Another Round of Whole 30! – Day 1

Happy Monday after DST, friends! Am I the only one who feels so lethargic today? Nope? Just me? Anytime the time changes, I get all out of a rut. Dono and I slept until almost 11am yesterday morning and had no concept of time all day.

Since my surgery, I’ve been complaining about wanting to get back on a good schedule of exercising and eating right again. Last week, Dono and I went to Florida for our spring vacation — which was wonderful! We spent a lot of time walking on the beach, sleeping in, and sitting in the hot tub…not to mention eating a lot of fried foods!

I’m not a particular fan of seafood or fish of any kind (i tell everyone I’m allergic even though I’m not) so whenever we go somewhere coastal, I always end up ordering a lot of chicken + a lot of food from the kids menu, since most of the seafood places we frequent don’t serve protein other than fish or seafood. So, this coupled with a lot of beer and fun tropical drinks have made me crave veggies again.

Last summer I started the Whole 30 but never finished it. I went on a weekend girls trip with my mom and ruined it as soon as I saw the fried chicken and mashed potatoes. Now that my surgery and spring break is over, I don’t have any excuses, trips, or special occasions for the next 30 days. (You can read about my previous Whole 30 attempts HERE, HERE, and HERE, and HERE.

I’m ready to start this process over again, and I think I’ll be successful! Here’s what I had to eat today (Day 1)

Breakfast: Strawberry, Banana, Spinach, Kale Smoothie (included flaxseed)

Lunch: mini meatloaves and mashed potatoes (i needed a veggie, but didn’t have any on hand as I wasn’t very prepared)

Dinner: compliant Taco Bowls

Here’s to another round of Whole 30!

An Epic Whole 30 Fail

So…I’m going to take a pause here and let you go ahead and say “I told you so” to me.

 

….

 

done? Ok.

Let’s talk about my epic Whole 30 fail. I did really great last week. I consistently ate Whole 30 approved meals Monday- Friday. I’ll take that as a win. But Friday is when things started to go downhill, and I just lost control. Not in a horrible way – I’m not downing cookies/ice cream/brownies or anything like that…but definitely not eating Whole 30 approved meals.

Here’s what happened:

I was actually doing really great until Friday. I was over the first “hump” – my caffeine headaches had subsided and I was actually enjoying the foods I was eating. I still felt really exhausted at night, but I had read that this was normal. On Friday, my mom and I left for a mother/daughter trip to Bandera, Texas to the Dixie Dude Ranch  for Mother’s Day weekend. Donovan and his dad were going to Scarborough Fair in Waxahachie, which is not my favorite type of festival ( love you, honey!) – so I was glad to spend a bit of time with my mom.

On the way down to Bandera (about a 5 hour ride) I snacked on Lara Bars and water. For lunch, we ate a local San Marcos cafe, and I had a hamburger (no bun or cheese or sauce) with sweet potato fries. Dinner? Not so great. We arrived at the Dude Ranch and I was starving. What we didn’t know is that the dude ranch served meals community-style, so the cooks prepared huge pots of food that we would pass around the table. Friday night was fried fish. Ugh. I don’t like fish to begin with, so my mom and I told the cooks we would prefer something different- preferably chicken. I guess we should have specified we wanted baked/grilled chicken because we ended up with chicken fried steak and fried chicken. If you’ve ever been to Bandera, you know there is absolutely nothing there (it is a 1 stop light town, not even a McDonald’s!) – so it was either eat what I was served or starve.

On Saturday morning, the cooks served pancakes and sausage for breakfast. Another no-no. I tried to just eat the sausage and fruit, but it wasn’t enough to hold me over so I wound up eating a pancake. For lunch? Chicken spaghetti. No other options. Dinner? An old fashioned BBQ. This was a bit better since I could just eat meat, veggies, and fruit. Saturday night we went out to the 1 bar in Bandera after the rodeo and I had a beer. ONE beer. On Sunday we had scrambled eggs and sausage for breakfast with fruit. Also, not a horrible option. Lunch? Fried chicken. One thing I will say about the food at the Dixie Dude Ranch….it was FANTASTIC!

Sigh. This is where it goes downhill.

