Life After Whole30

Day 31 = weigh in day.
Results:
I lost 12 pounds and 1/2-2 inches just about everywhere.
Dustin lost 14 pounds and a few inches too.

We feel great! Seriously the easiest 12 pounds I've lost.  Never counted calories, points, portions, just ate when we were hungry and ate real whole delicious food. 

I'm already looking forward to our next round and implementing a lot more exercise in. 
I was much more conflicted about eating my yogurt for breakfast this morning and am not as excited for "normal" food as I was a week ago.
This next week we will be off Whole30 but I want to get back on for a few weeks starting next week.  I like this lifestyle and am happy with the results.
I still want that baby too.  I don't expect to get pregnant after one month of clean eating, so we will keep this up for a while.
We seriously loved this past month and our new relationship with food.  Let me know if you are going to start Whole30 and let me be your cheerleader!

Day 30

It's day 30.  The day 30 of Whole30.  The last day.  The finale.  Can you believe it's been a whole month? Me neither.  Let's take a look at how we closed this bad boy out. 

Breakfast was sweet potato hash browns with fried eggs and spiked monkey salad.

Lunch was a leftover Asian turkey burger, sweet potato fritter, pickle spears and Rainier cherries.

Dinner was crab cakes with smoked paprika mayo, roasted garlic artichokes, steamed baby carrots, and strawberry slices.

Thoughts on today:
This doesn't feel like the end.  And it shouldn't be! And it won't be! While we won't be doing a strict Whole30 forever, we have good habits in place that we will continue to use.  And lots of recipes that we love and will have frequently.  I still want to use good quality meat, organic produce, and stay away from processed food.  And sugar.  For the most part.  I don't want to be one of those people who says I eat super healthy ALL the time and the next thing you know, I'm shoving a doughnut in my face.   But that doesn't mean that I won't be eating an occasional sweet treat.
I won't say that doing Whole30 was super easy, but I also don't think it was that hard.  Giving up gluten for 2 months before starting this was a good start.  When I gave up gluten I was no where near ready to give up sugar or dairy.  But after a while, I knew that I could do Whole30 and while we weren't perfect, I feel like we did a pretty great job. 
We'll see how the transition to real life goes... and try to not go too crazy this weekend. :)

Day 29

Breakfast was steak and eggs with sauteed mushrooms, cashews, and strawberries.

Lunch was dijon chicken salad with cashews, pickle spears, and raspberries and peaches.

Dinner was Jaegerschnitzel (breaded pork cutlets with mushroom gravy), sweet potato fritters, steamed broccoli, and an Izze.

Thoughts on today:
It's strange fixing sweet potato hash browns tonight knowing that it's the last day tomorrow morning.  We feel great and have a good routine down. It still surprises us that even when we're super hungry, it doesn't take much to fill us up anymore.   I know things won't be exactly the same day 31 but I am excited to see how much weight we lost and to try out all the healthy habits we've gained. Maybe once this is over I will spend some time posting our favorite recipes we've had and favorite finds in our shopping. One more day!

The Final Countdown Meal Plan

ACK! Only 2 days left! Though we plan on continuing to eat this way most of the time, we will be taking a short week off to enjoy time with family and traveling.  We will try to continue making good choices, but dairy, grains, and sugar will be back in our lives this week.  Also pancakes. But good news, they will be paleo sweet potato pancakes that I SWYPO'd the other week.  Cuz that's how we roll.

Here's a look at the menu for the final countdown:

29. Pork chops, broccoli, and sweet potato fritters
30. Crab Cakes and roasted artichokes

And that's it my friends! But because I'm back in the good habit of meal planning, the rest of the week looks like this:

31. Sweet Potato Pancakes (yes, for dinner) with blueberries or cinnamon apples... or both
32. Pizza.  But homemade and gluten free. (Dustin has really missed pizza!)
33. Cinetopia 
34. Graduation
35. The Coast

Yikes, there will be a lot of temptation in there, but we will be strong for the final countdown and then do our best with this busy upcoming week and the places we're going!  Then we will probably pick up another round of Whole30 on a budget to make sure we keep this up as a new lifestyle.  And to get that baby.
Side note, yogurt will be back in my life this week and I'm kinda excited.  But this time, it's organic. :)

Day 28

The last day of Week 4!

Breakfast was an egg scramble with bacon and fresh tomato, half a grapefruit, and cashews with dried pineapple flowers.

 

 

 Lunch was leftover lemon pepper drumsticks with buffalo sauce and a side of broccoli and baby carrots.  And a cute little juicy doughnut peach for dessert. 

Every payday my boss brings in cookies for everyone and she's been bringing me in fruit instead.  This doughnut peach is from her.  She's the best.

 

During grocery shopping we got hungry so we had a Larabar for a snack.  That chocolate chip cookie smell in the produce section at Costco will kill me one of these times.  Our bakery is right next to the produce and the smell is intoxicating!

Dinner was Asian turkey burgers with lettuce and tomato, homemade sweet potato chips, and Rainier cherries.

Thoughts on today:
It's the end of week 4! Grocery shopping today was a little weird because we only have two days left of strict Whole30 and then we'll be incorporating dairy and grains (and sugar) back in.  So it was more of a normal shopping trip with yogurt and cheese in the mix with a lot of produce. BUT, we steered clear of processed food, especially junk food so we have made progress in the past 28 days!  This month really has flown by and I am a little scared for Whole30 to end but know that there is life after Whole30.  Two days left to be strong and to keep up good habits that will hopefully keep when we reach day 31.

