Day 13

M1 - Eggs, roasted veggies, greens
M2 - persimmons, salad, red curry chicken
M3 - red curry salmon, greens, caulirice, kombucha, a small bite of pork belly, izze
WO - 3rd successful attempt at 5x5 bench at 85lbs.

Fridays are my favorite days of the week because it's the start of the weekend. And I typically like to end my week with a treat of some kind. A bit difficult to do on whole30. Especially when the types of treats I'm looking for are either sweet, have chocolate or alcohol or all three of those things. During dinner tonight, I drank some kombucha and ate the fruit, feeling like an alcohol fiend. Because there is a teensy bit of alcohol in kombucha and the fruit. It was good, but not satisfying enough. So then I started cooking pork belly and drank an izze soda and that was great. And then I tasted a small piece of pork belly. It was fantastic! So now I feel a bit better about ending my week.

My bench workout felt better than the previous one. So now I need to decide if I want to do 85lbs for another workout or attempt 87.5. I think I also need to eat more carbs on my lifting days. I am so curious as to how much I weigh! Am I making lean gains still? Guess I'll find out in 17 days.

Day 12

M1 - a little bit of mango jello, egg, roasted veggies, kale, sausage
M2 - lettuce, grilled beef, ranch dressing, cucumber, radish, carrot, avocado
M2.5 - lara bar, banana
M3 - beef fajitas, greens, kalamata olives, lara bar (This meal was at Whole Foods, a great place to dine for whole30'ers, because almost everything is labeled.)
WO - 2nd attempt at 1x5 255 deadlift. I was only able to pick up the bar twice. Ok so that is my 2nd fail at 255. One more and I get to de-load.

I felt really weak and shakey after my workout today. That explains the lara bars. I went to the grocery store because I wasn't going home until late tonight and that was the only place I could think of to get something whole30 compliant and portable since I was on the road. All I could think about was protein. But I ended up getting lara bars because I needed something dense. Plus they are delicious. The ones I ate though had vanilla extract in it, and I'm not sure if that is whole30 compliant, but whatever, everything else in the bar was. I was starving and desperate. Which brings me to a decision I made this morning right when I got up. I had decided that today, I wasn't going to eat any nuts. And then I did by way of lara bars. But I'm not going to count that. I love nuts because they're so crunchy and delicious. The problem with nuts is that it's easy to eat a lot of them. Nuts are almost starting to move on up there with my addiction to almond butter. Maybe I should refer to them as snacking nuts. Because I do drink cashew milk, which I have no problem with in terms of possible overconsumption. But it is hard to stop at a handful of nuts, unless I drink a lot of water and move away from the kitchen. So I'll just cut them out for now. But I was proud today because for a moment, I thought about buying almond butter at the grocery store, then stopped myself. That would've been super easy protein, and with the banana I bought? So perfect. But I knew it would've ended with me having a stomachache from eating too much.

Day 11

M1 - egg/kale/sausage wrap, ghee/coffee/cashew milk, apple

M2 - lettuce, grilled chicken, ranch dressing, cucumber, carrot, avocado, apples, walnuts

M3 - red curry salmon, greens

WO - Rest day! My body is still sore from the last couple of days.

Thank goodness today is the last hot day of the week. I loved the red curry salmon so much, that I used the leftover coconut milk to make more curry sauce and threw some chicken in it. I'm totally going to enjoy that the rest of the week with my roasted veggies!

I am not sure what I am doing for my workout tomorrow. Either squat or deadlift. Or maybe bench again?

Also I've made a mental list of things to do the next time it gets hotter than 90 degrees where I live. Because anything hotter than that, and I am just a complete mess.
1. Drink super cold water all day. Buy ice if you need to (we don't have an ice maker and I am lazy to make ice).
2. Turn the AC/fan on! Keep blinds closed.
3. Don't spend a lot of time outdoors unless you are submerged in water.
4. Make minimal commitments to go anywhere or do anything that involves being outdoors. Unless you are submerged in water.
5. Check the weather daily to see when relief will come. Plan naps/meltdowns accordingly.

