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.