Day 29

I had a good breakfast this morning. It was pretty big because I knew I would be busy during the day and probably wouldn't eat another meal until dinner...by busy I mean laying out by the pool, catching up on my shows, and groceries. I had a fried egg with a piece of turkey on top, and a banana with some coconut mana drizzled over it. SO GOOD! I'm a little disappointed because I am running out of coconut mana and I don't want to wait for it to be ordered online, gotta find out where I can buy it.

After laying out for a while I went a did some sorely needed groceries. I grabbed a couple of small sausage patties to hold me over until dinner. I ended up just going to Kroger instead of Whole Foods, because A). I live less than a mile from Krogers and I was being lazy and B). Since I am starting the FODMAP elimination diet and am almost done with the Whole30, I don't really need to get fancy schmancy expensive organic produce. I will probably still get grass fed meats and some other small stuff from Whole Foods but there is organic produce at most grocery stores that is wayyy cheaper. I bought a lot of low FODMAP items in preparation for the following week and also some Whole30 approved items to finish out the weekend. By time I got home and unloaded everything I was starving. I made a big beautiful green salad with spinach, leftover ginger meatballs, tomatoes (from our very own plant) cucumbers, olives, and some EVOO and vinegar. It looked awesome. Unfortunately right after I snapped a picture of it my curious little fur baby jumped up and knocked half the salad out of my bowl. I seriously almost cried. I ate the remainder of the salad, but was of course still hungry. 

I decided that I deserved a dessert after my unfortunate salad incident. I cut up half a nanner, mixed it with some grapes, threw in a cut up cappuccino lara bar, and smothered it with coconut mana. This is probably super caloric and technically not compliant since it is a dessert, but I DON'T CARE! It was the bomb.com. I  savored every last bite of it. I also grabbed a handful of nuts as a dessert chaser. 

The picture does not give my dessert it's due justice. This was my best creation! I will most likely be eating this in the future while people are NOMing on fattening brownies and cake, and I am perfectly OK with that. Overall I didn't do a very good job of limiting fruits and snacks, my stomach did pay for it but man was it worth it. I think I need to ease back on the coconut since it is a moderate FODMAP and you shouldn't really be eating too much of it anyways, oh well! ONE MORE DAY! 

Day 28

For breakfast I had the last veggie cake and half a banana. I am definitely going to make the veggie cakes again, although slightly modified. They are savory and full of good vegetables (low FODMAP). Work was pretty slow, the 4th of July holiday is coming up so the office was a little too ready for the weekend, not very productive. I took a late lunch with the bf at Chipotle. I was hungry by time we got there so I asked them to load up on the carnitas and guac, it was of course delicious! I know for a fact that there's onions and probably garlic in the carnitas and guac, and the pico too. No bueno for Sabrina's stomach =/.

My stomach was bloaty and painful most of the day after that but it wore off around the time I got home. I still can't lift or do any fast motions because my back is still all messed up, so we did a mile run and the "card WOD". It was pretty brutal, not fun running in 100 degree weather. We went to dinner at Logan's Roadhouse. I checked the menu prior and knew they had compliant things to eat. I had grilled salmon and a plain baked sweet potato. I was wayyy too full after that meal. I don't know if its because I ate too fast or maybe ate something high FODMAP? My stomach didn't do well for the remainder of the night, which is a bummer. I am kind of excited to start the real FODMAP elimination diet, only 2 more days!

Day 27

Back was killing me this morning!!! I painfully had a breakfast of a couple of veggie pancakes, and some coffee, plus 3 ibuprofen (not sure if these are allowed but dude I was hurting). Work was great today, made a deal and went to lunch with the ladies. Unfortunately there wasn't a lot of planning involved in our lunch and we ended up going to a Noodle House =/. Their lunches smelled SO good, but I settled for a salad. In the description, it was a pretty basic salad, lettuce, tomato, grilled chicken, cucumber, and that was it. I asked them not to put any dressing on it and instead they brought me some rice vinegar (not sure if that's compliant, it tasted kind of sweet) and some limes. However when I got my salad, they had garnished it with these crispy thing twirly cracker kind of things!! I was so irritated, they had not mentioned that those were on the salad, otherwise I would have asked them to not include them. It was a pain trying to get them all out, they were small and broke very easily. I managed to get about 90% of them out, but I knew I was eating a couple when I would get a random crunch in my bite. SAD DAY. I am definitely not counting this as a cheat because its amazing that I lasted this long anyways, and also totally not my fault they decided to make my salad look prettier.

Anyways, my back was pretty much torturing me all day, I couldn't make any sudden movements or barely walk without a stabbing pain in my tail bone =(. I definitely took today as a rest day, crossfit and running were out of the question. Instead, the bf and I watched the final episode of Game of Thrones ( we are officially caught up and disappointed that we have to wait now) and took the fur baby for a nice long walk. We also stopped by Kroger because I was craving something sweet, a celebration for my deals this week at work. I picked up some organic bananas, and a couple of cappuccino lara bars. For dinner, I ate the remainder of the leftovers. I had two venison sausage patties, a couple of small tuna cakes, and a veggie pancake. It was a pretty small dinner, but I was saving room for dessert!

