Jump to content

My 1st Whole30 of 2020 (and in several years)...


decker_bear

Recommended Posts

I was a W30 pro back in the day ... and now it's time to do it again. My relationship with food has become COMPLETELY unhealthy. I adhere strictly to what is considered "healthy" by some during the day, and then go completely off the rails at night. Hard day at work? Bake cookies. Hungry for dinner but no energy to cook? Postmates will deliver. I even got the Postmates Unlimited membership I was using it so much. I started buying white flour in bulk to make cookies, breads, you name it. But then I get down on myself because I'm becoming more and more dissatisfied with my health and start looking for the next big promise to turn things around. :blink: I've been on Keto, Weight Watchers, My Fitness Pal, you name it - and all I've done is succeeded in sabotaging my relationship with food and become unhappy with my body. It's time to change, and I KNOW from past experience that Whole30 has the tools to get me back where I want to be. 

For this round of W30 I'm going to ease in to it for a couple of reasons. One, I have some non-compliant perishable food I want to finish before jumping in. Two, my youngest son is moving out this weekend and our schedule is going to be a little unpredictable for the next few days. Three, when I did past W30s, the terrible side effects, particularly Kill All The Things, was less severe when I eased into it. 

Today is day one of easing in, and I am setting my official start date as Monday, September 7. That will give me some time to adapt my eating habits and make sure I'm fully stocked on my favorite Whole30 goodies. 

PreW30 - Day 1 (not W30 compliant) - Tuesday 
Breakfast: Zucchini fritters (eggs, 1/2 banana, zucchini, flax seeds, coconut flour); coffee with fat-free half & half 
Lunch: Zoodles, chicken tender marinated in J's Szechuan sauce, jarred pasta sauce
Snack: roasted almonds, crio bru with coconut oil 
Dinner: 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 85
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Well I'm rather disappointed I can't edit the post throughout the day, so I'll have to do it just once per day. 

Snack cont'd... I got crazy hungry mid afternoon despite the almonds, had some chia pudding I made a couple of nights ago (non-compliant). 

Note to self: make sure lunch is hearty and full of protein and veggies, not just low calorie zucchini. :wacko:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wednesday - Prep Day #2 (Starting Sunday - this log is not compliant) 

Breakfast - red potato, zucchini, eggs 
Lunch - Salad with romaine lettuce, primal kitchen ceasar dressing, tomatoes, zucchini, canned chicken, cuties, half bottle booch, 2 peanut butter cookies (cookies not compliant) 
Snack - Eggs with coconut aminos and vinegar, crio bru with coconut oil 
Dinner - Taco stuffed sweet potatoes, tomatoes, asparagus, plumbcot, asparagus (3 peanut butter cookies) 

Insights - I ate the cookies at lunch, but convinced myself I needed to at least finish the salad first (which I did NOT want to). After dinner I ate the cookies when I saw them - they were out of my mind until that point. Moving forward it will be important to keep sweets and other off plan foods out of the house! 

NSV: I didn't get my exercise done before work, but I convinced myself to exercise after work even though I didn't really want to. 

WOD: warm up on treadmill, back and hammies with weights and resistance bands. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, MadyVanilla said:

:wub:  I like to ease into it myself...it seems to help, getting into a preparation mindset.  I'm looking forward to following your journey! 

Totally!! I think mindset is a huge chunk of where people can get stuck. I think that easing into it also helps to trouble shoot problem areas (like not eating enough) before you're 6 days in and faced with restarting if you hit something you didn't prepare for. Kind of like a dress rehearsal. <_<

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Go you working out when you didn't want to - that's me to the ground. I'm currently resorting to mentally yelling at myself "what are you going to do if you don't? sit on your ass and browse Reddit for an hour before dinner?" then I get my butt out there and do it, resenting it the whole time LOL.

Easing in is a great idea. I definitely have to keep treats out of the house too - luckily my husband and I have very different taste in treats (he's T1 and had chocolate and cookies with sugar substitutes, and I can't stand fake sugar taste), so as long as I keep my chosen treats away, I can ignore his!

I look forward to following your round!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, SchrodingersCat said:

Go you working out when you didn't want to - that's me to the ground. I'm currently resorting to mentally yelling at myself "what are you going to do if you don't? sit on your ass and browse Reddit for an hour before dinner?" then I get my butt out there and do it, resenting it the whole time LOL.

Easing in is a great idea. I definitely have to keep treats out of the house too - luckily my husband and I have very different taste in treats (he's T1 and had chocolate and cookies with sugar substitutes, and I can't stand fake sugar taste), so as long as I keep my chosen treats away, I can ignore his!

