Whole 30: Days 21-30

Day 21: I had a headache this afternoon through the evening. I'm not sure if this is because I didn't eat enough today or still because of my damn period. Who knows. I went to buy a plant at Lund's after work and as I went to check out I caught sight of these "veggie chips" made of kale, spinach and carrots. I skimmed the ingredients, thought I could eat them, enjoyed them immensely then thought they must be too good to be true- yup, there's white corn in it. Oh well. They are SO TASTY and I am very happy.

Breakfast- banana with almond butter and cinnamon 

Lunch- salad with blueberries, almonds and blueberry vinaigrette 

Dinner- angus beef burger, mango avocado salsa and veggie chips 

Dessert- zucchini brownie with chocolate coconut milk ice cream 

Day 22: I'm exhausted. I have been since day 1. People told me I would gain energy as I progressed but that seems to not be the case. I slept for 10 hours last night and could barely get up this morning. And it's not like I'm tossing and turning- I sleep through the night pretty regularly. So I got up this morning, made a smoothie with strawberries, raspberries and coconut milk and grabbed a lemon LARABAR to eat on my way to work. Both were gross so I didn't finish either. Our temp receptionist's last day is today and she brought treats- it took everything in me not to eat a donut. She was nice though and also brought bananas. So that was nice of her. 

No picture today- I didn't eat anything I haven't eaten before

Breakfast- banana

Lunch- asparagus, angus burger, strawberries 

Dinner- lamb, potatoes, carrots and turnips with Pom Chipotle sauce from Tastefully Simple

Day 23: Still tired. Nina thinks maybe I'm not eating enough carbs. So hopefully once I work my way back in I will find carbs to give me more energy. 

Breakfast- sumo citrus and Green Machine Naked juice  

Lunch- chicken avocado Cobb from Panera, no cheese  

Dinner- salad with taco meat, avo and mango salsa and veggie chips 

Dessert- mint chocolate coconut milk ice cream 

Day 24: I have a cold today (I refuse to believe ever that I have allergies, even if I might). So I came home and made chicken soup. I bought a rotisserie chicken and tossed it in a pot with chicken stock, sweet potato, carrots, celery, onions, garlic and kale. It was really delicious. I feel a little better. 

Breakfast- strawberries and omelette with tomatoes and sprinkled wth Tastefully Simple Fiesta Party dip

Lunch- Champps' guac burger (no cheese and no bun, I also didn't eat the pico de gallo) with sweet potato waffle fries 

Snack- orange carrot Naked juice 

Dinner- chicken and vegetable soup 

Dessert- zucchini brownie with chocolate coconut milk ice cream

Day 25: More eating out today.  It is tricky but I've managed.  We went to Ruby Tuesday's for dinner and I already wasn't feeling great about our waiter- I asked him if the steak was prepared with butter (it wasn't) and how the coconut crusted shrimp was prepared (he gave me a less than helpful answer) and then I decided what I wanted and he said "wow, I thought you were going to be way more annoying" or something to that affect.  Nice.  I was not amused, even though he thought he was pretty funny.

Breakfast- watermelon, strawberry and kiwi smoothie
Lunch- mango chicken with broccoli from Chili's
Snack- veggie chips and mango/avo salsa
Dinner- petite sirloin, green beans and zucchini at Ruby Tuesday's
Dessert- banana with almond butter

Day 26: I fell off the bandwagon today.  I've been given many opportunities to cheat (a baguette from Panera Bread with my salad the other day was donated to a coworker, the pastries at VB this morning were gazed at but passed by) but then Liz and I went out to dinner before meeting some people at the restaurant and I decided to eat what I wanted.  We were at moto-i and that meant a delicious steamed bun with tempura shrimp and delicious mayo.  IT WAS SO GOOD.  Then I had the bistro steak and sweet potato fries for dinner and that was pretty much Whole 30 compliant.  However, then Liz ordered dessert and I ended up enjoying 2 Japanese donuts and some green tea ice cream (which was smooth and creamy like butter).  It was worth it last night but I told Liz I wouldn't be thanking her if I ended up throwing up the next day (so far so good).  I'm definitely ready for a beer and there were perfect choices last night but I decided to stay away from that until a few weeks from now.  Or maybe until I'm done with Peak 10 again.  We'll see.

