Diane's First Whole30

[DianeSmith]

Well, it's finally time to get this thing started! Let's go!

Most excited about: eliminating sugar cravings, feeling less drowsy in the afternoon

Most nervous about: the time commitment

Sunday April 29 - Day 0

Prepped:

• Sunday Afternoon: bought produce, meat, nuts, and pantry staples. 
• Sunday Evening: cooked chicken and chopped veggies for salads.

Monday April 30 - Day 1

Working out of town today. Great way to start the program, am I right? Packed all my salad ingredients and a bunch of veggies and nuts to snack on. I want to try to cut down on snacking, but for now I need to be prepared. Today's meals aren't going to be glamorous; I don't have time for glamorous. 

Note: I have been intermittent fasting and that is why today's first meal is lunch. 

Meal 1: Spinach salad w/ chicken, avocado, lots of veggies, and Whole30-approved Greek vinaigrette. So simple. So tasty. 

[DianeSmith]

Monday April 30 - Day 1 (Continued)

Snacks: Lots of veggies and nuts (probably too many nuts)

Meal 2: Pretty much the same as lunch (spinach, chicken, and avocado salad).

Reflections: Today was fine. I definitely need to work on snacking when I'm bored. Ultimately I'd like to get to the point where I don't have to snack in between meals.

I'm not excited to eat a salad again for lunch tomorrow -- three salads in a row is a bit much for me. I think my biggest challenge for the next 30 days will be trying to keep my food exciting. There are so many amazing recipes online, but since I've been so busy I have to stick to the basics.

[ShannonM816]

Basic doesn't have to mean salad -- I like to keep frozen hamburger patties and chicken breast on hand, and cook them in the oven on a baking sheet with chopped potato or sweet potato, broccoli, cauliflower, or other vegetables, serve with mayo or ranch dressing or guac for dipping. Still not the most exciting meal in the world, but better than salads for every meal (at least to me). Eggs are also easy -- hard boiled ones can be kept in the fridge for an easy grab-and-go protein source, or scramble or fry them, add some vegetables and fat, and they're good for any meal. Or if salads are just easier for you, check out these ideas for changing them up:  http://meljoulwan.com/2014/06/25/great-ingredients-recipe-required/  

[DianeSmith]

9 hours ago, ShannonM816 said:

Basic doesn't have to mean salad

I completely agree! I just ran out of time on Sunday evening to cook more than chicken. I knew this before starting the program, but time management is going to be essential if I want to be successful. 

Thanks for the link!

[DianeSmith]

Tuesday May 1 - Day 2

Meal 1: Spinach salad with chicken, avocado, veggies, and Greek dressing

Snack: Cucumber

Meal 2: Steak, potatoes, green beans

Prepped: Frittata for next few days

Reflections: no crazy cravings or anything.  Felt like a normal day.

[DianeSmith]

Wednesday May 2 - Day 3

Meal 1: Frittata (prepped yesterday)

Meal 2: The most amazing steak salad! Ugh it was so good. 

Meal 3: Spinach, chicken, bacon, avocado, and ranch salad. 

Prepped: More chicken for the rest of the work week.

Reflections: No snacking today, yay! I'm happy about that. The food was all really delicious, and I didn't find myself craving anything else. I usually eat healthy during the work week, so up until now I haven't struggled. However, the weekend is only a couple days away, and that's what I'm really nervous about. At the same time, the weekend will provide plenty of opportunities to try new recipes and spend time cooking. Just gotta focus on the positive  

[DianeSmith]

Thursday May 3 - Day 4

Meal 1: Frittata (prepped Tuesday)

Meal 2:  Spinach, chicken, bacon, avocado, and ranch salad. 

Meal 3:  Steak salad

Snacks: Some sugar snap peas (my favorite! So happy they are Whole30-approved)

Reflections: Still no crazy cravings. I'm really looking forward to not being exhausted all the time -- I had to take a two hour nap in my car yesterday. It makes me really unhappy that I can't just be a normal human who can get through a work day without any problem at all.

[DianeSmith]

Friday May 4 - Day 5

Meal 1: Frittata (prepped Tuesday)

Unfortunately didn't have enough time to eat lunch today. 

Snack: A bunch of cashews when I got home because I was starving

Meal 2: These insanely delicious fish tacos!! 

Reflections: Still feel normal. But tomorrow is the weekend, and that might mean more cravings.

[DianeSmith]

Well. What a weekend.

