MAYHEM's Whole30 Log (Apr29 - May29 2019)

[MAYHEM]

Hi, I'm MAYHEM and I'm so excited to start my first Whole30. I've decided to keep a log here, as I usually use MFP but don't want to get all agitated about the macros/calories during this month. If you want to check in with me, comment, etc. I'd be excited to have you in this thread.

It's Sunday, the day before my Monday start, and I couldn't be more excited! Yesterday I went grocery shopping, and I've been meal-prepping all day today. Today I've also eaten pretty much every possible thing NOT allowed on Whole30 (a sandwich with cheese for lunch, protein powder this morning, champagne this evening...) but I'm not feeling too rattled up about it -- all my portions are appropriate and not out of control -- I think I am just having a little "hurrah" before abstaining from all those things for 30 days. 

I ran 9 miles this morning, which was hopefully not a Huge Mistake, as I tend to feel a lot hungrier the day after a long run than I do the day-of. I just felt inspired to go a little further than originally intended (I've started Zombies, Run! which has really woken up my love of running now that the weather's nice again).  But I'm stoked for the meals I've prepped, so I feel well-prepared.

I think it would be important to have some Whole30 goals listed to come back to when I'm feeling less motivated, so here we go:

1.  I want to lose some weight, because I am vain and want to take off some vanity pounds for my wedding, which is eight weeks away. That's close! This is the perfect time for this kind of commitment.
2. I want to clear up my skin. I've been breaking out since I started running again, and especially given the wedding coming up, I would love less spots on my face. I'd love to eliminate my puffy under-eye circles.
3. I want to sleep better and not have such bad allergies. I want to rely on fewer pills -- lowering my blood pressure would be amazing.
4. I want more energy throughout the day. I want to be able to recover from running and lifting more quickly. 
5. I want to dry out from alcohol for a while and not feel stressed out about my relationship with it. I want to be able to look at food objectively and not with intense emotion behind it (like feeling panicked if I "can't have" something). (I think I just want to have a reduction in disordered eating thoughts.)
6. I want fewer intense cravings and feel more in control of my food. I want to improve being able to listen to my body and decrease me using food as a reward or comfort.
7. I want to learn more about my body and myself, and develop new awarenesses of food intolerance I didn't notice before. I am going to be as strict as possible during the month, and do the reintroduction period so I can really check in with myself to evaluate whether I really want to keep certain foods in my life anymore.

Anyway, I'll talk to ya'll tomorrow. But here are some pics of: my grocery haul from Saturday, my weekday meal prep (baked chicken, roasted brussel sprouts, a piece of compliant bacon, and a sweet potato with almond butter), and my Whole30 Spinach Frittata for tomorrow's breakfast.

[Tina Marie]

looks delish !   Good luck with your 30 !!

 

[cinco_mouser]

We are starting on the same day! Good luck to you in this endeavor. 

[MAYHEM]

3 hours ago, cinco_mouser said:

We are starting on the same day! Good luck to you in this endeavor. 

 

7 hours ago, Tina Marie said:

looks delish !   Good luck with your 30 !!

 

Thanks for the love, team! Good luck to you, too! 

[MAYHEM]

DAY ONE

Breakfast: Half the Whole30 spinach frittata, topped with about half a small avocado, with a half a Fuji apple and coffee

Lunch: Roasted and cajun-seasoned chicken breast (about 5oz), roasted brussel sprouts with a piece of bacon, a sweet potato with a little almond butter, and the other half of the Fuji apple. (Also added like a quarter of the aforementioned avocado, because i wasn't sure if there was enough fat in this meal.)

Dinner: Roasted spaghetti squash with tomato sauce with Italian-seasoned lean ground beef

Snacks: Some kombucha during the mid-afternoon (6-8oz total maybe?); after my run I had 3oz coconut water with a pinch of salt + water

Exercise: 3.3 mile run, listening to Zombies, Run!

Thoughts: Slept well and felt super great/sharp today overall -- definitely excited and nervous to get started. Was weird to eat breakfast so much earlier than I usually do, as I often don't get hungry until 9-10am -- and I don't usually eat such a BIG breakfast. My stomach didn’t love it -- wasn’t upset, but was a little uncomfortable/“oily” feeling, but that dissipated after a while. It was VERY cool that I didn’t get hungry until about 1pm (I ate lunch at 1:45pm -- not ideal, but I’d been at a work event and I had to drive home).

