February Start

[lisalou2]

Hi there,  I'm starting my first Whole30 tomorrow so I thought I'd reach out. Anyone else planning to start in February?  

[KFet]

I am also starting tomorrow!! Pretty apprehensive, yet want to be excited!

[____Emily____]

Hi @lisalou2 I'm starting Monday the 31st as well!  Is this your first Whole30? 

[Podcastlover]

Hi all! I started today. I have a sheet pan recipe in the oven right now - sausages, mushrooms, potatoes, red bell pepper, and Serrano thinly sliced. How’s it going? 

[____Emily____]

Hello all!  I'm entering Day 2 now and am feeling pretty good. 

 

My cravings were ridiculous yesterday afternoon - I don't think I had realized how much I've been relying on candy to get me through my afternoon slump .... I anticipated struggling a lot with reducing sugar since I have such a massive sweet tooth so I had snack packs of applesauce and fresh fruit on hand.  I'm going to try to ween myself off of sweet snacks like those over this week though since I know the program will be more effective for me if I cut down on my reliance on sugar and sweet things.

 

12 hours ago, Podcastlover said:

Hi all! I started today. I have a sheet pan recipe in the oven right now - sausages, mushrooms, potatoes, red bell pepper, and Serrano thinly sliced. How’s it going? 

 

That sounds delicious!  Are you meal prepping that, or was that dinner? Sausage/hot dogs are my go-to lunch.  Last time I did Whole30, I was working in an office so was limited on my sides, but since I'm WFH now, I'm going to be sautéing peppers and onions to eat with them.

[Podcastlover]

1 hour ago, ____Emily____ said:

Hello all!  I'm entering Day 2 now and am feeling pretty good. 

 

My cravings were ridiculous yesterday afternoon - I don't think I had realized how much I've been relying on candy to get me through my afternoon slump .... I anticipated struggling a lot with reducing sugar since I have such a massive sweet tooth so I had snack packs of applesauce and fresh fruit on hand.  I'm going to try to ween myself off of sweet snacks like those over this week though since I know the program will be more effective for me if I cut down on my reliance on sugar and sweet things.

 

 

That sounds delicious!  Are you meal prepping that, or was that dinner? Sausage/hot dogs are my go-to lunch.  Last time I did Whole30, I was working in an office so was limited on my sides, but since I'm WFH now, I'm going to be sautéing peppers and onions to eat

Hi! im in California so that was my dinner. As long as I have ingredients available, sheet pan feels like the easiest meal ever and you can throw in whatever vegetables you have! You’re gonna kill it working from home!!!

[Podcastlover]

Good morning on day 2. I also was craving crunchy things and sweet things last night, not to mention a glass of wine before dinner. But I’m proud of myself for sticking it out. I had a few walnuts, one dried fig, and one dried apricot as a dessert. I cut the dried fruit into little pieces so it went further. Good luck today!

[Podcastlover]

How’s everyone doing?

[____Emily____]

Hello! Day 4, still going strong! My cravings are going down slightly - on day 1, I was stalking around my kitchen continuously looking for something to dull my sweet cravings in the afternoon and evening, but I was fine yesterday (still craving sweets, but I'm able to withstand the cravings a bit better, lol).  I'm still eating my applesauce and fruit, but it's a bit more planned.  I'm unfortunately dealing with a terrible headache that I think is a combination of sugar withdrawals and my typical weather-related pressure headache. So that hasn't been fun.

 

Otherwise, I feel like I've gotten into a good swing.  I've been experimenting with my morning coffee since I don't like it plain. Last night I picked up some compliant milks to try instead of nutpods (I've never liked creamers, and those mimic creamers more than milk).  I was surprised to find that the Almond Breeze unsweetened vanilla and chocolate milks are compliant (spent forever googling every ingredient and then googling the product itself - felt a little too good to be true, lol), so I'm looking forward to having a coffee made with one of those this morning. 

 

My husband and I also picked up some of Primal Kitchen's Whole30 compliant freezer meals from Whole Foods.  Those were introduced after I did Whole30 last time so I hadn't tried them before.  We did the Penang Curry one last night and it was pretty good (sort of like normal freezer meals, something freshly cooked is better but it works in a pinch) Our aim with the frozen meals is to not rely too heavily on them and to just use them when cooking a full meal doesn't feel feasible (like last night, when my headache was bad enough to drive me to bed at 8pm)

[Podcastlover]

Hi Emily. Good stuff. When I’m not cooking we’ve been getting salads from Mendocino Farms, a fast-casual place here in southern california. I get roasted beets, chicken, and hard boiled eggs in mine to make it more substantial and satisfying. Also cashews or almonds. Where I used to live there was Chop’t. For a craving on day 1 or 2 I had some banana with almond butter on it. Actually really good! Thanks for the tip on the almond milk. I remember loving these Peruvian dried olives from the whole 30 food sites before. I’ll have to see if I can find some of those. I got some primal kitchen cocktail sauce and had some shrimp cocktail one day. That was a good treat too. Keep it up! Oh one more thing - I put a post-it note on the wall for each day and each morning I take one down. My daughter wrote motivational messages on them. It’s a visual of your progress. 

[Rebecca001]

I’m trying again for a feb w30 as my January one didn’t really go to plan. Since it finished I have really lost the plot. So I’m restarting today. 
 

I must admit I don’t think my mental health as been this low for a long time. I have gained a few pounds last year and I just feel so exhausted and unhappy. I had high hopes for my January w30 but I didn’t feel any better really by the end (felt good in the middle) and I will be honest and say once it finished I just went completely in the opposite direction and have probably undone all my hard work. I’ve still not had a drink this year so I am already a few weeks ahead of the game with that one. But my food this week has been awful. 
 

