(I’m going to separate this out from my regular weekly post so those who are not interested in Whole 30 don’t have to be bothered with it. Hope this is helpful. You can find other updates and recipes in a later post.)
Dear Whole 30,
I have such mixed feelings about you. I’m full of hope that you are going to deliver lots of energy, less joint pain, fewer sugar cravings. But oh, you are so hard to live with! I’m hoping we can continue our thirty day relationship without fighting, which will surely lead to an early break-up. Here’s how I feel about you this week…
I’ve decided I will start this week with Day 1. Again. Sigh. I’m torn between giving myself grace for these little “off plan” bites and not sticking 100% to the Whole 30 plan. But, my worry is that by not adhering to the plan strictly, I am going to miss out on all the benefits.
Also, all this thought and focus on food has made some symptoms really stand out to me, which is kind of the whole point:
- foot pain – it is shocking to me how quickly my arthritis flares up when I eat any sugar at all
- anxiety – I never thought of myself as suffering from anxiety until I began to research natural cures for claustrophobia, which I do have and which is getting worse as I get older. Turns out, claustrophobia is considered part of generalized anxiety disorder and is treated as such. Also turns out that sugar (and other inflammatory foods) can be triggers for anxiety. Maybe it’s coincidence, but I am noticing a correlation between my sugar consumption and claustrophobia. I’ll be keeping an eye on this.
Self analysis over, onto what I ate this week:
Monday, Day 1 Breakfast: black coffee, two eggs fried in about a half teaspoon of bacon fat
Morning bike ride, 1 hour
Brunch: Bilinski chicken apple sausage, one slice of bacon, green apple and a few pecans
Late Lunch (around 4:00 – much later than I had planned): So I would normally not eat “lunch” at 4:00 considering dinner is usually around 6:00, but I needed to eat something and I didn’t want it to be snack-y. I will likely not be too hungry come dinner time, but that’s ok. This is what I needed to do to keep myself from eating junk before dinner.
My “lunch”: salmon fillet and leftover kale salad. Can I just tell you – this was an awesome combination. I pan sautéed the salmon to about medium with just olive oil, salt and pepper.
Dinner: Crock Pot Carnitas, basic cole slaw, easiest, tastiest guacamole, baked plantain chips (recipes for these sides are coming).
Final Thoughts on whatever number day this is: I tried eating more protein today, beginning with the eggs before my workout. I’m always worried that if I eat too much before a workout, my stomach will be unsettled. This has happened before so it’s not an unfounded concern. Plus, I typically can handle an early morning workout without eating anything. The problem with that is I end up so hungry afterward, I eat a humongous meal mid-morning and I’m not ready to eat again until around 4 or 5:00 and dinner is at 6. It just throws me off. So I’m hoping that a little protein evenly spaced throughout the day will work better. Of course, lunch at 4:00 today didn’t help with this exercise too much!
I’ve been eating the protein bars to get a little something in before my morning workouts, but another thing I’ve learned through this process is that the sweet taste of those bars has been a trigger for me. I think for this Whole 30 to be successful, I can’t handle sweet tasting foods at all. I’m even backing away from my regular Gala or Fuji apples and sticking with Granny Smiths exclusively.
Tuesday, Day 2 Breakfast: two eggs, chicken apple sausage, carrots, black coffee
mid-morning workout: about an hour of cardio and weight training combined
Post-workout snack: leftover guacamole and plantain chips
Lunch (at a normal-ish time for once): I loved the salmon and kale salad so much yesterday that I decided to have that again. I made a whole batch of my wilted kale salad (modification for Whole30-left out the honey and added a splash of orange juice and a few raisins). I quickly pan sautéed a piece of cod and ate that with a pile of kale salad. So delicious and I’m stuffed.
afternoon snack: a few almonds and dried cherries
Dinner: roasted broccoli, potatoes and onions, crispy chicken thighs (minus the gravy)
Hungry around 9:00 so I ate about a third of a banana. Off to bed.
What I learned on Day 2: I usually snack when I’m not hungry. I don’t usually snack when I am hungry – like right before bed. If I go to bed hungry, I don’t sleep well. I used to hear that little voice of diet experts saying, “never eat after 7 PM” and I would listen to that voice. Now, I am listening to my own voice. If I’m hungry, I’ll eat a little something. My meals are so full of vegetables, typically, that I get very full at meal time, but then am not sustained long term. You will see a lot of Whole 30 tips and recipes that involve avocados. Many Whole 30ers eat an entire avocado every day because those healthy fats are so sustaining. I can’t. They’re a moderate immune trigger for me. I choose to get my extra fat from nuts and bacon. That’s not so bad!
Wednesday, Day 3 Breakfast: black coffee, leftover roasted veggies from last night, one egg, three small slices of bacon.
