Whole 30 Week One : Starting Whole30, Creating a Plan and Tackling Social Outings

Like I said in my previous post, this is my second round of Whole30. I found last time week 1-2 were the worst for me, roughly about the first 9 days. Once I passed that threshold, I was in the clear for an easier time. I purchased the rest of my groceries and meal prepped and planned Sunday night to ensure the first rough week would be a much smoother one.

Pre-Whole30: Sunday. Okay. So, like last time I am doing a before/after photo and changes that will happen. My next photo will be on day 31. I went kayaking today, and was excited to wear my new motivational tank. For my pre-whole30 meal, i had a cafe latte, smoothie from tropical smoothie, roasted chicken with herb rice and a berry tart for dessert.

FitBit: I made my 10K steps today. I walked a lot, did an hour of kayaking, an hour walk this evening around my neighborhood, slept over 8 hours last night and ate fairly well today. I weighed 135.6 lbs and I am 5'4".

Before Starting Whole30

Day 1: Monday. No one likes Monday. I found the last go round that the first two days seemed easiest and then it was all downhill from there. So far, Monday has proven to be the same as before. The first day in my opinion is one where you are most hopeful. Everything always seems to go smoothly on day 1. Willpower is at the all time high and you have a renewed sense of energy on the program. Breakfast was an omelet with salt, pepper and spinach, cooked in coconut oil. I had a side of sweet potato hash (seasoned with salt and pepper). Seltzer water to drink. Lunch was salad mix, guacamole and paprika chicken (rotisserie chicken pieces cooked in coconut oil with fine herbs, paprika, and garlic powder). Seltzer to drink. Dinner was salmon with a tomato and capers sauce with seltzer to drink.

FitBit: Sleep was really restful. I got 8 hrs and 53 mins of total rest. I did 50 mins of yoga tonight. I was not as active as I wanted to be as far as step count (1,256 steps), but I still felt like I was very active - even with my super busy desk job on a Monday. I am hoping to pick up my step count throughout the week. I learned I need to strengthen my hands for some of these yoga poses. I will work on that. I only made 3/10 flights of stairs, so I will need to boost that to hit my goal.

Day 2: Tuesday. So, this was a high stress day at work. And to think I always Monday was that way. Anyway, I am still feeling good for the second day. I have not had any cravings or withdrawal at this point. So, compared to last go round, that is a bonus. Breakfast was two hardboiled eggs with salt, pepper and nutritional yeast with a cup of green tea. Lunch was detox soup with a little bit of chicken. This particular recipe I did not follow exactly. I added veggie broth, carrot, celery, onion, spinach, cauliflower, rainbow chard stalk, nutritional yeast, salt and pepper. This recipe works well if you have a bunch of scraps and want to find a budget way of reusing them. Besides, it tasted really good. Afternoon snack (not pictured) was my date balls - I had a slight low energy lull around 330p, so a quick snack was good to hold me over until dinner. And, Dinner was acorn squash stuffed with apples and sausage. The recipe was really great- I just skipped the panko and parmesan cheese and opted to increase the apple instead.

FitBit: I was happy to get 8 hrs and 14 mins of rest. It was much needed after a busy Monday. I hit over the 10 flights of stairs goal I made. Additionally, I did my 30 mins of yoga. It was a little more challenging than the prior day but exactly what I needed before bedtime. As far as step count, with a few errands I ran, I hit 3,500 steps. Progress. I am hoping to hit the gym Wednesday night and up that count.

Day 3: Wednesday. Half way through the work week. It has been a busy one for sure. Breakfast was a  2 egg spinach omelet. Lunch was egg salad. I was impressed with how easy it was to make a makeshift version. I used 2 hardboiled eggs, nutritional yeast, salt, pepper, homemade Whole30 mayo, garlic powder and chopped celery. I put it on a rainbow chard leaf and it was pretty good. Dinner is ground lamb meatballs on salad, which I really loved. And, it didn't take hardly any time at all to make.

FitBit: 8 hours and 4 mins of sleep and it felt good. I am impressed my sleep has been over the 8 hour mark- since some days I just do not get the rest I need. I did get a good workout at the gym tonight. I did a good mix of cardio with an abs and arms workout. I could tell the last couple of days of yoga, I need a bit more emphasis on my arm strength to help with my balance and strength. 4,500 steps was a good boost but I still need to work more on that front. And, I met my flights of stairs goal: I made 12 flights of stairs, so I surpassed my 10 flights of stairs goal. Yahoo!

Day 4: Thursday. Thankfully, this first week is almost done. I had struggled with a few headaches last night that were not fun but let's hope that is just from not drinking enough water. So far, other than that I have not had any withdrawal symptoms. Breakfast was almond butter and a granny smith apple. Lunch was a chicken salad with sauteed zucchini and onions. I mixed it all together. Dinner was steak and squash. I went a bit too heavy on the ghee but otherwise a good dinner.

FitBit: Well, I just missed my 8 hour sleep mark by 1 minute! One! 7 hours and 59 mins of total sleep. But, that is okay considering I upped my step count and hit 5,100 steps! A small victory considering my desk job really does not allow me to get much walking in. I did not meet my flights of stairs goal- but I made 5/10 so it is progress.

