Whole 30 - Week 3

Whole 30 week 3 recap:

Monday

Took the boys skiing on their day off of school. I did awful eating. I had a protein shake for the morning and a bar and cutie for lunch. I was starved, so starved. Zach has also been starved, but I think he's been eating more than shakes and bars. But, he works out a lot and burns tons of calories. We need to figure this out better.

For dinner I made a white chicken chili in the crockpot while we were skiing. It was yummy, but totally not enough. I think I need to just double every single recipe. Need more food!

Tuesday

Jury duty this morning. Zach made me scrambled eggs and a green smoothie. I grabbed a bar and a cutie just in case I was there for too long. Luckily I got out by 10:30am. Went home and started planning an epic beginning of summer vacation. Too much planning, not enough eating AGAIN.

When the boys got home, they of course start eating everything in sight. So, I made a little snack. Strawberries with this coconut cream mixture I made that was meant to go in my coffee. I think it's actually better as a dip than in coffee, but I'll see about that in the morning. It's coconut milk (the creamy part in the can) mixed with a couple dates and some almond milk.

For dinner I made the mango chicken again and it was SO GOOD! I made it with some roasted cauliflower and fingerling potatoes. 

Wednesday

Breakfast. Plantains fried in coconut oil, two eggs, and half a grapefruit.

One thing I do really like about this Whole 30 thing is that I cook dinner every night and I'm way better about just cooking stuff we have. I had some brussels sprouts left over and the last time I roasted them (usually my fave way of preparing brussels) they  weren't great. So I threw them in my food processor and shredded them. Then I just threw them in a pan with some coconut oil (I'm out of bacon) added a little lemon juice and paprika. Done. I sliced up some sweet potatoes and tossed them in olive oil and baked at 400F for 25 minutes or so. Done. We grilled some chicken breasts that I marinated in some olive oil, crushed red pepper, juice and zest of one navel orange, and some of the Santa Cruz Organic Orange Mango juice I had left from the Mango Chicken I made last night. Done. Such an easy dinner and all stuff we had on hand.

Thursday

For breakfast this morning I cooked up some a plantain, half an onion, an apple and some sweet potato left from last night in coconut oil. Half for breakfast today and half left for tomorrow. 

For dinner I made up a quick teriyaki with coconut aminos and marinated some chicken. I had roasted cauliflower and pineapple with it and I made the boys rice bowls with a cabbage mix, rice, chicken, and pineapple. 

So, Im' basically starving by the end of the day. I started reading all the forums on Whole 30's website and I just don't think I'm eating enough. Things I learned:

1. One serving of eggs is the amount you can fit in your hand, likely around 4.

2. You should eat 3 meals 4-5 hours apart (plus a bonus mini-meal post-workout) that all contain 1-2 palm size portions of protein, 2-3 cups of veggies, the occasional fruit - closed fist portion, and a fat like an avocado (half to whole) or a closed handful of nuts or 1-2 tablespoons or so of a nut butter. Bacon is also a fat, but I couldn't find the serving size of bacon.

3. Eat breakfast within one hour of waking up.

4. Pre-Workout either fast or eat a 1/2-1 portion size of lean protein and fat. So, basically, Zach should wake up at 5:30am and eat half a chicken breast with a quarter avocado. Weird.

5. Post-Workout within 15-30 minutes eat a portion of protein and carb-dense veggie. No fat and no fruit. So, basically come in from a workout and eat another chicken breast and a sweet potato. Then.... eat a full breakfast! WHAT? 

I'm going to try and do this tomorrow. I'll let you know how it goes.

Friday

7:15am - Wake up

7:45am - Coffee with a tablespoon or so of Nut Pods

8:15am - Breakfast: one cup shredded brussels sprouts, one cup sweet potato, one cup cauliflower, four eggs (two - whites only) 

I'm going to have the boys make this homemade pudding with my leftover egg yolks when I have four for him. 

12:45pm - Lunch: two cups of greens, one serving of grilled chicken breast leftovers, with the citrus dressing I made last week and the other half of my breakfast from yesterday (sweet potato, apple, plantain mix)

This is so much food! I wasn't even really hungry yet. I've been sitting on my computer all morning, so literally no activity. But, I didn't want to get overly hungry in like 2 hours like I normally do, so I'm just sticking with the schedule for today.

6:15pm - Dinner: 1 1/2 - 2 servings of rotisserie chicken, half a cucumber, a handful of roasted tomatoes and potatoes

By 3pm I'm just exhausted. And my stomach has been crampy today. Like, if I was in the intro phase I would probably think I was having issues with whatever food it is. It's not awful, but it's not great. I would think that this would NOT be an issue when nixing everything out of your diet. I did not feel like making dinner tonight at all, but when it came down to it, I opted for a rotisserie chicken from he grocery store and I roasted some potatoes and cherry tomatoes I had here. 

Saturday

It's cold and snowy today. I'm so not feeling cooking. I made a massive omelette this morning and it gagged me. Blah. I don't think I can do this. It was a four egg (two - whites only) with greens and leftover chicken. Maybe if I would have sautéed the greens first. But, blah, it was awful to eat first thing in the morning. By lunch I didn't want to eat anything but a protein smoothie, so that's what I did. Which is totally off plan, I know. I'm really kind of ready for this to be done. But, I guess I'll keep going. Just a little over a week to go.

I finally went to the store around 2:30pm to figure out dinner. I found this recipe for an Instant Pot soup, which sounded good, since it was COLD! By far the best thing I have made in my instant pot yet. And it was super easy and FAST. Perfect since we needed to eat dinner early to get to the Rockies vs. Cubs game.

I grabbed an Rx bar for the game, just in case, and yes, I ate it. I probably didn't need it, but it was so good. And ballpark nachos sounded so good!

Sunday

For breakfast/lunch I ate some of the leftover stew from last night. I forgot to add the avocado, cilantro, and green onions, but it was still tasty.

I made this Lemon Basil Chicken but we grilled it. I also roasted up a bunch of fingerling potatoes, carrots, mushrooms, and asparagus. It was tasty. Roasted veggies are my fave.

I want brownies. And wine. For real! Ok, so I'm not sure if I actually want brownies. Maybe one of those avocado, sweet potato brownies that don't actually have sugar in it. Because I think if I ate a boxed brownie right now, I would go into shock. But, it's day 21 and I'm still going strong. I'm not 100% following Whole 30, but I'm pretty darn close. Where I fail : bars, they are technically compliant, but well, you know. Protein shakes, I'm not even sure they are compliant, but I know they aren't allowed, I haven't had a lot, but I've had a few. Bacon, I haven't bought new bacon, but I know the one we started with was not compliant, but I wasn't going to throw away perfectly good food. I haven't replaced it and just have gone without bacon for most of this month though. Meals, my meals are definitely not template meals. Dinner, maybe, but definitely not lunch or breakfast. I still don't even usually eat that many meals in a day. Overall I would say I'm doing pretty good. I'm sure I've lost some inches, my stomach is definitely flatter and I don't feel as puffy. Scale wise, well, I lost some pounds, Yes, I know, you aren't supposed to weigh. I've lost about 1% body fat and about 7lbs so far. I did take measurements before I started too, so when this is all over, I'll let you know.

Will update again soon.
Love & Light.
😷😘 michelle