Kelly's Whole30, Round 3

[kellyfoss]

Hi guys! I'm back for my third round of the Whole30, starting this Wednesday, May 16th (so much to do in 2 days, but I can handle it!). I completed my first round in February/March of last year and had great results. My second round was in September/October, and it was equally gratifying if not more so. This time around I'm the heaviest I've ever been in my life, sadly - haven't done the official weigh-in/measurements yet but I believe I'm around 165 lb at 5' 9". Nowhere near where I want to be, I usually am most comfortable in the 140s. I'm also not sleeping well, my back problems are flaring up, and I've been feeling weak and unhappy with my health in general. Life stuff has taken over lately. We bought our first house last month and got the keys on April 9th, so working on house projects and finishing school has been my first priority. I also just graduated with my BA in Marketing! All good stuff, just need to get back on track with eating and taking responsibility for how I look and feel.

Tonight I'll plan, and tomorrow I'll shop and prep. I'm looking forward to jumping back into the program, and to incorporating lots of walking and yoga into my routine this time around. Not to mention yard work. Endless, endless amounts of yard work. :P Woohoo, homeownership! Haha. I wish you all the best on your own journeys. We got this!

[kellyfoss]

Day 0:

Weighed myself this morning finally. Not as horrible as I imagined but still not ideal - 160 almost exactly. Hoping to be comfortably in the low 140s by the end of June and then stay there. It's weird, I FEEL heavier than that just based on my body composition/bloating/fatigue right now, but I know that will all fade quickly once I get my eating in check. I have my grocery list and meal plan ready for week one, and my partner and I are shopping tonight. I have a work trip this weekend so I'll only be cooking for three days. Luckily, the one dinner I'll have on the trip is at a streak house (easy peasy!) and I have some compliant snacks on the way that I can pack for the plane and/or at the trade show booth. 

We took a bike ride last night - our first in the new very hilly neighborhood and my first in general in almost a year. OW. Ha. My legs were not happy. We're committing to biking or walking every day from now until a 5k that we're doing in June. I also did a much-needed yoga session after work and felt more like myself already.

Bring it on, Day 1!

[kellyfoss]

Day 1:

I got the "Whole30 Day-by-Day" book in the mail which is going to be super helpful! I'll be jotting down my meals and thoughts there so I can remember when it comes time to record them here. 

M1 - Three scrambled eggs with two handfuls of spinach, half an avocado. Coffee with unsweetened almond milk.

M2 - Spinach salad with shredded carrots, butternut squash, cucumber, hard boiled egg, avocado and Primal Kitchen ranch. Side of grapes. Water.

M3 - Lettuce-wrapped burger topped with red onion, tomato, avocado (clearly my go-to fat of choice!) and more PK ranch. Roasted garlic potatoes on the side. La Croix.

Reflections - I didn't bat an eye when my boss brought in bagels and cookies for our quarterly sales meeting. Or when they had pizza and wings delivered for lunch. I just said "no thanks!" and went to fetch my lunch from the fridge. I'm keeping some PK ranch at work (labeled with a very adamant "do not touch, property of Kelly") to make things easier when bringing lunch every day. I do work from home one day a week so I will be able to make slightly more elaborate lunches on those days. 

In other news, I did the math and realized that I'll be in full swing PMS on the same days I'll be in "Kill All the Things" mode, so god help any poor fool who dares anger me on those days, lol! It's probably good I'll be out of town this weekend and the SO will be off on a Bachelor Party trip as well. For the health of our relationship.

[kellyfoss]

Day 2:

M1 - Three scrambled eggs with a handful of spinach and some diced up leftover burger patty from the day before. Half an avocado, coffee with almond milk.

M2 - Same salad as day 1, additional burger meat substituted for the avocado. La Croix.

Snack - A few grapes. Wasn't hungry, had a sugar craving and used this to shut up the dragon. Will be cautious of doing so in the future.

M3 - Baked chicken breast with a side of roasted butternut squash, dried tomatoes, onions and mushrooms. 

