Entering the 21st Century + A Whole30 Update

So, many of you know that I've recently bought a new car, which I love. However, before I bought my car, I asked A about a very important part of the car - the CD player.

Me: I always listen to audiobooks on my commute, so I need my new car to have one.

A: Is that really the most important thing? I don't even know if they make cars with CD players anymore...

Me: YES THAT IS CRUCIAL I WILL NOT COMPROMISE!

Yeah... cars don't have CD players anymore.

HOWEVER! My awesome new car does have the less-ancient technology of Bluetooth connectivity, meaning a. I can make and receive calls from my car without putting my phone on speaker and shadily holding it where the police wouldn't see me if they were to be looking out for that and b. I can listen to things that are on my phone! I was going to figure out an Audible or other audiobook subscription, but then, I discovered Podcasts!

I know that most people have probably been listening to podcasts for ages, but I, being way behind the times apparently, have not. So it's a whole new world to me!

Here are some of the ones that I've been enjoying:



1. Balanced Bites Podcast

I've loved Diane Sanfilippo since I've known about her! I have two cookbooks that she wrote or co-wrote, one of which is a general guide to Paleo (Practical Paleo). I ALSO went to see her speak with the co-authors of Mediterranean Paleo Cooking, which is a fabulous cookbook!

That is ME with Diane (on the right)... and straight hair!

I love the Balanced Bites podcast, which is Diane and Liz Wolfe, of Real Food Liz. They're both Holistic Nutritionists, but Diane is more of the talker on nutrition-related things and fitness, and Liz knows a lot about self-care stuff (skin care, beauty products, etc.) although she also talks a lot about nutrition. It's a really cool combination of interviews and answering people's questions about paleo stuff and beyond! I've started listening from the beginning (around 2011) so that I get some of the fundamentals answered, and have also been listening to the more recent podcasts, which tend to be more specialized. It's really interesting for me to learn about health, wellness, and nutrition from a holistic perspective!



2. Overeaters Anonymous LA Intergroup Speakers

Although I personally am not interested in joining a 12-step program myself, I know they have helped a lot of people with various addictions to stay away from those addictions. These podcasts are speakers from an LA meeting of Overeaters Anonymous, and it's really interesting to hear people's stories about their struggles with food. There are a lot that I can personally relate to, and I'm sure others can as well. I find it really entertaining to hear some people as speakers as well!



3. Meditation Podcasts

One of my goals is to start going to bed earlier - I've been trying, but it hasn't always happened. However, I am making some attempts. Listening some meditation podcasts before I go to bed has helped me slow my thoughts and relax a bit. One particular podcast that I listened to was the Meditation Oasis Podcasts - they have a lot of different meditation podcasts for various situations (e.g. Meditation for Grief, Meditation for Body Awareness, Chakras, Breath Awareness...) and I really like the "deep relaxation" ones for bedtime - usually I'm asleep before they're done!


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A Whole30 Update as well, in case you want one! I'm on Day 22. 8 more days! I'm not really counting it down this time, or anything... I may go a few days longer than 30 this time.

Some of the benefits I've seen so far are:

- Better energy throughout the day
- One of the dry patches of skin on my hands seems to be going away
- More consistent good mood... most of the time!
- My nails are fabulous!
- I feel generally healthier and happier with what I'm putting in my body
- I also feel more confident!
- Psychologically, I am definitely feeling very stable around the food stuff. It's a good feeling!


This time, there haven't really been many drawbacks for me. Last time, running totally sucked. This time, while I've noticed that I've been slower in pace by a bit, it's been okay because I haven't been putting pressure on myself to try and go fast or complete/train for any races. That will come soon enough! I've also tried to pick places that will work for me better prior to eating out, and planning for when that doesn't happen. Mentally, I think I was more prepared this time having already done the Whole30 once. I think last time, though, I felt like I was losing weight (and did), and this time I'm not so sure, even though I had gained a few in February. Then again, that is not my reason for doing a Whole30, and I think just checking in and seeing the number objectively after I'm done with my Whole30 will be the best way to go. The psychological benefits and little non-scale victories is what is keeping me going.

