You know what silence means....

I might as well just reference this post again, because I wound up in the EXACT same place...

After 10 days of being on Whole30, I had lost 5 pounds, was struggling to get enough calories and had completely lost my appetite. Ordinarily, these would all be awesome results to get from this.  However, I am pregnant and I was warned by my OB that I was clear to do a Whole30 as long as I was getting enough calories.  Around day 10, I got to the same mental place where I preferred to NOT eat instead of eating compliant food. I had NO cravings and no appetite. I was barely scraping by with 1000 calories a day, where my calorie requirements are closer to 2,000!

I am a HUGE Whole30 supporter. I believed (and STILL believe) everyone should at least TRY to complete one. It's hard, I would never tell you it's easy. But it's worth it. I miss feeling awesome. I miss SLEEPING - my pregnancy-induced insomnia was gone and I would bound out of bed in the morning ready to face the day.  But I have to do what's best for me and the baby at this point. 

My husband has continued his Whole30 through today, which he planned to stop (so a Whole24). I have been keeping our family dinners compliant for his benefit. I have added in sprouted grain bread and (let's be honest here) treats!  Oh how I missed peanut butter!!

I am still 1lb below where I was on Jan 1 when I started this Whole30. My goal for this pregnancy is not to gain 40lbs, but honestly? My doctor has always ALWAYS told me how much you gain DURING pregnancy does.not.matter. It's how much you take off when you're done, in what amount of time. I am thankful for his opinion because I do tend to gain weight. But I also plan to stay more active this time than the last two times.

While I am enjoying being able to have a treat or fulfill a craving, I do miss how GOOD I felt being wholly compliant.  I am trying to make sure I am eating enough veggies (my biggest issue when not on Whole30) and to cut back on the refined sugars!

Whole30, #2, Days 1-2

Oh the headache on day 1!!

I skipped my coffee because the baby just DOESN'T like it some mornings. BIG mistake. I had a headache so bad I could barely hold my head up most of the day. :(

Add to that my husband's superstition about eating chicken/eggs on NYD.... it was interesting finding food yesterday!

We hadn't made it to Whole Foods for bacon yet, so he threw together a hot dog/potato/red pepper scramble. It wasn't the worst concoction we've ever had but I don't think we'll be rushing to try it again. ;-)  I also had 1/4 of an avocado and half of a grapefruit.

Lunch: 4 baby cucumbers, handful of olives, hot dogs and whole grain mustard. 

Dinner: Crispy carnitas, roasted broccoli, baked potato with compliant salsa. 

Friday was better. I was able to get down about a half a cup of coffee with coconut cream - so far, no headache!

Breakfast: 3 over medium eggs, 1/2 avocado, one cup of blackberries.

Lunch: Baked chicken breast, 1/4 avocado, 2 clementines, about a cup of baby carrots.

Afternoon: 1oz almonds

Dinner: Cracklin' chicken, roasted carrots, roasted potatoes.  This was pretty big as I normally CANNOT STAND cooked carrots. These? They'll be made in my house 1-2 times a week going forward. Delicious!! 

I need to modify just slightly. I am only coming in around 1,000 calories and I JUST don't feel like that's enough while pregnant. Yes, I know the rules, but I am being overly cautious because of my pregnancy.  So I will watch my protein intake (keep it less than 20% of my total daily macros), calories and calcium. So I will be adding a fourth meal and possibly a snack after dinner just to make sure I'm hitting 1500+ calories. 

Confession.

That should read "confession." 

Because I've realized that the only person putting pressure on myself to complete a Whole30 - is me. 

I stopped my Whole30 last week. Friday, to be exact. It was a hard week. A REALLY hard week. And all I wanted was a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. (sidebar: for our family, that is sprouted grain bread, peanuts-only peanut butter and jelly with no added sugar.) But nothing in that is "Whole30" approved. So instead, I would wander around the house, wringing my hands trying to find something that was "acceptable" to eat. Some days, I was hitting 800 calories eaten (not counting the calories I expended through exercise.)  And it hit me. A pb&j at our house isn't an "unhealthy" meal and yet it was STILL not ok on Whole30. And I don't understand that. Maybe it's my emotions this week, but maybe, just maybe, I need to start rethinking why I am doing this. 