Reflections - Today was good! Not feeling the hangover yet but I'm sure it's a matter of time. I worked from home today which I found was somewhat challenging because there is nobody around but myself to hold me accountable. Major props to those of you who live alone and have to be tough for yourself because nobody else will do it for you, I finally understand how hard that must be! I stayed strong. I did have that sugar craving after lunch and I grabbed 6-7 grapes to stave it off. But I utterly ignored the wine, beer and leftover s'mores fixin's that lurked in our kitchen. Gotta move those to the basement fridge or something!

Also took a long walk with my mom in the evening, ended the day with 11,000 steps. Might not seem like a ton to some people but for someone who sits all day in the car and then sits at her desk, that's huge for me! Gotta keep moving.

[kellyfoss]

Day 3: 

M1 - Same as Day 2.  Barely got it all down.

M2 - Leftover chicken and veggies from the previous evening. Also could not finish this. 

Snack - Chomp beef stick shortly after lunch, was able to finish this.

M3 - Sauteed shrimp and cauliflower rice with scallions, garlic, lemon, salt and pepper. Finished an entire bowl which was good!

Reflections - I remember last round I struggled with a loss of appetite in the beginning, and I am definitely experiencing this again. I know I need to eat but my body is like NOPE. This will pass, just might take a few more days. I also felt extremely weird today. Racing heartbeat, anxiety, shakiness, almost like a low blood sugar episode. But I didn't feel better after I ate and drank water. I found when I got up and moved around it helped a bit, and by the evening it was mostly gone. Super weird. I am on thyroid medication for Hashimoto's so maybe a swing into hyperthyroid for a day...? Who knows.

[kellyfoss]

Day 4: 

M1 - Four eggs scrambled, half an avocado, coffee with almond milk.

M2 - Skipped.

Snack - Larabar, RX Bar, Chomp stick.

M3 - 8 oz. filet with a side of roasted potatoes.

Reflections - Today was extremely rough, I barely got through it. I was at a restaurant tradeshow for work all day, surrounded by gourmet food I couldn't eat. We flew into Chicago at 8 AM and didn't stop walking or moving or organizing until 5 PM. I was able to grab some snacks to stuff in my purse and eat throughout the day as needed, but I had no time or ability to look for anything better for M2. I did find a booth at the show that was giving away RX Bars and I just about cried from joy! The girl there was extremely amused by me. I told her she had made my day.

At dinner we all went out to a steakhouse and my coworkers ordered more food I couldn't eat, and drank wine I couldn't drink. I explained to all of them about four times why I couldn't eat the cheesy scalloped potatoes, smoked sausage, and mac n' cheese appetizers. I ordered a steak and a side of potatoes and was somewhat satisfied, but it was extremely tough to turn everything down.

That said, I walked over 20,000 steps today and managed to struggle through the smells of delicious food everywhere. I think I should get a medal! The shakiness and racing heartbeat from the day before were gone, but I was exhausted at the end of the day.

[kellyfoss]

Day 5:

M1 - Egg white omelette filled with mushrooms, tomatoes and peppers. Side of sliced tomato. Small bowl of fresh berries. Black coffee.

M2 - Skipped.

Snack - Larabar. Chomp stick.

M3 - Salad with cucumber, tomato, hard-boiled egg, dried cranberries and carrots.

Reflections - Today was day two of the tradeshow and my last day there. We had breakfast at the hotel we were staying at and it was GREAT! They had easily compliant options. My omelette was fantastic and the side of strawberries, blackberries and raspberries was divine. I ate as much as I could since I knew I'd probably skip lunch again later. And I did. Back in our booth at the convention center I was busy all day, but managed to scarf down a Larabar. I ate a Chomp stick in the cab on the way to the airport, and when we got to our gate we ordered some salads for dinner. 

This weekend seriously tested my limits. I'm proud that I made it through, but very very relieved that I'll be back to planning and shopping and cooking my own meals this week! I never really experienced any KATT (Kill All the Things), maybe because I was too busy plastering a fake salesperson smile on my face all weekend. Or maybe because I was too tired to be angry, lol. But I did it! Whew.

