Whole30 Day 8

January 11, 2018January 11, 2018 by spoonfulofjun ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Today was another rainy day, so I headed downstairs to run on the treadmill. Mile one was a breeze. Mile two was easy. And mile three was so much fun. I got all sweaty and felt like I was on top of the world! I’m sure it was the banana I had eaten beforehand. Well, maybe it was something more than that. After finishing NPR’s Up First and New York Times’ The Daily, I listened to a Tim Ferriss Show episode with Bozoma Saint John, the Chief Brand Officer at Uber. I always read about her in the news and follower her on Instagram, but I didn’t know what she sounded like when she talked. I used to listen to the Tim Ferriss Show quite regularly. Last spring, I picked up his book Tools of Titans, and halfway through, I started feeling overwhelmed with all of the things I had to do to become successful. I put the book down, and gave myself a break from his podcast. I received so much positivity listening to Boz. She was so energetic and positive. It was fascinating to hear about her move from Ghana to Colorado, and her “very Ghanaian” father’s reaction when she lost the student council elections – twice. Tim Ferriss’s podcasts are long; this one was two hours, so I only got halfway through, and I couldn’t wait to finish listening to it later.

I had an extremely productive morning. I was super focused as I did some strategic thinking work. Close to noon, my husband walked in to give me a kiss. After saying hi, I walked into the kitchen, made myself some green tea, and ate a handful of blueberries. It’s funny – if he hadn’t walked in, I would have continued to focus on work and not think about food. An hour later, we heated up last night’s stuffed peppers and sweet potato soup. I thought I would hit the usual afternoon slump after this filling meal, but no, I kept on staying focused! I was impressed with how productive I was.

In the afternoon, my husband and I took a break to go see the Soviet art exhibit at the Art Institute of Chicago. We have a membership there, so we often pop in an out. We rushed home so that I could catch my next conference call, only to find out the minute before the scheduled start time that it was getting cancelled. I didn’t mind getting an hour back to get some work done. But before that, the rest of Boz’s interview. I got so motivated as she talked about her career, and was so touched by the story of how she met her husband and her relationship with him before he passed away. She was so confident, so powerful, so positive, so thoughtful. She gave me so much energy!

I got back to work, and was quite focused for a couple of hours. “Were you going to make the leftover squash and kale tonight?” I shouted from my office. “Yes, I’ll start cooking now,” my husband said. I continued running numbers and typing away on my laptop until he said, “It’ll be about fifteen more minutes.” That was my que. I worked on making tuna boats, which took more or less fifteen minutes. Using avocado as a replacement for mayo was brilliant. It tasted so good!

We are now all packed up for the weekend. We’ll be heading to Breckenridge tomorrow night for a long weekend of skiing. It’s his first time, so I’m excited to see how he does! When I taught him tennis for the first time this summer, I was pleasantly surprised with how good he was. He didn’t hit baseball-like home runs like beginners usually do. His strokes were clean and strong, and his footwork was precise. Maybe it’s because he’s a good soccer player. Or maybe he’s just a fast learner. Anyway, I’m hopeful!

Whole30 Day 7

January 10, 2018January 10, 2018 by spoonfulofjun ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

This morning, I could not get out of bed. The alarm went off at 7am, and I just could not bring myself to do it. It took an hour for me to finally open my eyes and wake up – to a sore throat and heavy body. Concerned it was a sign of the beginning of a cold, I loaded my body up with vitamin C: freshly squeezed lemon water and lots of fruits.

My tiredness lingered on the rest of the morning, and I was clearly cranky. I lay down next to my husband who was also working from home, and tears started streaming out of my eyes. I was stressing out about my career again. He listened to me and walked me through my thoughts, and helped me feel a little bit better. When I was done, I blurted out “I sort of want Rice Krispies.” I don’t think I’ve eaten or even thought about them in a couple of decades, so I’m not even sure why this came to me at this time.