After we left Bandera on Sunday, we spend the night in San Antonio on the Riverwalk. We saw the Alamo and walked around the Riverwalk for awhile before sitting down to 2 (!!) margaritas, chips and guacamole, and later, an oatmeal raisin cookie from the hotel concierge floor.

Blerg.

By the time I got back home on Monday afternoon, I had not meal planned for the week, so Dono and I went out for dinner. And I didn’t get to the grocery store until Tuesday. Without having a plan, I picked out easy, cheap meals for us this week, and unfortunately they were not Whole 30  compliant.

So how do I feel about this now? Not awesome. I tried my best to eat Whole 30 compliant while on our trip, but it was nearly impossible. I didn’t want to be the person that sent back food because it was cooked in vegetable oil vs coconut oil or something so ridiculous, so I just made the weekend with my mom count. I’m so far off track now that I’d have to start over anyway. The whole point of the Whole 30 is to eat like this for 30 consecutive days…not to start and stop on and off.

I do want to give the Whole 30 another try, but will have to wait a bit before trying again. I’m still eating fairly clean, but I’ve added skim milk, peanut butter, yogurt, and brown rice back into my diet. Those are not horrible foods. They’re just not Whole 30 compliant.

Whole 30 Challenge Day 3 & 4

Ok, folks. The struggle is real.

I’m in the beginning (and hopefully near ending) stages of craving EVERYTHING. I even drove by Taco Bell on my way home from work, and salivated. AND I HATE TACO BELL!! It’s so disgusting, but all I can think about is greasy, fatty food and warm, fudgy chocolate sauce. Ugh.

But. I’m powering through.

While I am being honest and upfront with this blog – I do want to admit that I had a snack cracker pack this morning on my way into work. (Fail on grains/cheese/processed foods) This morning for breakfast, I heated up my Chicken Sausage Hash, but one bite in, and I could tell it was on its last leg (I cooked a big portion on Sunday). The celery and potatoes were soggy and the chicken just did not taste so good, so I threw it out. I was already running late for work, so I scarfed down a few pieces of pineapple and strawberry with coconut, but before I was out of our apartment complex, my stomach was already growling again. I knew it would be a rough day if I didn’t eat anything until lunch, so I stopped at 7-eleven. I prayed there would be a Lara Bar or something compliant but could not find anything. So i grabbed the closest thing to me, a small pack of cheese crackers, and went on my way. While this was not the best decision, the crackers kept my fire going until I ate lunch.

Anyways…on to what I ate:

Day 3:
Breakfast: Chicken Sausage Hash + strawberries
Lunch: Homemade Stir Fry (same as previous 2 days)
Snack: Strawberries/Pineapple + coconut
Dinner: Steak, sweet potato fries, brussel sprouts

Day 4:
Breakfast: Cheese crackers
Lunch: Homemade Stir Fry with a side of strawberries and coconut
Dinner: Spaghetti Squash Casserole

Overall, not too bad, other than the stupid crackers. But. I’m not going to kick myself about this. I sucked it up and made the rest of the meals today count.

So. Moving on.

My headaches are pretty much gone now. I’m also drinking SO much water during the day. I’m still missing dairy, flavored drinks (like Fruitwaters) , and just a little sweet dish after dinner. I mean c’mon..sugar free jello? Nope. can’t eat that either. Blerg.

Whole 30 Days 5, 6, and 7 will occur over the weekend – the hardest part of the week to stay on track – so I’m really hoping I can make this happen.

Y’all have any ideas for meals for next week?

 

Whole 30 Challenge Days 1 & 2

Welp, I’ve officially made it 2 full days into the Whole 30 Challenge! 28 more days to go! Blerg.

So far it really hasn’t been that bad. Here’s what I’ve been eating:

Day 1:
Breakfast: Chicken Sausage “Hash” with sweet potatoes/celery
Snack: Lara Bar
Lunch: Homemade veggie stir fry with coconut aminos in place of soy sauce
Dinner: Homemade burrito bowl over broccoli slaw

Day 2:
Breakfast: Chicken Sausage “Hash”
Lunch: Homemade veggie stir fry with coconut aminos
Snack: Apple Chips
Dinner: Chicken Burger with Avocado, Brussel Sprouts, Sweet Potato Fries, and Unsweetened Applesauce

 

Things I Miss: 

I’m still really missing milk. and Peanut Butter. Those are pretty much the only things I miss and crave. Also, it sucks to open up the pantry and see Nutella in there. Greta comes this week, so I’m craving all sorts of bad foods, but trying to suck it up and eat what I’m supposed to. I haven’t really been missing brown rice/quinoa too much, but I think its just a mental thing. Part of my brain wants to believe that I HAVE to eat a grain/carb at every meal, when I don’t really need to.

