Whole30 Week 2

Yeah, we survived the first week. Barely. Seriously, that was rough.

What we learned from week one.
*Whole30 requires a lot of planning. Planning our meals in advance has helped. Chris is not so good about this and gets hungry. I can not go hungry.
* Whole30 requires a lot of shopping. We are a family of 5. It is a lot of shopping! I run out of things so quickly.
*Have whole30 ready snacks on hand. I used to snack in the morning and afternoon. I am better about snacking. I am eating more protein at breakfast so I am not hungry mid morning. Afternoons I am eating a larabar. Perhaps they are not that good if you have options, but they are really good when they are your only option. I have been eating the apple pie while Chris takes either apple pie or banana bread. The cashew cookie is really good too (waiting on my Amazon shipment of these today!).
*For me, this is a lot of food! The breakfast and dinner are really not that much different than I was eating. But, I am so hungry by dinner that I eat and eat. Last night I had 10 minutes to eat. I probably ate too fast and was nauseated while carting my kids around to their evening activities. I have been spending 90% of my time in the car, so I do not have time for eating slow.

Pros:
*Better body image at this point.
*Better sleep at night.

Cons:
Cooking
Cooking clean up
The shopping
Lack of energy while exercising (this is improving but I have a ways to go yet).
Starting to break out on my face (but it is summer and so that could be it I don't know).

I have not seen much of Chris due to kids activities, and he does not say much about how things are going. He does not complain other than to say, "Throwing in a mini pizza would cut a lot of time out here." I can tell you if we were not doing whole30, the kids would be living on mini pizzas and hotdogs because we are not home much.

I can tell I have lost weight or my weight has been distributed differently. My arms look weak and frail in the mirror. Not really what I am going for. But, I also feel weak and frail so maybe that is it. I eat WAY more protein in a day and I think I am eating WAY more food without being hungry. Since Chris is usually hungry, he has probably lost a fail amount of weight. When we did Paleo 3 years ago, he lost nearly 20 pounds in a month. HE IS NOT A BIG GUY! If he lost 20 pounds this time he would weight less than 150 pounds on his 5' 9" muscular body. We can not have that. On Paleo, I only lost 3 pounds, but I do not carry any extra weight.

Day 8

My 7 mile run and ab workout (OMG that was killer) was better but I am still lacking the energy prior to whole30. I ran alone today (my friend is getting sick of me stopping all the time probably), but my music helped a little. The last couple runs I have been getting really bad side aches. I am a marathoner...I never get side aches. Very annoying. I am able to walk the dog with way my pep in my stride now though, at least today.

Breakfast: Lots of egg whites with coconut oil, watermelon.
Lunch: Leftover chicken breast, sweet potato, handful of strawberries (if the kids haven't eaten them already).
Afternoon snack: Apple pie larabar
Dinner: Thinking salmon, veggies, frozen bananas and watermelon. I am really getting tired of protein and veggies. Tonight we really will not have time to eat again due to kids activities. In the past I would have made a smoothie and called it good. It is hard for me to have time to cook AND eat it!

Day 9. Lethargy, light headed.
Very tired.
I did get up and run this morning, but I skipped cross training and mowed the lawn instead. I am very tired. Not sure if it is from Chris waking me at 4am for weeks (to go to Crossfit) or I am just tired. I had dreams that I cheated on the whole30 and decided not to start over. It was like I was making brownies and ate some crumbs or something. Seriously, I am now dreaming of food?

Breakfast: Eggs whites, strawberries and watermelon, coffee
AM Snack: I'm hungry today, feel weak. So cashew cookie larabar mini served it's purpose followed by a handful of plain almonds.
Lunch: Eggs again (bc I am lazy), sweet potato, few frozen grapes
Dinner: I suggested going to Panera for a salad that we could not eat most of. Chris was like, um, no. So, shrimp, grilled veges it is. Ugh. In the end, I ended up eating yet MORE EGGS and a little fruit. I had zero appetite. My stomach was churning after my lunch of veggies. We watched Netflix and went to bed early. We really wanted to quit today.