I look forward to following your round!

It is so much easier if I work out in the morning - I haven't had a chance to talk myself out of it! I have, however, made deals with myself. "Get your butt up and start walking on the treadmill. If you hate it after 30 minutes you can stop." Most of this time this results in a workout, but make no mistake - there are times when I have walked for 30 minutes and shut it down. I'm not sure if it's a blessing or a curse to have all of my gym equipment at home. Putting on my gym clothes and shoes isn't enough - I can just as easily lounge around in gym clothes as I can in non-gym clothes. 

I have a serious problem with treats. Like Food Without Breaks doesn't even begin to cut it. It's like this primal force takes over from deep within me and will not allow me to stop until I'm sick or until it's gone (either way - NOT GOOD!). We can slay our Sugar Dragons together! 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Prep Day 3 - (not compliant) - Starting Sunday 

Breakfast - plantains pan-fried in coconut oil, pan-fried zucchini, eggs, coffee with coconut cream 
Lunch - air fryer chicken wings, beets, cucumbers, cuties 
Dinner - chicken tenders marinated in Tessamae's lemon garlic sauce (yum!), caesar salad (non-compliant dressing), mashed sweet/red potatoes with ghee and coconut cream, half bottle of booch 
Snack - I ate the final two peanut butter cookies to get rid of them, later I had a plumbcot and almonds (not a compliant snack as it doesn't fit the template)

Insights: I got headache-y after eating the cookies today but had felt great up until that point. Not sure if it's a coincidence or if I'm adapting really fast. Struggled with some heartburn today (which I am now remembering happened during my W30s before). Peppermint tea helps, but I really want to identify what is causing the heartburn. Breakfast portions are solid - I am easily satisfied until lunch. Lunch may need some tweaking as I was truly hungry for the snack (not the cookies, the fruit and nuts :ph34r:). Tomorrow I will likely be way off plan as I am helping my son move, but I plan to lose the fruit and stick with veggies for lunch going forward - hoping that the veggies will be more satiating than the fruit. I also need to get a solid shopping list so I have more veggies to choose from. Pickins are kinda slim right now. 

NSV: I pinned probably a dozen or so compliant recipes to Pinterest today and started making a shopping list. I increased my running intervals from 1:1 to 2:1 halfway through my workout. I feel lighter and cleaner without all of the wheat and processed foods.

WOD: Treadmill intervals on an incline. 5 minute warm-up, then 25 minutes of running-walking intervals, 3 minute cool down and stretching. Total workout 40 minutes. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Prep Day 4 - Friday - Starting on Sunday (This log is not compliant) 

It's awesome how quickly the rules and routines around W30 come back, even though it's been a few years. 

I deliberately planned to start my W30 AFTER this weekend because I knew I would be helping my son move. I figured I wouldn't have as much control today over my food choices, and I wanted to be kind to myself and get the move over before I had to be on plan 100%. As it turned out, today wasn't nearly as challenging as I thought it was going to be. 

Breakfast - eggs, fried plantains, fried zucchini. I was just scrolling through the post about how many eggs are in a serving last night and remembered that 4 is a serving for me. I made 4 and that was more than satisfying along with the veggies. I think I am actually okay on 3, even though I can hold 4 comfortably in my hands. I have big hands for a chick. 

We started getting all up in moving mode right around lunchtime. I wasn't super hungry yet but knew I would be. I hadn't planned lunch for today because I didn't think I would be home, so I reached for some leftover Mod pizza in the fridge. I only ate 1 1/2 slices and started not feeling so great so I threw the rest out (that's a NSV for me for sure!). I took a RX Bar along on the second trip and that was enough to hold me over until I got home from the move. 

Making dinner of spaghetti squash, chicken apple sausage and marinara sauce (I am hoping against hope that I still have the compliant brand from TJ's in the fridge!). 

Insights: I really could have stuck to W30 today if I had planned ahead. Planning ahead is CRITICAL! 

NSV: I threw away the rest of the pizza. It's not really going to help me anymore, is it?! I also made muffins for my son this morning to take to his new apartment. I did not eat any muffins. I also did not lick the beaters or the bowl or the spatula. 

