My goal for the weekly updates is to offer you food choices,
recipes and links to them (I get most online) and what emotional/physical
revelations I go through. I’m also going
to document what exercise I do.
Monday, May 12
Exercise – 4 miles @ 9 min/mile pace.
Weight – You’re not supposed to weigh yourself on the
program, but I honestly wanted to know if I would lose weight. I’m not trying to, nor do I want to. I somehow lost 10 pounds since Christmas
(maybe training for the marathon?) and went down a short/pant size. I’m pleased, however, I have a bunch of
clothes that I love that don’t fit now.
Like, comically don’t fit. And I
really can’t afford new clothes with all the clothes I already have. So I’m really hoping to maintain.
Anyways, I weighed exactly 137 at the beginning of this
program.
Breakfast – Sweet potatoes, kale, 1 Roma tomato, 2 eggs
Banana
Lemon water
Small cup of black coffee
*This is a breakfast I sort of formulated with what veggies
I had in the fridge. It was amazing and
totally filling. Not giving up my coffee yet.
Sans cream though.
Lunch – Cauliflower rice with ground meat, tomatoes, and
yellow pepper
Carrots and snap peas on the side
Avocado on top of cauliflower mixture.
*Love having avocado every day
Snack – Mango
Dinner – Puerto Rican Beef (recipe - http://www.easypaleo.com/2012/01/31/recipe-challenge-puerto-rican-chicken/)
Almonds and strawberries
**The hardest part was realizing that I graze on Liam’s food
too. He typically eats what we do, but
he has some crackers occasionally. I usually bite them down to size for
him. I, unconsciously, almost did this
several times. I even licked my fingers
after giving him a Wheat Thin out of habit.
Just salt isn’t cheating right?
Tuesday, May 13
Exercise – Elliptical at gym + weights. (I will write out one of my typical workouts
later on down the page)
Breakfast – Sweet potatoes, 2 organic apples, tons of almond
butter
8 oz black coffee
Lunch – Salad with cherry tomatoes, almonds, mushrooms,
carrots with oil and vinegar dressing
Spicy chicken – leftovers from the weekend (I can’t find the
recipe, but it’s literally, diced onions in a crockpot, seasoned chicken with
paprika, poultry seasoning, cayenne, chili powder, cumin on low for 6
hours. Spicy, but good!)
**I forgot to take my phone to lunch.
Dinner – Salmon with avocado salsa (recipe - http://www.thecookierookie.com/salmon-with-avocado/)
Plantain chips with guacamole - plantains look like bananas but are eaten
like a potato. I sliced them up, fried them in olive oil and salt and
pepper. Good replacement for chips.
Feelings about the day – sort of apathetic today. I found that I wasn’t particularly hungry in
between meals, but still wanted to snack.
Maybe emotional attachment? Just
bored really.
Wednesday, May 14
Exercise – I usually work out in the mornings, so I set my
alarm, but I just absolutely could not get out of bed this morning. Could be lack of carbs or just lack of energy
in general. I’m typically tired on most
days, but this was ridiculous. I worked
out at school instead.
Breakfast – Banana with almond butter
2 eggs, kale, sweet potato hash, acorn squash, Roma tomato
8 oz black coffee
Lunch – Puerto Rican beef leftover with 1 avocado over sweet
potato and a few bites of lamb from the week before.
Cucumber slices
Dinner – Cauliflower rice mixture
Salad with cucumber, cherry tomato and homemade ranch
dressing (recipe - http://nomnompaleo.com/post/39474749548/whole30-day-2-paleo-mayonnaise
*This is not the exact recipe I used but it’s basically
olive oil mayo, paprika, chives, parsley and salt and pepper. Splash of lemon juice. Pretty good =)
Thursday, May 15
Exercise – Ran 3.5 miles – this was very difficult for
me. Maybe it’s the lack of carbs? I struggled to run at a decent pace.
