JessFind's Whole 30 Log - Sept. 2nd-30th

[JessFind]

Day 00: Sept 1st - Food prep

I carved out the day for grocery shopping and food prep. I plan to do this every Sunday. Here's what I accomplished today: 

Whole 30 meal prep #1: 
- Chicken soup in the crock pot with jalapeños and broccoli (I made sure to check the chicken broth for sugar)
- Egg casserole with chorizo, spinach, and a bunch of spices 
- 2 spinach salads portioned out with pan seared chicken 
- 2 more portions of chicken cooked 
- 1 portion of roasted broccoli 
- 2 portions of roasted Brussels sprouts 
- 10 hard boiled eggs 
- 1 avocado in 2 portions

Additional meals planned: 
- Zucchini noodles with ground turkey and crushed/sun dried tomatoes 
- Stuffed peppers with chorizo/ground turkey 
- Sirloin and Brussels sprouts and roasted potatoes

Here we go!

[Amura]

Looks like  you are well versed in meal prepping, and you have it all well planned!
I'm sure you are gonna do great

[JessFind]

Thank you! Fingers crossed :). I'm surprised how much I already miss bread. My egg casserole had a weird texture and I found myself wishing I could put it on toast. I might try to make some egg cups instead that I know have worked for me in the past. Texture is a big thing for me, and while I'm not super picky on flavors, I am picky on texture. 

[Amura]

I missed bread a lot in the very first days too!
Use veggies instead, if you wish. You can stillmake a toast on an slice of sweet potato! I also used carrots whenever I wanted to push those tiny bits that sometimes seem to be impossible to catch  

[Prairie Dawn]

Your meal planning looks awesome!  I'm impressed!

On the weird texture of egg casserole: I made an egg casserole/frittata once but shredded some potatoes, tossed them with a little oil, and pre-baked those in my baking dish first to kind of give the casserole a "crust."  Mostly because my frittatas kept falling apart when they were just eggs meat and veggies.  The shredded potatoes gave it a little more structure and they crisped up nicely in the oven.

(thanks for that reminder btw... I'm gonna put that on my list of things to make this month!)

[Sunshine2020]

I have used for crust sweet potatoes or white potatoes - it really helps the casserole from falling apart. Sneak in more vegetables and this will help it be more thicker too.

Good Luck everyone on day 1.

Lanette

[JessFind]

Day 01 - Sept. 2nd: 

(I'm posting these a day late because I try not to be on my computer after I leave work.) 

Food for the day: 

- Breakfast: Egg casserole. Like I mentioned before, I wasn't satisfied and didn't like the texture, so I didn't eat very much of it. Supplemented with a handful of red grapes a little later. But good news! I tore up a piece of crispy bacon and added 1/4 of an avocado this morning and that really helped a lot. I ate my whole serving today!

- Snack 1: 2 hard boiled egg whites with 1/4 avocado. Yum! Was still a little hungry, though, so I added another egg white to my lunch bag today. 

- Lunch: Spinach salad with tomato, cucumber, pan seared chicken, sunflower seeds, avocado, and Tabasco. Tabasco and avocado are going to be my saviors during this for sure. 

- Snack 2: Grapes and a banana

- Dinner: Chicken soup with broccoli, jalapenos, topped with a runny egg. 1 piece of bacon on the side. 

- Dessert: Watermelon 

---

I felt good yesterday! Was definitely tired and had a headache, but that isn't necessarily abnormal for me. I'm already much more full this morning because I ate my whole serving of egg casserole with the bacon and avocado. I'm also being serious about journaling how I feel after I eat using this handy food sensitivity journal. Not counting calories or portion control, but journaling how I feel throughout the day, how I sleep, when I eat, etc. If I’m hungry, I eat more. I’m looking forward to analyzing how food affects me over the next 30 days and beyond.

I had a HORRIBLE night's sleep last night, though. Tossing and turning all over the place. So I'm pretty tired right now. But I know that's normal. On to day 2! 

