Whole 30 - Day 26

This week has been a STRUGGLE. I'll admit it. I can't cook for 1. It's impossible. The longer I'm alone, the less I feel like cooking. I did make 3 dinners & had plenty of leftovers. A few too many actually. Thankfully, Jon's home from his business trip and order can be restored to the household.

Day 26 of Whole30 and I'm about done! In more ways than just numerically. I'll definitely stay with the Paleo way of eating as much as possible after this is done. While I love the way I feel & the way my body's changing, I'm about over the strictness of this. It'd be nice to have a (Paleo) baked good if I want it. It'd also be nice to go out for dinner & indulge without being super crazy strict about "no anything on my food please".

On March 5, I'll reintroduce non-gluten grains. Oatmeal, white rice, and some kind of corn something (tortillas, polenta, or popcorn most likely).  Then it's back to two days of strict Whole 30. On March 8, dairy comes back into play. Sour cream, probably yogurt, and maybe parmesan cheese. Oh and a little bit of gelato after dinner or for an afternoon snack.  Then two more days of strictness. On March 11, it's time for legumes. This is the hardest for me to reintroduce because I don't eat a lot of them anyhow. It'll likely be peanuts, peanut butter, and chickpeas. Two more days of Whole 30 will bring me to the end of the journey.

I've found a new "bar" that I really like - Kit's Organic Bars. They're a Clif Bar & Company product. They're naturally gluten free (always a plus!) and have 4-6 ingredients. There are several that are Whole 30 safe and they've been a great snack!

Whole 30 - Day 22

Last week went pretty well. I'm still struggling to get in the workouts, but it's becoming more of a motivation issue than Whole30-no energy issue.

Last week's meals were:

Skillet Chicken Divan - neither of us liked this one much

Rosemary-Lemon Spaghetti Squash Pistachio Pesto Chicken Pasta

Burgers with Awesome Sauce & Sweet Potato Fries (because sometimes you just need a burger & fries!) - so good!

The Best Pork Chops Ever with Mashed Cauliflower and Asparagus - very good!

Smashed Steak Skewers and Cherry BBQ Sauce with Sweet & Salty Broccoli Salad - very good

Costco chicken with salad - quick & easy

For lunches:

Madras Chicken Salad

Chicken Nuggets (Maybe. These are technically Whole30 ok, but they're kind of on a "fine line" because non-paleo versions are "junk food".)

I got to meal plan for just me this week. That was fun. (rolls eyes)

Polpette di Vitello with marinara sauce & zucchini noodles

Eggplant "Ricotta" Stacks

Paleo Alfredo with Caramelized Leeks and Bacon

Costco Chicken (leftovers)

Paleo Bang Bang Shrimp

Breakfasts & Lunches:

The Perfect Chicken Salad

Sweet Potato Hash

Roasted Butternut Squash

Primal Hot Cereal

Chicken Apple Sausage and/or Bacon

I should have plenty of dinner leftovers for lunches (and probably dinner on Friday night!)

It's also cardio week - so no weight lifting this week. My goal, once again, is to do something each day this week. I got on the treadmill this morning. Wasn't really feeling the "run", so I walked the 30 minutes, but I got it done. Slower than normal, but done!

70.3 training starts in 2 weeks! YIKES!

Whole 30 - Day 14

I'm on day 14. Almost half way! YAY!Last weeks meals were the following:

Saturday - Pistachio Pesto Chicken Pasta -this was AWESOME!
Sunday - Shepherd's Pie - good
Monday - BBQ Pork Fried Rice - good
Tuesday - Eggplant "Ricotta" Stacks (for lunch, I'm going to try Madras Chicken Salad) with a salad - I really liked these, Jon not so much
Wednesday - Deconstructed Gyro - good, but a bit spicy
Thursday - Crispy Smashed Chicken with Tomato & Basil Salad - good
Friday - Ginger-Lime Grilled Shrimp with Zucchini Noodles Aglio Et Olio - really good!
Saturday - no clue yet

The days didn't stay the same at all. That's ok though. We had leftovers one of the days (which fills in my "no clue yet" day). I was also supposed to have gone through these things: 

Day 8-9: For the love of Gosling, my pants are TIGHTER.
Days 10-11: The Hardest Days
Days 12-15: Boundless energy! Now give me a damn Twinkie.