Breakfast – Frozen berries, banana with almond butter, Egg
frittata – with sausage, mushrooms and spinach
8 oz black coffee
Snack – dry, unsalted almonds
**No picture
Lunch – Salmon with avocado (leftovers from Tuesday)
Cucumber slices with homemade ranch
Dinner – Shrimp Scampi with zucchini (recipe: http://sweetcsdesigns.com/low-carb-paleo-shrimp-scampi/#more-11223)
Asparagus
Spinach salad with cherry tomatoes, snap peas, ½ avocado,
oil and vinegar dressing
Friday, May 16
Breakfast – Banana with Almond butter
2 eggs over eggplant ratatouille (recipe: http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/browse-all-recipes/ratatouille-10000000524327/index.html)
Lunch – Subway salad with every veggie and bacon and whole
avocado
Dry, unsalted almonds
Snack – Apple with AB (almond butter) and cinnamon
Dinner – Smoked chicken (Nathan smoked this and it was
amazing! He doesn’t exactly remember
what he put on it but something of: salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, paprika,
thyme and oregano. And Liam loved it
too!)
Mashed cauliflower made with ghee, chives and garlic
Homemade BBQ
**I cheated and weighed myself this morning and I’m down to
133.4. That’s about 4 lbs in 1
week! Yikes!
Saturday, May 17
Exercise – Elliptical – 15 min, weight/cardio circuit – 30 min
Breakfast – Egg scramble with tomatoes, mushrooms,
kale/spinach, green pepper
Banana with AB
Iced coffee from Panera (I can’t give up my coffee yet!)
Lunch- we were traveling to my nephew's 6th birthday party so Nathan ate before but I wasn't hungry. We had a looong trip for several reasons, so when we got there after 2, I was starving.
I packed all of our food (lunch and dinner) and honestly, it was a pain. More on that later...
I packed leftover eggplant ratatouille with an apple and AB.
Dinner- consequently, we were still there for dinner just a few hours later. They had pizza and salad fix ins'. I used what they had for toppings and improvised with what I brought.
Salad with canned chicken (mine), avocado, green, red and yellow peppers, cherry tomatoes. Topped with olive oil and pepper. They didn't have balsamic which would have balanced out the EVOO, but still tasty and filling.
This was our first real temptation. Ice cream, cake, pizza, and my mom's puppy chow. Weekends are hard bc we constantly graze and they have always been my cheat day. Cheat days no more.
When we got home, we were still hungry (which is a reoccurring theme these days) so I made a paleo berry cobbler with canned coconut milk poured over it.
Recipe: From Everyday Paleo cookbook.
I couldn't find it online, but it's basically frozen or fresh berries, topped with a crumbly mix of almond meal, 1 egg, cinnamon and ghee or coconut oil. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 min. We poured canned coconut milk from Trader Joe's on top. I'll be honest, it needed more sweetness. I was still hungry. But I drank a huge glass of water and went to bed hungry.
Sunday, May 18
Breakfast - 8 oz black coffee (peppermint flavor)
2 eggs with 1 Roma tomato and 2 slices of uncured ham (nitrate free)
Strawberries and almonds
Lunch - Chipolte Salad - chicken, fajita veggies, mild salsa with guacamole on top
Almond berry dessert (from last night)
Dinner - Bone broth soup - when Nathan slow smoked the chicken, he took the bones and made soup with organic carrots and celery. We added kale and green peppers and onions later. It is phenomenal.
Sunday is usually my food prep day for the week. We still have a bunch of leftovers and no space in the fridge so I didn't have room to make much. We steamed some broccolini (sp) we had from a week ago and fried up some plantain chips in olive oil with garlic, s/p to dip in guacamole.
Recap of the week:
Mentally - My mind was prepared, but man oh man, did I mentally want chips, cookies, treats, my mom's puppy chow on a lazy Sunday afternoon =) Those cravings were hard and not hard all the same. I keep reminding myself that I'm a grown adult. If I want it, I can have it. But this is more than that. I'm not doing this to prove something to anyone. I'm doing it to feel better. To know that I can and do have willpower. I don't HAVE to have that ice cream. I don't need a glass of wine (although with the school year winding down, I question that at times).
I think what's been particularly difficult is changing what my mind knows is "normal". Putting Liam to bed, doing dishes, and than curling up on the couch with a.....water. That's it. I did cave and make the almond berry cobbler Saturday night after I was around ice cream, cake, and pizza all afternoon. Did I "earn" it? No. We don't earn food. But I was starving and I have become grossly aware of my craving for sweet.