I'm not going to lie, I was pretty excited about making my sweet little concoction. I loaded an episode of Pretty Little Liars (yes, it's ridiculous, don't judge me), and got to work cutting up half a banana, melting some coconut mana, and crumbling up a cappucino lara bar. It was heavenly! The richness of the coconut went perfect with the bitterness of the lara bar and texture of the banana, it was like banana pudding plus coffee flavoring! I probably shouldn't have been eating something so caloric but I honestly didn't feel overly full or bloated so I enjoyed my creation. I am kind of worried that when I finally weigh myself on Day 30, I will have gained weight =/. Oh well, then it's on to the FODMAP elimination and I'm sure I will be eating smaller meals than I usually do. 3 days left!!!



Day 26

This morning I had a veggie cake and a half. I wasn't very hungry, I had a big dinner and woke up with a gurggly stomach. Work was good and busy, the morning flew by and I got a lot of stuff done. We had a meeting at 12pm (my usual lunch time) so by 1pm I was STARVING. Good thing I brought a huge lunch! I brought two veggie pancakes, a tuna cake, and a chicken meatball. I also brought a coconut lara bar for something sweet. I ate my lunch so fast because I was so hungry, terrible I know, I should have savored it.

My fullness didn't hit me until about an hour after I actually ate. I really need to work on eating my food slowly and not distracted, that way my body knows when it is full and when it is not. When I got home that day my bf had made the remaining of the venison sausage. I couldn't help myself, I snagged one and NOMed on it as a pre crossfit snack. Crossfit was brutal today we did an EMOM of 8 minutes, of three movement Hang cleans, plus a push jerk at the end. Then we did a 400 m buy in, 12 min AMRAP of 10 push press, 10 deadlifts, and 10 thrusters. Needless to say after that workout my already tweaked back hurt like a mofo. NOT GOOD. I supplemented my fatigue and pain with some ibuprofen and a big, delicious dinner. I had 4-5 mini sausage patties, a mini avocado, and the rest of my turnip/potato saute. It was SO GOOD. After all that savory food, I needed something sweet. I mixed in a couple pieces of pineapple and some grapes with a tablespoon of coconut mana. BEST DESSERT EVER! That coconut mana is growing on me and FAST. I think I was so hungry because well the workout was hard and exhausting, and I was in pain and that's always my remedy. I know I know, terrible but you know what I have been compliant for 26 days now, so every once in a while I can spoil myself.

I know there's only 3 sausages pictured there, but I definitely ate about 5. I'm a sucker for meat. CARNIVORE. Only 4 more days! Well 4 days and then I start the FODMAP elimination diet...=/.



Day 25

I started the morning off with a veggie cake and half a banana. Stomach was kinda gurggly in the morning so I didn't want to eat too much. I had a very long and frustrating morning at work, some days I just want to get up and walk out...oh well, everything fell into place as the day went on but the morning was terrible, my nerves were shot, I was discouraged...all I wanted was some chocolate. I settled for lunch instead. I packed my self the other half of my sweet potato from the day before, a chicken meatball, and a tuna cake. I also packed some carrots to snack on. The sweet potato turned out perfect, I had just the right amount of salt and cinnamon added. I ate my whole lunch and was happily satisfied.

The day ended well, everything got settled at work and I had a successful day overall. We went to an earlier WOD and I grabbed half a banana bread lara bar for a pre workout snack. The WOD wasn't too bad today but I needed it, I took 3 days off and my body was craving activity. It was 3 rounds of 12 HSPU, 12 KBS #35, and 12 C2B pull ups. After the WOD I was starving! I had a serving of my sweet potato/turnip saute and I mashed up a mini avocado with some tuna. I had a major sweet tooth after dinner so I mixed half a banana, some grapes, and the other half of my banana bread lara bar, with some coconut manna...probably not a great "healthy snack" but oh man was it good. The coconut manna is so sweet and rich and mixed with the fruit, it was awesome.

I think the Greek Spice I put in my potato/turnip saute has some garlic or onion in it because my stomach had been hurting since I started eating it. It has to be that because most everything else I ate was low FODMAP. Really need to be careful with ingredients. Good day overall! 5 days left! 



Day 24

Had a pretty big breakfast this morning, two venison sausages and a veggie pancake. I woke up hungry, not quite sure why. I had a busy and productive morning, work was crazy so lunch time came up really fast. I wanted to try something different for lunch so I packed half a sweet potato, and a few chicken meatballs. On top of the sweet potato I sprinkled some salt and cinnamon. For lunch I wrapped the sweet potato in a paper towel and heated up for about 5 in a half minutes (until it got all mushy). I mixed into the salt and cinnamon and man was it awesome! This will probably be my new go to for lunch because I have found a new love for sweet potatoes.

Unfortunately, I don't think I packed enough food because I was still hungry =/. I ended up buying a small box of fruit, pretty much all low FODMAP. I decided that today was gonna be yet another rest day when I got home. Work was stressful, my back was still hurting, and really there's no good excuse for taking 3 days off in a row but whatever I DON'T CARE! I wasn't exactly hungry for dinner yet so instead I ate an espresso lara bar (AMAZING) and we went on a long walk with the dog. When we got back the bf made himself some tacos with some leftover venison steak he had made himself (marinated in worcestershire) so I couldn't eat it. I sauteed some sweet potato and leftover turnip with some EVOO, salt, pepper, and Greek seasoning from Whole Foods. They turned out amazing, I really like turnips! I also had some more chicken meatballs and a small avocado on the side. Repeat meal...maybe, but I know what I like. I also had some grapes after dinner while we were watching Game of Thrones (almost caught up with season 3!). I have to admit my stomach was not so great after dinner. I am still trying to figure out if it was because of the large amount of grapes I had or because there was some garlic in the Greek Seasoning. 

