Pregnancy and Whole30

Ok here's how today went down.. Breakfast: 3 pieces of bacon, 1 egg, lunch: chicken curry, snacks: banana, egg, almonds, raisins, & dinner: crock pot Chinese pork loin (very good). Notice it has rice in it. Not compliant. Long story, worth reading if you're following my #whole30pregnancy adventures.... I walked in the door after class tonight (and work) and informed my husband that "I can NOT do #whole30 right now" I figured he would encourage me not to give up as we usually do and is be mad. Instead he said "that's ok, maybe it's something you need to wait and do once the baby has arrived". What a relief! I'm not crazy!!!! Then I called a BFF. She said "you're pregnant, it's hard regardless. If you can't do it right now it's OK" then I texted my mom (who's completed whole30) she said "I understand". These are the people who have done whole30 with me previously. All 3 of them. If they aren't trying to convince me I need to quit forcing myself. I literally feel as though my body is needing the grains and I literally don't have the energy to deal with the fatigue and fight of cravings vs. Willpower. With that said. I am not continuing #whole30 at this time but I am continuing to aim for the cleanest diet I can without going nutty in this pregnant body of mine. I don't intend to eat a lot of sugar but a bit of dairy and some grains will be incorporated. Whew. I'm so glad. I feel better. So for that reason I did eat rice at dinner then just because I had some Reese's puffs for dessert. I will continue to take my lunch to work, eat better breakfasts and avoid restaurants and the sodium that goes with them but I can NOT fight at this moment. I just can't be perfect at this moment. 

I was concerned about what Instagram and blog followers might think but at this moment that isn't my first concern. My first concern is feeling well. I do feel better in some aspects... Less "fluffy", less swollen, but I'm in a fatigued detox like state and I just don't have the energy. I would love for some of you to share with me how you manage 80/20 eating habits. To me if I eat 5 times a day (likely while preggo) that means 1 time a day I'm not compliant. How do y'all break this down? 

The Reese's!

FindtheBALANCE!

ISo when I found out I was pregnant it was like an immediate identity crisis. Some may think this is bad of me but it's not. We wanted to be pregnant and we are very excited but that does to make the physical changes easy. 

Me pre pregnancy:

-Eating whole30

-Had just lost 15 pounds

-So excited to have finally broken the mystery of my extra weight and was able to visualize it gone. 

My immediate thoughts:

-I can't try to lose weight anymore how weird is that? It's all I've known for many years and I just found the key for my success. 

-Veggies make me throw up? What?

-I'm eating bread? What?

-I don't feel like exercising? What?

So I was immediately trying to figure out how to find myself somewhere in the middle. After advice from my doctor I decided just to keep me terrible food decisions minimal, rest as much as I could and go easy on myself for this first trimester until I could stomach something other than bread and ice cream. 

Well my stomach is feeling much better and I'm tired of feeling so blah and hating everything I put in my mouth. 

I'm 12 weeks today so in almost out of the first trimester. Whew!

So at this point I'm craving a good run. The only thing in my way is the temperature. I don't handle heat like I usually do. So I'm waiting very patiently for a mild day to run. I ran a 5k while I was pregnant before I knew I was pregnant. 

I'm also craving feeling good. I know more energy and a better feel are supposed to come with the second trimester but to feel my best I have to eat my best. 

I'm working on making a plan to return to my whole30 eating. My doctor is in full support of this. He says it will greatly reduce the risk of gestational diabetes which would not be fun at all. 

At this point my weight gain is less than 5 pounds which is right on track for first trimester so the crazy eating hasn't hurt me too much. My doctor told me to expect a total of 30-35 lbs gain for the entire. Possibly lower down to 20 lbs minimum since I already have extra weight. It's just depends on how my body adjusts. As of now he is very happy with everything. My weight, my blood pressure (116/68) and all of my blood work. All is well. So I feel like in doing well I just need a plan. 

I just wanted to pass along some of my thoughts during this time of change for me. I'm not "finding the skinny" right now. I'm finding the balance but give me 6 months and I'll be ready to aim for "the skinny again"

Thanks to my readers and followers who are continuing to support me through great changes. 

