Day 7

Posted on day8 because Lil started crying out as I was about to post and would wake and cry every time I left.

Trying to bang this out before doing some dishes and hitting the hay. I think my internal clock is set for sleep at 9pm.

Curry from last night stained the plastic part on the blade of my food processor....It might have been because I didn't clean it till this morning. Whoops.

Went to Derek's company party with huge success. I didn't eat a single bite. Wasn't even tempted. I also didn't look at the food either and spent my time feeding Lil lunch and then socializing. We left after a couple hours because Lil was ready to crash. 

Went grocery shopping and still have to stop at Whole Foods for a couple of items that were ridiculously more expensive at Shaw's. Made a delicious pesto, then started dinner....mmmmmmmm good. 

Food:

Breakfast: 1 hard boiled egg, 2 deviled eggs (made these on the fly and they were quite tasty), melon. Yeah. Yeah. No veg, I know.

Lunch: Forwent the party food and had some grilled chicken and baby carrots in the car on the way home.

Dinner: Another home run. Hot plate consisting of the following: red cabbage, onions, zucchini, ground beef, onion powder, garlic powder, s&p, Penzey's spice blend Tsardust Memories. Yeah...I had seconds.

We go to load a Dexter for after dinner but apparently we are all caught up, so Derek goes searching on Amazon Prime for a movie to watch and asks if I want to watch a food documentary. That's right. My husband asked ME if I wanted to watch a documentary about the perfect human diet. My husband whose diet prior to me cooking for the Whole30 was comprised of cereal, oatmeal bars, ice cream, rice, pasta, and bread is showing interest in nutrition. THIS IS HUGE.

Off to wash some dishes then snoozing.

Oh, right. Feeling good still. Really good actually.

Strange note. I always change directly into my yoga pants when I come home. Stayed in my jeans for hours today. Maybe because they are looser and becoming more comfortable like yoga pants? Is my logic straying while on this Whole30? 

Day 6

Woke up feeling pretty good again even though we had another night of very interrupted sleep. Worse than the night before. Around 11 or so my eyes started getting sleepy, but my mind still felt on top of it. Digestion is off too. Not sure what to make of it. I've been putting clove oil on the inside of my cheek to aid in the pain relief and hoping it will hurry up and heal. It's more of a nuisance than anything, but I must be re-aggravating it in my sleep.

I'm behind on my menu planning  this week and forgot my food bible at home today. Hopefully I'll have everything wrapped up this evening. 

I need to start incorporating exercise again. The nights bring the crisp autumn air, great for running. That, and I discovered I'm starting to get "mom ass." You know the one. Squats it is.

credit

After last nights dinner I realize I am am getting really good at making homemade dressings, something that I always use to not be great at. Okay. I sucked at it. Might throw out a few bottles now that I have some good flavor profiles in my pocket. 

Food Recap

Breakfast: 3 hard-boiled eggs, a sliced cucumber in apple cider vinegar, melon, and of course my coconut coffee.

Lunch: Leftover chocolate chili over baby spinach w/half an avocado, and some leftover brocolli slaw salad sans chicken (mmmmm...soggy lettuce).

Dinner: MMMMM... coconut curry with peppers, onions, spinach, and chicken over cauliflower rice. The picture does not come close to doing it justice..never said I was a photographer.

Derek: Is this couscous or quinoa?
Me: Neither. I'm not allowed to have any grains.
Derek: What is it?
Me: Cauliflower.
Derek: Fooled me.

The meal was a definite hit. My cooking skills have always been good, but I've been branching out into uncharted spice territory while on this Whole30 and they have improved greatly. Maybe it's the confidence? Who knows.

Eyes are getting heavy and its just past 8pm. Still feeling really good physically and mentally. Tomorrow will be the end of my first week and I am greatly surprised at how easy this week has gone. It really is all about planning.

Thought- Is Lil a crappy sleeper because I tell everyone that she sucks at sleeping? Power of positive thinking?

Day 5

Even though my little Lady only let me have one chunk of fours hours of sleep and some 20 minutes to an hour here and there throughout the night, I woke feeling really mentally rested. I feel very clear. My eyes still feel a bit tired, but my body feels great. No lower back discomfort. No headache. I wasn't anticipating feeling good this early in the program. From what I've read days 1-7 are tough and my body would still be adjusting at this time.

Breakfast: 3 hard-boiled eggs, tomato basil salad in olive oil, and melon

Lunch: Chicken breast, kalamatta olives, carrots & peppers with ranch for dipping

Snack: Handful of toasted coconut with slivered almonds. This 2 hours after my lunch...I might have confused this with thirst, or I didn't have enough protein.

Dinner: Broccoli and cabbage slaw salad with chicken, mushrooms, cucumber, peppers, lettuce, snap peas, toasted almonds, and a creamy Asian vinaigrette.It was humungous. Couldn't finish it. Not sure if its because I was full or because I was tired of chewing raw veg for what seemed like forever....