I really gotta get back on track with working out. Taking that many days off is dangerous, it makes me lazy. Tomorrow is a crossfit day and I'm looking forward to it. I really need to read ingredients better and make sure everything is low FODMAP, I also need to cut down on the fruit intake! 6 more days!

 

Day 23

Talk about a lazy Sunday. Woke up late today and made ourselves a big ol Sunday style breakfast. The bf made himself an omelet with venison sausage and provolone cheese, while I had a couple of fried eggs, and venison sausage with spinach and mushroom stir fry. It was awesome! It was a pretty big meal but I knew I was probably not going to be eating dinner until late and I had some MAJOR cooking to get done in the afternoon.

I spent my day mostly cooking up goodies for the following week. I made ginger chicken meatballs, tuna/sweet potato cakes, and vegetable latkes (which were more like pancakes). I tried really hard not to eat while I was cooking but I couldn't help myself. I had a coconut larabar, some grapes, and a bite here and there of the food I was cooking ( I had to make sure it was good!). I took another day off from working out, a. because my back still hurt and b. cooking is hard work, I was exhausted! Everything turned out really good, the tuna cakes were a little on the burnt side, but hey that adds flavor. I ate a late dinner because I was pretty full from all my snacking. I had a couple of salmon cakes, venison sausage, and a small avocado.



Overall the day was good. I made good delicious food full of veggies and protein, and I was definitely more relaxed this weekend in total. The snacking was a little too much today, and I think something in the venison sausage is high FODMAP because after dinner I was slightly bloated. Kind of excited for my food selection this week!

Day 22

This morning I finally got to sleep in...and it felt great! I warmed up my huge leftover sweet potato from the night before and added some cinnamon, man was it good. It was like orange sweet mushy oatmeal, and it hit the spot. I felt good in the morning, and got things flowing in the stomach department so I didn't feel as full and bloated as usual. My stomach was even flat enough to brave putting on my swimsuit and sunbathing =).

My back was still pretty sore, so we decided to take a rest day from working out. It was a good day, mostly doing groceries so I could cook for the following week and laying out by the pool. That night I was going to the Pibull/Kesha concert with a good friend and I knew we were eating beforehand. She knows about my Whole30 deal so she was fine when I suggested Freebirds for dinner. Since we were eating semi early, I knew not to eat lunch, I did have a lara bar (banana bread) and some grapes as a snack so I wouldn't be starving. At Freebirds I had a typical bowl, this time with carnitas...still love this combo and definitely could eat it every day. The concert was a blast but it was wayyy long, when I got home I was pretty hungry but didn't want to eat something huge so close to bed, so I ate a handful of grapes. 

All in all this was a good day as well. I was tempted by some delicious frozen adult beverages at the concert, but I figured I was only 8 days away from finishing and wasn't going to ruin it now. I think I ate a little too much fruit today but my stomach wasn't that bad, just a little gurggly towards bed time. Almost done!!!

Day 21

Breakfast was kind of a fail this morning. I didn't have anything prepared so I basically just ate some honeydew melon and bananas with some coffee. Stomach was fine in the morning though, I'm guessing because I didn't eat anything too heavy and also both of those fruits are low FODMAP. Friday was a slow day, I took a late lunch, and I was definitely starving by time we had our weekly Chipotle date. I had a chicken bowl, with all the compliant fixins.

After work we headed over to our crossfit gym for a 6pm WOD, it was brutal. 12 min AMRAP of 7 power clean & jerks, 14 front squat with the same weight, and a 200m run. I managed to tweak my back bad so I was pretty much hobbling around by time we got home. I really didn't feel like cooking so I researched a little bit and we decided to go to Saltgrass Steakhouse, they had a gluten-free menu with some Whole30 compliant options. The first thing they did however when we got there was bring out their delicious bread and butter appetizer...It looked and smelled so good I almost caved in right then and there. My bf of course dug in as I watched solemnly and sipped on my water. NO CHEATING!

I finally decided on a steak salad, consisting of; steak tips, avocado, egg, onions, tomatoes, and balsamic vinaigrette, I told them to hold the blue cheese crumbles. I also got a huge baked sweet potato, plain, in case I was still hungry. I definitely ate my whole entire salad, it was so good. There was a slight sweetness to the balsamic vinaigrette so I'm guessing there might have been some sugar in it...but oh well did you see that delicious bread I resisted! I had a couple bites of sweet potato but I was already pretty full so I took it home for later. Honestly it was almost like dessert, it was so sweet and savory.

All in all, this day was pretty good, even though I tweaked my back, and also ate something for dinner that made my stomach irritated. I am really trying to figure out this FODMAP thing, I've been doing tons of research on it...even ordered a book. I am almost done with this Whole30 and with some accidental missteps while eating out, I think I've done a good job staying compliant. Less than 10 days to go WHOOP! 

Day 20

Day 20 was decent. Had chili dog casserole in the morning and took the remainder of it to work for lunch. My morning was a little slow, I blame that on end of the week burn out. My stomach was a little gurgly in the morning but not too bad. I was sore as all hell after our workout on Wednesday, my back and legs were on fiyyaaa. For lunch I had the rest of the chili dog casserole ( I finally finished it!) and an apple. I love that casserole so much it was almost sad to see it gone =(.