This time in particular, I feel very disordered in my thinking. I "quit" my Whole30 on Friday, yet almost all of my meals have been compliant since, with very few exceptions. I ran 10 miles on Sunday with Sara and had a minor panic attack when faced with eating a Jimmy Dean egg white/turkey sausage english muffin in the 15 minutes I had to eat before church. The thought of eating the English muffin scared me. I had half (I gave Little Guy the top muffin). I am easing back into grains, it's getting easier, but it bothered me how much different my experience was this time than last.  

I just saw this article on FB. It spoke to me, volumes.  I am still struggling with what "healthy" eating means to me. Like the author of this article, I don't have allergies or intolerances to any particular food or food group.  I don't have an autoimmune disease that will benefit from a paleo lifestyle. And I do have extreme guilt and shame about my food choices when I "break the rules." For now, Whole30 is going on the back burner and I'm working on my mental health. 

I may revisit a Whole30 - maybe during a less emotional/stressful time in my life. It IS a good process and it does have a ton of benefits, but for me, right now in my life - I just need to refocus and get my head right first. 

So I won't apologize - like I said, I have realized the only person I have disappointed is myself (I don't quit things!). And if you're considering a Whole30 - do it. Because you never know how you will do until you try it. Don't let my experience discourage you. My first Whole30 was awesome and someday - I will succeed again! 

Tomorrow  - stats from Sunday's 10 miler!

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.

Checking in

Halfway through day 2 and the only thing I am feeling is EXHAUSTED. My heart RACED last night from the time I got into bed at 9 until I finally fell asleep at 1am.  Then I woke up at 3:00 for another 45 minutes and was up for the day by 6:45.  I don't remember this from last time at all.  Just hoping to stay focused enough to get things done today so I can move on. 

I remembered how physically bankrupt I was the first few weeks so I plan to take my runs easy - not shorten them but definitely go a little slower and stay inside until the INSANE heat strike is over here in St. Louis!  Yoga today wasn't a high calorie burn but I needed the stretch in my hips to loosen up that darned IT band!

So day 1 under my belt. I am breaking a few rules this time -
* using half and half *I know from my previous Whole30 that I do not have a reaction to dairy. I am limiting myself to 2 cups max, but I know from the last time that by day 14, I will stop requiring coffee for the most part.
* logging my food - ONLY to ensure I am eating enough carbs to sustain my half marathon training.
* weighing myself. Because I like it. 

Crossroads.

I've been sitting here, staring at a blank screen for about a half an hour. I'm researching, reading and thinking through my next steps. 

I've completed a Whole30.  When it was over, I fell off the wagon.  No, I take that back, I swan dove off the sucker.  We left for vacation and never looked back.  I spent a month with little restriction (although I will say, we aren't usually very far from at least a "clean" eating plan) and gained back all of my weight, felt awful, etc. 

So I started another Whole30 (intending to do a "Whole14") last Friday.  Today is Day 5. I'm feeling good, but my anxiety is THROUGH THE ROOF. Not sure if it's W30 related or just life in general.  I had no headaches, I'm getting stuffy again (my whole family got horrible colds about week 2 last time), but I'm having no lightheadedness this time. 

But that brings me to my food today.  Eggs with bacon mixed in, avocado and coffee.  Lunch (was STARVING - had a 570 cal burn workout then took the kids swimming!) 1/2 spaghetti squash with homemade marinara & meatballs, salad with olives and Tessamae's balsamic dressing and a bowl of applesauce with cinnamon.  I made "ice cream" for my kids - frozen watermelon, coconut water and a touch of coconut milk for creaminess. (NOTE: THIS IS NOT WHOLE30 COMPLIANT, even if the ingredients are. It's SWYPO!)  I had some - you know why? Because I'm slowly realizing, I need to learn to live within my guidelines. Maybe finding an amazing delicious summer treat (that isn't "real" ice cream) will help me stop feeling "left out" of all the occasions that there is REAL ice cream.  

