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18/18


rrkless

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Day 0 almost over.  Following Melissa's advice in the new Day by Day book, I weighed in, made measurements and took some incredibly flattering pictures of my front, side and rear views (as if that alone isn't enough to make you never touch sugar, dairy, grains et al. again!).  Stocked up on emergency Whole 30 compliant foods to keep at work, in the car and my purse, so I have no excuse to go off plan.  I enlisted the support of my husband, mother and a work colleague and had a farewell breakfast of pancakes and coffee with 3 creams.  It probably looked like a last meal before dying sort of thing from the outside, but when I think about what this food has done to my body over the years I realize that it was quite the opposite: it was a last meal before living.  Living the life I've always wanted; living not for my next unhealthy meal or, worse, unhealthier binge; living without a cloud of sugar coma around me for the important people in my life.  Can't wait for tomorrow!

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Day 1 and done!  The day started off rocky, having only gotten 4 hours of sleep and having decided to drink more herbal tea instead of coffee this time around, but by the end I felt better than I have in months.  And because I felt better, my son and husband were more relaxed and happy.  I actually had the energy to tickle-wrestle my son while he watched Thomas this evening rather than falling asleep or feeling like I needed to escape/have some alone time.  I know, Day 1.  Tomorrow the sugar/caffeine hangover will likely kick me in the head.

What I ate today:

Breakfast: Lemon Ginger Tea and (dare I say it?) a cherry-pineapple-kale-almond milk smoothie.  I know!  Melissa says "we'd rather you didn't" drink smoothies because they are usually fruit heavy and they don't send the same satiety signal to your brain making you hungry again soon despite having ingested plenty of "mostly sugar" calories.  But I used 2 cups of kale, spinach and dandelion greens, compliant almond milk and only a 1/2 cup of cherries and pineapple (plus some mint leaves for kick), so the fruit was minimal.  I didn't eat again for five hours, although I will admit I was hungry.  Normally I would have also had some eggs to balance the fruit sugar, but I didn't have time.  I really like the recipes in the book Simple Green Smoothies, finding them an easy way to get my fruit and veggies in when I am in a hurry.  Blasphemy on Day 1 Meal 1!  I'll watch how I feel and give up my sinful smoothies if a pattern emerges.

Lunch:  Avocado stuffed with Tuna Salad.  This is one of my favorite, super quick and easy recipes because it is very filling and satisfying while at the same time leaving me feeling very healthy.

Snack: 1 date and a handful of mixed nuts; cinnamon cranberry probiotic herbal tea

Dinner: Roasted vegetables on a bed of kale with homemade lemon-garlic vinaigrette and a sweet potato with cinnamon; lemon ginger tea.  My husband and I affectionately call this "garbage salad" because we generally just roast up whatever veggies need using, throw it on top of whatever greens we have and whisk up a quick dressing.  (Obviously I left out the bread and goat cheese from the original Rachael Ray magazine recipe.  It is fantastic with those!) 

Exercise: 15 minutes of yoga.  I love the basic routine in the Yogalosophy book for a quick morning workout.  The book also has a 28 day yoga program that pairs nicely with the Whole 30.

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Good for you! I have not started yet.  I am still playing with the idea of starting a whole30. I did it once in the past and it went very well but it was hard.  I am not sure I have what it takes now but I need to do it for my health.  The hardest part is always to start and you did it!!  Keep it up!!

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Day 2 completed!  A big day of NSVs.  I woke up before my alarm went off (being a serious night owl, mornings are not my friend), the joint pain in my hands was less ( I have an auto immune condition), I was moving faster and with more purpose, I turned up the music louder in the car and sang along more happily.  When I got up this morning, I was a little stuffy/foggy-headed, but my body, in general, seemed to be saying "Thank you for nourishing me, for not putting poison into me, for strengthening me."  

What I ate:

Breakfast: Egg scramble with roasted mushrooms (left overs from a dinner earlier this week - roasting up a bunch of veggies and keeping the fridge stocked with them makes for easy egg add-ins or toppings for greens), coffee with a little compliant almond-coconut milk mix to cut the bitterness.

Lunch: Cherry-pineapple-kale-almond milk smoothie

Snack: Organic dried fruit (1 date and 4 unsulfured apricots), handful of nuts, water

Dinner: Repeat of the Avocado stuffed with Tuna Salad recipe from yesterday (avocados were on sale for a dollar so I stocked up!); lemon ginger tea

Exercise: None today.  Since the fall, I've been going to the weight room where I work on Wednesdays and Fridays, but we were celebrating my mother's birthday tonight so I didn't have time.  My mother was inspired to do the Whole 30 with me, so to celebrate we skipped cake and just went to see Star Wars. ( We really enjoyed it, other than the green milk scene!  I wonder if Thala Siren milk would be Whole 30 compliant. ;)

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Day 3 Roller coaster ride over.  My energy started off fine, dipped low midday through the evening and then rebounded some.  I got cranky and short with people which made me feel worse and definitely want to eat my way out of the negative feeling.  Luckily I had my compliant snacks on hand in the car and that made the difference today.

