JessFind Posted January 5, 2020 Author Share Posted January 5, 2020 Day 7, Sunday 1/5/20 M1: Omelette with broccoli, peppers, onions, mushrooms, tomatoes, and bacon with breakfast potatoes M2: Lettuce wraps with turkey and prosciutto and tomato M3: Not sure yet, will update after dinner! Woke up with a headache that got pretty bad, but let up a little later in the day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JessFind Posted January 5, 2020 Author Share Posted January 5, 2020 Week 2 Prep and Week 1 Thoughts Today I prepped: - Chicken and Brussels sprouts skillet (adapted from pg. 50 in the Quick and Easy Whole 30 cookbook) - Skillet turkey and squash chili (adapted from pg. 94 in the Quick and Easy Whole 30 cookbook) - Roasted potato and kale hash (adapted from pg. 121 in the Quick and Easy Whole 30 cookbook). This will serve as my breakfast for next week. - I still have two turkey burger patties from last week that are still good. Will eat those first this week and turn them into a salad with spinach, tomato, and cucumber. - Boiled 4 eggs for snacks at work - Prepped a few turkey lettuce wraps for snacks as well Week 1 was interesting. During my first round, I had a lot more dramatic swings in energy. I remember feeling absolutely exhausted one day and then so awake I could do anything the next during week 1. I'm much more level this time. I'm not crazy tired, but I'm not particularly awake either. I've struggled more with my appetite this time too. I find myself getting really full really fast. This is probably because I'm eating more protein and good fat than filler carbs, I'm assuming. But I need to work on eating more, I know. I'm hoping this will level off this week. I’m also going to try and incorporate more exercise going forward. I'm starting to crave cheese, sweets, and bread. It's interesting because I find myself craving the texture of bread and the crunch of chips more than the taste. My husband and I were talked into buying an air fryer, so we're going to experiment with kale chips next week along with some cauliflower substitutes. Surprisingly I'm not really craving alcohol like I usually do, besides after my hard day of work. I think I've finally accepted that drinking alcohol means my headaches will flare up, so I'm coming more to terms with not really drinking it anymore. NSVs: Great sleep, inflammation is way down, less headaches than normal later in the week On to week two! I stopped after 10 days last time, so I'm excited to see how I'll feel later in the 30 days. Hope y'all had good weeks as well! My roasted potato and kale hash: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JessFind Posted January 7, 2020 Author Share Posted January 7, 2020 Day 8 - Monday, 1/6/20 Yesterday I felt good overall, no headaches. However in the afternoon my gut was definitely unhappy! I was a little worried that my turkey burger had gone bad or something, but then I remembered that day 8 is usually when our guts are unhappiest, so that made me feel a little less nervous. Thankfully I didn't have any afternoon meetings or that could've been ... a problem. I succeeded in a major challenge last night! A group of my girlfriends and I have a Monday night Bachelor watch party ... yes I know, feel free to judge away. (For those of you who don't know what the Bachelor is, it's a HORRIBLE reality TV show, but it's fun to watch and make fun of.) Well, last night was the premier, so the girls went all out. Cheese, wine, pizza, desserts -- all of it. I showed up with my seltzer and a fruit salad that I made to try to combat everything I couldn't eat (see pic below). It worked! I put my seltzer in a wine glass and put some fruit in it to pretend it was sangria. I honestly didn't really miss much of it ... except the cheese. I do miss the cheese. But anyway, I would've normally had about three glasses of wine on a night like that and I would've woken up feeling gross, but not today! So here's what I ate: M1: The kale potato egg hash I made with 1/2 of an avocado. So yummy! I was very full and I didn't need a snack before lunch. M2: Turkey burger patty with lots of cut up cucumbers and cherry tomatoes dipped in avocado ranch, a couple grapes and almond butter S1: A few more grapes and almond butter M3: Eggs with bell peppers, onions, roasted squash, and potatoes S2: Some of my fruit salad (but not a lot, my dinner really filled me up.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heb2014 Posted January 7, 2020 Share Posted January 7, 2020 39 minutes ago, JessFind said: I succeeded in a major challenge last night! A group of my girlfriends and I have a Monday night Bachelor watch party ... yes I know, feel free to judge away. (For those of you who don't know what the Bachelor is, it's a HORRIBLE reality TV show, but it's fun to watch and make fun of.) Well, last night was the premier, so the girls went all out. Cheese, wine, pizza, desserts -- all of it. I showed up with my seltzer and a fruit salad that I made to try to combat everything I couldn't eat (see pic below). It worked! I put my seltzer in a wine glass and put some fruit in it to pretend it was sangria. I honestly didn't really miss much of it ... except the cheese. I do miss the cheese. But anyway, I would've normally had about three glasses of wine on a night like that and I would've woken up feeling gross, but not today! Way to go! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JessFind Posted January 7, 2020 Author Share Posted January 7, 2020 Thank you, @heb2014! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BabyBear Posted January 7, 2020 Share Posted January 7, 2020 @JessFind you rocked that challenge! Way to go! I bet you felt like a million bucks when you finished a good night with friends and your whole 30 was still intact! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JessFind Posted January 8, 2020 Author Share Posted January 8, 2020 Thanks, @BabyBear! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JessFind Posted January 8, 2020 Author Share Posted January 8, 2020 Day 9 - Tuesday, 1/7/20 Yesterday was the hardest when it came to energy and cravings. I also had a headache and my stomach was still unhappy. I ate: M1: The kale potato egg hash again. I forgot an avocado, though, and I was missing it. I did 30 minutes on the rower at the gym at work before lunch. I was STARVING when I finished. M2: Chicken with shaved brussels sprouts, banana with almond butter M3: Two large lettuce wraps with turkey and prosciutto, tomatoes, and peppers I'm also not feeling great this morning. I'm ready for this bad digestive phase to be over. Feeling kind of "meh" overall. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JessFind Posted January 9, 2020 Author Share Posted January 9, 2020 Day 10 - Wednesday, 1/8/20 I had to wake up earlier than normal because I had an early meeting, and I tried to eat breakfast before I left. This really didn't work, because I wasn't really awake enough to eat at that time, so I had like two bites of breakfast hash before I gave up and ran out the door. I started the day pretty grumpy (again, I'm NOT a morning person), but my mood lightened as the day went on. And then I fell asleep at 9pm! Despite some crazy (non-food) dreams, I feel rested today with lots more energy. M1: Banana and almond butter after my first meetings M2: Had a lunch meeting and they catered in Panera, so I got a Green Goddess salad with chicken and just held the dressing. There were Panera cookies and baguettes everywhere, and I considered stabbing someone with a plastic fork for a bite of a baguette. S1: The remainder of the fruit salad I made for my get together on Monday M3: My husband and I got an air fryer, so we naturally tried it on potatoes and chicken wings first. It was nice to feel like I was having an indulgent meal and still be compliant. We used this complaint buffalo sauce and it was SO GOOD! Definitely recommend. I hope this energy keeps up. I feel like I'm turning the corner! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JessFind Posted January 10, 2020 Author Share Posted January 10, 2020 Day 11 - Thursday 1/9/20 Not much to report today. Felt nice and full throughout the day, energy was pretty good. I felt like the day went by pretty quickly. M1: Last of my prepped egg, kale, potato hash with 1/2 avocado. Still good! That avocado really does make a big difference. I was nice and full through until lunch. M2: Chicken with shaved brussels M3: My husband made a great steak, mashed potatoes with ghee, and roasted brussels. I ate a bigger portion of the steak than I should have and I felt like I had a brick in my stomach for the rest of the night. Happy Friday, everyone! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BabyBear Posted January 10, 2020 Share Posted January 10, 2020 On 1/5/2020 at 1:37 PM, JessFind said: I stopped after 10 days last time Congratulations! You have made it farther than last time and that’s a big victory to celebrate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brezymurph Posted January 11, 2020 Share Posted January 11, 2020 Yay!!!!! We have similar victories this week. My first time I quit on day 10 too! Today is day 12 for me and I feel great. I also watch the bachelor ! I am excited in a few weeks I can have a glass of wine watching when the season becomes more intense. i went to a movie a few day’s ago and brought complaint snacks. I didn’t eat anything. It was tempting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JessFind Posted January 13, 2020 Author Share Posted January 13, 2020 Thanks so much for the congrats, @BabyBear! And congrats to you too, @Brezymurph! I've been doing a bad job of tracking the last few days, mostly because I accidentally left my food journal at work, but I'm still here! I can't believe it's day 15. Half way! Really excited to hopefully see some Tiger Blood this week. I had quite a bit of a struggle this weekend. On Friday night, I learned that my childhood best friend had passed away. She was 33. I haven't spoken to her in a decade, but it still rocked me. On top of that, I had agreed to host a dinner party with some friends on Saturday night. My husband and I agreed to make the main and a side, while my friends brought more sides. Despite their efforts, none of their additions were compliant (apparently it's not well-known that Whole 30 doesn't include dairy). And one of my friends bought a bottle of wine (which is totally fine, I don't expect anyone to withhold because of me) but then was teasing me about not drinking it. Then, they wanted to go to a bar after dinner. I haven't seen some of them in a bit, and I didn't want to not be included, so I went. Between my friend's death and being around alcohol that whole night, I really