Saturday May 5 - Day 6

Meal 1: Cooked an awesome breakfast with my husband. Made a sweet potato hash with onions and peppers, served it with wilted greens, fried eggs, bacon, and an avocado half. 

Meal 2: Leftover fish tacos

Snack: Cashews, cucumbers, carrots, and pineapple (first fruit since starting the program). I had a three hour drive up to Seattle so I snacked a bunch 

Sunday May 6 - Day 7

So here's a little bit of background. This June, I'm going to be in a wedding. The bridal shower was this weekend up on Mercer Island, so I stayed with the bride at her future in-laws' house. Not wanting to raid their fridge, I packed food to make breakfast in the morning and to snack on throughout the day. The bridal shower was going to be catered (rich people, am I right?) so I also packed some salad dressing thinking there might be a green salad that I could have for lunch. K so here's how the day went:

Meal 1: 2 poached eggs and an avocado over a bed of wilted greens. 

After a couple of hours getting ready, we head over to the party (I did not bring any snacks, figuring it would be rude since the even was catered. I did bring the dressing though. Side note, check out this awesome dressing container I bought for traveling!)

We get there, and learn that the catered food is Asian cuisine. 

...

Sooooo I can't eat rice, I can't eat noodles, I can't eat soy sauce, I can't eat edamame. Maybe there's some meat that I could eat? The garlic ginger prawns? Sauteed in butter. The chicken? Had soy sauce in the marinade. 

AWESOME. 

"Meal" 2: Raw veggies and a DINNER PLATE OF FRUIT which left my stomach in absolute turmoil for the rest of the day. I should have starved it would have been way way better. 

"Meal" 3: Got back to the bride's future in-laws' place and made four eggs and devoured them in two minutes (it had been six hours since I had protein and I was cranky).

Snacks: For the drive home, had some apples and nut butter (I don't know why I had more fruit. But my stomach was already messed up so whatever).

More snacks: Got home and had the leftover fish taco meat and a bunch of bell pepper slices and cucumber slices. 

Reflections: I'm proud of myself. I knew this past weekend was going to be the hardest one. I resisted the Asian cuisine, and the caramel chocolate cupcakes, and the signature bridal shower cocktail. I resisted it all and destroyed my stomach by eating way too much fruit to compensate, but I did it. Should be easy breezy from here on out. 

[DianeSmith]

Monday May 7 - Day 8

Meal 1: Frittata

Meal 2: Spinach salad with chicken, avocado, lots of veggies, olive oil and red wine vinegar

Snacks: Nuts and veggies

Meal 3: Salmon, potatoes, zucchini

Reflections: Still exhausted all the time. Also, I wish my husband was doing the plan with me. At least I haven't had any cravings.

[DianeSmith]

Tuesday May 8 - Day 9

Meal 1: Frittata

Meal 2: Arugula salad with red onion, red bell peppers, and topped with mango salsa; salmon; one avocado

Snack: Snacked on sugar snap peas on the way home (I'm not even sure I was hungry. I just get soooo bored so I eat just to do something)

Meal 3: Marinara sauce with zoodles! Yum! Husband had his with pasta, and there was enough for lunch the next day.

Prepped: Sweet potato "toast"; chicken for the week

Reflections: Feeling fine. Still tired all the time. 

[DianeSmith]

Wednesday May 9 - Day 10

Meal 1: Sweet potato toast with smashed avocado and eggs

Meal 2: Leftover marinara sauce with zoodles.

Meal 3: Salad with spinach, arugula, peppers, red onion, cucumber, chicken, balsamic vinegar, and olive oil. Some pineapple on the side.

Reflections: Didn't snack today (yay!), but I think that's because I didn't have breakfast until 8:30AM so I wasn't hungry until lunchtime (12:30). Also, I had a lot of food for lunch so I didn't need to snack before dinner. 

Also didn't feel tired, but that could also be because I only worked from 9:30AM to 5PM and I was working at a client with a lot of fun coworkers who might have been a contributing factor to being less drowsy.  

1/3 of the way done, woohoo! 

[DianeSmith]

Thursday May 10 - Day 11

Meal 1: Sweet potato toast with smashed avocado and eggs

Meal 2: Salad

Snack: Stress ate a bunch of sugar snap peas

Meal 3: Two hamburgers topped with; 1) a sauce made of Dijon mustard, mayo, lemon juice and paprika, 2) mushrooms and onions sauteed in ghee, red wine vinegar, paprika, garlic, salt and pepper; 3) lots of arugula that was tossed with lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper. Really enjoyed this dinner! Took some inspiration from a recipe I found online and made it my own/Whole30 compliant. 