[JessFind]

Day 2; 10:25 am - HOLY COW I'M TIRED. I just had to lead a meeting and my mind was blanking left and right. All I want to do is go to bed. 

I know this is normal and there's a reason the call it "the hangover," but I hope I can get it together for my other FIVE meetings I have today. 

[Prairie Dawn]

Your journal looks AMAZING.  It's so organized and comprehensive!  What an awesome tool to have during this month.

I'm also feeling the "holy cow I'm tired" feels today... hopefully it passes soon!

[JessFind]

1 hour ago, Prairie Dawn said:

Your journal looks AMAZING.  It's so organized and comprehensive!  What an awesome tool to have during this month.

I'm also feeling the "holy cow I'm tired" feels today... hopefully it passes soon!

The journal is on Amazon if you want one! I love it so far. Just search "food sensitivity journal" and it should come right up. 

DUDE this tiredness is no joke. Someone in my last meeting had a Coke and I almost ninja kicked them for it. ... Not really ... but maybe ...

[heb2014]

44 minutes ago, JessFind said:

DUDE this tiredness is no joke. Someone in my last meeting had a Coke and I almost ninja kicked them for it. ... Not really ... but maybe ...

After lunch, all I could think about was drinking a Coke because I need a pick me up. Ugh - I didn't even drink them that often before. 

[JessFind]

1 minute ago, heb2014 said:

After lunch, all I could think about was drinking a Coke because I need a pick me up. Ugh - I didn't even drink them that often before. 

I drank at least one every day. I knew ahead of time this would be one of the biggest struggles for me. Right now red grapes are the most satisfying thing for my sugar cravings. I know we're supposed to eat fruit sparingly, but I'm giving myself some grace the first week or so. 

[Amura]

I would be careful with the fruits. You don't want sugar spikes, even if the sugar is from a natural source.

I personally think it's better to be as strict as possible from the very beginning, it makes the path ahead just clearer - and easier!

[Prairie Dawn]

Gahhh, a Coke sounds SO GOOD right now.  And I haven't even had a full-sugar Coke in ages!  

I'm a fan of sparkling water (Trader Joe's makes a Blueberry Lemonade seltzer that's compliant and delicious) but yeah, it's not the same

[Sunshine2020]

I agree with @Amura

you have to be careful of the fruit. It is easy to replace the sugar - breads and chocolate and so on with fruit. Fruit can spike you too - Idea is to change the habits that we have and make new ones. It is not easy, but will be worth it!

Totally agree with sometimes the struggle. I kept walking into the kitchen at work - looking for "Something" finally had some flavored water and a Chomps Beef Stick. Took the edge off.

Rock on Whole 30 teamates

 

 

[JessFind]

Day 02 - Sept. 3rd: 

Let's just say it, Day 2 was hard. I haven't been that tired in a long time. I even took a nap after I got home from work, which I never do. But the bright side is that the food continued to be good. 

Breakfast - 7am: 

I had the breakfast casserole again and added a piece of crispy bacon to it with 1/4 of an avocado. This made it much better! I ate the whole portion this time and was fuller much longer. 

Snack 1 - 11am: 

I had 3 hard boiled eggs with 1/2 of an avocado. I had some meetings in the morning and wasn't super hungry because of breakfast, so I had this snack a little later in the day than normal. But I also had a lunch meeting so I didn't want to be starving later. 

Lunch - 2pm: 

My pre-made chicken soup with a handful of red grapes and strawberries. 

Snack 2 - 6pm: 

Banana

Dinner - 8pm: 

My husband made a delicious sirloin with Brussels sprouts and crispy potatoes. This is later than I normally eat, partially because I took an hour nap when I got home from work and partially because it took a while to cook the steak. But I didn't feel overly full when I went to bed, which was nice. 

--- 

I hear what you guys are saying about the fruit, but I'm already eating SO MUCH LESS sugar than I normally would by cutting out processed foods and bread. I know myself and if I cut out fruits all together, I'm going to quit. I think having a handful of grapes instead of a Pop Tart is still changing my habits. 

