you_surname Posted February 25, 2013 Share Posted February 25, 2013 Today is the very first day of my very first Whole 30. My main motivation is to learn more about my body and how nutrition impacts it. If my body composition improves during the course of this experiment, you won't hear me complain. But I'm most interested in paying close attention how my body responds when I nourish it much more mindfully than usual. I'm confident that I can stay both on-track and happy with a plan like this: Sunday: Cook a big batch of frittata (for breakfast throughout the week), soup and meatloaf/meatballs/larb (for lunch throughout the week) Monday: Grill fish and veggies for dinner Tuesday: Crock pot meat and veggies for dinner Wednesday: Stir-fry for dinner Thursday: Big-ass salad for dinner Friday and Saturday: Take it easy and enjoy leftovers. If we run out, either cook at home, or call ahead to one of our favorite restaurants. Most of the recipes I'll use will come from these cookbooks (removing or substituting non-compliant ingredients, of course): "150 Best Indian, Thai, Vietnamese and More Slow Cooker Recipes" by Sunil Vijakayar "Stir Frying To the Sky's Edge: The Ultimate Guide to Mastery, with Authentic Recipes and Stories" by Grace Young "Primal Blueprint: Quick and Easy Meals" by Mark Sisson & Jennifer Meier Each day before going to bed, I'll prepare veggies and any pre- and post-workout snacks I'll need for the day ahead. I very, very rarely get bored with leftovers, but in case I do, there's an emergency stash of on-plan deliciousness in the freezer. So, yeah. I'm ready to rock n' roll! Here's where I might run into some challenges. My significant other and I live together. He knows this experiment is important to me and is 100% supportive of me trying it out. At the same time, he is 0% interested in joining me on this particular adventure. If the going gets tough, I might need to turn to you guys for a pep talk. And here's my journal entry for the day: What I did on Day 1 Meal 1: Smoky turkey meatloaf, just-harvested carrots, coffee with lite coconut milk Pre-workout snack: Filberts, coffee with lite coconut milk Workout: Jog/brisk walk intervals for about 20 minutes at the park Post-workout snack: Roasted pumpkin Meal 2: Not hungry Meal 3: Slow-cooked Sindhi Beef Curry with half an avocado and LOTS of raw broccolini What I noticed on Day 1 I was famished right before dinner. In the future when I don't feel hungry, I'll have a light snack instead of skipping a meal entirely. Today I drank about 120 oz of water, tea and coffee throughout the day. Over time I'd like to reduce my caffeine intake, but for now my focus is on getting the food part dialed in. Right now I feel full, relaxed and ready to welcome Day 2. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slacey86 Posted February 25, 2013 Share Posted February 25, 2013 good luck, i am going to start my second whole 30 on Tuesday focousing on only eating healthy foods while i train for a Spartan Super race in April.. good luck and your post is going to help me out so much:) keep positng i will keep reading and post anything that i might find helpful:) have a great Monday Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Tom Denham Posted February 25, 2013 Moderators Share Posted February 25, 2013 What a thorough plan! Good for you. You may not need a pre- and post-workout snack for 20 minutes of jogging/brisk walking. The snacks are okay, but that may be why you were not hungry at meal 2. When you exercise intensively, your body needs extra nutrition. When the exercise is light, not so much. When you are feeding muscles that have been worked hard, you need lean protein in post-workout snacks. Pumpkin is good to renew energy levels, but your muscles need protein to rebuild. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nadia B Posted February 25, 2013 Share Posted February 25, 2013 So, yeah. I'm ready to rock n' roll! Love it! Keep up the spirit and best of luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seaglassgreen Posted February 25, 2013 Share Posted February 25, 2013 Love your log title Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
you_surname Posted February 26, 2013 Author Share Posted February 26, 2013 Thanks for the welcome and the tips, guys! I hope you enjoyed your day. What I did on Day 2 Meal 1: Tomato kale frittata and coffee with lite coconut milk Meal 2: Sindhi Beef Curry, raw broccolini and an apple at lunchtime Snack: Filberts I meant to eat during lunch but misplaced in my car (d'oh!) Meal 3: Grilled salmon, spinach salad with homemade vinaigrette What I noticed on Day 2 Slept really poorly last night due to noise pollution. Sleep deprivation makes me cranky, so I made a big deal of self-care today. I felt pretty scattered in the morning, but frequent walk breaks, stretching and keeping entertained with weird problems at work helped the grogginess fade throughout the day. Can't wait to test out my new earplugs tonight! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
