Mike's 1st Whole 30

[ar1zona1]

1/1/13, Day 1.

Sort of a practice day with a few violations. Actually I have been practicing since the begninning of November not wanting to start until the end of the holidays. I'm not sure that it was actually a good idea or not since eliminating most of the no-no's already will I still see the same reaction as starting fresh.

Breakfast:

• Glass of Chai tea & almond milk. Both homemade
  
• 2 scrambled eggs with a handful of spinach
  
• sweet potatoes sauteed in coconut oil
  
• Bacon (the violation on practice day).
  

Lunch:

• Poor planning while running errands and had to eat out. Chick-fil-A grilled sandwich minus the bun and a cup of fruit.
  

Afternoon snack (lunch didn't cut it)

• handful of almonds
  

Dinner:

• Roasted pork loin
  
• Sauerkraut
  
• Mashed sweet potatoes with a little almond milk and ghee
  
• sauteed green beans
  
• Baked apple with cinamon
  

This dinner is our New Year tradition and is accompanied with a bottle of sparkling wine (the second violation of the 'practice' day).

Day 2 will be fully compliant, I promise.

[kb0426]

Hey Mike! Welcome!

How about your make Day 2 your real day 1? Don't cheat yourself for a minute! You can do this!

[ar1zona1]

1/2/13 Day 1 do-over.

Much better today.

Pre-workout snack. I go to a groupfit class (like cross fit) at 6am and have a little something before class.

• Glass of Chai tea & almond milk
  
• Larabar, cashew cookie
  

Breakfast:

• Glass of Chai tea & almond milk. Both homemade
  
• 2 scrambled eggs with a handful of spinach and mushrooms
  
• sweet potatoes sauteed in coconut oil
  

Lunch:

• Left over sauerkraut and pork, green beans and sweet potato.
  

Afternoon snack

• small handful of macadamia nuts & dried blue berries
  

Dinner was Lamb stew with stewed tomatoes, sweet potatoes, butternut squash, carrots, onions, brussel sprouts. A variation of a recipe from a paleo site.

Felt pretty good today, up to a point.

[ar1zona1]

So Day 1 do-over ended in a near tragedy at our house. We have a mini-yorkie who is 12 years old and somehow fell into our pool after dinner. She has lost most of her sight so we think that might have had something to do with it. Water this time of year is in the 50's and she was probably in the water a good 5 minutes before we realized something was going on.

Good news is she is OK, but it was a long night at the emergency Vet and has made day 2 a challenge.

1/3/13 Day 2

Breakfast:

• A glass of Chai & almond milk (are you noticing a theme here). The homemade chai is good it just doesn't have the sugar kick the Tazo concentrate does. This is probably my sugar demon.
  
• Almost oatmeal; a mix of unsweetened apple sauce, almond butter, cinamon, nutmeg, coconut milk.
  
• 1/2 banana & a few blue berries.
  

Late morning snack. Seriously wiped from only a couple of hours sleep and emotionally drained from the nights activities. I succumbed to a glass of Tazo chai (the wife still drinks it). My only slip for the day and the energy helped me make it the rest of the day.

Lunch was left over lamb stew & a glass of water with a teaspoon of pomogranate juice for flavor.

Dinner:

• Baked salmon with unsweetened coconut coating
  
• Steamed butternut squash & brocolli
  
• 1/2 avacado
  

After the nights events I considered putting this off for a few more days but I am sure I can get back on track tomorrow.

[1Maryann]

So glad you found your pup before a real tragedy occurred.

I hear you on unexpected issues interfering with the program. this really does take a good bit of planning and prep. I'm sure your breakfast was the best you could do under the circumstances, but for future reference, 'almost oatmeal' is SWYPO. And you could have scrambled an egg in the amount of time it took to put it together.

[ar1zona1]

I kind of thought that might be the case. Though I never ate oatmeal before so i'm not trying to duplicate a previous meal. Looking for some breakfast options that are not eggs, I don't want to get burned out on them.

[1Maryann]

Lots of us have gotten in the habit of having dinner leftovers for breakfast. I cook extra to make sure I have them. Why is it we are conditioned to eat a completely different set of foods in the morning? When you think about it, there isn't any reason to eat eggs or cereal or pancakes in the morning other than habit or tradition.

[kb0426]

I am sorry to hear about your dog. Our Paco is our bestest friend and I would be devastated.

You seem to recognize your challenges and are working on addressing them.

Ever wanted steak for breakfast? Here is your chance

[ar1zona1]

1/4/13 Day 3

A really good nights sleep.