Things That Are Weird: 

Breakfast. I’ve never really been a breakfast food lover, but the idea of eating dinner-type foods for breakfast is kind of weird to me. I typically eat an English muffin w/ peanut butter for breakfast. But now I’m eating chicken sausage, sweet potatoes, and celery. Again, just another mental thing.

 

Things I’m Struggling With: 

Snacks. And making sure I’m eating enough. With Whole 30, you’re supposed to be eating enough at breakfast, lunch, and dinner to where snacks are not really necessary. HOWEVER, since I’m running and working out, I need a bit more to keep the fire burning. Since I also work a full-time job, it’s hard to keep fresh snacks on hand that are Whole 30 approved. I did find some Apple Chips at Whole Foods and they were delicious. The ingredients? Fuji apples. That’s it! The only downside is they are so expensive (about $2.99 for a small bag). I also bought a few Lara Bars that I’ll be eating as well.

How I’m Feeling: 

Other than impending Greta, I’m doing just fine so far. A slight headache is starting to set in at the end of day 2, however, I’m not too sure if its because of stress, Greta, or not eating enough.  The always say the first few days are the hardest to let your body acclimate…and it is tough…but not as bad as it could be.

Looking forward to continuing on!

Why I’m Doing The Whole 30

If you blog (or read health/wellness blogs) I’m sure you’ve heard of The Whole 30. The nutrition program was designed by Dallas and Melissa Hartwig to change your life in 30 days. Sounds too good to be true, right? That’s what I thought, too. So I started to dig a bit deeper. Here’s an overview of The Whole 30:

 

Sounds awful, right? When I first starting reading about Whole 30, I was really overwhelmed with the things that I could not eat. I mean, sheesh! Dairy, Grains, Sugar, and Soy…that’s my entire diet! After further reading, I’ve learned that the “no-no” foods affect your body in specific, negative ways and could be impacting the way I’m exercising and living and breathing. I purchased “It Starts With Food” and read it in a few hours. What I like is that the authors put all the science behind why these foods do not do your body good…and it all makes sense! I won’t go into the science, because I know I’ll never be able to explain it like they can. Just do yourself a favor and read the book!

So…why am I doing this? 

I decided to do The Whole 30 when Jess from Operation Skinny Jeans created an accountability group for this. I actually wanted to start in April, and did a “trial run” – but not the entire program since April is full of birthdays, anniversaries, and special occasions. Since I’m training for my half marathon I figured this couldn’t hurt me. I mean, the foods I’d be putting in my body would be healthy, whole foods. Also, I’m slowly learning that diet is the most important thing for me to focus on for weight loss. Abs really are made in the kitchen! (ok, I don’t have abs yet…just sayin’!)

Will this be hard? 

Um Yes. Did you see the list of things I can’t eat above? I LOVE me a glass of milk with dinner (yes I am 6 yrs old) and soy practically comes in everything. It’s really going to be a struggle to prepare and eat healthy, whole foods weekly, but I’m up for the challenge!

Is Donovan doing it too? 

Yes and no. While I don’t expect him to do The Whole 30 with me, I’m sure he’ll be eating a lot healthier a long the way, too, since I’m the cook. Will I be mad if he slips and drinks alcohol or eats rice or cheats? Not at all. It was not his decision to do this nutrition program. If he wants to eat alongside me, great! But no hard feelings whatsoever if he doesn’t eat the same things…although I will be sad if he eats cookies in front of me 🙂

What will my biggest challenges be?

 Avoiding dairy products will be hard. Also avoiding brown rice and random processed food. You don’t realize how processed some foods you eat are until you look at the labels.

How much will I spend? 

We spent $160 on groceries for the first week. While this does seem like a lot – it includes the cost for breakfasts, lunches, and dinners + snacks. That’s about $7 a meal. I’m sure I could get this lower, but I did need to stock up on a few things this week that we don’t normally by. Mainly – coconut aminos. We go through soy sauce like crazy people, so I bought a huge bottle of coconut aminos to supplement.

