Day Thirteen of Whole30

Saturday was a little rough for energy.  This is a second day this week that I only walked my minimum distance.  Food was amazing today, I went back to eat the rest of lunch as a snack when I was still hungry (no fruit as a snack today!).  A lot of catching up with my TV shows and gathering my thoughts in the evening.   If I can get my sleep back on track a bit tonight, I can get some energy back on Day 14…..

Breakfast: 3 egg omelette with spinach and bell peppers.  A coffee with coconut milk

Lunch:  Chicken breast and vegetables in a tomato sauce

Snack: another bowl of chicken breast and vegetables in a tomato sauce (I was still hungry from lunch)

Supper:   and spinach garden salad with home-made raspberry, strawberry vinaigrette

Mood and Energy:    Went back to bed for 2.5 hours after walking the dogs and eating this morning

Exercise: walked 6.4 kms.  No work out

Day Twelve of Whole30

Breakfast: 3 egg omelette with spinach and zucchini inside, one slice of sugar-free bacon.  A coffee with coconut milk

Lunch:  Raw vegetables and spiced tuna (canned)

Supper:   Chicken breasts in tomato sauce and vegetables

Mood and Energy:    Not too bad.  Rested for about 15 minutes before going out.

Exercise: walked 9.1 kms. No work out

Day Eleven of Whole30

Went to a movie this evening which could have posed many problems.  The obvious one being how do you go to a movie without eating heinous food?  Well I’d gone to movies several times in the prior six months and usually just didn’t bring snacks at all.  Or I’d bring a few squares of 90% chocolate.  Seeing as I’m doing the whole30 I bought a small bag of cashews and a small bag of raisins before the show.  Probably a little too much for the day, but live a little!

Breakfast: 3 egg omelette with spinach and zucchini inside, one slice of sugar-free bacon.  A coffee with coconut milk

Lunch:  Left over beef strips and raw vegetables

Supper:   Ground turkey and zucchini

Mood and Energy:    Not too bad.  Rested for about 15 minutes before going out.

Exercise:   Walked 6.1 kms

Day Ten of Whole30

Today was a pretty good day for energy and the day went by fast with several meetings at work and a Dr’s appointment after.   For all the hustle and bustle I still didn’t make it to bed ’til after 11pm.   I am really feeling that not having dairy is having a great effect on me.   I have way less phlegm and my throat clearing is way down.  My back/neck/shoulder pain is still there in the morning but it subsides a lot faster and I haven’t taken Tylenol in days.  I skipped my workout but wil defitiely do it Thursday night.

Breakfast: 3 egg omelette with spinach and zucchini inside, one slice of sugar-free bacon.  A coffee with coconut milk

Lunch:  Leftover cabbage rolls and a spinach garden salad with white balsamic vinaigrette

Snack: orange in the morning and a handful of raspberries in the evening

Supper: Ground turkey and veggies

Mood and Energy:  Pretty much go, go , go all day today.  Kept up fairly well.  Dozed off for 5 minutes waiting to leave for a Dr’s appointment

Exercise:  Walked 7.8 kms.  Skipped my exercising and will do on Thursday

Day Nine of Whole30

Today went much better than yesterday and i re-started the fish oil and and magnesium.  I got all of my walks in and skipped the nap I felt like I needed around 4pm.  I feel like I can get through these low energy patches and feel like I may be getting to a point where I won’t have them anymore.  The snack I had when I got home is making me think that I may not be getting enough to eat at lunch.

 

Breakfast: 3 egg omelette with spinach and zucchini inside.  A coffee with coconut milk

Lunch:  Two small turkey patties, two strips bacon and a spinach garden salad with white balsamic vinaigrette

Snack: 3 or 4 cabbage rolls (beef and cauliflower)

Supper: Steak Strips over cauliflower, carrots and broccoli

Mood and Energy:  NOt too bad today.  Resisted a nap as I was still a little tired from the day before.

Exercise: Walked 8.2 kms throughout the day.   Medium level housework (there is such a thing!)

Rest:  Walking Dead!

Day Eight of Whole30

Today was a bit of a write off.  I didn’t cheat or anything, but I did have an incident that set me back with both my exercise and sleeping pattern.  I’m feeling 1000 times better and tomorrow is another day!

