January 2018, Round 4

[Shalla]

I started on Jan 2 and this is my first Whole 30 in 2 years. Really need to get dairy and sugar out of my diet, so I figured this would be a good kick start to that.

I'm a very habitual eater, I can eat the same thing for a long time and be fine. I also get light headed and the shakes if I don't eat every 3 - 4 hours, even on Whole30 so I do four meals most of the time.

Days 1 & 2
Meal One: 3 egg and sausage cups (comes out to three eggs and three sausage links or there about, really need to get veggies into this meal)

Meal Two: 4 chicken tenders bakes with salt, pepper, garlic, and smoked paprika, a Wholly Guac single serve cup, a couple of cups of mixed broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots

Meal Three: Green apple, half a handful raw almonds, compliant Epic jerky

Meal Four: 2 chicken and apple sausages, about 2 cups roasted brussel sprouts, butternut squash, and cranberries

Day 3
Meal One: same as above

Meal Two: went to Whole Foods and got pineapple pork, cilantro lime cauliflower rice, and roasted curried veggies from the Nom Nom Paleo selections at the hot bar (at US Whole Foods through January) - soooo good

Meal Three/Snack: jerky, roasted pumpkin seeds

Meal Four (planned): same as days 1 & 2

I'm doing pretty good on the mood and mental stand point atm. I think because I tend to eat Paleo-ish most of the time it's not hitting me as hard as it has in the past.

[Shalla]

Day 4
I am super tired today, but I think it's my lingering sinus infection, which is driving me up the wall. I might do knock-off chicken "rice" soup this weekend (bone broth, Applegate chicken strips, Green Giant riced cauliflower), maybe that will help.

Meal plan for today is the same as days 1 & 2, but I did add some asparagus to breakfast and was only able to get down two egg muffins. I blame post nasal drip making me nauseous, since eggs in the morning usually don't bother me.

I'd forgotten how much I love americanos, so that's nice. Yaaaaaay coffee.

I feel like I've trained myself to expect a sweet thing right after lunch or dinner. I'm not really having sugar cravings per se, just the expectation of a sweet that doesn't happen. And the leftover Christmas candy is taunting me, I think I'll probably throw it out.

[Jager07]

Welcome back, Shalia!

It sounds like you've got all the right tools and experience to make W30 work.  Thank you for sharing those.

Hope your sinus infection goes away and that you feel better soon.  We're all cheering for you. 

[Shalla]

Thanks @Jager07 

Day 5
Today started off pretty good, I think I skipped the "kill all the things" stage and have gone straight the "all I want to do is nap" stage. I had a nice sleep in this morning.

Meal 1: 3 eggs, 3 little creamer potatoes, a chicken apple sausage scrambled together and some asparagus on the side. Cold brew coffee with compliant almond milk.

 

Meal 2: This is where things get less good because I was very all over the place today. A couple handfuls of sugar snap peas, three baked chicken tenders, and a Wholly Guac cup. Not enough food, but what I had to eat at the time.

Meal 3: Chipotle salad, no dressing with lettuce, chicken, pico, and guac. Probably need to have another mini meal since lunch was so light.

Current working on making Nom Nom Paleo's Autumn Mash and Ground Beef Chili to have for dinner the next couple of days. Hopefully those get done tonight, I am sooo tired. Also picked up some compliant mayo, so I can do tuna salad w/veggies tomorrow for lunch.

[Shalla]

Day 6
Yesterday was ok, still tired and snotty (thanks sinus infection ). I also didn't sleep well Friday night.

Meal 1: 3 eggs, 2 sausage links, asparagus

Meal 2: tuna salad with primal mayo and spices, cucumber slices, cherry tomatoes, carrot sticks, sugar snap peas

Mini-Meal/Snack: green apple and almond butter (I know, I know - not recommend)

Meal 3: Autumn Mash and Ground Beef Chili (yuuuum)

Beverages: About 1/4 bottle of GT's Gingeraid Kombucha, iced tea (unsweetened, of course), water, americano, hot tea

Day 7
Still snotty, joy oh joy but I slept better last night after I actually got to sleep.