What I ate:

Breakfast: Another sinful smoothie (romaine, almond milk, mixed frozen fruit)

Snack: Apple with almond butter,Cranberry Cinnamon Yogi tea (my favorite brand)

Lunch: Omelet with a lot of veggies and two sausage patties

(Emotional Eating) Snack: 4 dried apricots, handful of cashews, Lemon Ginger Yogi tea

Dinner: Mexican Salad (mixed greens, roasted squash and onion mix, salsa and pinto beans* topped with Bragg's nutritional yeast (a decent substitute for cheese).

(My husband is vegan and is willing to work with no sugar, dairy and grains but he drew the line at beans.  In Food Freedom Melissa talks about going as big as you can, so I am eliminating everything, but the beans.  If after the 30 days and reintroduction, I don't see the improvements I'd like then I plan to do another 30 without beans.)

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On 1/18/2018 at 11:10 PM, Marmelg said:

Good for you! I have not started yet.  I am still playing with the idea of starting a whole30. I did it once in the past and it went very well but it was hard.  I am not sure I have what it takes now but I need to do it for my health.  The hardest part is always to start and you did it!!  Keep it up!!

Thanks for the support and good luck to you in doing another successful Whole30!  Health is my reason too, so I can relate.  You are very right that the hardest part is starting.  I felt like I had missed the window of opportunity when January 1st didn't work out, but thought I could make meaning out of  January 18th in 2018.  Double eighteens for luck. So far, so good.  I hope you find your special day to start again!

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Day Four complete.  While I didn't experience KATT today, as the Whole30 Day by Day said I might, I did definitely experience the "Eat All The Things" phase of the program.  While everything I ate was compliant, I ate too much of it.  On the plus side, I did turn down a cupcake at a family birthday celebration in favor of a couple dates and some cashews.  Turning down the cupcake wasn't that hard, but later when things at home became stressful, I gave in to emotional eating and had an extra helping of dinner and an apple and almond butter for dessert when I was already felt full.

To counteract emotional eating -and inspired by the cupcake I avoided today- I've decided to add a section to my Log called "Icing on the Cake" where I record each day little, non-food treats I gave myself to try to keep myself balanced amid the emotional storms we all have to weather from time to time.

What I ate:

Brunch: Veggie omelet, sausage and (too many) breakfast potatoes

Snack: Dates, cashews and black coffee (while everyone else was having cupcakes, ice cream and coffee with cream!)

Dinner: Spaghetti squash and water chestnuts on a bed of arugula with a carrot-ginger dressing (x2), cranberry cinnamon tea

Dessert: Apple with almond butter (with an extra spoonful I ate straight from the jar because of emotional stress)

Exercise : I forgot to post that I did 20 minutes of yoga yesterday, but I didn't do any formal exercise today.  I did manage to drag ours and my parents' dead Christmas trees out of the house, load them into a truck and drive them to a nearby compost place where I threw them down a steep hill.  That has to count for something, right? ;)

Icing on the Cake:  I reread the opening chapter of one of my favorite books and did a little work on my passion project (which often gets neglected for others).  My bucket feels a little fuller and I feel somewhat rebalanced.  It would be wonderful to get as much pleasure out of a non-food activity as eating something like say a freshly baked, homemade chocolate chip cookie.  Maybe someday.

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Day 5 KATTastrophe over!  So cranky, emotional and tired today!  I thought Melissa was kidding when she said that "Kill All The Things" was a famous Whole30 phase, but for a normally easy-going person I was quite KATTy today.  Somehow managed, despite EATT still raging, to eat the fruit and not the pretzels, cheese balls and chocolate at a work meeting this afternoon.  Also managed not to give in to temptation when I stopped at the grocery later (Groceries may as well be drug dealers!  Everywhere you look they have displays practically begging you to go off plan.)  Although, I HAD to buy some cashews.  Someone was going to get it if I didn't get some cashews (normally I prefer walnuts, but the EATT monster demanded cashews).  Weird craving, but at least I stayed compliant.

