Whole30 in May 2019

[AlisonMarie]

Hello! 

I'm new to Whole 30 and starting today. 

I had 2 sunny side up eggs (fried on a nonstick pan), 1/2 a baked sweet potato, tabasco, and coffee for breakfast.

I'm not hungry for lunch yet - but I've packed a big salad with baby lettuce, carrot, cucumber, 1/2 avacado, tomato & mushroom and a can of tuna for lunch with an apple. I've got a compliant meat bar and lara bar stashed in my desk at work. 

I've got 3 dinners planned that will work for me and I think I'm set for breakfast and lunch for the rest of the week as well. 

I'm worried about traveling in a couple weeks to visit a friend - and how to approach telling them. I don't want to be a pain as a guest - but I want to stay on the program.

 

[Pandora Black]

Hey just FYI but they say on here a serving of eggs for your protein source is supposed to be how many you can hold in your hand. For me that’s FOUR. I’m just telling you in case you find two isn’t enough and you’re still hungry.

[AlisonMarie]

Thanks for the note about the eggs! I had no idea that 2 eggs wouldn't be a "palm sized" serving! 

I had potato, carrot and onion hash with canned salmon and fried eggs for dinner. 

I'm feeling great and not hungry. I successfully avoided the snacks at a meeting this afternoon. 

Tomorrow for breakfast I'll have leftover hash, for lunch I'll have a salad with either tuna or hard-boiled egg, and for dinner I'm going to have fajita-style beef, stir fried onions and peppers and cauliflower rice.

[Pandora Black]

Yeah I didn’t know either, I just stumbled on a thread about it.

Sounds like you had a good day.

[AlisonMarie]

Friday was fine - I had my first pre-and post workout meals.

I had hashbrowns and eggs for breakfast with coffee

For lunch I had leftover slow cooker sweet potato chili - https://therealfoodrds.com/slow-cooker-sweet-potato-chili/ loved this - we had it on Thursday 

I had a pre-workout snack of a handful of pistachios. Post workout I had an epic bar and a banana

For dinner I made cauliflower rice, and stir fried onions and peppers and steak (fajita style) with avacado and salsa 

 

Saturday - I had sweet potato mush and scrambled eggs with salsa and coffee for breakfast

Lunch was a salad with cucumber, tomato, and "Mediterranean style" sardines, with olive oil and lemon juice and a side of beets and walnuts. 

I just had a snack of a few pistachios (I've been busy painting my sons' room and running around all day!)

For dinner I'm going to make a roast chicken, roast brussel sprouts and  carrots, and roast sweet potatoes. 

Did a shop for the whole week this morning - but I have time to go again mid-week if I need to.  It's a little difficult to guess on the quantities right now - my kids and husband are not on whole30 - so I'm trying to plan dinners that they'll eat (with added pasta/bread for them sometimes) or meals we usually make that I can pull a serving or two out for me before adding the tofu/cheese/rice/pasta.  It was a little hard to be at the grocery and buy things I like, but won't be eating. 

[Laurie's All In]

On 5/4/2019 at 2:57 PM, AlisonMarie said:

my kids and husband are not on whole30 - so I'm trying to plan dinners that they'll eat (with added pasta/bread for them sometimes) or meals we usually make that I can pull a serving or two out for me before adding the tofu/cheese/rice/pasta.  It was a little hard to be at the grocery and buy things I like, but won't be eating. 

You're nicer than I am. At home my husband and kid eat what I cook, which is W30. I do buy things for them that won't tempt me and I don't care about. My husbands bagels and yogurt mostly.  

[cinco_mouser]

On 5/4/2019 at 2:57 PM, AlisonMarie said:

Did a shop for the whole week this morning - but I have time to go again mid-week if I need to.  It's a little difficult to guess on the quantities right now - my kids and husband are not on whole30 - so I'm trying to plan dinners that they'll eat (with added pasta/bread for them sometimes) or meals we usually make that I can pull a serving or two out for me before adding the tofu/cheese/rice/pasta.  It was a little hard to be at the grocery and buy things I like, but won't be eating. 

I have the benefit of teenagers, so they can eat what I cook or they can prepare their own meals. I don't know that I'd survive this process if I had to cater to the whims of the kids. Good for you for giving it a try!

[AlisonMarie]

Hmm.  I am actually hoping that a soft touch will get my husband on board.  I was talking up how much I enjoy my meals this morning. If he was on board, then we could just have a whole30 dinner and I wouldn't worry about the kids.  There's a lot that they like (esp. meat) and they will eat many vegetables. They are 6 and 9 and we have a policy that if they don't like the dinner they need to taste it for 3 bites and then they can make themselves an omelet or a peanut butter sandwich.  (6 year old needs help with the cooking, but the 9 year old can do it).  The hang up is really just that hubby wants grains with most meals (or potato) and kids favorite foods are tofu and cheese.