WOD: Technically I'm counting today as a rest day, though it was anything but. I got over 5,000 steps and a good chunk of them were up and down stairs. :blink:

Also ... I'm super excited ... I JUST GOT MY NEW BOOKS! I've read It Starts With Food several times. Now I got the Whole30 and Day by Day. I can't wait to peruse them. :wub:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Prep Day 5 - Saturday - Starting tomorrow (this log is not 100% compliant)

Today I'm getting used to my "new normal." I don't think it's really set in yet that I live by myself now. I went grocery shopping and got an awesome haul - but I think I got waaaaay more than I can eat in a week. Some stuff will freeze and some won't. I'm truly hoping I can use everything up before it spoils. :wacko:

Fun thing, I decided I want to go for a Whole30 Certification. I am already a Certified Health Coach, and I believe so strongly in the W30 program that it seems like a logical next step. I had a friend I coached through it a while back very informally, but I guess they like you to have a few more. I started up a Facebook group to offer free W30 coaching and I have 3 people signed up. That's pretty exciting! It also puts the pressure on to make sure I know my sh**. :ph34r:

Here's my food log so far today: 

Breakfast - eggs, pan-fried sweet potatoes and mushrooms. Coffee with coconut cream. 
Pre-WO - approximately 1/4 of a 4-ounce chicken breast and 3 large grapes (not compliant - fruit is not supposed to be a pre-WO food) 
Lunch - asparagus with homemade mayo for dipping, beets, and leftover meat from the Hawaiian place the other day. I am assuming the meat is not compliant because I am sure the marinade had sugar in it. But now it's gone! 
After lunch brewed a cup of crio bru with coconut cream. I'm still trying to figure out if this is feeding my Sugar Dragon. 

I haven't decided what to make for dinner yet. Probably something with spaghetti squash. Now I have plenty of variety to choose from. 

WOD: chest, tri's and quads with weights and resistance bands. Warm-up and cool down on the treadmill. I was all motivated to start, but lost motivation fairly quickly. I muddled through. :mellow: I haven't used my pre-workout for the last couple of days since it will be out for the W30, and I definitely noticed a decrease in my energy and endurance. 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yesterday for dinner I ended up having Zoodles with a homemade cashew cream sauce (which was DELICIOUS btw), diced tomatoes and Aidell's sausage. My son came over to eat and had his with pasta instead of Zoodles - he long ago started boycotting squash in any form. <_<

Prep Day 6 - Sunday - Starting TOMORROW ;)

This morning I slept in. I've been having crazy nightmares for a while now, and I swear when this happens I don't sleep well. It's been going on way longer than my W30 prep so I'm sure it's not related, but it still sucks! I didn't get up until about 9:30. I was hungry for breakfast pretty much right away, which I remember being the case as I was adapting to my W30 in the past. 

Breakfast - 4 eggs, spaghetti squash, pan-fried sweet potatoes, 1/2 avocado. I treated myself to a 3rd cup of coffee with coconut cream this morning (usually I only have 2). I still felt pretty tired a took an itty bitty nap. 

I didn't get hungry for lunch until about 1:30. I roasted some eggplant and ate that topped with homemade mayo, a plumcot, and some air fryer chicken wings. 

Tonight I am going to my mom's for her birthday, so I decided to change my start date to tomorrow. I know I'm all over the place, but I don't want to start my W30 off with a restart on Day 1. It's essentially the same thing, but I figure starting off solid is better from a psychological standpoint. I am still going to take food and eat W30 if I can, but I'm not going to put pressure on myself to remain compliant if I choose to have some cake. 

Insights: I panicked this morning at the idea of food boredom and I haven't even officially started yet. Fortunately, I know this is a big trigger for me. I feel a lot of self-imposed pressure to have fun, delicious, and interesting things to eat. This reminded me of the importance to have sauces, seasonings, and a variety of vegetables and proteins to choose from. 

NSV: I canceled my Unlimited membership with Postmates. 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think changing your day 1 was an excellent idea - you're so right about the psychological aspects. 

5 hours ago, decker_bear said:

Insights: I panicked this morning at the idea of food boredom and I haven't even officially started yet. Fortunately, I know this is a big trigger for me. I feel a lot of self-imposed pressure to have fun, delicious, and interesting things to eat. This reminded me of the importance to have sauces, seasonings, and a variety of vegetables and proteins to choose from. 

OHHHHHH do I hear you. This is me. You may have noticed in my food log I tend to go a bit overboard, and part of that is this crazy anxiety about keeping it interesting or I might notice that I'm missing out on something. Even though this round is open ended and not 30 days, I can't help but count and be aware that I'm coming up on the 30 and stressing about what happens next and "Falling off".

GOOD LUCK for day 1!!  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

14 hours ago, SchrodingersCat said:

I think changing your day 1 was an excellent idea - you're so right about the psychological aspects. 