I feel much more awake today so far, which is nice. I still have a headache, but I have chronic headaches anyway, so this isn't abnormal for me. I'm hoping in a couple weeks I'll notice some relief from those. I'm trying not to take any pain meds during this, but I did have to break down and take some Advil yesterday to stop myself from getting a migraine. 

On to Day 3! 

[heb2014]

3 hours ago, JessFind said:

I hear what you guys are saying about the fruit, but I'm already eating SO MUCH LESS sugar than I normally would by cutting out processed foods and bread. I know myself and if I cut out fruits all together, I'm going to quit. I think having a handful of grapes instead of a Pop Tart is still changing my habits. 

This is my first Whole30, so take my thoughts for what they're worth - but I agree with you about the fruit. In moderation, it's much less sugar what's found in processed foods; two bananas doesn't even equal what's in one can of Coke (since you specifically mentioned you used to drink them). You might try pairing it with a protein and/or fat....like some almond butter on the banana or a few nuts with your grapes. Or try going for a short walk afterwards to minimize blood sugar spikes.

For this first week, personally, I am solely focused on following the rules 100% (https://whole30.com/whole30-program-rules/?gobacktext=Return to my whole30 dashboard&gobackurl=https://whole30.com/do-the-whole30), not necessarily the additional recommendations - understanding that this may effect the end result.

[Prairie Dawn]

I think the first few days of Whole30 are going to be a little wonky anyway.  I can't quite figure out my hunger/satiety signals yet, so fruit and nuts and all that somewhat-frowned-upon stuff will creep in as I adjust and I'm trying to just roll with it and pay attention.  I like your idea of giving yourself some grace this first week!

Do you have a good recipe for chicken soup?  I want to make some but feel like I'll really miss the noodles!

[JessFind]

11 minutes ago, Prairie Dawn said:

Do you have a good recipe for chicken soup?  I want to make some but feel like I'll really miss the noodles!

Sorry to say that I don't have a recipe for the chicken soup, but I will say that I put two chicken breasts in the crock pot along with some compliant broth, and then just dumped every kind of spice and veggie in there! I've done this before and have never been disappointed. I thought I would miss noodles or quinoa too, but honestly I don't, because there's so much chicken in there. After it's done, I pull the chicken apart in the crock pot so it's nice and shredded. This time I also added jalapenos and broccoli. It's yummy! And very easy to just heat up and it's filling. 

[JessFind]

50 minutes ago, heb2014 said:

This is my first Whole30, so take my thoughts for what they're worth - but I agree with you about the fruit. In moderation, it's much less sugar what's found in processed foods; two bananas doesn't even equal what's in one can of Coke (since you specifically mentioned you used to drink them). You might try pairing it with a protein and/or fat....like some almond butter on the banana or a few nuts with your grapes. Or try going for a short walk afterwards to minimize blood sugar spikes.

That's a good idea! I hadn't thought about pairing it with a fat or going on a walk to help with the spikes. I'll try to do that. And thanks for the encouragement! I was seriously eating so much sugar on a daily basis before, which is definitely part of why I'm doing this to help with that, but I feel like fruits are still "whole" food and do have good nutritional qualities. 

[JessFind]

Day 3 - Sept. 4:

This day started off good but was really hard toward the end. I was officially getting tired of the meals I had prepared and didn’t eat enough, which killed me in the evening. Plus, my husband ate the bacon I prepared for my breakfast casserole! Haha so then I was a brat and didn’t want it. I also let him have my last serving of chicken soup because he wasn’t feeling great. My energy level was better than the day before but my headache was worse. 

 

So here’s what I ate: 

Breakfast:

Banana strawberry spinach smoothie with almond milk. 

I skipped my morning snack because I had meetings and wasn’t super hungry. Mistake. 

Lunch:

I had a really satisfying lunch outside by my office’s lake (picture attached) and had a nice big spinach salad with turkey, avocado, cucumber, tomato, sunflower seeds and Tabasco. 

Snack:

By 4pm I was STARVING and rushed to have my 3 egg whites and avocado after my last meeting. My headache had also gotten much worse. 

Dinner:

I was officially tired, had a headache, and just plain pissy when I got home. My plan was to make zoodles with ground turkey and some crushed/sun dried tomato sauce, but instead I was lazy and just made 2 eggs with a link of chorizo sausage. Huge mistake, I should’ve sucked it up and just made the zoodles (which I know are super easy). 

I felt like crap that night and I know it’s because I didn’t eat enough. Just when I wanted to say “screw it” and eat some bread, my friend encouraged me to keep going and I had a banana instead.

I’m so glad I didn’t cheat, because today I feel great! No more headache and a ton more energy. I’m re-learning that I only really like things I prep two or three times, and then I’m over it. So I need to plan for a mini- prep night in the middle of the week. I also would really love some snack ideas that I can make beforehand and take to meetings. I average between 4-6 meetings a day, and I used to just grab a granola bar if I needed to, but now I can’t do that. Any ideas would be awesome! 

Thanks for sticking with me! 

[heb2014]

54 minutes ago, JessFind said:

 I also would really love some snack ideas that I can make beforehand and take to meetings. 

 

Here's a few of the ideas that I wrote down when planning: 

Trail mix with nuts, coconut flakes, a few dates, and even dried fruit if you can find it without added sugar (I've been having a hard time finding any though)

Fruit or vegetable with almond butter (Justin's makes single serving squeeze packs that are convenient) - good on apples, bananas, celery, carrots (maybe some other things I'm not thinking about)

Salsa and bell peppers to scoop or another compliant dip (like Tessemae's Habanero Ranch) with veggies (bell pepper, carrots, celery, broccoli, cauliflower, etc)

Tuna mixed with avocado (though the smell of fish during a meeting is generally uncouth...maybe save that for before or after)

Prosciutto or compliant lunch meat with lettuce for a wrap

Compliant meat "sticks" or jerky

Tomato "bruschetta" (this is the only one I've actually made so far; I slice grape tomatoes (rather than dice) drizzle olive oil, a splash of balsamic vinegar, salt pepper, garlic powder, basil, and oregano - I've eaten it as a "salad" with lunch)

Not quite as easy as just grabbing a granola bar because it would take some prepping before work, but if you have it already prepped in a thermal bag by your desk, maybe you could grab and go. Larabars and Rx Bars are also compliant - but double check the label; I know there's some Larabars that use vanilla extract. 

P.S. Great view for lunch! I always feel better if I get outside during lunch.

[JessFind]

@heb2014 Thank you SO much!! These are such great ideas! 

[Prairie Dawn]

I would die without Chomps meat sticks.  They're the perfect size and seem to tide me over pretty well if I eat one with some fruit or veggies until I can get a meal.  I also like hardboiled eggs with cherry tomatoes, and in my pre-whole 30 days I made turkey roll-ups a lot - sliced turkey rolled around a pickle spear with some mustard (or cream cheese, which wouldn't be compliant but is TASTY).  I bet if you did sliced turkey, pickle, and avocado rolled up (maybe dipped in mustard or compliant ranch) they'd be pretty good!

Also, if you like the flavor of hummus and are ok with a lot of prep work (roasting, pureeing, etc), baba ghanoush is a pretty great alternative to eat with cut up vegetables - it's a roasted eggplant dip made with tahini, garlic, and olive oil.  

Congrats on Day 3!  Sounds like it was a bit of a rough go but you hung in there!  I bet if you included some more protein and fat in your breakfasts it would help a bit... I know I would NOT be able to survive on a smoothie and would be hangry real fast

 

[JessFind]

Thanks, Prairie! I'll try to see if Chomps sells around me. I'm in Charlotte, NC. And roll ups sound great! I don't know why I haven't done that before. I'll definitely be prepping those tonight. My husband surprised me with compliant avocado mayo a couple days ago, so that'll be going on there for sure. 

And yeah, I TOTALLY know shakes are not the way to go. I was just being a brat about my casserole when my husband ate my bacon, lol. But I definitely learned my lesson there. There's a reason they say breakfast is the most important meal of the day! I had a nice omelette with potatoes this morning.