Honestly, meals are boring. I'm bored. SO FREAKING BORED. I am working Sunday night (for the first time in 3 weeks!) and am really worried I am going to get really hungry at work. I am not even sure what to bring to eat. So, I have decided to eat dinner very early (I leave for work at like 5:30pm). Then eat another meal at midnight if I am lucky. I get off at 7am. Not sure I can make it until then with just a larabar. See? It is a lot of hours with just one meal in the middle. I plan on bringing a larabar, almonds, fruit, sweet potato or squash and some form of protein (probably another chicken breast). I usually just snack all night because my stomach gets very upset at night. So, this will be very interesting. I am dreading it for so many reasons.

Day 10

Busy Day! I got up at my normal 5am and ran 7 miles, cross trained abs, walked the dog all before eating breakfast at 8am. At 8:30 it was off to soccer practice. We chilled until hitting up the pool this afternoon. Now I miss snacking at the pool. Honestly, I usually brought grapes anyway. But sometimes I would bring Gluten free snacks like nut thins or something.  Today, eating wise, I was not as nauseated as I was yesterday. I still am running to the bathroom a lot, but I am sleeping through the night now (I sound like a baby). Tomorrow night I head back to work. My food will be really wacky as I eat all day and all night since I am up for 24 hours with only a brief nap (Be nice to your night nurse!).

Breakfast: Egg whites, fruit, black coffee
Snack: Mini cashew cookie larabar.
Lunch: Eggs again (Can one live on eggs alone?), sweet potato, strawberries
Snack: Mini cherry? I think Larabar (I was at the pool with the kids. This is not a good snack).
Dinner: LOTS of shrimp, acorn squash, few watermelon.

I am very full after meals. I have to admit, I usually was only full after dinner previously. I am eating more egg whites than before, but admittedly this is the breakfast I have eaten for 3 years. I do not get bored of egg whites. YUM! I know, I am odd. I wish I could take them to work somehow. I bet they would smell awful reheated.

The kids are eating much better but not sticking with whole30. They are all eating more fruits, vegetables and protein as they are eating what we eat most meals. They hate it though. They miss pizza. I did fix them organic chicken nuggets today because I had nothing prepared to feed them because I was gone all morning. They complained less. Chris skipped lunch, saying there was nothing to eat. He had banana larabar.

I know we are probably having too much fruit. It is not replacing sugar for us, just filling our plates and stomachs. I can not lose weight, and I need energy to run. I feel like I have lost weight because my chest is flatter if at all possible. Sigh.

Day 11

Back to work tonight! SCARY!! I am taking a houseful of food! I have prepared steamed cauliflower, acorn squash and watermelon. For snacks I have almonds and larabars on hand. I recall starving at work when we did the first 30 days of paleo. Now I need to figure out what to bring for protein! I miss my Greek Yogurt! I baked a couple large chicken breasts for lunch so will probably take the left overs. The kids are totally bored with our meals, and I am too.

Breakfast: The usual egg whites, fruit, no coffee so I can take in prep for working.
Snack: Mini cashew cookie larabar
Lunch: Chicken breast, rainbow califlower, raspberries.
Dinner: Egg whites, sweet potato, fruit.

Night snack: Larabar mini. (remember, I am working 6:30 PM to 7am. There are a lot of meals in there. I am going to go with one meal at maybe 1-2 if I have time to heat it. Probably eat the chicken and vege then. If I get hungry I have watermelon, almonds or larabars to snack on. I am sure I will be too tired to prepare anything in the morning so will just go to bed. I do have to run my daughter a couple places before I can nap. YEAH. I am sure I will want to do that!).

Tonight at work will be the trick. I always bring snacks because there is not a lot of time always to eat. I will miss my rice krispy treats or rice rollers, grape laffy taffy (yes, I always take these to work), and my little baggie of gluten free crackers or chips. I will miss it all. I totally miss chocolate STILL. I may be full after meals but I am far from satisfied. It is annoying.