It all seems funny now, but I know when the next heatwave comes, I will be thankful for making this list!!!l

Day 10

M1 - breakfast scramble, greens, ghee/coffee/cashew milk

M2 - lettuce, steak, ranch dressing, cucumber, carrot

M3 - red curry salmon (so delicious!), greens, mango, cashews

WO - Did another 5x5 85 bench. It felt harder this time. I took a hip hop class after.

Another hot, annoying day. Blech. But there are a few things I've learned so far into this whole30 about feeling satisfied with my meals:
1. I love creamy salad dressings. Oil/vinegar or citrus juice is not satisfying enough for my taste buds.

2. I love meals with courses. Or what feels like courses. So a main entree with a few sides and then something else. Either before or after the meal. It makes for a better dining experience for me. It makes me feel like I make time to eat, and that I have good food to eat. It makes me feel like I am taking care of myself. It makes me feel like I am self-indulging!

Day 9

M1 - breakfast scramble, greens

M2 - lettuce, steak, ranch dressing, cucumber, carrot, apple, walnuts

M3 - orange chicken, greens, zoodles, mango, lots of cashews

WO - I went to the gym with the intention to continue working out of my deload for squat. I had failed 162.5 so I'm working my way back up. Today I was supposed to do 5x5 of 155. I completed my warm up and then loaded the bar. I unracked and it felt SO HEAVY. I only managed one rep. Then I looked at the weight and thought, "OMG. I just PR'ed. I loaded 185! OMG!" Haha... well. No. I recalculated and it was really 175. My 1RM for squat in May was 180. But I WAS able to do my 5x5 of 155, barely. It felt really heavy.

The past few mornings I have tried drinking super watered down coffee with a bit of cashew milk and ghee. It tastes great! Minimal affect on my stomach, slight effect on my brain. Maybe that's why I loaded the bar incorrectly today. Maybe next week I will try ghee and homemade chai.

This afternoon was a downward spiral of sucky-ness. I think it was over 100 degrees today, no joke. I never do well in the heat. It irritates me, I complain, it's just not pretty. All I want is cold water or to be in an AC'ed room. Or submerged in water. So anyway, that explains the cashews I ate for dinner. That was stress eating =( Tomorrow is supposed to be a bit cooler, but I've learned my lesson for today. Don't stay out in the heat, and I just need to start saying no more.

Week 2 - Day 8

M1 - breakfast scramble, greens

M2 - lettuce, steak, ranch dressing, cucumber, carrot, apple, walnuts

M3 - orange chicken, greens, zoodles, almonds, mango jello. I know I said I wasn't going to have anymore mango jello while on whole30 but after doing more research, it looks like people eat kombucha jello on whole30, so that makes mango jello in small quantities ok in my book.

WO - early morning 3 mile run/walk with my neighbor friend who is also doing the whole30 with me!

Today I did a little food prep and meal planning. I don't plan for the whole week, just usually 2-3 days out. Because cravings can change in 2-3 days, or I might find a recipe to try.

Week 1 done! And another PR?

M1 - breakfast scramble, greens
M2 - orange chicken, greens, zoodles, roasted red peppers, apple, almonds, boiled egg, grapes, izze
M3 - lettuce, steak, lime juice/olive oil dressing, cucumber, carrot
WO - I was FINALLY successful at my 5x5 bench attempt at 85 lbs! Stronglift 5x5 bench PR! SO HAPPY ABOUT THIS! Then I went to a hip hop fitness class for a few minutes.

I went to a party this afternoon and packed my own food. It was my best friend's kids' birthday party and she knows I'm doing the whole30 and I told her not to worry about me and that I'd bring  my own food.  So I ate more than I normally eat because I tend to graze at parties anyway, but I'm glad I planned for that. The izze was my "treat", as was the apple and almonds. I almost wished I had brought some dates and cashews, because I love that more than apple and almonds and I didn't feel satisfied after eating everything that I brought, then I almost had some when I got home after the party, but I was upset over something, and told myself awhile back that I would not eat or drink (alcohol) when I'm feeling that way. In fact, when I have been in the middle of eating/drinking, and something upsetting happens, I stop eating/drinking immediately and get up and throw the food away or drink down the sink. Yes, kinda wasteful, but that is the one time I don't give myself permission to eat/drink my feelings.