[kellyfoss]

Day 6:

M1 - Four eggs scrambled with chives, apple slices with almond butter. Coffee and almond milk.

M2 - Spinach salad (made for me the night before by my wonderful boyfriend because I was exhausted when I got home from the airport!), topped with carrots, tomatoes, cucumber, hard-boiled egg and herbs. A bit of PK ranch.

M3 - Roasted red cabbage, potatoes, onions and two kinds of compliant sausage. Mustard vinaigrette. YUM.

Reflections - Another day in the bag! I had a massage and a chiropractor appointment after work which was very, very needed after the weekend of walking, flying, and sleeping on a hotel mattress. It's nice to not be uncomfortable or in pain for once, hoping it lasts longer now that I'm trying to lower the inflammation in my body as well. After the appointments I did our grocery shopping for the week and made dinner when I got home. I have meals planned out until Friday, at which point I'll see what we have left in our fridge and go from there.

And in my latest segment entitled, "boy it's fun to be a homeowner," I woke up to two bowls with a shallow amount of water under one of the skylights in our kitchen this morning (Day 7). It had leaked in the past but it stormed last night and apparently the window had finally had enough. I'll be spending my morning calling around for quotes on repairing or possibly replacing that skylight entirely if the damage is bad enough. They're probably 15+ years old. I finally understand why my dad always used to say, "If it's not one thing, it's another!"  But we'll figure it out. The one thing I love about the W30 is how it helps with my mood and ability to handle stress!

[kellyfoss]

Day 7:

M1 - Three scrambled eggs with spinach, half an avocado, whole banana. Coffee and almond milk.

M2 - Leftover cabbage, potatoes, sausage and onions from the night before. Couldn't finish it, Chomp stick a little bit later.

M3 - Turkey meatballs over cauliflower rice, roasted cilantro lime sweet potato wedges on the side.

Reflections - Today was very good. Zero cravings and I'm starting to notice an upswing in my energy levels. However, in the afternoon I definitely experienced some delayed KATT. Especially on the way home from work. I have a 45 minute commute and it easily turns into an hour with traffic and construction. I had some serious road rage going on, which is not really like me. Odd! It passed though.

Roofer came out today while we were at work to seal the skylights from the outside. We've got our fingers crossed that this will stop the leak, but until it storms again we won't know for sure. Wonderfully enough he didn't charge us to do it, which was very kind of him. So that takes a small load off my mind for now.

One week down, three more to go! 

[kellyfoss]

Day 8:

M1 - Two hard-boiled eggs, a few grapes, half an avocado, and leftover baked sweet potato. Coffee and almond milk.

M2 - Weird, random combo because I was in a rush... bed of spinach with carrots, Italian sausage and avocado. Dressed with some PK ranch. Couple of raspberries. La Croix.

M3 - Whole30 salmon cakes made with PK chipotle lime mayo. YUM! Spinach salad dressed with lemon juice and olive oil, avocado on top. More mayo for dipping.

Reflections - Holy deliciousness, those salmon cakes were great! And fun to make. I made a ton of extras so I could have them for breakfast/lunch the next couple of days. Today was insanely productive. I worked from home and got a lot of work done, and then in the evening I took a walk, ran some errands, cleaned the kitchen, did laundry, even made a small batch of lemonade for my guy who was outside cutting the grass (and was not tempted to try said lemonade myself!). 

Is it too soon to be experiencing Tiger Blood? Haha, probably. This feeling may be temporary. I have been trying to drink more water than I did during my last round, I wonder if that's helping. I'll try to keep that up going into the next week.

[kellyfoss]

Day 9:

M1 - Three scrambled eggs, half an avocado, leftover baked sweet potato, coffee with almond milk.

M2 - Three leftover salmon cakes, avocado and PK ranch dressing, sweet potato (almost out of leftovers!). A boatload of water.

