[Whole30] Days 1-10

Monday, February 2, 2015

You guys, it's officially day 15 of our Whole30 and I'm proud to say that we have made it this far with NO cheats! I'm definitely not saying I didn't want to cheat (oh I wanted to cheat) but I didn't. We didn't. (I think Seth has more self control than me around sweets so I think it's been harder for me).

I planned on doing a day 1-15 recap but I have lots of things I want to share and I didn't want to make the post too crazy long. That and I have to work 9:30am - 9:30pm Monday - Thursday this week (boo!) and I won't have much time to do anything besides sleep. I wanted to do a little recap to share some of the recipes that we're loving and to share some thoughts on this lifestyle change.

I shared our shopping trips in my first post, so I won't recap that, but I will share what things we added as the days went on. Also, please keep in mind that I am NOT a food blogger and I did the best I could :)

Day 0.5 // Sunday, January 18, 2015 [prep day]

Today was prep day for the week. I made lots of breakfast items because I didn't know exactly how much each thing would make and I wanted to make sure we had enough breakfast (since that is always my downfall for grabbing something unhealthy) : egg muffins (adapted from Skinny Taste), sweet potato and sausage cups,  and crustless quiche. We also made a dinner that would turn into lunch for Day 1 and cooked our beef in the crock pot.

egg muffins

sweet potato and sausage cups

cilantro lime cauliflower rice with chicken apple sausage and veggie stir fry


Day 1 // Monday, January 19, 2015

Thoughts : so ready for this challenge! I prepared my lunch the night before (leftovers from dinner - I guess you could call that day 0.5 since we started with dinner the night before) and prepared my snacks and breakfast in the morning. I went to pull out some egg muffins and realized they had freezer burn. (Nooooo! Did I just screw these up by freezing them wrong?) I thought I could fix it in the microwave but wasn't quite sure how long to heat them up and they came out soggy. I started off the morning super mad at myself but was happy that I had made other options the day before. I heat up some crustless quiche, cut up a pear, pack my lunch in my lunchbox, and grab Mason and we're out the door. Work went well and I didn't feel any urge to cheat.



Meals :
Breakfast : crustless quiche and a half a pear
Snack : almonds and a banana
Lunch : leftovers from the night before (stir fry) and a cutie (orange)
Snack : pistachios
Dinner : paleo nachos

snack // lunch

snack


Mason's dinner (our dinner modified) // paleo nachos


Day 2 // Tuesday, January 20, 2015

Thoughts : I get to work and... someone had brought cookies. Really?? Day 2 and already the temptations start. I want so badly to just have one bite but don't. I'm not gonna lie, I stared at those dang cookies each and every time I walked by the break room table, longing to have one, just one, but alas, I stayed strong and didn't eat one.

Meals :
Breakfast : 2 egg muffins and some strawberries and blueberries
Snack : almonds and a banana
Lunch : salad topped with tuna, a hard boiled egg, and lots of veggies with balsamic and EVOO dressing
Snack : pistachios
Dinner : half of a red bell pepper topped with lettuce, tomato, olives, shredded beef, cilantro, and guacamole

breakfast

dinner


Day 3 // Wednesday, January 21, 2015

Thoughts : A couple friends check in on me to see how the Whole30 is going (thank you Vickie, Courtney, and Tiffany!) and I say that it's going well. I miss being able to just eat what I want whenever (as in grabbing a snack used to be way easier and less thought involved) but I've found that as long as I am prepared, I am ok. I haven't had to rely on LaraBars for snacks and all the food I've been eating has truly been delicious. We've found some recipes that we like a lot and some not so much. I had high hopes of coming up with one meal plan and repeating it for 4 weeks but I'm starting to think that's going to change because a) we don't like some of the recipes enough to eat them again and b) I feel more confident in our knowledge and that we could make good decisions for other mess without sticking to "the schedule".

Meals :
Breakfast : 2 sweet potato and sausage cups and a banana
Snack : mix of fruit (strawberries, blueberries, blackberries) and almonds
Lunch : salad with lots of veggies topped with shredded beef and guacamole
Snack : pistachios
Dinner : spaghetti squash pad thai (we omitted the shrimp since we didn't have any)

breakfast // part of snack

lunch

dinner


Day 4 // Thursday, January 22, 2015

Thoughts : We had a dessert craving tonight so we decided to try an "ice cream" recipe I found. Verdict is : it was ok. We'd never had coconut milk before so it tasted a little funny at first but it's growing on us. I would definitely try it again and maybe add a little more nutmeg and cinnamon.

