Prepping for starting my Whole30 Challenge
Sunday, the day I started the Whole30 Challenge, I did a lot of prep work for the week ahead. I made things easy and prepped a week’s worth of breakfasts and lunches. Well, I don’t do math so goodly, amongst other subjects, and ran out of food, mid week. Here’s a few things you might be interested to know: When I sauté my veggies, I’m using a tablespoon per serving of either coconut oil or extra virgin olive oil. I’m drinking only plain, wet water throughout the day and two cups of black coffee in the morning, with a meal. Well, the second cup is in a thermal mug and I sip on it at work, but it’s gone by 10am.
Day 1 – Rest Day and the beginning of something great?
Breakfast – Scrambled eggs with onion, avocado and spinach and 1/2 a cup of frozen/fresh blueberries.
Lunch – Spaghetti squash with a sautéed medley of bell peppers, onion, spinach, and one garlic chicken sausage that I had pan fried. (This was batch cooked and portioned for three more days of easy lunches at work.)
Dinner – Pork chops in the crockpot with seasonings. (Came out SUPER dry! I was trying to go for a pulled pork taco effect.) FAIL! I served the pork pucks over a bed of sautéed kale with some onions and mushrooms thrown in. I quickly followed this meal with a 1/2 cup of frozen/fresh blueberries and watermelon.
Thoughts, emotions, energy level:
There were only two times during the day that I felt hunger. The first time was on my way to the store and I was worried that I didn’t have enough time to shop, get back, and prepare lunch without getting lightheaded and cranky and reach for whatever packaged carb I could find. I told myself that I wouldn’t die, that there would be food, and then my brain got distracted and my hunger pains went away. That evening, even after a dessert of watermelon and blueberries, I was getting ready for bed and felt a slight hunger, but again, I told myself it was because I was so used to have sweet treats at bedtime…even in bed. A lime bar, a Kashi Chocolate baked square, or some nights, even both! I felt those treats were deserved, in the past, since I had gotten both of my workouts in and my calories were so that I could afford to eat them. I managed to fall asleep without much trouble.
Day 2 – Split Workout Day
Pre Workout – one hardboiled egg and a small handful of roasted/salted cashews followed by a three mile run.
Post Workout – half of a sweet potato, with a 1/4 cup browned grilled turkey, and a dollop of coconut spread.
Breakfast – Egg Muffins (Batch cooked up for the week) Three egg muffins are about 2 whole eggs, 6 TBSP of browned, grilled turkey, some chopped spinach, and a mixture of red and yellow bell peppers. I heat them up and top it off with some Cholula sauce and a half of an avocado. SOOO delicious!
Lunch – Same as Day 1
Pre Workout – Cherry Lara Bar. I had purchased some Lara bars in flavors that are Whole30 Compliant to have on hand for emergencies. I was feeling particularly sluggish, so I really wanted one to try and then see how my workout would go.
Dinner – Birthday Celebration Burgers! I had my hubs make a patty with no BBQ sauce and he seasoned the meat with “compliant” seasonings and tamed jalapenos. The burger was topped with half of a roasted red bell pepper and sandwiched between two big leaves of red leaf lettuce. SO GOOD! I was worried I would feel left out. I had a side salad with a DRESSING and a half of a sweet potato. No fruit for dessert. I was just not hungry. <----- Who is that girl?!
Thoughts, emotions, energy level:
I didn’t sleep too well, but I don’t know if that could be blamed on the detox my body is going through or that my hubs wasn’t home, and the heat…oh the heat! (We do not have AC and that makes 90+ degree days not too pleasant at home.) I still managed to wake up, eat a hardboiled egg and a small handful of cashews and got my run in, 3 miles!
Day 3 – Split Workout Day
I ate most all of the same food on Day 2, except for dinner and had similar workouts and workout meals as well.
Pre Workout - HB Egg and cashews followed by 30 minutes of Jillian Michael’s Body Revolution HIIT Weights
Dinner – Browned, ground beef with seasonings, served with grilled onions, mushrooms, green and yellow zucchini and spinach. My 14teen ate this and said she liked it much more than she thought she would. She even sent a picture of her dinner to a friend to show her how healthy she was eating! ha!
Thoughts, emotions, energy level:
Nothing much to report. I’m happy that I’m not starving and hungry all the time. With as much veggies and protein that I’m eating, I’m just not sure how I could be hungry.
Day 4 – Unintentional Rest Day
Breakfast and lunch were the same as days 2 & 3 but with no workout meals.
Snack – This is the first day that I’ve had a snack that wasn’t considered a workout pre/post meal. However….I had a very well needed hair appointment at 4:30pm so I knew dinner was going to be a long ways away.
