Sarah's Whole30 Log: Round 2!

[Littlelotte]

Hey all! Woo it's been almost exactly three years since my first whole30. Three years! I can't believe it. So much has happened since then.

For one, I had a really rough depression patch that pushed me to consider more professional treatment. A prescription and some doggie cuddles later, and I have been considerably better. I still have times when the depression comes creeping back in, but usually it only lasts for a day or a week instead of months. Significant depression-free for probably a year now! 

Also very recently diagnosed with a sleep disorder so that's been fun. Basically my brain produces too much of a molecule that is natural but acts similarly to a sleeping pill. So. FUN TIMES, AMIRITE? I actually think my energy problems that helped inspire me to do my first Whole30 were an early symptom of this.

Anyway, so here I am again. Though this is my second log, I have ended up doing about 1-2 Whole30s per year since but I haven't really felt the need to log again until now. I'm not going to lie to myself and say I'm doing another whole30 now to solely improve my health or anything; primarily my goal is weight loss. No matter how much I tell myself it isn't. I'm hoping to change that mentality and focus more on body positivity but my pants aren't fitting well and I'm too embarrassed to go buy new ones that FIT in larger sizes. Also though, I just got back from a long stay abroad in a non-English speaking country, and while there, it was hardd to look at ingredients lists all the time. So I just said "F this, I'm only here like this once, I'm going to eat what I want and enjoy the culture while I'm here, darn it." I have minimal regrets about this decision, but my stomach came back all sorts of whacked, and I had gained more weight. I tried doing a whole30 when I got back, but got sick and tired of going to bed hungry at night because I couldn't or didn't want to cook/put up with the school's crummy vegetables.

But now I'm stressed, self-conscious, occasionally moderately depressed, and I don't need bad eating habits held over my head while I'm dealing with everything else.

I guess that's everything for now. I'll be starting my new Whole30 tomorrow. Peace.

[Littlelotte]

I've been thinking a lot about my goals with this whole30 today, and I'll post the log part of my journal later tonight, but right now I want to sit down and kind of outline these goals.

I already mentioned above that I know my primary reason to start this whole30 is weight loss. But I don't want that to be my main goal. So here are the ones I really want to focus on:

1. Stick to a workout routine and and use whole30 eating to support it. Get back on the fitness blender train and maybe get back into swimming.

2. POSSIBLY gain some relief from my daytime sleepiness. From my past experiences, diet plays a small role in this, but not a huge one so well see what happens.

3. Eat enough and cook enough so that I don't go to bed hungry. I was about halfway through my last whole30 attempt when I stopped because I was so sick of going to bed with a growling stomach when it would be easier just to eat some rice or whatever at dinner and avoid it. But I know I can eat in a way where this doesn't happen, I just need the energy.

4. Eat more vegetables, and more of a variety. It's sort of difficult for me on this front because a lot of the fun veggies are part of the broccoli family (Brussels sprouts, cabbage, kale, etc.) and all of those guys give me stomach aches. But I want to work with what I can eat and expand my diet beyond sweet potatoes/potatoes and green beans as veggie sides.

And I mean, I would like to be able to put on my old pants without feeling like a sausage, but I want to think of that as more of a bonus, I guess?

That's all for now.

[Littlelotte]

So as stated, here is my meal log for day 1.

M1: ...late. Like, lunch late. My sleeping disorder makes it ridiculously hard to get up in the morning so I barely made it to class. No time for food then. After class I had a cashew cookie larabar, an apple and sunbutter, snack pack of salted almonds, and a pumpkin spice (coconut milk) latte a la Stupid Easy Paleo.

M2: Basically dinner. Heated up some frozen sweet potato hash browns I'd made a few weeks ago, put two poached eggs on top, and some hot sauce. Oh and five strawberries.

M3: More like a nighttime snack. I had a small Clementine and a snack pack of salted almonds. Again. I was going to eat a hot dog or two but I found out the ones I had were bad so OH WELL.

For anyone new to whole30 who may be reading this, don't eat like me on this day. Not enough protein or vegetables and way too many nuts and fruits. Tomorrow should be better. I've found some quick veggie dishes that I should be able to whip up after a quick trip to Hyvee, and because of my schedule it's usually not too hard for me to eat breakfast either. 

You know what, I just remembered that I have leftovers of Paleo butter chicken so I'll probably have a bowl of that too as I'm still starving.

Peace out.

[madness]

Good luck with this! Do you have a nearby farmers' market? Many farmers will talk your ear off about how to prepare their vegetables. It might be a fun way to try new things. And there are plenty of things not in the broccoli family. If you eat seasonally, those aren't even available in the south for the hot half of the year - you won't see them at market right now (well...maybe kale depending on your exact area...). 