I'll definitely give an update once I'm finished with the Whole30!

Keeping Track of Change

So with the Whole30, you are not allowed to weigh yourself, or take bodily measurements. For that reason, I've started journaling.

I started my food journal just to track feelings around food. Okay, this happened today, then I ate this, or WANTED to eat this... it was mostly like that. Tracking how I felt about weight. About food.

As I've started with the Whole30 again, I've been trying to use my journal to kind of be in touch with what's going on with my body. As someone who has gone up and down with weight a billion and a half times, I don't think getting in touch with my body is something I've historically been super great at.

When I was really yo-yoing with my weight, I didn't always feel so connected to my body. Is that weird? It's like, even when I was bigger, I didn't FEEL bigger. I would see pictures of myself, but I didn't feel like that person was me. I didn't feel that big. So maybe I was just out of touch with myself. But then even now, at a healthy weight, sometimes I STILL feel like the "big" girl. And now, I think that has a lot to do with the scale and what I'm consuming.

I find what I've been eating, as well as weight, really affects how I see myself, even now. When I've been indulging, eating a bunch of junk, I look at myself and think - oh, today I'm not looking so great. Same as when I might be fluctuating up a few pounds in the morning. I feel bigger, or I feel icky, I look at myself in the mirror at the gym and I'm like, meh. But then when I've been eating clean, and on a kick of eating good stuff, or fluctuating DOWN a few pounds, it's like "I LOOK HAWT! CHECK ME OUT!" (Okay, maybe not THAT enthusiastic, but I always feel better about myself when I am eating better things, and when the scale reflects it). Is one day of really bad eating, or the body's natural weight fluctuation really going to change how I actually look? Is anyone besides me going to notice? No way. But the brain is a weird little thing, and sometimes perception is what it is!

So I know a lot of my self-perception, and I imagine it's not just me, is through what I eat and through weight. I mean, sometimes certain outfits affect how I feel like I look too. Sometimes it's just one day I feel better than another day. But food and weight can have a lot to do with it!

One of the reasons that I have really loved doing a Whole30 is that it kind of takes food out of the equation, and it fully takes weight out of the equation. I'm eating what I'm eating, and that's that. I can't weigh myself. I mean, it's all food that makes me feel good inside and out, which is great. With that, I feel like it's helping me get in better touch with what my actual body is feeling.

So what have I been keeping track of, if not weight? Or even measurements?

It's been really helpful for me to keep track of how I'm feeling in my body. I know the first couple days of Whole30, I was feeling a bit tired and foggy. One day, I was feeling kind of bloated and weird. I've also been keeping track of allergy symptoms, what my skin is up to, and how I feel after meals. I've also been tracking how my workouts feel - which is still so far, so good (knock on wood...) - and if I'm sore or achy after certain workouts. TMI ALERT: I'm also tracking other female-related issues, and bodily functions. Hey, it's all part of figuring out the body, right?! Finally, I'm tracking sleep. I need more of the sleep. Daylight savings messesd me up! Goal for next week: GET MORE SLEEP! (SMART goal version: By March 20th, 2015, Sarah will be in bed with the lights turned off by 10:30pm on 4 of 5 weeknights, as measured by data collection. BAM.)

I guess the point is to see if and how food is affecting my body, especially as I reintroduce certain groups, like grass-fed dairy and legumes, after the official Whole30 ends. I don't want weight to be the measure of that, because there is so much else going on with bodies than just the weight of it.

I have really enjoyed like, NOT focusing on weight for once, and NOT letting weight and food affect how I'm feeling about myself. I'm definitely planning to weigh myself after I'm done with this Whole30 (or Whole45, or whatever it's going to be) but I'm hoping to see that result as something objective - just a number. Data collection. One part of a much bigger picture.

Running on Paleo

Back in November when I did my first Whole30, I wasn't exactly sure what to expect. More food prep? Sure. Good mood? Definitely! Running totally sucking? Not so much.