But at the party I was a bit wistful about not drinking alcohol with my friends and eating some of the non-compliant foods. I survived though, thanks to thoughtful planning and bringing food/drink, and it's not like I won't be able to ever enjoy the foods/drinks I missed out on today. So there it is. I finished my first week on whole30, successfully navigated through a restaurant meal and a party. And PR'ed on deadlift and Stronglift bench!

Day 6 - Deadlift PR

M1 - breakfast scramble (same as yesterday)
M2 - steak salad (same as yesterday), grapefuit, almonds
M3 - beef stroganoff, broccoli, caulirice
WO - Today was my first attempt at 1x5 255 deadlift. Before my last competition, I ended at 215 deadlift. And just a month ago, my 1 rep max for deadlift was 250. Last week I was able to do 1x5 245 deadlift, so I was feeling fairly confident about picking up the 255 once. I was going to be happy with once. Because that already would be a PR! Well I did my warm up sets and rested nearly 25 minutes before I was ready to attempt my 1x5. That was probably way too long. I tend to psych myself out when I take too long to do anything. One of my favorite sayings that I heard a few years ago was "Don't think, just do!" But I can see how that can also get you into a lot of trouble. But anyway, I was able to deadlift 255 twice! On my 3rd attempt, I was nearly up, then I lost my balance and stepped backward and almost fell. After that, I was done, haha. I did 3x5 of 185 just to get volume in since I didn't get my 5x5. But overall, I was pretty happy that I PR'ed today.

I was starving after my workout and the beef stroganoff dinner that I had tasted amazing because I was so hungry.

So tomorrow or Sunday I hope to bench, I really want my 5x5 of 85lbs. Oh and I officially registered for my 2nd powerlifting competition. I'm so curious as to what my weight is now... but I can wait until the end of my whole30 to do that. My competition goal is to compete in the 97lb open weight class and pull at least 530. Last June, I competed in the 105 weight class (actual weight was 103.18 at weigh in) and pulled 507. My weight since then has fluctuated between 98-106.5, so I think I can get 97 by this meet's weigh in.

Day 5 - Restaurant Meal!

Last night I barely slept. I slept well for the first five hours, then woke up and couldn't go back to sleep. I stayed in bed though. So I was surprised today that I wasn't as tired as I thought I would be. I only felt it a little in the afternoon, around 1:30pm. I tried to take a nap but couldn't fall asleep, but it felt good to just lay down and rest for a few minutes. Because after that, I was on the go, and out of the house until late. So props to whole30 for giving me energy!

M1 - breakfast casserole (eggs, onions, mushrooms, sweet potato, breakfast sausage, spinach), banana, walnuts
M2 - lettuce, cucumber, ranch dressing, steak, avocado
M3 - rotisserie chicken, lettuce, cucumber, tomato, lemon (no dressing). I ate this at a restaurant. I called ahead and asked about a few menu options that were labeled gluten free, to see if they had any of the other non whole30 ingredients in them. It was between the rotisserie chicken and fish ceviche. I went with the chicken because I wanted something cooked.
WO - Rest day, in preparation for super heavy deadlift tomorrow!

So the fruit jelly we made yesterday was actually fruit jello. It just had fruit juice (no sugar, all fruit sweetened), grass-fed gelatin, and small mango chunks. My mom used to make us jello growing up, with fruit cocktail. So of course my version is a bit healthier =) I was excited to make the fruit jello with my daughter because it's easy and pretty forgiving. Well it turned out really well. Yes I tried a little. No I didn't really consider that cheating because all the ingredients were compliant, and I wasn't enjoying it as a dessert. And it was easy to just have a little taste. But no more fruit jello for me until I'm done with this whole30.

Today was the first time in awhile that I've worn jean pants. And they felt a little loose. Yay! I went out to another restaurant late tonight with my one of my BFF's and she ordered a bunch of things that smelled amazing (and definitely not whole30 friendly) and although I kinda wanted it, it was super easy to say no, because 1) I wasn't that hungry, 2) I don't like eating that late normally, 3) Whole30!