How long will it take to prepare each week?

Hopefully not long! I bought all the groceries for week 1 today and spent about an hour and a half chopping vegetables and preparing meals. In this time, I made 8 lunches (5 for me, 3 for Dono) for the work week – plus breakfasts for the both of us through Wednesday-ish. (I’ll make a new breakfast for the end of the week). I also chopped up fruits and veggies to have accessible for any meal. I really didn’t spend much more time than I usually do chopping and preparing…so hopefully it’ll stay like this!

My thoughts on cheating? 

Well, of course, my goal/plan is to not cheat at all. I want to strictly follow this plan for 30 days and see the results at the end. I just keep telling myself that it is only 30 days. Not the rest of my life. And for all I know, this could really kick start my body improvements and get back on track to eat even healthier than I already am. HOWEVER, if I accidentally eat something processed or don’t realize i’ve eaten a “no-no” item…I’m not going to get down on myself. I’ll admit it on the blog and move forward.

Am I ready?

 Ready as I’ll ever be! I’m anxious, nervous, and excited to get started and see how my body changes. I’ve prepared myself for the first week which is always the hardest. I’m hoping to blog post at least every other day to keep you updated on my status and how my body feels…I’ll also post some recipes and pictures along the way.

….And…..GO!

 

If a Tree Falls in the Woods….

If a tree falls in the woods, and no one is around, did it really make a sound?

This is kind of how I feel about food.

If my husband is out of town for 5 days, and no one is around, did my non eat clean habits really happen?

Ugh.

Last week Dono left to go out of state for a few days. In my head, I was thinking this would be a great time for me to try new, healthy recipes since he wouldn’t be around to eat them if they tasted horribly. Except. My weekend went the exact opposite. I did not make the WORST choices…but I sure as heck did not go out of my way to make healthy choices.

I ate dinner one night at the movie theater. I skipped lunch on Saturday. And I may or may not have indulged in some ice cream at multiple parts of the weekend.

Y’all. Losing weight is hard work. Especially when you’re addicted to sugar and unhealthy food. It’s almost like being an alcoholic – I mean, every day is a struggle. Each meal is a new opportunity to succeed or fail. While I did not do so great this weekend food wise, I’m still proud of my PR time for my 5k. Now, I need to dust off the silverware and get back on the horse. Wait. That’s not how it goes. You know what I mean. It’s time to get back on it.

Over the weekend I was thinking seriously about upcoming 10ks and half marathons. While I’m doing great with 5Ks, I really need to step it up in more ways than one. Not only do I need to increase my mileage and endurance during practices and training, but I also need to get back on a healthy meal plan. I’ve really begun to see how much food affects my body (more so than exercise!), and how important it is for me to stay on track. Sure – a cheat meal (Note: MEAL not WEEKEND) is not all that bad as long as the food is within moderation. I just need to stay on track with this.

I think the next book I want to read re: weight loss and food is The Whole 30 book. I first heard of the Whole 30 from Kaela and subsequently have spent a lot of time reading through Emily’s blog. Food is difficult and  I need to learn to rein it in.

Sorry for no pictures today. Y’all have any ideas for changing food habits?

How Eating Clean is Changing my Body

I’ve always heard that the secret to weight loss success was to focus 80% on food, and 20% on exercise. However, my entire life has been the opposite. I would work out like crazy and then eat a hamburger, thinking that I earned it. I’m slowly starting to learn how wrong and backwards this is.

For the past few weeks, Donovan and I have been trying to focus on the opposite – eating cleaner, but still keeping up with workouts. We have also been trying really hard not to reward ourselves with dessert after eating clean/exercising. That part is hard. One thing that has helped in this area is juicing. Usually after dinner, we both crave something sweet. Instead of making a pan of brownies, eating ice cream, or worse – we’ve tried to stick to juicing. Granted there is still sugar in fruit, it is a WAY healthier option than the former as we are getting essential vitamins and nutrients from the veggies and fruit we add in. Plus, it really doesn’t taste that bad! So far, this has been curbing our sweet tooth.

One thing I’ve noticed about myself eating clean is how much better I sleep at night. I know this sounds strange, but come 10pm, my body is tired and craving sleep. I work my way upstairs and fall asleep within 10 minutes easily. Plus, I sleep all night and wake up feeling refreshed.