OHHHHHH do I hear you. This is me. You may have noticed in my food log I tend to go a bit overboard, and part of that is this crazy anxiety about keeping it interesting or I might notice that I'm missing out on something. Even though this round is open ended and not 30 days, I can't help but count and be aware that I'm coming up on the 30 and stressing about what happens next and "Falling off".

GOOD LUCK for day 1!!  

You always make the most interesting dishes! I totally would not be mad if you came to cook for me! 

The psychological piece is HUGE! I totally get the anxiety about What Next? My friend has this app called Mealime (yes, that's spelled right) and there's a free version and a paid version. Both let you set restrictions (dairy-free, sulfite-free, corn-free, etc) and then produces recipes AND  shopping list that matches your parameters. I'm thinking this is going to be a great resource to fight food boredom, maybe it could also help for your What Next? 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This is OFFICIALLY DAY 1!!

It feels like I've been preparing forever, and Day 1 is finally here. 

FIrst, a comment about last night. It turned out NOTHING at the dinner was compliant, so I had to make a choice: eat nothing (except maybe the Chomps and/or RX bar I had stashed in my purse), or just go ahead and embrace being off plan. I chose the latter. I initially planned to just eat the salad and pork, but then I decided since I was off plan anyway, I might as well eat the Cheetos and the cupcakes too, even though I didn't really want them. My insight here is that I really do need to commit 100% or I'm going to convince myself that it's okay not to stay on plan. Also, my family eats really unhealthy, so unless I am feeling confident and 100% prepared, it's probably best I avoid family gatherings for the next 30 days. 

Now, back to Day 1. 

Breakfast - asparagus & mushrooms topped with a dollop of homemade mayo and squeezed a slice of lemon over the top, a plumcot, 4 eggs and coffee with coconut cream. I was really full and couldn't finish the 4th egg. I did, however, have room for a bonus cup of coffee today, which makes me realize I probably could have actually finished the 4th egg. 

Lunch - Beef & Broccoli (onion, ground beef, broccoli and sauce made from coconut aminos, chicken stock, red wine vinegar, olive oil, ghee, garlic, salt, arrowroot) served over spaghetti squash, with 1/4 avocado. Post lunch cup of crio bru. 

Suuuuuuuper tired this afternoon. I just want a nap. With any luck, feeling this way will be on my spectrum and it'll pass by tomorrow. Fingers crossed. :wub:

Insights: I got hungry for lunch early. I didn't finish my eggs and I also didn't have the starchy sweet potatoes I've had the past few days. Maybe this means I need my starchy veg and/or more carbs in the morning? 

NSV: My son came over and he had lunch with me. I heated up his rice (I was having spaghetti squash) and stirred it with a fork. Out of sheer habit I ALMOST licked the fork - but caught myself and washed it off instead. :o

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Day 1 continued ... I am so tired today I can barely stand it. I'm breaking a rule of no caffeine after 12:00, but I feel like if I don't I'm just going to sleep until bedtime, then not be able to sleep, then be overtired again tomorrow. A bit of caffeine now seems preferable to starting a really nasty cycle that is hard to break. 

All this to say ... my day feels really off today, starting with skipping the starch at breakfast. Then I wanted lunch early, and while I felt satisfied at the end of the meal, I was hungry again for a snack. I had a couple of hard-boiled eggs and some cuties. I know, no fruit with snacks. :blink:

I did take some time and pack up my chicken with my foodsaver and got it in the freezer. I also started soaking some cashews for a sauce to go with dinner and started marinating some chicken tenders in some Tessamae's Lemon & Garlic marinade (if you haven't tried it - it's amazing!). For dinner I am going to make pan-fried marinated chicken tenders mixed with cashew sauce, served atop some cauliflower rice. 

I have a couple of Etsy orders I need to get made and I'm hoping I can power through and get at least one finished tonight. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Day 2 

HOLY CRAP I am tired again today. I had the nightmares again and woke up around 3am. I was pretty wide awake and wasn't able to fall back asleep until I turned the TV on and watched some Criminal Minds. I got up by 7 after hitting snooze only once and got ready for my workout. It really sucks not taking my Bucked Up. At least with that I can get some temporary energy for my workout. As it was, I walked on the treadmill with a slight incline for about 20 minutes until I felt like I'd done enough I could justify that I put gym clothes on. I don't even have energy to crochet, which is really saying something. 

