Whole7ish Days 3-4

Today. Was. Hard.

I started hitting the dreaded wall today. I was able to force myself to eat so I will go on another day with my Whole7ish. I don't know how much longer I will make it, but I am going to try my hardest to make it to at least 7 days!! I think I can, I think I can! 

Day 3

M1: Eggs, bacon, avocado.
M2: Spaghetti squash, meatballs, broccoli with Tessamae's balsamic.
M3: Salsa chicken on salad with avocado, sauteed potatoes. 

**Snacks: Apple pie Lara Bar & a microwaved apple with cinnamon and coconut oil. 

Day 4

M1: Leftover sauteed potatoes with bacon and 2 fried eggs. Fresh pineapple.
M2: Applegate hot dog, grapes, broccoli with Tessamae's.
M3: Apple cider vinegar pork chops, sauteed apples with cinnamon and coconut oil, curried cauliflower.

**Snacks: Paleo "cereal" (walnuts, pecans, dried bing cherries, raisins, unsweetened coconut shreds with about 1/4 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk) & a banana. 

**When I did my first Whole30, I followed the "no snacking" rule very closely, but being pregnant, I have been using snacks to make sure I am getting enough calories to support growing a person :-) 

November - Already?

Well look at that. The 11th month is already here.  I had high hopes for this year, including making it back to 150. 

However, over the course of a year, I have done some pretty amazing things.  I have run my 5th half marathon, my 4th 10K, completed a 12 week lifting program and done 1 full (and 2 half) Whole30s.  I have tested some new things to see what I can do to make myself better and healthier. I have dragged my family through most of it (they are great sports!)

So I am not where I want to be with my weight. And I honestly haven't had my body fat tested lately, although it's on my list of "Things to Do" next time I go to the gym.  But I feel like I have a greater understanding of my body, what makes it tick and what makes it sloth... 

I am in a fitness group that will start reading It Starts with Food as a group this week.  The plan is to do a GROUP Whole30 starting January 1, after reading the entire book.  I haven't committed to it yet, I just haven't decided if I am in the right place mentally. But the more I talk to people, the more I find myself saying "Oh, that wasn't a problem for me during my Whole30!" or "Whole30 fixed that in me!" and wonder why I wouldn't do another one?  It will have been 4 months since my last attempt and will probably be a great time to go for it.  I know Paleo is NOT for me as a lifestyle, but a good kick-start never hurt anyone. 

My weigh in on November 1 was a wakeup call (166). I'd been drowning myself in candy for a good week. I knew my October weight out was going to be HORRIBLE. Things can only go down from here.  So I recalled my first goal of the year - to fit into that Believe shirt. I still have time - my goal is to wear that shirt as much as possible starting the day after Thanksgiving. What does that mean? That means I have to clean up my food for the rest of November. I have to be spot-on with my working out and my water intake (I STINK at drinking water!! Coffee until it's time for wine, people!) 

I am definitely reevaluating the weight goal of 150 that I originally had for myself. I no longer think there is a magical scale number that will make me suddenly "healthy." Instead I am going for fitting in certain clothes and a body fat percentage as close to 22% as I can get.  I think I've mentioned this before, but the lowest I've ever gotten my BF% was during the clean eating phase we did last year. We still eat pretty closely to that, although I have never found a whole wheat or rice pasta that tasted worth eating so we still eat white pasta.  But I have homemade spices and sauces now for a long time and will continue to do so.  

So sorry for the rambling post. Nothing earth shattering today, just trying to get all of my thoughts out on what the last 10 months has brought me - almost right back to where I was at the start of the year...    

Whole30 Running

First long run since I started Whole30. I set out this morning with Sara (you remember Sara, right? From this race and this race?) to accomplish our 8 mile training run.  I haven't gone that far in about a year and Sara had never gone that far, so we had high hopes! My knee has still been bothering me so I foam rolled before I left this morning. We had a pretty awesome morning - high humidity but the temp wasn't as high as it's been in the last few weeks. We decided to do an out-and-back so that we had no choice but to finish our complete 8 miles (once you're four miles from the car, there's not much to do but run back!)