Breakfast: 3 egg omelette with spinach and zucchini inside.  A coffee with coconut milk

Lunch: two small beef patties with a salad and white balsamic vinaigrette.  3/4 of an avocado

Supper:   Chicken broth and mashed sweet potatoes

Mood and Energy:  Fine until the afternoon when I had an “event” that sapped me of all energy.  Ended up laying down for 90 minutes?? not sure

Exercise: Walked 4.2 kms throughout the day.  No walks after the afternoon

Rest:   went to bed at 2200h asleep by 2300h

Day Seven of Whole30

My energy fluctuates through out the day.  I needed a nap at noon, but was bopping around like a mad man around supper time.  I didn’t get a whole lot of walking in during the day (two walks for about 3.5 kms) so we compensated with a 4+ km walk after supper.   I feel good that we’ve finished a week, but 23 more days seems like a long haul.  I’m not even sure what I’d introduce back into diet at this point.  The only thing I’ve really missed so far is the ritual around having a few beers on Saturday to watch the games.  This is something I will most likely reintroduce as I don’t see it as a huge deal.  But I am also thinking of making those beers into two hard ciders.

 

Breakfast: 2 fried eggs on a hash of chopped veggies and pork patties. Coffee and coconut milk.

Lunch: Failed here after my nap before we went shopping….. Two tomatoes cut up

Supper: Hamburgers and salad with olive oil.  A few strawberries and raspberries a little after supper

Mood and Energy: Tired enough to have a nap.

Exercise: Walked 7.8 kms throughout the day

Rest: A nap at noon and Amazing Race before our last walk

Day Six of Whole30

Got up at 6am to walk and feed the dogs to keep them on schedule. Laid down again after 10 and dozed and relaxed. Felt like a “hump day” today, but I’m pretty sure 6 days isn’t half of 30…..I had to take some Tylenol as my neck pain got too much to bare.  This would be mostly from the yard work I think.

Breakfast: 3 eggs with bell pepper, zucchini and mushrooms. Coffee and coconut milk.

Lunch: salad withnewpork parties with jalapeño

Supper: baked lemon salmon with steamed cauliflower and carrots

Mood and Energy: I had some cranky moments in the afternoon and had to rest more than once while working in the yard.

Exercise: Walked 9.7 kms throughout the day and did vigorous yard work

Rest: I went back to bed for a quick rest at 10am. Played some ball with the dogs in the playroom

Day Five of Whole30

It was hard getting up today.  Alarm woke me up but I turned it off and stayed in bed.  I’ve never used the snooze button so I just woke up 25 minutes later and had to hustle to get back on time.  We had a shorter walk than usual and then had breakfast.  The day went fairly normal until we got home and I took a lonnngg nap.  Supper was amazing and we had our final walk by the ocean.  Looking forward to a great sleep (fingers crossed) tonight and tomorrow will be the challenge of the weekend!

Breakfast: 3 eggs with bell pepper with a coffee and coconut milk.  Left over pork patties

Lunch: Spinach garden salad (no dressing), leftover chicken tenders

Supper: Steak with fried mushrooms. zucchini and mushrooms.  Also a bit of fried sweet potato

Mood and Energy:   Energy was ok once I got going, but I took an almost two hour nap when I got home.  I guess the best word for it is placid as far as mood goes.

Exercise:  Walked  8.2 kms throughout the day.

Rest: Watched a few episodes of a Sitcom and wrote in my blog

Day Four of Whole30

I noticed today that I haven’t been clearing my throat as much today (this is a long standing habit that had gotten worse on days 1 through 3).    I was still fairly achy in my joints (shoulders and a bit in my hips) when I woke up.   Energy was good through the day until I got home from work and I felt like I reallllly needed a nap.  I didn’t give in today and sat down for about 20 minutes with a dog on my lap and just chilled out ’til it passed.   Went for a walk a bit sooner in the evening (around 7:30) so the sun was still up.  I exercised as soon as I got home from the walk and settled down for the night after.  I didn’t get into bed and fall asleep until after midnight so we’ll see what my update says about energy levels tomorrow…….

