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Aardkat's Log


Aardkat

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Day 0 - 9/6/2018

I originally was going to start next Tuesday ( 9/11/18) but decided to push it up until tomorrow (9/7/18) because I realized I could. I cleaned out my kitchen Tuesday, made a meal plan and went shopping Wednesday. I already made some steaks and roasted some veggies (Sweet potatoes, mushrooms, and onions. Deliiiicious!) tonight because I wanted leftovers for lunch tomorrow. And I made the chimichurri sauce from the book. (Yum!)

Some initial thoughts: I'm going to go through a LOT more olive oil. And I'm nervous about all the fat. I've been counting calories for so long, and avoiding fat because it's so calorie dense, I'm scared I'm going to gain weight, but no scale for 30 days. Yeesh, I'm scared.

I'll probably end up roasting a ton of veggies. It's just so easy and convenient and DELICIOUS!!! I'll probably eat a lot of sweet potatoes. I'm nervous about getting enough carbs. I work out 6 days a week and don't intend on letting up at all.  And sweet potatoes are my favorite vegetable. I need to develop a taste for green veggies. I've got some salads planned for breakfast later in the week. Yep, salads for breakfast. It's gonna be dope. Tomorrow's gonna be scrambled eggs with some of the veggies leftover from tonight. I'm excited. Those mushrooms are exquisite bites of heaven.

I'm scared I'm in over my head. I've got my meals planned out for the week, I've got plenty of food. I'm excited. I'm terrified. Here we go!

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Day 1 - 9/7/2018

Today didn't go bad at all.

Breakfast: 2 eggs scrambled with some of the veggies leftover from last night.

Lunch: Leftover steak and veggies

Dinner: I made... a variation on the shepherd's pie recipe from the book. I was already going to alter it to have mushrooms instead of celery because celery is disgusting and anyone who likes it is insane (plus I had some mushrooms left to use up). But once I made the mashed sweet potatoes with coconut milk and ghee, I tasted it, and was struck by inspiration. The flavor was naturally sweet and reminded me of Indian food. So I decided to season the meat/veggie mixture with salt, pepper, curry powder, ginger, and a dash of cinnamon. Tasted it, needed a bit of acid, so I sniffed my vinegars to see what fit best and my nose picked red wine vinegar so I added a splash of that.  It came out freaking AMAZING.

Snacks: I had a bit of leftover steak before my workout, and a hard boiled egg and some strawberries after.

Made some mayo today for some chicken salad. Got everything prepped for tomorrow. Made a mess of the kitchen AND CLEANED IT UP! ADULTING LIKE AN ADULT, AW YEAH!

As for how I'm feeling, I feel like I've lost my bounce. Probably just because I didn't sleep well last night. I gave up caffeine a few days ago, too. I was starting to get a bit of a twitch, which was gone yesterday, so it probably was the caffeine, unfortunately.

I had a bit of a burst of energy when I saw my boyfriend, but I always feel that way around him. <3

Looking forward to tomorrow. :D

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Day 2 - 9/8/2018

Oh what a day.

I wasn't as tired. I slept like the dead last night. Energy levels were up, although I had a couple slumps around 10 AM and 3 PM. And my legs and knees were crazy sore. I think I'm not recovering from exercise as well as usual. Just did some light yoga today.

Food was pretty basic. I had a salad with mixed greens, grapes, walnuts, and chicken salad for breakfast. Lunch and dinner were just leftovers from last night. That's going to be a thing for me. I eat a lot of leftovers. I'm not made of time and energy and motivation and I don't mind eating a lot of the same thing for a few days. Snacks I had 2 boiled eggs and some strawberries. Sipping on a cup of sleepytime tea with a splash of coconut milk now.

I'm realizing I need to be cautious of habits. I still had my little cup of sweetener packets sitting on the counter and almost reached for one for my tea. After lunch yesterday I almost went for a breath mint, which I still had in my purse. Also still had some candy in my purse. Yesterday I was eyeing the samples at the store and then I realized crackers are out, even if the crab salad isn't necessarily something forbidden, depending on what they put in it. They sneak sugar in everything. I might try and make some crab salad myself some time. That sounds awesome.