Reflections: I'm starting to enjoy cooking again! Lunches are still boring, but it's been really great starting and ending my days with creating something delicious! 

Again, didn't feel tired but I think those same factors from yesterday could be contributing factors. I still have a really difficult time getting up in the morning, but that's also because after work outs and making meals I usually don't get to bed until 10:30PM or so. 

Still haven't had any cravings. I think it's because I know this is all temporary and if I really want something I know I'll be able to have it soon enough. 

[DianeSmith]

Friday May 11 - Day 12

Meal 1: Two eggs and an avocado

Meal 2: Salad

Snack: Nuts

Meal 3: This buffalo chicken casserole. Yummy but I ate way too much and felt gross as a result.

Saturday May 12 - Day 13

Meal 1: Eggs and bacon (no veggies, oops)

Meal 2: Leftover buffalo chicken cassserole

"Meal" 3: Went out with a friend and found a simple greens salad on the menu. Just greens, lemon, and olive oil. Perfect! Too bad none of the meat was compliant :(

Snacks: Ate nuts and chicken bone broth at a movie night as snacks. 

Reflections: Starting to be over the whole thing. Saturdays are so hard because I just want to eat junk like popcorn and chips and cookies. Ugh.

Sunday May 13 - Day 14

Meal 1: Eggs, bacon, wilted greens, half of an avocado

Meal 2: Steak, huge salad. Also I was at a birthday party/mother's day celebration so I snacked on carrots and one and a half hamburgers with mustard. I'm so bad at constantly eating at parties. I had the hamburgers after my half pound steak. And then I also had some berries. 

Reflections: Haven't had my third meal yet. It'll probably be leftover buffalo chicken casserole. Ugh I just wish I could've had the bundt cake that was at the party. And a real hamburger with a bun and ketchup. I'm so over it. But I think I'll be better during the work week. I just hate weekends without junk food. I hate them. 

[DianeSmith]

Monday May 14 - Day 15

Meal 1: Sweet potato toast with avocado and eggs

Meal 2: Salad and leftover buffalo chicken casserole

Snack: Ate a bunch of sugar snap peas because I was bored

Meal 3: Two hamburgers topped with mustard and a simple greens salad topped with lemon juice and olive oil. Side of strawberries and blueberries. 

Reflections: As predicted, the work day wasn't as hard as the weekend was. During the weekend I definitely was in the "I dream of junk food" phase. 

Halfway done now!!

[DianeSmith]

Monday May 15 - Day 16

Meal 1: Sweet potato toast with avocado and eggs

Meal 2: Salad and leftover buffalo chicken casserole

Meal 3: Eggs with salsa and bacon

Reflections: I've been really bad about getting out of bed this week - I've been late to work every day so far. BUT at least I didn't feel drowsy at all on Day 16!! Yay! Plus I made it through the day with no snacks! And there was an eight hour period between lunch and dinner, so I'm pretty impressed with myself. I think I'm starting to see some positives. Now I just have to work at getting out of bed at a reasonable hour.

[DianeSmith]

Wednesday May 16 - Day 17

Just realized the typo in the previous post. Oops! 

Meal 1: Scrambled eggs with salsa and avocado

Meal 2: Salad

Meal 3: Salad (I lead a thrilling life)

Reflections: Still awful at getting out of bed, and in the afternoon I felt zero motivation to do anything at all. However, I don't believe this is food related. My period started again after just six days of my last one ending. Looked at some of the previous forum posts and I guess it's not unheard of, just really annoying and exhausting and expensive. 

Guys as I'm writing this post I'm on day 18, can you believe?? Just a little less than two weeks before I can start reintroduction, yay!

[DianeSmith]

Thursday May 17 - Day 18

Meal 1: Scrambled eggs with salsa and avocado

Meal 2: Salad

Meal 3: Couple of hamburgers, sweet potato, simple greens (spinach and arugula w/ lemon juice and olive oil), and apple w/ almond butter.

Reflections: Why can I not get out of bed?? It's driving me nuts. Wasn't drowsy in the afternoon, which is good. Got a lot done yesterday; I think the diet is helping with productivity. 