you_surname Posted February 26, 2013 Author Share Posted February 26, 2013 good luck, i am going to start my second whole 30 on Tuesday focousing on only eating healthy foods while i train for a Spartan Super race in April.. good luck and your post is going to help me out so much:) keep positng i will keep reading and post anything that i might find helpful:) have a great Monday You badass, you! Best of luck with your training, and I hope your Day 1 was a piece of meatloaf (as opposed to cake). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
you_surname Posted February 27, 2013 Author Share Posted February 27, 2013 What I did on Day 3 Meal 1: Tomato kale frittata and coffee with lite coconut milk Snack 1 (around 11:45) : Filberts and banana Snack 2 (around 4:00): Nibble of turkey meatloaf and lots of broccolini Meal 2: Slow-cooked veggie beef stew with avocado What I noticed on Day 3 Thank goodness I slept better last night. A bigger-than-usual crisis came up at work. What would have been my lunch turned into 2 snack sessions, with a snack before and a snack after a 1-hour meeting that ran for almost for 4 hours instead. On workdays, I'm much more likely to be able to snack like I did today than I am to truly dine. It's just the nature of the beast, and I'm used to it. I'm also used to having balanced snacks 4-6 times a day vs. 3 big meals with limited snacking. That's what feels normal, and what feels best for steady energy level/mental alertness/good mood. I'll aim for bigger, less frequent meals, but not at the expense of my sanity. When life forces me to eat big, balanced meals in a snacky fashion, I won't stress over it. I'll just enjoy it, as I did today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
you_surname Posted February 28, 2013 Author Share Posted February 28, 2013 What I did on Day 4 Meal 1: Tomato kale frittata, an apple and coffee with lite coconut milk Meal 2 (a real lunch today. YES!): Turkey meatloaf, raw bell pepper, carrots, filberts Meal 3: Stir-fried garlicky scallops with kale and a tangerine What I noticed on Day 4 Holy freaking cow. I was busy as hell at work again and got a lot of important stuff done. Good mental focus, energy level and mood throughout the day. Moderate neck pain, which is a chronic issue for me, but otherwise no headaches, stomachaches or any discomfort I know some people experience in the early phase of this thing. I've been too full and too insanely busy to dwell on missing non-approved stuff that usually makes up a big part of my diet (especially dairy, my fave). My only regret about the day is that I didn't squeeze in a workout. Will do my best to sleep well and make it happen tomorrow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
you_surname Posted March 1, 2013 Author Share Posted March 1, 2013 What I did on Day 5 Pre-workout: Coffee with lite coconut milk Workout: Jog intervals in the park. Burned around 250 cals. Post-workout/Meal 1: Last 2 servings of the tomato kale frittata, some pureed pumpkin and 1/2 serving filberts Meal 2: Apple, spinach salad with tuna, avocado oil/coconut aminos/red pepper flakes, 1/2 serving filberts Meal 3: Small decaf coffee with lite coconut milk, garlicky broccolini frittata (fresh from the oven and a lot tastier than the kale), apple What I noticed on Day 5 Felt quite hungry and tired about an hour before lunch and dinner. No complaints about mood, but my mental powers felt kinda dulled today, especially before big meals. Handling challenges at work energizes me, and today was a slow work day. Adding all that together = Lazypants McSloth. Normally that would bug me, but today it felt like the pendulum swinging back toward the middle after the past couple intense, crazy days. Today just for the sake of observation, I made a point not to snack even when hunger level was way up and energy level was way down. It felt crummy. In the future, I'll throw in a snack and see what differences I notice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melbournegirl Posted March 1, 2013 Share Posted March 1, 2013 Try making your meals bigger instead? If you are only eating three times a day you need to get to the comfortably full stage to thm last four hours. If you are at this lead try a fourth meal instead of a snack? Good luck you are doing awesomely Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
you_surname Posted March 1, 2013 Author Share Posted March 1, 2013 Thanks for idea. When I've tried that in the past, I felt overly full/sluggish about an hour after eating and hungry/sluggish an hour before eating. Both feel pretty lousy to me. Will try out your suggestion today and see if it makes a difference when the bigger meals are squeaky-clean Whole30 foods. I hope so! Happy Friday, all! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
you_surname Posted March 2, 2013 Author Share Posted March 2, 2013 What I did on Day 6 Meal 1: Broccolini frittata, pureed pumpkin, filberts, coffee with lite coconut milk Meal 2: Ginormous spinach salad with tuna Snack: Broccolini Meal 3: Meatloaf. Lots of meatloaf. So much meatloaf, I ran out of room for anything else. Oops. What I noticed on Day 6 Summary: I want to keep trying bigger, fewer meals. Need to plan to keep balanced snack handy and gradually phase it out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