Stay tuned for a blog I'm working on about maternity clothes. I'll also update soon with my eating plans when I figure them out. 

Whole30 Favorite Things (sorry if I were Oprah you would all get them for free! Sorry I'm not Oprah)

In talking with friends and Instagram followers who are on whole30 we typically discuss specific food items that are compliant and helpful. Whole Foods and Trader Joes are my favorite places to shop. I have to drive about an hour to get to these stores so we go maybe once a month. These two stores are so very helpful on whole30!

Below each picture is a little about the food item and how we use it. I hope this is helpful. Please comment with your own favorites and ideas. Also other bloggers please consider a similar post as we are all in this together!!!

Skipjack Tuna from Trader Joes only 1.49 and does not contain soy as most canned tunas do. I am trying this variety for the first time but will use it like the other variety below. 

Albacore Tuna from Trader Joes. 1.69 per can and also does not contain any soy. I use this tuna for last minute meals. When a plan fails or I fail to plan I grab tuna, drain it, put it in a skillet and sprinkle with lemon pepper and almond meal. Stir and warm and it's so good with some last minute veggies. We are talking a 3 min meal here. I also use this as a pre gym snack. I'm looking forward to attempting my own mayo and tuna salad? Maybe? Any recipes?

New item to try. My mom uses canned salmon I think for compliant salmon patties I think. Chime in *here* Mom! 

This picture shows how simple these canned fish ingredient lists are. 

Almond Meal - 1 pound for 4.99. Ingredients are: almonds

What more could you ask for. I use this for sprinkling on the tuna (above) and to sprinkle or lightly coat zucchini, broccoli, and cauliflower to be baked. I also do zucchini with Chesapeake seasoning in a skillet. Oh and on chicken wings with hot sauce! It just adds texture.  This is the cheapest I've found it. 

My husband's favorite. The ingredients are : plantains. Easy as that. For when you need a to go snack or a bit of crunch. Possibly SWYPO food but it didn't bother us at all. $2+ Each if I remember correctly. 

Freeze dried fruit. Not dried fruit but FREEZE dried. It's awesome. It's purely fruit. The ingredient picture is below. It is very light. Almost like space food or marshmallow texture (lucky charms type marshmallows). A great snack. Technically the whole bag is one serving but I got like 6 servings from one bag. A nice snack for when you are hungry after work or everyone at work is eating something sweet and you need something. $2+ each

Spices are next - all Trader Joes

21 salute is amazing on pork chops. It's 21 seasonings in one. Basil goes on a lot. Curry is a favorite chicken seasoning for us. I'd like to try it with coconut milk to make a super good curry dish. 1.99 each

Purely pepper and garlic here. 1.99 each

The lemon pepper is huge for me. I use it on fish, chicken, tuna, broccoli, and everything else I can. Haha. This one has no junk. A lot of them have sugar?!?! Why would they put sugar in lemon pepper? (Lemon pepper ingredients below) 1.99 each

New spices to try this time. (1.99 ea, smoke flavor is 2 something)

Ghee from whole foods. A little goes a long way and can help make flavor more savory. Trader Joes also has ghee. 

Hallelujah!!!!... bacon with no sugar! This is the only compliant bacon I have found. It's at Whole Foods. Below you can see the ingredients listed. It's nice to have a piece with breakfast or to add to a dinner entree or into a salad. ($6 a pack so it's a treat but well worth it) my friend Melissa who introduced me to Whole30 brought me a package of this my first week on Whole30 and hung it on my classroom door and all of a sudden a light appeared in the long tunnel. Haha. 

Love these fully cooked chicken meatballs from Whole Foods (about $5). They go great on spaghetti squash with a compliant tomato sauce!

Chicken Brats from Whole Foods are a good grill food as well! Paired with some grilled veggies. Super good! 

Trader Joes almond butter. This one is my husband's favorite brand. We've tried a few. It's creamy. My husband likes to eat it with bananas and strawberries. I don't remember the price but it's cheap. 

