Katey's first Whole30

[Katey Dager]

This is my first Whole30, and I've realized I love talking and writing about what I eat, so I figured I would make a log. If anyone happens to read this, please feel free to comment on anything. I would love input and suggestions!

Today is Day 4

For breakfast I had two slices of bacon (it was surprisingly easy for me to find compliant bacon), and I tried to make a sort of hash brown concoction with shredded yellow squash, but it wasn't holding together at all so I added an egg. If I try it again, I will add the egg before putting it in the pan, because this way I ended up with a sort of squash scrambled eggs. It was weird, but good with hot sauce.

For lunch I brought some leftover quick chili to school and heated it up. Coincidentally, a blogger I like posted a recipe that's almost exactly how I make a quick chili. Here's the link: http://www.ibreatheimhungry.com/2013/02/10-minute-no-chop-low-carb-chili.html

I also brought an orange and a small container of olive oil and balsamic with which to top a salad I bought at school. I got avocado with the salad, which I actually put on top of the chili.

I am currently cooking dinner. I have a sweet potato and two chicken thighs baking in the oven. I plan on topping the sweet potato with some coconut oil. I like chicken thighs plain when they are delicious and crispy, but I was thinking about condiments. I think some homemade mayo would be great with them--I need to make it sometime.

[Katey Dager]

Day 5:

This weekend my boyfriend, Alec, and I are visiting my parents. I know this will be my first real test on the Whole30, because my parents' house is where I usually binge and eat anything I want.

For breakfast we made this: http://urbanposer.blogspot.com/2012/01/apple-butternut-squash-bacon-breakfast.html We didn't follow the recipe exactly. I'm not sure how many people this recipe was intended to serve, but for the two of us we used half a squash, half an onion, one apple, and about four slices of bacon. We didn't have scallions, so we left that out. We chose to fry everything up in the bacon grease rather than broiling the squash like she did. It turned out really well. I had two scrambled eggs on the side and Alec had a fried egg on top. I'm normally into that runny-yolk-on-top-of-vegetables flavor, but not so much with sweet flavors like this, which is why I chose scrambled.

It was lunchtime when we arrived at my parents' house. They didn't have much on hand to make a quick lunch, and we were both hungry, so we went to Freebird's World Burrito. I looked online, and they use only canola oil for cooking which, while it is not a great choice, is compliant. I had a salad with carnitas, cooked vegetables, salsa, and guacamole(after making sure the guacamole had no added dairy). It didn't need dressing at all. Everything was pretty saucy.

My mom made chili for dinner. Her chili is really good, so I was a little disappointed that I couldn't eat it, but I didn't really crave it or feel the need to eat it. I had more trouble with the bowl of cheese she put out for topping it, honestly.

I went out and bought some vegetables because there wasn't a lot of choice here (lettuce, but I already had salad for lunch. Peas, corn, and sprouts with some sort of sauce in the freezer). My mom saved some ground beef from the chili, which I cooked up with onions and zucchini, then topped with avocado. When I went to the store, I was overwhelmed by how good these lemon plums smelled, so I had to get some. I had one of those too, and it was just as good as it smelled! Rare to get good fruit at a supermarket.

Tomorrow we're going out to dinner, so I'm a little nervous about that, but I'm doing well so far.

[Katey Dager]

Still Day 5, but I need to add that I just (about four hours after dinner) had a snack. A 100-calorie pack of almonds and a banana. I know it's not great to snack, especially on fruit and nuts, but I really felt the need to eat something, and there is a huge lack of compliant food here. I have a feeling I will be relying on snacking a bit more this weekend, but I am okay with that as long as everything is compliant. I will take another look at the food here tomorrow and see if there is anything that will be better for snacking or for making better meals.

The produce I bought today consisted of two zucchinis, three sweet potatoes(I figured they were something I could easily take home if they didn't get finished, which is why I bought more than I'm likely to eat), two avocados, and three plums. One zucchini went to my dinner, half of which will be lunch tomorrow. I also added half an avocado and a plum to that dinner.