Breakfast: Eggs, banana, strawberries & blue berries. Chai tea & Almond milk

Lunch meeting with the boss. Went to whole foods and hit the hot & cold salad bar. Chicken breast, broccoli carrots, spinach, cucumbers.

Early afternoon snack (didn't get enough at lunch): Larabar

Dinner: grilled chicken, brussel sprouts, sweet potatoes with cinamon, avacado.

I have to work on eating enough at a meal to make it to the next meal.

1/5/13 Day 4

Preworkout snack: Chai tea & almond milk, larabar

Pretty intense workout this morning. I attend a crossfit style class at a personal fitness studio and burned 940 calories in an 1:20. Hungry, but not starving. Had time to stop at the local farmers market and stock up on veggies for the week before going home for breakfast

Breakfast: Addell chicken apple sausage, eggs, sweet potatoes, spinach.

Lunch: Left over grilled chicken and sweet potatoes. Added a spoonful of almond butter and a handful of blueberries.

Dinner: Took the wife out for an early dinner to a great burger place we occasionally go to. Bison burger with spinach and avacado with a couple of pieces of lettuce to hold it together. Side of mixed greens.

Snack: 1/2 banana, handful of blueberries and some canned coconut milk solids that formed while it was in the fridge.

Tomorrow is a meal planning day. Need to map out the upcoming week and prep as much as I can. I'll work on trying different meals for breakfast, steak works, just need to cook the night before.

[ar1zona1]

1/6/13 Day 5

Breakfast:

· 2 egg omelet with spinach & mushrooms, covered with Herdez salsa

· Sweet potatoes with red & green peppers

· Sautéed butternut squash

· ½ avocado

· Handful of blueberries

Lunch:

· 2 big Lettuce wraps with turkey, spinach, & homemade guacamole.

Afternoon snack: small handful of macadamia nuts

Dinner:

· Baked sweet potatoes slices & butter nut squash seasons with olive oil

· Sautéed shrimp & bay scallops with shallots, leeks & garlic in ghee, topped with smokey paparika and placed on a bed of spinach.

Snack: Banana & blueberries

Overall going good. Food planning is taking more time than I anticipated. Since we have a Trader Joes, Sprouts, & Whole foods close by I'm able to find many compliant items, just not all at one location. Need to plan my trips better to cut down on the time it takes to get all the supplies needed.

Have some questions on fats & loosing too much weight that I'll post in the appropriate areas.

[ar1zona1]

1/7/13 Day 6

Pre-workout snack:

· Chai tea & almond milk

· Larabar (cashew cookie)

Breakfast:

· Lettuce wrap with turkey, spinach & mustard

· Apple sauce, banana, almond butter & blue berries

Lunch:

· ½ avocado

· Leftover shrimp & scallops. Border line re-heat at work as it might violate the stinky food policy.

Afternoons snack: lettuce wrap with turkey, spinach & mustard

Dinner:

· Baked almond coated chicken

· Sweet potato slices coated with olive oil & cumin

· Sautéed brussel sprouts in coconut oil & garlic

[ar1zona1]

1/8/13 Day 7

Pre-workout snack:

· Chai tea & almond milk

· Larabar (blueberry)

Breakfast:

· Lettuce wrap with turkey, spinach & mustard

· Apple sauce, banana, almond butter & blue berries

Lunch:

· (Left over dinner)Baked almond coated chicken

· Sweet potato slices coated with olive oil & cumin

· Sautéed brussel sprouts in coconut oil & garlic

Afternoon snack:

· Banana, small handful of macadamia nuts

Dinner:

· Steak

· Grilled sweet potatoes with Ghee & cinnamon (all wrapped in foil pouch)

· Steamed broccoli

· Diced mini cucumbers & cherry tomatoes, dried Italian seasoning tossed in olive oil.

Evening snack

· ½ banana, blue berries, black berries & coconut cream

[ar1zona1]

1/9/13 Day 8

Pre-workout snack:

· Chai tea & almond milk

· Larabar (blueberry)

Breakfast:

· 2 Egg omelet with coconut milk in the eggs before cooking. Red & green peppers, spinach.

· Sweet potato has browns

· Thick slice of turkey.

Lunch:

· (Left over dinner) Steak

· Grilled sweet potatoes with Ghee & cinnamon (all wrapped in foil pouch)

· Diced mini cucumbers & cherry tomatoes, dried Italian seasoning tossed in olive oil.

Afternoon snack:

· Small handful of black berries

Dinner:

· Lettuce wrap taco's with chicken & steak, homemade guacamole

· sautéed butternut squash, peppers & leeks.

