Hello Barbelles!
I hope you’ve all had an excellent week. This was an interesting week for me, that’s for sure! Lots of stress, but I’m happy to report that the first week of my Whole 30 Holiday Challenge went fantastically well! Much better than the first go around last year. I hope you’ll find my daily notes helpful – I included a little info on all aspects of my life each day: food diary, sleep, workouts and general notes. It’ll be interesting to see how things change over the next few weeks. Please note, that since I have already completed a Whole 30 and have continued eating this way by and large that I will be allowing myself some leniency over Thanksgiving. My goal is to be Whole 30 compliant during the interim of the holiday season and start the year with a full-fledged Whole 30. Thanks again for following along!
Waking thoughts: Given that I’ve been feeling so frustrated and “stuck” with my body composition progress lately, I was more than ready to get started with this Whole “30”. I had not been feeling well the day before, so that continued through the first day, but was unrelated. My stomach was upset enough that I decided to delay my normally scheduled workout, which I never do.
Food Log:
-Breakfast: 1 hot turkey sausage & 2 hard-boiled eggs with a touch of hot sauce & black coffee
-Lunch: Organic mixed greens garden salad (large portion!) with Saratoga Olive Oil Blackberry/Pear Balsamic (delish!) and 6 ounces of chicken breast & 1 hardboiled egg.
-Snack: 1 hard-boiled egg
-Dinner: 6 ounces of ground turkey (turkey burger), ¼ avocado mixed with garlic, large portion of roasted broccoli, 1 sweet potato baked with 1 TB of coconut butter.
-Desert: handful of fresh raspberries Total calories: 1,418 P: 131 F: 67 C: 63
Notes: 67 grams of carbs is about half of what I normally consume daily, but since I skipped the gym that is fine. I have a desk job and do not need to be consuming large amounts of carbs UNLESS I am working out. I do tend to feel and perform better with higher carbs, but find the “sweet spot” to be in the 100g/day range which is still quite low compared to the Standard American Diet.
Workout Notes: Today would have been my squat day, but that is moved to the following day in place of a sprint session. Since I have not been feeling all that well, cutting one sprint session is wise as it places a large stress on the central nervous system.
Sleep: I was in bed by 9:00 and asleep before 10. It was a rather restless night and I got up to use the bathroom several times. I woke up around 4am RAVENOUSLY hungry. It took a bit of time to fall back asleep but I slept soundly until my alarm at 7:05 am. I had vivid dreams which are completely normal for me.
Food Log:
-Breakfast: 1 hot turkey sausage & 2 hard-boiled eggs with hot sauce & black coffee
-Lunch: Organic mixed greens garden salad (large portion!) with Saratoga Olive Oil Blackberry/Pear Balsamic and 6 ounces of chicken breast & 1 hard-boiled egg.
-Snack: 1 hardboiled egg
-Dinner: 6 ounces of ground turkey (turkey burger), ¼ avocado mixed with garlic, large portion of roasted cauliflower with olive oil, 1 sweet potato baked with 1 TB of coconut butter. Total calories: 1,489 P: 122 F: 70 C: 87
Notes: As you can see from my second food diary, I am a creature of habit. Paul and I prep all of our meals for the week on Sunday so that we have healthy food accessible and ready to go at all times. It’s our version of “fast food” J. I have been drinking herbal tea by the gallon; I picked up some of the holiday flavors of Celestial Seasonings which have been a nice treat. I drink lots of water (100+ ounces) throughout the day normally, so having the tea feels like an indulgence.
Workout Notes: Today was my Squat day and the 4th week of a new workout program. Paul is such a great resource; he helps me design my workout programs and this one is a real doozy (in a good, yet painful way). Although the weight and/or reps for each movement are increasing each week, my workout actually felt great. I was alert, focused and feeling strong.
Sleep: I woke up feeling like I could have stayed in bed for an extra few hours. My stomach was still queasy and despite having been hungry during the night, I did not have an appetite upon waking. I was in bed by 8:30…I know…it’s early, but we like our sleep! My sleep was more restful than the previous night, but would have been even better if our furry cat-child hadn’t insisted on making multiple appearances. He just doesn’t understand that having his 25lb self on my chest is not as comfy for me as it is for him. I got up a few times in the night to use the bathroom, but not as much as the previous night. This is normal for me which I believe is related to a cortisol issue I’ve been working through; hoping that gets sorted out. My carb intake has also been significantly lower than normal so my body is likely releasing some water.