Had a nice little run before dinner, and am kind of snacky after dinner, which is standard for me. I was going to have some kombucha, but I think I'll just accept the craving and choose not to indulge it. It's easier to do that kind of thing when you are on a commitment like this. In retrospect, I think it would be better to have a little more fat during dinner and not quite as much at breakfast.

Oh -- I almost ate a bite of my partner's bolani as I took it out of the oven for him for his dinner. Whoops! It was a close save. I think this month will really teach me about my mindless eating habits.

Looking forward to tomorrow. It'll be a normal day at work (today I was mostly traveling and working at a short event) so I’m interested to see how my energy levels are, especially given my regular exercise.

[Cristina H]

@MAYHEM this is fantastic! It's so important to have goals/why for the program for the days that you just want to quit cooking and walk away. I love having my clients put post-it's on their fridge with a calendar of the month, the rules, and their goals, so every time you walk to the fridge it's all right there.

Look forward to hearing more about your journey, and congrats on your wedding! 

[MAYHEM]

DAY TWO

Pre-workout; Post-workout: Hard-boiled egg with some Crystal; a banana

Breakfast: Second half of Whole30 spinach frittata and coffee

Lunch: Roasted and seasoned chicken breast (about 5oz), roasted brussel sprouts with a piece of bacon, a sweet potato with a little almond butter (I think I need more veggies here)

Dinner: Half a spaghetti squash with tomato sauce with Italian-seasoned lean ground beef, remainder of avocado from yesterday

Snacks: Some kombucha after work (with a bite of my partner's apple, and like three cashews, because fats! I guess?!)

Exercise: 20-25 minutes of weight lifting, extremely brisk mile+ walk with incline on the gym treadmill (early morning). Evening ballroom dance lesson for the wedding (if that counts!)

Thoughts/Reflections: Super tired today -- I think the long run I did two days ago caught up to me. I did weights OK at the gym (so glad the hardboiled egg didn’t upset my stomach, I usually work out fasted in the early morning) but my attempt at a two mile run was laughable and Did Not Happen. Definitely was missing my semi-regular midday diet Dr. Pepper. At first I thought I was hungry, but I really wasn't -- just tired! Love the Whole30 spaghetti squash with tomato sauce and ground beef. That's a solid recipe. Not sure if I am overeating, because I'm essentially having half a spaghetti squash and half a pound of meat in each serving -- it's pretty volume-intense, but I finished it each time. If anyone uses that spaghetti squash recipe -- is that wayyyy too much food?

I feel like I'm eating A LOT. Not logging calories is scary. I'm still doing the math in my head a lot. It's hard to trust my body when (to be honest) I REALLY want to see results in losing weight and/or body recomposition. Does anyone else have this problem? How do you deal with it? Or how do you help yourself trust the process?

Ending the day feeling good (and tired) and confident (AND TIRED)! See you all tomorrow.

[cinco_mouser]

13 hours ago, MAYHEM said:

 Evening ballroom dance lesson for the wedding (if that counts!)

I feel like I'm eating A LOT. Not logging calories is scary. I'm still doing the math in my head a lot. It's hard to trust my body when (to be honest) I REALLY want to see results in losing weight and/or body recomposition. Does anyone else have this problem? How do you deal with it? Or how do you help yourself trust the process?

Oh, that totally counts. 

I'm on day 3 of Whole30, but was an avid tracker of calories before. I'm choosing to trust the process, but it is not easy. The first day I was famished; the second day I couldn't finish any of the assigned meals. I'm assuming that this disparity is caused by the removal of sugar and mitigation of carbs, which causes a different energy profile? Hopefully there's a stabilizing effect after a few more days.

Good luck!

 

[Laurie's All In]

Mayhem, what's Crystal? 

I'm super jealous of your dance lessons! I convinced my now  husband to take dance lessons before our wedding and then I broke my ankle. When I got out the cast the moment had passed and I never got him to go.  I, to this day, tell him he owes me dance lessons.  We're going on 18 years. 

[MAYHEM]

15 minutes ago, cinco_mouser said:

Oh, that totally counts. 

I'm on day 3 of Whole30, but was an avid tracker of calories before. I'm choosing to trust the process, but it is not easy. The first day I was famished; the second day I couldn't finish any of the assigned meals. I'm assuming that this disparity is caused by the removal of sugar and mitigation of carbs, which causes a different energy profile? Hopefully there's a stabilizing effect after a few more days.

Good luck!