Breakfast/lunch (I woke up late)- salad with chicken, blueberries, almonds and blueberry vinaigrette with strawberries on the side
Snack- Life Support juice from Freshii- kale, spinach, avocado, pineapple and banana
Dinner-  shrimp steamed bun, bistro steak with sweet potato fries, sugared donuts with green tea ice cream

Day 27: I actually feel okay after eating off-plan food last night.  Today was tricky for lunch because I was at a birthday party- I figured since I had eaten corn chips already I may as well just keep doing it so I ate chips and guacamole.  I passed on the birthday cake and awesome fresh ice cream from SDSU.

Breakfast- 2 eggs, avocado, mango
Lunch- watermelon, chips and guac at River's birthday party
Snack- salt and pepper pistachios
Dinner- shrimp with chimichurri sauce (parsley, cilantro, lime juice, olive oil and garlic), tomatoes, sugar snap peas
Dessert- banana chips

Day 28: I had a really good day.  Then I went to Vera Bradley to work for the evening and suddenly all I wanted was ice cream.  And at that moment, I did not care how bad it was for me.  So I was going to go to Dairy Queen and get a Blizzard in a waffle cone (I am the target audience for so many commercials) but no one was working at the counter so I went to Smash Burger instead and got a PB&J smoothie that had whipped cream and peanut butter chunks on top.  It was so tasty.  And I downed it in my 15 minute break.  AND I didn't feel sick the next day.  So I win.

Breakfast- Watermelon, kiwi and strawberry smoothie
Lunch- leftover chicken/kale/vegetable soup
Dinner- peanut butter and jelly milk shake from Smash Burger

Day 29: We had a potluck at work today.  I decided to be done with the Whole 30 (well I kind of decided that last night when I drank the milk shake).  I made it many days.  It was good.

Breakfast- banana, Orange Carrot Naked Juice
Lunch- bacon wrapped breadstick, meatballs, caprese skewers, salsa with chips, mediterranean couscous, spinach poppyseed salad with strawberries and avocado, ooey gooey chocolate cake, Buster Bar ice cream cake
Dinner- Domino's
Dessert- banana with almond butter and sweetened coconut flakes
Fourth meal- 1/2 an enchilada (I was forced...)

Day 30: Well today's the day.  Technically I am supposed to start reintroducing foods to my diet tomorrow but since I failed to comply with the rules, I am not going to.  After not eating the best food for the past couple days, I actually don't feel sick like I thought I would.  I'm still exhausted (I need to figure out what's going on there) but otherwise I'm feeling good!

Breakfast- Green Machine Naked Juice
Lunch- spinach poppyseed salad, Buster Bar ice cream cake
Snack- Sumo citrus
Dinner- spinach salad with taco meat, cheese and avocado cilantro dressing with mango on the side

Whole 30: Days 11-20

Day 11: Liz came over after work and we ordered from George & the Dragon through Bite Squad.  The salad on the menu that I knew I could eat was called the Mary so I felt like that was a good sign.  In other news, I was using my new mandoline kitchen cutter tonight and sliced off part of my thumb.  When I bought the mandoline yesterday, I found that the safety piece was not in the box but I wanted to use it anyway so I didn't return it.  This was my first mistake.  So, not surprisingly, my thumb wasn't positioned correctly around a beet and it did not end well.

Breakfast- 3 hard boiled eggs, plantain chips and grapes

Lunch- leftover curry chicken, 1/2 a tomato and an apple
Snacks- herbed cashews
Dinner- arugula salad with asparagus and ginger vinaigrette with salmon

Day 12: I am still hungry after dinner tonight.  I assume that's because I just had juice for lunch.  I also got light headed and almost passed out at VB this afternoon but I quick downed some water and felt better.  Bottom line- I need to eat more today.