I had a big lunch, because I was extremely hungry. Lunch was a little bit of everything: leftover grilled coconut-curry chicken, scrambled eggs, mashed potatoes, and salad. Since I couldn’t work out in the morning, I had planned to work out in the afternoon. I could run outside where it was finally above zero but wet from the previous night’s rain, run inside on the dreaded treadmill, or do leg exercises. When the afternoon came, my body still felt tired and my mind foggy. One thing the Whole30 is making me better at is listening to my body. It was begging me for a day off. Once I made a decision to make today my “rest” day, I felt a huge weight come off of my shoulders.

I continued to feel a little bit off throughout the rest of the day. It was probably due to this low-carb diet, but it also might have had to do with the weather. It was dark and gray and gloomy outside. The one upside was that I was able to get more research and reading done than other days, so perhaps it was just that kind of day. Mid-afternoon, I grabbed a snack of a couple oranges and some nuts. Snacking is a habit, not necessarily a necessity.

For dinner, we cooked stuffed peppers and sweet potato soup. I could have roasted the peppers, which my husband described as “warm raw peppers,” a little bit longer. But the delicious stuffing more than made up for it. My husband made sweet potato soup, which I may have had a little too much of. Like that time I grabbed one too many walnuts and forced myself to finish the handful, I took too much soup and felt like I had to finish it. Again, the recipes in the Whole30 never disappoint.

A week has gone by since starting the Whole30. I definitely feel less bloated than before, and my nails, which have been breaking every other day from the cold and dry weather, have gotten stronger. But my mood is still very much up and down, and I still have to reenergize with an afternoon snack. The things I miss most are beer and wine. It’s funny that I don’t miss cocktails at all, since that’s what I’ve been more into recently. The key to not craving non-compliant carbs or snacks has been “out of sight, out of mind.” As long as I don’t see it, I don’t miss it. I definitely appreciate my husband going on this diet with me. Cooking together everyday and discovering new recipes has been fun and exciting, and it’s nice to be in it together. My husband and I both travel quite frequently for work, so I’m worried about how we’ll hold up once that picks up again and we’re eating more meals out and at airports, with coworkers instead of each other. So far, the Whole30 has been good. They say that the hardest days are still ahead. “This is not hard. This is not hard.”

Whole30 Day 6

January 9, 2018January 9, 2018 by spoonfulofjun ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

I tossed and turned and stared into the darkness, until I finally gave into picking up my phone to scroll through Instagram and health blogs and read more about the Whole30. I know you’re not supposed to use your phone in bed, but I had nothing else to do and it was the only thing within reach. I could already see that waking up was going to be rough.

This morning, I was surprised how easily I got out of bed. I’m far from a morning person; I have trouble falling asleep at times, but I never have trouble sleeping in. I quickly stepped into my workout clothes and headed downstairs to do some abs. Abs are my favorite. One of the reasons I am doing this diet is to see if I can uncover my six pack. I lied on my mat to start my first set of toe lifts, and my stomach growled. I immediately regretted not grabbing that banana before walking out. My next exercise, I couldn’t complete all 24 reps in one go, and had to take brief break in-between. Pitiful. “Next time, I’ll remember to eat something before I work out,” I told myself.

Breakfast was again scrambled eggs with pre-cut vegetables and a side of berries, along with half of that banana I didn’t eat this morning. As much as I want to experiment with different style breakfasts, I feel like I’ve got a rhythm going. At around eleven, I started feeling hungry again, so I ate half of the Whole30-compliant protein bar I bought yesterday. I still didn’t feel fulfilled so I had two satsuma oranges. Yum. I guess my body was really craving sugar. Not sure if it had anything to do with my office feeling chilly today. Either way the snack made me feel significantly better.

Lunch was leftover kale, squash, portabella mushrooms, onions, and ground turkey. I never ate this much protein before going on the Whole30, but now my body expects some kind of protein at every meal. It’s hard to say whether I had a productive afternoon or not. I tackled a lot of work, but when it came to creative brainstorming I struggled a bit. I took mini breaks, reading cookbooks and running a quick errand, hoping to get my attention back on track, but nothing seemed to work.