M3 - Wasn't super happy with how this recipe turned out, but... garlic shrimp stir fry with coconut secret teriyaki sauce. Included broccoli, carrots, cauliflower rice and spaghetti squash. Made the weird mistake of putting cinnamon on the squash while it was roasting. Would've tasted delicious on its own, but mixed into the stir fry it gave it a very odd flavor. Oh well. Ate it anyway!

Reflections - Not all W30 recipes can be winners, haha. Boyfriend mentioned that minus the cinnamon and plus additional garlic, it would've been perfect! I'll try it again in a week or so. Had good energy today. Wore some pants to work that had been quite snug when I first bought them, and now fit me very well (despite being washed the night before!). We have a wedding tomorrow (writing this on Day 10, so Day 11 is the wedding). After getting through the tradeshow last weekend I feel like I can conquer just about anything, so I'm not worried. I'll eat a good, filling meal beforehand and bring some Chomps or a Larabar in my purse in case I can't find anything compliant to eat.

[kellyfoss]

Day 10: 

M1 - Two eggs, half an avocado, one salmon cake, chunk of sweet potato, coffee & almond milk.

M2 - Three salmon cakes (last one), half an avocado, piece of sweet potato, baby carrots dipped in chipotle lime mayo.

M3 - Lebanese Salata at Aladdin's Eatery. Lettuce, tomato, cucumber, parsley, olive oil. Had them add beef to it. Aladdin's dressing (compliant). DELISH!

Reflections - We found an awesome new fresh market right around the corner from us that sells a ton of approved foods. Found compliant turkey bacon!! Just about died from joy. Went to Aladdin's for dinner because it was too late at that point to cook and I know they have salads I can eat. Very tasty. Feeling good today, although I slept like crap because my back was hurting. Decided to incorporate daily (or near-daily) yoga practice back into my routine.

[kellyfoss]

Day 11:

M1 - Three scrambled eggs, heaping spoonful of pico de gallo, apples and almond butter, coffee.

M2 - Salad of spinach mix, tomato, cucumber, avocado, shredded carrots, olive oil and lime juice. Chomp stick.

M3 - Horrible, awful catered wedding food... Veggies from a veggie tray, one strawberry, steamed carrots and overcooked roast beef.

Snacks before wedding (because I psychically knew the food was going to suck, apparently) - Carrot sticks and salsa, pineapple, second Chomp stick.

Reflections - As mentioned above, we went to our first of four weddings last night. We have three more between now and August. The food was deeply disgusting. Boyfriend commented that it reminded him of fourth grade cafeteria food. No offense to the couple, they're our friends, but WOW. I would never EVER serve that to my wedding guests. I was able to choke down some carrots and roast beef, and stole a big plate of plain veggies from the "hors d'oeuvres" table. Luckily I had eaten snacks beforehand in case this very thing happened. We left early, before they even served the cake. Hard pass. 

Good news is, I had an NSV! I felt 90% comfortable in the very tight black dress I wore, whereas even two weeks ago I would've been self-conscious and sucking in my stomach all night. Heck yeah.

[kellyfoss]

Day 12:

M1 - Two eggs scrambled with spinach, spoonful of homemade salsa, two pieces compliant turkey bacon, banana. Coffee.

M2 - Bed of spinach, handful of baby carrots, salsa, leftover bacon, PK ranch.

Snack while hiking - Chomp stick, Lara bar.

M3 - Half a strip steak, half a grilled pork chop, grilled zucchini, salad. 

Reflections - Today was a great day! Started the day with 30-40 minutes of yoga and stretches, went on a 5 mile hike around the nearby national park with a friend, then came home and did an hour or so of yard work. At that point I was exhausted but it felt good to be up and moving all day long. I can tell my energy levels are gradually returning. No Tiger Blood yet, but it can't be far off!

[kellyfoss]

Day 13:

M1 - Three eggs scrambled with spinach, two pieces turkey bacon, salsa, coffee & almond milk.