That first weekend after starting the last Whole30, I went running with a few friends at a local trail. I was planning on running about 6 miles that day, and started with a guy who was doing a 10:00/mile pace or so, which is typically not hard for me. By Mile 3, my legs felt dead, and I could barely talk with this poor guy who I was running with because I was SO out of breath. The second week of my Whole30, I did a 10k with my sister, again, at a pace that wouldn't normally give me second thought. However, once again - Mile 4.5 this time? Death. Dead legs. Ugh!

That's when I started doing my research. I found the Whole30 forums, and checked out the Whole30 for Athletes section. It turned out there were plenty of others who were like me, struggling. What I found out is that as your body adapts to the dietary differences, especially when it's a relatively big change from the previous diet (like it was for me), so that fat is burned in the body as the primary fuel vs. carbohydrates. (I'm sure this is an incredibly simplistic way to describe what happens, but that's what I understand). So basically, you're messing with the fuel for your workouts - of course things are going to change!

Basically, for that reason, I wasn't going to do another Whole30 or try Paleo at all. Running sucked. Then after the Whole30 was done, and I pretty quickly went back to eating all sorts of non-Paleo foods, it was easier.

The thing is, though, as I've mentioned, I like the idea of sticking with Paleo. The more I learn about it, the more I feel like I want to keep at it. So... what about the running?

First of all, I feel like last time, I didn't give myself nearly enough time for my body to get used to it. 30 days is not a ton of time for the body to get used to something totally new like that! This time, I'm giving it a much longer commitment... I'm not sure completely what yet, and I'll have to go with how I'm feeling, of course. But, longer. It's happening.

Second, I'm making some changes with what foods I'm including in my diet. The biggest change is that I've made an effort to include some more starchy veggies, basically with every meal. I've been eating LOTS of sweet potatoes, squash, carrots, beets, and more.

Third, I'm eating a little more as I run. That was a suggestion given to me last time when I was having a super struggle with workouts, and it's been pretty helpful. I've been doing half a Larabar (sometimes just a few bites suffices) on normal runs, and I've seen suggestions to do those puree packs that contain sweet potato and fruit on a helpful Whole30 Forum Thread. So I'll definitely be considering those as I train for my next half!

The thing is, a lot of people do say that they've had great results while doing a Paleo or mostly Paleo diet and running - feeling generally fitter and faster. I guess time will tell if it's the right thing for me!

And as for now? Heading into Week 2 of this Whole30, I think the addition of more starchy veggies has helped my runs. I did 3 miles yesterday and 6 today, both somewhat slower than my typical pace but like, okay. Not a total slog. Not completely out of breath by mile 4. Okay.

This time too, I'm not setting any lofty goals. I'm still doing a lot of cross-training (body pump, Insanity, other cardio, yoga) and not doing any races this month or next. I'm also not concerning myself with pace at all this month, just keeping it up and getting some miles on my legs. I think that will make it easier than last time, when I was like, okay, Whole30, I'm eating great, so my running will also be awesomelysuperfast, right? (Not how it works.)

So we'll see! You never know until you try!

Hi! I'm back.

Hello friends! After a short hiatus, not really for any particular reason, just that I stopped writing and didn't really get back into it, and then got overwhelmed when I attempted to get back into it, I'm BACK! At least right now I'm back. We'll see how long this lasts. I'm trying, I'm trying...


Updates:

1. I'm working on my second Whole30!

I wasn't sure if I was going to do another one this soon, but after a February of indulging (birthday, Las Vegas, the list goes on!) I was really feeling in need of a mental and physical reset! Today is Day 5, and I'm feeling good!

Doing lots of food posting on Instagram (specific public food Instagram - sarah.cooks.and.eats... check it out!)

This time, I took before pictures, and weighed myself before I started (and I mean, the scale isn't everything... but it wasn't so super great after a month of being like, off the chain. Oh well!). I'm curious to see the comparison this time, since I didn't really do any of that the first time!