I was faced again with one of these situations at dinner. I went to get my co-op produce and left hubby and kids to make dinner. They put together a DELICIOUS chicken salad. My almost-6 year old made most of the salad herself - peeling carrots and shredding them, putting cheese on them and adding olives. When I walked in, she stopped me at the door and, with the saddest eyes ever, said "Mommy -- I accidentally put cheese on your salad."   Now I had two options - 1) try to pick all the shredded cheese off the salad to "preserve" my Whole30 (which would have broken my daughter's heart) or 2) Go with it knowing that I do NOT react to dairy (thank you, first Whole30). I chose #2. Because you know what, sometimes, food will have ingredients that I don't know about. Sometimes I will choose to eat "non compliant" food. Sometimes I will WANT to eat non compliant food. 

So I will continue to eat "Whole30" but I will use the remainder of my 2 weeks to keep my eyes open for opportunities for moderation.  Some accidental cheese, a paleo treat with my kids... 

I just can't continue the cycle I'm on - Whole30, junky eating, Whole30, etc. I don't believe it was intended to be used this way and I want to try to get to the root of my eating issues. I'm hoping to be more MENTALLY aware this time than I was last time. 

Sorry if a lot of this post is rambling - I really don't know where I stand or what my plan is going forward, but getting it "on paper" will really help me!

A few of my favorite things ...

I've been looking back through my blog, trying to remember what we ate last time we did this.  It seemed like a good idea to put ALL of the recipes that I loved in ONE place for me this time, for anyone else doing a Whole30 who needs inspiration.

My FAVORITE recipe recommendation when someone talks about getting sick of eggs: Sweet Potato Hash !!!  Do NOT skip the paleo bacon! (I link to what I use later in this post)  I am making it for breakfast for the week and it's the one thing I look forward to the most!  Add avocado and a fried egg on top for sheer delicious!


Crockpot Balsamic Chicken - I was chicken-thigh-a-phobic before we tried this recipe.  But this recipe - I ALWAYS use thighs!  I despise taking skin off chicken, but I will do it for this recipe. :-)   My kids love this recipe - as in, seconds, thirds, as much as I will let them eat!



Plantain Nachos - Whole30 or not, I will always use this recipe for my taco meat.  The plantain chips are so good they are almost SWYPO.... but it's approved, so I will go with it!



Old School Italian Meat Sauce - I make this, but without the "meat sauce" part. It's my go-to marinara for spaghetti squash, chicken and meatballs.


Good old burger - we splurged on grass fed beef, which we don't normally do. We grilled the burgers and added the Pederson's  bacon (PALEO - no sugar added!!) *

Prosciutto Wrapped Egg Muffins - Perfect for breakfast! Last time I made them, I blended spinach with the eggs and called it "Green eggs and ham" - my daughter had asked for them.  She, of course, hated them (green, ya know) but I loved them! This time I am going to try to put in peppers, onion and more spinach!


And my FAVORITE: Ginger Lime Shrimp. Mostly my favorite because we had them for dinner and my SHRIMP HATING daughter decided she loves shrimp!  It has a great flavor and I am definitely including it in my meal plan in the coming week!





Hubby's favorite - Buffalo Chicken wraps - I cooked ground chicken in ghee and Frank's hot sauce. I loaded that up in a lettuce wrap with celery, avocado and tomato.










*If this is your first Whole30, make SURE you are reading ingredients, NOT just sugar content!  Often times, lunch meats, bacon, ham etc will have a 0g sugar content but there is still sugar used in the preparation, often a rub or brine. THIS COUNTS!! 

Camping - Whole30 Style!

So I'll be the first to say that camping is NOT the same without beer and s'mores.  However, it was still a delightful weekend! 

We got to our campsite around 5:00, set up and got dinner ready. I didn't take a picture (it was probably 6:30 by then I was ready to chew my arm off!) but we had hot dogs and chicken brats (found at Whole Foods and compliant! Brat Hans brand). We had carrots and celery on the side. 