What I ate:

Breakfast: Mexican eggs ( 2 eggs, left over roasted onion and squash mix from Mexican salad the other night, avocado and salsa

Snack: 2 dried apricots and black tea with almond-coconut milk mix (which I took with me in the car in my cool new ello travel mug my husband got me for xmas.  Trying to use that to stay out of the Starbucks drivethru)

Lunch: Fruit salad(ish) - orange, grapes, two dates and coconut flakes; san pellegrino water (to satisfy the need for carbonation while everyone around me was having Cokes)

Snack: Coffee with coconut milk, cashews

Dinner: Moong Dal*crockpot (again, because my husband is vegan, we made a deal that I would go no sugar, dairy and grains only); Yogi tea

Exercise: Very sad to report that I had a chance to do yoga after work, but was so tired/KATTy that I chose to watch a mystery show my family likes.

Icing on the cake: This morning I listened to two podcasts while getting ready/driving to work.  One was funny and the other was related to my passion project.  It made my morning better, at least.

 

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Day Six complete.  KATT left today, but I was still very tired and weak while I was doing yoga this morning.  Felt better by the afternoon, but I am looking forward to my energy increasing and my mood stabilizing.  Still pretty hungry and snacky, but staying compliant.  Really tough when I had to do a late night run to the grocery (prime time for binge eating in my pre-Whole30 days), but I made it through by using non-food treats.

Brunch: Omelet - asparagus, onion, avocado, sausage; coffee with coconut-almond milk 

Snack: 2 dates, 4 dried apricots, toasted coconut

Dinner: Salad and Turkey Chili 

Dessert: Apple and almond butter

Supplements: Vitamin D, Vitamin K, Calcium with Magnesium and Zinc ( I found out in the fall that I was extremely low in vitamin D and with low bone calcium.  I am back into normal ranges now with the D and feeling better.  Debating quitting the Calcium given what Melissa writes about it eventually making your bones more brittle.   My doctors want me on it, but doctors also used to bleed people, so....)

Icing on the Cake: Faced with old habits and strong night time cravings while doing some late night shopping, I decided to buy myself a new mystery to read.  I also saw a purse that I'd had my eye on for a long time on the clearance rack for 75% off, so I got that too as a reward for almost a week's worth of the Whole30!

Exercise: Yoga

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Day 7 Complete!  I can't believe that it has been a week.  It feels like it has been much longer, but in a good way.  I feel like I lived more deliberately this week and, because I wasn't using food to numb myself, that time didn't fly by.  So many habit changes in just one week!  It doesn't seem like it should work, but somehow the strictness of this plan is the secret sauce.  I've been on other diets, but because this is a program about resetting so much more than the number on the scale, it works in a way nothing has ever worked for me before.  I've started to feel more energetic and capable of tackling nagging tasks.  Today I spent 45 minutes cleaning out an out of control storage locker at work which had seemed too daunting of a task for a long time.  Today I attacked it with gusto and decisiveness.  Best NSV so far!

What I ate:

Breakfast: Egg, 2 slices of no sugar bacon (from Applegate Farms), leftover asparagus-onion mix, coffee with coconut milk

Lunch: The "we'd rather you didn't" smoothie: Mixed greens, almond milk, banana, mixed organic frozen fruit, cashews

Snack: 2 dates, cashews and toasted coconut

Dinner: Moong Dal leftovers (+Vitamins D, K, and Cal-Mag-Zinc supplements), lemon ginger tea

Dessert: apple and almond butter, lemon ginger tea

Exercise: Yoga (done just 15 minutes ago, because I didn't want to right down "none" here again.  Yay forum power!)

Icing on the Cake: Played Words With Friends for 30 minutes in the quiet of the morning as a happier way to start my day.

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Day 8 Finished.  Steadier energy today and the continued ability to get nagging, old projects/to dos done.  Why does the Whole30 affect other areas of your life too?  How is it that changing what you put on your plate changes what you put on your desk at work?  I don't know how it works, but I am loving what it is doing for me!  Still feel like I am overeating, though, and not taming my Sugar Dragon- just giving him different fuel at times.  Haven't been getting enough sleep and under a lot of stress at work which I think is fueling my hunger.  I've been compliant, but after reading Melissa's admonitions about giving in to cravings even with technically compliant food, I feel like I need to take my Whole30 up a notch in the coming weeks to really get the maximum benefit.

What I ate:

Breakfast: Mexican Egg Scramble, lemon-ginger tea

Lunch: Sardines, nuts, olives and dried apricots

Snack: 2 dates

Dinner: Chipotle Salad (lettuce, fajita veggies, steak, tomato salsa, guac. No vinaigrette, even through it is very tasty but not compliant.)