[Littlelotte]

13 hours ago, madness said:

Good luck with this! Do you have a nearby farmers' market? Many farmers will talk your ear off about how to prepare their vegetables. It might be a fun way to try new things. And there are plenty of things not in the broccoli family. If you eat seasonally, those aren't even available in the south for the hot half of the year - you won't see them at market right now (well...maybe kale depending on your exact area...). 

Thanks! I do go to the farmer's market sometimes, I'll try and stop by again and see what they have. I found some delicious cute little peppers last time I went so hopefully that's a good sign. Will see what I can find.

[Littlelotte]

Log for day 2:

M1: Scrambled eggs with red hot sauce and plain sliced potatoes. Also a pumpkin spice latte with coconut milk (no sugar!!)

M2: Deconstructed tuna cake (sweet potato, tuna, pico de gallo, pepper) and an apple with sunbutter.

M3: Two hotdogs with whole30 compliant marinara sauce, and a small portion of kimchi.

M4: Sort of a snack deal. I had a little extra sunbutter, five strawberries, and a little bit of sesame bok choy that I made today that I nibbled at while cooking.

Did a lot better today, but still a little hungry so I guess I need to be eating some more, particularly fats and vegetables. And still weaning down the fruit. And as mentioned, I went to the store, bought bok choy and made some bok choy stir-fry (bok choy, some leftover bacon grease form whole30 compliant bacon I had a while ago, sesame seed oil, and chopped mushrooms). So now I have some easy vegs for the rest of the week. (My stomach is mostly fine with cabbage, bok choy, and cauliflower as long as they are cooked well.)

 

[Littlelotte]

Day 3!

M1: Scrambled eggs, a sausage, and an apple with sunbutter.

M2: Pumpkin spice latte, two hotdogs with pico/mayo, and some of the bok choy I made yesterday.

M3: A salad (lettuce, onions, black olives, sunflower seeds, olive oil, and red wine vinegar) and leftover whole30 butter chicken with a bit of hashed browns.

Later: A small pack of dried apples, and about 8 strawberries.

Still a lot of fruits. In my defense, I had to finish my box of strawberries or they would have gone bad very, very soon. Need more fat probs, but not as hungry as yesterday.

[Littlelotte]

So yeah, I missed a few days. I honestly don't remember all that I ate on Friday (Day 4). I know it was all compliant though so that's all good.

Day 5:

M1: Didn't wake up in time.

M2: Two plates of scrambled eggs and hashbrowns from the dining hall to compensate for no M1. Plus redhot and a cup of black coffee.

M3: ...did I eat anything? I think I had um, some sweet plantain chips (compliant) and a seaweed snack. Yeah, that was about it. Maybe some bok choy.

 

Day 6 (today):

M1: Did not get up on time!!! I think my sleep disorder is on a downswing (though it has been before this whole30 so I don't think that's the issue. But yeah I'm starting to sleep right through my espresso so FUN FUN.) I did actually have a small glass of iced tea lemonade, which did have sugar.

M2: Two plates of scrambled eggs and hashbrowns from the dining hall again. The server today gave me a lot the second time up so it was a hefty amount of food. @.@ I don't think it's too much of an issue considering I definitely didn't eat enough yesterday.

M2.5: A pumpkin spice latte espresso and bag of plantain chips (I had a tabletop rpg session and these were my snacks/awakening agent.)

M3: Jimmy John's, just a lettuce wrap turkey ...thing? It had turkey, onions, oregano, mustard (not dijon), tomatoes, and cucumbers, I think. No mayo or cheese or anything. I thought I might have to restart Based off another post on the whole30 forums where someone got basically all the whole30 info on their meats and I think I'm good.

Well I thought I'd have to start over today because of the Jimmy John's/sugar, but I feel comfortable enough with my research to continue on. I definitely just need to work on eating breakfast every day so I don't feel like I have to eat more later and as I said, one of my goals is really to eat enough. 

[Littlelotte]

Hey a, it's been a while. You're probably wondering, does this prolonged absence mean that I have fallen (or jumped, rather) off the wagon?

Ha. Haha. HAHAHA. 

Yes.

Unfortunately. One day in doing great, the next I'm decrying my lack of snacks and craving a falafel sandwich from the local cafe that is in line with my clean non-whole30 eating (gluten free bread, legumes fine). And then I die. Then went home for a stay, proceeded to have sushi and ice cream and today I feel gross, my stomach is puffy, I'm on the verge of an ear infection (thanks dairy), and have a mild fever, SO THATS REAL FUN AMIRITE.

Anyway, I'm going to pick it back up tomorrow and hopefully finish before thanksgiving. I just have so much trouble I guess, I'm either eating at 100% whole30 or 80% my old eating habits. No in between. Maybe I should do a longer one, like a whole60. But thanksgiving would be so awful, and Christmas. GAAHHH.

Alright, well see you tomorrow. If anyone has any good, easy crockpot recipes for the week, please share. I'm running low on appealing recipes of my own.