Whole30: Day 5

Today has been a rather unusual day. I had some things come up health wise which ended with me having blood work done. I'm OK, so don't worry.

What does this mean for my Whole30 challenge?

I'm not sure yet. At this point, I feel that I need to consult with my doctor before continuing and that appointment isn't for a few weeks. So, until then, I'm going to eat clean and healthy but not completely stick with the Whole30. If my doctor gives the OK, then I'm planning on starting over and completing the challenge.

I stuck with the Whole30 today but I haven't eaten a lot. Just haven't felt so great today.

As soon as I have my appointment and talk to my doctor, I'll let you all know if I will be starting the challenge over or not.

I will say, that up until today, I've felt amazing and have enjoyed the Whole30. So, I'm hoping I get the go ahead to continue!

Peace, Love, and Healthy Living,

Jessica

Whole30: Day 4

Woohoo! Another day is done!

I must say that eating this way has been easier than I expected. What do I miss the most? Beans! I knew it was going to be that way though! I love beans...black beans, garbanzo beans, white beans, etc. We used to eat beans several times a week! They are cheap, filling, and so yummy but it's a no-no on the Whole30. That's OK though because my meals have been so delicious! I will say that it does take an adjustment to rethink your meals without dairy, grains, carbs, legumes, and sugars. But it's forced me to get creative and so far so good! Even my hubby has been loving the meals!

Another hard thing has been saying goodbye to the scale. I have a love-hate relationship with that thing anyway. If I'm eating right and exercising, I get on the scale at least every other day. If I'm going through a rough patch, I don't even look at it. I had gone several weeks without weighing because I knew I was doing damage to my body and didn't want to see a physical number. I was very disappointed in the number it gave me when I weighed on day one but I'm feeling so good right now and physically my stomach isn't as hard or bloated as it was just a few day ago so it is KILLING me not to get on the scale and see if there has been a number change! I almost caved a few minutes ago but I want to do the Whole30 right so I didn't give in to the temptation! Aaaah.....

So what did I eat today?

Meal 1: two hard boiled eggs and the other half of my steak from last night. I always wondered why people wanted steak for breakfast. Now, I'm wondering why I haven't eaten it for breakfast before now! So good!

Meal 2: an apple with almond butter and some cashews. Weird? Kinda. I honestly wasn't that hungry for lunch. I was mostly tired which can be from a number of things from lack of sleep while my daughter was sick and it just being the beginning stages of the Whole30. I knew I needed to eat but just wasn't feeling cooking and there were no leftovers to heat up as I had given the hubby the last of the tomato soup for his lunch. The meal was great though and satisfying.

Meal 3: stir-fry of onions, red bell pepper, zucchini, and left over steak. I cooked it in coconut oil and seasoned it with salt, pepper, curry powder, garlic powder, and some chili powder. I of course split it with the hubby and we both loved it! I will definitely be making this again!

I'm really happy that I decided to embark on this journey! There have been a few times where I've craved other foods or wanted the convenience of making a sandwich but I know that this is the right thing for me right now and I don't plan on sabotaging it! I hear that the further you get into the Whole30 journey that the craving for junk subsides and you begin to crave the real, whole foods you been eating! I like the sound of that!

Peace, Love, and Healthy Living,

Jessica

Whole30: Day 3

Day 3 is complete. I had some doubts about today only because I was up all night with my daughter who has a stomach virus. I was tired and the convenience of eating cereal was tempting. Plus, I had plans to go to the grocery store this morning for a few more things and I was worried how I was going to fix us all lunch. But in the end, I prevailed, and it felt GOOD!

I didn't eat breakfast until around 10:30 this morning. I finally got to lie down in my own bed about 7 AM so breakfast was late. I ended up cooking two eggs and putting a homemade salsa of tomatoes, green onions, cilantro, and diced avocado on top.

Since I had breakfast so late, I didn't eat lunch until around 2 PM. My dilemma of what to serve was resolved because well, my daughter was only consuming fluids and my husband didn't get to come home for lunch. I reheated the chicken dish I had made for lunch yesterday and added a few extra cashews on the side. It was still yummy today!

My husband had been gone for almost a month for some training so I decided that steak should be on the menu tonight. He got back late last night. So for supper we had steak and asparagus. He had a side salad and I had half an avocado. He gobbled his dinner up in a hurry. I guess they didn't feed him well at training! :)

I'm praying that we've seen the last of the stomach bug. My daughter has been miserable all day and neither of us has gotten much rest. I am also praying that me nor my husband get it either. It's a nasty little thing.

Onward to day 4! I have to say, that I'm really feeling good and I don't feel restricted in anyway like I thought I might.

Peace, Love, and Healthy Living,

Jessica

Whole30: Day 2

Day 2 is done!

Today was a good day. I love the encouragement that I'm receiving from you all. I spent majority of the day getting the house clean and going up and down the stairs for what seemed like a million times. That counts as a workout, right?

I went to the "bathroom" more than normal today but that's a good sign that my body is cleaning itself of the junk I had been poisoning it with.

For breakfast, I scrambled eggs in coconut oil and served it with half an avocado seasoned with salt, smoked paprika, cayenne pepper, and cilantro and a few slices of tomatoes seasoned the same. I ended up cutting up the tomato and avocado into chunks and mixing everything together. It was very good and filling.

  

 

I was sort of worried about lunch today. Don't get me wrong, I love a good salad but I can get tired of them quickly. One of the biggest problems people face when learning to eat healthy is learning what to eat. Some people get stuck in a rut because they only know a few things to eat and eat them over and over again. With the removal of dairy, grains, beans, carbs, and sugar from my diet, I have to rethink the way I eat. Especially at the beginning of relearning how to eat, it can be tricky and I can fall into that slump of eating the same things over and over again. I knew that I wanted to eat something else besides a salad for lunch today but I didn't know what. So, I got into the kitchen and looked around at what I had on hand and this amazing dish came together! I started out by sauteing some yellow bell pepper's in coconut oil. Then I added in mushrooms, tomatoes, pineapple, shredded chicken, and cashews. I seasoned it with salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and fresh cilantro. Since my daughter was eating it too and doesn't like wilted spinach, I did that in another pan and served my chicken dish over the top of the spinach. 2 thumbs up even from the five year old.

I got a little hungry between lunch and supper so I had half an apple with almond butter! I seriously love that combo!

For supper we had leftovers. This time I topped my bowl of chicken and tomato soup with the other half of the avocado, smoked paprika and cayenne pepper. It was still as good tonight, if not better, as last night!

I'm thinking of making a hash in the morning with leftovers from lunch today and fried eggs for meal one. We'll see. I already need to run to the grocery store again as I wasn't quite sure how much of what I needed before I got started and sort of guessed.

So far so good.

Peace, Love, and Healthy Living,

Jessica