Day 4

Today I had cramps, which is weird because it's not even that time of the month. But it FEELS like it. I'll chalk that up to some weird detox side effect that my body must be going through without sugar and chocolate.

M1 - eggs, eggplant, bell peppers, kale
M2 - lettuce, cucumber, ranch, steak, banana, walnuts
M3 - sesame orange chicken, spinach, broccoli, mango
WO - I benched today 5x5 of 82.5 lbs. I thought about going up to 85, which is where I failed last week but I want to build my confidence up slowly and attempt 85 lbs this weekend. If I fail 85 lbs this weekend, then I will switch to a 3x5 for bench... which kinda sounds enticing at this point. I was also pretty sore from squats yesterday. I was going to walk today, but going to the gym to lift sounded better.

I did a ton of cooking today. That is not normal for a week day. But the time just materialized somehow. Fruit jelly with my daughter, then we tried sesame orange chicken, breakfast sausage, then made a breakfast casserole with the sausage... and then I made her french toast for breakfast tomorrow. I was pretty excited to find a loaf of gluten free bread at Jimbo's yesterday on clearance! For 99 cents! And it was still soft! So yeah, I had to buy that.

Tonight I asked my daughter if she was ok with the foods I pack for her lunch. Because I remember when I was younger, I was a little embarressed that my mom packed me hot foods like ramen. And I remember her bringing me lunch, her hand opening the door to my 4th grade classroom, and slowly, quietly, placing my lunchbox on top of the shelf that was by the door. And the embarressment I felt! I feel horrible now for remembering that, especially since I am a mom now and pack my child all sorts of non-traditional lunch foods. But she seems to be ok with it. Today even, she ate almost all of the paleo lunch I packed for her: caulirice, broccoli, and beef stroganoff. I was pretty ecstatic about that.

She did ask me last week though if I could start packing her a "sweet treat" every once in awhile. Because, she says, everyone in her class gets them. So then I started naming off kids to see if they had sweet treats, and she says no to all of them. Sigh. And so the peer pressure begins! The funny thing is I asked her what would she like for a sweet treat, and she starts naming things like fruit juice and banana bread. Ok... I can totally live with that. But I told her no cookies or chocolate. Well I may bend on that in the future. But we'll start with non chocolatey things for now.

I really enjoyed having her in the kitchen with me today. I got her to start eating a salad every day so that she could grow tall enough to ride the bigger rides by herself at Disneyland next year. "As long as," she said, "the salads have my favorite, mango and meat". Easy for now, because I don't even have to put dressing. But I'm afraid she is going to get sick of that, so we'll need to come up with some other lettuce combinations she is willing to try.

Day 3

M1 - kale, spaghetti squash pizza
M2 - lettuce, cucumber, homemade ranch dressing, baked tilapia, pumpkin seeds, nectarine, walnuts
M3 - beef stroganoff, caulirice, broccoli, nectarine, almonds, nori (seaweed)

WO - 5x5 of 150 lbs squat, then I took a hip hop class for about 30 min.

I was starving by the time I ate dinner today at 5:30pm. And I thought I ate enough for lunch! I also am aware that I am eating a lot of fruit. Part of that is because there is a lot of fruit in my house and no one else is really eating it. But I give myself props for not making any almond butter. Because I know that is one of my foods with no brakes.

I was able to pick up some exciting whole30 compliant foods at Trader Joe's today: grass fed already cooked and sliced(!) beef, and fully cooked pork belly. Can't wait to enjoy these!

Day 2

M1 - eggs, eggplant, peppers, green beans

M2 - lettuce, cucumber, homemade ranch dressing, pumpkin seeds, carnitas, pear, walnuts. Oops! I had taken carnitas out of the freezer for my salad and totally forgot that I had made it in the slow cooker with non-compliant bacon. Oh no! Oh well, I forgot, and that isn't as huge of a mess up for me to start over. So I will continue on my path to wellness =)

M3 - spaghetti squash pizza, greens, a few bites of a teriyaki pineapple chicken wing, banana, walnuts