Work dragged on today, I had a couple of frustrating episodes (work related) so I was so ready to get home. I finally got home and decided I needed a run. I ate a couple pieces of honeydew melon and threw on my running clothes. I went to my mom's house to run with her, she makes me run faster. We did about 4.3 miles, not very long but man was it hard. It was really hot and muggy outside, plus my legs felt like lead and were really sore. We got it done and I felt much better after, Day 2 of half marathon training! I had brought over some spaghetti squash thinking we were just going to eat at home, unfortunately that plan was derailed. We ended up going to this place called Sharky's just an American food place, so my brothers, dad and bf could watch the NBA Finals. I was a little upset about this, I don't like when I have a plan and my plan gets derailed. Anyway I tried to stay whole30 compliant and ordered a salad. It consisted of broiled salmon, lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, red onions, jicama, and balsamic vinaigrette. I told them to hold off on the tortilla strips, and crumbled Mexican cheese. It was ok, not sure if it was all compliant but I had no other choice. I have 10 days left!!!! For the most part it feels good to eat so healthy all the time, but none of this means anything unless it helps my stomach. I am going to try the last 10 days incorporating a low FODMAP diet with the Whole30. Wish me luck!

Day 19

I wasn't very hungry in the morning so I had just a small serving of chili dog casserole, and a cup of coffee. I didn't get my coffee fix satisfied in the morning so I made a second cup to take to work. The morning flew by, I felt good energy wise, my stomach on the other hand felt crappy. For the last few days I have really been researching this FODMAP thing. It's basically like Whole30 except there's a lot of "healthy" stuff that you can't eat either. Honestly it seems like a pain, but I am getting desperate...I am slowly going to try and incorporate the FODMAP elimination diet, with the Whole30, and when I'm done with Whole30, I am going to try a full on low FODMAP diet. Ok anyways, sorry for the mini rant! For lunch I had some more chili dog casserole with a mini avocado and I also bought a small case of fruit because I wanted something sweet.

I probably shouldn't have gotten fruit because after lunch my stomach pain increased tenfold and I got preggo belly =(. It's so frustrating knowing that I'm eating way healthier, probably less caloric, and I feel even worse. I feel like I even gained weight! This could be because I am even more constantly bloated and full than usual. FML. I really do appreciate what the Whole30 has taught me about food though, I would have never found FODMAP or any other support forums and resources that I've been finding because of Whole30. I also reincarnated my inner chef, I <3 cooking! I plan on seeing it through and then starting a low FODMAP diet, while still trying to maintain the Paleo lifestyle. OK BACK ON TRACK! My lunch held me over all the way until dinner. I had a tough WOD today, (2 min. ME C2B + 8 min AMRAP 20 wall balls, 30 DUs + 2 min ME C2B) and I knew I was going to be mighty sore in the morning, so after some spaghetti squash, I had a bowl of grapes and bananas. Pretty good day as far as snacking, didn't really eat anything I wasn't supposed to i.e. I got rid of all the nuts and nutbutter in my house. Stomach was no bueno, and I had trouble getting to sleep. Oh well, here's hoping for a better Day 20!

Day 18

I woke up SUPER sore this morning. Monday's WOD plus my 5 miler on Sunday left my legs and back full of knots. I had a serving of chili dog casserole and to add some potassium, some grapes and half a large banana for breakfast. It was pretty satisfying, I really do love that chili casserole. My morning flew by, I had to eat an apple with some nut butter as a pre lunch snack because I had a dentist appointment during lunch time and knew I wouldn't be able to eat until later. I finally got back from the dentist and dug into some leftover spaghetti squash, tastes even better the next day! I started getting a headache around 3pm because I was not able to drink any coffee in the morning (my almond milk went bad =/). The roaring headache turned into a dull throbbing one by time I got home.

Today was most definitely a rest day, my legs and back needed a break, plus my head was still kinda fuzzy. The bf had himself some leftovers for dinner while I sauteed some spinach, mushrooms, chicken breast (nitrate free) and mixed in a small avocado. The combo of flavors was pretty good. According to the FODMAP thing, which I have been researching, I wasn't supposed to be eating the mushrooms, garlic, or avocado but oh well, I love all those things. Unfortunately my stomach did start to hurt a little after, it had been pretty bad all day so I don't want to necessarily blame my dinner.

Even though my belly was bloaty and crampy, I was craving something sweet! I know you're not supposed to just cave into your cravings, but I had a pretty small lunch so I figured this could just be an extension of my dinner. I cut up half a nanner and added some grapes and a big scoop of sunbutter. If this is something I consider dessert nowadays then I am already improving because usually when I'm craving something sweet I would have something like a big bowl of dried cereal or whatever chocolate I have in the house. I was stuffed after I ate this but I ate early enough in the night that it didn't bother me around bed time. I have noticed that lately I have been passing out cold, which is a great thing because usually I toss and turn all night. Maybe Whole30 is starting to work?



Day 17

This morning I had some chili dog casserole and coffee. I still maintain that the chili dog casserole is the best thing I've made so far on the Whole30. It's sweet and savory with the sausage and meat. The morning went by pretty fast, got some stuff done at work. I was kind of in a rush in the morning so I didn't pack a huge lunch, just some casserole, a mini avocado and a bag of grapes. It was satisfying though, I can tell that my taste buds are changing because even the grapes and sweet potato tasted EXTRA sweet.



When I got home I was kinda drained, I really didn't feel like throwing around weights in the sauna...oops I mean crossfit box. I tried to muster some energy by eating a slice of honey dew melon, then a spoonful of nut butter (I'm pmsing don't judge me). The WOD wasn't that difficult but between my lack of energy overall and the fact that it was about 100 degrees, I sucked! I hate doing bad during the WOD, I hate using lighter weights when I know I can go heavier. I just wasn't feeling it. I was in such a crappy mood afterwards, all I wanted to do was eat a bowl of ice cream =(. Instead I had some spaghetti squash with chicken and a big glass of water, also another slice of honey dew. After dinner I wanted something sweet, but since my stomach was acting up and we had eaten dinner pretty late, I opted for a glass of water! Success!!

