Whole7ish Days 1-2

So far, so good.  The wonderful thing about Whole30 is that it's kind of like riding a bike.  Even though it's been a year since I've completed a full 30 days, we've done 3 "refresher" rounds, so Whole30-minded eating has never been far from my mind.  This time is no different. I am back to my "typical" meals and I am ok with that! I don't mind having the same food day in and day out, so it works for me to be doing leftovers and extras.

Day 1: 

M1: 3 scrambled eggs, 3 slices of Wellshire paleo bacon, 1/2 avocado, power greens. 
M2: Trader Joe's grassfed burger (from the frozen section!) with mustard and pickles, carrots, TJ's green olives and purple grapes. 
M3: Baked chicken, boiled green beans, large sweet potato with cinnamon only.
Snacks (I wouldn't be snacking if I weren't pregnant!): Apple with almond butter, 2 bananas.
Workout: 1 hour, 13 minutes of cardio (treadmill walking and elliptical)

Day 2:

M1: 3 scrambled eggs, 3 slices of Wellshire paleo bacon, power greens. 

M2: TJ's grassfed burger, boiled green beans, sweet potato with cinnamon, olives. 

M3: Spaghetti Squash with Well Fed meatballs (marinara sauce from Aldi! Compliant!), broccoli/cauliflower mix. 

Snacks: Key lime pie Lara bar, banana, almonds.

Workout: 75 minutes of Yoga.

Trying to keep reminding myself that this is only 1-2 weeks. I am already sleeping better (and waking up without as much hassle, which is always my favorite part of a Whole30!). I've been having some hip pain in relation to my pregnancy and I am HOPING that if I can stick with Whole30 long enough, that will go away (fingers crossed!) 

Whole30 #2 Prep

I realize this is really Whole30 #1.3 at this point, since I've tried 2 additional times and have only completed a few weeks at a time. But we're calling this Whole30 #2 because I know I will be successful this time. I am not the only one counting on it! (Growing a person is hard work!) 

I started making some general meal plans and realized that most of these foods we have been eating ever since our FIRST Whole30 - they have become some of the most requested and favorite meals. This is encouraging that it won't be such a hard transition for my family (mostly the kids*). 

This week's menu will loosely look like this: 

• Plantain nachos
• Buffalo chicken lettuce wraps 
• Balsamic chicken thighs, zucchini & sweet potatoes
• Grilled chicken, roasted red potatoes & roasted garlic broccoli
• Stir fry over cauli-rice

I am going to sit down tomorrow and make a grocery list, pulling from some of our favorites. After almost two solid weeks of eating in restaurants and fast food, my body is DYING to have some real nutrition!!  Nothing will taste better than a huge chicken salad with veggies and olives! 

Also can't wait? To get back to the gym!!  Now that my morning sickness has ended, I am excited to get back to running (goal: Run a 5K this fall and another half marathon Spring 2016). 

While I didn't "succeed" with my goals for this year, I am so happy with the way this year has gone. I have changed my health, my body chemistry and I am a better person moving forward. Thankful for all of the people who have helped me along the way and excited to see what the coming year holds for us!

*As a sidenote, since my kids have done the full Whole30 successfully and we established that they didn't have any severe food allergies, I will not keep them strictly on it this time. We haven't ever really transitioned back to cow milk for them to drink but I will not restrict them from cheese and grains, primarily at lunch time. Dinners will be compliant with no additions. 

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!! 

Week 4.... The Home Stretch

Week Four, almost done.  I can't believe we've almost finished the entire Whole30 we set out to complete! 

This post won't be our complete eating for the last week - I'm breaking it up since we went camping (CAMPING! During Whole30!! What about beer?! What about s'mores?!?) and I want to pull that out separately! 

I don't know if I ever actually explained why I am posting our meals. I have had so many people compare this to the Atkins diet - to "low carb" diets - wondering if we're hungry all the time (no snacking, remember??).  The answer is NO!! And this is NOTHING like the "low carb" fads that have been around.  We snacked a bit over the weekend while camping (just some fruit/nuts in the afternoon) and I give my kids an afternoon snack everyday, but hubby and I have not snacked for the most part of the 30 days.  We ate, and ate well! The food has been delicious. I've found a new way to spice taco meat (WITHOUT a packet!) and flavor combinations (PLEASE try sweet potato and bacon!! OMG and if you're daring, add PINEAPPLE.)

Day 22, Easter:

Breakfast: Scrambled eggs with green pepper & onion, 2 strips of bacon, sweet potato hash. Coffee with coconut milk.

Lunch: Applegate hot dogs, apple with almond butter, avocado and sugar snap peas.

Dinner: Steak (missing from the picture, I hadn't plated it yet!), ginger-lime shrimp, whipped sweet potatoes, curried cauliflower. For "dessert"** I made coconut milk whipped with cocoa powder and strawberries.  FAR cry from what Easter used to be in this house!

 ** Dessert breaks the Whole30 rules because it's considered SWYPO, but it was Easter and considering the things we ate last year (and every year before that) and the fact that my kids did not complain ONCE that there was no candy - we had us some dessert! 

Workout: Rest 

Total Time: 0

Total Calories Burned: 0

Day 23:

Breakfast: Scrambled eggs with homemade breakfast sausage, 2 cups super greens, 1/3 avocado. Coffee with coconut milk.

Lunch: Super greens, chicken breast, handful of green olives, 1/2 sweet potato with cinnamon, 8 strawberries. 

Dinner: Meatballs with homemade marinara, spaghetti squash and peas. 

Decaf coffee with coconut milk after dinner

Workout: Sick kiddo  

Total Time: 0

Total Calories Burned: 0

Day 24:

Breakfast: Scrambled eggs, 1/2 avocado, whipped sweet potatoes with cinnamon. Coffee with coconut milk.

Lunch: Chicken breast, sliced carrots, zucchini & yellow squash & onions from kabobs, Cara cara orange. 

Dinner: Balsamic chicken thighs, homemade marinara, spaghetti squash and green beans. 

Decaf coffee with coconut milk after dinner

 

Workout: Jamie Eason LiveFit training day 57 - Quads & Calves

Total Time: 1 hr 20 min

Total Calories Burned: 568 cals

Felt good today. A great workout certainly helped it along! I'm counting the days until we're done now! We're going camping this weekend and it will certainly be a challenge to camp without s'mores, sandwiches and alcohol, but we're working on it!

Day 25:

Breakfast: Scrambled eggs, pineapple, some green pepper. Coffee with coconut milk. <-- I have a head cold and everything tasted weird this am.

PWO: Small chicken breast

Lunch: One whole HB egg, one HB egg white, 1/2 avocado in 3 lettuce wraps. Banana. 

Dinner: BBQ rubbed pork tenderloin, 1/2 sweet potato with cinnamon, roasted broccoli. 

Decaf coffee with coconut milk in the afternoon.

Workout: Jamie Eason LiveFit training day 58 - Arms/Back/Abs and Sprints

Total Time: 1 hr 41 min

Total Calories Burned: 675 cals

Workout today really made me feel strong. I don't know if I'm inching towards tiger blood or what, but it was just a good workout. I surprised myself with how hard I was able to push myself.  

Day 26:

Breakfast: 1 scrambled egg, 1/2 chicken apple sausage, banana. Coconut milk in coffee.

Lunch: Chicken breast, handful of olives, super greens, red grapes. 

Dinner: Jerk spiced salmon, peas, a hash mixture of sweet potatoes, pineapple and bacon. 

Workout: Rest

Total Time: 

Total Calories Burned: 

Good day. Counting the days to be done (4). 

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.