Whole30: Week 3

I can't believe we're already finished with week 3! When we first started it seemed as if this month would drag on and we would hate the limitations it puts on us. But really it's been great. Sure it takes a lot more planning from week to week making sure we have the correct items and meals planned. And sure we haven't killed ourselves being overly strict but the benefits are there and we're continuing along. I didn't weigh myself today (because I know it's not accurate from our weekend) but late in the week I was down 7lbs from when I started and on the lower end of my normal "pre-pregnancy range". I've said it before and I'll say it again, if nothing else I'm thankful to Whole30 for helping me realize the food decisions I was making before weren't always the best and that eating better doesn't have to mean deprivation. Here's to going into the last week strong!

Day 15
Breakfast   Spinach smoothie with frozen banana/strawberries/gala apple + almond milk & ice. Coffee with almond milk.
Lunch   2 Aidells Chicken & Apple sausages + spicy mustard. 
Dinner   Balsamic Steak Rolls
Snacks/Dessert   La Croix Peach/Pear
Thoughts   After dinner yesterday (see week 2) I was definitely wanting something lighter for breakfast instead of eggs. It could be just an odd coincidence but my stomach was definitely off after eating lunch and there's a chance it might have been from last night too. Alright pizza and beer, you win. Dinner was fine, nothing spectacular. We couldn't make the glaze from the recipe above so we made sure to season the steak well and I put a little balsamic vinegar on mine. Like J said, it was fine but not anything better than a regular steak with veggies on the side and it was a lot more work.

Day 16
Breakfast   Sweet potato hash with 2 over-easy eggs. Coffee with almond milk.
Lunch   1 Adelles Chicken & Apple sausage + spicy mustard. Gala apple with almond butter. A few raspberries/blueberries.
Dinner   Grilled chicken and asparagus (both just seasoned with salt and pepper)
Snacks/Dessert
Thoughts   I've been noticing lately that I haven't been finishing my coffees in the morning which is interesting to a coffee-addict like myself. I don't know if I'm just too busy to think to drink it but it is saying something that I just don't "need" to finish it. My lunch today was taken over by a hungry little boy named Mark. He ate some of everything I have listed like he was starving (after finishing a big bottle none-the-less). Like week one, I still love asparagus and don't know why we don't make it more often.

Day 17
Breakfast   3 over-easy eggs with half an avocado. Coffee with almond milk.
Lunch   Spinach smoothie with watermelon/cucumber/strawberries. Second half an avocado + approved Larabar.
Dinner   Spaghetti squash with homemade sauce (see last week)
Snacks/Dessert   Nothing
Thoughts   Overall Whole30 has really agreed with me. I haven't felt extremely deprived of foods I wanted but couldn't have. I didn't get the really low energy the first week like some people talk about. My MIL even commented about me looking skinny today! But something odd happened today and while I'm not sure if it was Whole30 related (frankly I don't know what happened) but I fainted for the first time ever. I'm pretty sure my lunch was substantial enough at least compared to what I'm used to so I don't think it was from low carb/low calories. Honestly I have no idea and am getting checked out for it soon. It happened around 3pm and I felt fine the rest of the day/evening. So strange either way.

Day 18
Breakfast   2.5 scrambled eggs (Mark ate the rest) + raspberries.
Lunch   Steak salad on romaine with red onion/carrots + homemade dressing + a banana.
Dinner   Salmon with avocado salsa (same recipe from last week)
Snacks/Dessert   Nothing
Thoughts   My salad dressing was 6T EVOO, 2t dijon mustard, 1 clove garlic, 2 T lemon juice, salt & pepper. It is very yummy but I drowned my salad with too much of it so I didn't quite finish everything.

Day 19
Breakfast   3 scrambled eggs with salsa. Coffee with almond milk.
Lunch   Left over grilled chicken and asparagus. Avocado (shared with Mark)
Dinner   Cheat!
Snacks/Dessert   Cheat!
Thoughts   This afternoon we headed to the mountains to celebrate some good friends at their wedding. We had every intention of getting approved Chipotle for dinner but after a bit of a snafu with our hotel room, a cranky baby from being in the car and our lack of energy we decided to cheat with a dinner out and basically call the weekend a wash.

Day 20
Breakfast   Cheat!
Lunch   Cheat!
Dinner   Cheat!
Snacks/Dessert   Cheat!
Thoughts   Today was the wedding day and with other friends being in town and basically being on vacation we threw in the towel for the day and enjoyed ourselves. I did find myself not overeating and leaving a place feeling sick from being too fully like I normally would have done. I also went straight for the veggies and avoided the breads at the wedding even if I did have a cupcake. Was I perfect, heck no! But am I making better choices because of this program, heck yes!

Day 21
Breakfast   Cheat!
Lunch   1.5 Adelles Chicken & Apple sausages + spicy mustard. Fruit salad.
Dinner   Chipotle salad minus the dressing + carnitas + hot and corn salsa + guac.
Snacks/Dessert   Nothing.
Thoughts   We are back from our weekend away and even enjoyed a cookout at J's family's house where I had an approved lunch and skipped the ice-cream sundaes. My salad from Chipotle was really tasty even without my usual rice, black beans and sour cream but I do wish I would have "splurged" and gotten chicken instead of carnitas. Soybean oil is definitely the least of my worries and I could have enjoyed dinner even more.

Here's Week 1 and Week 2