Meal 1: 3 eggs, couple of creamer potatoes, asparagus, americano

Meal 2 (planned): Curry Chicken Salad Collard Green Wraps, sugar snap peas, grape tomatoes

Meal 3 (planned): Autumn Mash, Beef Chili, avacado

Possible mini-meal/snack: jerky, apple (need to start working veggies into this)

 

[Shalla]

Day 8
Less bloat-y and back to that wonderful happy stomach feeling after eating. Where it's just happy and full and feels good and there's no blah or discomfort, so that's awesome.

Meal 1: 3 eggs, potatoes, office espresso machine made latte with compliant almond milk

Meal 2: curry chicken salad wraps again, they're super yummy

Meal 3: hit up the Whole Foods Nom Nom Paleo hot bar special again, I need to buy the new cook book

I had a snack of probably jerky and nuts, but I don't really remember, which is probably a bad sign. Work was busy as heck.

Day 9
Despite only getting slightly less than 5 hours of sleep, I was pretty alert and with it today.

Meal 1: 3 eggs, 2 sausage links, potatoes, latte. Need to work on more veggies at breakfast.

Meal 2: Chipotle salad with chicken, pico, guac, no dressing

Meal 3: autumn mash and beef chili

I had some jerky mid afternoon as well. My body's starting to adjust to the food, I think I can probably stop snacking altogether in a day or two.

[Shalla]

So I've made a personal choice re: the new chips rule. For me this is an elimination diet, and that's not going to work for me this time around. Maybe next time. So I'm gonna eat the root veggie chips that are at my office sometimes and call it good. I'm also thinking of picking up some frozen steam packs of veggies to keep in the work freezer because sometimes I just want broccoli, dammit.

Day 10
Chugging along. Neti pots and humidifiers are actual magic and helping so much with my annoying sinus issues. Part of the reason I made the chips choice above is sinus related because basically only crunchy things like chips and crackers really help get the gunk out of of the back of my throat. Everything else just kinda slides on by

Meal 1: 3 eggs, 2 sausage links, creamer potatoes, spinach scrambled up in coconut oil

Meal 2: curry chicken salad on top of cabbage and carrot slaw and spinach

Meal 2.5: jerky, apple, almond butter, root veggie chips

Meal 3: autumn mash, beef chili, avacado

Day 11
January birthdays day at the office, so everyone was eating chocolate cake this afternoon. Looked super delicious, but the thought of that much sugar at once actually made me vaguely nauseous.

Meal 1: the remains of the chicken curry salad, slaw, and spinach

Meal 2: chicken bacon caesar salad (baked chicken, 2.5 slices Applegate no sugar bacon, tomatoes, cucumbers, 50/50 blend greens, Tessamae's Caesar dressing)

Meal 2.5: jerky, root veggie chips

Meal 3 (planned): autumn mash and beef chili

I'm so glad it's Friday

[Shalla]

Day 12
The timeline is very accurate, I feel great (not tiger blood great, but still) but I really, really want some chocolate. So much. 

Meal 1: 3 eggs, 2 sausage links, creamer potatoes, and spinach scrambled in coconut oil

Meal 2: Tuna salad (tuna, Primal Kitchen mayo, chives, spices), mini peppers, sugar snap peas, cucumber, carrots, grape tomatoes

Meal 2.5: green apple and almond butter

Meal 3 (planned): pasta sauce with ground beef on zoodles

[Shalla]

Day 13

Meal 1: 4 eggs, 3 creamer potatoes scrambled with coconut oil

Meal 1.5: green apple and almond button

Meal 2: Tuna salad, lots of raw veggies

Meal 3: pasta sauce w/beef on zoodles

Day 14
I need to sleep more. Ugh. I'm so tired but it's the sleep, not the food.