The only time I had any sort of craving today was after watching the Nebraska game earlier. That was a load of bullcrap. I was angry and wanted cake. Literally the first football game I ever watched all the way through. Giving it a chance because my boyfriend likes it. I hope all the games don't suck that much. I did enjoy being able to follow it and get emotionally invested in it, though. I could see myself becoming a fan.

Got my food prepped for tomorrow. Need to boil more eggs though. Got some ideas for things to make next week.

I'm pretty excited about this so far. Not feeling anything too far from my usual fluctuations.

Still a bit anxious about not being able to weigh myself and the amount of fat I'm eating though.

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Haven't posted the last few days, but I've been trucking on.

Saturday night I dreamt I was baking cookies and eating that sweet, sweet dough.

Last night I dreamt I was eating a bunch of candy I don't even like.  Taffy and fruity junk. Yuck. Like just grabbing it off the colorful shelves of a candy store and shoving it in my mouth.

Sunday I woke up feeling really sore and achy, but the feeling passed after getting some food and water in my system. My energy was pretty stable at work. Went on a bike ride with my boyfriend. I got more tired than I normally would. I think my muscles had less energy in them or something. My legs tired out pretty quickly. Came back, stretched, ate, and then I was feeling pretty good. Chilled out and watched some football with my man. It was a good night.

That night I slept like a corpse and woke up feeling like one. Yesterday SUCKED. Everything was sore, my head was killing me, I basically resigned to misery and just waited out the hours for the day to go by. Got a nap after work and then I was feeling better.  I didn't work out yesterday. I was hungry more than usual. When I got home I was making some eggs, but I didn't want to wait for them to cook so I ate some grapes and walnuts while I waited. Worried I might have fed the sugar dragon a bit there, but still compliant so I'm ok. Just a lesson learned.  Need to keep some ready to grab food on hand. Boiled eggs, protein salad, etc.

Finished off my various leftovers. Didn't make anything too exciting and new. Love chicken salad.

Planned some things for this week. Went grocery shopping last night after napping and eating dinner. Got some tasty plans! Figured out one of my favorite recipes is already Whole30 compliant. and another one I like is pretty close to it, I could just replace the chickpeas with beef and I think it'd be pretty bomb. I feel weird adapting a recipe I found on a vegan site to include beef, but I basically change every recipe a little bit when I'm cooking anyway. I'm one of those people that improvises on the fly when cooking. Kind of like my dad. My mom will make the same thing the same way again and again, even if it's not that great and could be improved. Not dissing my mom, she's just not a very creative cook. My dad, on the other hand, will add whatever sounds good and never makes the same thing the same way twice. His meals are always creative and exciting and often full of interesting flavors my mom won't even eat.

That's the kind of cook I strive to be. Taste things, add herbs, spices, vinegar, different vegetables, mushrooms, you know, whatever tastes right.

This morning I made sweet potato hashbrowns. (Eating a lot of sweet potatoes lately, based on a misguided perception that they were better than regular potatoes as far as glycemic load and nutrients goes. But I think in the quantities I'm eating them in, in meals with plenty of healthy proteins, fats, and other vegetables, I won't see too much negative affect on my blood sugar no matter what kind of potatoes I'm eating. Maybe I should try and find some potatoes in other colors.) Shredded up a sweet potato, a bit of onion, fried it up in some ghee with salt, pepper, paprika, and garlic. Had a couple eggs sunny side up with it. A little bit of hot sauce on top. Yum!

Feeling pretty energetic and motivated today. I feel good. Today is my day off, and I got to sleep in. Going to do some food prep, some cleaning, work out, and just chill later.  I think 30 days of this isn't going to be too hard. I'm hoping the worst is behind me.

Despite the energy fluctuations, I've actually been feeling pretty alright. I haven't had any digestive issues. My stools have been a good consistency (if smaller than usual). I haven't had any tummy aches or indigestion. My belt fit on a smaller hole yesterday. Not weighing myself is today's challenge. I usually weigh myself Tuesday mornings.

Looking forward to a good day today. :)

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Day 6.  I can't believe it's already day 6.  30 are going to go by easy peasy.

