Previous updates: week one / week two / week three
I’m here with my last food diary update for the whole30! In this post I’m going to finish detailing what I ate and how I felt day to day, and then next week I’ve got a big recap for you about my thoughts on the entire experience. This is a bit longer than usual because it has nine days to it.
Day 22
Breakfast: three fried eggs, banana/blueberry/coconut flake mix, cold-brew coffee with coconut milk
Lunch: salad with shredded chicken and strawberries with an olive oil + raspberry balsamic dressing, and a fruit medley
Snack: Larabar
Dinner: baked chicken tenders dipped in mustard, a salad with tomato and olive oil + balsamic dressing, and a peach. Omg those chicken tenders were so good I ate six. SIX! But at this point I never overeat. I didn’t feel stuffed afterwards.
I felt: It was a really great day. I loved all my meals and felt awesome.
Day 23
Breakfast: four fried eggs, banana/blueberry/coconut flake mix, cold-brew coffee with coconut milk
Lunch: salad with shredded chicken and strawberries with an olive oil + raspberry balsamic dressing, and a fruit medley (I made a batch of shredded chicken so this is a really easy & yummy lunch right now.)
Snack: dried apricots
Dinner: leftover veggie & chicken stir fry with a scrambled egg added, fruit salad
I felt: I realized that I am just happy all the time right now. I feel great. I am excited about this ending soon, but I am not dissatisfied with the food I am eating currently.
Day 24
Breakfast: three fried eggs, banana/blueberry/coconut flake mix, cold-brew coffee with coconut milk
Lunch: salad with shredded chicken, tomato, and olive oil + balsamic dressing, strawberries, and a peach
Snack: Larabar
Dinner: my father-in-law made us strip steaks. I never liked steak all that much in the past but now I love it. Also had salad and fruit.
I felt: Another awesome day! My kids came to visit me at work and it made me so happy. One hard thing was that there was a birthday celebration at work and since our unit is under construction and we don’t currently have a break room, the food (barbecue and homemade cake) was served in our office and I got to look at it and smell it all afternoon.
Day 25
Breakfast: three fried eggs, banana/blueberry/coconut flake mix, cold-brew coffee with coconut milk
Lunch: salad with shredded chicken and strawberries, olive oil + raspberry balsamic dressing, a peach, and a few grapes
Snack: Larabar
Dinner: the same baked chicken tenders dipped in mustard I made earlier in the week because I am now obsessed with them. Would it be normal to make them every night until I get sick of them? Anyway I also had a salad with strawberries.
I felt: Really good again! These days I am pretty much happy, energized, and inspired all the time. I don’t get headaches like I used to, I don’t feel tired in the afternoon or even wiped out before bed.
Day 26
Breakfast: three fried eggs, banana/strawberry/coconut flake mix (we ran out of blueberries!), cold-brew coffee with coconut milk
Lunch: leftover chicken tenders dipped in mustard, salad with strawberries, banana
Snack: dried fruit
Dinner: my mom made us stuffed burgers (mine had peppers, onions, & pineapple inside) with a big salad on the side
I felt: I was a little bit tired by the end of the night (lately I have been energized all the way until I lie down in bed, but I still go to sleep easily) but otherwise still great!
Day 27
Breakfast: three fried eggs, banana/strawberry/coconut flake mix, cold-brew coffee with coconut milk
Lunch Second breakfast: a few hours later Meredith and I wanted more breakfast…so we repeated our entire meal (minus the coffee). So then I didn’t really eat a “lunch.”
Snack: dried fruit
Dinner: I met a friend at a restaurant and got a big veggie salad and had them add egg. I couldn’t even have grilled chicken on it because it was marinated in canola oil (so annoying) and I brought my own dressing from home. Later at home I made cinnamon apples for “dessert.”
I felt: I am still feeling amazing, but mentally I am kinda over this. :) I made out the next week’s grocery list and it was great to add regular bacon, cheese, and yogurt to the list!
Day 28
Breakfast: four fried eggs, banana/strawberry/coconut flake mix, cold-brew coffee with coconut milk
Lunch: a few bites of leftover chicken apple sausage, but I wasn’t into it. So I made a salad with ground beef, paprika, tomato, and olive oil + balsamic dressing and had two clementines.
Snack: none
Dinner: we had our church life group and the meal was nachos, so I had a taco salad instead with a fruit salad for dessert.
I felt: awesome! The end is SO CLOSE and the last weekend is over.
Day 29
Breakfast: three fried eggs, banana/strawberry/coconut flake mix, cold-brew coffee with coconut milk
Lunch: baked chicken tenders dipped in mustard, salad with tomato & olive oil + balsamic vinegar, fruit salad
Snack: nuts
Dinner:
I felt:
Day 30
Breakfast:
Lunch:
Snack:
Dinner:
I felt:
From Sarah:
I can’t do the low carb thing, but I love that awesome energetic feeling I get when I’m eating really clean and sticking to only whole unprocessed grains. I’ve been so tired/stressed lately though, I’ve been making bad food choices which just leads to me feeling worse. When will I learn?
From Karen:
Thanks for these posts. I’ve wanted to try this for a while now (i think I might have a dairy allergy) and you made it seem a lot easier than other people have – easier to prepare meals that make it seem more accessible. Congrats!
From Becca Hoelscher:
Good job! I am proud of you. I am interested in hearing how you feel once you reintegrate other foods back into your diet. I would love to talk with you in more depth about this challenge sometime. Phone date soon?
From Stephany:
What an incredibly awesome accomplishment, Kathleen! I am really proud of you AND very inspired by you! This challenge still scares me a lot (and I’m not very interested in going Paleo so I’m not sure how beneficial it would be for me…), but you made it seem very doable! Especially as a working mom of two! I can tell from your words what a change you’ve seen in your mental/emotional well-being, too!
From Kara:
That would take so much dedication – I’m stoked for you for having completed the challenge! I’d have to cut out so much of my favourite things, I don’t even know where I’d start if I did it. Way to go!!
From Melissa:
Way to go! What an accomplishment. Did you buy the Whole 30 Cookbook to do this?
From Kathleen:
I didn’t buy the cookbook, but in the book It Starts With Food they have a bunch of meal ideas and I used several of those! Other than that I found a few great paleo blogs to get recipes from.