 

Meanwhile -

Sunday I had chia pudding https://www.lakeshorelady.com/whole30-chia-seed-pudding/ with cherries, almond butter and coconut, plus leftover sweet potato and leftover chicken for breakfast. For lunch I had left over chili and avacado plus an apple. I had a few pistachios as a snack. For dinner I had chicken meatballs (I added carrot and celery to the recipe in the whole30 book), pesto (whole30 book)- but 3c spinach and 1 c. basil, and roast spaghetti squash - and I made regular pasta for hubby& kids.  I also had an evening snack of a couple of prunes and some walnuts.  The snacks are starting to creep in - I know I'm going to have to work hard to not have snacks regularly. I suppose it's an incentive to work out more to get the pre/post workout meal/snacks. 

 

This morning I had leftover cauliflower rice, leftover stir-fried peppers and onions, 1/2 avacado, 2 soft-boiled eggs - all with hotsauce -  and coffee.  It was really good and I was happy to eat it and happy to put together lunch - which is:

Salad with salad greens, spinach, leftover roasted brussel sprouts & carrots, canned beets, leftover roast chicken,  lime juice vinagarette dressing. with a side of chia pudding with cherries, almond butter and coconut. 

Supper plan is that hubby will cook a family favorite - Mapo tofu & rice.  He'll pull out a serving of before adding tofu/soy for me - so this will be garlic, ground pork, green beans, schewan pepper.  I think I'll add some chicken stock to that and eat as a soup and have the leftover spaghetti squash & pesto as a side. Then I think I'm caught up on my leftovers (except a couple of baked sweet potatos).  Planning a whole30 compliant crockpot beef stew (w/carrots and potatos) for tues. 

Overall I'm doing great - and happy. Just need to avoid the snacks. It'll be easier at work than at home!

 

 

[Laurie's All In]

23 hours ago, AlisonMarie said:

I suppose it's an incentive to work out more to get the pre/post workout meal/snacks. 

That's what I keep telling myself!

[AlisonMarie]

Last night hubby cooked cabbage and chorizo (not mapo) and took out a serving for me before adding the beans for him and the kids.

I had that plus some blueberries and pistachios.  Then I had a snack of a couple prunes and a few walnuts. Then I decided I was still hungry and had some leftover roast chicken with pesto (maybe 1/2-3/4 serving of protein).  I'm still struggling with if I want an evening snack because I'm used to and evening snack or I want and evening snack because I'm still hungry. I guess this is going to be a slow process for me to figure out the snacks.

This morning I had sweet potato and scrambled eggs with avocado and salsa and coffee. 

For lunch I've got leftover spaghetti squash, a can of pink salmon, pesto, an apple and some almond butter.

For dinner I've got a slow-cooker beef stew with potato, carrot, mushroom, celery and onion going. 

I've got a social eating challenge this afternoon.  My students are giving their final presentations and I promised to bring them snacks. They want chips and salsa.  I think I will get chips, salsa, guacamole and baby carrots.  If I can find compliant store-made guac (not sure if this is hard or not), then I can also have carrots and guac. If not, I have to not snack for 3 hours while they do.  

This brings up the part of this that I find most challenging - how to eat in company.  I struggle with feeling like I'm being a pain/weird and I don't want to talk about my diet with lots of people - I'm just a private person.

I'm going to a conference on the 17th - so flying across the country, staying with a childhood friend and her family for the weekend, then 4 days at a conference with the food provided there.  I'm anxious about talking to my friend about what I do/don't eat and really anxious about how I can eat at the conference.  I think the hotel is the same as I've stayed at before - and it has a grocery next door - so I guess I will pack my own food from there. But I don't really want to talk to all these people I don't know well about my diet and I don't want to miss the socializing at lunch. I want to be able to network and talk about science without standing out for being difficult or needy. AAARGH... 

I want to also take the time to acknowledge that there are a lot of things that make this easier for me than it could be - I want to focus on them to stay encouraged.

Whole30 is easy for me because I know how to cook veggies/meat from scratch, I'm used to cooking most meals at home, I'm used to meal planning, I'm used to packing my lunch, I am not a soda drinker, I have a job that allows me to be flexible and take an extra 15 minutes in the morning to pack lunch or wash extra breakfast dishes or start a slow-cooker meal, I have a husband who is supportive and willing to adjust his cooking (and can remember all the rules), I was previously eating grass-fed meat, pasture raised eggs, some organic produce - so I know where to buy it and am not shocked by the price, I'm financially secure and can afford to spend more on groceries, and I'm a positive person.

 

 

[AlisonMarie]

Beef stew was great. I still had a snack in the evening, though. First I had walnuts and a few prunes, then I had 1/2 avocado.