What's weird is that the things I'm craving, I can actually taste more in my mouth in their absence. I can't really explain it. Have I had bad food dreams? No. I have gotten so stressed about this not eating what I usually graze on? No. It really hasn't been that difficult mentally overall. It has just been fine tuning some of the not great habits we have.
Physically - I have been extremely tired. And not doing anything particularly strenuous in my workouts, but running 3-4 days a week (3-5 miles each) and lifting/circuits. But I have been tired. Like legs weigh 50 pounds tired on my runs. This is new. I've been scaling back a bit. I've also lost weight. 4 pounds as of today. My goal is not to lose weight as I can't afford anymore clothes, but I guess I should be thankful. I've also had some unexpected stomach/bathroom issues. I'd like to think it's all the fiber, but I ate a lot of fiber before. Maybe it will pass...
Financially - What sucks the most is that we are snacking on or eating fruits and veggies for meals. That crap is expensive. Think about how much a bag of apples cost. Well, I'll tell you at Aldi, a bag of organic apples is around $4.50. A bag of tortilla chips for us could last a week and cost around $2. Ouch. We will definitely be spending much more on groceries. It's hard to know exactly how much b/c I stocked up before it started, but I'll try to figure a total later on.
Other stuff - I have never been more aware of the fast food/restaurant industry's schemes to get us to eat their food. It's everywhere. Although I knew this before, now, I can't have that food. I never really ate it before, but there's something about making you want something when you can't have it. What is this junk?! We've probably all been there but it is terrible. Never more have I wanted McDonald's new seasoned shake fries. But I can taste them, and they're not good. They aren't worth it.
Another struggle we have had and will have is traveling, trips, and parties. Sure, if we stayed at home and just worked (packing our lunch), we'd be set! But life is not like that. Things come up. We had my nephew's birthday party this Saturday and we had to pack our own food. That could be disrespectful to some people as their guests. It took a lot of prep, and time, and thinking. And it stressed me out. Normally, we could have gone, eaten light if we didn't want much, but still allowed ourselves the indulgence of cake and ice cream. But we couldn't. Well, we could have, but saying no is for our bodies. It was hard, but it wasn't that hard.
All in all, a good first week, but we are counting down the days we can go back to normal. That's not good I don't think, but meal planning and prep is a bear. I soooo took for granted being able to snack on chips as a side or bread for a sandwich as a quick lunch. Liam eats what we eat so we pack for him as well. Ugh, toddlers and their eating. That's another story....
Stay tuned this next week for our trip to the zoo and what we pack, graduation for my school, and Memorial Day.
Nathan's recap for the week:
Whole 30 Week 1 in Review
With 25% of the Whole 30 behind me, I found myself reflecting this morning on the first week. I can sum it up simply: hungry.
I'm doing the Whole 30 with Kel not just because I'm the perfect supportive husband, but to try to cure frequent, seemingly random gut pains and indigestion. While reducing grain, sugar, and lentils in my everyday diet had helped, I'd never done a full Whole 30-type "cleanse" to heal the damage probably done by semi-weekly college Taco Bell runs.
Despite making dietary changes years ago, this week I still missed being able to grab a small bag of chips or surplus muffin that was laying around the work kitchen. I struggled not to snack… I did have have some mixed nuts throughout the day to keep my stomach from grinding in on itself, saving my sanity. I started to WAY overeat at meals out of fear I'd be hungry before the next! Obviously something wasn't right. A little web research suggested more good fats at meals so I upped the oil/avocado/nut intake at meals and by day 5 and 6 I was doing better.
Still, every time I get in the car I see restaurant signs for places I NEVER go, but simply because it's forbidden I want it! Driving through the smell of grilling burgers and frying potatoes, I find myself planning my "re-tox" diet of Chick-Fil-A and Sam Adams Summer Ale (well, not together). I have to trust that the next 3 weeks will alleviate those cravings (it's not "Whole 7" for a reason…!), and I keep reminding myself that hitting up a Wendy's drive though on Day 31 will probably induce immediate vomiting!
I'm looking forward to this week as it's supposed to be when everything mellows out and we start seeing the "fruit" (har!) of our discipline. I really hope to see improvement in my energy and digestion so I can then recommend it to friends and family as personal testimony, not just research. Here's to week 2!
Please ask me if you have any questions about recipes, where we get our food, and what we buy!
Whole 30 week 2.....here we come.
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