Breakfast: 3 eggs with bell pepper with a coffee and coconut milk

Lunch: Spinach garden salad (no dressing, I don’t mind!), a ripe avocado  and home made pork patties

Supper: Baked chicken tenders with almond crust and sweet potato fries fried in coconut oil

Mood and Energy:  Woke up before my alarm but took 15 minutes to get up.  A bit foggy for the first 30 minutes after getting up.  Wanted to nap but rested for 20 minutes in a lazy boy instead

Exercise:  Walked 7.4 kms throughout the day.  10 sets switching between lower weight bicep curls (with an EZ curl bar) and beginners planking

Rest:  Watched yet another hockey game and hung out with my family

Day Three of Whole30

Today was great for energy until I got home from work and thought about doing the chores I had set out to for the day.  I had a nap much longer than a power nap but I felt much better after without feeling too hungover.   I’m starting to get the bulk of my walking in for the dogs’ last walk of the day to get over 6kms on the day.  I might have to monitor that as it could be affecting how I fall asleep at night.

Breakfast:  Eggs with chopped up bell peppers and Zucchini.  One cup of coffee with coconut milk

Lunch: Leftover Turkey patties and broccoli

Supper:   Cut up some steaks and made a stir-fry with lots of veggies and spread it on cauliflour

Mood and Energy:   Crashed in the late afternoon and slept for 90+ minutes up til supper

Exercise:  Walked 7.6 kms throughout the day (I always track my walks with Cardiotrainer, which i highly recommend)  I had a workout planned for the evening but because of some neck pain I only did my walk.

Rest:  Watched The Voice and fast forwarded through all the mushy stuff.  Just sing please!

Day Two of Whole30

It was pretty good day overall.  I had really good energy for the better part of the day and snoozed a bit during my massage.   I got hungry in the afternoon and was unprepared for it.  Ended up eating a few carrots to tide me over.   Looking forward to day three!

Breakfast:  Pork chop and eggs, almonds as pre-walk snack before breakfast.  Coffee with Coconut milk instaed of the coconut oil.  Liked the same if not better!

Lunch: Leftover ground beef goulash (not sure if it’s actually a goulash, more like beanless chilli)

Supper: Turkey burger patties and steamed broccoli with left over berry smoothie for a snack

Mood and Energy:  Great throughout the day.  Woke up before my alarm but laid there for 15

Exercise:  Walked 6.9 kms throughout the day

Rest: Had a massage in the evening which helped with the aches and pains left over from Monday’s workout. Really fast forwarded through a bad hockey game!

Day One of Whole30

On day one I woke up abruptly from a sub-par sleep by my alarm and didn’t exactly spring from bed.  It took about 5 minutes to muster the gumption to get out of bed and get dressed.  I walked the dogs 1.7 kms before breakfast while munching on a handful of almonds for some energy.  I had steak and eggs for breakfast and will have a garden salad with a white balsamic vinaigrette with a baked chicken breast for lunch.  I finished the day walking 8.5kms spread over 5 walks. My wife made a goulash type beef dish with tons of vegetables for supper, followed later by a berry and coconut milk smoothie. I have some neck pain from exercises last night but I seem to have OK energy considering it’s a bit more than I usually walk in a day. All in all a pretty good day one!

Read: Nothing

Exercise: Walked 8.5 kms and did some more seeding in the backyard

Rest: Watched finale of True Detective and fast forwarded through the hockey game

From Paleo to Whole30

I’m eating the last of my jalapeno cheese while drinking my accompanying coffee with cream and sugar.  While having great success in weight loss and general health improvements, I have yet to go “all-in” with any health/lifestyle changes.  My wife, who got me on the paleo (ish) path to begin with, has discovered the Whole30 and wants to start it this week.  We are aiming for a Tuesday start with day zero being Monday.  I have only started the reading today which, so far, is the science behind the food.  I’m definitely ready for some structure to get stage 2 of my health/life journey started.  What’s stage 2?  More strength training, zero extravagances (cream, sugar, pepperoni sticks, etc)  and tons more vegetables.   I have a LOT of reading to go but thought I would start chronicling it here, today to get things started.

Read: It Starts With Food; Chapters 1,2, started 8

Exercise: Walked 7.75 kms, planted grass seed clearing some ares, installed a HIIT App  to time my crossfit (alternating planking, side plank, squats and bicep curls for 13 minutes)

Rest: Watched The Walking Dead and I am reading the Falling Skies comic series in my Dark Horse comics App before i go to sleep at 2300h