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 =).