Super simple ingredients!

A peak at my "yes" shelves in our pantry. 

I hope this post will help someone in some way. Again please share either in comments or on your own blogs or Instagram with your favorite things. 

Oh I almost forgot one! 

Our dogs eat wellness whole dog food and they love these treats from trader joes. They are only like $3 for the whole box ! I highly suggest Wellness brand food. Our dogs are very healthy with great skin and coats which is not an easy task in the yorkie world. They've eaten Wellness for about 6 years. 

Have a great whole day! 

Today is officially day 1 for my round 2. I attempted it earlier in the week and had some obstacles but here I am. Day 1!!!

Who's with me?!?

Vacation and Whole30

So I was on vacation for quite some time. About 16 days! It was so amazing. I saw family I hadn't seen in 12 years! We laughed and had so much fun! Tried new things and remembered old times too! 

Here are a few pictures! 

We did Miami (where my family is), Key West for our anniversary, also Cocoa Beach, Daytona Beach, St. Augustine, and Savannah, GA as we traveled home. 

Coconut water from the front yard!

Airboat ride in the Everglades!

Key West sunset!

South Beach

Southernmost point!

Southernmost beach

St. Augustine

On top of the fort in St. Augustine

Segway tour in Savannah GA. Super fun

Paula Deen's restaurant in Savannah!

So I didn't stick to 100% whole30 compliant eating while gone. I had many childhood favorites like my favorite Cuban restaurant Pollo Tropical. I ate a lot of seafood which isn't bad at all. Yellow rice was a downfall. Also doughnuts. I had them twice! One from a gourmet donut shop. See picture! 

The other doughnuts were Krispy Kreme. They were hot and somehow hijacked my cousin's car and got in the house. Haha. 

I had bread at a few restaurants as a treat and a few breaded foods like Aligator Tail with a jalapeño sauce! 

So good!  Past that most everything was decent choices. More cheese than usual. I did turn down sweets a few times (like ice cream once) which is actually a big deal for me but at that moment I just simply didn't want any. I find this to be a success for me in my change of habits with whole30. 

However.... On the way home I told my husband I felt as though I had been torturing myself. I would know some thing wouldn't feel great (maybe bread) and eat it anyhow. I felt unable to be totally compliant on the trip but actually wished at times I was totally compliant so that my energy level wouldn't be down so much. I took workout clothes and never worked out. I believe this was due to my decreased energy from non compliant food. 

So as I got home I was not regretful at all of my decisions. I had had improvements in my habits and decisions and had truly enjoyed some of my Florida favorites. However I was curious to weigh, measure, and get back to compliant food. 

So in 3 weeks I gained exactly 3 lbs even and gained 1.5 inches in my waist and 1.5 inches in my belly but no where else. This makes sense as that is where the inflammation is going first in my opinion. 

I was quite thrilled with these numbers. I've had people say. "I don't want to do whole30 for 30 days then gain back all the weight when I go back to my usual eating". Well. Guess what? You won't go back if you do whole30 correctly. Your habits truly change along with your mindset and cravings. 

I didn't "go back" to eating the way I did before but simply enjoyed my vacation while making decent decisions based on what I learned about how I feel when I eat terribly.

Now I've been back for 1 week. I thought if be about 6 days into another whole30 but I taught a camp this week for high school drum majors and we've had a few other things going on but tomorrow we plan to start on Day 1 again. Who's with me on this 30 day cycle? 

I'm not sure what comes after that next 30 days?

Some people say they do 80/20 but I heard someone say (maybe it was Chris Powell but I'm not sure) that that means you're eating junk 20% of the time. That's a lot. If you eat 3 meals and 2 snacks a day that means once a day your eating non compliant. This works for some people but my body demands more from me. My body wants way more. 

Some people do a cheat day but I don't like how I feel if I were to eat non compliant for a day. 

So I'm leaning toward a number of non comoliant food items to allow myself per week. Maybe 2 per week? I'd love input here. Have you tried something like this to maintain whole30 as a lifestyle? I need to read those chapters in the "It Starts with Food" book. 