Breakfast- 2 eggs, beet chips and Naked Orange Carrot juice
Lunch- "Liquid Sunshine" juice from Freshii at Southdale- pineapple, ginger, golden beets, cilantro and green apple (I took a picture of its lovely color but then I got a new phone and my picture was gone)
Dinner- chicken grilled with Tastefully Simple's seasoned salt, 2 carrots, yellow mango

Day 13: I now have more ailments than I started with.  So here's hoping that works itself out.  The good news is, I don't snack as much and because I eat more and I eat better food at meals.  And I typically don't eat past 8 or 9 so that helps too because you are not supposed to eat 2 hours before sleeping.

Breakfast- OJ, almond butter (I wasn't that hungry)
Lunch- sun-dried tomato/basil sausage, cucumber and tomato salad, turkey and blueberry muffin

Dinner- rosemary garlic chicken (too dried out, my bad) and cucumber/tomato salad. 

Dessert- chocolate and mint chip coconut milk ice cream!!

Day 14: It is tricky not to give in to my favorite treat when I'm at the mall- the Pretzelmaker is just outside Vera Bradley but I am able to resist since Freshii is upstairs in the food court.  Unfortunately, everything at Freshii takes 12390 hours to prepare and there is usually only 2 people there working and its just freaking slow.  But tasty.

Breakfast- 2 turkey blueberry muffins and watermelon, mango and pineapple juice/smoothie 

Lunch- leftover chicken, cucumber/tomato salad, strawberries
Dinner- "Soho" salad from Freshii- spinach, bacon, beets, green apple, cranberries and walnuts with a balsamic vinaigrette

Day 15: I'm halfway through!!  And I'm pretty happy thus far!  This morning I cracked an egg for my scrambled eggs but it turned out to be a hard boiled egg so I knew immediately what I was going to have for lunch!  Then I labeled the rest of my eggs.  Also I got to work and our boss ordered Davanni's for everyone before a big meeting this morning.  WAH WAH WAH (that sounds like this in my head). I was not in the mood for another salad so I just ate the lunch I brought, even though everyone's pizzas and calzones smelled FREAKING DELICIOUS.

Breakfast- 2 eggs scrambled, 1 almost ripe avocado and a Sumo citrus

Lunch- 2 hard boiled eggs, apple, leftover chicken

Dinner- more leftover chicken, strawberries and mashed cauliflower (surprisingly good, Mitch even liked it)

Dessert- coconut milk ice cream :)

Day 16: I gave in and bought mayo from the store today. Trudy and I tried to make Paleo mayo two different times but failed twice because we lack an immersion blender and evidently the Ninja just doesn't cut it.  So I bought Kraft Olive Oil mayonnaise which possesses the least amount of shitty ingredients and may have used soybean oil but I don't care.  I really wanted to make chicken salad and I didn't want to use avocados.

Breakfast- watermelon and strawberry smoothie, 2 hard boiled eggs

Lunch- Chipotle salad with carnitas, tomato salsa and guac 

Dinner- chicken salad

Day 17: Today was a boring day.  Not much to report.

Breakfast- kale, strawberry and cherry smoothie with 3 hard boiled eggs

Lunch- leftover Chipotle, apple 

Dinner- bison burger, fried egg, radishes and mashed cauliflower

Day 18: Today, on the other hand, was a shitty day.  I've been depressed all week and I'm not sure if it was due to my period or my diet.  By the time Friday hit, I was exhausted and sad and pouty and chose to wallow in self pity instead of going to Wits at the Fitz with Matt Nathanson.  I sat on the couch and hid under a blanket during the commercials of the shows I was watching.  It was pathetic.  Then I went to bed and found that Marvel had pooped on my bed under the blanket.  THEN I found out that the friends I knew that went to Wits MET FREAKING MATT NATHANSON.  So after I cried for a while, I decided that I will not let depression keep me down and keep me from going out and doing things, even if I had 2 tickets for the show and couldn't find someone else to go with my so I was sad and lonely about it.  NEVER AGAIN.

