken with tomatoes and balsamic glaze for supper with mashed cauliflower and asparagus. It was SO good. I also tried my hand at Whole30 mayo again, this time incorporating some tip I found from various users on YouTube. It turned out great! I am so excited to have this staple ingredient in my fridge. I packed my lunch for the following day and headed to bed feeling just as excited as I did that morning. 

AND--- I was on day 2 of drinking ACV with water... One glass in the morning and one at night. They say to drink it before eating in the morning, but I have a hard time getting it down without anything in my stomach so I typically wait until after I've had my breakfast. It goes down fine at night. I also adjusted my ACV to water ratio. Most of the research that I've done recommends 1-2 TABLESPOONS per 8oz of water. I found that doing 2 TEASPOONS with 6oz works best for me.

 

DAY 3- Monday March 6, 2017: CARB FLU, HEADACHE, ALL THE NAPS?!!

I wanted to wake up feeling excited again. I wanted to jump out of bed and make the best breakfast ever. I wanted to go to work feeling amazing. *SPOILER ALERT* NONE OF THIS HAPPENED. I was ready to go back to bed 5 minutes after waking up. I did not want to eat breakfast (I forced myself to have an egg, salsa, and some leftover chicken). I did not want to go to work (this might just be an average Monday thing). And I certainly did not feel amazing. I made it through the day somehow. I had my leftovers for lunch and came home after making it through the day with the dullest headache I think I've ever experienced. I kept my dinner simple, mainly because I didn't have the energy to make anything too fancy. I cut up some leftover chicken and tomatoes and made a "Chicken Salad" and ate it on romaine lettuce "wraps". Surprisingly, it was amazing and I'll definitely be keeping that "recipe" in my back pocked for future reference. On Monday's I typically go to Zumba class at 6 but I didn't quite make it there. I fell asleep for almost 3 hours. 3 HOURS!!!! I was completely done for the day. I'm awake now, and probably will be for a while. But I can say that my headache is gone and I'm feeling better and still optimistic about tomorrow. Hopefully this carb flu doesn't last much longer. I know these feelings are completely normal on Whole30 but Its big difference between reading about them and actually experiencing them. I managed to drink my two glasses of ACV and water today.. I did notice this morning when putting on my makeup and when taking it off tonight that my face didn't seem to have as many dry patches and my makeup didn't break up like it normally would have throughout the day. I'm not sure if this is Whole30 related, ACV related or both. Will keep you posted.

Until tomorrow.....

-S

 

 

[s3D]

DAY 4- Tuesday March 7, 2017: STILL TIRED, SAME OLD HEADACHE, PROGRESS??!

Just like Day 3, I wanted to be excited to wake up and concur the day but I still wasn't. I had the same dull headache as the day before and the moment I put my feet on the ground I immediately knew I was going to hate today and was probably going to suffer through it. I didn't even bother showering, I just sprayed some dry shampoo in my hair and threw it up into a pony tail, despite my many clients and meetings scheduled for today (dry shampoo is my soul mate and lifesaver).

I was excited to have my eggs for breakfast again. I was re-reading some Whole30 related items last night and was reminded about the programs encouragement to have vegetables for breakfast. So I made my two eggs with salsa and made a salad with just romaine lettuce, avocado and my Whole30 Mayo (Because I'm using that on just about everything and anything at this point, but in the best way possible. Its become almost as important to me as my dry shampoo). I also added a few grapes on the side. Its a simple meal but it really is better tasting than anything you can get off of the new All Day Breakfast Menu at McDicks.. 

I went to work this morning and was literally just there. I didn't go the extra mile, I didn't put in the extra effort. I just did what I needed to do to get home. For lunch I had the rest of my leftover chicken from Sunday night and prepared it as a chicken salad again with tomatoes on a romaine lettuce wrap and had a side of carrots and an orange. I did have a handful of almonds this afternoon to tide me over until dinner time. Plus I was hoping the salt on the almonds would help with my headache a bit. I've been trying to avoid Tylenol or Advil for my headaches so I've been applying peppermint essential oil instead, which seems to have kept the headache to a dull minimum. I find that my headaches typically have a tendency to turn into full blown migraines if I'm not careful enough.

I went home and immediately wanted to nap but remembered how poorly I slept the night before after my epic Whole30 coma I experienced the previous evening. So instead I went to the grocery store to stock up on more chicken since it was on sale. While I was at the grocery store I found two more meats that I will have on a weekly basis but was having a hard time finding Whole30 compliant ones until now. The first is Bacon. I KNOW there is Whole30 compliant bacon out there but there didn't seem to be any at the grocery stores in my town and I'm not planning a Costco run for a few weeks. So I stumbled upon pork belly strips, which is essentially bacon without the preservatives or sugar. I'll be trying that out later this week. The second item is sausages, and I found actual Whole30 complaint sausages at Sobeys!!! I had to check the ingredients 4 times before I put them in my cart because I couldn't believe it. Everything on the ingredients list (which was 6 things at most!) was Whole30 complaint. Barely anything in them and no sugar added. So if you love sausages and you live in Canada with access to a SOBEYS (might be an Atlantic Canada thing, I know there are a few in Ontario...) you have to check out the Jamie Oliver Herb and Garlic sausages. I cooked them up when I got home to have with my eggs for breakfast in the morning! I also cooked up the chicken to have for easy meals.  For dinner I made a stir fry with ground beef, mushrooms, peppers, and zucchini "noodles" . I later had a small snack of Wholy Guacamole single serving size guac and some baby carrots (probably 6 carrots at most).