Day 12/13

So I kinda survived my first night back to work but I seem to be paying a pretty heavy price today. I took 2 veges, one fruit, nuts, 2 mini larabars and a chicken breast. I ate all of it. I had to do some car pooling after work before I crashed. We had storms at lunch time (dog freaked out) and Liv got home from Catholic Ed (thank goodness for carpool!) so I was up at 12:30. I made sure the kids (Liv and Asher because Addi is at the Lake with her Grandparents) had lunch. I knew I could not go back to sleep without eating so I fixed an egg, watermelon. After eating, I fell asleep to Netflix. I woke up at 4 and knew I needed to try and do at least BBG legs. Ugh. I drug myself downstairs to do it. No energy. I was zapped.
Dinner was grilled chicken thighs. Asher and I thought they were good, Chris ate one. Normally he would eat at least 2. Not sure if he is sticking to the plan because I am not seeing him eat at all. He is not eating good anyway because while I was at work Asher told me he had a larabar, watermelon and some pistachios for dinner.  Anyway, I also ate a sweet potato before enjoying more House of Cards on Netflix.

Today. I tried to run. I was lethargic, drained, heavy legs, just a mess. It did not go well. It was hot, in the 70s, at 5am so that did not help either. I somehow got home. I really have no idea how. I am a total mess. I ate my egg breakfast but don't have an appetite. Following my run, my chest hurts right below my left breast. I tried walking it off by walking the dog. Nope, still there. I suffered through an easier 9 minute BBG challenge, but the pain is still there. If only we had insurance that covered anything I may see a Dr. But I don't, so today I am going to rest some and hope tomorrow is better.

Breakfast: Eggs, watermelon, coffee
Snack: Mini cashew cookie larabar (did not help my chest pain). I know I am eating too many larabars. But, I need the calories. I just am so weak!
Lunch: Chicken breast, sweet potato, raspberries
Dinner: Shrimp, another sweet potato (I made Chris red potatoes. Asher ate them, Chris just smelled one. UGH), raspberries.
Snack: Another mini larabar (again, I don't care! It is not a cupcake!).

We are inching closer to the halfway mark. At this point, I am dying. I think eating this way is depressing. I have zero energy.

Day 14:
OMG we are almost halfway. By we I mean I am. I am not totally sure Chris is 100% in the whole30. Actually, I know he isn't. The kids have told me of 3 cheats (a chocolate chip larabar - contains added sugar, and 2 gararades containing 36g of SUGAR EACH! Seriously). I have no cheated that I am aware of, but have dreams of cheating (that's an issue I think. I should not be dreaming of food).

Yesterday was horrible. I continuted to have this weird chest pain all day. I ran a few errands with the kids. Otherwise we stayed at home and I did laundry while they played. (Addi remains at the lake with her Grandparents).

Today it was storming when it was morning run time. So, I slept another 45 minutes or so, then got up at did BBG arms before breakfast. I went to get Alivia from cross country conditioning at 7:40, drove her to Catholic Ed, before returning home to complete working out. I then did a Hasfit kickboxing workout. That was a fun change for me. I was able to get through both workouts. I do not have my energy back, but I was able to complete them. Tomorrow I go back for another night at work. I will try and get up in the morning to run but I will not cross train. I hope my run goes better. I have Friday off running since I will be working overnight.

I have learned to eat a lot of protein, that is for sure. I am guessing my protein is about 30-35% of my day versus maybe 20-25% before whole30. The greek yogurt I was eating offers up some protein but not as much as a chicken breast or a large portion of egg whites. Still, I prefer the yogurt, I'm not going to lie. And yesterday, the kids got ice cream. It totally killed me to watch them eat it. It was so hot and muggy and the ice cream looked perfect. Believe it or not, Asher did not eat his and put it in the freezer where it remains now. Sigh.

Breakfast: Same egg whites, watermelon, coffee. I probably should have veggies at breafast but I like my eggs plain and just do not feel like adding sweet potato hash or something to my breakfast.
Lunch: More egg whites (Asher asked if egg whites were that good for you? They are not bad, offer good protein, and offer me up a quick lunch when I was already cooking him lunch of leftover chicken thighs, left over potatoes and a cutie).
Dinner: Chicken breast (and legs for Chris and Asher who prefer them), baked sweet potato, strawberriy/blueberry/orange/raspberry salad.
Snack: Mini apple larabar.

Tomorrow will be the 3 week mark and the half way point!! Yippee!!

PS I miss baking, chocolate and ice cream. I am not fat nor am I overweight, so I am looking forward to treating myself occasionally with these things. I suppose I can eat less candy. I miss candy but I know now I definitely do not need it.

Check here for week 1.
Check here for week 3.