wanted a drink. Alas, I persisted, and didn't have one. I'm pretty proud of myself for that. Yesterday I treated myself to a facial and a mani/pedi for some self care, and then came home and prepped as usual. So despite being emotionally spent, I was still able to plan ahead. This is a pretty big deal for me. So, on to day 15 and the second half of this ride. Hope you all had a great weekend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BabyBear Posted January 13, 2020 Share Posted January 13, 2020 Wooooooo you totally rocked that situation. It sucks that your friend teased you about the lack of drinking rather than offering you words of encouragement. Some people mask their sense of discomfort with what they think is humor. My sympathy to you in the loss of a childhood friend. Death especially of someone close to our own age that we played with in our youth is a very crass reminder of our own mortality and just how fragile life is. A little pampering, What a nice way to celebrate you and all you have accomplished so far. Be blessed! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lizziehall Posted January 13, 2020 Share Posted January 13, 2020 Wow Jess, I’m so impressed! You’re dealing with your emotions in a proactive way rather than depending on food or alcohol (especially) as a bandaid, which has to be the biggest NSV in my opinion. Go you!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JessFind Posted January 14, 2020 Author Share Posted January 14, 2020 Thanks so much for your encouragement, @lizziehall and @BabyBear! I really appreciate it. Day 15: Monday, 1/15/20 Yesterday was a really hard day at work. Long story short, I had 7 meetings and IT trouble, meaning I was almost never at my desk. My brain was mush by the end of the day, I was frustrated, I didn't eat enough, and I just wanted a glass of wine. Here's what I did eat: M1: I prepped the same kale, potato, egg hash on Sunday because I really liked it, and added some chorizo to the mix. Yum! Unfortunately I only had time to eat half of the serving I brought. M2: Turkey burger with 1/2 avocado and some grapes with almond butter M3: I had a weird "dinner" of three bacon wrapped dates stuffed with an almond, one turkey lettuce wrap, and a banana Good news is, I feel great today! Awake and in a better mood. Could this be Tiger Blood?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heb2014 Posted January 14, 2020 Share Posted January 14, 2020 I'm just catching up on your posts. Way to go, sticking with it, not giving in to emotions or teasing. I'm so sorry about your childhood friend. Hope today has continued to be a great one for you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JessFind Posted January 15, 2020 Author Share Posted January 15, 2020 Thanks, @heb2014! So I'm thinking about not posting so much on here about food, since I find myself eating pretty much the same things. Instead, I'll focus on how I'm feeling, NSVs, and other thoughts. If I find a fun recipe or something, I'll still post about it, but I'm finding tracking every little thing is getting monotonous. As long as I stay compliant, that shouldn't matter, right? Anyway, yesterday (Day 16) was good! I spent most of the day feeling alert and in a good mood. I had several challenging meetings and I felt like I could keep up. I don't know if I would call it "tiger blood," but it was an improvement. However, I felt like about half of my thoughts were about bread. I still really, really miss bread and I can't wait to just have a piece of toast with butter at the end of this. Why? I'm not sure. I'm feeling fulfilled with the food that I'm eating. I know Whole 30 isn't meant to be sustainable, and maybe I'm not meant to just give up bread for longer than this, but I have this fear of gaining back any weight that I've lost after this. I know I'm supposed to focus on other things than weight, and I am, but it's still a fear. Oh, I'm also really curious about how much weight I've lost. I'm glad I made my husband hide the scale, or I would totally be weighing myself by now. Now that I'm past the half way mark, I just feel myself thinking about the end more than before. Is this normal? Will my bread cravings subside? I know no one can tell me for sure, I'll just have to see. Trying to focus on NSVs: much less inflation and bloating, much better sleep, way less headaches, better skin. Sorry for the rambling post. It's just one of those days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heb2014 Posted January 15, 2020 Share Posted January 15, 2020 24 minutes ago, JessFind said: Now that I'm past the half way mark, I just feel myself thinking about the end more than before. Is this normal? Will my bread cravings subside? I know no one can tell me for sure, I'll just have to see. Trying to focus on NSVs: much less inflation and bloating, much better sleep, way less headaches, better skin. I think it's normal and I think it's a really smart idea to start thinking about the end - not necessarily to count down the days until you can have a piece of bread or glass of wine or whatever again, but to think about how you want to eat after this. Do you want to go back to how you were eating previously, or have you made some changes you want to continue? And I would highly recommend doing the reintroduction (wasn't sure if you had mentioned it previously); that takes some consideration