I know it's not encouraged to do strict meal planning, but I feel like it would be helpful for tomorrow due to my limited choices. I won't be afraid to deviate.

For breakfast I will probably microwave a sweet potato and have that along with avocado topped with a couple of eggs. For lunch I can have my leftovers from dinner with a salad. For dinner we are going to a mediterranean restaurant. I'm planning on ordering a lamb kebob. It comes with bread, rice, and salad. I've been there before and I know they dress their salads without asking, so I'm going to ask if there is sugar or dairy in their house dressing. If the answer is yes, I will ask for oil and vinegar instead. I'll ask for vegetables instead of bread and rice, but if they don't do that, hopefully the salad and meat will be enough. I know it's going to be an early dinner so I will probably need a late night snack again.

[Katey Dager]

My Day 6 went pretty well. I didn't post last night because I had a headache and didn't want to go on the computer.

For breakfast I had two eggs with avocado and a sweet potato.

For lunch I had my leftover beef and zucchini mixture topped with half an avocado, and a banana.

Dinner went really well. It was an early dinner (around 4), but I was very hungry by the time we got there. I didn't get to eat until maybe 4:30, because the rest of table was enjoying non-compliant appetizers. I'll admit to heartily taking in the smell of the falafel (it really smelled great), but I wasn't tempted to eat any. They also brought us complimentary soup, which was really nice, but it was lentil soup, so Alec got two bowls. The waitress was really nice about my meal modifications. I had been a little nervous but there was really no reason to be. i got extra salad instead of rice with my lamb kebob(which was perfectly cooked!), and oil and lemon instead of their yogurt-based dressing(though Alec managed to spill a little on my plate somehow. I don't think I ate it, but it made me a little nervous).

I got hungry again around 9:30, which is actually pretty great as far as this weekend has been going...dinner kept me full for 5 hours, which seems about right. I stole a bit of my mom's leftover lamb and had a plum. Snack options here are not ideal. I ate a lot more fruit than I would have liked, since I do have an issue with sugar.

I'm going home this afternoon, but we're going to be having dinner with Alec's parents, who have a house near where I live. Alec's dad is cooking dinner, and Alec already prepped him on my restrictions, so I think it will go well. I'll recap today's food later tonight.

One more thing: yesterday was definitely my "kill all the things" stage. I hope it won't continue into today, because I obviously offended Alec and my mom, which makes me feel really bad. I had told Alec previously that this was a possibility, but I don't think the warning helped much.

The weekend has gone pretty well. I feel a little lurch every time I see a box of cookies in my parents cupboard (this is where I binge; even when I'm dieting, I always go off my plan here), but I have been able to tell myself it's not worth it and resist diving into them.

[KelBelle]

Just read your log. Good work! I tend to binge when I'm around one or both of my parents, so kudos to you. I have yet to see either of them since I started this (I am on Day 6 today) but I did go to a restaurant/bar last night which was serving Chunky Monkey Bread Pudding and I didn't order any.

I totally feel you about the "lurch" when you see cookies. I too am taken aback when I see things I would dive headfirst into in the past.

Good Luck!

[Katey Dager]

Good luck to you too, KelBelle! Thanks for the comment!

Day 7 went alright, but there was a serious issue which I will address...

For breakfast I had two eggs, half an avocado, and half a zucchini.

For lunch Alec and I went to a Mongolian BBQ place. I filled my bowl with turkey, pork, and a ton of vegetables. The only things I added at the sauce area were garlic and chili flakes. BUT...I think they might have added soy sauce when they were cooking it. I wasn't paying attention, but Alec thinks he saw them pour something in out of a bowl. The bowl had a dark, oily-looking liquid and the dish definitely tasted salty when it got to me. It could have been cooking oil or something else. I really don't know, and I don't know for sure if it went in. I'm not going to start over because, for me, the Whole30 is about eating habits. I have never had an issue with soy in the past and this amount of potential soy does not, in my opinion, ruin my Whole30. I may choose to extend by seven days, but I don't consider this a failure, because I did not choose to break my Whole30. I tried not to be upset by this because it was beyond my control. I could either throw out an 8 dollar plate and skip lunch, make a scene over something I could have prevented(or at least confirmed) if I had been paying attention, or eat something that might have soy in it. It was an easy choice.