 

I almost always finish a meal, which makes me nervous about overeating during this process where it just seems like there is so much food. But even though I'm having those feelings right now, I hope that this process will help me to learn to listen more effectively to my body cues -- how to know when I'm properly full and should stop eating, etc.

Day Three as well and starting out the day SO tired again. I am looking forward to feeling more stabilized too!

1 minute ago, Laurie's All In said:

Mayhem, what's Crystal? 

I'm super jealous of your dance lessons! I convinced my now  husband to take dance lessons before our wedding and then I broke my ankle. When I got out the cast the moment had passed and I never got him to go.  I, to this day, tell him he owes me dance lessons.  We're going on 18 years. 

Crystal is a delicious hot sauce -- very vinegary. I love hot sauce and since none of the mustard in my fridge are Whole30 compliant, that's what I'm using on my hard-boiled eggs (for now).

Oh noooo that is such a bummer! Maybe you can ask for lessons as a birthday or holiday present.  It was hard to convince my partner to go at first (he is pretty self-conscious) but he has enjoyed both the lessons that we have done so far! Yesterday I slipped on the dance floor twice and saw my death both times.  No injuries yet but I am going to have to be careful! 

[Laurie's All In]

Ah! Not a hot saucy person so I'll pass on any more Cyrstal info. lol Makes me think I need to check my mustards though. 

I've been asking for 18 years for dance lessons, no go so far. I missed my window, I'll just have to live vicariously through you. Minus the death defying slips! Be careful!

[MAYHEM]

53 minutes ago, Laurie's All In said:

Ah! Not a hot saucy person so I'll pass on any more Cyrstal info. lol Makes me think I need to check my mustards though. 

I've been asking for 18 years for dance lessons, no go so far. I missed my window, I'll just have to live vicariously through you. Minus the death defying slips! Be careful!

Watch out for white wine in mustard! RIP me when I realized I couldn't have either of the dijons on my fridge shelf. 

[Laurie's All In]

18 minutes ago, MAYHEM said:

Watch out for white wine in mustard! RIP me when I realized I couldn't have either of the dijons on my fridge shelf. 

Dang! You're right! No Dijon for me but I still got good ol' yellow and spicy brown. I'd already figured out that Honey Mustard was out. 

[MAYHEM]

DAY THREE

Breakfast: Two eggs scrambled in avocado oil with sautéed tomato, green and red bell peppers, and a Bilinski's cilantro-lime sausage; also a pear. (First time having a Bilinski’s sausage. Verdict: Yes, it's Whole30 compliant, but at the cost of smelling low-key like rancid fish when it's cooking. Made me not reheat this in the office microwave, because I’m not subjecting anyone else to that.)

Lunch: Roasted and seasoned chicken breast (about 5oz), roasted brussels sprouts with a piece of bacon, a sweet potato with a little almond butter (slightly more than first two days), and a carrot

Dinner: Massive salad -- head of romaine lettuce, topped with a mixture of sautéed red and green bell peppers and onions, half pound of ground turkey, half a small avocado, a sunny-side-up egg, and salsa. Sprinkled with Primal Kitchen ranch.

Snacks: Kombucha (~8oz)

Exercise: Active rest day -- walked to and from work (as usual, it's about a mile and a half each way) and took about a 45 min walk around campus at lunchtime

Thoughts/Reflections: I am still pretty tired. Hope my Whole30 journey is similar to the general timeline in that this is the last day that I’m feeling “The Hangover” (though, then I’d like to progress immediately on to Tiger Blood Feels, please). I did not feel hungry at work today, so I think adding the carrot and almond butter to my lunch was a good idea.

Am feeling kind of “eek!” about that dinner. That was like… a lot of fat. I probably could have stopped eating a little earlier than I did, but I feel comfortable post-meal. I think I am probably eating more than I need to (especially considering that I want to lose some weight) but I am also aware that in order for this to be sustained for thirty days, the first week needs to feel like a great success. But I recognize that my understanding of food, and how much is too much, is a little skewed... like, last night felt like a huge dinner, and by the time I went to bed my stomach had started growling, which sounds like it was probably the perfect amount of food? Ughhhhh!  In reality I understand that I am trying to rush results, and I should not do that. I will not necessarily get the results I want in only 30 days and I shouldn’t expect it. I need a fuller amount of time to really see what is going to work for me. It’s a marathon, not a sprint. 

(Yooooo I can feel the “kill all the things” vibe coming on as my partner tries to make light conversation with me. As long as I don’t feel this tired anymore, man... I'll take it.)

Oh, enclosed please find a picture of my breakfast I posted on Instagram. Wheeeee!