Yesterday was lovely. I felt fantastic. Made a bunch of chicken soup. Shared some, froze some. Lots of soup. Super delicious. Finding this whole thing a delight. Eating lots of tasty things. Sweet things taste SO SWEET now. I had some honeydew with dinner yesterday. Oooh soooo sweet!!! Even the carrots and onions in my soup seem sweet!! The broth seems sweet!! Probably from the onions. I dunno.

Today still feeling pretty good. Woke up really hungry and thirsty but once I ate and drank it was a lovely day and I enjoyed it. Workouts have been going well, I feel like I'm recovering from them normally again. Day 4 sucked so bad then day 5 was so easy and today is great too. Hopefully the worst is behind me.

Had soup for breakfast. Salads for dinner and lunch. Cucumber slices and tuna salad after my workout. Meat & veggies! Meat & veggies! MEAT & VEGGIES!!! Also fruit & nuts on my salads because yum.

I was feeling my tummy in bed this morning. It felt flatter than it's ever felt in my life. Well, even going into this, I was at the lowest weight I've ever been as an adult. I can tell I'm probably eating less calories than before. Feeling appropriate amounts of hunger the past couple days. I don't even care what I weigh right now I feel fantastic and it's clear I'm losing fat and building muscle and getting healthier. And getting more done. And just being all around AWESOME!

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Day 7

One week down! Still feeling as good as I was the last couple days. Spent a lot of time in the kitchen today too. Made shredded beef with homemade bbq sauce. Cole slaw, and delicious roasted veggies. Super yum! Tummy is happy. I don't feel like I'm dieting. When I was counting calories I didn't eat much beef because it was higher calorie for the protein than chicken or fish. Heck, a lot of my protein came from low fat plain greek yogurt or low fat cottage cheese. I'd go through over a tub of each of those in a week.

My breakfast every day for like a month before I started this was cottage cheese and peaches. I figured protein in the morning kept me fuller longer. It worked, too. It was satiating. I don't want dairy to be bad. I love dairy. Not missing it as much as I thought I would, though.

Lunch was usually a sandwich (either turkey or tuna salad made with, you guessed it, low fat mayo) with Sara Lee's Delightful 45 calorie bread. And stone ground dijon mustard. My mustard is even whole30 compliant. Still eating the heck out of that, just putting it in chicken salad and tuna salad and dressings instead of on sandwiches. Or if I had leftovers to finish up I'd have that instead of a sandwich. Occasionally I'd have frozen meals. Rarely I'd have ramen noodles. I kept a stash in my locker at work in case I forgot to grab my lunch on the way out the door.

Sometimes I'd cook for dinner. Sometimes I'd make pancakes from a mix. It was high protein mix so obviously healthy, right? And I'd top them with fruit and greek yogurt. At least I didn't do syrup.

I'd usually have some sort of snack/4th meal after I worked out. Another pancake, sometimes. Well, most of the time. If I didn't have a pancake that day I'd have a pancake after my workout. I loved me some pancakes. Sometimes I'd just have yogurt or cottage cheese and some fruit. Or I'd make a smoothie with milk, protein powder, and frozen fruit.

So yeah, I was really anticipating missing dairy and pancakes. I'm not really missing them. I am missing the convenience of meals that don't require much prep. Chicken salad is my new pancakes. I think I want to throw together some kind of crustless quiche some time. That might be my new cottage cheese and peaches.

Breakfast today was chicken soup. Still have lots of it. Froze like half of it and still have lots in the fridge. Excellent choice for breakfast or a snack in a smaller portion.

Lunch was chicken salad over mixed baby greens with grapes and walnuts. This is my favorite salad right now. I'm thinking once I'm out of grapes I'll do some kind of salad with some other berry and have some sort of vinegar based dressing with that instead of mayo/lemon juice based. But greens + chicken salad + fruit + nuts = winning combo & easy peasy.

Had a bit of chicken salad before my workout. And a bit of soup after.

Dinner was... epic. Spent a long time in the kitchen but it was worth it. Made shredded beef, BBQ sauce, cole slaw, and roast veggies. Ran out of mayo so I made more. Chopped so many veggies... I am NOT cooking a thing tomorrow.

I had a bit of a scare earlier. I was at the store getting canned tuna, and almost all of them had soy except the store brand. The last tuna I got was from another store and I was freaking out thinking I ate soy and I'd need to start over. I didn't have any left in the cupboard so I dug the can out of the trash and phew, no soy. Thank God.

