Day 11 - Good Morning World

This morning I woke up before my alarm feeling well rested and refreshed.

I was in a good mood all day, despite being crazy busy at work. I found I had great ability to focus on my tasks and was not easily distracted. I am looking forward to spending the rest of my life feeling like this!

This morning I claimed the last of the eggs cups. To be clear, they were not horrible. They just weren’t bacon-y like I wanted. I reheated them at work and added some Frank’s hot sauce to give them a kick.

Also, just to be clear, I am not selfish! I only claimed the egg muffins over Sean because, they were the only W30 compliant breakfast food in the house and in case you didn’t know or did not find me on Facebook before here, Sean is not still doing the Whole30 as dedicatedly as I am. He basically will eat what I make so he is still eating healthy, but he has not read the book and isn’t always the most attentive when I am sharing what I have learned. He fell prey to an unopened container of cottage cheese that he couldn’t bear see go to waste. It would have expired well before our W30 was done. Sean is supportive and encouraging of my Whole30 though and that is really all I need from him through this.

For lunch I had my homemade Simple Salad that I was supposed to have yesterday. This is one of my favourite salads, and with only a few ingredients, it packs a lot of flavour. It just romaine, grape tomatoes, halved, previously cooked chicken, avocado, shallots, olive oil, S&P. The shallots really give it something.  

For dinner we had LAMB BURGERS!! I WILL be making these again. I do not know what possessed me to buy the ground lamb in the first place. I wanted to try something new I guess. Then Sean suggested that we also get fresh Mint. It was a good call because they turned out fantastic. I subbed almond flour in place of bread crumbs and then grilled them. We had them on a bed of lettuce with grainymustard, tomato and avocado. Yam fries seemed an appropriate side dish.

I really hope to have more days like today.

Day 2 – Still Feeling Good

I woke up this morning feeling great! I only hit the snooze 2 times (vs. my usual 4-5), got up early, showered, and pulled out the egg muffins and salads that I made last night.

My large muffin tin

The muffins I made last night were bigger and had sautéed mushrooms, red onions, red peppers, grape tomatoes, Green onions, Salt, and Pepper. I think I will make the next batch without red peppers. I am finding them to be overpowering. Again I had a banana and black coffee.







I am not sure if it was just a rough day at work for a lot of people, the blood moon eclipse, or if "Kill All the Things" started early for me, but I was feeling irritable on and off as the day went on. Little things bothered me and I mainly kept to myself and buried myself in work. Maybe it was "just one of those days"

Mental Note: try to see if these mood swings coincide with eating.  I am wondering if I am more irritable between meals. I have noticed I have been hungry between meals and I think it is because I am still learning what a portion size should be, but keeping it light so far.  

After researching this a bit more, I came across this awesome article. The part about "Not Eating Enough" and how the baggage of old dieting habits following us around, really resonated with me. I am very much down with this part though: "Eat as much Whole 30 compliant food as you need to eat to be truly satiated. Listen to your body and it will tell you what to do. If you're hungry, eat up!" Drinking lots of water helps too!


Let's discuss water for a second. I don't think I have to lecture anyone about water intake, but I would feel bad if I didn't mention it. Water is the most important thing you can put in your body! Adding chemically based flavour enhancers to it is just wrong. I love water but I didn't always. When I first went to a naturopath, desperate to lose weight, she recorded my body composition and I was more dehydrated than an 80 year old woman, who is dehydrated. I didn't drink a lot of water. The water my body did get was from foods, coffee, juices, milk, and the occasional glass of H2O. Through the hCG protocol I did with my naturopath, I learned how important it is to drink water, not just when losing weight, but all the time. There are still some days that I do not get enough but one thing that has really helped lately is having a big bottle near me at all times. I bought a 1 litre bottle one day and I just keep filling it. I fill it when I get to work in the morning, and I fill it again at lunch, for a minimum of 2 litres per day. As long as it is in arms reach and full, I keep drinking it.  

The mug is for scale

Sean helps me out at home. He often takes it upon himself to pour me a big cup and put it in front of me while we watch TV or hang out. Half the time I just drink it subconsciously and don't realize he's snuck it under my nose until it is half empty. Speaking of Sean, he takes his with lemon. He really likes flavourful drinks and it keeps the cat away. She likes water more than anyone and that tells me it's good for our bodies. 

Needless to say, I was happy when lunch rolled around. Lunch was Salad made of mixed greens, grape tomatoes, avocado, red peppers, and hard boiled eggs. I didn't make a protein last night, but luckily café in my office building sells plain boiled eggs. I sent Sean to work with Canned Tuna to add on his salad. And of course I read the label to make sure it was compliant. My salad dressing was made of the juice from Tomato Basil Salad mentioned on Day 1. I simply added a small amount of olive oil and shook it up. I like to keep my dressing off my salad until I am ready to eat it in order to keep the lettuce from going limp.


For dinner we had Lettuce Wraps, but they were so full of delicious flavour, they became Lettuce Tacos. All you do is fill lettuce leaves with ground chicken or turkey, veggies, and sauces. I seasoned my chicken with sage, garlic powder, paprika, salt and pepper. I cooked it without oils, in a non-stick pan. While it was cooking, I chopped tomatoes and avocado, then spread some grainy mustard in the lettuce leaves. I put in some cooked chicken, and my veg, and then topped it with a sprinkling of Frank's Red hot sauce. SO GOOD!

 

Are you surprised to learn I used condiments? Here is a link to the Pantry List on the Whole30 site. If you buy anything that comes in a box or a jar, make sure to read the labels. Every ingredient should be pronounceable and Whole30 approved. Frank's Red hot sauce has a short list of ingredients, but this only goes for the original recipe. I was sad to learn that many of our grainy mustards (don't ask why we have more than one - it's a long story...) have nitrates in them, but luckily I did happen to have one that only has natural ingredients. 

Another successful day down, and I can't wait for tomorrow!