you_surname Posted March 3, 2013 Author Share Posted March 3, 2013 What I did on Day 7 Slept in late. Ahhhhh! That was badly needed. Meal 1: Broccolini frittata, banana, coffee with lite coconut milk Worked/played in the garden. Homegrown snow peas, bok choy, spinach, romaine, cilantro and parsley are in our near future. Meal 2: Meatloaf, carrots, apple, decaf coffee with lite coconut milk Meal 3: Stir-fried langostino and kale with improvised sauce I'll need to recreate (olive oil, ginger, garlic, red pepper flakes, coconut aminos) What I noticed on Day 7 I'm so grateful for a slow-paced day. Energy level felt pretty low. Mood was introspective and may have looked sad-ish to others even though it really wasn't. Hunger level was pretty stable throughout the day. Didn't eat too much or too little to make it comfortably to the next meal. Will try to make that happen again in the days ahead. And I just noticed this wraps up my first week of my first Whole30. Yay! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nadia B Posted March 3, 2013 Share Posted March 3, 2013 Well done! Better things yet to come! Aw I am so jealous of homegrown veggies. My granny has giant garden so when I was a kid I didn't even know that you buy them. Now she is overseas and I even managed to killed a basil in the pot. How's that possible? I'll try again in spring. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Margret McDermott Posted March 3, 2013 Share Posted March 3, 2013 Cool log name and good job logging this week. I enjoyed reading about your problem solving and evolution in the program. BTW, I noticed I started the same day as you did. Good luck to you, though I don't think you'll need it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
you_surname Posted March 3, 2013 Author Share Posted March 3, 2013 Well done! Better things yet to come! Aw I am so jealous of homegrown veggies. My granny has giant garden so when I was a kid I didn't even know that you buy them. Now she is overseas and I even managed to killed a basil in the pot. How's that possible? I'll try again in spring. With a green thumb like that in the family, you must have some delicious childhood memories. Lucky you! Good luck with your springtime gardening projects, and thanks for cheering me on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
you_surname Posted March 3, 2013 Author Share Posted March 3, 2013 Cool log name and good job logging this week. I enjoyed reading about your problem solving and evolution in the program. BTW, I noticed I started the same day as you did. Good luck to you, though I don't think you'll need it! Happy Day 8 and best of luck to you, too! Since I've never tried anything like this before, I thought a public journal would help keep me on track. If reading about my process is helpful to others, so much the better. Thanks and enjoy your day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
you_surname Posted March 4, 2013 Author Share Posted March 4, 2013 What I did on Day 8 Had a blast raiding Trader Joe's as soon as they opened. 90% of what I bought was fresh basil, kale, sweet potatoes, misc. fresh meats, eggs, wild-caught frozen seafood, canned chicken and canned lite coconut milk. Meal 1: 3-egg "stinky scramble" with mounds of garlic, leek and every type of onion in the house, banana, coffee with lite coconut milk Meal 2: The last of the Sindhi Beef Curry (note to self: make this again!), spinach salad with avocado Meal 3 (not yet eaten): Slow-cooked leg of lamb (with garlic, rosemary, EVOO and red wine vinegar), kale chips and if I'm still hungry, sweet potato and/or apple What I noticed on Day 8 Cooking Day is my favorite day of the week. I love the creativity involved. I love the way it makes the house smell. I love the nurturing aspect of it and sharing favorite recipes with people I love who live too damn far away. I "worked" in the kitchen almost 10 hours today and left it feeling happy and with good energy. Meals today have been big, and dinner will be no exception. My first two meals were much later than usual and I was hungry as a tiger for each. There were so many things keeping me happily busy in the kitchen, I wasn't really aware of my hunger level until I was super hungry. That's often how it feels at work, too. My pattern is: Start a project while full, then lose track of time because I enjoy the project, and then suddenly slam the brakes on everything because I realize I'm stupidly hungry. For years, smaller meals/snack have helped keep hunger levels less extreme throughout the day. That feels most comfortable to me, but until now I never bothered to test out other ways. I'll keep at it. On to Week 2. Whee! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
