My Whole 30: The Last Ten Days

If the middle of my Whole30 was the worst part, the last ten days were my magical days. I'm not sure what tiger blood is supposed to be, but it wasn't some kind of mystical thing for me. I just gradually started to feel amazing. Noticeably happier. More patient. I let more joy into my life. I had energy whenever I wanted to use it. I WANTED to do things like clean out the garage and sweat. I felt my body toning up and changing. I had a little hiccup at the end, but when I turned to Whole30 food, the food was healing. Anyway, more on all of that in my wrap up post. 

The last ten days I felt a lot more comfortable with the food which means the meals got a little less fancy. I have rediscovered my love of tuna salad, so you'll see a lot of that. and lots of eggs. Details and food from the last ten days below.

Day 21:This was one of the first days I noticed my energy just running really constant and high. We helped some friends clean up from the flood and then I came back to feed the kids and put them to bed. And I was ready for more. Breakfast (no picture) was bacon, eggs, and berries.

Lunch Day 21: tuna salad, dates, almond butter, leftover apple

Dinner Day 21: Grilled salmon with a mayo based caper dill sauce,
roasted asparagus, and sauteed zucchini with red pepper.

 Day 22: So much extra energy, I decided to spend all morning cleaning out the garage. In the June heat with the mosquitoes. That was a change of pace. Then took both kids to the pool at the Y with friends. Two kids vs one me at the pool. I don't know if they won or we all lost. Or maybe we all won. Hard to say. Lots of energy all day.

Breakfast Day 22: poached egg with tuna salad over baby spinach
and aged balsamic.

Lunch Day 22: AMAZING. Cherry tomatoes, green pepper, onion, Ghee
and garlic sauteed with zoodles. Chicken and sun dried tomato sausage.

Dinner Day 22: Clean out the fridge salad with a fried egg on top.

 Day 23: Back to work. Noticing loose clothes, overall happiness and great focus. Not losing my patience with the kids = better behaved kids. Who knew?

Breakfast Day 23: Scrambled eggs with pesto, cantaloupe, tomatoes
and avocado.

Lunch Day 23: Even more Tuna Salad at work. Jealous?

Dinner Day 23: Roasted chicken, roasted veggies on top of tossed
baby spinach salad.

 Day 24: This is my 5am pilates day and for the first time in a LONG time, it was not murder to wake up at 4:30am. I'm not saying it was fantastic, it was just not murder. Still with the constant energy and focus. Lots of great sleep happening.

Breakfast Day 24: Tuna Salad. Because eggs get old. But apparently
Tuna Salad does not.

Lunch Day 24: At work. Greek Salad with leftover roasted chicken
and an apple.

Dinner Day 24: Brisket with gravy, roasted carrots, sweet potato,
and spinach.

Day 25: Things were really starting to come together. I just felt really good in my own skin. I could remember tons of things without having to make lists and my energy was off the charts. I had to put on a bathing suit for my son's swim class and I didn't even think twice about it.

Breakfast Day 25: The day I discovered monkey salad. With
fried eggs over sauteed spinach.

Lunch Day 25: At work. Tuna Salad in a bell pepper, cantaloupe,
apple.

Dinner Day 25: Zoodles and ground bison topped with tomato sauce

Day 26: I was feeling amazing. Fun wedding this night (which was sober and cakeless but still a blast) and got to have lunch with Landy. AND the dress I wore to the wedding was one I bought right after my own wedding when I was pretty trim. Non scale victories.

Breakfast Day 26: Fried eggs over spinach, fresh berries and banana.

Lunch Day 26: Chicken veggie salad that came with a blob of goat cheese
on top. I had a hungry four year old with me and I was STARVING so I just picked it off.

Dinner Day 26: Dinner at a wedding= mood lighting. I had to give lots of evil side eye to the
roast beef slicer who continuously tried to skimp me.

Day 27: Was a busy one. Running on not a ton of sleep from the wedding the night before and we had some of our dear friends over for brunch before they headed out of town. Then an afternoon birthday party. The kids were a mess, but it was actually pretty ok. My energy at the end of the day was not as high, but not as low as it could have been.

Breakfast Day 27: Monkey salad with banana, blueberry, shaved coconut
almond butter, and chopped dates.

Lunch was actually breakfast. We had friends over and did bacon, eggs & fruit salad.
and a pyramid of donuts, but guess who didn't have any? Spoiler alert: It was me.

Dinner Day 27: can you tell I am getting lazy by this point? Leftover
roasted chicken, baby kale and spinach salad and the avocado my son
wouldn't finish.

Day 28: The day that did me in. Sunday was busy. I took the kids to church, came home to put them in bed, and then we spent the afternoon at the pool. And I probably drank one glass of water.

Breakfast Day 28: Eggs scrambled with a little coconut water. Topped
with tomatoes and avocado. Side of fruit.

I almost forgot about lunch this day. It was Sunday and the kids ate at church and I was
a little worn out. So at 2pm I grazed in the fridge on Tuna Salad, boiled eggs and a banana.

Dinner Day 28: Sunday Roast with roasted veggies and a mayo based
horseradish dipping sauce.

Day 29: I woke up feeling awful this day. I managed to load up the kids and head to the grocery store and while I was checking out I regretted it. Weak and achy and a little out of it. I made it home and got the little one down for his nap. Then I did something I never do.. I called for backup and went to bed. I was feeling horrible, but still hungry. I was SO tempted to give it up, grab a gatorade, cook some brown rice and give in. But I stuck with the whole30 food and it made me feel better. But this day is a little disjointed food wise.

Breakfast Day 29: Monkey Salad

After I took myself to bed I ate small quantities of things. A cup of chicken broth,
a banana, some unsweetened apple sauce. Then later almond butter and dates.

A sickbed gift from my husband.

Dinner day 29: My attempt at Whole30 sickness comfort food. Looks gross, huh?
Sweet potato (baked then mashed), chunks of chopped steak (you know, for iron),
and spinach. It looks awful, but was actually good.

Day 30: After refueling with around 150 ounces of electrolyte water, I woke up this day feeling much better and pinpointing that I was definitely dehydrated from the weekend and possibly fighting a cold. My last day was pretty uneventful. More eggs for breakfast (that I forgot to take a pic of) and more tuna salad. Those were easy, reliable things that made this doable.

Lunch Day 30: At work. Tuna salad with green peppers and an apple.

Dinner Day 30: thanks to my husband for being hungry for this. Kale
caesar (minus the parm) with grilled chicken.

More to come. Hopefully tomorrow.

B