For "dessert," I stuck bananas on skewers and "roasted" them. I sprinkled a little cinnamon on and the kids went WILD! 

Saturday (and Sunday, breakfasts are always the same) we had "cereal" - a teeny bit of pecans, slivered almonds, cashews, dried cherries, some raisins and some coconut shreds with a little almond milk and a sliced banana.  This replaced the sugary cereals that are usually a camping "treat" (I buy the tiny boxes) to hold the kids off while we make the real breakfast (eggs and bacon this time, egg sandwiches usually) in the pie iron over the campfire. 

Lunch for me was 2 HB eggs, carrots, celery, watermelon and homemade zucchini/carrot chips. The rest of my family had Applegate roast beef also.

We took a good hike midday so when we came back we had a snack of pistachios, almonds and strawberries/grapes.

For dinner Saturday night, we had burgers with bacon, roasted sweet potatoes on the campfire (started those around 2pm!), and mini bell peppers that we put on skewers and roasted right on the fire!  I chopped apples in a little coconut oil and topped with cinnamon.  I put them on the fire for about an hour to get them all warm and gooey, then we ate them straight out of a bowl. Yum yum. 

All in all, while DIFFERENT from our usual camping trips, this one ranks right up there with the others! The food didn't make it any less enjoyable and it wasn't any more work to prep and eat "real" food. 

Me & my girl!

My boys.

Filing this one away for 10 years from now -
I'm sure I'll see this face again.

Happy and healthy, my kids were rockstars during the entirety of our Whole30!

Why?

I've gotten a lot of questions about why I'm doing this, "what are you hoping to achieve?" and "do you plan to eat like this FOREVER??" so I figured I would sit down and write a post about it. 

First of all, the easiest answer, is if I plan to live like this forever. No, absolutely not! And the writers of "It Starts with Food" and creators of the Whole30 concept do not intend anyone to eat like this forever either!  The Whole30 is merely a "reset" if you will.  It's a time to let your body heal itself with foods that will strengthen and enable it.  Then, at the end of the 30 days, we will go through a period of reintroduction.  One by one, we will add back in the foods that we have eliminated. If they make us feel gross, groggy and sick, guess what? We WILL eliminate them!  If we can successfully add things back, we will. :-)

Why I'm doing this and what I am hoping to achieve are much harder to answer.  This awesome list was written by Mel at The Clothes Make the Girl and a lot of them are great and valid reasons for doing a Whole30. All of the reasons are very awesome, very true and very convincing, but for me, this is something greater. 

If you've been reading this blog for any period of time, you know that I am very all-or-nothing. I quit sugar completely, I ate protein completely, I train completely.  I am a goal oriented person for sure. If I don't have an "achievable" at the end, well, it's just not for me.   I count calories, I track body fat percentage, I weigh in weekly, if not daily. 

I don't talk about it much now,  my sophomore year I went through a really emotional time and, through some counseling, was advised that all of my "quirks" were really a form of OCD.  It was a shock and yet relief knowing that I wasn't necessarily to blame for my "crazy."  It was a situation I would never like to visit again, but I am thankful for the opportunity to gain that insight.   Now I was aware - the NEED to list things, to know schedules to minutia, to count calories - they were all driven by a real psychological need. 

I spent years dealing with the anxiety that came with the OCD and slowly all of the symptoms began to fade. However, I still have moments. Driving all the way to work only to wonder if I turned off the coffee pot - turning around and going home because I couldn't focus until I KNEW it was off.  Waking in the middle of the night to list out the things I needed to accomplish the next day - and rewriting it the next morning if any little thing changed.  But biggest of all in my life now - counting calories. Tracking food. Weighing everything that goes in my mouth. Watching the scale, my measurements, my body fat percentage. 

This is the REAL reason I want need to do a Whole30. I've never known the freeing ability of not tracking food. I have going through periods in my life where I stopped tracking, but the side effect was gaining weight because during those non-tracking times, I was eating ALL.THE.THINGS. Then I would begin to gain weight and then the anxiety would start.  It seemed as though there was no "right" choice - track and be obsessive or completely ignore it and have anxiety. 

