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Whole 30 Week 4 Recap and Meal Plan

Whole 30 Week 4

Today is day 30 of my Whole 30 Challenge!!! Excuse me while I go do my celebratory dance in the corner.

Now that that is taken care of….

A lot of people have been asking me, “what is the first thing that you are going to eat when you are done?” Well, I am going to go pretty crazy. I am going to have coffee….with sugar in it! Crazy right!?

Unfortunately, the Whole 30 folks recommend that I don’t jump right in to all those delicious foods that I have been avoiding, and instead slowly reintroduce some things back in. I am starting with sugar, so I plan on having some sugar in my coffee tomorrow. Maybe some honey on chia seed pudding. And maybe, just maybe, I will have some ketchup or barbecue sauce. Living life on the edge here, people. 

I am sure you are wondering how week 4 went. After making such a big deal about how terrible it would be last week, it actually wasn’t that bad. I didn’t have any major cravings, but I did break down and made some bon-bon type goodie with dates, coconut, and cocoa powder. Just like the cookies from last week, anything remotely resembling a treat is strictly forbidden. 

Almond Joy Bites-1

Those bon bons were delicious by the way and I plan on sharing the recipe sometime soon!

The worst part about week 4 was that I just got lazy. I didn’t make breakfasts in advance so I had to scramble (no pun intended) in the morning to whip up some eggs or just grab an apple. I also got kinda lazy with meal planning. I really had to dig deep to motivate myself to make something creative. I turned heavily to my Against All Grain cookbook. 

And since we are on the topic of meals, here is what I had this week:

Monday:

Whole 30-1

Tuesday:

  • Breakfast: Scrambled eggs and ham
  • Lunch: Leftover dinner
  • Dinner: Paleo Beef Stroganoff (recipe to come)

Beef Stroganoff-1

Wednesday: 

  • Breakfast: Apple with almond butter
  • Lunch: Leftover dinner
  • Dinner: Baked chicken with steamed vegetables

Thursday:

  • Breakfast: Chia seed pudding with pomegranate seeds
  • Lunch: Leftover dinner
  • Dinner: Went out – ordered smoked chicken with a side salad

Friday:

Whole 30-2

Saturday:

  • Breakfast: Lara Bar
  • Lunch: Rotisserie chicken and green beans from our favorite, Viva Chicken
  • Dinner: Paleo chicken tenders with steamed vegetables

Sunday: 

  • Brunch: Ate out – Egg white omelet with roasted turkey and vegetables
  • Dinner: Bagged Salad kit with chicken

Monday: 

I would tell you would I am eating tonight, but I honestly have no idea. It will be a game time decision. 

See…so lazy!

Unfortunately the I will have to keep planning for the next couple weeks. Like I mentioned, even though the Whole 30 is over, it’s not really over. They suggest that you introduce one item every three days. So, if I were following this to a “T”, I would introduce sugar on day 31, eat a normal Whole 30 diet on days 32 and 33, then introduce a new food item on day 34. 

Since I am so impatient, I am only doing it every 2 days, unless I eat something that really doesn’t agree with me. Here is my reintroduction schedule:

  • Wednesday – Sugar
  • Friday – Legumes (beans)
  • Sunday – Corn (this is very intentional so that I can have chips and salsa on Super Bowl Sunday)
  • Tuesday – Non-gluten grains (rice, quinoa, etc.)
  • Thursday – Dairy
  • Saturday – Gluten

That means that Valentine’s day will make the first real day of my post- Whole 30 experience. Actually, that works out pretty well! Maybe I will make my husband take me out to a nice dinner after all!

So you guys can look forward to a couple more Whole 30 updates for the next couple weeks. I know you guys are so excited to hear that. 

 

Whole 30 Week 3 Recap and Meal Plan

Whole 30 Week 3

As I sit here and write this I am eating a cookie. Ok, it’s barely a cookie. Almost none of it resembles a cookie. There’s no sugar, flour, butter, or chocolate. Regardless, the #1 rule of this Whole 30 thing is no fake baked goods. Really, it’s more like rule #143. But it’s still a rule. 

After 21 days, the last 3 of which were cooped up in the house thanks to storm Jonas, I broke down. If it’s any consolation, they weren’t very good cookies and everything in them was Paleo- and technically Whole 30-approved (Whole 30 just doesn’t doesn’t approve of putting them all together into anything that resembles a treat). 

I feel like this story serves as the perfect metaphor for week 3. I am starting to get a little sick of the restricted eating and some of the cravings are back in full force. But I am also a little bit afraid to go back to total unrestricted eating and I definitely want to see the 30 days through. 

I am now really looking forward to day 31 when I can start introducing certain foods back into my diet. Not just so I can eat all those foods I have been missing, but so that I can actually find out if I do have any sensitivities or allergies that I was unaware of before.

Other than that, there isn’t much I can add about week 3 that I haven’t said in previous weeks. I am still feeling great. There have been a couple days where my stomach didn’t totally agree with me, but I probably wasn’t eating enough vegetables and too much meat and nuts. And while I am not weighing myself, a friend of mine who is doing the Whole 30 with me had lost 5 pounds at the end of week 2, so that’s promising!