Meals :
Breakfast : 2 sweet potato and sausage cups and a banana
Snack : almonds and some fruit
Lunch : last night's dinner leftovers (spaghetti squash pad thai)
Snack : pistachios
Dinner : sweet potato topped with shredded beef, a fried egg, tomato, and guacamole
Dessert : cinnamon and nutmeg banana "ice cream"

dinner

dessert


Day 5 // Friday, January 23, 2015

Thoughts : While we're getting ready for work in the morning, Seth tells me about some weird dreams he's been having. His first dream was about somebody sabotaging the salad that he brought for lunch. He went to open the container with his salad in it and he found french fries on top of it. And the other was that we were out at the movie theater with some friends and without thinking, one of our friends offered Seth a piece of their candy and he took one, without thinking, and almost stuck it in his mouth when he realized what he was doing. So funny he had weird dreams about food! And pretty impressive that he didn't cheat, even in his dreams!

I RSVP to a birthday party and my friend asks how we're doing (thank you Lauren!). So far so good! We made it through the work week with no cheats and some really yummy eats!

Meals :
Breakfast : 2 sweet potato and sausage cups and a banana
Snack : an apple with almond butter (this brand is super good!)
Lunch : tuna mixed with tomatoes and some avocado and cucumbers
Snack : pistachios
Dinner : same as Thursday night (sweet potato topped with shredded beef, a fried egg, tomato, and guacamole)

snack

lunch


Day 6 // Saturday, January 24, 2015

Thoughts : We had the BEST breakfast - sweet potato and sausage cups heated up and broken up to make a sweet potato mash, a fried egg, prosciutto, and some fruit. I seriously wish we had this much time in the mornings every morning because not only was breakfast delicious, but it kept me full for hours. After breakfast, we hit up a new park for a little while but it was crazy windy and so we decided to cut the visit short and head on to Whole Foods. I wanted to try to find some new things to add to our fridge and heard they had them there. First on the list was bacon. There was something about the prosciutto that wasn't quite cutting it and I was hoping for some bacon. There's one particular brand - Pederson's Natural Farms - that has Whole30 approved bacon. We found it and it was ... $8.99 for like 8 to mayyyyyyybe 10 slices. HOLY COW. I think paying $5 for like 20 slices is a lot. Needless to say, my bacon craving will not be being fulfilled at that price. Next we were on to find some lunch meats that are approved and same problem - 5 slices of roast beef for $7.99 (say what?? you mean 20 slices for $3??) and we couldn't find the turkey. No worries, we didn't leave empty handed though. We did find some relish that we were looking for.

On Day 6, I tried my hand at making my own mayonnaise. They have an excellent recipe for mayo (and ranch) in the It Starts with Food book that I followed. Super easy and pretty fast and looks just like the mayo you buy at the store.

mayo


Meals : 
Breakfast : sweet potato and sausage cup hash, a fried egg, prosciutto, some fruit and some hot black tea with lemon
Snack : nothing
Lunch : Trader Joe's Chili Lime Chicken Burger with lettuce, tomato, a fried egg and guacamole and some brussels sprouts on the side
Snack : nothing
Dinner : almond crusted chicken, deviled eggs (no real recipe - just deviled like normal but with Bubbie's relish and with the mayo I made earlier), broccoli, and smashed garlic cauliflower (HIGHLY recommend - reminded us of mashed potatoes but a lot more healthy)

breakfast

lunch

Mason's dinner (our dinner modified - he LOVED the chicken) // Seth and my dinner


Day 7 // Sunday, January 25, 2015

Thoughts : We went to the farmer's market today to try to find some new fruits. Kinda of unsuccessful but we did get a bunch of strawberries.

Time to meal prep again : more sweet potato and sausage cups and more shredded beef in the crock pot.

Meals :
Breakfast : fried egg, prosciutto, 2 cuties (oranges) and blueberries and some hot black tea with lemon
Snack : almonds
Lunch : a chicken apple sausage, and some leftover broccoli, brussels sprouts, and deviled eggs
Dinner : Trader Joe's Chili Lime Chicken Burger with lettuce, tomato, and guacamole. Brussel sprouts, cauliflower mash, and some salad that Seth's mom made (didn't add cheese on top = whole30 approved)

breakfast

farmer's market finds

lunch


Day 8 // Monday, January 26, 2015

Thoughts : Watched The Bachelor. The girls seem a lot more crazy without a glass of wine in your hand! Yikes.