M2 - Kinda skipped, whoops. Banana in the middle of the day to tide me over. We were busy all afternoon, out of the house.

M3 - Ate earlier than usual. Grilled filet mignon (OMG AMAZING) with grilled mushrooms and asparagus, grilled pineapple, strawberry & watermelon fruit salad. 

Reflections - Definitely had a bit too much fruit today, but other than that it felt like a good day. It was a HOT Memorial Day in the low-to-mid-90s. We spent the day with boyfriend's parents, doing some work around the house and running some errands. I felt pretty good other than the fact that I had an extremely random and irrational panic attack around 11 in the morning on the way to meet his parents. Just out of nowhere, felt like I was going to throw up/pass out/die/burst into tears. I don't have them very often but they really SUCK. Luckily the boy has them much more frequently so he knows how to talk me out of it. All said I think it lasted about 10 minutes but it felt horrible. Not sure if that's relevant to the dietary changes or not, I'm sure hormone fluctuations could play a part in sudden inexplicable anxiety. I went to bed early to make sure I'm getting enough rest. Tomorrow should be better.

[kellyfoss]

Day 14:

M1 - Three eggs scrambled, lots of salsa, half an avocado, banana, coffee.

M2 - Salad with leftover pork shop, PK ranch.

M3 - Beef meatballs in compliant tomato sauce, roasted garlic potatoes, roasted zucchini and squash.

Snack while making dinner - Fruit salad.

Reflections - Had great sleep last night, feeling much more steady today! Just about halfway through and I am excited for the Tiger Blood to start to kick in! Dinner tonight was great, I made a TON of leftovers as usual so I will have food for the next couple of days. I'm going to Columbus on Friday evening to celebrate my best friend's birthday with her, and then Sunday is my 5 year anniversary with my boo so we will be celebrating that together. Lots of stuff going on this weekend but I know I can handle it if I plan ahead. Looking forward to at least one weekend where I don't have social events going on, but I know that isn't realistic. The point is to be able to manage those events and a healthy way of eating without getting stressed about it. It definitely takes practice.

[kellyfoss]

Day 15:

Halfway, woohoo!!

M1 - Three scrambled eggs with leftover potatoes, half an avocado, coffee.

M2 - Leftover meatballs and zucchini/squash.

M3 - Oven roasted chicken breast, salad, mixed fruit.

Reflections - I kinda struggled with a loss of appetite again today. I wasn't genuinely hungry for any of my meals, and I didn't eat a ton of food at any of them. I wound up packing a lot of it away for lunch on days 16 and 17. This occasionally happens to me on a Whole30 so I'm not super concerned. I'm eating much more nutrient-dense, filling foods so it doesn't surprise me. I'll keep on chugging regardless.

The boy and I went to Costco tonight and picked up a bag of 6 avocados for $5 and a HUUUGE container of olive oil! We also found a big bag of frozen cauliflower rice that will definitely come in handy. I find that the more convenient I make my W30s, the more likely I am to succeed at them.

[kellyfoss]

Day 16:

M1 - Three eggs scrambled with potatoes, carrots and almond butter, coffee.

M2 - Leftover meatballs on salad. Didn't finish.

M3 - Whole30 jambalaya! Chicken apple sausage, cauliflower rice, celery, green pepper, cooked in compliant tomato sauce and chicken broth. Lots of cajun spice, oregano and thyme.

Reflections - Today was good as far as my energy levels, I was insanely productive at work and at home. But at the end of the day after dinnertime I did hit a bit of a wall psychologically and just had to flop down on the bed for a while. Boyfriend jokingly said I was lazy and all I could do was laugh - if only he had seen me flying around like the energizer bunny all morning! Life has been so hectic lately that I'm very afraid of burning out, but luckily I'll have thisSaturday evening and Sunday to relax a bit. Just have to get through Friday night at a jazz music event with my bff, and then I'm spending the night at her place. I got this.

[kellyfoss]

Day 17:

M1 - Three eggs, half an avocado, spoonful of salsa, coffee. 