Meal 1: 2 mini prosciutto wrapped frittatas. OMG SO GOOD. I could literally eat these everyday for forever they're so good. I left out the mushrooms and coconut milk and added a couple extra eggs to the recipe.

Meal 2: salad - baked chicken, couple of strips of sugar free bacon, cucumber, grape tomatoes, 50/50 mixed greens, Tessamae's Caesar dressing (I like the Tessamae's better than Primal Kitchen's by quite a bit)

Meal 3: pasta sauce w/beef on zoodles

Snacks: veggie chips, apple and almond butter, whole almonds, 2 frittatas. I was not prepared for how hungry I was going to be today. I usually have a couple of "eat all the things" days a month where I'm never not hungry during those two days and it's so annoying.

[Shalla]

Day 15, halfway there!
Wooohoo!!! Slept better last night, so I'm much more with it today.

Meal 1: 3 mini frittatas, half an avocado (didn't get hungry as fast today, must continue to do better with fat at breakfast)

Meal 2: hit up the Nom Nom Paleo special at Whole Foods again, got pot sticker stir fry, cauliflower rice, and some amazingly good brussel sprout thing

Meal 3: salmon, cauliflower rice, asparagus

Snacks: apple, almonds, half an epic bar

[Shalla]

Day 16
I went shopping at Target after dinner and they were sold out of the Applegate sugar free bacon and frozen chicken strips, which I feel like I should have expected.

Meal 1: 3 mini frittatas, about half a cup of avocado

Meal 2: tuna w/primal kitchen mayo and spices, cucumber slices, sugar snap peas, mini peppers, carrot sticks, and grape tomatoes

Meal 3: Chipotle salad with chicken, pico, and guac, no dressing

Snacks: half an epic bar (the sriracha ones are spicier than I anticipated), root veggie chips, slice of bacon, grape tomatoes (I may have eaten my way through food prep tonight)

[Jager07]

Happy Day 17!

[Shalla]

Thanks Jager!

Day 17
I am awake and alert and doing pretty well. My focus has been a bit all over the place the last week, but today I was locked in and got a ton done at work. I guess this is tiger blood? I feel good but I'm also kind of chafing at the restrictions. I just wanna go eat out at my normal places sometimes. Take a walk to Starbucks and get a latte (non-dairy, milk and I don't get along so well). Ugh. It's only 13 more days and I've never actually done the re-intro correctly before and I'm really interested about the results on that. I can do this.

Meal 1: 3 mini frittatas, half an avocado

Meal 2: salad - baked chicken, Applegate no sugar bacon, grape tomatoes, 50/50 greens mix, Tessamae's Caesar dressing

Meal 3: salmon, cauliflower rice, asparugus

Snacks: apple & almond butter, veggie chips, pumpkin seeds

[Shalla]

Day 18
A day full of running errands and Costco adventures (I went to normal Costco and Business Center Costco, which was interesting). Energy's pretty good, sleep was pretty good.

Meal 1: 3 mini frittatas, half an avocado

Meal 2: Chipotle salad with chicken, pico, guac, and no dressing

Meal 3: ground beef, spaghetti sauce, zoodles

Snacks: veggie chips and a blueberry RX bar

[Shalla]

Day 19
Went to the local Women's March, which was good. I actually hit the 10k steps on my Fitbit today because of that.

Meal 1: 2 mini fritatas, half an avacado

Meal 2: Lettuce wrapped burger with onions and tomato, side salad

Meal 3: ground beef, spaghetti sauce, zoodles

Snacks: RX bar mid-march/walk, eggs and potatoes

[Shalla]

Day 20
2/3 of the way there! Woohoo! Today was a cooking day, so I've been a busy bee. I also ran across Nutpods at King Soopers, so I'm super happy about that.