WO - Yesterday I didn't work out, but today I went to the gym and just did a 5x5 of 80 lbs on bench. I haven't been following the Stronglifts program exactly. It prescribes 3 exercises for each workout and that was just too much for me. The last time I trained, I only did squat, bench, deadlift, and overhead press. I had cut out barbell row. Then towards the end of my training, I cut out overhead press because my workouts were taking more than two hours. I can't stand working out for that long. This time, on most days, I only do one lift for each workout. The weights are just getting too heavy, and then I dread my workouts, and I don't have the time to be in the gym for more than two hours. So I've been alternating my workouts with squat, then the other lifts, and also running/walking outdoors. I feel like this round of training has been mentally easier for me because I'm still doing my cardio, but not as intense.
For the rest of the week, I plan on trying to squat tomorrow, then maybe walk/run Wednesday, then deadlift Thursday and bench Friday and maybe squat if I'm not too exhausted.

This evening was mentally exhausting and I totally wanted a drink badly. But I managed to get through that. Woot, 29 more days to go!

Day 1

Today I was pleasantly surprised to find whole30 compliant breakfast choices at our hotel's complimentary breakfast buffet. So today I started instead of tomorrow. I was so happy to start today because I was feeling all food coma-ish from a party we went to last night.
M1 - spinach, banana, pineapple, walnuts, almonds, hard boiled egg. I really don't enjoy hard boiled egg, especially when they are cold. I thought I might gag but I took my first bite, immediately followed by a pineapple so that helped tremendously. There was also scrambled eggs but I assumed there was butter and milk so avoided that, along with the breakfast sausage, assumed it had sugar.

M2 - power greens, almonds, nectarine, spaghetti squash pizza

M3 - beef stroganoff, caulirice, broccoli, greens I got the beef stroganoff recipe from "The Frugal Paleo Cookbook". I don't know if I really like it enough to make it again. It was a little labor intensive with all the cutting of the vegetables, and then the end result didn't seem worth it to me. Maybe it'd be better with noodles, but the beef looks too much like this military SOS dish that my dad used to make all the time when I was younger. And it had milk in it, and we'd eat it with toast and I am gagging just thinking of it. I'll keep eating it though because I made a lot. 

Another whole30?!?

I'm going to start my 4th whole30 on Monday! I'm starting with our neighbor/friends and this is going to be their first, so I am really excited to support them and share my love for this awesome program. I also told my 6 year old daughter the other day that I was going to start one and why. I explained to her that it was a good way to reset your body and get back in touch with how certain foods make you feel so you can try to make more conscious food choices. I don't want her thinking I'm a chronic dieter. Most of the time, I do watch what I eat and how much I weigh.  She sees me weighing myself almost every day and I explained to her that I am trying to watch my weight because I have a competition coming up. But I've never used the word "fat" in front of her and talked bad about my body. I talk about the things my body can do, like run, and lift weights. When I try clothes on in front of her, instead of saying, "This makes me look fat", I'll say "I don't feel comfortable in this". I hope I am teaching her to have a positive body image.

So yes, I am planning on doing another powerlifting competition in December. I started the Stronglifts program on August 5. So I'm about 1.5 months in. My weight has fluctuated since then because of family in town, special occasions, etc. So that is another way reason why I'm looking forward to this whole30. I'm tired of eating all this sugar, and yet, it's hard to say no!

I didn't start SL from the beginning like I did when I started in March 2016. My squat hasn't improved much, in fact, I am slightly less than where I ended before my last competition. Right now I'm stuck at 162.5 lbs. I was able to complete a 5x5 of 165 before my last competition. For bench, I'm right where I left off, which was trying to get a 5x5 of 85lbs. I'm getting there though. I'm at a de-load week for both squat and bench right now.

Deadlift has been great though. I have not failed yet and yesterday I was able to do 1x5 of 245lbs. My 1RM is 250! So I don't know what's up with my squat. I'm sure I'll get there though.

My goal for the December competition is to pull a total of 530. My last competition I did 507. Ideally, 550 would be incredible, but I don't want to put that much pressure on myself and risk injury. I think most of that extra weight is going to come from my deadlift. I'd love to squat 180, bench 105, deadlift 260. So I've got 2.5 more months to train.

I'm going to try to post during my whole30 this time. I want to try and make more recipes this round. And eat less nuts/fruit.