Day 5: Friday. A busy day at work and I almost forgot to make myself some breakfast. Breakfast was chopped granny smith apples with coconut oil, nutmeg, cinnamon and star anise; topped with walnuts. It was a warm apple pie type breakfast and was really good. Lunch was my homemade asian cashew chicken with salad topped with guacamole. The asian chicken is simply coconut oil, coconut aminos, garlic, nutritional yeast and chopped cashews sauteed in a pan; then topped with cashew halves. This was a favorite and super filling. Next up was date night at the comedy club. I made the mistake of not eating prior to the show (really, time was not on my side) and got quite hangry for dinner post-show. It ended up being a rough night for sure. Dinner was Chipotle. And, I had to pass two locations since they didn't have any carnitas left. Fast food is not an easy option on Whole30. Next time, I am going to eat before an event.

FitBit: I kicked butt on sleep this time. A total of 9 hours and 13 mins of sleep. Yahoo! I failed on making my steps shine sadly. I only got 2,200 steps. I was not able to get my yoga in, so I am going to need to boost that in the next couple of days. I find weekends tend to ruin my good flow I have during the week. That is something I am going to have to work on. I did make my 10 flights of stairs goal, so that did make me feel somewhat productive.

Day 6: Saturday. This was a sleep in kinda day. One of my favorite types of days. And, with the changing of the leaves, it was a perfect time to sleep in. Breakfast was a homemade sausage patty. I didn't take a picture simply because I was so hungry I did not even think about it until after I had eaten it. Major fail for me. Lunch ended up being these oven roasted wings I made with avocado oil, ghee, salt and pepper; topped with fine herbs. They were good but a tad drier than I prefer. (I will need a sauce next time.) I had a co-ed bachelor/bachelorette party to attend that evening. Dinner was the most challenging meal, as I was not able to prepare it myself. Ordering out is always the most difficult thing to do on Whole30. If you can review a menu ahead of time, as I did, it will allow you to narrow your choices down so the questions you have for the waiter can be at a minimum. Dinner out was limited, so I opted for the salad (minus cheese and croutons-  oil and vinegar dressing). It was hard to not have a drink with friends, but I am okay with it. Other than my stomach having to adjust to this new change (this is stage 2 where your digestive track pretty much starts cleaning out all the bad foods and resets itself), it has been quite smooth sailing. Overall, a decent day.

FitBit: Rocking my sleep at 8 hrs and 27 mins of total sleep. Win! Steps wise, I killed it this day. Since we had gone on a haunted walking tour after dinner, I got a ton of steps and stair climbs in today. I had a total of 14,400 steps and 31 flights of stairs. Double win! While I may not have done my yoga or hit the gym, the walking tour and errands ran during the day was more than enough to get me over my 10K step goal.

Day 7: Sunday. Sunday is always meal prep day in the Whole30 household. Not only do I plan my menu out for the week, but I do as much prep work as I can for those meals- it just helps keep me on track when I do my best to find ways to help myself out when I may feel like caving during the week. Breakfast started out strong. I had run out of my previous almond butter, so I went out yesterday and picked up a jar for the rest of Whole30. I had it with chopped apple and coconut flakes. Lunch time came around and I was in the mood for cooking. I made zucchini and sweet potato latkes and they were amazing. Topped with my homemade guacamole and it was really one of those 'meatless monday' meals that do not make you feel hungry later; super filling. I didn't make my Whole30 bacon that morning so I will have to make this again and sprinkle a bit on top for that salty element i feel this missed. Dinner time came around and I was invited over to friends houses for a cookout and sunday night football. My girlfriend, who was so inspired by my Whole30 journey she did it herself, knew about my second round and was more than accommodating. Since she had made a few changes in her life as well, it was easy to come over for dinner. We had steaks on the grill, I brought a foil packet of asparagus. It was so good and I was so hungry I completely forgot to take a picture of dinner. Ugh.

FitBit: Well, Since I went to bed late Saturday night, I did not get nearly enough sleep. Only 5hrs & 44 mins of total sleep. I was just short of making my flight of stairs goal; I only made 8/10 floors. And, to top it off, I only walked 4,900 steps. I will have to kick it in gear next week to help improve that. The good news is that the first half of this upcoming week I am dog sitting, so that should help my step goals while I am helping out a friend.

End of Week 1: After thoughts. Okay, so the first week is done. I did well on sleep; my average was 8 hrs and 30 mins of total sleep so that is well over my 8 hour goal. And, I did 5 days of exercise last week (a total of 130 active minutes- an average of 16.25mins/day - something I need to improve on), which is a good start, and I hit 80 flights of stairs. Despite a few social outings, I did well in keeping to my goals. My only struggle is when it comes to fitting in my exercise routine on the weekends. While I do not always get dedicated time to exercise, I do get in walking time instead. I am optimistic that this upcoming week will be better than this one. The good side to all of this is in comparison to my prior Whole30, I have physically not felt any withdrawal from any of the items nor felt cravings for them. I think that is a major improvement upon last time. It is my hope that will continue.