When I read "It Starts with Food," things slowly began to come into focus.  The most daunting challenge for me (despite saying it was no wine or no half and half in my coffee) was letting go and the psychological side of a Whole30.  No weighing myself, no counting calories, no body fat, no measurements. What I read was "no control." For THIRTY days.  It made me ITCHY to think I wouldn't be weighing my food and logging it in MFP.  And yet, it seems like the best of both of the things I wanted - staying within a healthy weight while not tracking a SINGLE MORSEL. 

Every morning it's a fight for me to walk by the scale and not just take a peek.  "So who cares if you cheat?"  Well, I'm a rule follower. And I trust processes that other people have set out for me. Millions of people have completed a Whole30 and I would imagine that the creators did some research before publishing it. They aren't cruel, they aren't trying to make people miserable. They are aware. They know that there are ebbs and flows in the process. One whole section of the timeline says your pants WILL FIT TIGHTER. How?! Because it's PART of the PROCESS. They are the professionals and I will trust the process. 

But that's not to say I won't be happily reintroducing foods when Day 31 arrives! 

So those are the big questions I've gotten. Many people have asked other things and maybe someday I'll catalogue those too, but these were the big ones. These are the ones that make me think and really evaluate WHY we're doing this.  

I'm on Day 12 now, the part where the psychological TRULY comes into play during this 30 days (according to the timeline, at least!).  I wanted chocolate so desperately yesterday. Instead, I drank water and worked it out at the gym.  I am bigger than the cravings and I know that now. A few short weeks ago I would have said "Just one piece" which would have led to two and three and four. 

It's surprising to me how a process I saw as "losing control" has actually given me all of the control. 

Whole30 Food Prep Day

I've gotten a TON TON of questions about the prep day I did this weekend.  So far (heck, it's only Tuesday!) I feel like it's helped a ton, but I will leave my final determination for this weekend!

I followed the prep day lists in Well Fed, but adjusted amounts for our family of 4. Here's what I completed:

Haven't worn my apron in a long time!
Had to document!

6 chicken breasts

2 lbs ground beef

1lb homemade breakfast sausage (to go in my egg muffins later)

Hard boiled 18 eggs

Steam sautéed: 

• broccoli
• cauliflower
• cabbage
• zucchini
• celery 

Baked sweet potatoes & spaghetti squash  

Roasted radishes

I made the "Best Chicken Ever" recipe from Well Fed. Fired up the grill and let those char.  I multi-tasked in the kitchen with a pot on every burner (below are eggs, ground beef and cabbage), chopping while the pans preheated and the oven was running too! 

I had three timers going almost the whole time, depending on what step I was on. One to remind me to flip the chicken on the grill outside, one to turn the eggs off when they started to boil, one to check the sweet potatoes in the oven. I started with the chicken and seasoned/grilled that. I started the water boiling for the eggs just after putting the chicken on the grill.  I browned 2lbs of ground beef, sautéed with onion and granulated garlic, until it was cooked through. 

I didn't take a picture of my fridge right now, but it's a glorious mess of produce and containers full of ready-to-be-eaten food. It's wonderful! 

  My egg muffins have chopped spinach from Trader Joe's (I throw it in frozen!), chopped tomatoes and homemade blended breakfast sausage. This time I used 12 eggs. 

I peeled, chopped and soaked jicama in my crockpot to be made into Jicama Home Fries on Monday evening for dinner.  I mixed those with apples, cabbage and the precooked chicken to make a yummy hash. 

My meals this week will revolve more around the Hot Plate plan than actual recipes like I did last week.  I'm excited to see if this planning day keeps me out of the kitchen for hours upon hours each day.  So far, so good, that's for sure. 

Whole30 Days 4-7 Review

Whew! ONE WEEK done.