Overall Day 17 wasn't too bad, I ate my three meals with minimal snacking and I even worked out. I also resisted the urge to dig into the nut butter and make myself some tea with honey. Baby steps! I am going to check out this FODMAPS/Elimination Diet idea. It's basically paleo except there's a lot of fruit and veggies that are supposedly not good for people with IBS. It's pretty intimidating, a lot of the stuff I eat now is no bueno =/.

Day 16

I wanted to try something different for breakfast today. I made a pepper egg cup (it was so cute) and had some nitrate-free chicken breast on the side. It was kind of a small breakfast but I wasn't super hungry, plus the pepper and egg was a good combo. I also had a couple of pieces of some delicious honey dew melon. Stomach wasn't that messed up this morning, so that's a good sign.

I went over to the parentals house to start day 1 of half marathon training with my mom. We did 5.3 miles and I thought I was gonna die! It was about 95 degrees outside, I ran about 13 minute miles, my injured mom was having to slow down for me =/. Oh well, it was hot, I haven't run in about 3 weeks, and I'm pmsing, SO I think I did pretty damn good. I came home and started preparing some spaghetti squash to eat later in the week, it turned out really good! We had our traditional Sunday late lunch/dinner of steak, salad, and some other goodies. I'm not gonna lie, I was starving after my run so I was munching on pretty much everything in sight. Nothing bad, of course I had a few bites of my spaghetti squash, a bunch of cucumbers, some tomatoes, and some olives and grapes. I am a grazer and I have a feeling I will never break that habit, so sue me. I made some guac dip and had that, steak, salad, and some veggies. I did go back for seconds, which was not the best idea, but oh well.

After a few hours, everyone was dying for ice cream...sad day for me. I ended up eating a bowl of fruit with them so I didn't feel so left out, I wasn't that hungry but oh well... I really need to work on not eating when I'm not hungry.

All in all, the day was decent. I was still having some stomach issues, but I have given up eating nuts so maybe that will help. I completed day 1 of half marathon training, even though it sucked. I made a very successful spaghetti squash feast for the following week, and I ate pretty decent all day, minus all the mindless snacking. At least I wasn't snacking on chips or cookies. That's a win in my book. *Sneak Peak of Spaghetti Squash*!







Day 15

Day 15 started off fine enough. I finally finished the Tex Mex Hash for breakfast and also had a handful of nuts. It was a busy morning, I went Father's Day shopping with my siblings, did groceries, cleaned up a little bit. Since we were out and about we decided to stop by Freebirds for lunch. I was a little disappointed because they didn't pile on everything like they usually do, I even had to ask the guy to add more chicken! It was decent enough, but on my way home I stopped at Whole Foods to pick up some produce and ended up buying a bunch of delicious fruit. I made myself a kind of meal/snack of an apple and sunbutter, and grapes mixed with the last of the nuts. I am not going to buy anymore nuts for the remainder of the Whole30, I rely on them too much. I obviously didn't need a snack, much less a huge sweet fruit snack, but like I said the fruit looked so good, tasted even better, and hell I'm a girl and I'm PMSing! At least it wasn't chocolate and french fries.

Honestly, I forgot to take a picture during lunch, so this is an old one. The one I ate on Day 15 was much less impressive and full. Anyways, after my huge snack, that I didn't need, I was supposed to go workout, get in a run. My stomach was not having it. I got so bloated and had the worst gas pains ever so I just spent the remainder of the evening catching up on all my shows OMG PLL! I also made myself a medium sized salad later in the night because I went to the movies with my brothers and I didn't want any excuses as to why I was eating popcorn or any other movie deliciousness. It worked, since I ate the salad when I was pretty much already full I felt fine for the rest of the night. No candy or sweet tea for me. 

Day 15 was pretty crappy as well, but I know this hard week was due to pms. I am halfway through and plan on finishing this thing out. I really need to stop having huge snacks, and eating so much fruit. I know that I'm eating healthier in general but as of right now my body is not reflecting it. Hopefully, after the halfway point it's all rainbows and sunshine. Keep your fingers crossed! 

Day 14

Today was going to be a challenging day. It was my company's annual pub crawl, starting at noon and ending around 4:30. I made sure and ate a big serving of Tex-Mex hash for breakfast, and packed some nuts for snacking on during the actual pub crawl. I already messed up by 9am. I couldn't resist but to start munching on the nuts and eventually ended up finishing the bag before we even started the pub crawl. MAJOR FAIL! Once we got to the first bar there was literally mountains of fried delicious food in sight. Pizza, wings, fried mushrooms, french fries, how depressing. I held off for the entire pub crawl but right around 3pm, I was hungry and cranky. I left a little early from the shin dig and fought through about 30 minutes of traffic before I finally got home. I made myself a big salad for lunch.

