My Whole30: The First Ten Days

 The ten day meal round up with small accompanying day descriptions. For anyone who was curious about what the first ten days of the Whole30 were like for me. 

The program focuses on getting back to three meals a day. Most of these days I had an apple or banana in the afternoon. If I had a bad craving that I couldn't get past or wanted a good treat, I would fill a couple of dates with almond butter. 

Day One: I grocery shopped all over town the week leading up the my start date and spent 2 hours prepping food the night before. I finally learned how to make my own mayo. This was a pretty good day. I was feeling confident and the food was filling and wonderful.

Breakfast Day 1:
Spinach & tomato frittata, avocado, & fruit.

Day 1 Lunch:
Tuna salad, spinach tossed in extra virgin olive oil, grapes & blueberries.

Day 1 Dinner (Not Pictured):
I was so hungry at the end of this day that I didn't remember to stop and
take a pic. Spaghetti squash topped with ground beef, Italian seasonings, and
red sauce.

Day Two: was a work day. A little more hectic in the mornings to find time to sit down, but we managed. When I woke up on day two I had sinus drainage and a cough. I was pretty sure I was getting a cold & felt achy all day.

Day 2 Breakfast:
Leftover spaghetti squash and ground meat topped with a fried egg and tomato sauce.

Day 2 Lunch (at work):
Tuna Salad stuffed bell pepper with more greens, raw carrots
and roasted red pepper sauce for dressing/dipping.

Day 2 Dinner:
Grilled chicken breast (seasoned with onion powder, garlic powder,
fresh pepper and salt) with red pepper mayo, grilled sweet potato
rounds and Green Cabbage Slaw.

 Day Three: My throat drainage got better. I thought maybe I was just having some allergic reaction to something outside. Still felt off, but ok. Still very satisfied form all of the meals, but getting sick of being in the kitchen so much.

Day 3 Breakfast:
Sauteed spinach, sliced avocado, sliced tomato, & two fried eggs.

Day 3 Lunch (at work):
Mexican Tuna (basically tuna and avocado) in Romaine Leaves with
leftover cabbage slaw, carrot sticks & a not pictured apple.

Dinner Day 3:
Beef Brisket with gravy, roasted sweet potatoes & baby kale and
spinach tossed in extra virgin olive oil and aged balsamic vinegar.

Day Four: This is the day that I realized my "cold & allergies" were actually physical symptoms of my body adjusting to all of the things I had taken out of my diet. Overall the day was good, and I was feeling REALLY tired by the end of it. The brisket from the night before was amazing and I think it set me up for good days. 

Breakfast Day 4:
Fried eggs with leftover brisket gravy, sauteed spinach & fruit.

Lunch Day 4 (not pictured):
Big Spinach and vegetable salad with leftover beef brisket & gravy.

Dinner Day 4:
Roasted salmon topped with fresh dill, salt & pepper. Roasted broccoli,
sweet potatoes & golden beets.

 Day Five: I started to get a little bitchy. They say it happens. It did. It started on Day 5.

Breakfast Day 5:
Fried egg over sauteed spinach, butternut squash soup, berries & Elsa shoes.

Lunch Day 5:
HUGE greek salad with romaine lettuce, red onions, kalamata olives,
tomatoes, green peppers, cucumber, & garlic. Dressed with red wine vinegar,
olive oil, and lemon juice.

Dinner Day 5:
The juiciest bone in pork chops with spiced applesauce on a bed
of arugula.

 Day Six: Also know as day two of the "Kill All The Things" phase. I was getting mad at inanimate objects. And my family. Lots of negativity on this day. It was the weekend and I really wanted some wine. There was lots of good food, but it was a tough first weekend.

Breakfast Day 6:
Scrambled eggs with leftover pork, leftover applesauce & side of greens.
And more brisket gravy.

Lunch Day 6:
At Whole Foods. Bowl of kale, hard boiled egg, and all the veggies you see
drizzled in olive oil.

Dinner Day 6:
Baked sweet potato stuffed with pulled pork carnitas and
served with avocado mayo.

 Day Seven: So tired this day. But nicer to be around. On this day I felt slimmer. My midsection was noticeably less bloated and my face felt slimmer. That basically made me have the best day ever. Superficial, but honest.

Breakfast Day 7:
Sweet potato hash, sugar free bacon, fried eggs & berries.

Lunch Day 7:
Tuna salad on a bed of spinach, bell pepper and carrot sticks, & an apple.

Dinner Day 7:
Kielbasa, spinach, onion, tomato frittata, cauliflower & sweet potato mash,
and fruit salad.

Day Eight: Back to another week, easier to not be jealous of the people drinking nice wine around me. Normal busy Monday with the kids. Had plenty of energy in the morning and I felt good.

