Whole30 Day 6

Day 6 – Morgan’s Thoughts:

Monday and the start of another week.  I got a good night’s rest (8 hours or so) and ate a breakfast of two hard-boiled eggs on the way into work.  Once I got to my desk I was able to enjoy a slice of watermelon.  I stayed pretty full and pretty busy (meetings after meetings) until around noon when I was able to scarf down a serving of chile, whole avocado, and another slice of watermelon.  More meetings to wrap up the day at work where I ate another bowl of chili and some strawberries for dinner.  By about 5pm I hit a pretty tough tired spell, but changed at work anyway to head to kettle bell class.  My tiredness didn’t impact my workout too much, and Yvette killed us with a pyramid workout that I finished just as she was telling everyone to stop at whatever round they made it to.  I left the workout sweaty and hungry.  Thankfully I stashed a Larabar in the truck and was able to eat it on the way home.  By the time I picked up the pups and got home it was almost 9pm, so I finished off my dinner with a hard-boiled egg and called it a night.  Could have been worse.  Bring on Day 7.

 

Day 6 – Michael’s Thoughts:

The start of another week and we’re off to a busy start. I think I’ve mentioned earlier, but I’m at a new job in The Woodlands, TX (north of Houston) and we’re still working on the housing arrangements. Tomorrow I am moving to a new location in the area that is a better fit for what we need. That makes today “Packing Day”, except I still have to get my work day in. Breakfast was the usual affair except no bacon this morning. I missed lunch with all of work day and trying to transfer/start utilities in the new place. While I had the hunger pains through midday it didn’t really affect my energy level for the day. I had chili for dinner, crock-pot style, which included grass fed beef, sweet potato, onion, yellow bell pepper, and spices. I added avocado, just because it is yummy stuff. Then it was back to packing and getting ready for tomorrow’s move.

 

Whole30 Day 5

Day 5 – Morgan’s Thoughts:

What an improvement over yesterday.  What an improvement over yesterday.  I got plenty of sleep (about 9 hours) and had a good amount of energy all day, until I crashed for a 30 minute nap around 5:00pm.  Food was pretty good too.  I ate a late breakfast of hard-boiled eggs, bacon, and some fruit.  Then, I went on an adventure to Wegmens.  I was on the hunt for grass-fed beef, mint leaves, and some other sundry items.  I already had some “regular” beef, but after a talk with Mike, we decided that we’d try to stick as strickly as possible to the plan and that meant finding something grass-fed.  Success at Wegmens where I also picked up some ghee.

The rest of the day consisted of chores and general house cleaning. Don’t worry, I’ll spare you the details.  I was happy to have dinner with Tamara at Founding Farmers.  Of all the restaurants to visit, this by far was one of the “safer” options.  I was worried, but was able to navigate the menu fairly easily and have a great meal (after a couple small modifications).  I had a (grass-fed) burger with bacon with lettuce onion and tomato (no bun…obviously) and an arugala salad with grapes and tomatoes. Let’s be real though, I would have rather had some fried chicken and some mac n’ cheese.  None the less I had pleasant company and a full belly by the end.  Later, Michael and I both made this great chili recipe and left it to cook in the crockpot for tomorrow.  And that’s it folks. Day 5 in the bag.

Day 5 – Michael’s Thoughts:

After spending yesterday relaxing, I had to get some work done today and get some grocery shopping done too. I slept in so I was fully rested once up. I had breakfast for lunch, bacon, eggs, and grapefruit. I do like this breakfast! I’m moving to a new location on Tuesday and had some things to pick up for the new place, so I spent the day out. I stopped again for Chipotle getting the salad, carnitas, guacamole, and tomato salsa. I don’t really like the taste of this much so I’ll need to find another safe option for eating out at a food place. There isn’t much else to say for today, except that my energy level seemed consistent all day.

Whole30 Day 4

Day 4 down, 26 to go….

Day 4 – Morgan’s Thoughts:

One word describes today: rough.  I was easily annoyed all day.  I had a hard time watching my co-workers consume a lunch of pizza and chocolate cake while I watched on snacking on almonds and a banana.  On guard weekends I’m up early and on the road so breakfast was late and leftovers: turkey with asparagus and baby zucchini and some pineapple.  I had a repeat later in the day for lunch as well, minus the fruit.  I battled a weird stomach indigestion all day. Felt like heart burn and still hasn’t quite gone away even late into the night now.  After work and picking up the pups from doggie care I didn’t have the energy to be creative so I had a salad of chicken, mixed greens, onion, peppers, tomato, a whole avocado, and some EVOO and apple cider vinegar.  It was VERY satisfying. I really enjoyed that it was quick, clean, and simple.  It will likely be my “go to” quick lunch over the next couple weeks.  I followed up my salad with some watermelon (w/ salt). What, you don’t put salt on your watermelon?! Not sure that I should eat it that way while on Whole30, but it’s the way I’ve always eaten it, and I love it. 