I was hungry for a snack later, and I wanted to make it more of a "mini meal" as is suggested. I had half of a Trader Joe's roasted chicken patty (http://www.traderjoes.com/fearless-flyer/article.asp?article_id=175) and a baby zucchini cooked in ghee, a few nuts, and a clementine. I bought the chicken patties because the ingredients are good (the only questionable thing is canola oil and since I avoid it as much as possible I figured it's fine)I thought they would be good to bring to school for lunch when I don't have time to cook anything or have any leftovers. Well...sure, they will be. But I was expecting a ground chicken patty. The consistency of a burger. This tastes pretty much like chicken, I guess, but the texture is really spongey, almost like firm tofu. I will certainly finish the package but I won't be buying them again. I was hoping to buy some of the pre-cooked chicken in the meat section but it all contained sugar and other nasties.

For dinner I had a bone-in New York steak, vegetables(not entirely sure of the cooking process as I didn't make them, but they appeared to be eggplant, tomatoes, zucchini, and cauliflower), salad, and strawberries, made by Alec's dad.

I had a pretty good day, though I was a bit stressed out by the Mongolian BBQ thing. I'm taking it as a lesson for next time...it's a good option if the soy sauce doesn't get involved. But I need to be proactive about my food even when others are cooking it. This is my health!

[Katey Dager]

Day 8:

Breakfast: 1.5 Aidell's chicken and apple sausages. Onions, cabbage. Coffee.

Lunch: 1.5 TJ's chicken patties. Sweet Potato with coconut oil.

Dinner: Meatloaf (containing ground pork, ground beef, zucchini, onion, garlic, thyme, and spices), baby broccoli with a little bit of coconut oil.

Snacks: Larabar, clementines(a bunch of them...definitely too many. I might need to stop buying them).

I'm really tired today. I'm used to having a caffeinated drink midday but I haven't been doing that lately and at the end of the day I'm really worn out.

[Katey Dager]

Day 9:

Breakfast/lunch(slept in, so my breakfast was around 12): leftover meatloaf

Dinner: chicken salad from a restaurant. It came with cheese and tortilla chips on it, which were not listed on the menu. I felt bad about sending it back, but it wasn't my fault, since I would have asked for it without initially if I knew they would be there...

Snacks: clementines, coconut butter(got it at whole foods today and can already tell it might be food without brakes)

I woke up this morning and couldn't even keep my eyes open. I had to stay home from class to get some rest. I'm really tired, and my moodiness has gone from anger to sadness. I can't wait for the tiger's blood phase, because right now I'm a mess.

[Katey Dager]

Day 10

Still really tired today. I got a little extra sleep and had some caffeine midday (which didn't really seem to wake me up at all). I made some really good ground pork patties today with grated apple and rosemary. A little over a half pound made five patties.

Breakfast: two pork patties, kale chips, coffee

Lunch: two and half pork patties, baby broccoli, coffee with cinnamon and coconut milk

Dinner: Curry with chicken, sweet potato, and zucchini

[Susan W]

Katey, I really don't think you are eating nearly enough. 5 pork patties out of 1/2 lb are tiny patties. Kale chips are fun but did you eat enough to provide the energy you need?

8 oz of pork would shrink to 6 0z. That is about right for one meal. I often eat more.

Just some thoughts from someone who keeps reading that you are tired.

[Katey Dager]

I did intentionally make tiny patties to emulate breakfast sausages.

I didn't necessarily limit myself to two at breakfast, but that was all I could finish, which is why I brought the rest for lunch (I had originally planned something else for lunch). I couldn't get the last half of one down at lunch because I was so stuffed, which is why I had two and a half instead of three (which is a shame; I had to throw it out because I was at school for a few more hours and it wouldn't have kept).

As for the kale chips, I didn't measure or weigh how much kale it was, but I took about half the bunch I got from Whole Foods and cooked that. Even after it crisped up it filled more than half my plate.

Today was the frist day I didn't feel hungry for snacks at all(okay...that might not be true...the past two days I have been really stressed and might have had some fruit out of comfort rather than hunger. Definitely a habit that is hard to kick but I am working on it), so I am inclined to think I had enough to eat.

If it helps, I am only 5'1" and mostly sedentary. I am going to start exercising (swimming) soon and I imagine I will need more to eat then, but right now the only exercise I get is normal walking around (I have foot problems so it has been difficult for me to find something that works for me).

I'm not sure if perhaps I am not good at recognizing hunger signals, or something. I may add more vegetables, particularly starchy ones, but the amount of meat I get seems to be sufficient.

I don't want it to seem like I am dismissing you--I definitely appreciate the advice! I just wanted to explain my situation. If I don't feel hungry do you still think I need more food?

[Katey Dager]

I've been falling behind on schoolwork recently so I decided to make some goals about productivity and I figured this was as good a place as any to do it, since the Whole30 is about good habits.

No more mindless internet surfing! I can come on here and the other two forums I frequent, but if I don't have anything to post after browsing them for five minutes or so, I am done. I can check the webcomics I read when they update, and the blogs that recap my favorite shows (but no reading the backlog. I do that a lot and there's no reason to read it again and again. It's not useful information!).

TV! I can play the show I'm currently marathoning when I'm cooking or if I've completed other obligations and want background noise while doing the above-mentioned approved internet stuff. I can catch up on my favorite currently-airing shows (don't have cable, so I have to watch them on their respective sites the next day) ONLY if I am done with homework.

While I am not doing the bad stuff that I've cut out, I should be reading. For school first, and for my own pleasure and education second. Currently I can also be working on my final papers which are due in a couple of weeks.

[Katey Dager]

Day 11:

Breakfast: Zucchini (one pretty large one) chopped up and cooked in ghee, two eggs, half an avocado, coffee

Lunch: leftover curry

Dinner: Ground beef, chinese eggplant, almond/coconut butter

Snack: nuts--a mix including almonds, cashews, hazelnuts, and brazil nuts. 1/4 cup or a little less. Tea.

[Susan W]

Katey, it was just the tired comments you made and to me, your meals seemed small. If you feel great and aren't starving between meals then you are a-okay.

[Katey Dager]

Day 12: I inadvertently had beef for all three meals today... I hope that's not bad.

Breakfast: Ground beef, zucchini, coffee with coconut milk

Lunch: Lettuce wrapped double hamburger (I was on the go)

Dinner: Steak, eggplant, portobello mushroom with shallots and garlic

Snacks: tangerine, banana, coconut/almond butter

[Katey Dager]

Day 13:

Breakfast: The same pork and apple sausages I made the other day. Zucchini. Banana.

Lunch: I wasn't really hungry and I was kind of napping, so I snacked over a couple of hours instead of having lunch. Not great, but I didn't feel like cooking and Alec is sick so he couldn't cook either. Forgot initially to write in the food that I snacked on! A tangerine, a larabar, a carrot cut into sticks and dipped into a mixture of coconut and almond butters, a leftover sausage patty.

Dinner: Beef and chicken stock has been cooking on the stove for almost four hours. After it's done we'll strain it and cook some chicken, onions, celery, and carrots in it (and noodles in Alec's portion).

[Katey Dager]

Forgot to post yesterday for Day 14:

Breakfast: leftover soup, coffee with coconut milk

Lunch: ground beef with zucchini and salsa

Dinner: Went to Alec's parents' house. His dad made a pork roast. He had forgotten my various restrictions and the marinade had soy sauce and hoisin sauce (sugar) in it, so he made me a steak. The pork looked really good and I wish I could have eaten it, but I was really appreciative that he made me something different. We also had salad (with garlic flavored olive oil and balsamic for me) and grilled vegetables (zucchini, asparagus, and mushrooms).

Snacks: larabar, applesauce

[Katey Dager]

I seem to have caught Alec's cold/flu/whatever was going on this past weekend. Too bad there's no soup left... I now have a new pot simmering on the stove, from whole thighs this time instead of bones.

[Katey Dager]

Day 15:

I have a cold! I feel like crap, but I made it halfway through!

Breakfast: two sausages, cabbage

Lunch: chicken soup with carrot, onion, and celery

Dinner: more soup, sweet potato fries

Snacks: larabar, banana, tangerine (I like to eat extra fruit when I am sick. Usually I drink juice but this is actually better).

[Katey Dager]

Day 16:

slept in (even sicker today) so I only had two meals today

Breakfast: leftover ground beef/zucchini/salsa from the other day, banana

Dinner: soup, sweet potato fries

[Katey Dager]

Day 17:

Really sick today, so I haven't had much of an appetite. The only things that have seemed palatable are fruit, roasted veggies, and soup. I haven't really had a "meal" today, just been eating as I feel like it. It's been kind of hard to get proper nutrients today because the thought of meat or eggs is really nauseating.

What I've eaten over the course of the day: oven-roasted zucchini with dill, larabar(this was a mistake...so hard to choke down for some reason), coconut butter, almond butter(about 1/2 tablespoon of each), tea, clementine, two big strawberries, coconut water, the last of my chicken soup(I'd say it had about half a thigh's worth of shredded chicken in it), oven roasted carrots (three fairly large ones). I'm probably going to cook up some ground beef later on and try to eat some of that. I'll definitely save it for lunch tomorrow, but hopefully I can eat some of it now. I'm sure I need the protein.

edit: I did end up making some ground beef with garlic and shallots. I cooked up what was about 1.3 pounds raw and I'm eating some right now. Tastes better than I thought it would, but I don't think I'll get too much down. Well, I'll have plenty for breakfast and lunch tomorrow.

[Katey Dager]

One funny thing today...I had seen a few days ago at the grocery store that larabars were on sale for a dollar each so I grabbed a few, planning to go back later and get more. Today I went to the store to pick up a few things and decided to check if they were still on sale. Well, they were, but some fellow paleo person must have cleared them out. They were ALL gone, except for the peanut cookie ones--that box was still full!

[Katey Dager]

Day 18:

I'm still sick today, but I can feel the cold making progress downward, which is good. Normally I have colds for weeks, so we'll see if I'm able to flush this one out quickly. That would be great, since finals are coming up!

Breakfast: leftover ground beef, half a huge sweet potato, clementine

Lunch: same as breakfast

I'll update later with dinner.

I am currently drinking some coconut water. It's http://www.harmlessharvest.com/ brand, and it's amazing. I drank some yesterday too, but that was a different brand--coco libre, which is alright. It's really helpful when I'm sick. It keeps me really hydrated and actually seems to help flush out mucus similar to a good herbal tea (sorry, that's potentially too much information for any readers). I am promising NOW to only drink it when I'm sick, though (or if I start doing really long range exercise...). I don't think it will be too difficult. I like the taste alright, but I'm not crazy about it. Overall, I prefer to drink water.

[Katey Dager]

I didn't end up being all that hungry for dinner, so I just had a chines eggplant, roasted, and a clementine.

[Katey Dager]

Day 19:

Still sick, but things are still progressing. I woke up very late today so my first meal was at around 1. I may or may not have a third depending on how late I stay up. I'll update later if necessary.

Meal 1: two small (about the size of my palm and very thin) cube steaks cooked in coconut oil, roasted carrots and zucchini, banana with coconut and almond butter

Meal 2: baked salmon, roasted zucchini and carrots, clementine

Snack: seaweed, banana.