Breakfast Day 8:
Leftover fruit salad, leftover butternut squash soup, & a fried egg
with sauteed spinach.

Lunch Day 8:
Tuna salad with apples, walnuts, celery, hard boiled egg, compliant pickles,
homemade mayo, lemon juice & compliant dijon mustard. Served on a bed
of arugula and drizzled with aged balsamic vinegar.

Dinner Day 8:
Chicken and vegetable stir fry topped with cilantro & dressed with
sesame oil & coconut aminos.

 Day Nine: No longer feeling slim. Feeling bloated and that is frustrating considering how much time I am spending in the kitchen cooking all of this damn (but delicious) food. But they say lots of people feel this way around days 8 & 9, so I'm rolling with it.

Breakfast Day 9:
Fried egg over sauteed spinach, cantaloupe, & strawberries.

Lunch (at work) Day 9:
Cold Thai salad with Zoodles & a sunflower seed butter sauce, Salmon &
sweet potato cakes (the kids LOVED these) with Dill Aoli dipping sauce.
The apple was eaten later. This was really filling.

Dinner Day 9:
Ground turkey lettuce wraps with cold thai salad.

 Day Ten: The Whole30 facts show that most people who quit the program do it on day ten or eleven. Their words are perfect for my sentiment: The newness has worn off, you've been through some unpleasant side effects, but you still haven't seen big results. That was EXACTLY where I was on this day (and today, day 11) but knowing these days were coming helped me. I haven't come this far to give it up.

Breakfast Day 10:
Leftover stir fry topped with a fried egg.

Lunch (at work) Day 10:
Leftover ground turkey lettuce wraps & a bell pepper.

Dinner Day 10:
One pot classic chili topped with avocado & served with a baby kale salad.

In real life I am finishing Day 11. I noticed a change in my energy today and over the last ten days we have tons of positive things happening with the kids. They are really good at trying new things and both of them have loved a lot of the food we have been making and eating. We don't have as many quick snacks around (chips, popcorn, etc) so when they want a snack they are asking for fruit or vegetables. It's really cool and one thing I'm super proud of about this. Of course, when we were at Whole Foods today I totally got ambushed by the cookie station. If there is ever a day when my children turn down a cookie, they are sick. I don't even need to go to the doctor. It's just a fact.

Happy to be 1/3 of the way in. Having to plan every single meal is a pain but it also has amazing advantages. I am not wasting food and my grocery store trips are much more focused and quick. It's better for my budget, even though all this food can get expensive. 

Still working on enough energy at the end of the day, so with that, I'm off to bed. 

Getting to the Whole30

The first time heard about the Whole30 was when a friend of mine was taking it on. This was sometime in early 2014. I went to google, my prime source for information, and essentially focused on all of the do not eat items. 

No sugar? At that point I hadn't gone more than 3 days without some kind of sugar in something. Probably 0 days if you get into all of that hidden sugar that I didn't want to think about at the time. 

No dairy? Maybe these Whole30 people don't understand the close, personal relationship I have with cheese. Melted, soft, hard, grated, crumbled... cheese and I are soul mates. 

No legumes?  Even in the winter? When it's so great to make a warm pot of beans or peas? That's insane.

No grains? Of any kind.. at all. This is mostly fine, but I do love rice... and cookies. And popcorn. and corn tortillas. and oatmeal. AND sandwich bread. Well, maybe it wasn't mostly fine. 

No alcohol? But wine is made from grapes and grapes are fruit.... and I love wine. and a martini on Friday. And a margarita by the pool. I digress.

I decided that doing the Whole30 was for super clean eating people, or people who hate wine, or crossfit junkies and I was none of those.

That May I decided to give up refined sugar for the month. And the results were so good for my life. That 30 days really changed the way that I eat to this day. I wasn't a slave to sugar anymore and that was an amazing thing. But as recently as this February I was talking to my friend who gave up sugar and dairy while trying to get pregnant (and she now is, by the way!) and I could not picture myself not eating cheese and butter, or voluntarily saying I was going to not have a glass of wine here and there. 

The thing is, I kept coming back to the Whole30, and there were a few things that pushed me into picking a start date. 

1. I knew I could give up sugar for 30 days. It wasn't as much of a challenge or an achievement anymore. I was looking for something challenging to take on.

2. I had friends who wanted to do it with me. Granted, our start dates didn't end up working out, but it always helps to have a friend to go through things with.

3. When I was reading the Whole30 info, there's lots of tough love. I kind of like that. I don't need any room for excuses, and I kept coming around to this section: 

     "This is not hard. Don't you dare tell us this is hard. Beating cancer is hard. Birthing a baby is hard. Losing a parent is hard. Drinking your coffee black. Is. Not. Hard. You've done harder things than this, and you have no excuse not to complete the program as written. It's only 30 days and it's for the most important cause on earth -- the only physical body you will ever have in this lifetime."