I wasn't super hungry this morning, but I still managed to eat my whole breakfast: 4 eggs, cauli rice with asparagus topped with cashew sauce, sweet potatoes pan-fried in coconut oil. I had 2 cups of coffee with coconut cream. I may have gone a bit heavy on the fat at breakfast, but the cashew sauce was simply too enticing to pass up. 

Lunch - I was having a hard time eating as I wasn't feeling hungry. Breakfast was pretty big, but I ate lunch anyway. I had about 3 chicken wings and half an eggplant. I brought out a couple of cuties and had some more wings but I just wasn't hungry enough. I'll eat them a little later when I will undoubtedly be hungry again. 

Insights: about an hour after I took my meds I got my energy back. Not taking them yesterday due to it being a holiday (and not taking them over what worked out to be a four day weekend) that may have been contributing to my feelings of exhaustion. I'll keep an eye on this. Also, getting the dishes done right after cooking makes it much more pleasant to prepare or even heat up the next meal. 

NSV: I woke up thirsty for actual water. That hasn't happened in a long time. Usually I wake up and drink coffee and I don't want any water for hours. 
NSV #2: I had my crio bru "black" (no coconut cream) 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Day 2 continued ... 

I got hungry like I got hit with a pile of bricks and suddenly the only thing I wanted was a baked red potato with ghee. At least it was a compliant craving. I had plenty of leftovers in the fridge but this monkey on my back for a potato wasn't going away. I quickly browned up some ground beef and added some tomatoes and seasonings to make a quick chili. Normally I'd throw it in the Instant Pot for 30 minutes or so to really meld the flavors, but I just couldn't wait for that nonsense. :lol:

Also - sad day - my liquid smoke isn't compliant. What the heck?! Why do you have to put molasses in it you jerks?! I love liquid smoke so much, but I had to leave it out of the chili today. Coconut aminos are good, but they're not liquid smoke. I used a little of my homemade Worcestershire sauce, but meh .. still not the same. :(

I'm going to try to get to bed early tonight and hopefully have a little energy for a decent workout tomorrow morning. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Day 3

Well, I didn't sleep any better last night. I woke up around 2:30 am and was pretty much tossing and turning, dozing in and out, until my alarm at 7. I only snoozed it once so I consider that a win. I have always been a chronic snoozer. I didn't have any caffeine after 10 am yesterday so I'm not sure why I'm having such a hard time staying asleep. 

Instead of attempting a regular workout this morning, I did a 30-minute yoga class on YouTube. I chose one on Creating Space and I think it was exactly what I needed. 

Breakfast is the usual eggs and veggies - today I had sweet potato and some sauteed asparagus. And, of course, I had my coffee with coconut cream. I can already tell I'm cranky today. I haven't even started work and someone was blowing up my phone. Here's a tip for you, early caller, if I don't answer the first time, it's pretty unlikely I will answer the next 3 times. How about you leave a message and I will call you back when I feel like it. #KillAllTheThings #KillAllThePeople

Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 hours ago, decker_bear said:

Here's a tip for you, early caller, if I don't answer the first time, it's pretty unlikely I will answer the next 3 times. How about you leave a message and I will call you back when I feel like it. #KillAllTheThings #KillAllThePeople

This is a whole vibe.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Day 3 - continued 

My focus ended up being terrible yesterday. I was obsessed with looking up rescue dogs and spent a little too much time doing that instead of working. When I found out I was approved for a couple of adorable chihuahuas, everything else went out the window. 

Lunch was leftover chicken tenders, cauli rice with peas and cashew sauce. I also had half a bottle of kefir water. I left to go shopping for my new pups. I wasn't sure how long I would be out, so I made sure I had some compliant snacks. I ended up needing a Chomps because I was out way longer than expected (I drove out to my mom's to pick up some doggie beds, too). I got home just before 9. I didn't want to eat a ton of food that late, and I wasn't overly hungry either, so I had a smaller meal consisted of two hard boiled eggs, a cutie and a handful of cashews. 

I woke up around 3:30am, which isn't unusual, but I was super hungry. I tried to go back to sleep but it was proving very difficult, which is how I ended up standing in my kitchen at 4am munching on a handful of almonds. 

NSV: I did NOT stop for food while I was out and instead ate my compliant snack

Insights: While I was moving my office from downstairs to the upstairs bedroom, I quickly ran out of gas and got light headed a couple of times. I'm not sure of the cause, but I suspect it may have been a side effect of not a ton of carbs at lunch. I don't want to go crazy on carbs, but if I'm right, I'll need to make sure I have more carbs on heavy activity days. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.


×
×
  • Create New...