Day 27

Breakfast was fried eggs and sliced strawberries and almonds in coconut milk.

Lunch was Italian sausage, baby carrots, and an apple with almond butter.

Dinner was lemon pepper drumsticks with buffalo sauce and sweet potato fries.

Thoughts on today: 
We are almost done! Which is great because posting daily is getting pretty old.  I'd much rather enjoy my free time spending with my honey.  Only a few days left! Staying strong until the end!

Day 26

Breakfast was chicken apple sausage, monkey salad, and half a grapefruit. 

 

Lunch was leftover dijon chicken, baby carrots, and an apple with almond butter.

 

Snack was an Upbeet Jamba Juice on the way up to Jake's graduation.

Dinner was steak with pickles, red peppers, strawberries, and watermelon.

 

 

 

Thoughts on today:
It was a busy day and we had a late dinner after the graduation but we made good choices and made it work! Life is usually busy like this so it will be a lot of work to keep this up but it will be good for us. 

Day 25

Breakfast was a banana with cashews and scrambled eggs with SP browns.

 

Lunch was Red Robin with my love.  We enjoyed a Keep it Simple burger lettuce wrapped with avocado and a side salad.  And yes, I did put a teensy dijon dressing on it.  I don't know what was in it, I don't know if it was compliant, but it was just a teensy tiny bit so we're calling it close enough.

 

Dinner was steak with sauteed mushrooms and grilled zucchini.

Thoughts on today:
I was hoping that all those cravings I had yesterday would go away but I have even more today like peanut butter M&Ms and all sorts of sweet treats.  It's hard to think that this will be over in 5 days and to decide what to eat after.  We will probably be taking a week off while family is here and we are vacationing with them but maybe taking a break wouldn't be good for me.  Good thing I have a few days to get it figured out!

Day 24

Breakfast was a banana with cashews, and scrambled eggs with SP browns.

 

Lunch was leftover steak fajitas with avocado turned into a salad and an apple.

 

Dinner was grilled lemon dijon chicken with grilled zucchini and strawberries.

Thoughts on today:
There were so many foods at the concert that brought on so many cravings, especially the pretzels with cheese and flavored lemonades.  It was like there was fair food all over the place and things I didn't think I would crave were all of a sudden big cravings.  Ahhhh!!!

Week 4 Shopping List and Budget

Hello hello!
In my last post I mentioned that I'm changing my original menu plan for the week to accommodate A) our busy schedule and B) our already well stocked freezer/fridge/pantry.
I also did one stop shopping at Trader Joe's which means I might not have gotten the best price for some things (I know the steak we bought at New Seasons last time was $1 less a pound so...) but it was what I needed after working almost 10 hours today.
Last week I had SOO many leftovers so I really scaled back this week.  We've been eating smaller portions and feeling just as full so that means less groceries for this week!

Total Meat and Produce for the week: $49.55
With Pantry items: $66.00

SEE! This CAN be affordable!

Meat: $26.93 (Or if adding in ** section $37 ish Total at top includes this number.)
2 dozen eggs $3.49 (Costco)
Grassfed Angus Burgers $5.99 (TJ's)
Free Range Organic Chicken Drumsticks $5.91 (TJ's)
Top Sirloin $11.54 (TJ's)

**Tonight we used sliced beef for the fajitas from last week's budget and only used half.  So if you're looking for a full week's amount, add $6.50 for that.
Tomorrow night will be leftover chicken breasts from last week's budget as well so add another few dollars... don't remember how I divided it last week but probably about $3.50 ish.

Produce:  $12.55
Bananas $1.39 (Costco)
Artichokes $2.99 (TJ's)
Sweet Potatoes $3.99 (TJ's) Costco was OUT! So sad.
Mushrooms $1.69 (TJ's)
Strawberries $2.49 (TJ's)

** We still have a lot of produce left from last week.  I froze raspberries and blueberries, and we still have lettuce, carrots, onions, and green beans.

Pantry Staples/Other Random finds: $16.45
Dried Babysweet Pineapple $3.69 (TJ's)
Coconut Milk $0.99 (TJ's)
Almond Butter $6.99 (TJ's)
Basil Plant $2.99 (TJ's)
Mint leaves $1.79 (TJ's)

Day 23

Breakfast was the usual-- SP browns with fried eggs and a bowl of spiked monkey salad (this time with strawberries).

 

Lunch was pulled pork salad with salsa and guacamole.  And an apple with a teensy bit of almond butter.

 

Dinner was steak fajitas with avocado.  And a few dried pineapple flowers after picking them up at TJ's.

I don't know why the steak looks so pink.  It really wasn't, but every picture looks like this.

Thoughts on today:
Only 7 days left! Confession time: I cheated today.  I had a piece of gum.  My mouth tasted super gross after lunch and I couldn't take it anymore! I will start bringing a toothbrush and toothpaste to work and just brush after lunch because I hate a yucky mouth.
Sometimes I think that breakfast is getting boring.  Then I remember that I had the SAME thing every morning before this so this is just a new same thing that I'll get used to. But I'm sorry if you're sick of my breakfasts.  They ain't changing for another week.
We did our grocery shopping tonight and am changing up the original menu plan for this week because we have things going on a couple nights that I didn't take into consideration while planning.  We need an easy week! Grocery shopping also took a lot less time and money because we already have a lot of things that we can use like pantry items and meat in the freezer.  Plus I wanted an easy one stop shopping trip so we only went to Trader Joe's. 
Next round of Whole30 will have to be "Whole30 on a budget- meals for 2 for $50 a week."  Who's with me?