Evening snack

· blue berries, black berries & coconut cream

1/10/13 Day 9

Preworkout snack:

· Chai & almond milk

· Larabar

Breakfast

· Slices of turkey breast

· Egg whites

· Banana, applesauce & almond butter

Lunch:

· Bison burger lettuce wrap, tomato, onion, avocado

· Sautéed broccoli & peppers

Afternoon snack:

· Slices of turkey breast

· Guacamole

Late Dinner:

· Mahi mahi fish pan fried in coconut oil with spices, peppers & onions

· Sautéed Brussels sprouts & broccoli

· Spaghetti squash

· Sweet potatoes

[DancerMan84]

hey mate great feed! I am curious though, reading through the It starts with food book they say that you should be having 3 meals a day except for workout days where you a pre and post meal. Are you finding that your energy levels are more constant throuout the day with snacks compared to just 3 meals?..... I have been sticking to the 3 meal thing and I am thinking that maybe a couple of small snacks in the mix might not be so bad. I am starting back with training next week so might be a good time to test it out.

some of the food you are making looks awesome and great that you are so varied with it.... I gotta break the eggs for breakfast thing big time!

[Aberrantatavia]

I'll add my 2 cents, I have found that the following works for me because I have a very long work day. 5am mini meal, 730 breakfast (big meal) around 1130 or 12 lunch, 4 pm mini meal and 7-730 dinner.

I typically find if I do it this way I don't need snacks and my energy is stable all day.

[ar1zona1]

I have found my energy levels have stabilized and are more even throughout the day. Even during my workout this morning I put forth a pretty aggressive effort and felt ready to keep going at the end of class.

More importantly my sudden weight drop has stabilized. I'm trying to not loose weight during the Whole30 as I have already lost 20lbs before starting. I can only eat so much at one sitting so adding snacks or mini-meals seems to help.

If I get more time today I'll post more about my bodies reaction to the Whole30 program here in more detail.

[ar1zona1]

1/11/13 day 10

Preworkout snack:

· Chai & almond milk

· Larabar

Breakfast

· 2 egg omelet with mushrooms, spinach, red peppers, leeks and coconut milk

· Sweet potato hash

Lunch:

· Bison burger lettuce wrap, tomato, onion

· Sautéed broccoli & zucchini

Afternoon snack:

· Blue berries, black berries & macadamia nuts

Late Dinner:

· Adelle Chicken apple sausage

· guacamole

· Spaghetti squash

1/12/13 Day 11

Breakfast:

· Banana, applesauce, almond butter, egg whites & berries.

· Small glass of almond milk

Early Lunch:

· Ground beef, sautéed onions, chili powder, cumin, cocoa powder, tomato sauce.

· Baked Sweet potato

Snack: Larabar

Dinner date with the wife to Outback Steakhouse:

· Lobster tail (no butter)

· Steamed green beans (no butter)

· Sweet potato (no toppings).

[ar1zona1]

Got a little behind in posting. Still on track.

1/13/13 Day 12

Breakfast:

· 2 egg omelet with peppers, mushrooms, leeks, spinach & coconut milk mixed into the eggs. Topped with salsa.

· Butternut squash

· Sweet potato hash

Lunch: Left over lunch from yesterday.

Snack: Larabar

Dinner:

· Oven roasted organic whole chicken stuffed with herbs and an olive oil herb rub.

· Fennel, onion, & apple sautéed, added as a topping to the chicken.

· Spaghetti squash

· Sauteed organic carrots in olive oil &herbs.

· ½ banana and a few blueberries.

1/14/13 Day 13

Preworkout snack:

· Hardboiled egg, macadamia nut butter

· Chai Tea & almond milk.

Breakfast:

· Turkey lettuce wraps

· ½ banana, blue berries, black berries & coconut cream

Lunch (leftover dinner):

· Oven roasted organic whole chicken stuffed with herbs and an olive oil herb rub.

· Fennel, onion, & apple sautéed, added as a topping to the chicken.

· Spaghetti squash

· Sauteed organic carrots in olive oil &herbs.

Early snack (not enough leftovers for lunch): Larabar

Dinner:

· Turkey stew (turkey, carrots, butternut squash, stewed tomatoes, leeks, shallots, herbs)

· ½ apple

1/15/13 Day 14

Preworkout snack:

· Hardboiled egg, macadamia nut butter

· Chai Tea & almond milk.