Another thing I’ve noticed is how “regular” I feel. (I know, TMI, but its true) The more fruits and veggies I eat, the better I feel on the inside and my bodily functions are predictable – which I love.

What else? I just feel better. I feel happier. I do think my newfound happiness is attributed to just more than eating clean and exercising – but I do feel like eating cleaner has really made me feel more confident, happy, and satisfied.

I don’t crave fast food anymore. At all. I never thought I’d get to the point where I would say that. Also, I have not had a coke or soft drink in 2 months! I do drink flavored carbonated water (no calories or sugar) – but it is no where near the gross-ness of a soft drink. A few weeks ago we had lunch at Pei Wei, and I felt miserable afterwards. Immediately, Dono and I drank a homemade juice and felt so much better. My body is craving all the healthy foods.

Do you eat clean? How does it make you feel?

Today is a Good Day

Yesterday I was in all sorts of a funky mood. I’m blaming it partially on the weather. and Partially because I’d really like a weekend where I don’t have to do or entertain ANYONE! Sometimes I just need a good day or two by myself to sleep, read, and catch back up. Sometimes I feel like I push myself to be everywhere and do everything for everyone. But I can’t. It really is difficult to “do it all” as they say, so I can only do the best that I can.

This is not meant to be a woe-is-me post, because it’s not. I’m in a much better mood today for a number of reasons.

1. I’m loving the Tone It Up nutrition guide! I’m a sucker for a good reality show, and a few months ago I got caught up with Bravo’s Toned Up! Karena and Katrina are SO likeable, and they make working out and eating clean look like fun. My friend Steph and I went in together with her sister to buy the nutrition guide because it is hella expensive and I can’t justify spending $150 on a recipe book. So far, I’ve found several recipes in the nutrition plan that look REALLY good. Donovan and I made the Southwest Burgers on Sunday night and they were DELICIOUS! For lunches this week, I’ve been making one of their salad ideas and it is also delicious! (Although I switched out the cucumber for zucchini because I don’t like cucumber)

So far, a majority of the recipes seem pretty manageable, but there are some on there that require pretty expensive ingredients and seem like it might take a long time to make. I was disappointed there weren’t more crock pot recipes and “under 30 minute” meal ideas. So – Tone It Up – if you’re listening….that’s what I would like 🙂

I have been doing their “Meta D” shot each morning – essentially it is an Apple Cider Vinegar shot. And it is terrible. Supposedly ACV is good for you… guess we’ll see how it goes.

2. I’m also LOVING juicing! 

I never ever thought I’d be one of those people who craved a “green drink” — but they are SO good!

I am starting to realize, however, that juicing can get pretty expensive. I juiced a WHOLE bag of spinach and literally got a few drops. That one bag of spinach was $3!!! What the heck. While I know these juices are very healthy, I probably need to slow my roll a bit. But regardless, the juices taste amazing, and I do feel healthier after I drink them.

3. Eating Clean and Seeing Results!

So I’ve been working out 4-5 times a week since the beginning of January and haven’t really noticed much change in my physical body size. While I do feel stronger and gaining endurance, I don’t feel like I’ve actually been losing much poundage. Over the past 2 weeks I’ve really been focusing on what I’m eating and when I’m eating and I can tell results faster. Not only is my skin clearer, my eyes and hair brighter, but I’m starting to see a bit of a shred. I did some measurements this morning and here’s where I’m at:

Chest: 35.5″ – down an inch and a half!
Waist: 36″  – down an inch!
Hips: 43″  – stayed the same. womp womp
Thighs: 21″  – down an inch! finally!
Arms: 13″  – down half an inch!

This is exciting! Since the last time I’ve measured I’ve really seen some improvement – especially in my chest! It is really hard to whittle down my hips and thighs, but I think eating really clean is getting me there. I’m definitely going to keep eating as clean as I can at least 4-5 times a day.

4. First 5K this weekend! 

This weekend I’m running my first ever 5K! Donovan and I signed up for the Trinity River Levee Run in Dallas for Saturday morning. I’ve never run a 5k before – even in high school, our races were just 2 miles. I’m sure I will have to walk a bit during the race, but that is okay. I’m excited to finally get out there and do this as it means I’m getting closer to my goal of the half. If you’re planning to run the 5K, too, let me know, and let’s meet up!