Um, I didn't. That's fine though. I'm ready for "tiger blood" for sure. I'm really hoping that one happens. The workouts I am doing, I'm struggling through. I've been seriously slacking on my training because of the energy suck. Given the half marathon exactly a month from today, that's not a good thing! This week's goal is to do SOMETHING every day.

Week 3's meals will be the following (in no order, because it changes once we actually do them anyhow):

Skillet Chicken Divan

Rosemary-Lemon Spaghetti Squash

Burgers with Awesome Sauce & Sweet Potato Fries (because sometimes you just need a burger & fries!)

The Best Pork Chops Ever with Mashed Cauliflower and Asparagus

Smashed Steak Skewers and Cherry BBQ Sauce with Sweet & Salty Broccoli Salad

For lunches:

Madras Chicken Salad

Chicken Nuggets (Maybe. These are technically Whole30 ok, but they're kind of on a "fine line" because non-paleo versions are "junk food".)

These meals will get us Sunday - Thursday. I'll probably be meal planning for Friday & Saturday later this week. I have Week 4's meal plan started, so maybe I'll just take a couple of meals from there & put them into this week. Week 4, I'll be home alone for most of the week, so I'll have plenty of leftovers!

Whole 30 - Day 7

I'm still feeling really good. I haven't been doing all of the workouts I'm supposed to be doing. Next week's "game on". Just gotta get it done.

Days 6-7 are "I just want to nap" according to the timeline. I slept forever this morning (until 10am!), so I guess that's probably true.

Here's this week's dinners. Lunches will pretty much be leftovers all week. Breakfasts will be sweet potatoes & chicken sausage.

Saturday - Pistachio Pesto Chicken Pasta (this was AWESOME!)
Sunday - Shepherd's Pie
Monday - BBQ Pork Fried Rice
Tuesday - Eggplant "Ricotta" Stacks (for lunch, I'm going to try Madras Chicken Salad) with a salad
Wednesday - Deconstructed Gyro
Thursday - Crispy Smashed Chicken with Tomato & Basil Salad
Friday - Ginger-Lime Grilled Shrimp with Zucchini Noodles Aglio Et Olio
Saturday - no clue yet

I may rearrange the days some based on how the veggies are doing. We'll see what happens.

Whole 30 - Day 3

So far, Whole 30's going well. No real problems yet. The Whole 30 site has a great timeline for what all's supposed to be going on and it's pretty interesting.

Day 1: So what’s the big deal?
Days 2-3: The Hangover.
Days 4-5: Kill ALL the things!
Days 6-7: I just want a nap…
Day 8-9: For the love of Gosling, my pants are TIGHTER.
Days 10-11: The Hardest Days
Days 12-15: Boundless energy! Now give me a damn Twinkie.
Days 16-27: Tiger Blood
(Interlude) Day 21: I am so over this.
Day 28: 28 is as good as 30…right?
Days 29-30: HolyOprahIt’sAlmostOverWhatAmIGoingToEatNow?!?!?!
Day 31: Deep breathing. And maybe some ice cream.

On Days 2 & 3, many people report headaches. Basically, it's their bodies purging. I had a headache day 1, but haven't since. I'll take it! I'm hoping days 4 & 5 go as well as 2 & 3! I don't want to "Kill ALL the things!".

I've changed up our weekly menu a bit. Mostly because I didn't realize the pork takes 16 HOURS to cook. Oops. So, I'll be making it tonight for tomorrow's dinner. Just need to figure out timing on it. It kind of messed up a couple of lunches, but it's all good. A couple of the recipes below also contain non-Whole 30 approved ingredients (like honey & vanilla extract), so I've been omitting them.