Breakfast- bison burger, avocado, grapefruit and OJ

Lunch- chicken salad, apple

Dinner- bacon and eggs baked in avocado (in a sad face because that's how I felt)

Day 19: I was much more energized today after sleeping and deciding to be stronger than my feelings.  I went to Costco with my mom to buy stuff for Easter lunch- it is difficult going to Costco and not being able to try ANY sample.  Same with Whole Foods, where I went on my way home, because they're always sampling delicious cheeses.  I worked at VB tonight and was determined not to eat at Freshii again- after looking at the nutritional facts of the SmashBurger menu, I found that the only item I could legitimately eat were the sweet potato fries.   Everything else contained dairy, soy, wheat or nuts.  Literally everything else.  I cannot tell you how good these fries tasted.

Breakfast- kale, pineapple and strawberry smoothie

Lunch- salmon dill patty, mashed cauliflower and mango

Dinner- 3 deviled eggs and SmashBurger sweet potato fries

Day 20: It is Easter!  Last week I asked my dad if I could make a Paleo Easter lunch and he said yes so I was in charge of cooking today.  I was pretty proud of myself.  I even told my parents they could make their cheesy Easter potatoes if they wanted and I would be okay with it but they refrained (they did not, however, refrain from bringing it up during the meal about how sad they'll be without leftovers all week- boo to them).  I cheated a bit with dessert today- I made these zucchini "brownies" with honey and chocolate chips.  Oh, and today is also Greek Easter and when we got home from church there was baklava on the front step so I had a small piece.  I do not regret it.

Breakfast- bacon, grapefruit, blackberry Izze
(Late) Lunch- deviled eggs, lamb, asparagus, root vegetable medley (carrots, turnips and purple potatoes), strawberries and raspberries, zucchini "brownies" with homemade coconut milk ice cream

Whole 30: Days 1-10

Day 1: I wanted an Altoid after lunch but the number 1 ingredient is sugar.  So boo to that.  And I refuse to buy sugar-free candy types of things because A. that's beside the point and B. they're full of artificial crap that I can't have anyway.  

Breakfast- 2 hard boiled eggs, 1 avocado, 1/2 a grapefruit

Lunch- I didn't think ahead and pack a lunch so I went to Chipotle.  They got my order wrong and I got chicken instead of carnitas but it was delicious nonetheless.  Lettuce, tomato salsa, chicken and guac.

Dinner- zucchini noodles with spaghetti sauce 

Day 2: I had a headache all day.  And I was really hungry between lunch and dinner so I ate a Coconut Cream Pie LARABAR.

Breakfast- Sausage and kale egg bake, blueberries and Green Goodness juice.
Lunch- leftover spaghetti and zucchini noodles
Dinner- roasted asparagus and avocado soup drizzled with olive oil.  Freaking delicious.

Day 3: My GI tract is not my friend today. Stomach cramps are the worst.  I am too busy at work to really think about any ailments I might have.  I'm drinking water, but not more than I usually do so I need to get on top of that. 

Breakfast- 2 hard boiled eggs, banana, almond butter

Lunch- egg bake, salad with blueberries and blueberry vinaigrette 

Dinner- steak with Rick Bayless taco skillet sauce, guac made with Rick Bayless guac starter and mango.  I love Rick Bayless.

Day 4: Still with the cramps and GI business.  Otherwise I feel fine.   I almost made banana and coconut milk "ice cream" for dessert but A. I'm not supposed to make dessert-types of things and B. I actually wasn't hungry after dinner, I just felt the need to eat dessert out of habit.  So yay for that!

Breakfast- egg bake, Naked Carrot & Orange juice

Lunch- Leftover soup

Dinner- chicken with Watkin's Chicken Seasoning (yes please Winona!) and asparagus.

