My Whole30 Recap

Yes, I am horrible at keeping up with my blog and I've been meaning to update... really! However, late is better than never so here's my reap on my Whole30 experience.  

First, I want to apologize for leaving the last 9 days blank, but the last nine days were about the same as all the other days.  I didn't experience anything different from before.  After my Whole30, I did lose weight, but not anything significant.  Honestly, I was a bit disappointed because my experience was not like all the testimony I've read about.  I didn't experience the "tiger blood" nor the crazy cravings for food I haven't had in years.  The only thing I did experience were the headaches at the beginning.  

How Whole30 helped me was learning about how my body works with food.  My cravings for sweets went down dramatically.  I used to have some sort of dessert right when I get home (i.e. ice cream, cakes, etc).  I would even eat sweets that I don't like.  It was bad and I recognized it too.  Now, I am able to pass on the desserts and not want the sugary stuff anymore. 

I am also eating breakfasts every day and that was something I didn't do before.  For most of my life, I went without breakfast (unless I was going out to meet up with friends or have brunch).  I was never really hungry in the mornings and a cup of coffee in the morning was suffice.  

My recovery from my workouts are a lot faster than before.  My soreness usually goes away by mid-day the next day after my work out.  I would wake up sore, but feel great and normal by 11AM.  It's not a bad thing when I'm usually sore all the time. 

So would I continue to do Whole30? I'm not sure.  I've been debating about it for a while.  Currently I am still on Whole30, but I am not sure for how long I'll keep this up. 

Day 20: Panera Bread Pastries All Around Me...

So I am sitting at the service area waiting on my car. I go to the "early bird" special on Saturday mornings because not only is it super cheap for me to get my oil change, this place also serves you breakfast! I'm not talking about your nasty cheap donuts, etc. I'm talking about your fresh cooked omelet made the way you want with OJ.  However, today they didn't bring in the cooks for the omelets and instead, they're serving Panera Bread's pastries and sandwiches. Major blah because I cannot have anything (and it smells wonderful in here).

Panera Bread bagels

Interestingly, even though it smells great in here, I was not tempted to go over and grab one (well, I did walk over to take a photo, but I wasn't interested in picking it up). My cravings for processed sugar seems to have diminished a lot! Even the paleo-fied desserts aren't as tempting as they used to be. Confession: I really wanted to pig out at this one restaurant that makes amazing paleo desserts, but was not able to.  Before I went on the Whole30 journey, I would drool thinking about those desserts (look at the picture! How could you not?!); however, I haven't really craved it and writing about it haven't made me want to text my girlfriend to have a dessert date. 

Paleo Blueberry Cobbler (w/ paleo ice cream)

Initially when I started the Whole30 journey, I told myself the first thing I'm going to order is one of the paleo desserts from my favorite restaurant.  Now, I am not so sure if that's the first thing I want.  I think I would love some good cheese and a glass of red wine.  It's interesting in how just 20 days, your taste buds/cravings can change.  Hopefully I can see/feel more changes in the next/last 10 days of this challenge. 

Days 18 & 19: Where's My "Tiger Blood"?!

I am waiting for this magical "tiger blood" to hit me, but I have yet to experience it. Trust me, I am very sad about it because another reason why I was excited about doing the Whole30 challenge was to experience all the sensations that I've read about in many testimonies. One of them was about "tiger blood."  Tiger Blood is basically where you've gone 'over-the-hill' with the Whole30 program and the cravings are gone, energy is super high, and you just feel freaking awesome!  Unfortunately, I haven't felt the "awesomeness".  I have noticed my cravings are gone and that my energy are about the same.  I think I am stronger with my work-out.  I guess I was expecting to be super energetic like on a runner's high or something. 

What I have noticed is how certain foods affect me.  Just eating Whole30 approved items like plantain chips or kale chips disturbs my tummy.  I initially thought it was just the vegetables (i.e. cauliflower), but then I realized it was the plantain chips that I love so dearly :(  Knowing this and also knowing that the plantain chips can act as my "food without brakes," I decided to stop buying them.  I probably will make my own and see if it's because it's packaged or if I do have an issues with these items.