After my husband came home, we cooked dinner together. Tonight’s menu was grilled coconut-curry chicken and cauliflower fried rice. I pulsed the cauliflower in the food processor, skeptical. Being a rice lover, I couldn’t imagine how in the world one could make this white vegetable taste like fried rice. I tasted my first bite. Strange, but not too bad. Tasty, even. My husband took care of the coconut sauce for the chicken. We had never heard of getting coconut cream by sticking coconut milk into the fridge, so we were positively surprised to open up a refrigerated can and find the cream had formed and risen to the top. I noticed that my husband was a little bit hangry. I was hungry too, and any other day I would have been hangry with him, but I managed to keep my cool. Thinking back, I’m not sure if this was because the Whole30 was affecting my mental health in miraculous ways, or I was too tired to care.

We plated the two dishes onto our plates. My husband got the big piece of chicken, and I the little one. We dug in. The chicken was so tasty, especially with this coconut curry sauce, my new favorite. “Oh no, mine is not cooked all the way through,” my husband said. “Oh no, it’s getting late so we should cut it up into pieces and cook it some more,” I said. I offered to share my piece while we waited for his to get done, but he insisted I keep eating. “Okay,” I said, without pushing back. I couldn’t stop eating this chicken! And the cauliflower fried rice was a perfect combination.

Throughout the day my mood was positive and stable. But looking back, it’s clear that I was lacking in energy. Maybe the lack of carbs is hitting me. Or maybe it’s just my lack of sleep. I’m planning to watch an episode of “This is Us,” read a bit more of my Pachinko book, and go to bed early.

Whole30 Day 3

January 6, 2018January 9, 2018 by spoonfulofjun ♥ 1 Comment

Today was rough. We started our day with a healthy breakfast of scrambled eggs with onions and bell peppers, avocado, and blueberries. We had a 10:30 reservation for a Penguin Encounter at the Shedd Aquarium, which my husband had gotten me as a Christmas present, and I hadn’t exactly kept my eye out on the time. As a result, we had to walk extremely fast to make it. I felt sick. I felt tired. I felt like I was going to faint. But I also couldn’t wait to meet the penguins so I powered through. The penguin experience was amazing. We met an 8-year-old named Sparrow, when I petted her, I was surprised to find that she was so soft. Then, we watched a dolphin show and looked around the aquarium for a little bit. I could smell popcorn in the air. It’s funny how I don’t think about foods when they’re not there, but when they’re in my sight, I think about how much I want it. We have a ton of beer left over from a party we threw last week. Every time I open the fridge, I badly want one. But if I don’t see it, I don’t think about it.

We came home for a late lunch and pulled out the leftover slaw from the fridge, put together a simple salad, and cooked some frozen salmon. I was hoping I would feel better after the meal. But no. I still felt tired. I needed to work out, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. Instead, I spent the rest of the afternoon meal planning for the week, while my husband put away our Christmas tree and ornaments. On our walk to Trader Joe’s, we had a serious conversation about whether to continue the Whole30 or not. Some things feel silly: how restrictive it is, the removal of legumes, the need to avoid replicating your favorite dishes with Whole30-compliant ingredients. We stepped into Trader Joe’s and removed our gloves. “What should we do?” I asked. “You’re completely neutral?” my husband asked. “Yeah,” I answered. “We have our ski trip coming up; Is it really worth it to skip out on the hot chocolate or beer after a long day of skiing?” I continued. After debating back and forth like this for about five minutes at the entrance, we finally decided that we would buy the ingredients we had planned on and see how we felt at the end of the week.

Dinner was fun to make. I made the Shepard’s Pie out of the Whole30 book, and it was so good. Absolutely delicious. The sweet potatoes on top balanced perfectly with the savory meat and vegetable layer underneath. Every cell in my brain was lighting up with satisfaction. For a second, I thought this meal was all I needed to recover from my misery. Ten minutes after dinner, I felt tired and helpless again.

I haven’t been waking up in the middle of the night multiple times to go to the bathroom like I usual do. My wedding ring slips on and off a little bit easier. I feel less irritated than I was feeling a few days ago, but I can’t tell if I’m just too tired to care about the little things. In some ways, it feels like the KonMari Method – once you tidy up your home, or in this case, once you clean up your eating habits and reset your body, the rest of your life falls in place. Many claim it’s life-changing, but it doesn’t have scientific evidence.