I can't wait to see how I do!

Whole30 day 40!

II would just like to list out some ways whole 30 has helped me in these 40 days, some things I struggled with, and some ways I hope to improve on my next whole 30 cycle. 

Things I've gained:

-the ability to control cravings

-a new found love for seasonings

-a new ability to get my veggies in every day

-I sleep better

-more energy

-no energy crashes at 2:00

-my endurance in exercise is much better

-lost 13.4 lbs in my 30 days. More since

- lost 14+ inches in my 30 days

-gained a new sense of how I feel beyond the scales

-I'm not satisfied with very small amounts of dairy and sweets. For example 4 M&Ms is all I need. Not a whole bag!

Things I struggled with:

-Planning ahead some days was hard

- I struggled for about a week with leaning on Larabars too much

- struggled to get enough sleep to allow my body to really experience the better sleep. 

- possibly ate too much fruit on some days. 

Things I want to improve on my next cycle:

- get more sleep

- join my exercise routine in from the beginning (I began exercise about half way through my first cycle)

-plan meals ahead better

- pay more attention to my budget for the grocery to be able to compare costs to before whole30

- do a better job of my reintroduction schedule. 

Today was day 40. I've had a few treats since Day 30 but only one at a time surrounded by compliant meals the rest of the day. For example. The day my students on sang at the minor league ball game I ate great all day and then had a cheeseburger at the game but went back to normal the next day. 

Yesterday my husband and I were with his parents and they wanted Shoneys buffet. I was able to resist all the fabulous breakfast carbs and got a side salad and fresh fruit. My willpower has always been pretty good but it's really gotten better since I began whole30. 

I have a vacation in about 10 days. For these ten days I plan to be as conpliant as possible to maybe she's a few additional pounds and inches to feel great when I leave. 

I can't wait to see how much more I can improve. 

For four years I've tried very hard to lose weight with little success. To finally have found something that works that is all natural nutrition is just so exciting. 

Thanks for reading and supporting me!

Whole 30 -halfway done!

So I'm halfway done with whole 30 and I'm finally getting a minute to blog about this fabulous life changing experience.  

First I'll begin by saying that my husband is fantastic and has jumped in with both feet to do whole 30 together which I believe is a huge part of my ability to be successful.  

Day 1 for me was Wednesday April 16th. I spent a few days reading up on the requirements and grocery shopping to get ready. I also prepped my pantry by creating yes and no shelves to make it simple and less tempting. 

I first learned about whole30 through a co worker who did it with her son as a means to help his food allergies. When she first told me about it in Dec I was less than interested. A few other co workers tried it. Honestly here on Day 15 I can't clearly remember what sparked me to do it. I was tried of feeling like junk. I had attempted to reintroduce gluten and gained 15 pounds yep 15!!!! In a month!!!! I decided gluten had to go again so I figured I might as well just do whole30. I began at their website which is amazing. Whole30.com it tells everything you need to know here it is in a nutshell...

- no dairy

-no gluten

- no grains

- no added sugar or artificial sweeteners

- no processed foods w chemicals

- no legumes (except green beans)

- no "paleo" versions of sweets

- no giving into sweet cravings with fruit

- not a single crumb or lick of anything that is off limits for a solid 30 days

Oh and no weighing or measuring yourself (to focus your thoughts on how you feel, not the number)

The whole process is intended to heal your body from inflammation, reset your metabolism and your relationship with food and your body. 

Easter was actually not hard at all. I hosted and mom and I worked together to modify the family traditional meal to make it acceptable (cauliflower is a great replacement for potatoes in a roast)

Serving ice cream to students for a reward all day one day and making cheesecake desserts for a jewelry event were also surprisingly easy. Not even a lick of the spoon (or finger)

So far here's what I've found to be true for me. 

- sleeping better

- clothes fit much better (some that didn't fit two weeks ago fit now)

- I've had fewer heart palpitations (never expected that)

- energy level is beginning to go up

- I had much more energy in my workout tonight

- my sweet cravings are beginning to go away and I actually felt bad tonight for enjoying bananas and strawberries with a tablespoon of almond butter after my dinner. Seriously!