Breakfast:

· 2 egg omelet with mushrooms, green peppers, leeks, spinach & ghee

· Sweet potato slivers cooked in coconut oil

Lunch (left over dinner):

· Turkey stew (turkey, carrots, butternut squash, stewed tomatoes, leeks, shallots, herbs)

· ½ apple

Afternoon snack:

· Banana

Dinner:

· Grilled pork loin

· Sauerkraut with cranberries

· Steamed broccoli, sweet potatoes and butternut squash with cinnamon

1/16/13 Day 15

Pre-workout:

· Larabar

· Chai Tea and almond milk

Breakfast:

· Turkey lettuce wraps with mustard

· Sweet potatoes left over from last night

· Banana, blue berries, black berries & apple sauce

· Spoon ful of macadamia nut butter

Lunch:

· Grilled pork loin

· Sauerkraut with cranberries

· Steamed broccoli, sweet potatoes and butternut squash with cinnamon

Dinner:

· Pork ribs in the slow cooker. Rubbed with spices & broiled for 30 minutes then slow cooked.

· Brussels' sprouts & cashews sautéed in coconut oil

· Baked Sweet potato ‘fries', peppered and coated with coconut oil

· Guacamole

1/17/13 Day 16

Pre-workout:

· 2 hard boiled egg whites, macadamia nut butter

· Chai Tea and almond milk

Breakfast:

· 2 egg omelet with pork rib meat, mushrooms, green peppers, leeks, spinach & ghee

· Sweet potatos

· Blueberries

Lunch:

· Turkey Lettuce wraps with guacamole

· Brussels' sprouts & cashews sautéed in coconut oil

Dinner:

· Left over pork rib meat

· Sweet potatoes

· Green beans cooked in coconut oil & then dumped a bunch of coconut meat on them.

[ar1zona1]

Lots of meals are repetitive, but for now that works. Don't have to spend too much effort on figuring out meals and makes it a little easier to plan and get through the week.

So far i'm noticing a more even level of energy throughout the day. I don't seem to get the afternoon slump that I used to get. I seemed to be drinking more water still.

I think its strange that I haven't really gotten any bad cravings for anything. I figured chocolate would be hard, but nope. My wife even had a small california pizza kitchen pizza tonight and it really didn't bother me. Yeah I wouldn't mind having one but i could also pass it up.

I have had a swelling problem in my left foot/ankle for about 10 years that no doctor has been able to explain. That seems to be going away slowly.

[ar1zona1]

The days are starting to blur together and except for more effort cooking and a whole lot more dishes to do I'm sort of in a groove and now it's not too tough.

1/18/13 Day 17

Pre-workout:

· 2 hard boiled egg whites, macadamia nut butter

· Chai Tea and almond milk

Breakfast:

· Turkey & pork lettuce wraps

· Banana, blue berries & black berries with coconut cream

Lunch:

· Grass fed burger lettuce wrap with onion & tomato

· Sauteed broccoli and onions

· Handful of cashews

Dinner:

· Roasted red pepper chicken sausages

· Grilled squash, zucchini and carrots

· Grilled cinnamon sweet potatoes

I didn't eat enough today

Snack: banana, blueberries & blackberries with coconut cream

1/19/13 Day 18

Breakfast:

· 2 egg omelet with pork rib meat, mushrooms, green peppers, leeks, spinach & ghee

· Sweet potatos

· Blueberries

Lunch:

· Ground beef lettuce taco's

· Guacamole

Dinner:

· Coconut /macadamia nut breaded fish pan fried in coconut oil

· Mashed sweet potatoes

· Sauteed veggies

1/20/13 Day 19

Breakfast & Lunch ? Can't remember exactly too busy of a weekend and didn't write it all down. Come Monday I don't remember specifics so I'll leave it at that.

Dinner out at Carrabba's which was really hard to pick something compliant. Ended up with grilled chicken breast fairly plain with a few herbs & green beans sautéed in olive oil.

[ar1zona1]

Well today is day 30 for me. I'm still here, just too busy to update daily meals. Most have just been repeats of what i posted so far. I found it easier when I started to just come up with a set of meals that worked and repeat. Didn't want to add more work and stress figuring out new meals all the time for just 30 days.

Changes I notice during the whole 30:

-Dropped 8 pounds, most in the first week and 1/2. That brought me to 151 lbs and 16% body fat (yeah I ignored the scale rule). Weight was never the obsession.

-Definitely notice an increase in energy and more importantly it's a lot more even throughout the day.

-I think I have seen an improvement in allergies/sinus issues, but that is always a tricky one. I think that will be more of a long term item to watch closely.

Plan on trying to be as compliant as possible going forward. Still working on a re-introduction plan to figure out any sensitivities Probably start this weekend.

A lot of foods I really didn't miss so I think they will be no big deal giving up going forward.

What I did miss:

-Chocolate. Not the wimpy stuff but the 80+% dark cocoa.

-Corn tortilla chips. You just have to have them when you eat Mexican food. We always went for the organic blue corn.

Good luck to everyone who is starting or continuing their journey.