[DianeSmith]

Friday May 18 - Day 19

Meal 1: Scrambled eggs with salsa and avocado and chicken sausage

Meal 2: (happened after a teeth whitening session so my choices were very limited) snap peas, scrambled eggs, chicken sausage

Meal 3: Scrambled eggs, chicken sausage

Saturday May 19 - Day 20

Meal 1: Scrambled eggs and chicken sausage

Meal 2: (I can eat more now!) scrambled eggs, avocado, salsa

Meal 3: Smoked pork, grilled veggies, lots of salad, berries

Sunday May 20 - Day 21

Meal 1: Scrambled eggs, avocado, salsa

Meal 2: Chicken sausage

Meal 3: Pork, salad, grilled veggies, grilled pineapple

Meal 4: apples and almond butter

Reflections: Some of the food I've been having lately has been SO good! And it's become so routine to make it that I'll definitely be able to incorporate a lot of the same foods after Whole30

[DianeSmith]

Monday May 21 - Whole30 Day 22

Meal 1: Eggs and chicken sausage (forgot veggies, oops)

Meal 2: Salad

Snack: Sugar snap peas

Meal 3: Steak, grilled veggies, berries

Reflections: This diet is so much easier during the work week. I'm too busy to crave anything. Also I got a lot done on Monday, which is great. It felt really awesome to be productive for most of my 13 hour day.

[DianeSmith]

Tuesday May 22 - Whole30 Day 23

Meal 1: Eggs, chicken sausage, avocado

Meal 2: Salad

Meal 3: Butter chicken and cauliflower rice (I added coconut milk, ginger, and lime to my riced cauliflower so it wouldn't taste so nasty). This meal is really delicious!

Reflections: Still energetic and productive throughout the day, yay!

 

[DianeSmith]

Wednesday May 23 - Whole30 Day 24

Meal 1: Eggs, chicken sausage, avocado

Meal 2: Leftover butter chicken

Snack: Banana and almond butter (I know I know it's not great but I didn't get home until 8:30PM)

Reflections: Got really tired in the afternoon and I think it's because I didn't have enough veggies at breakfast and lunch. Got my second wind after leaving the client though, and got another couple of hours of work done at the office before going home. Feels good to get stuff done!

[DianeSmith]

Thursday May 24 - Whole30 Day 25

Meal 1: Eggs, chicken sausage, avocado, wilted greens

Meal 2: Leftover butter chicken

Meal 3: Scramble with eggs, chicken sausage, peppers, and onions with wilted greens on the side and a banana

Reflections: Another fairly productive day. No food cravings, but I do find myself looking forward to not having to do quite as much cooking during the week. I'd like to continue making most of my meals, but it's going to be so nice to have the option to dine out worry free when I run out of time. 

[DianeSmith]

Well I can't remember what I've eaten for the past few days, but I can promise you there wasn't anything groundbreaking. There were some meals that, while technically compliant, were not ideal (i.e. last night's dinner of two hamburger patties and mustard). Also, I know for a fact I've eaten too much fruit and nut butter. I think if I do another Whole30, I'm going to make it a personal goal to go without either of those food items. 

Wednesday May 29 - Whole30 Day 30!!

Meal 1: Chicken sausage, eggs, sauteed greens.

Meal 2: Salad w/ strawberries on the side

Meal 3: Who knows? Maybe salad again. 

Reflections: I was tired this afternoon, but I think that has less to do with my diet and more to do with only getting three and a half hours of sleep. 

I'll be interested to see what I weigh in at tomorrow; my rib cage looks smaller but I'm not sure if I feel much lighter, which is fine. 

I think I've seen a couple of NSVs. I've generally had more energy in the afternoon (goal achieved, yes!), and the bags under my eyes are lighter than they had been before. 

Tomorrow I'm starting on legumes, wish me luck! 

Also, I'm looking forward to not having nightmares about eating non compliant foods. The other night I dreamed that I took a tiny bite of a graham cracker and I felt so much anxiety as a result; has anyone else experienced this?

[DianeSmith]

Measurements

Whole30 Day 1:

• Weight: 156 (I also binged at a Bachelorette Party all weekend before my Whole30 started, so this was a bit higher than my usual 150)
• Waist: 29 inches

Whole30 Day 31:

• Weight: 142 (-14 lbs from Day 1! Although like I mentioned above, Day 1 was a few pounds more than my average weight)
• Waist: 27 inches (-2 inches from Day 1!)

Wow! Was not expected to be at 142 lbs. I had noticed that my rib cage was finally getting closer to where it had been in college, and my stomach seemed a bit flatter, but dang. Makes me want to keep going with this program for as long as possible (although I already started reintroduction with a spoonful of peanut butter this morning).