The first few miles felt pretty easy.  When we hit mile 4, we turned around on the track and headed back and my knee completely went out. A few hobbles, some tight strides and I was back in business. Except then I got all in my head. I started thinking about the pain in my knee, trying to compensate in other ways. My feet started to go numb and I actually was a little panicked. Around mile 5.8, I really focused on my quads - I really pushed myself to LIFT my leg and move. At that time, I felt my whole body change. My knee relaxed, my feet felt better and instead of just pounding the pavement, I was PUSHING OFF of it.  We decided right in the beginning we weren't going for time on this run, just completing our 8 miles, so my average min/mile isn't my race pace. And I am OK with that. Because at the end of hte run, I FELT GOOD.

How does Whole30 tie into this? Well, my run was 1:29 long. I usually require some kind of fuel (Honey Stingers have always been my fuel of choice) after about an hour of running.  Today, I fueled with water and coconut water. I felt energized, I never "hit a wall" and I actually felt STRONGER in the second half of my run than the first!

Food the last two days - delicious. Friday I made pizza from scratch (top 5, if not the best I've ever made, according to my hubby). I had chicken sausage sauteed with onions, peppers and portobello mushroom caps. I didn't even miss the cheese I would have put on it!


Saturday we hit up our favorite BBQ place and when I asked, all of their smoked meat has sugar in the spice rubs - of course. Boo!!  But I was able to get a double grass fed burger, double tomatoes & lettuce and balsamic onions, with a side of green beans.

Today after my run I had a chicken breast and a sweet potato. Then I had breakfast for lunch - sweet potato hash, 3 eggs, yellow pepper and a ton of blueberries. Dinner was a PHENOMENAL grass fed sirloin steak, roasted potatoes and roasted broccoli.

Better this time!!

 I am not feeling the lightheadedness or dizziness that I felt during my last Whole30!  I expected that by today (day 4) I would have started to hit my carb wall like I did last time. Nothing doing! I ran 3 miles in 30 minutes today then I jumped on the elliptical for 30 more minutes. I've been eating well, of course.  

Not feeling too terribly bad, except I did have to make a cake for my daughter's school - My FAVORITE cake - a blueberry coffee cake. It's SO many different Whole30 no-no's and it was EVERYTHING I had not to lick the batter off the spatula while I cleaned up!

Breakfast: 3 eggs, bacon, power greens

Lunch: Chicken breast, sugar snap peas, olives and watermelon.

Snack: handful of blueberries. 1 small spoonful of coconut butter

Dinner: Grassfed burger, sauteed zucchini, avocado and baked fries.

My La Croix grapefruit is my "reward" for not killing anyone. .. . Day 3 in the history books!

Day 4: 

Breakfast: 2 eggs, 2 slices of bacon, power greens and watermelon

Lunch: Half a grass fed burger, Applegate hot dog (been worried about getting in enough protein!), pickles, romaine with Tessamae's balsamic dressing, blueberries. 

Mid afternoon: (acting as a post workout meal even though I worked out this am) 1/2 small sweet potato, small spoonful of coconut butter

Dinner: giant massive stir fry with cauli-rice. I have found the BEST way to make it!!!

Workout: ran 3 miles in 30:27, Elliptical for another 30 minutes.

Day 4: Success!!! I'm not having the lightheadedness that I had last time. I am going to chalk that up to going off an antidepressant along with starting Whole30.

Final Stats from Whole30

I learned today that PEAS aren't allowed on Whole30. I truly had NO idea. So if you're looking to do one, don't eat peas!  

Aside from the whole "no peas" thing,  we finished a successful (as far as we knew) Whole30! 

Here are my stats ! 

 I've had more energy, I have successfully weaned myself from an antidepressant and I feel stronger. I didn't have the amazing results I've seen around the forums and Whole30 sites, but to be honest, I didn't have a ton of weight to lose to get to goal. I hoped to get closer to my goal weight, but I can't turn my nose up at a 6.5 lb loss in a month. 