2. I'm thinking about sticking with Paleo after I'm done with this Whole30.

After my last Whole30, I felt awesome, a lot of cravings were gone, etc. Then, I got back to my typical habits, and went sugar-crazy once again. I don't think it's fair to say I'll never have "cheats" or any sort of treats, but I think it's important to make dietary choices that facilitate general awesome-feeling. I guess I'm trying to find something that sticks, where I don't drive myself crazy but where I do have some sort of template for making good choices.

I guess it's like, this whole time, I've been looking for an answer, like I'm going to do this one thing, and it's going to solve my issues with food. And in all of this time, I'm realizing, there's NOT an answer. It's not quick and easy, and it's a combination of a lot of different factors. Do I think Whole30 or Paleo is the answer, that one thing that will solve my food problems for me? NO. But I think it, or whatever modified version that ends up working for me (possibly including some types of grains, or good-quality dairy) can make it easier to make better choices.

And now that I've learned more about food, and what kinds of changes that are totally unrelated to weight and appearance a diet high in real foods can make? That in and of itself is a good reason to stick with it.

I'm what is going to solve this for myself, I have to (and have been!) doing the work. Everything else is just a tool I can use.

In any case... we'll see how that goes!



3. I've gotten two age-group awards in races!


I was third in my age group in this Halloween 5-miler that I did with my roommate and friend...

And second in my age group in this New Year's Day 5k!

It's awesome, because I know in bigger races, I'm definitely not the fastest, but it's great to see how my pace has improved as I've kept going. Sometimes in smaller races, you just might be one of the fastest!



4. I've been taking a break from half training, which is important... but I miss it a little.

I think at the end of last year, I was starting to get burned out with all the half marathons, and constantly training. It's important to me that running remain an enjoyable part of my life, rather than a chore or something I have to make myself do. So, a break was in order.



I've really liked doing some shorter races in the meantime. I've done a few 5ks and 10ks recently, which have been a lot of fun. Doing races with family and friends is the best!

That being said, I do miss having a goal in mind, something to train for. I miss the long runs (sometimes), and the refueling meals afterwards! And, I definitely miss the point of a run being to go as long as I can, and push myself for distance (whereas lately I've been trying to push for time a little more). Some of those long, 2-hour stretches of just running by myself, clearing my mind, well, it's definitely something I'm looking forward to getting back to.


In a month or two, I'll be back to training, since I'll be partaking in the SECOND half of the SF Half Marathon this year!



5. You MUST read Andie Mitchell's book!


I love Andie and her blog, Can You Stay for Dinner, which I discovered when starting my weight loss process. She has some amazing insights on weight loss, binge eating, food in general. And I love her novel, It Was Me All Along. If you are someone who has ever struggled with binge eating, or food issues, or even if you haven't, read her blog and her book!




In any case, I'm happy to be back. Look for some major changes in the blog's look and hopefully lots and lots of updates. I'm looking forward to starting again!

xoxo
S

Whole30-sgiving

Thanksgiving - finally! I was so happy to have two days off. Even though I spent four hours making the two-hour drive to my parents' house, I was so excited to be done with work for the (short) week that I didn't care. (Mostly. Traffic is kind of the worst. Anyway.)


The morning of Thanksgiving, the five of us got up to do the Run to Feed the Hungry for the third year in a row! RTFTH is a huge Turkey Trot in Sacramento. You can choose morning of to do the 5k or 10k, and there are timed and untimed options. Anne and I decided to do the 10k - more running, more turkey, right?

Getting ready for the race!


Although I'm feeling awesome, the one thing that is still not 100% awesome on Whole30 is running. Up to 4 miles is cool, and then after, I feel like - out of breath, lead legs, and so on. So this race was a bit hard. After I hit Mile 4.5, it was like, UGH CAN I STOP YET?!

