Whole 30: Week 1 in the Life

We get a lot of questions about what we eat day to day, “how do we make it work in the real life?” Since I started a Whole 30 this week, to do what I hope to be an annual “cleanse” for my gut health, I thought it the perfect time to answer the question. I documented every morsel of food I’ve eaten in the past week (thanks, iPhone!). So, for the curious, here’s the answer.  And it’s not just Paleo, it’s Whole 30.

Day 1 (June 13th)
Drank: 50oz water
Breakfast: Skipped
Lunch: 2C lard sauteed kale, 1 herb chicken thigh, 1C Bubbies sauerkraut, apple
Dinner: Skipped
Exercise: Played outside with kids
Slept: 8.5 hours sleep
Fasted: 18hr

My first day started and ended with a fast because I went a bit spastic the day before; I woke up hung over from sugar and white rice.  The plain chicken and kraut did a great job to coat the gut with some protective armor and get me ready for the rest of my 30 days of clean eating.

Day 2: (June 14th)
Drank: 40oz Water, 8oz coffee, 8oz caff free blueberry tea (dessert)
Breakfast: 2C spinach cooked with 1/2C uncured bacon, 2 eggs fried in lard, 1 chicken sausage
Lunch: 3C green salad, 6oz canned wild salmon, 3T olive oil & herbs, 1/4c wholly guacamole, 1/2C baby carrots, 1/4 mango
Dinner: 1 pineapple, squash, pepper, onion kabob (1/3 chix breast), 1/4 c red cabbage sauerkraut, 1/4 avocado
Exercise: 30min at gym (row and strength)
Slept
: 6.5 hours sleep

Day 2 was a typical day: Breakfast with eggs, meat and spinach with a salad, fat and fruit for lunch and a balanced dinner.  Lunch was large so I had a single chicken kabob skewer and a small bit of kraut and avocado – just until I was full.

Day 3: (June 15th)
Drank: 52oz water
Breakfast: 1 /2C spinach cooked with 1/3C uncured bacon, 2 eggs fried in lard, 1 chicken sausage
Lunch: 1 kabob (1/2 chix breast), 1C veggies
Dinner: 1 1/2 BBQ chix thighs, 1/4C raw cauliflower, 1/3C blueberries
Exercise:  45 min at gym (cardio and strength)
Slept: 8 hours sleep

By day 3 I was feeling good and clean, had the usual breakfast, a larger portion of kabob leftovers, and then snacked on the boy’s dinner plate while waiting for our BBQ chicken to be done.  As I fed the baby blueberries after dinner, I had a handful and enjoyed the awesome flavor of ripe, seasonal, local fruit.

Day 4: (June 16th)
Drank: 46oz water, 8oz black chai tea, 8oz coffee
Breakfast: 16oz smoothie: almond butter, banana, unsweetened hemp milk
Breakfast: 3oz beef jerky (6 thin palm sized slices)
Lunch: 2C green salad, 6oz canned wild salmon, 3T olive oil & herbs, 1 key lime Lara Bar
Dinner: 1C Spaghetti Squash with Offal Sauce
Slept: 8 hr

Welcome to day 4, the day I got my period (men, don’t run!  learn about your ladies’ bodies needs here).  I always crave iron and sugar when I have mine, so I solved the cravings with an iron-rich organ meat dinner and some healthier forms of natural sugar (still under 50g for the day and all from natural and real fruit sources).


Day 5: (June 17th)
Drank: 36oz water, 12oz green tea
Breakfast: 1 /2C spinach, 2 eggs fried, 1 chicken sausage cooked in lard
Lunch: 2C Spaghetti Squash with Offal Sauce, 2T almond butter, 1 green apple
Dinner: 2oz beef jerky, 1/4 Roast Chicken, 3/4C Turnip Purée
Slept: 7 1/2 hr

Friday nights are movie nights in our house, so after the usual breakfast and leftover awesome lunch we had a wonderful roasted chicken instead of pizza and then I had some jerky as my “treat.”  I felt like the biggest winner ever for not having a Lara Bar or fruit during the movie! I think this is the day I started really feeling the lack of sugar affect my body positively (craving it less), rather than feeling like I was constantly fighting the desire for some dark chocolate.

 

Day 6: (June 18th)
Drank: 24oz water, 20oz iced tea
Lunch: 3 offal tacos, 1/2C guacamole, 1/2C cherries
Dinner: Chicken Korma (coconut milk only), Lamb Masala (restaurant)
Fasted: 16 hr

Oh weekend, how much harder you are!  Knowing we’d be out and about and faced with difficult decisions, I fasted in the morning and then had a healthy, delicious and filling lunch of lettuce tacos made with our leftover offal meat sauce (added taco seasoning).  We were on a day cruise for work all day and I found on the available menu all of the following:roast beef.  Since there was a 2 slice per person limit, it ended up being a snack (no picture, since I’d left my phone on land).

For dinner our family celebrated an Uncle’s birthday at an Indian restaurant.  After a long and tiring day chasing after children, I was starving – with butter and gluten in most everything put on the table I was worried what might happen as a result.  But, I spoke with the waitress about the menu and she conferred with the kitchen to tell me that Chicken Korma (when prepared with coconut milk instead of heavy cream) and Lamb Masala would be dairy and grain-free.  Matt and I ordered one of each and shared them between ourselves and the kids.  I did experience gas for the first time all week after the meal, so I doubt it (or the roast beef) was truly Whole 30 compliant – but, I was proud to have found something and wasn’t the lady eating jerky out of her purse while other dined around me.


 

Day 7: (June 19th)
Drank: 10oz coffee, 48oz water
Lunch: 3 egg omelet, Mexican w/ avocado (restaurant, did not eat potatoes)
Dinner: salad (1 1/2C lettuce, 3 artichoke hearts, 6 sun-dried tomatoes, 1/4C bacon, 2 hearts of palm, 3 stalks asparagus, 1/4 roasted yellow pepper, 1/4 roasted red pepper, 4 green olives), massive quantities of meat (restaurant)
Exercise: 45min at gym (cardio & strength)
Fasted: 16hour fast

For Father’s Day I took my grandfathers out to brunch; one of them picked a Mediterranean restaurant and I was seriously feeling like the world was sabotaging me.  To my grateful surprise, the restaurant had a rather robust omelet section and I was able to request that the usual toast be removed and replaced with home fries, which I gave to Cole (who had scrambled eggs with bacon).  The omelet was made with real eggs (I requested no butter for cooking, but who really knows when you’re not at home) and was topped with a delicious and fresh avocado salad with cilantro, red onions and jalapenos – yum!

For dinner I had made reservations at a Brazilian Steakhouse; the salad bar had tons of fresh veggies that weren’t laden with oils, sauces and other such glop (hoorah!).  I put some seriously delicious and high quality items on my plate and was pleasantly surprised to find that with no dressing at all it had even more fresh flavor than usual – I could really taste the buttery richness of the hearts of palm and artichokes while enjoying the flavor of sun on the tangy tomatoes and roasted peppers.  Oh, and I had TONS of meat.  Probably over a pound of medium rare steaks of all kinds!

 

I’m looking forward to the weekend being over and getting back to routine and eating out of my kitchen.  I’m glad I documented my food and think it really helped me focus on the areas for improvement. I could literally see when I was about to slip and really take control back right away.

Matt’s decided he wants to start his own Whole 30 tomorrow, so I’m looking forward to seeing what his Week 1 post looks like!

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