So that was my day. I can tell you that I am feeling MUCH MUCH MUCH better now at 10:25 pm than I was at 7:30 this morning. I'm off to bed hoping that my slump and headaches are over so I can continue Whole30'ing on!

Until next time,

-Sam 

[s3D]

DAY 5- Wednesday March 8, 2017: OVER THE HANGOVER?

I woke up this morning sans headache. I was so excited. I was still feeling a little tired, but I didn't have the urge to "kill all the things" like the book said.

I made my eggs, sausage and breakfast salad for breakfast and had half a cup of coffee with unsweetened coconut milk. For lunch I had the same thing as the day before (chicken breast with tomatoes and mayo on romaine lettuce leaves) because I'm OBSESSED with it. I didn't snack in the afternoon, but I did have my dinner probably about an hour earlier than I normally would (ate at 5 instead of 6). I'll probably have an apple and almond butter later or carrots and guac if I get hungry again but for right now I'm ok.

Other than that, I don't have much more to report. I'm feeling really good today and very happy to have that pesky headache gone. Noticing more improvement on the eczema, and I'm still drinking my ACV and water twice a day (although I've started drinking the first glass around lunch instead of breakfast since It seems to go down a little better then). 

Until next time,

 

-S

[s3D]

DAY 6- Thursday, March 9, 2017: TIGER BLOOD ALREADY??

I feel SO amazing today, I'm almost convinced it's a dream. I really don't have anything to say about today other that that. 

My face is getting clearer and clearer each day, and I'm able to go longer between meals, not eat as much during those meals, and my snacks have been few and far between. I feel so incredible. Could this be the tiger blood feeling already? Or am I delusional? Only time will tell. 

I won't bother writing down what I ate today. It was basically the same thing as yesterday. I'm looking forward to trying some new recipes this weekend. I just found that having the same things this week was easiest since I knew what I was making and that it was easy, but it also tasted amazing as well. 

 

Ok, this is all for today. 

Until next time,

 

-S

[s3D]

DAY 7, Friday March 10, 2017: LEG CRAMPS??

Another good day. Nothing new to report, still feeling awesome. I did experience some leg cramps last night when I went to bed. Not sure if it's because I'm lacking in something or not.. Anxious to see what happens tonight.

I pretty much ate the same things today. I'm not deviating much from what I know. I'm hoping to try some new things this weekend. Although I can't seem to get enough of ground hamburger with veggies... Its simple and tasty. I did make a white potato with my dinner tonight. I was super hungry after a long day and figured adding that would be better than eating twice what I would normally have for dinner to feel satisfied.

I'm a little nervous for Sunday. My BF has a surprise road trip adventure planned for just the two of us. He knows i'm doing a "food program" but I hope he doesn't have any extravagant food plans for that day. I went out this evening and bought a couple of Lara bars to bring with me and some banana coconut cubes that I found. The ingredients are literally just organic bananas and organic coconut. So at least I'll have something to fall back on that day if necessary. 

Until next time,

-S

[s3D]

DAY 8- Saturday, March 11, 2017: SLEEPING, GROCERIES, MORE MAYO!!

I didn't feel overly tired when I went to bed last night, but when I woke up at 8 this morning to let the dog out, I WAS ABSOLUTELY EXHAUSTED!!! I could barely make it to the front door. I went back to bed with the dog to try and sleep for a little while longer, but I ended up sleeping until NOON! I was still feeling tired when I got out of bed, but I pushed myself to have some breakfast (more like lunch at this point). I got ready and went to the grocery store and to run some other errands. When I got home I was still feeling tired so I sat on the couch for a bit and watched some Netflix. It's almost 7pm now and I'm still tired. I could barely muster up the energy to make supper so I just made some eggs and left over protein/veggies. 

It will be an early night for me tonight. Tomorrow is adventure day with the BF. I have my emergency meal replacements ready just in case. 

OH! And I made more W30 Mayo today too. Turned out just as great as the first batch. I don't think I'll ever buy mayo from the store ever again!

 

Until next time,

 

-S

[s3D]

DAY 9- Sunday March 12, 2017: WHOLE30 ADVENTURE DAY!!!

Sunday was the surprise adventure day my bf had planned for us. I was nervous about the food aspect of our journey so I made sure to plan ahead with some W30 approved "snacks". I ate a big breakfast before we left, had a Larabar for lunch and for dinner we ended up at an indian restaurant 4 hours away from home. To my relief, they had a dish on the menu that consisted of Lamb, cooked in CLARIFIED BUTTER, with tomatoes and onions and some spices. I confirmed the ingredients with our server: All within whole 30 guide lines. It did come with the traditional rice and bread but I skipped that and just had the meat and sauce. 