Food Log:
-Breakfast: 4 hardboiled eggs, hot sauce & black coffee
-Lunch: 5 ounces chicken breast, garden salad, balsamic vinegar, 1 hardboiled egg and an apple
-Snack: 1 hardboiled egg
-Dinner: 6 ounces ground turkey, homemade tomato sauce, 1 sweet potato, leftover roasted cauliflower with olive oil Total calories: 1,514 P: 131 F: 72 C: 76
Notes: Today was pretty much business as usual. Nothing really leapt out at me as different except that I was more hungry than normal after dinner. My workout was fairly taxing which would explain it. I don’t have any cravings to speak of, which makes this all very easy. Normally after dinner if I was still hungry I would have an apple with peanut butter, but since peanuts are a legume and my Skippy is loaded with sugar, that wasn’t an option. I prefer going to bed with a mostly digested stomach as I sleep better that way, so I decided just to call it a night.
Workout Notes: Today was my Bench Press and upper body day. I was able to increase the weight and/or reps on every movement and Paul even showed me a new move to end with. This is the session I always feel is easiest – certainly less taxing than squats/deadlifts/power cleans.
Sleep: I woke up an hour before my alarm this morning (thanks to a calendar alert on my phone) and could not get back to sleep. I felt energized despite the earlier than normal wake up and soreness from yesterday’s workout. In bed around 9. Sleep was less disturbed than normal, but still not ideal.
Food Log:
-Breakfast: 1 turkey sausage, 2 hardboiled eggs, hot sauce & black coffee
-Lunch: Same as the rest of the week: 5 oz. chicken breast, garden salad, 2TB balsamic vinegar, 1 hardboiled egg
-Snack: 1 hardboiled egg
-Dinner: Ground turkey with homemade tomato sauce, roasted Brussels sprouts, sweet potato Total calories: 1,448 P: 132 F: 70 C: 67
General Notes: I need to get my protein intake up, but I haven’t really been hungry enough to want more. I may go back to having a smoothie in the morning that I load with egg whites (my favorite way to sneak in extra protein!). Overall I am feeling stressed, but physically I feel good. I’m noticing that my stomach seems to be less bloated (due to the decrease in carbs, I’m sure).
Workout Notes: Thursdays…how I dread ye. My number one fitness goal right now is to increase speed, which by default requires an increase in strength/power. I would like to run a 7 minute mile by April, so I devote 2 days a week to sprints, one flat land session and one on hills. Thursdays I run one mile as fast as I can, walk for a little bit and run another mile as fast as I can back home. I am significantly slower than I was a year ago, but I am getting faster each week and that’s all that matters.
Sleep: I slept until my alarm today and felt like I could have slept longer. Feeling a little down mentally. I took a low dose of melatonin tonight because after a stressful day I knew that I’d have trouble staying asleep. I was in a deep sleep for the first several hours and had the most bizarre dreams about unusual foods like Necco Wafers and cinnamon rolls. I’ve never even tasted a Necco so I have NO idea where that came from! I haven’t been craving sugar at all, but it must be a sign that my body notices that it hasn’t been getting any. I kind of want a cinnamon roll now though, dammit. I woke up around 4am and a wave of stress/anxiety came over me. The cat-child took notice and made his way over to my side and dutifully cuddled until I was able to fall back asleep around 5:15 or so. I’m not normally this stressed, but I’ve been dealing with a stolen credit card issue which has me on edge. The upcoming holidays are something I’m looking forward to, but also overwhelmed by how much needs to be done. C’est la vie!
Food Log:
-Breakfast: 1 turkey sausage, 2 hard-boiled eggs, hot sauce & black coffee
-Lunch: 5 oz chicken breast, 1 turkey sausage, leftover sautéed Brussels sprouts & a hard-boiled egg
-Snack: 1 hard-boiled egg
-Dinner: Turkey burger, avocado, baked sweet potato with coconut butter and a heap of baked broccoli – I LOVE broccoli. Total calories: 1,414 P: 131 F: 67 C: 63
General Notes: I am trying to lose fat and therefore need to be in a calorie deficit. I think that my intake this week has been a little on the low side given the amount of activity I do. My stomach looks much firmer either due to a loss of water weight, or fat, or more likely, a combination of the two. It is not easy to eat much more when you’re only consuming whole foods. I certainly miss the days when I could eat dairy; a Greek yogurt is a hyper palatable way to throw back 10-12g of protein. It just doesn’t agree with me which is a huge bummer in my life. Fridays are the nights when Paul and I clean our apartment (we’re wild, I know), and then relax. I look forward to a bubble bath and episode of Grey’s on HULU – this week I am especially looking forward to it!
Workout Notes: Friday is arguably my hardest day at the gym. I start with deadlifts then move right into power cleans then pull-ups and finish with a few supplementary movements. It’s a bitch to be perfectly blunt.
Sleep: Not to sound like a broken record, but I’m TIRED. I think this has more to do with stress effecting my sleep than the Whole 30. Physically I feel good other than the inadequate amount of sleep.
I know this isn’t a full week, but I wanted to stick to my Saturday posting schedule. I’ll continue to update you! Thank you all again for following! If you have any comments, questions or otherwise, send them my way. I love to talk about this stuff and would be happy to chat 🙂
Blushes, Brushes & Barbells 