I think I've said it here before, we won't be paleo after this - it's just not sustainable to us. Unless we find that someone in our family reacts poorly to something during reintroduction, we will return to "clean eating." My husband and I agree that this is an excellent "reboot" and we will try to complete 2 Whole30's per year. 

I won't even go so far as to say everyone should do this. It's NOT for everyone. But if you feel that you need a good body reset, if you feel like you have inflammation or AI issues, if you feel like you need CONTROL of it for awhile - this is for you.  I didn't hit my goal weight. I didn't even lose as much as I hoped, but I also am a lot closer to my goal than someone coming from a SAD (standard American diet) because of the small changes we've gradually made over the years. It's been hard for me not to compare my results to ALL THE OTHER people who have completed a Whole30. "Why didn't I lose that much?" "Why didn't I get the tiger blood feeling?"  But I can't do that. I am not them. They are not ME! 

I can only go so far as to be proud of my 6.5 lbs, my 1.1% body fat loss, the teeeensy tiny abs I see in my "after" pictures. The fact that I am off an antidepressant I've been on for as long as I can remember. That I don't NEEEEEEED coffee to get me moving in the morning (in fact, most mornings lately, I FORGET to make a cup until around 10am!) 

It's completely embarrassing to put these pictures out publicly, but I am proud of where I am now. I admit, the fact that there are baby abs pushing through in the bottom left picture is a little addicting and I want to keep moving in that direction.  We are a few days out now and I've been adding in "prohibited" foods - I feel them. I have been more bloated-feeling and I miss the feeling of thinning out. I am going to try to start making a conscious effort to get back to tracking macros (without such a RIDICULOUS number for my protein!) and go back to a "clean" approach - with whole grains and lots of starchy carbs instead of processed stuff. 

I've missed a few days of the Jamie Eason plan - and I'm ok with it. It was getting to be a LOT of time spent at the gym, when I really needed to be spending more with my kiddos (you know, the reason I left my job?).  So I'm spacing out the workouts a little more. I am going to complete day 61 tomorrow, which is the 5th day of week 9. Today is technically the 2nd day of week 10, so I am only 4 days behind. 

I am going to start adding some running into the mix too. I registered for the Halloween 10K (fourth year in a row!) and the Mo' Cowbell Half again for this fall, so I need to get my butt in gear! I registered my expected finish time for the half to be 2:15!! 6 min shorter than my last! So I have a lot to prove - if only to myself. 

So as always, I finished up one thing and I'm on to the next. We will revisit the Whole30 concept again, hopefully a few times a year. If NOTHING else, it's a good reminder that I DO possess will power. I CAN control my eating, I can accomplish what I set out to do. 

Eeeeeek!!! Day **25**

I am in absolute disbelief that we are on day 25 already. And yet I feel like we've been doing this FOR.EV.ER

I can't wait to step on a scale (yes I will be going back to it!) and take my measurements. I will be doing a final write up when we're done (MONDAY!)

I haven't talked about it much but I'm still working through the Jamie Eason training plan!  Day 58 was today and this week has been KILLER so far!!  I am a day behind, and will probably start getting more behind in the next few weeks, as we have a bunch of commitments as school winds up for the year. But I'm not stressing about it, because I am staying with it. I refuse to give up this close to the end! (I'm midway through week 9, it's a 12 week program!)

I feel stronger and I feel like my arms and legs have thinned out. I can't wait to get my body fat measured again to see if there's a difference. It's honestly the ONLY true difference I can think I've experienced. I don't feel like I've lost any weight. I certainly don't feel allergy free - my entire family has the WORST allergy/cold symptoms right now! 

So just a few more days!!    Most excited? 

WINE. 

We will definitely be having a celebratory glass of wine Monday night!! Whoop whoop!

Week 3 - 3/4 done!

Sunday 

Day 15:

Breakfast: 3 scrambled eggs, 2 cups of power greens, 2 homemade sausage patties

PreWO: handful of almonds

Lunch: Sweet potato & bacon hash. 