I need to start planning next weeks menu. This week worked out pretty good so far. I have strayed from my original plan but I knew that would happen anyway. Having it all mapped out gave me a great jumping off point and made it so I have plenty of compliant food on hand. Where as if I hadn't planned I would have probably given up by now.

9:30 and I am ready to hit the hay. Till tomorrow

Day 4

Random thoughts of the day:

I tried. I really did. I tried to eat the overcooked frittata again and I just couldn't do it. The egg consistency was just too gross. I don't think I really like frittata in general. Sweet potato hash will be on next weeks menu for sure. I love hard boiled eggs, but I'm struggling for ideas of what to have with them for a veg. The smoothie definitely did not hold me yesterday. A simple spinach salad maybe? 

Fermented foods are something that the folks over at Whole9 suggest consuming daily and I'm not sure how I feel about this. I don't even think I've tried sauerkraut.... I love pickles. I want to try kimchi, but it's just a matter of finding the time to make these things.

Lil was a total doll this morning while I made some mayo and dipping sauces for my veg. when she was tired of playing on her own I put her on my back in the carrier and she was happy as pie back there while I finished prepping dinner in the crockpot, making tuna salad, and chopping my veg. This is the first morning I've ever had her in the carrier for my "chores" and it worked for us beautifully.

Speaking of Lil, I spent some time yesterday researching baby sleep. I've come to the conclusion that I am just going to accept where we are at and not sleep train her. I read studies, blogs, asked advice and then I dug down deep and really thought about how I feel and I am trusting my intuition and I am not going to do a damn thing. Yes, I am running on less sleep. Yes, it sucks that I work full-time and evolution has not had the chance to catch up with how fast our society has evolved and my little Lady still needs to know her Mama is around in the night. It sucks even more that I am not able to nurse her and instead have to get up and make 2-3 bottles in the middle of the night because it is the only thing that puts her back to sleep if she fully wakes. But I am changing my night-time expectations and realize that this is how it is and I only have these moments today, or in our case tonight. She will be a teenager soon enough and I'll be trying to drag her out of bed.

My Penzey's spice order came! How did I not hear about them sooner? A whole box of goodies for not a lot of dough. Very exciting!

I might be grinding my teeth in my sleep again. I don't know how else to explain the swollen bit on the inside of my cheek. 

SeaSnax came in my Amazon order today. I've never had seaweed before. I probably never will again. Not a fan. Tastes like the ocean. Strong. Like strong fish. Strong fish which I do not like. Now I have a six-pack, minus one square of Spicy Chipotle Seaweed Snacks. Yum..... Not.

Food:

Breakfast: Bleck. A few bites of overcooked frittata with avocado and salsa, then is went in the bin. I'll be throwing out the rest I have packaged in the fridge as well. And always my morning joe with coconut milk.

Lunch: Tuna salad which I ate quite proudly with my homemade mayo on lettuce and peppers with some very salty homemade ranch dressing, made from the mayo. I was a little overzealous with my salt this morning during prep. It needs to be thinned out anyway. I wasn't really hungry for lunch, but I didn't eat much for breakfast, so around 1pm I ate anyway knowing that if I pushed it any later dinner would be just before my bed time. I was stuffed and could not finish what I had prepared.

Dinner: Balsamic chicken thighs cooked all day in the crockpot with roasted asparagus and baked sweet potato. I've been trying to not overload on the super starchy veg because I do believe I have  a carb/sugar addiction. I've also not been doing a lot of fruit for the same reason.

Feelings: Physically sore and tired. Part of this is because I'm sleeping on a mat on Lil's floor and waking every couple of hours in the night to be with her, but I think some of the tiredness and the headache I had today is partly from the carb-flu that the Whole30 peeps talk about. Who knows... Day four feels good. This feels sustainable. Nothing like when I did a juicing detox a year and a half ago. That was miserable. I gave up on my fifth day. I was never hungry, but the headaches and roller coaster of emotions were unbearable.

On to day five.

Day 3

Lil sucks at sleeping.

I know that part of this is probably my fault. I know she has sleep associations and at almost nine months old wakes twice on a good night, many more on a bad. I know all of these things. I'm struggling with what to do. I need to figure out a plan and stick to it. I just don't want her to feel lonely. My sweet little Lil. But we are both tired. She was so exhausted when she woke at 5am that she cried and cried till I finally gave her a bub at 6:30 to go back to sleep after the the bub that I gave her around 5 am so she would hopefully stay asleep. Did that last sentence even make sense? Ack! Thankfully it is dead at work. 

Needless to say I am sucking at the whole getting good sleep part of Whole30. I am trying. I really am. It's my daughter who is putting up the fuss. Thankfully I have coconut milk for my delicious coffee, although I'm trying to remember not to be reliant on the caffeine. 