Day 5: Stomach cramps & GI tract stuff still.  If I keep feeling so shitty (literally and figuratively, sorry for the TMI), I don't know how worth it this whole thing is.  I hope this is just the "carb flu" because I definitely feel like when I had the flu but without the body aches.

Breakfast- 3 eggs (will not make them in coconut oil next time because even though people say you can't taste the coconut in the oil, you totally can), guac and Naked Berry Machine

Lunch- OJ and tuna salad from Whole Foods

Snacks- clementine segments, herbed cashews, nut mix (almonds, cashews, walnuts, hazelnuts and raisins)

Dinner- Clementines and I made a soup with curry chicken (that I made in the crock pot last night), lemon juice, lemon rind, chicken broth and 2 scrambled eggs mixed into the hot broth.  Delish.

Day 6: Today was tricky because I went to a birthday party where everyone was eating delicious treats and then they made S'MORES.  I had 2 turkey meatballs with BBQ sauce- I shouldn't have had that because of the ingredients in the sauce but I felt okay about it.  

Breakfast- 3 scrambled eggs, curry chicken and 1/2 a grapefruit, Naked Red Machine 

Lunch- Salad with clementine segments, sunflower seeds and an apple vinaigrette with a sweet potato "waffle" (the idea was to put the tots in the waffle maker and it mostly worked) and raspberry-apple juice

Snacks- herbed cashews, Sumo citrus fruit

Dinner- leftover lemon chicken soup with a mango

Day 7: I went out and bought a probiotic today.  I read up on some Whole 30 forums yesterday about my GI symptoms and it turns out this is normal but I need to add enzymes or probiotics to my diet.  I thought about caving to eat some yogurt (yuuuuuum) but instead I went to the Vitamin Shoppe today and bought a probiotic capsule.  I feel better already!  Today I think my stomach cramps were actually hunger cramps because I didn't eat as much as I should have today...  I also came to the conclusion that I'm dehydrated so I'm almost finished with my 2nd liter of water today.  

Breakfast- 1/2 a grapefruit (bad, I know) and a LARABAR

Lunch- leftover chicken and asparagus, clementine

Snacks- nut mix, a Sumo citrus fruit

Dinner- chipotle chicken lettuce wraps with avocado and the biggest blueberries ever!

Day 8: I made it a week!  I am feeling much better today having figured out the need for a probiotic and drinking more water.

Breakfast- eggs with red pepper and avo, Red Jacket apple juice 

Lunch- leftovers. Can't remember what though

Dinner- Spiral carrots, summer squash and zucinni sautéed in ghee, sun dried tomato basil chicken sausage from Trader Joe's

Day 9: Twas a beautiful day out today!  I ate my dinner on the front step in lovely 65 degree weather.

Breakfast- Green smoothie! Avo, kale, pineapple and banana mixed with Red Jacket apricot-apple juice. Freaking delish. 

Lunch- also leftovers. Not exciting.

Snacks- LARABAR and nut mix

Dinner- Bison burger from Trader Joe's with avo and plantain chips 

Day 10: I'm still really tired. I sleep better at night but I'm still tired.  And because I'm tired, I sleep in a little longer than I should which leads to less time to make lunch... which lead to me going to Byerly's today.

Breakfast- another green smoothie like yesterday 

Lunch- I went to the salad bar at Byerly's and splurged for some bacon which I'm quite sure I can't have (due to the sugar likely used to cure the bacon) but I didn't care. I also think I got more toppins than salad but that included carrot sticks, matchstick beets, golden raisins, cranberries, cherry tomatoes and pepitas. Also a raspberry vinaigrette that I'm sure was full of sugar so I barely used it 

Snacks- Sumo citrus 

Dinner- Lemon and dill salmon burger from Whole Foods and grapes. I was going to eat some beet chips (that I baked while I ate dinner) but I found I wasn't that hungry for more so I passed