M2 - Leftover meatballs, carrots and celery dipped in chipotle lime mayo.

M3 - Leftover jambalaya.

Snack at jazz event in the evening - Larabar.

Reflections - Today I worked and then left early to head home so I could quickly scarf down dinner before driving two hours to visit my best friend. We went to see a jazz/funk singing group, it was awesome but there was absolutely no food I could eat there. Luckily I was prepared, so when it was 10:30 or so and I was hungry, I whipped out a Larabar from my purse and that tided me over.

[kellyfoss]

Day 18:

M1 - First Watch! Farmhouse skillet with no cheese (potatoes, onions, mushrooms, tomatoes, zucchini), added avocado. Two eggs on top. Side of fruit. Kale tonic.

M2 - Skipped... took a long walk and then was driving all afternoon to get home. Had a late M1 though so I was okay.

Snack whilst driving - Chomp stick.

M3 - Aladdin's Lebanese Salata, added beef.

Reflections - If you couldn't tell, we are totally out of food to cook at home, haha. Had First Watch with my friend before I left to head home, and luckily they have lots of easily modified meals that are really filling and delicious. Then the afternoon flew by, I managed to scarf down a Chomp stick on the road. Dinner was Aladdin's again because by the time I got home the LAST thing on earth I felt like doing was grocery shopping and cooking. Bless my wonderful guy who went to pick up salads for us. HOWever... when he got back and I opened my salad, I saw that they had put a big blob of feta cheese on top. That salad doesn't come with feta, or I would've made sure to say NO FETA please. I was very frustrated. I managed to scrape off 90% of it and I just ate around the rest. Grr. 

I can honestly say I experienced some pretty bad cravings today, too. I really wanted an ice cold Corona with lime while I was sitting out on the deck in the summer heat. I really reaaally wanted to go get ice cream after dinner. This time of year is harder than I thought because there are so many summery activities that tie in with food, for me. Our friends invited us out on their boat in the evening but we declined because I knew they'd all be drinking and eating who knows what and I didn't trust myself to resist.

Good news is, I'm about 2/3 of the way done!

[kellyfoss]

Day 19:

M1 - Four eggs and spinach, half an avocado, coffee.

M2 - Apples and almond butter, Chomp stick. (While working on remodeling projects.)

M3 - Lettuce-wrapped burgers topped with onion, tomato, avocado and homemade salsa. Grilled yukon potatoes on the side (SO. GOOD!).

Reflections - Today was lovely! It was our fifth anniversary. Started out the morning exchanging gifts and then I ran to the grocery store to get food for the next couple of days. We spent most of the day working on some home renovations and running errands to get supplies, which was actually really really fun. Grilled out for dinner. I even bought him some dessert that I wasn't tempted to share, because I knew he wanted it. True love, haha! 

My energy levels have been consistent now for the past few days. I don't know if I'd call it full-blown Tiger Blood necessarily, but I know I don't really NEED coffee at this point. And I don't have that afternoon slump anymore. All good things.

[kellyfoss]

Day 20:

M1 - Three scrambled eggs, whole apple dipped in almond butter, coffee with almond milk. (Literally NO veggies sounded good this morning. None. I was gagging.)

M2 - Leftover burger with lettuce, tomato, onion and avocado.

M3 - Orange garlic-glazed salmon (did not turn out very well), side of baked asparagus and cauliflower rice.

Reflections - My bff suggested we make this salmon recipe for dinner and I'm not sure what I did wrong, but it was gross. Maybe I over-reduced the glaze? It was sickeningly sweet which was a super weird combination with fish. The sides were good! I scraped the glaze off the remaining filet and saved it for lunch on day 21. Oh well. Spent the evening cleaning the house and doing yard work - our yard is finally starting to come along! Our house sits rather far back on top of a hill, and with tons of bushes in front of it you can barely see it at all. We removed 4 entire bushes last night and plan to do more later this week. It's shaping up! 