I took two Excedrin this morning due to the lingering headache that won't get the hint that I do not want it around.

Breakfast: 2 hard-boiled eggs, spinach/pineapple/banana/chia/spirulina smoothie, coffee with coconut milk (I know, smoothies are not the greatest choice because of the fruit. It's cool). 

Lunch: Leftover Chocolate Chili over spaghetti squash topped with avocado

Snack: Apple with sunbutter

Dinner: A delicious hot plate with zoodles, ground turkey, onions, spices, and tomatoes.

Feelings: Besides tired? I was hungry for lunch before 11am and ate around 11:15. Yeah. yeah. The smoothie didn't hold me. Started feeling hungry around 1:30pm and knew I couldn't possibly be real hunger with how much I ate for lunch, so I kept on drinking water. I desperately wanted another coffee, but without my coconut milk and it being after noon, I thought otherwise. The hunger dragon reared its real head around 4:30...and I just couldn't wait any longer so I had a snack. I continued to feel great and was just a little hungry by the time Lil went down for sleep at 8 pm.Derek had bread and butter with his meal and although it looked really crusty and yummy the craving wasn't that intense.

I was hoping to stay up and watch Extreme Weight Loss, but I have a feeling I'm about to crash. I know. I know. I'm not supposed to eat and then go straight to bed, but today has been all kinds of messed up.

Day 2

Note to self: Get bigger kitchen.

Prep is, for the most part, done. Thankfully. The whole house is running on little sleep. Poor Lil woke up screaming after 40 minutes into her afternoon nap because she was so damn tired and couldn't fall back to sleep. It took a good hour for her to stop crying and make her way back to slumber. I napped with her till my sleeping arm woke me up. It was needed. That headache from yesterday morning stayed with me through the night. You know the kind that makes it so you can't even lay down and sleep even though that is the very thing your body needs most? The kind that throbs to the point of making get out of bed to stand under a hot shower? This family took advantage of the rainy day and took our mandatory rainy labor day naps.

Other than the crap headache which I don't think had anything to do with Whole30 and everything to do with the one glass of wine, little water, sugar, and lack of sleep from the night BEFORE starting my Whole30 that did it, I really feel quite good. I have been putting the recommended amounts of protein/fats and eating till I'm full which, so far, has been carrying me over nicely to the next meal. No snack cravings last night. 

On to todays food:

Lil and I had a quiet little breakfast together while her Daddy slept. I ate some reheated green pepper and onion frittata (which I overcooked, bleck...) topped with avocado and salsa and a side of melon. 

Lunch consisted of a ginormous grilled chicken salad with lots of veg, raw cashews, and balsamic vinegar and olive oil to dress.

Around 4:30 I had a handful of toasted coconut and slivered almonds simple because I wanted to. I wasn't hungry, but it smelled so damn good toasting in the pan, how could I not?

Dinner was delicious Pad Thai from Well Fed. Oh. My. Goodness. Sunshine sauce is going to get me through the next 28 days no problem. I was stuffed and couldn't finish my portion, but there was no room in the fridge for leftovers, so Derek gladly ate what I couldn't.

I should prep lunch and breakfast for tomorrow, but I'm zonked and still need to get little Miss to fall asleep. There is always the morning.

Day 1

Weight: 233

Measurements

Under Bust - 40"

Waist - 40.75"

Belly Button - 47.75"

Upper Arm -  16.6"

Thigh - 30"

Calf - 19"

Neck - 14.5"

Yep. There I am in all my glory. Definitely have some work to do...

Our little Lady did not sleep well last night which means that Mama did not sleep well last night. I also woke up feeling very dehydrated, a tension headache, and pain in my lower back and calves. How comical to wake up on the first day of my Whole30 and feel this crappy...

Also comical, the in-laws are up from VT and the whole family thought it would be great to go to IHOP for breakfast. I spent some time last night thinking about what I would have that would be Whole30 compliant and toying with not eating anything, but came to the decision that as long as this is one of the few times I go out to eat this month that I am okay with whatever oil they cook my batter and dairy free omelet in.

Lunch was well.... kind of non-existent. Although I had a snack of an apple and some sunbutter around 1:30. Note for next Whole30: Do the food shopping the day before starting. Because of running around, a tired baby and a riduliclous headache, I didn't get to start prep until four in the afternoon... 

We had Well Fed's Chocolate Chili for Dinner made with some grass-fed beef I got at the farmers market yesterday. I spooned mine over some baby spinach and cooked zucchini. It was really quite good. Loads of flavor. I also had a hard-boiled egg about 15 minutes before we sat down for dinner (I was REALLY hungry).

Overall the day went well. Granted it is only 6pm, but so far so good. I have a feeling I'll be hitting the hay after picking up the kitchen a bit. I'll have to continue meal prep tomorrow. Thankfully it is a holiday....

Think Lil will let me sleep tonight?