Monday
B: Mashed Sweet Potatoes, Chicken Apple Sausage, Strawberries
L: Roasted Bacon Tomato Soup
S: Larabar Apple Pie
D: Pina Colada Chicken with Cauliflower Rice

Tuesday
B: Sweet Potato, Apple, and Pancetta Hash with Chicken Apple Sausage & Strawberries
L: BLAST Sushi with Paleo Ranch Dressing
S: Blueberries
D: Slow Cooker Kalua Pig with Classic Coleslaw Paleo Stuffed Avocados with Cilantro Cream Sauce

Wednesday
B: Mashed Sweet Potatoes, Chicken Apple Sausage
L: Deli Chicken Salad with Classic Coleslaw Salad
D: Paleo Stuffed Avocados with Cilantro Cream Sauce Savory Steak and Mushrooms with Salad

Thursday
B: Sweet Potato, Apple, and Pancetta Hash
L: Slow Cooker Kalua Pig with Mashed Sweet Potatoes  Deli Chicken Salad
D: Savory Steak and Mushrooms with Salad  Slow Cooker Kalua Pig with Classic Coleslaw

Friday
B: Mashed Sweet Potatoes, Chicken Apple Sausage
L: Deli Chicken Salad  Out with a friend (yikes!)
D: Shepherd's Pie (with sweet potatoes & chicken sausage)

Saturday
B: Sweet Potato, Apple, and Pancetta Hash
L: Shepherd's Pie leftovers
D: Pistachio Pesto Chicken Pasta

Sunday - need to plan this out
B:
L: Slow Cooker Kalua Pig with Mashed Sweet Potatoes
D:

Whole 30

So, I've been thinking about doing the Whole 30 for a while. I bought the book It Starts with Food about a year and a half ago. I read it in September or October of last year. Sometimes I'm a little slow with getting on board my own ideas.

In November 2012, I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism. It was only then that I found out there's family history. Wonderful. I started making dietary changes after my first meeting with my endocrinologist. The first set was to cut out processed foods & sugars. My numbers got better.

In September 2013, my grandfather passed away very suddenly. I got a chance to see my cousin who is also hypothryoid and talked with her for a while. She's able to control hers specifically through diet. She mentioned she's been Paleo for quite a while and gave me some suggested reading.

I decided after that trip to at least go gluten free. November 2013, my endocrinologist called me after my bloodwork and gave me my latest numbers. He said he's never seen that dramatic of an improvement with just diet. I was told to keep doing what I'm doing and come back in a year. That's the best news you can get with an endocrinologist!

The past few months, I've been making more & more Paleo foods. We decided to give Paleo a try in January. The first week went great. The second week went ok. The third & forth week weren't so great. I decided at the end of January to bite the bullet & do Whole 30 starting on Feb 3.

This past weekend was a bit crazy food wise. It was what it was. I spent Sunday morning meal planning. Then, I went grocery shopping & started cooking. Here's the meal plan for the week.

Monday
B: Mashed Sweet Potatoes, Chicken Apple Sausage, Strawberries
L: Roasted Bacon Tomato Soup
S: Larabar Apple Pie
D: Pina Colada Chicken with Cauliflower Rice

Tuesday
B: Sweet Potato, Apple, and Pancetta Hash
L: BLAST Sushi with Paleo Ranch Dressing
D: Slow Cooker Kalua Pig with Classic Coleslaw

Wednesday
B: Mashed Sweet Potatoes, Chicken Apple Sausage
L: Deli Chicken Salad with Classic Coleslaw
D: Paleo Stuffed Avocados with Cilantro Cream Sauce

Thursday
B: Sweet Potato, Apple, and Pancetta Hash
L: Slow Cooker Kalua Pig with Mashed Sweet Potatoes
D: Savory Steak and Mushrooms with Salad

Friday
B: Mashed Sweet Potatoes, Chicken Apple Sausage
L: Deli Chicken Salad
D: Shepherd's Pie (with sweet potatoes & chicken apple sausage)

Saturday
B: Sweet Potato, Apple, and Pancetta Hash
L: Shepherd's Pie leftovers
D: Pistachio Pesto Chicken Pasta

Sunday - need to plan this out
B:
L:
D: