Second day on travel and meals were much better. Yay awesome salad bars! Caf at work has a great salad bar, so lunch was greens, lots of fresh veggies, deli turkey, a few bites if fruit, balsam vinegar and some almonds (brought from home.). Also munched on an apple around 5pm since it was all I had and I needed something.

A friendly man in the caf also tipped me off to Giant's salad bar down the road. Great find! I was able to get another load of fresh veggies and bit of fruit, and combine it with my can of tuna and butternut squash. Oh and avocado. Now I'm feeling really full again - need to work on the portions thing. I'm following the meal template but think I may have overdid it on this one!

I tried to eat dinner earlier too to leave more time before bed, but didn't get back to the hotel from work til 7pm so I didn't end up finishing eating til bout 8:30. Which normally would be ok but I'm pooped from getting up at 6:30am and prob going to crash soon (10pm). I'm trying to eat dinner earlier but it's hard! Especially when I don't get home from work til 7. And if I leave work at 6, go to the gym, then drive home, it's after 8 by the time I even walk in the door. Makes cooking and eating happen late :(.

Otherwise feel fine (just tired, long day) and trying to not eat so much at night before bed.

Traveling for work this week, so first Whole30 meals away from home. So far not so bad, but takes more prep and my meals so far aren't quite as good as when I'm home.

To prepare I made an egg casserole for bfasts, extra chicken veggie crockpot, microwaved a butternut squash, and packed a lot of dry/canned foods, fruits, cabbage, and turkey slices.

Cooler with about only half the food I brought:

Way more than I need for 3 days but better over prepared than under!

Lunch today was pretty standard packed lunch for work - chicken, veggies and spinach, a tangerine, and tiny handful of cashews. No problem. PreWO snack: turkey slices and a few almonds. Also good.

Dinner however was a little less than ideal taste-wise :). I had a can of tuna (yes straight out of the can), the previously nuked squash (good last night, not as good at room temp out of Tupperware), and the icing on the sad dinner cake... canned asparagus. Only asparagus, water and salt... How bad could it be? Bleck. Mushy, way too salty. But at least it's a veggie and now I know. Oh and a few cashews.

So my dinner was compliant and not terrible, but def not a fantastic meal. Live and learn.

Good news - caf at work down here has a great salad bar that will totally work for lunch tom! So I can save the second chicken veggie spinach meal for dinner tom. And get some fresh raw veggies vs all these cooked/canned ones.

Feeling slightly full from dinner but good for the day. Feel pretty "normal" still, and I'm realizing that whole30 is very similar to how I normally eat, so i probably won't see or feel any drastic physical changes (other than "tuning up" and reducing bloat). But we'll see. And I'm still looking to change some habits through this including less artificial sweeteners, better timing throughout the day of what I eat, and overall looking at meals (and especially fats) more as fuel and nutrients. Psychologically, Whole30 makes meals and eating really simple, so it's almost liberating not to worry about things like... Are these beers going to make me bloated? Should I eat this bowl of cereal just bc I want it? I'm hungry but it's bedtime.. Snack or sleep? And while prepping and cooking is a lot of work, once it's done there's no more having to stop for food after work, stop at wawa for coffee, wonder where I can eat dinner that's healthy and tasty.

Soooo... Long story short , hoping more to change small psychological habits and take a month to eat really really well, than to make any drastic diet changes or change much physically. And I feel better knowing that I've made the commitment for the month and any holiday "squishiness" will be long gone by the end!

(Phew this is a long iPhone post. Enough!)

I'm trying to follow the Whole30 meal template, but I feel like I'm eating too much.  I want to follow the Whole30 to the letter, and break some of my eating habits like eating a small breakfast and eating a post-dinner snack.  The meal template suggests 1-2 servings of protein, a lot of veggies, a serving of "fat", and occasional fruit for each meal.  It also suggests pre-workout and post-WO mini meals in addition to 3 main meals.  I tried this over the weekend but feel like it's a lot more than I usually eat (which is usually mostly protein, veggies, and fruit anyway).  And I'm feeling a little over-full after some meals, especially with all the extra fat (half an avocado, or small handful of nuts each meal, in addition to cooking with oil.)

I've come down with a cold.  Not related to Whole30 since I felt it coming on before Day 1, but it certainly doesn't help my energy levels.  It's not so bad - bit of a sore throat, stuffy nose, general lack of energy.  But tough to motivate to work out when my face feels like the man in the Nyquil commercial and I don't feel like doing much other than sitting on the couch.

Friday I managed to do a 45 min tabata type workout via youtube, but I was drained by the end.  Saturday I had intentions to work out and maybe even go to the climbing gym or find a pilates class before the tailgate.  No such luck - I slept 12 whole hours and didn't get up until noon!  I jumped up and down a LOT at the tailgate to avoid freezing though, so hopefully that counts for something.

Today I woke up again at noon after sleeping another 12 hours!!!  I still felt pretty stuffy and drained, but needed to get out the apt. and do something.  Dragging myself to the climbing gym was well worth it.  Wasn't great after not climbing for 2+ weeks, but I did a couple V4's and all the moves on a V4/5.  So glad I went - it felt great climbing again after several weeks.  And I didn't tire out too quickly... climbing a solid 2 hours before getting tired.

