From March 15th to April 13th, I will be doing the Whole 30 and recapping my experience every Monday with a post outlining how I'm feeling, what I'm eating, and how it is going overall.
I can't believe it's been a week already on the Whole 30! Today marks day 11, and after feeling a bit of the carb flu, I am truly feeling much better. I am sleeping better and waking up feeling ready for the day and my morning workout. While cravings were an issue last week, I don't find them creeping up at all. Hey, I even resisted the temptation of fresh baked bread that was made Saturday night!
The biggest adjustment I have had to make on the Whole 30 is incorporating a pre-workout meal (some fat and protein used to signal the body of activity) and a post-workout meal (some lean protein and carbs, as needed, for recovery) to my day. I do notice that the post-workout meal has been a great help in my recovery (and I'm not starving later in the day), but I am still getting used to the pre-workout meal as I am so used to (and much prefer) working out on an empty stomach. But, it is still early days, so I'm sure I will get into the groove of things soon enough.
My main focus this week is to think outside of the box with some of my food choices. For starters, I need to ween myself off eating pistachios and cashews (too easy to get carried away with), and I need to find other vegetables other than broccoli, spinach, and kale to eat. I foresee a trip to Whole Foods in my future....
Again, here is my journal for the past week of all I ate, how I felt, so on and so forth.
Activity Physical Therapy (elliptical, leg machines, etc.)
Breakfast Baby spinach and ground turkey scrambled together in ghee, half an avocado
Post-Workout Handful of dry roasted, unsalted pistachios
Lunch Salad of baby lettuce and arugula, can of sardines, half an avocado
Mid-Afternoon Chai latte (ground spices+black tea+almond milk)
Dinner Herb roasted chicken (leftovers), kale/collard greens/Swiss chard mix from Trader Joe's, chayote
I could go for something sweet/carby. Mac and cheese, a latte from Starbucks. Carb flu, you suck.
Sleep Getting better. Slept from about 12 and woke up at 7, on my own.
Activity PilatesPre-Workout Slice of prosciutto
Post-Workout/Breakfast Two pieces of baked chicken (coated in almond flour, rosemary, salt, and pepper), leftover salad of baby lettuce and arugula from yesterdays lunch with one tomato sliced and evoo
Lunch Callaloo soup with chicken and red potato (Callaloo is fun to say, and amazing to eat. It's a dark, leafy green, comparable to kale, that originates in the Caribbean.)
Mid-afternoon Handful of pistachios
Dinner Baked fish stuffed with spinach and cilantro, collared greens, handful of blueberries and pistachios
The cravings are hitting me...hard. All morning, all I could think about were the dumplings (similar to gnocchi) that my parent's make and put in soups. I am so used to eating something sweet after dinner and I still crave that. No matter how strong the craving though, there's no way I am giving into it. These cravings are the exact reason why I need to this, and why I will continue on.
Sleep 8 hours roughly, only one mid-night wake up
Activity Spin type workout on the bike, leg exercises with ankle weightsPre-Workout Handful of almonds
Post-Workout Piece of boiled chicken, steamed sweet potato
Breakfast One egg scrambled with leftover collard greens and ghee (beyond delicious)
Lunch Tuna "wraps": tuna mixed with olive oil mayo and wrapped with red lettuce, handful of strawberries and blueberries, handful of cashews
Dinner Pumpkin soup with beef and sweet potato
I woke up this morning, alert and ready for the day. The past week has been tough for me to wake up and workout, but since starting Whole 30, I am finding it easier to get up. I am still trying to figure out the idea of a pre and post workout snack. I typically don't eat when before I workout (usually first thing in the am) and don't like having anything in my system. BUT I did find a post-workout snack to be beneficial as I don't find myself feeling tired post-workout.
Activity A little over an hour of belly dancing.
Pre-Workout snack Cashews
Breakfast 2 eggs scrambled in ghee, 1/2 an avocado, arugula salad
Mid-Morning Cup of coffee with almond milk
Lunch Leftover pumpkin soup with sweet potato and half a chorizo thrown in, pineapple
Dinner Rosemary-garlic caulimash, steak, broccoli
Today marks a week! I have to say, the cravings have gotten much better. The only thing I was really craving today was coffee. I'm not much of a coffee drinker, and stopped drinking it when I first started losing weight (and because it used to trigger insane panic attacks/mood swings). I don't feel myself needing to finish the night off with "something sweet/rewarding," and I feel myself having more energy throughout the day.
Sleep 7 hours
Activity 30 min on treadmill, 15-20 minute tabata style training, 2 dance breaks for "Spice Up Your Life," and "It's Gonna be Me."
Breakfast Breakfast Burrito: leftover steak, guacamole, and chopped tomatoes in an egg "tortilla,"
cinnamon/ginger tea
Mid-Morning Cashews (think I had too many...), coffee with almond milk
Post-Workout Piece of boiled chicken breast
Lunch Sardines, callaloo, pineapple
Dinner Salmon, butternut squash, fruit (pineapple, strawberries, and blueberries)
Truthfully? I'm getting bored with some of my food choices...
Activity 1.5 hours of ballet
Breakfast Tuna w/ olive oil mayo, cherry tomatoes
Post Ballet Boiled chicken breast
Lunch "Chili": ground turkey, kale, tomato, half an avocado, pineapple
Dinner Thai red curry shrimp and veggies,blueberries
Evening Cashews, Trader Joe's "Sleepy Time" tea
In short, ballet kicked my butt. Hard. I probably should have had a pre-workout snack and more at lunch, but I didn't. As a result I was starving after dinner. Starting tomorrow, I am drastically reducing my intake of cashews, almonds, and pistachios. They are becoming a crutch and too easy to overindulge on.
Activity Rest day! Sunday Lazy Funday
Breakfast Lox (smoked salmon), 2 scrambled eggs, 1/4 of an avocado
Lunch 2 eggs fried in ghee, leftover veggies from last night's dinner, coffee with coconut milk, small apple
Dinner Lobster stuffed with crab meat, squash, broccoli
Evening Trader Joe's "Well Rested" tea
Today was a relaxing day. Here's to another week!
It sounds like you're doing a great job! That "carb flu" comment had me laughing out loud!
ReplyDeleteThanks Alyssa! It's really going well And ugh, talk about being hit by everything at once.
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