you_surname Posted March 5, 2013 Author Share Posted March 5, 2013 What I did on Day 9 Meal 1: Chipotle chicken kale frittata (best egg dish I've ever made!), banana, coffee with lite coconut milk Meal 2: Meatloaf, raw bell pepper & cucumber, apple, filberts Meal 3: Grilled salmon and asparagus, sweet potato What I noticed on Day 9 Compared with last week, my baseline energy level feels higher. Feeling well. Nothing huge to report. Time for Jeopardy! Later, alligators. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
you_surname Posted March 6, 2013 Author Share Posted March 6, 2013 What I did on Day 10 Pre-workout: Coffee with coconut milk Workout: 5x6 deadlifts, overhead press, lat pull-downs (burned around 100 cals) Post-workout: Tiny serving filberts and sweet potato Meal 1: Chipotle chicken kale frittata (YUM), carrots, weak-ass watered-down black coffee (YUCK) Meal 2: Veggie beef soup, filberts, banana Meal 3: Bombay Chicken Curry, spinach salad, sweet potato What I noticed on Day 10 For the past couple days, there's been this weird gurgle/creaky sound coming from somewhere in my gut. It happens several times throughout the day. It's not uncomfortable and I don't consider it a problem. Whatever it is, it's new. In general, my energy level and mood feel slightly higher and more stable compared with last week. I really enjoy feeling less mental fogginess than before I started. Still, today there were some intense, stressful moments. Self-care stuff, including a true lunch break, kinda didn't happen. Lessons from today: Early breakfast + late lunch = bad idea. Do whatever it takes to avoid this in the future. The world will not end if you run late to the 1:00 meeting (just like everyone else). Unless training for a competitive eating event, a quart of beef soup must NOT be eaten in under 5 minutes. Seriously. That's not pleasant and borders on unsafe. Remember your favorite stress-busting strategies and USE them (or else they're use-less). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martihana60 Posted March 6, 2013 Share Posted March 6, 2013 I'm loving your log. Wish I was as handy in the kitchen. I'm a pretty good cook, as long as I keep the menu simple. I'm looking for some variety in vegetable dishes. Keep it up! You're doing great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
you_surname Posted March 7, 2013 Author Share Posted March 7, 2013 What I did on Day 11 Meal 1: Chipotle chicken kale frittata, sweet potato, coffee with coconut milk Meal 2: Slow-cooked leg of lamb, raw veggies (smaller serving than usual), sweet potato Meal 3: Leg of lamb, beef soup, spinach salad, kale chips, sweet potato What I noticed on Day 11 I woke up this morning about 10 minutes before my alarm went off. And I was ALERT! Before coffee! And I didn't touch the snooze alarm even once! That's insane. That's totally new. I like it and I hope it sticks. No big reports about mood or mental focus, and that's fine. I'm figuring out that 4 hours is the longest I can graciously go without a meal. So I'll keep meals (especially breakfast) on the big side to tide me over. Powering down. Good night/morning/times! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
you_surname Posted March 7, 2013 Author Share Posted March 7, 2013 I'm loving your log. Wish I was as handy in the kitchen. I'm a pretty good cook, as long as I keep the menu simple. I'm looking for some variety in vegetable dishes. Keep it up! You're doing great. Schucks, thank you! I took a peek at your log and it sure looks like you're making great things happen, too! I'll keep you in mind if I find a no-fuss veggie recipe worth sharing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
you_surname Posted March 8, 2013 Author Share Posted March 8, 2013 What I did on Day 12 Pre-workout: Coffee with coconut milk Workout: 5x6 lunges, pushups, inverse rows Post-workout: A couple bites Bombay Chicken Curry Meal 1: Chipotle chicken kale frittata (I'll miss this when it's gone!), bell peppers Meal 2: Spinach salad with tuna, filberts, apple Meal 3: Turkey burger patties, broccolini, sweet potato What I noticed on Day 12 Didn't feel instantly alert when I woke up, but energy level was alert and perky throughout the day. It sure isn't usually this way without a steady stream of high-octane coffee, so I'm happy. It's generally much easier to concentrate now than before I started. But my thoughts get foggier and foggier the closer I get to the dreaded "it's been 4 hours since you've eaten, so either eat NOW or crash" feeling. There was a ton of soul-deadeningly tedious bureaucratic crap to slog through today. I needed some joke breaks, but I got it done. Mood was good-to-great. I heard from a reliable source that an influential colleague has been saying wonderful things about me and my work behind my back. That meant a lot. When I need a pick-me-up, I'll remember that even when people are too busy to say thank you, they do feel unspoken appreciation that I've joyfully busted my ass to earn. What a great reminder that I want to be more vocal about the big and little things that make me grateful for my team. Time to play, then sleep, then welcome what I hope will be another great day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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