too. If you listen to podcasts, check out the Do The Thing episode where Melissa Urban interviewed Jacob Henriquez back in August. He talks about why it's important to start thinking about what comes afterwards. One of his points that hit home to me was about sweets (which sugar is one of the only things that I found that really affected me negatively after the first round); he mentioned making a plan - will you eat dessert any time it's offered? Or maybe you make a rule for yourself that you'll only eat it if it's one of your favorite things or homemade, etc - that you define are really worth the negative effects. I think I didn't spend enough time thinking about what comes after with my first round; we kept eating some Whole30 meals mixed in with some of our favorite non-Whole30 meals....then it became faster to just fall back in to the normal routine of, say, just making pasta for everyone instead of only for the kids and my husband and I eating spaghetti squash or using a bun for sloppy joes rather than making lettuce wraps. Then there was the Halloween candy and the holidays where I lost all self control. I did at least set up some signals for myself that it was time for another reset - if I started using coffee creamer everyday and if I started having sweets everyday. It was time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lizziehall Posted January 15, 2020 Share Posted January 15, 2020 Yes!! Your bread is my rice— I need sushi and Mexican food!! As for being scared of gaining back weight, I completely understand this one. My last Whole30 turned into a Whole 3 months because I was so scared to stop & undo all progress. This isn’t healthy, either! I spent way too much of my life focused on food and weight and didn’t let myself enjoy things as much. We’ll be in this together as we try to find a healthy balance after this round I’ve been considering attempting to stay additive, gluten, dairy and 99% sugar free but reintroducing legumes and gluten free grains. We’ll see how reintro goes though! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BabyBear Posted January 15, 2020 Share Posted January 15, 2020 @JessFind I too find my thoughts drifting towards the end... sometimes those thoughts scare me but others excite me at the possibility of living in a world outside of the whole 30 bubble that allows me to be healthy and still enjoy food when it fits my goals in the moment. I’m starting to really read through introduction and get my head around that before it sneaks up on me. @heb2014 I will look for that podcast. I’ve been working my way through the earlier ones. Man they have been so incredibly good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JessFind Posted January 16, 2020 Author Share Posted January 16, 2020 Thanks for your encouragement, friends! Yesterday was really tough mentally. I got an hour less of sleep than normal and it's been raining here for like 5 days straight, so I woke up on the wrong side of the bed, I think. I kept obsessing about all the things I couldn't have. I was frustrated feeling like I should've been past all these cravings by now, that I'm supposed to be in the easy part, but instead I'm struggling. To be honest, I was really really thinking about quitting. But I didn't. I begrudgingly ate my compliant food. Thank god I did. I would've felt SO guilty if I had given up. I'm still not feeling much of an energy increase. It was hard to get out of bed this morning. But I'm in a better mental state than yesterday. I think I'm starting to feel a difference in my clothes, which is encouraging. I'm trying to come to terms with the idea that I might not ever really feel "tiger blood." I'm on Day 18. Twelve more days seems like a lot, but I'm hoping they'll go by quickly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brezymurph Posted January 17, 2020 Share Posted January 17, 2020 11 hours ago, JessFind said: Thanks for your encouragement, friends! Yesterday was really tough mentally. I got an hour less of sleep than normal and it's been raining here for like 5 days straight, so I woke up on the wrong side of the bed, I think. I kept obsessing about all the things I couldn't have. I was frustrated feeling like I should've been past all these cravings by now, that I'm supposed to be in the easy part, but instead I'm struggling. To be honest, I was really really thinking about quitting. But I didn't. I begrudgingly ate my compliant food. Thank god I did. I would've felt SO guilty if I had given up. I'm still not feeling much of an energy increase. It was hard to get out of bed this morning. But I'm in a better mental state than yesterday. I think I'm starting to feel a difference in my clothes, which is encouraging. I'm trying to come to terms with the idea that I might not ever really feel "tiger blood." I'm on Day 18. Twelve more days seems like a lot, but I'm hoping they'll go by quickly. Hey ! I am feeling very similar to you. I am currently on day 18 as well. I was really banking on that tiger blood feeling. I almost gave up today too. Thank you for reminding me that I would have likely felt guilty. my thought now is they say it takes 21 days to make something a habit. I’m trying to convince myself once I get to day 21 this way of living will be a habit. Lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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