I had the best day ever and I am so happy that I was able to stick with my W30 rules. 

 

Until next time,

S

[s3D]

DAY 10- Monday, March 13, 2017: NO MORE ECZEMA? 33.333333333% DONE!

Not a whole lot to really report today. I ate my usual things. Still feeling great. I did notice in the shower this evening that my eczema is almost completely cleared up. I couldn't be happier about this.

One thing that I am noting is that I find myself getting a little hungry at night. Its not a bored hunger, but almost a "I didn't eat enough today" hungry and I need something light to tide me over until I go to bed. I'm going to try and eat more tomorrow or incorporate more fat into my meals and see if that makes a difference.

Day 10, 33.33333% through my first Whole30!

Until next time,

-S

 

[s3D]

DAY 11- Tuesday, March 14, 2017: REGULAR DAY

Nothing new to report. Everything still the same

 

Until next time,

 

-S

 

[s3D]

DAY 12- Wednesday, March 15, 2017: KILL EVERYTHING?

Oh man, I was cranky today. I'm not really sure if it's from W30 or just general lack of sleep from the night before. We had a snow storm and the ploughs were out working hard clearing roads and parking lots for us, but I have a rather large office building behind me with an even larger parking lot and the noise kept me up ALL night. To top it all off, my coffee sucked this morning. I had to leave the break room at lunch because the sound of my receptionist chewing her food was about to send me in a blinding rage.... This is normal right??? lol

I had my usual protein leftovers and eggs for dinner with veggies for breakfast, lunch was the regular chicken salad i've been enjoying for the past 10 days (I'm still not over it...), and dinner was breakfast for dinner again with some shredded potatoes, eggs and sausage. I snacked on carrots and guacamole around 8.

I have been noticing less and less eczema on my arms and especially my face. I'm continuing to drink the ACV and water, although I've cut it down to once per day. Considering the amount of eggs i've been eating lately this is remarkable. I would flare up with dry spots after having 4 eggs in a week, let alone 4 in one day. I do have a few breakouts on my neck that seemed to appear out of the blue. I know this is normal during W30 so I'm hoping they will disappear in a few days..

 

Until next time,

 

-S

 

[s3D]

DAY 13- Thursday, March 16, 2017: ANOTHER PIMPLE? ALL THE GUACAMOLE!!

I wasn't cranky today, my mood was generally good. I discovered another pimple starting on my face. I'm not overly pleased about that. I'm hoping that it just from my body cleansing, but we'll see. Still noticing little to no eczema. 

I ate my regular meals today. Snacked on some baby carrots and guacamole which has quickly become my favourite snack of life.. 

I had meditation class this evening. I typically go every Thursday. This week I found myself falling asleep during class. I don't know if it's because I was still feeling tired or if I was just super relaxed...

That's all I have to report today.

Until next time,

 

-S

[s3D]

DAY 14-19: MIA?!

I haven't fallen off my W30 bandwagon, I've just been so incredibly busy that I've forgotten to post on here. Things have been relatively normal the past few days, nothing new to report. I tried my hand at a W30 recipe listed on the instagram page (Tostones with guac or mango salsa.... something along those lines) and modified it for myself. It was amazing. Definitely inspired me to try more recipes.

I am quite proud of myself given that the past few days have been rather emotional ones. This is typically when I would indulge or binge on everything thats bad for me. Eat my emotions so to speak. However, I've been able to stick to my plan without much hesitation. I'm not looking for those foods anymore because I know they're not going to make me feel any better.

That's all I have for now. I'll try and continue posting daily.. 

Until next time,

-S

[s3D]

DAY 20-24: SLOW AND STEADY WINS THE RACE

Still W30'ing.. Still here.. I would confidently say that I'm not experiencing any cravings, nor am I finding myself feeling hungry throughout the day. In fact, I have to remind myself that it's time to eat at least once a day (typically my lunch meal). I would say that my meal template is starting to look suspiciously like someone who is following a strict LCHF paleo diet without dairy. Everything thing i'm eating is W30 compliant, but I'm wondering if my body is forcing me into an intermittent fasting mode or something.

Anyway, as I write this, I'm currently studying for an exam for work which has been the main reason why i've been so inconsistent with my daily check ins. But, I'm still here and in the home stretch. Less than a week left of my first W30. After this exam is over, I'll need to sit down and start planning my reintroduction phase. Exciting!

 

Until next time,

-S

[s3D]

DAY 25- 30: I FINISHED MY FIRST WHOLE30!!!!

Ok, so the last little while I haven't been great at keeping up with this post, however, I would like to announce that as of today, I HAVE FINISHED MY FIRST WHOLE30!!!!!!

Yesterday was day 30 and to be honest, I'm not really all that excited that it's over. My current plan is to continue following the Whole30 and figure out a reintroduction plan and my food freedom plan..

I'll post more details about my Whole30 NSV and all that stuff later, but I can say that as of this morning I am down 12lbs and my eczema is almost reduced to nothing. For everyone who doesn't think this works, they couldn't be more wrong. LIFE CHANGING!!!! 

 

 

-S