I do think I still have a snack habit late in the day - and I guess I should change up what I'm doing - not watching TV but maybe sewing or reading or something else before I go to bed. 

Breakfast was hashbrowns, 2 eggs, spinach and coffee.

Lunch will be spinach & "super greens" salad with beets, cucumber, green onion, tomato, and a can of tuna with a side of chia pudding with blueberries, coconut and almond butter.

Dinner - I think that hubby will do the Mapo tonight - so I may have a Mapo soup (less tofu and soysauce) and some leftover beef stew. Perhaps adding a banana or apple with almond butter. 

My goal for tonight is to avoid snacking after dinner. I need to finish sewing some curtain tie-backs - so I will plan to do that when the kids go to bed instead of watching TV to break the association with when I usually have a pre-bed snack.

[Pandora Black]

Not snacking after dinner is so hard for me! I go to bed super late so even if I eat dinner at 8 p.m. I often am hungry by 12 a.m.

[AlisonMarie]

Didn't make it without the snack...

I ended up snacking on pistachios before dinner AND 1/4 avocado and some walnuts after dinner.  I think it's more than 50% habit (I also didn't sew but plopped in front of the TV).  But I also think I'm not eating quite as much fat as is in the plan - so looking for how to do that.  I don't love coconut or mayo or ghee.  

[AlisonMarie]

Breakfast was a sweet potato with ghee and two soft-boiled eggs and coffee.

Lunch is going to be a salad with spinach, super greens, avocado, radish, cucumber, green onion, tomato and a can of tuna. Also a side of chia pudding with blueberries, coconut and almond butter.

I'm planning to make a breakfast egg bake for dinner - https://40aprons.com/whole30-breakfast-bake-sausage-eggs/#wprm-recipe-container-10044

I'm using compliant sausage I bought rather than making my own. 

I'm thinking that I might want a side as well (maybe hashbrowns? or I have some cauliflower rice in the freezer from the cauliflower I wizzed last week).

Tomorrow will get a little interesting - I'm out of sweet potatoes, and out of salad - so perhaps I will go to the grocery store tonight.  Tomorrow night is a school carnival for the kids - so they'll be eating there and I'll need to do something on my own that's fast and/or portable.  I do have one more serving of beef stew (if hubby didn't take for lunch today).... So - supermarket is looking like my destination tonight.

 

[AlisonMarie]

I forgot my tuna yesterday - so I ended up snacking on a lara bar at work. 

For dinner we had the casserole plus some hashbrowns and some baked butternut squash with ghee. 

For breakfast I had the egg casserole and coffee

For lunch I've got egg casserole and a side of butternut squash with ghee.

For dinner I will eat left over beef stew before the carnival and the family will eat there.

 

I'm feeling grounchy and I had a headache yesterday - these are the first negatives of whole30 (if they're even related) that I've had except some gassiness on a day when I had cauliflower, brussel sprouts and cabbage all in one day.

 

So - I guess that's good. It's day 10 which is supposed to be the hardest.

 

[Laurie's All In]

I was definitely grouchy yesterday (day 9) and have had a headache for the past couple of days. I'm not a huge water drinker, so I'm wondering if it's more dehydration. 

[AlisonMarie]

So - Friday was fine - the carnival went well and I didn't feel tempted by the food (although everyone enjoyed the tamales and they did smell good!)

Saturday  I had leftover sausage and mushrooms and butternut squash for breakfast, for lunch I don't remember what I had. For dinner I had broccoli, chicken with ground brazil nuts (I invented this "recipe"), and leftover butternut squash - hubby was at a party and one kid was at a different party. 

Sunday my hubby and kids cooked me breakfast - eggs, compliant bacon, hashbrowns cooked in olive oil, strawberries and coffee. It was wonderful. For lunch I had leftover egg&sausage bake, for dinner I had brussel sprouts, sweet potato, and chicken, onion and ginger stir fry. 

I had a snack of dried figs and some leftover chicken in the evening

Bringing us to Monday:

I had 2 eggs, sweet potato with ghee and avocado for breakfast with coffee

for lunch I have leftover chicken, broccoli, brussel sprouts and an apple.

For dinner, I think we'll have salmon and sweet potato curry (made with coconut milk) and cauliflower rice.

Still going well - I had a dream about eating candy last night, but otherwise I'm doing fine.

[AlisonMarie]

Trying to drink more water as suggested -- I think it will help with headaches! 

I got a mirena IUD yesterday afternoon - this is a first for me and I'm feeling some side effects today/last night - mostly headache and some nausea. I hope that this will work for me because I don't want another baby and my husband is somewhat resistant to getting a vasectomy. 