Dinner – Dinner didn’t happen until 9pm. My hair appointment took super long because it was super needed. lol! I was hungry and tired, but I wasn’t in a rage or a sugar crashing spiral of headache and crankiness either. AGAIN…<----- Who is that girl?!
Thoughts, emotions, energy level:
I woke up pretty tired due to not sleeping well, so I decided to skip my easy run this morning. I guess not sleeping well those first few nights might be a side effect?
Day 5 – Split Workout Day
Pre/Post Workout Meal and breakfast, same as on Day 3.
Lunch – I ran out of my spaghetti squash and chicken sausage sauté so I snagged three of my egg muffins and took my breakfast meal with me to work for lunch.
Pre Workout Meal – Hard Boiled Egg and a small handful of cashews.
I made a trip to the grocery store to pick up ingredients to make more egg muffins and spaghetti squash…with a mexi twist!
Dinner – Ground beef, browned, with kale, bell peppers, green and yellow zucchini, onions and mushrooms.
Thoughts, emotions, energy level:
No hunger or cravings at bedtime….no fruit even.
Day 6 - Split Workout Day
Pre Workout – one hardboiled egg and a small handful of roasted/salted cashews followed by a three mile run.
Post Workout – half of a sweet potato, with a 1/4 cup browned grilled turkey, and a dollop of coconut spread.
Breakfast – My new egg muffins, three of them, with chopped up shallots included. I felt fancy and had never cooked with a shallot before! One of the fun things with this challenge is trying some new stuff!
Lunch – Mexican Spaghetti Squash with Ground Turkey – I batched up four servings the night before and I’m realizing that I didn’t get the all white meat turkey breast and I don’t care for it as much. (I found out later it was ground chicken that I purchased before. It was much lighter tasting than the turkey.) I should have drained it and also not used a full cup of meat. Way too much! Ugh…three more meals of it to go. Use more jalapenos in the sauté the next time too.
Thoughts, emotions, energy level:
Feeling pretty strong and in control. Day 6 was Friday for me and usually I would have some sort of treat on Friday night after eating some sort of fast food or dining out type of meal.
Day 7 – Long Run Day Eeeps!
Pre Long Run – 1 hard boiled egg and a handful of cashews. I ran 5 miles and felt pretty good, but definitely hungry. I ate half of a Lara bar and started running again. 1.5 miles in, felt really dizzy. I made it to mile 7 and ate the other half of the Lara bar. At mile 10, I ate a full Lara bar and used my dehydrated coconut water and made 16oz to sip the remainder of the run. Mile 12…still struggling and I ate a half of a Lara Bar, and finally to mile 14 and finished the run. Guess what? I ate the last half of the Lara bar. 14 Miles and three Lara bars later….geesh. I need to come up with some different fueling options. Compared to past long runs and marathons though, a whole lot healthier than GU and Gatorade, right?!
Breakfast of sorts - Immediately after the 14 miles and the last half of the Lara Bar, I ate half of a sweet potato with some coconut spread and an egg fried in coconut oil. That was the best egg I had ever tasted! I stretched and showered and then I scrambled up three more eggs with all sorts of leftover veggies I had lying around. That was around 12 o’clock.
Lunch-ish - Around 4pm, I started feeling a headache coming on and was low on energy. I’m still hesitant about snacking between meals but with the long run? I just tried to listen to my body. I ate another half of a sweet potato and finished up with some projects, housework, errands, prepping for our day at the waterslides the next day, and then getting ready for our date night!
Dinner - So this is the first time eating out while on Whole30. We chose a Thai restaurant and I had a mushroom appetizer, chicken skewers, and a veggie/chicken sauté. I’m pretty certain there was some sugar and not sure what kind of oil they used. I definitely noticed some bloating that night. We went to the movies afterwards and I didn’t get my usual white cherry slushy. Nor did we get popcorn. That’s usually the norm when we see a movie. Date night was a great success as far as my Whole30 went, and a much bigger success in getting to spend the evening with my best friend.
Thoughts, emotions, energy level:
I was a little frustrated with myself that I had eaten those three Lara bars as they are a packaged product and to be used for emergencies. Buuuuutt, the prep work I had done, including research on what to eat for a long run, didn’t really line it out and make it easy on me. I forgave myself because I ran 14 miles and not too many people do that within their first week of the challenge. The challenge actually suggests that you take it easy during the first couple of weeks with exercise. So phhhhttt! I was also a little annoyed at the eating out dinner options we have here as I’m sure it wasn’t perfect, and completely compliant with what I ate, but I sure as heck wasn’t going to give up, nor was I going to start over.
you are doing great my friend,
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