[Laurie's All In]

Looks like a great day!! Dinner sounds yummy! I'll have to do for one of mine. 

Laughing about your Kill All Things comment. I've warned my family. Mine should hit this weekend, when my family is all around me. Ugh. Poor planning. My husband is racing on Saturday, so that will be fun. He may go faster just to get away from me!

[MAYHEM]

2 hours ago, Laurie's All In said:

Looks like a great day!! Dinner sounds yummy! I'll have to do for one of mine. 

Laughing about your Kill All Things comment. I've warned my family. Mine should hit this weekend, when my family is all around me. Ugh. Poor planning. My husband is racing on Saturday, so that will be fun. He may go faster just to get away from me!

It was a pretty great day! And a huge dinner salad is always a great, easy option. This one felt very much like a "taco salad" due to the seasoning I used for the turkey as well as the sauteed veggies+avocado, and I didn't miss the usual beans I would have added because I just, like, ate half a pound of ground turkey, hahaha. 

Good luck to your husband in his race! What kind of race is it? 

[Laurie's All In]

4 hours ago, MAYHEM said:

It was a pretty great day! And a huge dinner salad is always a great, easy option. This one felt very much like a "taco salad" due to the seasoning I used for the turkey as well as the sauteed veggies+avocado, and I didn't miss the usual beans I would have added because I just, like, ate half a pound of ground turkey, hahaha. 

Good luck to your husband in his race! What kind of race is it? 

We had a big salad last night too. I almost always have one for lunch so I'm hoping not to double up too much on that these next 30 days so I don't burn myself out. 

Thanks! It's a mountain bike race. 

[MAYHEM]

DAY FOUR

Breakfast:  Three eggs scrambled in avocado oil with a zucchini and leftover sautéed turkey, onion, and green and red bell peppers, and a Bilinski's cilantro-lime sausage (look, I paid for them, I’m going to eat them even if they smell like garbage)

Lunch:  Roasted and seasoned chicken breast (about 5oz), roasted brussels sprouts with a piece of bacon, a couple bites of sweet potato with a little almond butter, a carrot (I couldn’t eat all the potato I’d packed)

Dinner: Chicken breast (10ozish), roasted broccoli (6oz or so), half a small avocado, a few olives

Snacks: Several cashews, a pear, a few olives

Exercise: I forgot my gym bag so I just took a 45 min walk around campus at lunch 

Thoughts/Reflections: Definitely not as tired today, and strangely also not as hungry! Maybe it was the big breakfast, but I wasn’t able to finish my lunch (I ended up not having most of my sweet potato). I was also drinking SO much water because I gave blood this afternoon (no compliant treats at the donation site, sadly), so maybe that had something to do with it. I know I should be in the “Kill All the Things” stage, but I’m actually in a pretty good mood (though I was pretty low-attention-spanny this afternoon at work). Super snacky this evening so I’m currently having a pear with a couple cashews -- I do feel like I’m enabling my sweet tooth a little bit, but I’m gonna cut myself a little slack because I both gave blood today and didn’t have many carbs today.

[Laurie's All In]

Sounds like a good day! Great job still getting in some activity even with forgetting your gym bag. 

Olives! Must remember I can eat olives! 

I'm impressed that you gave blood! I used to donate regularly but as I've been more and more fatigued with what I now know is my thyroid (or I guess my adrenal glands) I've held off donating. Donating I've learned over the years doesn't really affect me, except when I'm training. I always refer to it as anti-doping for the week and then I'm back to full strength. But since I haven't been full strength to begin with for a while I've been hesitant to try it. Looking forward to getting back to that along with everything else. 

[MAYHEM]

4 hours ago, Laurie's All In said:

Olives! Must remember I can eat olives! 

I'm impressed that you gave blood! I used to donate regularly but as I've been more and more fatigued with what I now know is my thyroid (or I guess my adrenal glands) I've held off donating. Donating I've learned over the years doesn't really affect me, except when I'm training. I always refer to it as anti-doping for the week and then I'm back to full strength. But since I haven't been full strength to begin with for a while I've been hesitant to try it. Looking forward to getting back to that along with everything else. 

Olives rule! I never really eat them, but now that I'm eating more fat during Whole30 I've found that they are a good source and am incorporating them more.

Donating blood is super important to me. Not being able to donate several years ago because of super high blood pressure was actually a catalyst moment for me deciding to lose weight and make a lifestyle change to become more healthy/focused on fitness. I've had some discouraging moments but was so ecstatic that I could donate double red yesterday (where they take two units of red blood cells and give you back all the plasma and platelets). Might be an interesting experiment to try later on in your Whole30!  (EDIT: Just found your log!  I am seeing that you are also dealing with other issues as you do your Whole30, though, which sounds (rightfully) like your priority. No blood donation is OK if you are already feeling 4 pints short. )

[MAYHEM]

DAY FIVE

Pre-workout: Hard-boiled egg (can’t recommend the pre-hardboiled ones from Whole Foods, ya’ll, they ain’t it)

Breakfast: Gross sausage (there is ONE LEFT), two hardboiled eggs with some Trader Joe’s Everything Seasoning on them (they became Tolerable), half a carrot, half a cucumber, a pear, some cashews

Lunch: Chicken (10ozish), broccoli, half an avocado, half a carrot, half a cucumber, olives

Dinner: Eggroll in a bowl!!! (See pic.)

Snacks: Two GTS kombuchas (oops), apple, a couple cashews, a handful of frozen berries because I was feeling snacky right when I got home from work and it's Friday :/

Exercise: About 25 min of weight training, a 30 min brisk walk on the treadmill (worn out from donating blood maybe)

NSV: I went to my first therapy appointment today for the first time since I moved. It went OK. I was honest and frank but I always feel like I’m coming out of the gate hard and if someone doesn’t meet me on my energy level… ehhh, I don’t know. I’m not sure it’ll be a good fit yet but I’m gonna try again next week. I am aware that my approach to therapy might not necessarily make finding a therapist that resonates with me super easy. Ugh. Still did it though!

Thoughts/Reflections: YO I got the BEST night of sleep last night, I hadn’t taken anything to help my sleep (which I often do) but I slept super soundly. Potentially a result of the double-blood donation yesterday -- also feeling weaker today during my workout, haha. I know I should be in Kill All The Things mode, but I am still in a very good mood. Feeling optimistic and upbeat and pretty energetic! Total inverse of earlier this week, haha.

Today is Friday, which is a big first nerve-wracking milestone, because I typically am pretty good about eating well during the week but absolutely launch into culinary debauchery during the weekends. Well, I had a very successful first Friday on Whole30! I went to Whole Foods after work and got everything I needed to make the infamous Eggroll in a Bowl recipe, and YA’LL. TEAM. It was SO GOOD. It didn’t take much time to make, just be sure you start with an enormous wok because the slaw takes up a lot of space, haha. I mixed coleslaw and broccoli slaw for fun. The only compliant chili garlic sauce I could find was extremely spicy, but I was lucky in that my eyeballing was perfect! I will probably continue making this recipe even once I finish with Whole30 -- it was excellent. You didn’t miss rice or anything like that. Very filling. I will be making this one again -- maybe with chicken thighs next time!  Peep the Masterchef-level plating below.

PS: I read somewhere that someone subbed out their regular wine/beer habit for pouring kombucha into a fancy glass and enjoying it that way. LOVE IT. I can tell it's going to be my Whole30 weekend ritual. 

PPS: My fiance has discovered he really likes kombucha, even though he hates the marketing for it lmaoooo

[Laurie's All In]

Great day 5!!

Try Costco Hardboiled Eggs. My husband's been eating them for years - grabs one and a bagel (which is often forgets and leaves in the toaster) on his way out the door in the morning.  I've had them, made deviled eggs with them (which I plan to do do because I can make them W30) and I think they're good, and they're pre-peeled. 

Adding Eggroll in Bowl to my list for next week - looks delish! Wok comment makes me kinda remember that I was going to buy a new one. I think mine broke, at least the plastic on the temperature slide did and it got super hot and that wok is like 25 years old. Must look! Could be fun to shop for something since food is no fun, and clothes haven't been fun for a long time. 

There's a brewery here that brews Kombucha and it's the only that I like. Back when I had a coach (didn't make sense to keep paying a coach when my body is fighting against me) we were at the brewery with a few girls from my team and I just brought in my water bottle because I'm not much of a beer drinker. She asks if I like Kombucha and I'm like no. I'd tried it as samples in Costco and Whole Foods and no thank you. She handed me her glass, which I'd thought was beer. I take a sip and I was HOOKED. I crave that stuff. Thankfully the brewery isn't next door, but I am tempted to take my husbands growler in there and have them fill it up. 

Keep looking until you find that right therapist. It they ain't right, it's not worth your time and money. 

Blood Donation will come back. I haven't ever done the double but I'm what they call a baby donor. I have something, or I don't have something, in my blood RSV or something, I don't remember, But I guess most people aren't the same as me some virus that almost everyone gets which we fight off and never know we have it. But I never got it I guess. But they give that blood to newborn babies and immune compromised folks. Which makes me wonder if now that I have an auto-immune disease am I still. Himmm. 

[MAYHEM]

DAY SIX

Breakfast: Half a banana and some cashews, cold brew

Lunch: Leftover eggroll in a bowl with a fried egg on top and an apple

Dinner: Ribeye steak, roasted brussel sprouts, baked potato, a La Croix with some frozen blueberries in it (check that below omg it was so good)

Snacks: Cashews, kombucha (my fiance and I are going to work our way through the GTS brand, hahaha), a bite of the coconut cream pie Lara bar (my fiance E took one for a snack so I demanded a bite, because that’s mine! It was REALLY GOOD, haha)

Exercise: Oops, not in the cards for today! This has been a low-intensity week for exercise, haha. On my feet a lot today, anyway.

Thoughts/Reflections: Another amazing night of sleep. My fiance E and I walked to get some coffee and picked up a few groceries, including some huge steaks for dinner. Did not actually have much for breakfast, oops, but I figured I was going to have a pretty big lunch and it was totally fine. I also bought every single compliant Lara bar I found at Safeway, and put one in my purse, because I had to work at a college fair in the afternoon from about noon to 4:30 and was worried about getting hungry. Didn’t need to worry about that -- the high fat diet that I’m eating lately is keeping me super full for a super long time, but I did feel really weak and tired by the time I got home. But oh mannnn I made such a huge massive dinner -- steaks and baked potato (with ghee, salt, and salsa for me) and roasted brussels sprouts, yumm. Neither E nor I could finish such a massive portion, so we saved a bunch of potato and steak for an awesome hash tomorrow.  

Not too much to report for today, but this Saturday is so much healthier than my Saturdays usually are -- I can’t even believe it. Usually I am having tons of beer, and then we go out to a restaurant to get some huge-portioned meal, ice cream, etc. I made a huge dinner at home, but I didn’t eat all of it -- such a significantly better choice. It makes me really happy to know that my Whole30 is helpful not only for me, but for my fiance, too. I am feeling very relaxed with our day and don't feel any kind of FOMO. Have been feeling consistent optimism these last few days.

I will be on my own for five days next week because my fiance is going out of town… I'm pretty nervous. I historically have not made great choices when I have been on my own... it is something I struggle with... Any advice? I want to make a meal plan to keep me occupied, so if you have any fave recipes, hook me up!

[MAYHEM]

15 hours ago, Laurie's All In said:

There's a brewery here that brews Kombucha and it's the only that I like.

Oh my gosh, now that you mention it we we have a bunch of breweries that also have kombucha... that could be a fun alternative if I end up at a brewery while on my Whole30! Yum. We have a local grocery store where we can get a bunch of options on draft, so that's fun.

15 hours ago, Laurie's All In said:

Adding Eggroll in Bowl to my list for next week - looks delish!

It is AWESOME, even if it were to be the only thing you made in a wok, it would be well worth it!!

[Laurie's All In]

10 hours ago, MAYHEM said:

this Saturday is so much healthier than my Saturdays usually are -- I can’t even believe it

I can COMPLETELY relate!

 

10 hours ago, MAYHEM said:

I historically have not made great choices when I have been on my own... it is something I struggle with... Any advice? I want to make a meal plan to keep me occupied, so if you have any fave recipes, hook me up!

I relate to this as well, My husband travels quite a bit for work and when it's just my daughter and I I slack off and it's kinda anything goes. I've worked lately at being better and bought some "cooking for two" cookbooks which are no help now, lol. I would say make a plan is a great idea. There's some recipes I've seen that are like make this big protein and use it for several different meals. I would say don't plan on cooking much, because when it's just for you it kinda feels like "what's the point", at least that's how I feel. Maybe even simple stuff like compliant turkey sandwich meat in a lettuce wrap, rotisserie chicken on a salad with compliant dressing. And I'd say make a commit me to me and/or your supportive friends/fiance that you can make it through the week. Reward?  A brewery with Kombucha!

BTW, my husband and I went out yesterday afternoon after his race to the brewery I talked about I got my Kombucha, he had a beer. It was packed in there, 2 food trucks, beautiful day and I felt like a was a normal person doing a normal thing....which I have not for the past 4 days.