Unfortunately my craving for nuts/nut butter came back and I found myself eating a HUGE portion of nuts, dipping some of them in nut butter. It was like healthy gluttony...I immediately felt the shame come on as soon I finally screwed the cap on to the nut butter. Why do I always do this to myself??? Of course my awesome stomach, instantly bloated up to the point where I couldn't move. I even had to skip my crossfit class because I knew it wouldn't be pretty going there with my stomach acting up. I tried to wait a little longer and finally it went down enough for us to do a mini workout. It pretty much kicked my ass, I couldn't breathe very well ad it felt like I had just eaten. That night, my dad took us to a crawfish boil. I had read on a couple of other blogs that crawfish is totally compatible with Whole30, so I was pretty excited, I LOVE CRAWFISH! However, because of my little misadventure with stuffing my face, due to pms/stress eating, the thought of eating anything was nauseating. I watched as my bf and dad chowed down on mudbugs, I ended up having exactly 5 crawfish and some spicy mushrooms that had been mixed in the boil. 

I don't know if it's pms or just plain stress but, this week has sucked. I over ate a bunch of times, I found myself craving/reaching for food when I was feeling stressed or down, and to top it off my stomach has been my worst enemy! I am determined to stick this thing out, it hasn't been helping anything except my sleep. I 

Day 13

I knew I was going to be super sore from the WOD the night before so in the morning I threw half a banana in the mix for breakfast, along with some grapes, nuts, and a serving of Tex Mex hash. It was a good and satisfying breakfast and it got me through the morning pretty well. I had a productive first half of work, felt good energy wise and didn't find myself bored or wishing for food. I knew I was going to be busy during lunch so I ate an apple with sunbutter to hold me off until I could dig into some chili. I should probably cut down on my consumption of sunbutter...It's so good though!



After lunch, things slowed down a little bit at work. I started getting bored, thus I started craving junk food (terrible). I made it home and decided today was a rest day, my stomach had been bloated and gassy all day so I didn't really feel like moving much and also I was sore as hell. The bf and I, of course watched Game of Thrones, we actually had a mini marathon, and finally made it to Season 2! Around dinner time, I made myself a salad of spinach, turkey (nitrate free), olives, artichoke, avocado, EVOO and vinegar for dressing. It was good and I probably should have stopped eating after that, but alas I was watching a show and felt like I needed to munch on a snack during. I had grapes and nuts as "dessert". My stomach was already messed up at this point and after all the acidic food in my salad, and stuffing myself even after I was full, my stomach was no bueno. I have to learn how to just eat and be done...

I have been pretty frustrated with Whole30 up until this point. I started this not to lose weight (although that would be nice), but to fix my stomach because I'm tired of living like this, constantly in pain. Next week I'm going to try and cut down on my nut consumption (apparently they're not allowed with IBS protocol) and also try to eat smaller portions. I feel like I may actually be gaining weight from the amount of food I eat. I also realized that I need to incorporate more cardio into my exercise routine. My muscles are starting to get really big and bulky, and when you're 5'2 that ends up just looking like fat. Also I want to get back to my running/triathlon roots. I miss being able to run 8 miles easy and swimming for hours. Time to get back on it!



Day 12

I had eaten way too much the night before so when I woke up I was not hungry at all. I had a small piece of Tex-Mex hash and some coffee with Almond milk. Work was slow to say the least. I felt like the day was dragging and my head was in a fog. I don't know if it was boredom or pms or the fact that all my coworkers decided to order in chinese...but I was having cravings BAD. All I wanted was some chocolate/chips/chinese food/french fries! It was terrible, I have to blame this on pms because I haven't really had any cravings until now...12 days in? I decided that I had to get out of the office while my coworkers NOMed on honey chicken and eggrolls. I went to chipotle for lunch with the bf and I decided to get carnitas in my burrito bowl instead of chicken, love me some carnitas. It was so good!

Sadly even though I ate this HUGE bowl of awesome, I still wanted/craved something sweet. Unfortunately I had about 1/5 of a mini jar of Almond Butter from Whole Foods, in my desk. I basically licked the container clean eating it right out of the jar with a spoon. Call it my moment of weakness. I immediately felt like a fatass. I tried not to dwell on it but I couldn't help it...that guilty inner fat girl wouldn't leave me alone. When I got home after work I was trying so hard to stay away from the cashews, they were calling my name, so I ate a piece of watermelon instead. I went to a 7pm WOD and it was rough. Our WOD was a 200m run buy in, 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 of thusters (50#) and box jumps (24') and a 200m run buy out. I know I could have gone heavier on the weight with thrusters but I was so tired and my muscles were already tight so I went light. I came out of crossfit a sweaty ball of fatigue. I got home and my awesomely sweet bf had warmed me up a bowl of chili, which I threw half an avocado in. It was a good combo but I needed something sweet after the savory chili. I ate a handful of nuts and grapes before I showered, Game of thrones-ed it up and passed out.

Today was a challenge. I had cravings all day all I wanted to do was stuff my face with everything bad. Maybe it was boredom or maybe it was pms, either way I feel like I need to learn how to fight this. I also think I need to slow down on my nut/fats/fruit intake because lately my stomach gurgliness and bloatiness have gotten worse. I don't have the flat stomach and loose clothes everyone supposedly gets a week into Whole30. Oh well there's always tomorrow...

Day 11

Stomach is still upset/gurgly/WTF? =/. Had a big breakfast anyways, because I knew I would be eating lunch late. I had some Tex-Mex hash and some grapes with nuts along with some coffee.

I slept well at night so I had a decent amount of energy, got a lot of stuff done in the morning, including my underarm laser hair removal appointment at lunch. That was an interesting experience. I was of course nervous, beforehand and I wasn't ready to eat lunch yet so I settled for an apple with some nut butter as a pre-lunch/pre-getting zapped in my armpits, snack.