Luckily, we were not pushing for a crazy fast time, and did about 10:00/mile, finishing in 1:02. I was very happy to be finished - it feels awesome to get a great workout when you know the rest of the day will be spent in the kitchen or sitting at the dining table! Plus, I had a talk with our family friend who is a trainer, and he made some suggestions for 4+ mile runs, like eating during runs and getting in some pre-run carbs, that might help me from now on!

And I was so excited to see so many friends on Facebook, Instagram, etc. participating in Turkey Trots across the country - in the snow, in the cold, in the heat, everywhere! You guys are so awesome!


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So being that my sister and I are still doing the Whole30 over Thanksgiving, and our dinner ended up being just the 5 members of my immediate family and my aunt Lynn, we decided to do turkey and Whole30 compliant sides! Yum.

One of my favorite dishes to make on Thanksgiving is sweet potato casserole... with marshmallows. And brown sugar. Sigh. But! I found this Sweet Potato Casserole with pecan topping, which is already Paleo. Instead of maple syrup in the potatoes, I subbed extra juice from an orange, and instead of the syrup in the crust, I added chopped dates, mixing it in the food processor.

I also saw this Cran Cherry Sauce recipe on Nom Nom Paleo, and decided to do it (sans optional honey). I love that cherries and apple juice cut the bitterness of the cranberries! Since my mom also bought fresh cranberries, I also made this Apple Cranberry Sauce, subbing the water for apple juice, and eliminating the sugar. So delicious! Cranberries two ways!

I also made the Rosemary Mashed Faux-tatoes from the Whole9 Thanksgiving list. I loved the addition of turnip with cauliflower, it gave it a great texture and taste.

We also made salad with squash, butternut squash soup, and my mom made a pie sweetened with dates only, with almond crust. YUM!

What a fabulous, beautiful Thanksgiving!

Post-Thanksgiving food coma!


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So, how am I feeling, approaching two weeks of Whole30? I mean... good! I'm not experiencing any miraculous health benefits, my hair and skin don't feel much different (although I've needed a haircut for a good two months, so that's really not likely anyway), and I don't have boundless energy. That being said, I think I'm feeling more... pleasant? I feel more level-headed, and less moody. And I definitely feel energetic, and am going to sleep and waking up easily. (Then again, I just had 4 days off. Ha!)

And actually, I haven't had any stomach discomfort, like I'd sometimes get, on and off, after my gallbladder surgery in 2012. I've never been quite sure what has caused it, it just happens on and off when I eat... a lot? Other than that, I've never known. I guess when reintroducing certain food types after the Whole30 is over, I'll have to do it strategically and see what bothers me.

Best of all, I think I'm developing some good habits. I'm realizing I don't necessarily need cheese every time I eat eggs (or beans, or meat, or salads...). I'm also stopping that dependence on something sweet after lunches and dinners, little by little, and finding lots more ways to incorporate veggies in all of my meals. I'm excited to bring these habits with me as I go on after this is all over!

Here's to the next 16 days!

Whole 30: Week 1 Continued

By Thursday, I was totally getting sick of my food. Okay, I don't want any more avocado. Or even the delicious Shepherd's Pie I made. Luckily, it was almost time to go back to the store over the weekend and get some more food for the coming week and weekend.



I started looking at the Whole30 Timeline, something the program came out with that lays out, day by day, how you will feel on the program. Days 1-2 for me were right - I felt like, okay, I'm doing this, I feel the same! Days 2-3, I did feel a bit tired, as they stated, but it really wasn't too bad. Days 3-4, I definitely felt a bit more tired and a little cranky. The timeline stated that says 4-5, I may want to "kill all the things," but I definitely didn't feel that. Just a bit tired.

The tiredness is explained as:

"So what’s the deal?! Isn’t eating like this supposed to increase energy levels? Yes…in the long run. Right now, your body is learning that it can’t rely on all those easy access energy sources it used to know and love. Gone are the days of cinnamon crunch muffins and Frappuccinos. Now your body is learning to efficiently burn fat and protein as its fuel sources, and that takes more effort – and some time. If you can hold out just a bit longer, you’ll definitely reap the benefits." (Full text here)

I get that. I'm sticking with it, since I committed to 30 days, and I'm extremely stubborn when it comes to things like this. Days 16-27 are supposed to be the "Tiger's Blood" phase, where I feel awesome and have boundless energy... bring it on, Whole 30, bring it on.