Dinner: Smoked brisket, curried cauliflower, sautéed asparagus, baked sweet potato.

Workout: Jamie Eason's LiveFit Trainer day 48 - Back/rear delts

Total Time: 58 min

Total Calories Burned: 211 calories

Monday

Day 16:

Breakfast: 3 scrambled eggs, 2 cups of power greens, 1/4 avocado, coffee with coconut milk

Lunch: 2 HB egg whites, some greens (not much), some plantain chips, a baby cucumber and a few olives. Was NOT feeling lunch today  

Dinner: Smoked brisket on power greens, broccoli, olives, carrots. Tessamae's balsamic. 

Workout: Jamie Eason's LiveFit Trainer day 50 - arms, abs, cardio

Total Time: 72 min

Total Calories Burned: 465 calories

So emotional today. SO OVERLY EMOTIONAL!  I cried because I didn't know what to serve for dinner....   

Tuesday

Day 17:

Breakfast: 3 scrambled eggs, 2 cups of power greens, 1/2 avocado, coffee with coconut milk

Lunch: 1 HB egg, carrot & cucumber sticks, some "best chicken you'll ever eat," and a few slices of orange. 

Dinner: Buffalo chicken lettuce wraps with avocado, tomato & celery. Green beans. Sweet potato fries.

Workout: Jamie Eason's LiveFit Trainer day 51 - legs

Total Time: 60 min

Total Calories Burned: 284 calories

We went to a local children's museum today. They have a VERY nice restaurant attached, which I have always considered fairly healthy. I KNEW going in that we wouldn't be able to eat there, though. They are sandwiches/salads/soups.  The sandwich I usually get is a GF bread, roast beef, horseradish mayo and red onions/spinach.  I can't trust the roast beef, obviously could't eat the bread or mayo...   They have a "no outside food" policy but I just couldn't think of any one thing we could have eaten there. So I packed lunch, ready to defend my choice if someone asked. Thankfully, no one did, but it really opened my eyes to all the "healthy" things we used to think were great options that during this Whole30 just aren't possible. 

Wednesday: 

Day 18:

Breakfast: 3 eggs, 2 homemade sausage patties, mushrooms, poblano pepper scramble - 2 cups of power greens, 1/2 avocado, coffee with coconut milk  <-- My breakfast scramble was THE MOST disgusting thing I've ever tasted. And I found a ladybug wing on my lettuce (are they whole30?!?!) so I got super grossed out. Wound up eating 2 HB egg whites and a banana... I know, not enough, but I was over it!

Lunch: "Best chicken you'll ever eat" - about 2/3 of a breast, green beans, 1/2 plate covered in roasted broccoli, small handful of olives

Dinner: Eggplant sausage strata (BIG fail with everyone but me!), spaghetti squash, sauteed zucchini. 

Workout: Jamie Eason's LiveFit Trainer day 52 - chest/abs/cardio 

Total Time: 78 min

Total Calories Burned: 429 calories

WHERE IS MY TIGER BLOOD?!

Thursday: 

Day 19:

Breakfast: 3 eggs,  2 cups of power greens, banana, coffee with coconut milk 

Lunch: Two hard boiled eggs made into "deviled eggs" by mixing the yolks with a whole grain mustard.  a few bites of brisket. 

Snack:  Almonds and dried pineapple.

Dinner: Well Fed carnitas, sage roasted acorn squash, roasted asparagus.

Workout: Forced rest day (sick kiddo at home)

Total Time: 0

Total Calories Burned: 0

Totally failed today as far as eating. Lunch just didn't sound good. I nibbled. A big no no, I know.  Hopefully back on track tomorrow 

Friday: 

Day 20:

Breakfast: 3 "green eggs and ham" muffins (prosciutto, spinach and eggs)

Lunch: Grass-fed hamburger with avocado, onion, tomato and a side of mixed greens.  (RESTAURANT! Yay!) 

PWO:  Almonds & HB egg white.