Meal 1: 4 eggs and 3 creamer potatoes scrambled together in coconut oil, some frozen peaches

Meal 2: ground beef, spaghetti sauce, zoodles

Meal 3: Made something pho-like with sugar & soy free veggie broth, onions, garlic, carrots (not a thing in normal pho), fish sauce, coconut aminos, beef, cilantro, green onions, fresh basil, and daikon "noodles" (got the idea from this post on Nom Nom Paleo). It needs bean sprouts, I will have to go to an Asian market tomorrow because all the "normal" grocery stores only have a little tiny sprouts and those are just wrong for pho. I also need to find some sugar free siracha.

Snacks: apple and almond butter

[Shalla]

Day 21
My period is coming and I want chocolate. Badly. I am very annoyed there is no chocolate in my immediate future. Ugh. I was fine with the no sugar thing for the first, like 18 days of this and now there's a sugar dragon. So weird. Also, no more RX bars for me, today's the last.

Meal 1: 3 mini frittatas, half an avacado

Meal 2: salad - baked chicken, bacon, tomatoes, 50/50 lettuce blend, tessamae's caesar

Meal 3: "Pho" with added bean sprouts this time

Snacks: blueberry rxbar and an epic bar

[ShannonM816]

You may find it helpful to eat more during the time leading up to your period -- some women report even eating twice as much during that time. It's okay if you do, it's normal, and your appetite will go back to normal, probably within a day or two of your period starting. You might try at least adding some extra starchy vegetable -- throw some roasted sweet potato or beets into your salad, for instance, or have some hashbrowns with breakfast.  

[Shalla]

Thanks @ShannonM816, I'll try that. I have been really low on the carbs lately, more starchy veggies sounds really good.

[Shalla]

I figured out my sleeping issues. Caffeine. I know that sounds obvious, but for most of my life I've been able to down three shots of espresso and go to bed an hour later with no problems, so whenever that changes it throws me for a loop. I have Celiac and Hashimoto's, and there are some "fun" brain related side effects - mine happen to be depression and focus related problems (or maybe that's mild ADHD, who knows). Caffeine helps with the focus but doesn't tend to effect my sleep like it would a "normal" person. Except when I'm doing good on diet stuff. Like eating closer to clean paleo, you know, like the Whole30. So of course having coffee at night is now affecting my sleep. So no more afternoon/evening coffee for me.

[Jager07]

Three weeks already!  YIPPEEE!!!

Glad you figured out the effect of caffeine on your sleep.  Hopefully you get some really good rest tonight.

[Shalla]

Thanks Jager! I got good sleep last night when I stopped my caffeine earlier than usual, so hopefully that also holds true tonight.

Day 22
More carbs, as suggested by Shannon, did indeed kill the sugar/chocolate dragon. Woohoo! And my Tessemae's Habanero Ranch order came today and I am super happy about that.

Meal 1: 3 mini frittatas, half an avacado, couple of pan fried creamer potatoes

Meal 2: salad - chicken breast, tomatoes, 50/50 blend, Tessemae's caesar dressing

Meal 3: "pho" with daikon noodles, beef, bean sprouts, carrots, green onions, cilantro, and basil

Snacks: apple, almonds, epic bar

[Shalla]

Day 23
One week to go! Once I actually got to sleep last night I slept well, so that's good. Still tired and grumpy today, but that's pretty normal for day 2 of my period.

Meal 1: 3 mini frittatas, half an avacado, couple of pan fried creamer potatoes

Meal 2: salad - baked chicken thighs, mini sweet peppers, tomatoes, 50/50 blend, Tessemae's Habanero Ranch

Meal 3: salmon, cauliflower rice, brussel sprouts with olive oil, salt, and pepper

Snack: Larabar 

[Jager07]

You're in the home stretch!  Yaaaayyy!!

How does this feel compared to your last one?  Anything you'll do differently for your reintroduction?

[Shalla]

@Jager07 It's been a couple of years since I did this so I don't really remember how it felt. I am going to do a more extended re-intro. Since I have celiac, obviously not re-intro'ing gluten grains, so I'm going to test out rice and corn on separate days and probably do oats and quinoa and such later or as I feel like it. I think I'm also going to re-intro soy separately from other legumes.