Some NSVs I've been noticing: My Fitbit shows that in less than 30 days, my resting heart rate has dropped from 85 to 75! This is huge for me. I have some mitral valve prolapse that causes heart palpitations, and I've always had a higher heart rate than I'd like. I've definitely noticed a decrease in palpitations these past few weeks as well, not sure if that's just due to the decrease in caffeine since I haven't needed it, or if my diet plays into it more. Either way I am thrilled! Now if my back pain and allergies would go away I'd probably throw a parade.

[kellyfoss]

Day 21:

M1 - Four scrambled eggs, an apple dipped in almond butter. Coffee.

M2 - Leftover salmon, cauliflower rice and asparagus.

M3 - Napa spinach salad at Yours Truly (big bowl of baby spinach with walnuts, grapes, strawberries, grilled chicken and oil & vinegar dressing).

Reflections - I need more veggies in general and I'm aware of this, it's always my problem at this stage in the game because nothing sounds good to me, especially in the morning. Planning on really buckling down these last 9 days and trying to stick more to the template if possible. I really want to get good results this round!

Tonight we started training for the 5k we're running on Saturday... yes, that's 3 days away, hahaha! We're not the smartest. We know we won't be able to run the entire time but we're going to do our best. It's just a neighborhood 5k that they're holding to celebrate the village's centennial, so we figured it would be a good way to meet more of our neighbors and support the town. We half-jogged, half-walked three miles tonight and will try to jog 75% of that same track tomorrow night and Friday night. Just to warm up some muscles that haven't been used in a bit. It felt great, honestly! I did a Color Run about a year ago and didn't die, although I did have a miserably slow time (like 42 minutes? Lol) but I finished! That's what matters! The boy has never done one but I know he'll be great, and eating this way has given us both more energy.

[kellyfoss]

Day 22:

M1 - Breakfast "hash" with eggs, cauliflower rice, green pepper and tomato. Coffee with almond milk.

M2 - Spinach salad with avocado, hard-boiled egg, tomato, cucumber, carrots and PK ranch.

M3 - Shrimp and chicken sausage over zucchini noodles and chopped asparagus. Salad with strawberries, blueberries, almonds, avocado and shallots with a blueberry lime vinaigrette. LOVED these recipes!

Reflections - My mom came over today for lunch and then we grocery shopped for dinner and cooked for the three of us (myself, my mom and the SO). It was a great dinner. I've never made dressing from scratch before, so that was fun! Might add a few more blueberries next time because it was a bit heavy on the lime and apple cider vinegar, but it was still very very tasty. Feeling good about trying something new. I also incorporated more veggies into my M1 today and that felt nice. Only 8 days to go!

[kellyfoss]

Day 23:

M1 - The remaining hash from the previous day; eggs, cauliflower rice, green peppers and tomatoes. Coffee.

M2 - Leftover salad from the previous evening, added hard-boiled egg and arugula (and more avocado).

M3 - Grilled chicken wings with Tabasco and garlic! So. Dang. Good. Grilled mushrooms and herbed cauliflower mash on the side.

Reflections - Definitely noticing my energy increasing with every passing day. Still a little sore, back-wise, but I have an appointment tomorrow with a new chiropractic clinic to see what they might be able to do differently. I'm down to half a cup of coffee at most, and then I usually forget about it and don't finish it! Hoping that energy translates to our 5k on Saturday... heh. Definitely getting bored with my food and I have zero time to go shopping or dig around for better recipes. I know I need to make time, so I can finish this last week strong. Must push through!

Side note that may be TMI for sensitive boy eyes/ears... I take oral birth control and have for almost a decade and I am EXTREMELY regular, but this morning I started spotting about 9 days early which was quite a surprise. I guess they ain't kiddin' when they say Whole30 messes around with your hormones. This didn't happen during either of my other rounds last year, it's very random. Keeping an eye on that since getting pregnant would be basically THE WORST thing that could possibly happen right now. *knocks on all the wood in the building*  Don't think I'm at too high a risk of that, but I'm still going to be super duper cautious until things regulate again.