Moral of the story - even if you feel draggy and slightly wiped out, dragging yourself to the gym is usually a good idea.  Getting started is the hardest part of course.  But I know I'll get into it once I'm there, and feel much better afterwards.  I'm hoping Whole30 helps eventually with my energy levels, and maybe even helps my climbing and workouts.  I'm expected a rough first week or two since everyone says to expect that, but hoping by the end of the month I'll feel more alert throughout day, not want to nap at 5pm all the time, and maybe even feel stronger and climb better.  We'll see!

Food today:
2 eggs, sauted rappe (looks like broccoli rabe?), tangerine
Chicken and veggie soup, persimmon
mini handful cashews
Roasted drumsticks, stir fry veggies, roasted parsnip

So today I decided to face a social situation involving alcohol, unhealthy food, and peer pressure.  And not just any social situation - an NFL playoff tailgate.  The challenge isn't in turning down Miller Lites, Wawa hoagies, and wings.  It's telling everyone "no thanks" when they offer you a beer and explaining why you're not drinking on a perfectly good Saturday afternoon.  And then explaining why you're on Whole30 in the first place.  I've been in this similar situation before when I've given up drinking for a few weeks here and there so I was prepared, but it's still not always easy.

The other challenge is making sure you don't get hungry while you're there, since bottled water and the limes for the Coronas are about the only things that are Whole30 approved.  To prepare, I ate a filling lunch before (salad with tuna, avocado, asparagus, and a banana), brought some almonds in my pocket, and prepared a tasty chicken tortilla soup-like dinner in the crockpot just waiting for me when I got home.

And so for the tailgate...

So why am I committing to this Whole30 thing?  And why am I writing a blog about it (that few will read, and even less will care about).

Why Whole30?

I had heard about the Whole30 program a few months ago from a few friends who tried it (mainly one friend from work).  Being interested in nutrition, healthy living, fitness, and constantly amused by the latest fad diet crazes, I read up on it.  The program sounded like a good one, and had rave reviews (from my friend included), but I wasn't ready at the time to give up grains, alcohol and artificial sweeteners.  So I took note and started to pay more attention to ingredients in foods, but didn't take any action.  I eat pretty healthy anyway, and don't need to lose weight, so my initial reaction after hearing about Whole30 was, "interesting, but not for me, at least not right now".  But the seed had been planted...

Fast forward to Dec. 30th.  After feeling a little extra squishy from 2+ weeks of acting like a fat kid (christmas cookies, beers every other day, general holiday indulgence)... I decided something should be done.  Originally a "modified" Whole30 approach came to mind - keep eating cereal in the mornings, a few drinks every now and then.  But what's the point of that?  I'm sure the Whole30 creators and enthusiasts would have reems on the subject, but in addition to that, it seems like running a marathon but using a bicycle for a few miles and stopping 2km short of the finish line.  In short, most of the work, none of the glory.

So whole-hearted Whole30 time!  I'm joining the army of people just like me starting in the beginning of January to kick off the new year.  Seems like perfect timing too since no one throws parties on Jan. 3.   What do I hope to get out of it?

• Feel less squishy (see above)
• More energy, especially during the day and late afternoon (no more hibernating bear syndrome every Friday afternoon)
• Less bloated - I don't need to lose weight or fat per se, but I'd enjoy not feeling like my mid-section has expanded 3 sizes after consuming 'bloaty' foods and alcohol
• Reduce dependence on artificial sweeteners.  Confession: I consume A LOT.  And all of them.  Equal and Sweet N Low in my coffee, Stevia on fiber cereal, Splenda in yogurt.  Plus artificially sweetened syrup, diet soda, vitamin drinks, you name it.  If it has fake sugar, I'm probably addicted to it.
• Improved sports/fitness performance?  If the claims and hearsay are true about the program, I'd love to improve my rock climbing and gym workouts, even if I just 'feel' stronger and have more energy.
• Finally, I love veggies, fresh meats, fruit, healthy eating, and cooking nutritious meals already.  This is just another reason to eat even better!  And eat more of the healthy foods that I often leave out: avocados, starchy veggies, cashews, olive oil.

And if there are any other beneficial side effects - bring 'em on!  Waking up earlier, feeling chipper in the morning, less annoying back pain, new-found hobbies and friends from NOT sleeping til noon on weekends, boyfriend loses some "squish" as a byproduct... all good in my book.

Why blog?

So I've explained why I'm doing Whole30, but why add to the countless blogs about it?  Especially if I don't care if anyone besides me actually reads it?

• More accountability and feels more "real" this way
  
• Provides a log for me to look back on how I felt and what I ate each day (without keeping a food log)
• To avoid becoming a boor to my boyfriend and friends who probably don't want to hear me drone on endlessly about what I ate every day and how much (anticipated) energy I have
  
• Seems fun!  (As if I need more activities between climbing, snowboarding, planning a wedding, glassblowing classes...)
  
  So that's it.  I'm one meal into it, but so far so good.

Day 0: feeling excited. Also bloated (2 weeks of being a fat kid), full (2 bowls of last meal fiber cereal plus extra chocolate) and anxious (what if doesn't work as advertised?!?)

Ready to start. Sick of Xmas/New Years/holiday binge fest.