Day 17: Kung Fu Running Club supports #runforboston

As you may have figured out, I LOVE running. It's actually my first love with CrossFit being my second (okay, it's a toss-up between food and CrossFit, but I'll go with CrossFit for now). So when I heard about Boston, I was really sad. I finally got back to my office and streamed the news coverage that day until I had to leave for CrossFit. It's just ridiculous with what happened and I was glad to see our run clubs getting together to run for Boston.

We made signs and the runners wore green (yes, I know that is not the Boston Marathon colors, but I didn't organize it - just participated). With our run club (Kung Fu Running Club), we asked our runners to wear either green or blue and yellow. Our runs are always on Wednesday nights and through word of mouth and social media advertisement, we had 104 runners show up yesterday for this run. It was amazing! I was disappointed with the fact that my injury caused me to "man the table" and not run with the group. However, I was glad I was part of it :)

Really quick about Day 17: I still have yet to notice the fat melting away, but I did finish "It Starts With Food"!!! I ordered the book on the day I started the Whole30 challenge and it arrived on the 4th or 5th so let's just say I suggest reading the book before starting the Whole30 challenge. It is very resourceful and I enjoyed every bit of it!

I have noticed that my meals do not make me feel yucky or uncomfortably full. I am full and satisfied after each meal and usually am able to go without a snack (unless dinner is 6+ hours since my lunch).

My energy level is still consistent and I haven't had the extra cup of coffee during midday nor evening. I did get a cup of almond milk latte on Monday in between court settings, but that was because I went to a coffeehouse to prepare for my next trial and was too lazy to drive back to my office. 

I also noticed that last week, my tummy was going through some stuff, but I think it was the healing process from the "overcarbsumption" I had from my poor eating days.   I haven't really craved for brownies, cakes, blueberry cobblers, etc.  I have noticed my sweet tooth cravings are more towards fruits now (and Lara bars) and I know I need to not feed into it. 

Day 5: Lara Bar

I think I've mentioned before how I've been reading the Whole30 forum a lot and one of the posts that I've came across talked about how Lara Bars are okay for us to eat during "emergency" purposes only.  By "emergency" it means when you are starving and there's nothing else left.  I won't lie, I've
already shopped around and invested on a few good favors: blueberry muffin, apple pie, and carrot cake (those are the ones I've had so far).  They are seriously delicious and a lifesaver!  No lie, I shoved one down my face last night after the cake tasting with my sister because I was drooling for something sweet (really... after seeing that many cakes and being in a wonderful smelling place...gah! emergency!).  I know it's a 'no-no' because it's basically SWYPO, but hopefully I won't treat Lara Bars as my sweet replacement in that sense.  

Moving on, tomorrow I have a small 4-miler race called 4 For the Park.  It's a fundraiser for the Memorial Parks Conservatory group and I somehow got suckered into participating ;) They got me because of the awesome tech shirt that came with registration!  Mine is hot pink (or really more purple than pink).  I will most likely sport it out tomorrow for the race.  Anyway, since I didn't carbo-load like I normally would (granted, it IS just 4 miles so I don't really need to carb-load), I just had some plantain chips to see if I could use healthy carbs to pull a race off with good time.  Being honest, I am a bit worried because I have another race next Sunday in Austin, Texas: Austin 10/20 and it's a ten-mile race where I will not be doing my normal carb-loading for sure (meaning no pizza, pasta, bagel, etc on Saturday - boo!).  I am hoping all my natural carbs would be suffice and I guess we will find out!

I have to say, so far my Whole30 is going fine, except I know I need to cook more so I won't be tempted to snack.  I've managed to cut out nuts (because I can eat that with no issues), but I can see how easily I can replace that with plantain chips.  My breakfast is usually big enough to where I am not hungry until about noon, but I think it's my lunch that might be causing issues (or is it the fact that I am used to snacking that the habit is difficult for me to break??).  Hmm... lots to ponder over this weekend and I prepare and plan for my meals next week. 

Day 2: leftovers...

Picture this: you're driving home after a run and you're hungry.  All you're thinking about is the leftover NY Strip and the side of baked sweet potato in your fridge.  You get home, open the container and noticed a completely different steak and sides.  SOMEONE ATE YOUR FOOD! Ahhh! That was exactly what happened to me tonight :( 

Luckily, I still have leftovers from my sloppy joe so I quickly heated that baby up and scarfed it down.  However, I was still craving for some sweet potato so I sliced up a whole sweet potato, threw it in the oven and had that as my "dessert" since I couldn't wait for it to be an actual "side-dish".  Seriously people! You cannot eat other folk's leftovers! It's not nice, especially when one is on a restricted meal plan!  I mean... my brother isn't even in town and that's when I expect my food to go missing! Ah-hem... 