This week, the meal plan went a bit out the window. I had a 2 day training that involved a catered lunch, Wednesday my husband was out, Thursday I had book club, and on Friday we had a snow day. I also tried to mix up the breakfasts more since I am getting so sick of eggs. 

Paleo Lasagna-4

Paleo lasagna

Monday:

  • Breakfast: scrambled eggs with salsa and avocado
  • Lunch: leftover butternut squash soup and Traders Joe’s Just Roasted Chicken
  • Dinner: zucchini noodle lasagna (recipe to come)

Tuesday:

  • Breakfast: leftover lasagna
  • Lunch: leftover lasagna (that’s how much I’m sick of eggs)
  • Dinner: Slow cooker pork carnitas topped sweet potato. Altered this recipe. 

Wednesday:

  • Breakfast: Acai smoothie and chia pudding bowl (recipe to come)
  • Lunch: Steak and chicken fajitas with no tortillas (catered)
  • Dinner: Leftover butternut squash soup
Chia Pudding-4

Smoothie bowl

Thursday:

  • Breakfast: Acai smoothie and chia pudding bowl
  • Lunch: Garden Salad with chicken (catered)
  • Dinner: Classic Greek Salad with chicken (ate out)

Friday:

  • Breakfast: Sweet potato fritata
  • Lunch: Salad topped with smoked turkey (ate out)
  • Dinner: Paleo Chili

Saturday:

  • Breakfast: Acai smoothie and chia pudding bowl
  • Lunch: leftover salad
  • Dinner: Naked turkey burger (ate out)

Sunday:

  • Breakfast: Sweet potato hashbrowns with a fried egg
  • Lunch: Cucumber Tomato Salad
  • Dinner: Korean Beef Lettuce Wraps (inspired by the Against All Grain cookbook, similar recipe here)

I only have 1 full week left. This week may be the hardest. The first week was full of excitement and I planned every little meal. The second week I was feeling great, like I could do this forever. The third week was just more of the same, feeling good, but getting bored. As I go into the fourth week, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel, but I can feel my self control and motivation slipping. 

9 days and counting.

Whole 30 Week 2 Recap and Meal Plan

Whole 30 Week 2

I am officially half way through the Whole 30. I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel!

Compared to week one, week two was a breeze. The sugar cravings I had in week one were deafened down to a faint whisper. I even did some baking this weekend and didn’t lick a bowl, spoon, or my cookie-dough covered fingers.

So this is what will-power feels like….

But really, I actually felt really good during week two. The most noticeable difference was in my energy levels. Instead of fluctuating between exhausted and some-what energized multiple times per day, I was pretty stable throughout the day during week 2. I wake up feeling pretty refreshed. I don’t need a morning cup of coffee (which I can’t really have anyways since I require sugar in my coffee) and don’t have any mid-day slumps.

Baba Ganoush recipe coming soon!

Baba Ganoush recipe coming soon!

The other big difference is in my…how should I say it?…digestion. Previously, I always thought that I had a sensitive stomach. Eating certain things or even flying would give me a stomach ache, but I thought that was just normal for me so I dealt with it. For the past two weeks, I’ve haven’t had any stomach aches, I’ve been a lot less bloated, less gassy, and generally less hungry. It’s been amazing!

Now the big question is “have I lost any weight?” Honestly, I don’t know. I didn’t weigh myself before this started and I don’t plan on weighing myself after. I am almost positive that I haven’t gained any weight. After the holidays, my clothes didn’t have a whole lot of room left for me to expand and they all still fit me. At the very least, I think I have lost some of the holiday weight, if not more. 

And now that I am half way through, I finally feel like I know what I am doing. Cooking, snacking, and eating out have all become second nature. It’s still a bit cumbersome to eat out, but it’s doable. 

Here’s what I ate this week:

As usual, for breakfasts I had egg muffins with prosciutto and broccoli, except for Friday, when I just couldn’t do eggs any more. I had a Lara bar instead.

And like last week, lunches were just leftover from dinner the previous day, which were:

Naked Turkey Burger - b-7

Monday: Naked Turkey Burger with Sweet Potato Chips

Tuesday: Turkey Stuffed Bell Peppers

Wednesday: Bagged Asian chopped salad with chicken

Hawiian Pork-6

Thursday: Slow Cooker Hawiian Pork with Collard Greens (recipe to come)

Friday:  Ate out – I had a steak with asparagus and baked potatoes. 

Saturday: Ate out – I had a salad topped with lots of chicken and homemade salad dressing

Butternut Squash Soup-2

Sunday: Steak and Butternut Squash Soup (this recipe, but subbed Greek Yogurt with pureed cauliflower)

Now on to week three! I feel pretty confident about this week. I am finally getting the hang of it, plus I have some fun new snacks I am working into the rotation including homemade Lara bars and chia seed pudding. Sometimes I feel like I could keep this going for another 30 days….

…then I go out to eat and am reminded how much of a pain in the butt this is. 

Read about Week 1 here. 