After I got done with my appointment during lunch, with freshly lasered pits, I ate the rest of my lunch. I had leftover chili dog casserole, still my favorite thing I've made on my Whole30 journey. On the way home I realized I didn't feel like eating any leftovers, plus I had a ripe avocado I needed to use. Today was a rest day, plus my body was so sore from that bitch "Fran", I decided to treat myself a little bit and relax. In the midst of us being nerdy and watching a couple episodes of 'Game of Thrones' (it's getting so good...jeez we're nerds), I made myself kind of a hodge- podge salad. The problem with this salad was that I wasn't really hungry however, when I started adding all the stuff in it I got a little portion happy and it turned into this huge mass of goodness. Sauted spinach/mushrooms, artichoke, kalmata olives, turkey (nitrate free), avocado, and some nuts to top it off.

The mix of flavors was awesome. Honestly I should have stopped eating about halfway through because I was already full, but leaving food on my plate is just a sin to me. I finished the whole damn thing. To top it off, I had some grapes and nuts for dessert. The problem with watching anything while we're eating, or even being on the computer/reading, is that when I'm distracted I don't listen to my body. I over ate big time and my stomach is paying for it. My new goals for the rest of this week are; try not to eat while distracted, and also cut down on my nut/seed consumption. I still feel like my stomach looks bloated and extended. I also think I am gaining weight =(. Smaller portions/non-distracted eating, are definitely in my future. 

Day 10

This morning I had some Tex-Mex hash and a cup of coffee with almond milk. My stomach has been acting up again so I wasn't super hungry, felt really full and bloated. I still don't have all this boundless energy everyone keeps talking about, however I do see now that I fall asleep instantly and even when I wake up at night I fall right back asleep. That was never the case, I am kind of an insomniac. For lunch I packed myself some chili dog casserole, I put aside the rest and froze it for the following week. I also had an apple and cashew butter, and some brocolli and mushrooms with some ghee melted over them. My lunch was awesome. I am really happy that my chili dog casserole came out so well, and the buttery veggies were really good.

My stomach was really bad today, very upset and not settled. SUCKS! I am still waiting for the Whole30 to cure my stomach for good, maybe it will take longer than usual to heal all the damage in there? Anyways despite my stomach hurting (I have gotten so used to this it has become normal) I went to crossfit and kicked ass on the WOD. I don't know if it's because I got some energy back or maybe I'm just getting stronger but we did "Fran" 21-15-9 of thrusters and rowing for calories, and I thrusted 60 lbs, almost RX! It was an intense workout and I was HUNGRY afterwards. We stopped by my mom's house and I had some of her lefotver graduation pineapple and cucmbers and a bowl of chili. I wasn't really satisfied after that but she didn't have any compliant snacks I could NOM on. We stopped at Whole Foods on the way home and I picked up some grapes, a couple cans of coconut water, some more nuts (probably didn't need these), and some of this:

This was by far the best substitute for PB I have tried. SO GOOD, it's almost bad? I ended up eating a huge handful of nuts, some of them dipped in sunbutter, and some grapes. Not really what you are supposed to do but hey I had a hard WOD and I was still hungry. I read some forums on the affects of Whole30 and IBS. Definitely skipped the part in "It Starts with Food" where it talks about what you should and shouldn't eat when you have IBS. I went back and re-read it and it turns out I can't eat anything! On top of the usual culprits, I was also supposed to be staying away from most fruits, nuts/seeds, raw veggies, and COFFEE. I thought to myself HELL NO! There's no way I am giving up coffee! So maybe my stomach isn't feeling any better because I'm not following the W30/IBS protocol? Or maybe I just need to give it some time, I'm only about 1/3 of the way in. Either way I don't think I'm gonna cut any of that stuff out. We shall see, only time can tell.



Day 9

I had a huge breakfast this morning because, later on in the day it was my baby brother's graduation party and I knew I wouldn't be eating again until around 5pm. I had some of my Tex-Mex hash, some watermelon, and some cashews. I also drank a full cup of coffee with some almond milk and a little bit of coconut water. Still not very sweet but it's manageable and it saves me a big time headache. 

Worked out a little bit this morning, feeling better energy-wise. The biggest challenge of my day was going to my brother's grad party. We have a HUGE Hispanic/Italian family so every celebration is always centered around food. It wasn't too bad, I had brought my sweet potato chili to eat as my main course, instead of burgers and hot dogs, and my mom was kind enough to have fresh fruit and veggies everywhere! For lunch/dinner I had a big helping of chili with some of my homemade guac on top, some pineapple, cucumbers and brocolli on the side with some guac to dip in. I'm not going to lie I was picking on pineapple and watermelon pretty much the whole party. (Mindless snacking is my worst enemy!)

I did feel kind of left out of the celebration when everyone was digging in to this delicious looking grad cake, and also a freakin MARGARITA MACHINE! So even though I wasn't very hungry I made myself a "dessert" using pineapple, cashew butter, almond butter, and cashews. Very similar to my banana masterpiece I made the other day, (bananas were so much better to use than pineapple). The universe was trying to tell me to stop eating my feelings, because my little snack tasted so weird. I don't know if it was the large amount of pineapple I ate that day, or the combo of butters I put in it, but I ended up having a mini allergic reaction to it and my tongue felt itchy for the rest of the night. Overall I stayed compliant even with all the temptation around me, but that night when I went home I realized I over ate big time! Most of the time when I was grabbing random fruits and veggies I wasn't even hungry. I really need to learn how to stop when I'm full!