Dinner: Plantain nachos from Well Fed, sage roasted acorn squash. 

Workout: Jamie Eason Day 53 - Shoulders; then an 18.25 mile bike ride with my husband and son!

Total Time: 138 minutes

Total Calories Burned: 645 cals

Good Friday at church was maybe the biggest challenge yet!!  They did communion with 'real' bread (big fresh loaves of heavenly smelling wheat bread!!) and they had an "after party" with so many different desserts it was nuts.   My husband and I didn't take communion because we both knew it would have been more about the bread than the meaning.  We got the kids out with only a chunk of pineapple each (the FRUIT tray even had sugary dip!!), promising them that it was JUST as hard for mommy and daddy to walk away from the table as it was for them!! 

My kids are rock stars. <3 

Saturday: 

Day 21:

Breakfast: Scrambled eggs, chicken sausage, a few slices of starfruit. Coffee with coconut milk.

Lunch: sausage/eggplant strata, spaghetti squash, apple with almond butter.

Dinner: Grilled pork steak, veggie kebabs. 

Workout: Jamie Eason Day 54 - Legs; Jamie Eason Day 55 - Back

Total Time: 68 min

Total Calories Burned: 303 cals

I'm just ready to be done. That's all. 

Whole30 Week 2 - Fooooooooood

Food Prep Day shall be king around here! Holy cow did that save me SO MUCH TIME!  Of all of my food prep from last week, the only thing I have left is a bit of purple cabbage!  The eggs are all gone (as are the egg muffins), we finished the chicken by Thursday and the ground beef became the taco meat for the kids when we went out on Friday night.  I will be making food prep day a weekly thing around here for SURE! 

Day 8

Breakfast: 2 eggs cooked in the microwave (YUK, could NOT get these right!), leftover portobello mushroom cap with sausage & marinara

PWO: 2 HB egg whites

Lunch: Chicken breast, carrots, sugar snap peas, green peppers

Dinner: Steak, grilled asparagus, sauteed mushrooms, power greens with Tessamae's balsamic dressing.

One cup of coffee in the afternoon

(with coconut milk) and club soda/cranberry with dinner.

Workout: Jamie Eason LiveFit training, day 42: legs

Total Time: 55 min

Total Calories Burned: unknown - left my Garmin at home by accident

I have noticed that when it's lunchtime, I get HHHAANNNGRRRYYYY!!! Like, kids, don't talk to mama, she's about to chew your arm off!  All day long I am just fine, but RIGHT before meals, like while I'm prepping? SOooooo irritable! 

Day 9

Breakfast: Egg muffins (sausage, tomato, spinach), 1 c power greens, banana, coffee w/coconut milk

PWO: 3/4 small sweet potato, 1 HB egg white

Lunch: Steak, carrots, power greens, olives, carrots, tomatoes,  Tessamae's balsamic dressing, coffee w/coconut milk

Dinner: Jicama home fries, chicken, purple cabbage, apples, broccoli w/ Tessamae's Zesty Ranch dressing

Two cup of coffee in the afternoon (with coconut milk) 

Workout: Jamie Eason LiveFit training, day 43: Arms/Abs

Total Time: 95 min

Total Calories Burned: 599 calories

Day 10

Breakfast: Egg muffins (sausage, tomato, spinach), 1 c power greens, 1/2 small sweet potato, coffee w/coconut

milk

PWO: none

Lunch: Chicken breast, carrots, power greens, olives, 2/3 apple with almond

butter. 

Dinner: Hot plate - ground beef, cauliflower, mushrooms, and light coconut milk with curry powder. Served over spaghetti squash with a side of zucchini. 

Two cup of coffee in the afternoon (with coconut milk) 

It looks disgusting
but it was tasty!

Workout: Jamie Eason LiveFit training, day 44: Legs

Total Time: 55 min

Total Calories Burned: 385 calories

Day 11

Breakfast: Scrambled eggs with spinach, green peppers and mushrooms. 1/4 avocado, banana and coffee with

coconut milk.