Anyway, getting back to updating about my food.  I had a pretty awesome breakfast: asparagus, with over-easy eggs, chicken sausage and coffee.  Lunch, I had sloppy joe again. Now for a snack... yes, snack... I had a Carrot Cake flavored Lara Bar... YUMMY!  I know they're Whole30 compliant, but it is only for "emergency" only (meaning you're stuck somewhere or in traffic and starving!).  I kinda figured it was an "emergency" for me since it was about 4PM and I planned on going for a run outdoors at about 6PM (which I did, but only for 3 miles and not 6 like I had planned). 

As far as Day 2... it wasn't bad.  I did notice I wasn't "feeling my run" since I gave up after mile 3.  I am not sure if it's because of the food (I was warned that I will feel sluggish and not as energize for the first few days) or if it's because I haven't been consistently running the past few weeks.  Guess I will figure it out (or not) as I continue to embark on this Whole30 journey.

Whole30 Challenge

I've started cross-fitting... yes, me... the super weakling of all her friends and family is now a (wanna-be) x-fitter.  I actually started x-fitting in January of this year and it's been an amazing thing! I am actually stronger than when I first started and the workouts are awesome! I knew I was going to be addicted once I started and now... my box is getting me into the Whole30 Challenge (which I accepted).

So I've decided to make myself accountable by blogging about my Whole30 every day (that, in and of itself is another task).  On top of that, I am going to instagram/take pictures of what I'm eating, snacking, and drinking just to make sure I stay on track. If you're curious about my instagram account... it's HungySandy (what else would it be?!).

The Whole30 Challenge is something I've looked into and wanted to do to prove that I can stick to a good program. I've been on/off paleo for a good month or two now and I'll be honest... I've cheated way too many times here and there for it to really work.  However, as crazy as it has been... I actually enjoy and love being on paleo (when I am on it).  I cook more at home, I eat a lot healthier and I am even eating protein that I would never touch in the past (i.e. more fish, lamb, even lobster, etc). 

Let me talk about my cheating that I've done.  My sister is getting married this year so I went cake tasting with her.  Let me tell you... I can seriously devour cake fast! So that was exactly what I did.  Why let free cake go to waste?! Then, having the personality that I do... once I start my cheat, I go ALL OUT.  Like, "let's get more desserts and Chinese food for dinner" all out.  So yes, no matter how good I am during the week, I've always managed to do some harm and make my week not count because I will over-do it with a "special occasion" or have some good (and I mean legit) excuse to have non-paleo food. Also though, I haven't been eating paleo correctly because I'm learning and researching more while I'm on it and I will learn (here and there) that what I've consumed or am consuming then is NOT paleo.  Seriously... it's a lot of effort, but I still think it's worth it.  

Through all this, I've learned one thing... my body hates me! It does not like going from non-processed food to having a huge hit of processed food.  Which is a great reason why I am going to hit the "restart" button by doing the Whole30 challenge with my box.  

A lot of my friends do not get it and I don't expect them to.  Someone even made a comment about how being on paleo/Whole30 is like the Atkins diet.  I did not even respond to that because if she had took the time to really research, then she would know that it's NOTHING like the Atkins diet.  Okay, so enough of me ranting about this topic and let's get to the nitty-gritty. 

What is the Whole30 about? Well, if you go here then the link will take you to the program where Dallas and Melissa Hartwig founded this program in 2009.  Basically, I am cutting out:

• sugar
• legume
• dariy
• alcohol
• grains
• MSG
• sulfites
• corn
• potatoes
• soy

I'm eating: 

• meat
• seafood
• eggs
• veggies
• fruits

What sucks about this is how I cannot even have raw honey or agave nectar, which are paleo, but not Whole30 approved. That also means I cannot have paleo desserts :(  But it's okay... I have something called the "sugar monster" that lives inside me and I really need to get rid of it once and for all.  I did it in the past and now I need to nip it again!  

My challenge starts on April 1st so you'll start seeing my blogs about it.  Figured I'll make myself accountable by talking about it since I have one more day left to shove down all the paleo desserts that I will miss out for a month!