Dessert: apple with almond butter, more nuts, cranberry cinnamon tea

Exercise: 45 minute light hike at a nature preserve (in 25 degree weather!)

Icing on the cake: Started reading the new mystery I bought the other day.  Listened to a funny podcast while I did dishes.  Made plans to see one of my best friends from college next weekend.

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Day 9 accomplished.  Long, tiring day at work.  I think I felt the first trickles of Tiger Blood in my veins, though, this morning: I was moving around quickly and confidently, getting more accomplished than usual and zipping along in my car.  Because I had extra energy, I stayed late at work getting some really old tasks off my to do list.  That was great, but now I am beat.

What I ate:

Breakfast: Veggie omelet with smoked salmon, slice of bacon, coffee with almond-coconut milk

Lunch: apple, 2 dates, nuts

Dinner: Leftover 2nd half of my Chipotle salad from the night before to which I added an avocado

Snack: 4 dried apricots, lemon ginger tea

Exercise: Yoga (was going to go to the weight room at work, but there was a power outage in that part of the building and they had to close early)

Icing on the cake:  I bought a fashion scarf to wear to a professional event this weekend.  If you look good, you feel good and now that I am feeling better, I want to look better.

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Day 10 over.  Made a pretty big mistake today that in the past would have had me running to chocolate for emotional support.  I was able to handle the situation with equanimity and didn't obsess over it afterwards.  The Whole30 seems to be helping me even out my emotions too.  Still not getting enough sleep, though, which is what is driving me to snack.  Gotta get that cortisol down.

What I ate:

Breakfast: Apple, cashews, 2 apricots, tea (Early morning event, had to eat in the car.  When I got to the event, there was a huge bake sale and a lot of pressure to buy something from it; but I told them I couldn't for health reasons and they backed off. )

Lunch: Turkey Chili and salad with avocado and egg, coffee with coconut milk

Dinner: Spicy Chicken and Mushroom Soup (which I made compliant by omitting the corn, using olive oil for the butter and coconut cream instead of regular cream.  Still delicious, filling and with a nice kick.  Also, to make it vegan for my husband, I just cut up a rotisserie chicken in its own bowl and allowed the carnivores to add it to the soup like a garnish.)

No exercise today :(

Icing on the Cake: Read some more of my new mystery novel.,

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Tough Day 11.  Melissa says Days 10 and 11 are the days people are most likely to go off plan and it proved true today.  Everywhere I looked as I did my grocery shopping today was food I wished I could eat.  I compensated by making a very nice lunch after resisting all that non-compliant food at the store.  In general I overate today because I really wanted to be eating carbs.  But I keep reminding myself how much better my body feels because I am not and march on.

What I ate:

Breakfast: Greek omelet (without the feta), breakfast potatoes, black coffee

Lunch: Greek salad (without the feta), prosciutto wrapped melon, tea

Snack: 1 date and a lot of nuts

Dinner: Spinach-Bacon-Butternut Squash "Pasta" - I used spiralized zucchini slices in the place of pasta and left out the Parmesan cheese.  I actually didn't miss the usual penne that much.

Dessert: apple and almond butter

Exercise: none

Icing on the cake: Watched a comedic musical to lift my spirits

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Day 12 complete.  Energy still up and down, but I think that is more because of work (going through a merger and rehire process right now) and lack of sleep.  I just keep telling myself that in another week things will become more steady.

What I ate:

Breakfast: Egg, chicken sausage, fruit and greens; 2 cups coffee with almond-coconut milk

Lunch: nuts and dates ( I know, I need to get some different and better compliant snacks for work.  I usually eat a big breakfast and just snack at work so I can work through lunch, but the dates/dried apricots aren't letting my Sugar Dragon really go to sleep.  It is better, though.  Despite all the chocolate candy out for Valentine's Day, I am not particularly craving it.  Bread and tortilla chips are another story....)

Dinner: Turkey burger on portobello mushroom "toast" topped with avocado; sweet potato and zucchini noodles (zoodles?), tea

Exercise: Yoga

Icing on the Cake: My boss canceled a meeting and I left work early today!  Woot!

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8 hours ago, rrkless said:

Thanks Anita!  I didn't know about the steak.  Out of curiosity, what do they add to it that makes it non-compliant?  I will get the pork next time I am there!

It's the oil that it's cooked in, rice bran oil or something like that. Apparently the pork isn't cooked in that but it might be prepared on the same grill so there could be cross-contamination.

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Day 13 finished.  Took things easy today to try to recoup some energy, although I did manage to reorganize a closet.   I've been reading The Happiness Project and following some its advice too.