Some pretty exciting football was on television tonight (NFL playoffs anyone!?!), so after I saw the end of the Broncos / Ravens game I headed downstairs to the treadmill for a sprint workout. 40 minutes later I emerged victorious and sweaty and downed a hard boiled egg.  So, while I found myself irritable all day, I succeeded in keeping my mouth shut (What’s that? “If you can’t say something nice….”) and had a pretty decent food day when it was all said and done.  Confesssion: I felt guilty for eating a whole avocado with my salad tonight.  My old calorie counting ways were betraying my newer knowledge: Morgan it’s okay to eat real food and not worry about the rest.

Also, on a side note: In my dream last night I sucked the filling out of donuts. Ew. I don’t even like filled donuts. 😉

Day 4 – Michael’s Thoughts:

Today was no big deal even with the long bike ride. I just moved to The Woodlands, TX and am looking for some new people or clubs to train with and this morning it was with the Out Rival Triathlon Club. The ride was basically first thing in the morning. I had a couple pieces of bacon and a banana before I headed out. On the ride I brought an assortment of nuts, a banana and some “Raw Revolution: Golden Cashew” bars. (The bars were the best I could find and I didn’t see anything in the ingredients that was a no-no. My friend Bobby recommended “Tanka” bars but they weren’t available in my area.) I ended up opting to do the 52 mile route (after not riding seriously for months !! ) and was able to hang for most of the ride. I was nervous about the new nutrition on the ride and how my body would react so I made sure to eat conservatively which meant I ate something every 30 minutes. This seemed to work well at least until the 2:15 mark when my body all of a sudden demanded food. At this point I had consumed the Raw Revolution bars, as they were the easiest to deal with while moving and moved on to the banana. After eating half the banana at 2:15 I went about 10 more minutes before my body said “Back off or you’re going to BONK!” So I dropped back from the group, ate the rest of the banana at 2:30 and did what I could back to the vehicles at about 3:05. Not a bad first day outside riding without my regular nutrition (e.g., GU gels or chomps, and peanut butter crackers usually). It was 70F here in the Woodlands, which was very enjoyable! After the ride I cleaned up, made breakfast for lunch (3 eggs, bacon, and grapefruit), and relaxed the rest of the day. My day was nothing like Morgan’s busy day. I did snack on some more bacon at some point (It really is a great food!) and finally made myself dinner, which was sauteed bok choy in coconut oil, grilled chicken, and avocado. It was good but a little bland. I added some garlic powder but not enough and I really should have been more creative with my spice choices. I guess the only real characteristic out of the norm today was that I was somewhat more irritable. Also, I made some unsweetened black tea which was a nice change-up from nothing-but-water.

Whole 30 Day 3

A little late, but here’s our Day 3 contribution.

Day 3- Morgan’s Thoughts:

Drum roll please…….the car was fixed today!  After a long night of good sleep (like 9 hours or so), I had a breakfast of three eggs, 1 whole avocado, and the remaining bacon. I got a call around lunchtime telling me the car was ready. Luckily I was able to beg my neighbor to drop me off at the shop to pick it up.  Then, as I said, the grocery store was calling.  So I hit a few places: Sams Club (veggies, fruit, and some meat…later realizing that at the very least, the chicken had some added items), Trader Joes (random other additions including almond butter), and Giant (for non-grocery items and a few emergency food options – Larabars). Oh, and I picked up a chocolate cake for a party of sorts at work. Of course I had no plans on having any, but I didn’t have time to make one and it looked so good. A chocolate cake that I can’t eat: pretty sure it’d be a death sentence for me if I wasn’t committed to this.  I’d been out for a while and was hurting badly for food. Thanks to the wonders of the internet I was able to identify a dish at Chipotle that I could have: Salad with carnitas, tomato salsa, salsa verde, and guacamole.

One of these things is not like the other

Chipotle salad. I swear there is more pork there, it’s just hiding under the guac!

Emergency food

I was able to get a workout in this evening. I had a decent amount of energy at 5pm and avoided going to the gym (5pm in traffic to a gym at the beginning of January, no thanks). Instead, I worked out downstairs for just over an hour: overhead presses, kettlebell swings, weighted lunges, etc.  For a late dinner I cooked a turkey tenderloin with EVOO, coconut oil, and a bunch of spices.  I sauteed baby zucchini an asparagus in some bacon grease and coconut oil. I added a small side of pinapple and a couple pieces of bacon. It was great. And filling. And not eggs, which was important for my sanity today!

Dinner veggies. Yum.

Day 3- Michael’s Thoughts:

Ok. Another day and I’m still tired, though today was better. I fit an hour run in and decided to do this without any nutrition on the run. It went well, no real struggle. I had 3 eggs, bacon, and grapefruit for breakfast again. (I do love this breakfast.) For lunch I had day one leftovers with cauliflower, aparagus, raspberries and blackberries. And I was busy in the evening so I was looking for something safe that I could get out-and-about. Morgan mentioned the Chipotle order she got and I thought that sounded great. I had the salad with carnitas, tomato salsa, salsa verde, and guacamole. I had my strongest cravings today; I wanted potato chips or fries – my usual indulgence – and it hit me hard around dinner time for a short while. Otherwise a good day, and I’m looking forward to tomorrow where I’m going to do a long bike ride and see if I can do it with safe nutrition options: nuts and banana.

Whole30 Day 2

Day 2 down. 28 more to go. Here’s what we had to say about it.

Day 2 – Morgan’s Thoughts:

Today wasn’t too bad. Found out that the car won’t be ready until later today or tomorrow some time. So, I’m working from home again. And being very productive since the dogs are still gone with Moe & Annemarie. I’ve got lots of writing to do for work which is keeping me busy, and keeping me from snacking.  A few times today I’ve felt a call to go to the refrigerator (where some bad foods that I haven’t thrown out yet lurk) only to get there and realize that I don’t need anything. I feel bad throwing away “perfectly good” food. So it’s sitting there. I’ll probably get annoyed in another day or two and throw it all out.

For breakfast I had a repeat of dinner from last night (eggs, bacon, chicken, tomatoes, onion) only with 2 eggs instead of 3. And a whole grapefruit. I had a banana a few hours later. Also, while eating breakfast I cooked up some sweet potatoes (cut small and sprinkled with EVOO, salt, pepper, ancho chili pepper, & cinnamon) for use over the next several meals. I find it strange not eating chocolate. I LOVE it. Dark chocolate is my preference, but I’ll take it in any form really (except the white stuff which has no cocoa in it anyway, ick). Chocolate is my go-to dessert of choice, and I find that I eat it in some form every day. Gotta work on that. I know that the “regular” paleo diet allows for dark chocolate, but not on Whole30. And while I work on my sugar addiction, I don’t think it would be a good idea anyway.

For a late lunch (around 2pm) I ate a bowl of chopped up bacon, rotisserie chicken, and the sweet potatoes I cooked earlier. Dinner was the same..again: four eggs, tomatoes, onion, and bacon. Plus a late-night banana since I was starving.  Actually, I might be dehydrated and mistaking hunger for thirst.  I’m going to work on that tomorrow.  I’m pretty burned out on my egg dish I’ve had so much of, so I’m really needing the car back tomorrow. A nice grocery store trip awaits me. 

I’ve decided to not log my calorie intake for the rest of the program. That’s hard for me. But I think it’s important. I’ve definitely made poor decisions in past years with regards to calorie intake vs. quality of food.  Too many low cal “diet foods” in my past. Yuck.

Also, I should be noting my workouts too, so I’ll say that I spent 40 minutes on the treadmill yesterday doing intervals. Today I did a short circuit workout in the living room: burpees, push-ups, abs, jumping jacks, etc. Alrighty, enough rambling…time for bed.

Day 2 – Michael’s Thoughts:

This day was similar to the first. I was tired; I got more sleep but still not enough to say I had a full night of sleep. I ate 3 bacon strips, 3 eggs, and a grapefruit for breakfast. I forgot a fork at work so I had macadamia nuts and pecans, cauliflower, broccoli, and carrots, as well as blackberries and raspberries for lunch. I had monkfish and asparagus for dinner. This was a first time for monkfish and I really needed to add some citrus to make it an enjoyable meal. Lesson learned. I poured out the tea I made yesterday realizing it wasn’t exactly a good choice. I’ll get some unsweetened black tea made soon so I have something other than water to drink. So far so good. No cravings today. Let’s keep it up.