Friday, I had planned to do leftovers of sorts for lunch, but as it turns out, we'd be celebrating a coworker's birthday with a pizza party! Joy. Although usually I'd get really excited for pizza (because PIZZA! Yum.), for some reason, I did not. Maybe it was because I was still excited about the novelty of the Whole 30 program, and feeling all awesome about my new found clean eating, but I wasn't interested in the pizza. Until I smelled it. Sigh. Definitely my first experience of food regret on this program.

Although I wanted the pizza, snickerdoodles with cinnamon chips, ice cream, and soda, I stuck to the salad with Avocado Tahini Dressing that I made. I brought a bunch of shrimp and added that to my salad, which made it pretty delicious. I was proud of myself for sticking with it!



Saturday, I started the day by meeting two of my running friends in the park to go for a run. Although my thighs were a bit sore from yoga on Friday, I planned to do 6-8 miles that morning. Al, a running friend, was planning on doing 20(!) miles in preparation for his marathon, so he wanted to do as much as I was doing with me (then go on on his own). Unfortunately, I just felt terrible! I felt out of breath, sluggish, and my legs were tired. I kept going, and was SO happy and proud I stuck with it when I was done! I guess my sluggishness was my body getting used to this whole more fats, less carbs (I think?) kinda deal. The timeline DID say days 6-7 were the "tired" days. In any case, over the tiredness, stuck with it, and now, hopefully the good stuff is coming!

That's not to say all I'm feeling is tired. I'm also feeling... better. Maybe more in tune with my body? I feel that I'm becoming much more aware of when I'm hungry, tired, full of energy. I feel like I'm feeling things more. That makes me happy. :)



Besides doing a bit of shopping for Christmas and Holiday presents this weekend (yay!) I did another bunch of meal prep and cooking to get ready for this coming week. As it's a short week, I bought just enough veggies to last me through Wednesday, and enlisted my roommate to help me taste-test (and eat dinner with me!) on Saturday!

Here are some of the veggies I made: Roasted Cabbage (not terrible, considering I thought of it as a bit experimental) and roasted tomatillos with serrano pepper, in preparation for my Chicken Pipian (also pictured)!

And my breakfast from this morning: An awesome pepper, spinach, egg, and chicken sausage scramble, with sweet potato, avocado, and grapefruit:

On the menu for this week is:

Chicken Pipian (Green Mole) (This can be frozen for leftovers easily!)
Salmon Cakes
Roasted Broccoli
Roasted Cabbage with Lemon
Chicken Apple Sausage (this was the only sausage at Sprouts that did not have added sugar! Only unsweetened applesauce!)

And I made my own mayo!


And now I will have a nap.


Happy ALMOST Thanksgiving, everyone!

Whole 30: The First Week

Friends! Monday was the first day of my Whole 30!


If you are not familiar with the program, Whole 30 is a thirty day program in which you eat whole foods. Period. Excluded from the program are the following: dairy, gluten, sweeteners (natural or artificial), legumes (beans, peanuts, etc.), grains of any sort, and alcohol. HERE is more information about it!

When you put it in terms of exclusions, the Whole 30 seems rather restrictive. But, when you put it in terms of inclusion, it's not so bad. The basis for the Whole 30 meal is animal protein + vegetable + fat + seasoning. That's not so bad. Plus, fruit, items sweetened with fruit juice, and COFFEE are still allowed, so I won't die.