Tomorrow will be a better day.

Whole30 Day 2

January 5, 2018January 9, 2018 by spoonfulofjun ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

I had no problem waking up this morning, unlike yesterday when my body felt heavy and tired even after seven hours of sleep. Since the Whole30 program encourages you to eat before your work out, I opened up the fridge and took out my leftover half avocado. I looked at it. I put it back. I grabbed a handful of fresh blueberries and popped them in my mouth. I then went downstairs to the gym and started running on the treadmill – a light nine minutes a mile. I love to run, but not inside. At about mile 0.2 miles, I began thinking, “maybe I’ll quit now and do leg workouts instead.” But I persisted. 0.5 miles; finally half a mile. The numbers on the machine moved ever so slowly. At 0.82 miles I thought, “So close to a full mile. But then I’m only a third of the way to completing my workout.” I began to debate on whether to switch to something else at 1.5 miles. But I persisted. I looked outside at the bare trees and blue skies. I focused on my podcast. I was finished with my usual NPR’s Up First and New York Times’ The Daily, and I should have listened to my usual Marketplace Morning Report, but I allowed myself to enjoy a “fun” one, So Money with Farnoosh Torabi. Once I got past 2 miles, I began to see the light at the end of the tunnel. A man who looked to be about my age took the treadmill next to me. I started to feel like he was competing with me. I couldn’t lose. I had to keep going. Unable to keep up with me, he had to stop for a quick break. Ha. But me? I persisted.

After my workout, I cooked a scrambled egg with different colored peppers, cut up half of an apple, and grabbed another handful of blueberries. I knew I should be having more protein, but my body wanted fruits, so I let it have what it wanted. Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day. There’s so much to choose from – eggs in all shapes and forms, waffles, bagels, French toast. And brunch. I love Sunday brunch. It’s a time to eat what you want, and spend time with good friends over coffee and mimosas. As I write this I realize that I need to stay away from many of these foods through my Whole30 diet. But I’ll survive. Too bad we can’t use our new amazing Balmuda toaster for a while.

Work started off fine. I’m usually less stressed out, well, maybe half checked out, on Fridays since the weekend is so close. When lunch came around, I pulled out leftovers from last night’s dinner, and added half an avocado and a banana to my meal. This time, I actually wanted my banana. I wasn’t quite full and contemplated taking out a piece of frozen salmon from the freezer, but it seemed like too much work.

Just before 4 o’clock in the afternoon, I hopped off my last work call of the day, and wandered into the kitchen. I opened up the food pantry. “I don’t open this as much anymore,” I thought to myself. Now, trips to the fridge were more frequent, as opposed to those times when I would grab cookies or crackers from the food pantry. I took out a bag of walnuts and cashews and put a few pieces into a small bowl. Halfway through eating them, I felt full, but I felt like I had to finish them because I had taken them out. Next time, I’ll take out fewer pieces.

For dinner, my husband and I made the day 2 meal from the 7-day meal plan in the Whole30 book. While we roasted a potato and a sweet potato in the oven, we made our red pepper mayonnaise and green cabbage slaw. The red pepper mayonnaise is a combination of roasted red pepper sauce and basic mayonnaise. The former turned out fine, but the latter didn’t quite turn into mayo and looked more like goo. We weren’t sure what to do with this combined sauce since it didn’t really say in the book, so we put in on our slaw, which turned out to be quite tasty. The chicken turned out fine as well.

I was in a great mood today. I felt happy. I felt positive. I felt stable. I felt calm. Was it because I worked out this morning? Was it because I got some good sunlight walking to the store? Was it because of my Whole30 diet? Or was it because it was Friday!? It could have been any of these things, if not a combination. But I suspect the last one is most likely.

I’m looking forward to planning and prepping our meals this weekend. My husband ended up not eating much throughout the day and just eating nuts at the office for lunch. Hopefully, next week, we’ll have food prepared and ready to go, and he won’t forget to bring it in.

Have a good weekend.

Spoonful of Jun

Tag: cooking