Lunch: Chicken breast, olives, super greens, carrots and Tessamae's vinaigrette. 

Dinner: Balsamic chicken thighs - (OMG DELICIOUS), zoodles with mushrooms and roasted broccoli

One cup of tea at bedtime.

Workout: Jamie Eason Livefit Training Day 45: Chest/Abs/Cardio

Total Time: 1 hr 12 min

Total Calories Burned: 393 calories

DESPERATE for chocolate today. Went to workout instead. I think I made the right choice.

Day 12

Breakfast: Scrambled eggs, super greens, banana and coffee with coconut milk.

Lunch: Tuna lettuce wraps (tuna on lettuce with 1/2 avocado), 1/3 of a green pepper, egg white. 

Dinner: Chicken stir fry (the stir fry sauce from Well Fed minus rice vinegar - I have 2 bottles and both had sugar) with green beans, snow peas, onion, mushroom, broccoli & celery. Side of pineapple. 

One cup of coffee with coconut milk midday and one cup of tea at bedtime.

Workout: Jamie Eason Livefit Training Day 46: Shoulders

Total Time: 45 min

Total Calories Burned: unknown - left my Garmin at home again  

SO had to get out of my head today. Lots of outside time today helped.

Day 13

Breakfast: Scrambled eggs, super greens, 1/2 avocado, banana and coffee with coconut milk.

BOY did I need carbs today!

Lunch: HB egg, sweet potato, sugar snap peas, a few slices of green pepper

Dinner: Our first attempt eating at a restaurant! BOY was it a challenge! We wound up both getting grassfed ribeye steaks and we split veggie sides - sautéed spinach and green beans. We could have SWORN the spinach had butter, it was soooooo rich, but the server promised he had written dairy allergy on our tag. I wondered later if maybe there was some MSG or just a lot of salt because I had a slight headache. I did get a glass of club soda with lime. We will DEFINITELY be going back once we're done with this - bacon maple ice cream!? Yes please.

One cup of coffee with coconut milk midday and one cup of decaf after dinner with no coconut milk.

Workout: Jamie Eason Livefit Training Day 47: Legs

Total Time: 56 min

Total Calories Burned: 255 cals

We went to the Billy Joel concert Friday night. WOW to see him was amazing! And to think that "before," we would have eaten and drank at dinner, probably gotten a treat to eat during the concert and another drink. I will say, however, that being buzzed WITH everyone else is a lot less irritating that being sober around a bunch of complete drunks!! 

Day 14

Breakfast: Sweet potato & bacon hash, 3 eggs, 1 banana, coffee with coconut milk.

Lunch: Large salad with taco meat, plantain chips, tomatoes and a few olives. 

Dinner: Burger with lettuce, tomato & bacon. Sweet potato fries. Green beans.

Workout: Rest Day

Total Time:

Total Calories Burned:

Having a really rough few days. Getting discouraged. I haven't cheated (at least knowingly, but we've only eaten away from home once) and I'm STILL in the "what, my pants are TIGHTER?" phase. I feel so bloated and I am not thinning out as much as I expected.  I keep trying to reevaluate what I'm eating - too much protein, too much fat, not enough greens?  Too much fruit, although I have tried hard to keep it to 1-2 servings a day, usually lunch or earlier. 

We went out last night and I just kept thinking how EASY it would be to just order that glass of wine... have those potatoes on the side of my steak...  Nothing too awful but I don't feel like I'm accomplishing anything at this point - shouldn't I be feeling SOMETHING around day 14???   

My kids are CONSTANTLY hungry. I have told them they may eat unrestricted veggies - they want fruit.  They did, however, eat about 3 JUMBO carrots the other day as a snack. I know they are truly hungry if they will eat sugar snap peas, carrots, cucumbers or broccoli. If they ask for fruit (or my little guy, who still asks for crackers daily <3) I tell them to drink a big glass of water. It's working, but I'm always fearful I'm just not feeding them ENOUGH food... 

Anyhow. Long story short, feeling discouraged. Two more weeks will be rough if this continues.