Whole 30 Week 1 Recap and Meal Plan

Whole 30 Week 1

Boy, it feels good to get back to blogging. If you read the last blog post…way back on January 1…you may know that my husband and I spent the first few days of the new year moving to a new apartment. Between the holiday travel, packing, moving, and unpacking, it has really been hard to get around to blogging. But now I’m back and excited to tell you about how week 1 of Whole 30 went for me.

Some background…

For those of you who aren’t familiar with Whole 30, I characterize it as 30 days of eating essentially Paleo, which means only meat, vegetables, fruit, and nuts (except peanuts). The general idea is that you eliminate any food group that may have a negative impact on your body, like dairy, grains, or sugar. Ideally, your body sort of resets and once your 30 days are up, you can reintroduce those items into your diet and see if those items negatively affect your body. 

I had tried doing the Whole 30 back in the Summer, but I didn’t really plan effectively or commit fully, so I lasted a whole 6 days. After how terribly I was eating over the holidays, I couldn’t wait to eat healthier and eliminate alcohol and sugar from my diet. The holidays were baddddd….I don’t want to know how many pounds I gained. 

So how did the first week go?

Well, overall, it went pretty well. I did a much better job planning, not just the meals I was going to make, but where I could eat out. The week before, I planned everything. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, coffee creamer. Ev.rey.thing. 

The first couple days weren’t that bad. Mostly because it was still new and I was feeling totally energized and motivated to accomplish this goal. Days 3-5 were a little bit rough. Mainly just in the face of temptation. Those days I had a serious sugar craving and was almost ready to give up for some chocolate. I also was out more and around other “non-compliant” food, which really upped the temptation. On Saturday, I experienced, for the first time, the feeling of being totally starving and not having anywhere to eat. 

My husband and I were going to Ikea and thought we would stop and get lunch along the way. Well, here is were NOT planning really bit me in the ass. The only places along the way were fast food, sushi, and sandwich spots. My husband recommended Chick-fil-a, saying, “you can just get the grilled chicken nuggets and fruit.” Wrong, the chicken nuggets are glazed in some sort of mixture that includes sugar. We ended up at a local Rotissarie Chicken spot (Viva Chicken, for those in the Charlotte area) where I had chicken and vegetables. 

But as I reflect on the first week now, it really wasn’t bad and right now I feel like I can do this for another 23 days. I learned a few lessons during the first week which will make the rest of the 30 days easier. Hopefully.

What I learned:

  • Keep snacks in my purse at all times! Huger hits at any time and sometimes the only options when you’re in a bind is something totally processed and full of sugar, dairy, grains, etc.. I will now keep nuts, an apple, dried fruit, or a Lara bar with me at all times. 
  • Bring salad dressing with me. For the few times I will eat out this month, salads are most likely the only Whole 30 compliant option, so bringing salad dressing with me will ensure that I will be satisfied. 
  • Tell people why I’m being a picky eater. I HATE talking about dieting. I hate it. I guess it makes me feel vulnerable and lets people know that I am self conscious about my weight. But telling people around me, like my Small Group, coworkers, or friends, that I am not eating this, that, and the other because I am doing the Whole 30 actually makes it so much easier to stick with it and everyone has been so understanding and willing to make accommodations for me. 

What I ate this week:

For breakfast Monday through Friday I had egg muffins similar to this recipe, but with no cheese and added no-sugar bacon (I found the bacon at Whole Foods). I made a big batch on Sunday and portioned them out for each day. For breakfast on Saturday, I made a sweet potato hash with bacon topped with a fried egg. And Sunday I made a fritata with some of the leftovers in my fridge. If you follow me on Snapchat, you saw me make breakfast Saturday and Sunday.

For lunch, I just had what was left over from dinner the night before. Except on Monday, when I didn’t have leftovers, I made a simple salad with greens, chicken, tomato, salsa, and guacamole. 

Because I didn’t as much time to prep snacks over the weekend, they simply consisted of apples with almond butter and almonds. It got pretty boring after day 2 so week 2 will have more of a variety of snacks. 

Dinner is really where I shined. It was fun to look up different recipes and tweak some old favorites to make them Whole 30 compliant. I have a couple recipes that I will share with you throughout the weeks ahead, but for now I will link to similar recipes (if possible).

If any of you are interested in doing the Whole 30 Challenge, I would definitely recommend it. It is a great way to reset your body and get back to healthy eating. If any of you have done it, I would love to know what worked for you and what didn’t. I have read the Whole 30 Guide which has been a huge help, especially on days when my motivation is lacking. A coworker of mine who also doing the Whole 30 this month is reading It Starts With Food, and she is finding it really helpful and motivating. I would also recommend watching the documentary Fed Up (on Netflix) if you really want to be motivated to cut sugar out of your diet. 

I have also saved a bunch of recipes to a Pinterest Board if you want to check those out. I am sure I will be adding more to it as the month goes along. And since I am spending a lot more time in the kitchen, I have been snapping a lot more of my cooking, so if you’re interested in seeing what I cook each night, follow me on Snapchat!

       Follow Lindsey’s board whole 30 recipes on Pinterest.

Here goes week 2!

 

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