4. It's not a diet. This is where you want me to say "it's a lifestyle" but it's not a lifestyle either. Its a tool. When I started thinking of it that way, it really made me excited to get started. Some foods give me headaches. Some foods make me have an awful night's sleep. Some foods turn my stomach upside down up to 24 hours later. But which foods? I'm eating everything. I love it all. This program resets your system and gets you back to neutral so you can build the foods that you enjoy back into your life while you learn how they affect you. You introduce them back in slowly and individually so you can find the foods that might change your mood or your health. Then you get to build your ideal, personalized diet. Or lifestyle, or whatever you want to call it when you are done. 

5. Last, an old high school friend is running 365 consecutive marathons to raise awareness and money for those battling addiction. 365 MARATHONS. In a row. 26.2 miles A. DAY. While working. And he has a family. And that is awesome. If you want more info: Click Here. So every day I wake up and can't have cheese, or sugar, or wine... at least I don't have to go out and run a marathon that day. Because.. y'all. THAT is hard.

So here I am. I made my plan end of April and ordered the new Whole30 Guide and read. You can really get all the information you need from their website, I just wanted recipes (this has about 200) and I like having a book when I feel like I am studying up on something. The book also has a great 7 day meal plan that will get you used to your new life in the kitchen. Because you will be cooking everything that you eat. It also helped me understand portion sizes (they are satisfying) and the breakout of a meal. The website does have tons of tools though, printouts and testimonials. And if you want to do some digging, go for #whole30results on instagram. The book that explains the science behind it all is It Starts With Food. I have not read that one, but I hear I should. I have learned how much food affects your mind and body, so I didn't need extra convincing.

I have been documenting every meal, some snacks, and my meal plans. There's usually 1-2 food pics a day on Instagram but the rest will go up in a few blog posts. Tomorrow I'll feature the first ten days worth of food as well as the first ten days worth of personal experience. I'm really enjoying the challenge of this journey so far. And I'm learning every day that I can do things I never saw myself doing. Making homemade mayo, homemade almond butter, homemade almond milk, doing fourteen thousand dishes... things like that. 

The kids are eating what I am eating (and I'll have more about their reactions to the food) but I am really the only one in the house doing the whole program. I say this as my husband is off tasting wine at a work event. #jealousy. He ate the last of the crunchy almond butter, which is a dangerous offense in my Whole30 house. Sleep with one eye open, my love.

Here's to more dreams about swimming in a sea of chocolate chip cookies!

-Becky

It is not hard. Don’t you dare tell us this is hard. Beating cancer is hard. Birthing a baby is hard. Losing a parent is hard. Drinking your coffee black. Is. Not. Hard. You’ve done harder things than this, and you have no excuse not to complete the program as written. It’s only thirty days, and it’s for the most important health cause on earth – the only physical body you will ever have in this lifetime. - See more at: http://whole30.com/step-two/#sthash.WA9StYSs.dpuf

It is not hard. Don’t you dare tell us this is hard. Beating cancer is hard. Birthing a baby is hard. Losing a parent is hard. Drinking your coffee black. Is. Not. Hard. You’ve done harder things than this, and you have no excuse not to complete the program as written. It’s only thirty days, and it’s for the most important health cause on earth – the only physical body you will ever have in this lifetime. - See more at: http://whole30.com/step-two/#sthash.WA9StYSs.dpuf

It is not hard. Don’t you dare tell us this is hard. Beating cancer is hard. Birthing a baby is hard. Losing a parent is hard. Drinking your coffee black. Is. Not. Hard. You’ve done harder things than this, and you have no excuse not to complete the program as written. It’s only thirty days, and it’s for the most important health cause on earth – the only physical body you will ever have in this lifetime. - See more at: http://whole30.com/step-two/#sthash.WA9StYSs.dpuf

It is not hard. Don’t you dare tell us this is hard. Beating cancer is hard. Birthing a baby is hard. Losing a parent is hard. Drinking your coffee black. Is. Not. Hard. You’ve done harder things than this, and you have no excuse not to complete the program as written. It’s only thirty days, and it’s for the most important health cause on earth – the only physical body you will ever have in this lifetime. - See more at: http://whole30.com/step-two/#sthash.WA9StYSs.dpuf

It is not hard. Don’t you dare tell us this is hard. Beating cancer is hard. Birthing a baby is hard. Losing a parent is hard. Drinking your coffee black. Is. Not. Hard. You’ve done harder things than this, and you have no excuse not to complete the program as written. It’s only thirty days, and it’s for the most important health cause on earth – the only physical body you will ever have in this lifetime. - See more at: http://whole30.com/step-two/#sthash.WA9StYSs.dpuf