I'm doing a Whole 30 because I feel like I need to refresh my system. I just can't seem to get out of that need to eat junk, whether it's dessert at a restaurant, pizza and more pizza when watching sports, or other stuff I eat that doesn't make me feel good. In this past week before starting my Whole 30, I had a few moments of eating things that are decidedly noncompliant with the Whole 30, like a chocolate croissant and lowfat latte for breakfast, or a bunch of tootsie rolls that someone left out at work. This got me thinking - what's the point? the chocolate croissant was pretty good, admittedly, but this stuff just doesn't make me feel good. And I've been starting to not see the appeal of a lot of foods, like store-bought cookies and super cheesy pizza. I see these things and it's starting to feel excessive, or chemically, or maybe all the research on what is put into foods like this to make people want to consume them is FINALLY getting to me.

And now I'm trying a Whole 30! I am not expecting this to remedy my issues with food entirely, not at all. I am just looking for a fresh start, and to get back in the mindset of eating food that makes me feel good. Once I decided, okay! I'm going to do it! I went through a few steps to start to get ready:


1. PLAN.

Normally, on weekends that I'm home, I look up a few recipes (often ones I've saved on my Pinterest), and get a shopping list ready to make those items. However, this time, I got a little plan-happy, since I knew that following the plan, especially some staples I'd buy in the first week, could get a bit pricey. So I made an excel spreadsheet. Excellent idea if you're interested in procrastinating while trying to write reports. I settled on a few recipes for the week, and listed their ingredients. I then transferred the items I wanted to the Whole 30's shopping list. Check! Ready to go.

2. SHOP.

Luckily, this weekend, I was around and had minimal plans on Saturday, so after meeting up with my run group Saturday morning, I got to shopping.

My first stop was Trader Joe's. Although I'm not always crazy about their produce selection, Trader Joe's does have some excellent options on the (relative) cheap, for instance, bags of organic Sweet Potatoes and lemons, Organic free-range chicken tenders, almond butter with no added sugar, raw nuts, ground beef and turkey, compliant light coconut milk, ghee, Larabars (some types are Whole 30 compliant), unsweetened/unsulfured dried fruit, and tahini. Whew!

Since there were some produce and specialty items I couldn't find at TJ's, my next stop was Sprouts. Sprouts is an awesome Whole Foods-like store, but you can generally find things a little cheaper. Some of my finds there were chicken sausage (with no additives like sugar!), turkey jerky (again, no sugar - I found some that was fruit juice sweetened), some produce items, and kombucha. Sadly, I couldn't find bacon that did not have added sugar there, even, so I opted to get some ground turkey and make my own "turkey sausage" patties.

Overall, I was happy with how much I had planned, since it gave my trip direction, and stopped me from spending $200+ on groceries, which I am SURE I could do.

Then, I got to prepping!



3. PREP.

I love days when I can hang out in the kitchen, making a giant mess prepping various recipes. I definitely did that Saturday. Some of the items I prepped were:

- Shepherd's Pie
- Hard Boiled Eggs
- Roasted Green Beans
- Pureed Butternut Squash
- Baked Almond and Coconut-Coated Chicken Tenders
- Turkey "Sausage" Patties
- Cashew "Hummus" (made mine with no roasted red peppers)

And later in the week, I plan to make Against All Grain's Banana Nut Porridge, which has a coconut milk and raw nut base. YUM!

(Update: Made it! So delicious!!!)

By Saturday night, I had a fridge that I was really excited about!



4. EAT

Now, I'm finally ready for this! I plan to follow my meal plan as much as possible this week, while allowing for some flexibility. You never know when you'll get hungry! I'm super excited about all of this right now, but I'm sure as the excitement starts to wear off, I'll feel the challenge a bit more.


Another thing I will NOT do for the next 30 days is weigh myself. I want to completely get out of the mindset of weight loss. Since I am at a healthy weight (even if it is not necessarily my exact ideal weight - that does NOT matter), I want to let my body do what it wants when I eat things that are good for me!

Here are a few things I'm currently eating, and I'll update on how it's going in the coming days :)

A glamorous work lunch of roasted green beans and shepherd's pie.

Fruit salad with raw cashews and almonds.

The aforementioned Against All Grain's Banana Nut Porridge with nuts, date, and raisins; breakfast salad with avocado and greens/EVOO/lemon; berries; coffee with coconut milk.