I've craved chocolate a lot (not as much now) I think Easter had a hand in that! My husband however has craved cheeseburgers. We are each different. 

My friend Melissa at work (that introduced me to whole30) encourages me daily and is my personal cheerleader here! I'm so thankful for her!

This week after feeling so much better and seeing results I'm excited to be adding exercise back in to merge with the new eating habits. 

Tonight was Zumba. I saw a difference in my my workout clothes for and had a ton of energy to do the advanced options throughout the class. Last time I went I thought I could die! 

I'm just so anxious to weigh. I actually asked my husband to hide my scales. I was pretty sure I would cheat on the weighing. Haha

I'm so thankful that God gives me the strength to stick to a new plan like this. It may seem drastic or crazy but truly as was stated in the book I'm reading "Made to Crave": I'm eating much like an animal in the wild. Meat, fruits, and veggies. We don't see obese animals running around do we? 

I feel that I've worked for many years to lose weight through exercise and diet. It wasn't working so I try something new and more intense. 

I'm excited for these next 15 days!!!

I highly suggest the books "It Starts With Food" and "Made to Crave" pictured below. Starts with food outlines whole 30 and it's science. Made to crave aligns a weightloss journey to a Christian daily walk with God. Both are awesome and I'm currently getting a lot from each of them. 

Btw: I'll write more about this later but after 30 squeaky clean days I'll reintroduce one group at a time (minus gluten-I know it doesn't work for me) to see which I can have in moderation and which I should avoid. 

One week progress picture: left is Easter (day 5), right is a jewelry training (day 11). I could feel a difference in my belt at that point. 

New beginnings

So a few weeks back (several weeks) I got off track with my exercise when I spent a week in hospital rooms with my husband and his parents. We somehow never got back on track. It's funny how easy it is to make it happen when you're in the routine but one big event can change that 180 degrees! 

I've been gluten free since April 2013. About 2 months ago I got a little sloppy and no longer avoided cross contamination and then two weeks ago I was at a fundraiser for my husbands band at a pizza place. I was going to just eat the toppings. Then I decided it was highly wasteful and not very productive with their small amount of toppings. So I just are pizza and expected to get sick. I did not get sick. So the next day I decided "gluten is already in my system I may as well enjoy a few things I never get to have" that led to weeks of gluten here or there. It's caused some weight gain along with return of symptoms from my gluten sensitivity. Fatigue, not sleeping well, feeling "fluffy", etc. 

So I have a few new things in place to help me get back on track and hopefully be successful. (I know this isn't my first "get back on track post") It's just so hard to stay on track without a solid plan and results to keep me going. 

Here is what I have in place:

My new health insurance is Humana which allows the Vitality program where I can earn points for health checks and exercise and running races etc. The points can then be used to make purchases. Very cool. So I've started that program and want to earn points! 

I had a "vitality check" at work a few weeks ago. It was good. My blood work all looked good and was in range except my triglycerides which may have been falsely elevated because that was the morning after the pizza night. However they were likely too high anyhow. So that along with weight loss are the goals vitality set for me. 

I have linked my vitality to my fitbit and my Humana fit iPhone app to track runs and bikes and walks etc. 

 It makes a cool calendar. Which there is only one day of recorded stuff on here because I just set it up. Can't wait to fill the calendar. 

Next....

Today we started a biggest loser contest at school. Quite motivating!! We have the health dept coming in for 4 of the weigh ins. They give us tickets with our weight. Here is mine...

Yikes!!! I've gained a few pounds. Now I weighed at 291 at home. Of course at school it was after breakfast, after 16 oz of water w my thyroid med, and fully dressed including shoes. Way different from home weigh ins. 

I'm very excited to have this motivation and encouragement. My husband is on board to go along side me which will help today. I'm working to detox the gluten away again and be more diligent again. It truly helps me. I can't believe I let the habit slip away. 

I can't wait to update. Thanks for reading!! Follow me on Instagram @findtheskinny