Day 4:

Breakfast: 2 egg muffins, 1/2 avocado, coffee with full fat coconut milk from a can, 2 cups super greens

Lunch: Chicken breast, super greens (probably 3 cups), Tessamae's balsamic vinaigrette, 1/2 tomato, 1 hard boiled egg & 10 dried apricots. 

Dinner: Spaghetti squash with marinara (Well Fed - the meat sauce w/o meat), 6-1Tbsp Italian meatballs, sautéed mushrooms and onions (sautéed in ghee and garlic)

One cup of coffee in the afternoon, one cup of tea at bedtime.

Workout: Jamie Eason Livefit Training Day 38: Legs

Total Time: 42

Total Calories Burned: 245 cals

I was able to run my whole 5 min warmup at 7.0 on the treadmill!!  My leg workout was decent, but I was under a time crunch and cut a few of my very favorite moves. Boohoo! 

Day 5:

Breakfast: 4 eggs scrambled with 1 homemade sausage and 3/4 of a green pepper, 1/2 small sweet potato, 1 cup homemade apple/pear sauce, coffee with canned coconut milk. 

Lunch: 1/2 apple, almond butter, 5 small meatballs (leftover from last night's dinner), small handful of green olives, 2 cups of sugar snap peas, coffee with canned coconut milk

Dinner: Plantain Nachos from Well Fed (plantains baked, with a taco seasoned meat), topped with tomatoes and 1/4 avocado, cumin spiced baked carrots (Well Fed) and cilantro lime cauli-rice. 

One cup of tea at bedtime.

Workout: Jamie Eason Livefit Training Day 39: Arms/Abs/Cardio

Total Time: 32

Total Calories Burned: haven't checked my Garmin, but I think it was around 150.

I skipped my cardio because I ran out of time before my son's swimming lessons. 

Strayed from all the greens today a bit. I started getting bored and bored on day 5 doesn't bode well for me making it all the way through! I still tried to keep the meal plan template. Dinner was probably a little starch/carb heavy but it was soooo delicious. 

 Day 6:

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

PostWO: 3/4 small sweet potato, 2 slices spiced pork tenderloin

Lunch: 2 1/2 cups super greens (Actually called "power greens" at Costco), 1 HB egg, pork tenderloin, sugar snap peas, broccoli, Tessamae's balsamic 

Dinner: Homemade Italian sausage in a portobello mushroom cap with homemade marinara (from Well Fed), 1 cup green beans, 1 1/2 cups broccoli

Licked the spoon after giving my kiddos an almond butter snack!

One cup of tea at bedtime.

Workout: Jamie Eason Livefit Training Day 40: Shoulders/Cardio

Total Time: 1:20

Total Calories Burned: 478

Soooooo bloated today. Could probably convince people I was 3 mos pg. 

Day 7:
 Breakfast: 1 medium cooked egg, sweet potato hash with bacon, pineapple, 1/2 avocado.

Lunch: Chicken breast, green olives, carrots, sugar snap peas, radishes, 1/2 apple, 2 Tbsp almond butter.

Dinner: 1/2lb burger, 1/2 tomato, 1/2 avocado, 1 cup green beans, 1 cup baked carrots, 1/2 cup butternut squash. 

One cup of decaf coffee at bedtime.

Workout: Rest day

Total Time:

Total Calories Burned:

I was sooooooooo crabby today. So extremely crabby!! Still feeling bloated today but not as bad. Trying to drink more water today.  

Week 1 Summary thoughts: I've been crabby but without real terrible physical side effects - no nausea, no headaches or stomach aches. The lightheadedness/dizziness has eased up and I've been able to get through my day without having any today.

I haven't been hungry between meals at all. I don't know if it's that I'm balancing correctly (fat/protein/carb) or if it's my weird psychosis about things I "can't eat" but it's wokring for me!  REALLY having to hold myself back from stepping on the scale, but I will continue to take weekly progress photos, so that kind of helps me in that respect.