Lunch: kale salad and applegate chicken apple sausage
Dinner: Pot-luck dinner at church. Such a dinner is a scary proposition when you’re on a restricted diet. I made something I knew my family and I could eat: beef and vegetable taco filling (recipe coming), baked plantain chips and guacamole (too much avocado this week!). There were two pork dishes that looked plain enough – some pulled pork with onions and a pork tenderloin. I ate a little of both and took some gluten flam when I got home.
Final thoughts for the day: I really would like some sweets, especially with all those yummy looking home-baked desserts at church. I settled for some cinnamon apple tea at home.
Thursday, Day 4 Breakfast: chicken apple sausage and an egg, black coffee
Busy day with lots of errands. Lunch in the car: Epic bacon bar and an apple, a few leftover plantain chips. Lots of water.
Afternoon snack: Trader Joe’s dried apples
Dinner: Special night out with my son. Our daughter is on a trip with her grandparents so he gets some one-on-two time with mom and dad. He chose Tiajana Flats. Now here’s the deal with Tiajana Flats: they are super nice and accommodating in there. Their website finally lists allergen info. I feel like I can order something safely, but I always feel sick afterward. Usually, it’s just heartburn that takes a few hours to go away. This particular dinner (lettuce, carnitas, salsa, a little of their vinaigrette salad dressing) and I am doubled over in pain. They messed up our entire order. Everything came out wrong, including my salad in the flour tortilla shell which I stressed that I did not want. They promised me they would remake the meal from scratch, not just dump the contents out, but now I wonder. There is no conceivable reason that meal should make me feel like this.
Final Thoughts on Day 4: Not feeling well makes it easy to stick to Whole 30. There’s always a silver lining. 🙂
Friday, Day 5: Felt sick all night. For me, stomach upset is usually heartburn, in varying degrees of severity. When something really makes me feel ill, I get pain, severe, rolling pains across the top of my abdomen, around the bottom of my rib cage. This is where my surgery was and where I must have some scar tissue. Not sure if that’s relevant or not, but in my mind it is. This is how I felt all night and woke up feeling as well.
I laid on the sofa sipping my coffee, surfing the internet for new and fascinating information I could not live with out, and for a once yearly treat, I watched the first 20 minutes of the Today Show. Why are politics so….well…not nice? Seems so counterproductive.
A couple hours later, I felt like eating, though still having the same pain. I toasted a piece of Canyon Bakehouse White bread, spread it with a little ghee and started to cook some rice in homemade chicken broth. I realize the toast and rice are off-limits on Whole 30, but when you’re sick to your stomach, kale is not a good idea. I could be eating cookies. They would go down pretty well right now, I would think. 😉 But I’m not.
My garden is ready to plant and that was my big goal for today. It’s chilly now, but will be beautiful out soon and I want to get out there. Must get my strength up. Grrrrr….Tiajuana Flats.
Day 5 Review: Usually this sort of upset stomach deal subsides in less than 24 hours. Today, it actually worsened through the day. I sipped on ginger tea, some Sprite, nibbled on a little rice cooked in broth, and generally felt like crying most of the day. Need a good night’s sleep.
Day 6: Woke up a little better. Very hopeful for recovery today. Breakfast of black coffee and more broth/rice.
Lunch: Two slices of Canyon Bakehouse white bread, toasted, with ghee and two scrambled eggs.
Dinner: more scrambled eggs, bacon and two homemade gluten free pancakes
Day 6 Review: I felt better throughout the day, but a day of being sick to your stomach is exhausting. I was dehydrated and lightheaded and somewhat queasy most of the day. You can tell such by the foods I ate – all things that were easy on my system. The bacon was a stretch, but I was feeling hungry enough by dinner time that I wanted the extra sustenance. And I’d like some dessert, so I must be feeling better.
Sunday, Day 7 Breakfast: one piece of toast, one egg, one piece of bacon, black coffee
Lunch: salad with veggies, rotisserie chicken from Whole Foods, mashed potatoes from Whole Foods hot bar. I have felt mostly well today, with just a few pains. I’m going to continue to be easy on my stomach today.
Dinner: grilled burgers with sweet potato buns, sautéed squash
Whew! One week over. Actually, it’s about 300 weeks by now, but who’s counting?
I’m sorry I didn’t get any recipes up this week, but this sickness threw me off big time. I’ll get those up for you this week so you’ll be all set for a Paleo Cinco de Mayo celebration.
So my dear Whole 30,
I suppose overall you treated me fairly well this week. My sickness mid-week certainly made it easier to stick with your rules. I know, I know, rice is against the rules, but what you eat when you’re sick doesn’t count. As soon as I can stomach vegetables and meat again, I’ll be eating my fill, don’t worry. Please continue to treat me well next week. As we’re going now, I’ll finish up your 30 day torture plan the day before my anniversary, which is really perfect timing. Plus, we’ve been going round and round with each other since mid-January and frankly, I’m ready to have you out of my life for a while.
Most sincerely,
Elizabeth