What I ate:

Breakfast: 2 eggs over asparagus and mushrooms, 1 link chicken sausage, coffee

Lunch: Chicken and salad

Snack: Dried fruit and nuts

Dinner: Salad again, tea

Exercise: none (I did almost daily exercise on my last Whole30 and it really made a difference.  I wish /i could get myself back into that habit.)

Icing on the cake: Watched an episode of The Crown.  Makes you feel better about not being a princess!

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Day 14 complete.  Can't believe it has been two weeks already.  It doesn't seem like I have been on the plan that long, which is a good thing I guess.  On the other hand, this time around feels very different from the first time.  I don't feel as in control of my food; I just feel like I am patiently being compliant until I don't have to anymore.  Case in point, tonight my son and I had "breakfast for dinner" at a local diner.  After spending a lot of time with the waitress to make sure that my omelet would be compliant, I totally forgot about the sides and so she just brought me the pancakes.  The smell of the butter and warm flapjacks hit me lit a ton of bricks when she set the plate down.  I didn't eat them, but I wanted to.  The first time I did this plan, I didn't even want to eat off-plan food.  This concerns me, because I don't want to yo-yo.  Sigh.  I've also be feeling down most of the time.  I hope this resolves soon.

What I ate:

Breakfast: 1/2 a banana and 1/2 cup mango with fresh ginger, lemon juice and a little cayenne for kick, chicken sausage, coffee. 

Lunch: Potato with salsa and sauteed veggies

Snack: Cashews, 1 date, 3 apricots

Dinner: Omelet with beef and veggies, coffee

Exercise: Weight Room

Icing on the Cake: Watched another episode of The Crown.  Poor Princess Margaret!  If only she'd been allowed to marry Peter.

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15 down, 15 to go.  Half way, but looking forward to the second half.  The past week has been a struggle and  tomorrow is the biggest challenge of all: taking the Whole30 on the road to visit a friend in another town.  I know my friend will be supportive, but part of our history was centered around enjoying all sorts of delicious, decadent foods.  How do we really dish (pardon the pun) about our lives without a trip to Jeni's ice cream parlor?  We both love tea, so I guess we'll just have to start a new tradition at a cafe.

What I ate:

Breakfast: Grapes, cashews and coffee with coconut milk

Lunch: Salmon, greens, green beans

Snack: Epic meat stick, coffee (major energy low this afternoon)

Dinner: Kale mango salad with pumpkin seeds, Mexican veggie and bean medley (again, beans as a compromise with my vegan husband)

Dessert: Dried fruit and nut mix, lemon tea

 

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Days 16 and 17 complete.  The trip to visit my friend went well.  She was completely supportive and liked the idea that the Whole30 was about health not weight loss.  I stayed compliant despite the fact we went to one of our favorite local restaurants famous for its desserts (there is a giant case about 20 feet long when you walk in the door filled with every cake, cookie and pastry you can imagine!).  We had a lovely brunch and when the waitress came to ask about dessert, we easily turned her down.  It was great to have support and understanding.

What I ate:

Day 16

Breakfast: Veggie omelet, bacon, potatoes

Lunch: Guacamole and veggies, grapes, cashews

Dinner: Spinach salad with chicken, bacon, nuts and dried apricots

Snack: Almonds and a fruit bar

Exercise: Weight room 

Icing on the cake: Spending quality time with one of my oldest and dearest friends!

Day 17

Brunch: Smoked salmon and spinach egg scramble, tea

Snack: Fruit Salad

Dinner: Homemade mushroom soup, sweet potato

Snack: dates and cashews, tea

Exercise: none

Icing on the cake: Crown episode.  Prince Philip had a really bad childhood!

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Days 18-22 complete!  It has been a crazy, crazy week at work full of presentations, meetings and late nights.  Despite a colleague being unbelievable rude and offensive and deeply upsetting me.  However, I did manage to stick to the plan.  Today the Tiger Blood really started flowing and I had high energy throughout the day.  Thank goodness, I was really beginning to think I wasn't going to get there.  I did notice some tenderness in my left thumb joint which seemed to be associated with eating potatoes.  Perhaps nightshades are also an issue for me.

What I ate:

Breakfasts: I've had eggs with meat and veggies everyday

Lunches: Salads with soup and fruit most days

Dinners: Split Pea Croc Pot (only doing the sugar, dairy, grain elimination version of the Whole30), Chicken and potatoes, tuna salad on spinach, avocado and  tuna

Snacks: Dried fruit, nuts, fruit

Exercise: Yoga

Icing on the Cake: Started watching Battlestar Galactica (the newer version).  I grew up with the old, so it is fun to see an updated version.

 

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