In total, I call week 1 a success - with one MINOR issue. I feel like I have been spending THE WHOLE DAY in the kitchen!! Wake up, make a full breakfast for 4 people, send one to school, one to work. Unload dishwasher. Reload & run dishwasher. Clean the kitchen. Go to the gym. Come home, start a full LUNCH for 3 people. Have lunch. Clean up.  Start prepping dinner items around 3 depending on the recipe. Unload dishwasher, reload dishwasher. Start fully cooking around 4:15, cook until dinner at 5:30ish, eat. Clean up. Prep for tomorrow.

I had a HUGE prep day today - will post about that later this week, along with what my kids are eating! - and got a ton of stuff out of the way. I'm hoping to stay out of the kitchen more this week, especially with good weather coming our way!

Whole30 Days 1-3 Review

Sunday afternoon I began the daunting task of getting rid of all non-compliant food from our pantry.  The picture on the left is what's left. The picture on the right is all the food that I have boxed up and hidden away.  I only threw out things that were terrible and we didn't eat anyhow - and I gave away anything that would go bad before our 30 days is over. I don't know where we will be after this - and I'm sure we won't be eating lots of it - but there was no reason to throw it away at this point. 

Day 1 is under my belt and I'm ready for to post for accountability! 

Breakfast: hot tea, eggs, super green mix (kale, chard and spinach) and 2 homemade breakfast sausages. 

Lunch: Leftover chicken breast, more super green mix, 1/4 avocado and half a tomato

Dinner: Pork tenderloin rubbed with the BBQ spice mix from Well Fed, roasted purple cabbage with ghee, asparagus wrapped in Whole30 approved bacon (yay!) and grilled pineapple. 

Late night: Hot tea. 

Workout: Rest day 

Total Time: n/a

Total Calories Burned: n/a

Day 2.

I'm going through this food detox and also detox from a medication. I've been super light headed today. I also found out some pretty devastating news about our puppy, so there's that too... 

I count it as a win that I didn't drown myself in chocolate, pasta or wine today.   Me: 1, Stress: 0

Breakfast: 2 egg muffins (bacon, tomato, spinach), 1/4 an avocado, cup of super green mix

Lunch: small chicken breast, 3 cups super green mix, 1/2 hard boiled egg, 1/2 tomato. Tessamae's balsamic dressing. Leftover roasted cabbage. 

Mid-afternoon: cup of coffee with full fat canned coconut milk

Dinner: Sunshine spiced pork tenderloin, sweet potato with ghee and cinnamon, a few cups of green beans, 2 strawberries

Workout: Jamie Eason Livefit Training Day 36: Shoulder/Cardio. 

Total Time: 52 Min

Total Calories Burned: 352

My workout today was 5 min warmup run, lifting routine, and it was supposed to be a 30 minute run. But I was feeling so lightheaded and weak that I only made it 14 minutes. REALLY disheartening for me not to be able to complete a simple 30 minute run.  

Please tell me this will get better!!

Breakfast: 2 egg muffins, 1/2 avocado, coffee with full fat coconut milk from a can. 

PWO Snack: very underripe banana  (I know this isn't the best choice - but we ran to the store after the gym and this was the least of all evils I could grab and eat fast!!) 

Lunch: Chicken breast, super greens (probably 2 cups), Tessamae's zesty ranch and probably 1.5 cups of broccoli. 

Dinner: Salmon recipe from Well Fed (it was delish!), Nom Nom Paleo's roasted butternut squash, cucumber salad (evoo and acv) 

I had one pecan earlier (before dinner) and another cup of coffee/coconut milk this afternoon. 

Workout: Jamie Eason Livefit Training Day 37: Chest/Abs/Cardio

Total Time: 78 min

Total Calories Burned: 482 cals

Today's workout included a 5 min sprint as a warmup, lifting (chest/abs) and a 30 min run on the treadmill. Again felt lightheaded and had to stop a few times.  Hoping my energy returns soon!! 

Feeling great otherwise. Trying to remember to drink more water is hard for me but I am getting there! 

So - 1/10th of the way in and so far, I feel alarmingly well. Although according to this timeline, the worst is coming! I'm bracing myself but I'm cautiously optimistic that it won't get too bad.