So yeah. One week down. LOTS of tasty food to eat. Feeling pretty fantastic right now. 23 more days to go!

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Day 14. Haven't posted here in a week, but still going strong.  Cooked some new things. Still love grilling and sauteing delicious vegetables. I made myself a quiche with compliant ingredients. I mean you really can't go wrong with throwing a whole buncha veggies and meat in with some eggs. Can't do a crust, but I have friends who do it without crusts all the time. Waiting for it to cool a bit before I cut it right now but I know it'll be amazing.

Not really craving things anymore. There was banana bread AND candy in the breakroom today and I didn't even feel remotely tempted. And I always loved banana bread.

Last night I dreamt I came home from work and found a basket of candy in front of my door. Not like in front of it outside but it front of it inside. Like I opened my door and BAM! basket o' candy! So I freaked out because obviously that meant someone had entered my apartment when I was gone. I looked at the candy and it looked really good. Like nice chocolates. I was tempted to eat it then I was like "Are you CRAZY!? Someone broke into your house to leave a basket of candy, what if it's poison?" And I was scared they were still there hiding in a closet or something and I was like "I do not want to get murdered by the Easter bunny."

Now that I think about it, kids think the Easter bunny and Santa both enter their house while they're asleep and leave candy and goodies. And they're not worried about them poisoning stuff. I mean if someone is going to break into a house and trespass what's stopping them from poisoning children too? OOOOH the candy IS the poison!

 

 

Anyway, things are going well. I was having less energy for my workouts up until yesterday but I think my body is starting to adapt. I think my hair is growing faster. Like it tends to grow about a half an inch a month and it seems to have grown at least an inch in the last 2 weeks. It's crazy. I wish I'd measured it. I wasn't even thinking I'd have that as an effect. My shoulders used to be stiff and sore all the time and while it's not 100% better, they are feeling a lot better. Also I'm clearly getting smaller just judging by how my clothes fit. I've got this pair of pants that fit in the waist but I don't wear them because they make my thighs feel like stuffed sausages. They're ALMOST comfortable in the thighs now. Another 2 weeks like this and they'll probably fit just fine. Also I went down a hole on my belt and that hole is starting to feel looser too.

Almost halfway there. :D Looking forward to continuing more than I'm looking forward to the end.

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20 days down.

This isn't hard at all. I thought I'd miss the foods I'm avoiding more. It doesn't even require too much thought to keep this up. I just don't eat the things I'm not supposed to. Easy. First week I was living and breathing everything Whole30. Now it's just like, yep, eating what I'm eating.

I ate a lot of salads this week. Found a couple meals I made before that are compliant or close enough to it to adapt. This is starting to feel normal and not crazy. Crustless quiche with coconut milk instead of dairy and loads of onions and mushrooms. Yum! Haven't found a compliant bacon but I've discovered prosciutto which is pretty tasty. Scrambled eggs are tasty. This is easy!

I've made a LOT of mayo. I never ate this much mayo before. Chicken salad is my staple.

I have energy again. My workouts seem to be normal difficulty again. I feel like my blood sugar is pretty stable as long as I don't eat fruit by itself. Then I get sugar cravings again.

I feel like I've lost weight. Not weighing myself is driving me crazy. I keep feeling my sides or my stomach and thinking there's less fat there.

I got through pizza day at work just fine.

 

10 more days! :D

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  • 2 weeks later...

Got through my first whole30!

Feeling amazing. Kind of scared of reintroduction. I don't want to lose this new found health of mine.  I was getting more sleep last week and feeling absolutely phenomenal. My workouts were going great. Everything is awesome.

I went from 172.5 pounds to 164.1, despite feeling like I was eating a ton of food, which takes my BMI down to 30. So still technically obese but SO CLOSE! SO CLOSE TO THAT MILESTONE! I think I'll weigh myself less frequently from here on out. It's fun seeing a big difference all at once.

Reintroduction so far is not going great. My tummy does NOT like dairy. I might try it again at a later date to see if perhaps some things it will tolerate better than others. I wonder if I could tolerate greek yogurt better.

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