I had spaghetti squash with tomato, mushroom and ground beef sauce for dinner last night and also a banana with almond butter and then some seaweed and then some walnuts and dried figs (it was out of control snacking for sure).  I will avoid snacks today (fingers crossed).

For breakfast I had hash brown potato and leftover spaghetti squash and 3 fried eggs and coffee.

For lunch I have a chicken salad made of a can of chicken, homemade mayo, celery and walnuts, with a bed of baby spinach & arugula, avocado, baby tomatoes, and radish. I also brought a can of "fuzzy water" (LaCroix knock-off) as a treat for drinking.

Dinner will be the salmon & sweet potato coconut curry, I think.

 

 

[Pandora Black]

I have a similar IUD (Liletta) and I love it! My doctor suggested it to treat my PCOS. I haven’t had any problems. The headache and nausea may be unrelated. Usually people don’t experience many side effects as the hormones are limited to your uterus where they’re needed versus being in your bloodstream like the pill.

[AlisonMarie]

Dinner yesterday was actually: mashed sweet potato, pan fried tilapia, raw cabbage, sauteed onions, tomatoes, avocados, salsa - it was great!

I did have a small snack after dinner (a few olives, 2 dried figs, and a few walnuts) - but really, I didn't need this.

I'm feeling  a bit better today - still slightly nauseous this morning, but more energy and no headache. Keeping up with drinking lots of water.

I've touched base with my friend I'm staying with on Sat-Mon and she can accommodate the diet with out too much trouble, so that's a relief. 

Breakfast was hash brown potato, leftover sauteed onion, arugula, 3 fried eggs and coffee and it was maybe the best breakfast yet.

Lunch will be leftover chicken, onion and pea vine stirfry, with a side of raw celery and tomatoes and a few Brazil nuts for fat. 

Dinner - probably stir fried beef and zucchini noodles (that'll be a first for me making those - if I don't have time, it'll just be sauteed zucchini & garlic, cause I know I can do that)

My goal is to have enough energy to do some chores/cleaning tonight after dinner to avoid snacking.

[AlisonMarie]

Hmm. So dinner last night was steak, grilled potato, salad and mayo.  I also had a snack of some walnuts and dried figs after dinner. Really can't kick that.

Had hash browns, grilled onion, arugula and eggs with coffee for breakfast.

Lunch is salmon salad (salmon, celery, mayo) over spinach with radish, tomato, cucumber and an apple. 

Dinner will probably be this salmon curry, but who knows - seems like my plans for dinner keep changing.

I was tired last night, but because of a long day at work rather than physical stuff, I think. Anyway, hopefully today will be better.

 

[AlisonMarie]

Dinner was a strange hash I made up of shredded zucchini, shredded carrot, and shredded apple with sausage.  

I didn't have a snack after dinner! 

Breakfast was leftover dinner, lunch was spinach, arugula, tomato, cucumber, radish, green onion, avocado, olive salad with olive oil and lemon juice and 2 hard boiled eggs. 

Dinner will be this curry that never gets cooked. 

Getting ready for travel tomorrow - I think I've got a workable plan except for the banquet night - still need to figure out what to do then.

[AlisonMarie]

I haven't been keeping up with this log, but now I'm almost done.

I think that I do have more energy and that exercise is easier, but I'm not really feeling like it's totally changed my life. 

I have learned to eat more veggies and I do hope to carry that forward.  It'll be interesting to see what the reintroduction is like.

 

[doubledee]

Congrats on (almost!) making it through. I think the "it's totally changed my life" hype is somewhat overblown, except I guess for people who have really significant inflammation or food allergies or whatever that they discover and resolve through doing Whole30. I did this once before and am now about halfway through a second round and I haven't felt any crazy "tiger blood" or anything like that. But I do experience some more moderate benefits that I think are definitely worthwhile: Like you, I have some more energy, and I'm also losing a bit of weight, improving my blood sugar levels, getting clearer skin, and generally feeling healthy.

But I think my biggest takeaway is the same as yours--eat more veggies going forward! Sustainable long-term changes will make more of a difference I think than anything we can do in one month, no matter how drastic those 30 days are.

Good luck with your reintroduction!

[AlisonMarie]

Hi doubldee - thanks for the comments.

Today is my last day - and while last weekend I was excited to eat ice cream, today I'm feeling like I'm not sure I want to change.  The main sticking point is really that the rest of my family eats beans, grains, dairy, etc - and while hubby was supportive, I don't think he's eager to change what he's eating.

I will try reintroducing everything and maybe will find that some of it I will want to keep avoiding. 

For now, I'm feeling no need to reintroduce alcohol, so I guess I'll just skip that and reintroduce after everything else if I want to. 

I did get one comment from someone that I looked very healthy and as if I'd lost weight - so maybe it's made a bigger different than I thought.