How are y’all doing today?

Another Easy Weeknight Dinner – Chicken “Dippers”

If you know me at all, you know that I am just dang exhausted when I get home from work/gym. The last thing I really want to do is stand in front of the stove for hours cooking dinner for me and Donovan, but it is pretty necessary in order to keep things healthy (or healthier) for us. Sure, we could eat at Chick Fil A every night (and that does sound amazing) but I like the fact that I can monitor what we’re eating and know that it is beneficial for our bodies. The more I continue to walk and keep up with this exercise routine, I’m starting to move away from “comforting myself with food” and eating for fuel and energy. My body tells me when it is hungry now – usually about every 3 hours – and as long as I eat something, I’m okay. Otherwise, I turn into a hangry biatch. True story.

Anyways. Last night I was REALLY craving some “comfort me” food – especially Gloria’s chicken burrito. That thing is amaze-balls. And 1,800 calories. No lie. So instead, I decided to whip up burritos homemade so we could manage the quality of the food and caloric intake. Surprisingly, they were VERY delicious, and will DEFINITELY be a staple. Plus, I didn’t really follow a recipe so you could change out the fillings with whatever you wanted. I just used what we had on hand/easy chopping.

INGREDIENTS: (This is exactly what I used, but feel free to switch it up)
Orange bell pepper, seeded and diced
Yellow bell pepper, seeded and diced
White onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, finely minced
2 tablespoons of taco seasoning
2-3 tablespoons of fresh lime juice
Pinch of brown sugar
2 cups shredded chicken (leftover from the lunches I made)
1/2 cup shredded Mexican cheese blend
Flour tortillas small sized (we used the carb conscious brand)

DIRECTIONS:
– Preheat oven to 415* and line a baking sheet with greased foil
– In a large skillet, saute pepper, onion, and garlic for a few minutes
– Add taco seasoning, lime juice, and brown sugar and cook for a minute or two
– Add chicken and stir to combine
– Roll up filling into tortillas (adding cheese on top) and place seam-side down on baking sheet
– Mist tortillas with olive oil or cooking spray before popping in the oven
– Cook for 15-20 minutes
– Serve with your favorite sauce

We found these great individual packs of guacamole at Kroger and they turned out to be the perfect dipping sauce. We also had a bit of salsa on hand, but the guacamole was definitely preferred.

I added the recipe into My Fitness Pal app, and it came out to be about 250 calories per serving (2 burritos) + 100 calories in the guacamole. That’s not too shabby for the tasty goodness you receive!

What fillings would you add to this burrito?

Easy Weeknight Recipe – Tex Mex Sloppy Joes aka: The Mexican Hamburger

If there’s one thing I’ve learned being married so far …in all 9 months of it — my husband LOVES meat. (Ok, I knew that before we got married.) This week, our grocery store was having an insane sale on ground turkey, so I knew we’d be eating a lot of it this week which is totally fine by me. I LOVE ground turkey…however I can only eat spaghetti and stir fry so many nights a week. I browsed through Pinterest and found a recipe for Tex Mex Sloppy Joe’s. Donovan and I both love sloppy joe’s, and this would give us an opportunity to make it a smidge healthier. (We recently made a clean-eating sloppy joe, too. You can find the recipe here)

Our dinner was literally gone in 2 seconds, so I didn’t get to take a picture of it. So instead, here’s the link and photo from the pinterest link I found. (Follow me on Pinterest here!)

(Source)

Y’all. This was SO good. I did make a few tweaks though. I did not use a jalapeno…I have no idea how to chop those things, and it just makes everything too spicy for me. We also used Jennie O extra-lean ground turkey.

The recipe also called for 4 teaspoons of Worcestershire Sauce, and I’m pretty sure I used WAY more than that. I also added WAY more cilantro than 1/4 cup.

I served the sloppy joe’s on whole wheat buns along with some of Dono’s famous sweet potato fries. Overall, I think this was a pretty healthy dish, and I liked that it incorporated so many extra veggies into it. Donovan loved it so much he said “Add this to the rotation!” We also dubbed the sandwich the “mexican hamburger” because that is literally what it tasted like!  I loved it, too, and I’m sure this will become a weekly staple.