Meals :
Breakfast : 2 sausage and sweet potato cups
Snack : banana with almond butter
Lunch : salad topped with shredded beef (spinach lettuce, tomato, mushrooms, cucumbers, and shredded beef with guacamole)
Dinner : "naked" burgers with lettuce, tomato, and guacamole. homemade sweet potato fries with homemade ranch to dip (from It Starts with Food). broccoli.

dinner


Day 9 // Tuesday, January 27, 2015

Thoughts : I read that someone said that you go through a lot of tupperware and dishes on the Whole30. I can attest to that. Our dishwasher looks like this every night more often than not. Let me tell you -- you go through a LOT of tupperware.



Meals :
Breakfast : 2 sausage and sweet potato cups and a banana
Snack : almonds, blueberries, and strawberries
Lunch : leftover dinner - "naked" burgers with lettuce, tomato, and guacamole. homemade sweet potato fries with homemade ranch to dip. broccoli.
Snack (on the way home in the car) : pistachios
Dinner : stuffed bell peppers


dinner (I cut mine up into more of a salad)

Day 10 // Wednesday, January 28, 2015

Thoughts : We made it to Day 10! And apparently I forgot to take any pictures.

Meals :
Breakfast : 2 sweet potato cups and a banana
Snack : an apple
Lunch : leftovers from dinner last night made into a salad and topped with guacamole
Snack : pistachios
Dinner : spaghetti squash pad thai

And there you have it! Days 1-10. So excited that we made it 1/3 of the way through with no cheats. I thought I would start to get over having sweets cravings but turns out, I still have them. I'm already counting down until I see those Girl Scouts outside the grocery store and I can officially buy a box of cookies to eat! ;)

Recipes are all linked to above in blue. If you can't find what you're looking for (some of them are embedded in the post that I linked to) or you want more info on any of the recipes, just leave a comment below or shoot me an email : chasinmasonblog@gmail.com

Happy Monday!




14 comments:

  1. The food all looks so yummy! Good for you guys sticking with it. I love my bread and dairy too much though... I'd fail immediately!

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  2. That food really does look great and so healthy. I am SO impressed with you sticking to this. Great job! Keep up the good work.

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  3. Wow! That's so awesome how well y'all are doing!

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  4. You are doing awesome! And making all sorts of fun meals! Yay for no cheats!

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  5. Great job! I would have totally caved by now.... or I'd just eat fruit all the time!

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  6. I'm super impressed! Tons of kudos for no cheating- that's awesome! :) And SO funny that Seth was dreaming about food, lol. Although I probably would be too. A lot of your meals look really good. How do you make that cauliflower mash?

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  7. Love all of the links to the recipes! The food actually looks tasty, too! Are you paying way more in groceries because of all the fresh produce?

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  8. phew. that was a lot. your meals really do look yummy! esp the shredded beef on salad. and deviled eggs, always love those. My gosh ridic prices though for those approved meats. Bacon must wait! Your tupperware is cute. Random, yes. Too funny about Seth dreaming about his diet. mmm fries. What did you do with your egg muffins?

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  9. Girl, I am SO proud of you for rocking this whole 30! SO PROUD! I can't get over how good your food looks! I love how this makes you get creative with your meals, and pair foods that you maybe wouldn't have thought to try before!
    I'm going to steal some of these meal ideas for our menu!

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  10. Gurrrrrl!! You guys are awesome, all your food is beautiful and looks delicious!! Now I need a snack. :) GOOD JOB!! That's so funny, our top drawer in the dishwasher is always super full first with Tupperware containers too. Haha!!
    I always have issues with freezing egg stuff - not sure there is a secret or a 'better' way to do it?! Mine always turns super rubbery or is soggy.. :(

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  11. You are doing so awesome!! And, I'm so impressed with the different foods Mason will eat!
    It's also funny that Seth was dreaming about food!
    And, I literally laughed out loud when I read "The girls seem a lot more crazy without a glass of wine in your hand! Yikes."
    This really looks do-able. I might have to suggest to Scott that we try this (when I'm not pregnant and crazy).

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  12. It looks like you are doing an awesome job. Keep it up!

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