I wouldn't say it was a fail of a day, I did stay compliant throughout the party, however I did over eat and my stomach was not too happy about that. I really need to work on stepping away from the food and not being distracted when I'm eating. Learning how to listen to my body instead of my brain! 



Day 8

Day 8 started off awesome. I woke up feeling pretty good and the bf and I decided to go workout at the gym. I ate one meatball beforehand because I wasn't exactly hungry. My stomach decided to start working properly that morning so that was a relief, I finally felt like my stomach was flat and regulated. I went to a cycling class at the gym, it kicked my ASS! Back in college I did a few triathlons, but unfortunately I kind of stopped and picked up crossfit instead. I am trying to get back into tri's but MAN I am outta shape! Afterwards, we stopped by Whole Foods to pick up some goodies, I was starving, so I had a couple of fried eggs, two sausages, and some apple and cashew/almond butter. SO GOOD! 

In the afternoon I was on a cooking spree, I prepared one breakfast meal to eat during the week and one meal to freeze for the following week. I made Tex-Mex hash with sweet potato, ground turkey meat, and egg. It turned out delicious. I also made a "chili dog casserole" with sweet potato, turkey meat, chicken sausage, and enchilada sauce! It smelled so good, hopefully it tastes even better! Here's a sneak peak!

I bought some almond milk to try with my coffee, since obviously I can't function without caffeine. It was decent, I actually drank my whole cup while I was cooking. So nooo headache today! We went to my brother's graduation last night so we ended up getting home around 10pm. Since I had been drinking coffee and eating little tid bits of what I was cooking, I wasn't that hungry. I ended up eating a smashed up banana, some cashews, with some cashew butter/almond butter and some cinnamon, this time I warmed it up a little bit and it was HEAVENLY! Overall today was the best day since I've been on the Whole30, I think it maybe starting to turn around FINALLY. 

Day 7

Finally finished the quiche this morning! It was a bigger piece than usual, so I was pretty full afterwards. I went completely caffeine free today and when lunch rolled around my head was POUNDING! My bf and I decided to go out for lunch (he works close to my office...very convenient). I had done research before and Chipotle looked like a pretty safe bet. I loaded my salad with chicken, guac, and salsa. It was awesome!

We got off work a little early (YAY!) so I had some downtime before my Friday WOD, which was great because the WOD was a tough one. My parent's invited us to dinner afterwards and we ended up going somewhere called Harvest Grille, it's all Organic and pretty good. I tried to stay compliant got some ceviche, a side of portabello mushrooms and cucumbers. I asked before hand what kind of sauce was on the ceviche and they told me it was mostly consistent of lime. When I dug into it however, I kept tasting something sweet, almost ketchup like. I ended up giving it to my dad and just had some chicken instead. 

Something in the ceviche upset my stomach, I don't know if it was the sugar or whatever sauce it was. NOT A GOOD NIGHT! Overall it was an OK day, I had a massive headache but it pretty much went away after lunch, and aside from my stomach hurting at night it was pretty normal all day. 

Day 6

This morning I woke up dreading quiche.It's not that it tastes bad, I have just eaten it every morning for the past 5 days. Oh well, another small piece of quiche with some grapes and nuts, it is. I really have to work on my breakfast variety. I told myself I was going caffeine free today, and I stuck to it (at least for the first part of the day). Surprisingly I didn't get the massive headache I expected, just a little sleepy. I don't think I ate enough breakfast because I was already hungry by 10am, I decided to eat the nuts I had packed for lunch. Those held me over until around 1pm when I decided to eat. For lunch I wanted to add some freshness to my life so instead of sauteing my spinach I just had some raw leaves mixed in with some shepard's pie. It was pretty good, not to mention I FINALLY finished the shepard's pie!

Right about 2:30pm I got the worst headache ever. I gave in and tried to drink some coffee from my office...black of course.. it was terrible only had about two sips so technically I stuck with my no caffeine rule. I decided to take today off from working out, mainly because I felt tired and sore but also because me and the bf, wanted to see what this whole Game of Thrones nonsense was about. Before we sat down to watch the show I ate a handful of nuts ( I regret doing this because I was mindlessly snacking). For dinner I decided I didn't feel like cooking so I threw together some spinach, 3 leftover meatballs,some raw mushrooms, mixed together with olive oil and red wine vinegar (I'm not exactly sure if this is compliant). I also threw in a dash of salt and garlic. My salad was pretty good! I need to try and eat more raw veggie minus all the greasy oils and spices.

So even though this pretty much filled me up, my bf decided to cook himself up some cheddar, jalapeno deer sausage. It smelled so good! Since I couldn't have any I decided to try and experiment and make myself a mini dessert instead. We had some bananas that were going bad so I grabbed one of those and mushed it up with some cashews/macadamias and a dollop of cashew butter. It was delish! It tasted like a pb and banana sandwich, without the bread of course, with crunchy pb!

Day 6 was OK, not great because I did end up eating a dessert like food and also snacked, but it wasn't bad either. I wasn't too tired all day and I fell asleep instantly when I went to bed. This is new to me because usually I stare at the ceiling for a couple hours before I toss and turn my way into a restless sleep. I really need to workout and workout hard, I feel like I haven't been able to do so because I've been so tired on the Whole30, but maybe I'm just being a baby! Tomorrow's challenges are going to be actually going out to eat, and trying to figure out what is compliant or not. I still need to work on my portions, and my mindless snacking, but hey at least I am FINALLY done with all my leftovers, which means I get to cook this weekend =).