So, simple food today for day 1. I haven’t been shopping, I will do it tomorrow. Menu is all planned out using some nice paleo recipe books I bought online last month. Today I just had an omelette and avocado, and tonight I will go for a run with my friend, and my dinner will be a rib eye steak and salad. 
 

January had left me feeling really ‘spent’ and I am not aiming too high for Feb, I just want to feel better and have some energy back. 

[____Emily____]

@Rebecca001 I'm sorry to hear that you didn't get the results you were hoping for in January and that you aren't mentally feeling well!  This time of year is always tough for mental health, and the fact that we're still dealing with COVID nearly 2 years since the world shut down (March 2020) is really getting me down as well. I'm sure you haven't undone all of your hard work from your January Whole30 - you'll probably find it so much easier to get into the swing of cooking/eating Whole30 this time around.  

 

My goal this weekend is to start incorporating physical exercise into my day.  I've been struggling to find something I enjoy doing regularly and since I'm mainly still working from home, I live a very sedentary lifestyle.  Before the pandemic, I walked/took public transit to work every day/ At the beginning of the pandemic, I had to walk my dog because we lived in an apartment, but now I have a yard and no longer have the forced exercise from that either.  So it's not uncommon that I get only ~2000-3000 steps in my day (when I used to have no problems getting 10,000 pre-pandemic)

On 2/4/2022 at 11:50 AM, Podcastlover said:

I put a post-it note on the wall for each day and each morning I take one down. My daughter wrote motivational messages on them. It’s a visual of your progress. 

 

I love this idea!  I started bullet journaling last year and am considering doing a Whole30 spread to check off days as I finish them.  It's nice to have a countdown

 

[Rebecca001]

Thanks @____Emily____ 

My weekend was good, I did 2 fitness classes on Saturday morning (which must have been tough because I ache today and I normally don’t!) and a run on Sunday. I have really properly started today though. Had a super smoothie this morning made with chia, almond milk, spinach, cucumber, blueberries and a green apple. I prep it the night before so the chia swells and the frozen fruit defrosts then just whizz in the morning. I made a big salad for lunch, and didn’t really feel hungry at dinner so I haven’t had anything yet. 
 

one thing I am doing this time which is not allowed technically (this is I think my 6th w30 now) is using a tracker to record my food. My reason for this is that because I am a runner I do need to add calories and ensure I eat enough, and also because (conversely)  I tend to over eat and sometimes binge on compliant food so this time I am going to just keep a track of what I eat. I know it’s not technically allowed and I won’t discuss it on here. 
 

I feel exhausted tonight, work is very difficult at the moment with lots of staff with covid. I didn’t sleep well last night, so I intend to go to bed earlier tonight and catch up a few zzzz 

[Jim4884]

Hi all, Emily, are you by chance the same Emily I was in Dragonslayers with a few years back?  Rebecca, I did my first W30 in 2017 and second in 2018, and i am just in food freedom now, so whatever works for you is good IMO.  I am not a moderator or anything, so remember what you paid for my opinion

 

[____Emily____]

@Jim4884 Nope, not me!  Just a super common name.

 

@Rebecca001 I didn't realize there was a rule against food tracking, but I can see why there is one (especially since a goal of Whole30 is reset your relationship with food).  I try to limit my snacks to prevent binging on compliant foods, so three plated meals and one small afternoon and evening snack each day. I plate and prepare everything in the kitchen and don't eat until I've sat down. At least that's the goal, lol.  I bought some squeeze applesauce that has been a bit of a food without breaks for me, so I won't be getting those again.  There's no way to plate them and I can finish one off in about 30 seconds. Once those are gone though, I should be good again.

[Rebecca001]

Yes the no tracking /weighing/ calorie counting rule. It’s weird, I don’t limit calories as such, but keeping a track does make me stop that mindless compliant eating, which is one thing I do want to stop. The hardest habit for me to break is stepping on my bathroom scales, and I really have to fight that urge as well. 
 

today I had a chia/spinach/ raspberry blend this morning, a mango for lunch (I know, I forgot my salad!) and dinner was chicken thighs and carrot and swede With a curry sauce from one of my paleo recipe books. Tasty food. And an apple and almond butter. 
 

I went for a run with my lovely friend. Tomorrow I have a job interview, a bit unplanned (I have been headhunted!) so I will do my smoothie and lunch tonight, and dinner will need to be something quick. 

[____Emily____]

Good luck on your job interview!  We are having a curry tonight, which I'm fairly excited about

[____Emily____]

Happy Valentine's Day to all!  Hope everyone is having a relatively easy time avoiding the sweets that normally go with this holiday.  I went to the grocery store yesterday and definitely stared longingly at the display of cupcake bouquets (the ones they make look like a bouquet of flowers) and chocolate-covered strawberries. 

 

My husband and I are going to make ourselves two nice steaks for dinner tonight.  Normally we'd go out to a fancy pre-fixe dinner, so this will be much cheaper and better for us, lol. Does anyone else have any good plans?

[____Emily____]

Hi February Whole 30-ers! This thread hasn't been super active, but I hope you all have had a lot of success on your Whole30!  I can hardly believe I'm already on Day 29. My husband and I went shopping yesterday for groceries and I kept talking about how we could buy non-compliant foods since we can start eating them during this week. Then as we checked out my husband pointed out that we didn't actually buy anything non-compliant, lol.  I'm actually not craving anything noncompliant as of right now, but I do plan to get the Iced Coffee Rose from Philz on Wednesday when I'm in the office, and I'll probably open the Ferrero Rocher that was gifted to me at the beginning of February.