My Whole 30 Food Journal

Day 1

Breakfast: 3 slices turkey + 1 apple + handful almonds

Snack: Cherry Pie Larabar

Lunch: Spinach salad w/ grilled chicken, tomatoes, sauteed carrots, broccoli, onions dressed w/ lemon and salt + grapefruit

Snack: Banana w/ almond butter

Dinner: sliced beef + lime cilantro cauliflower rice + tomato-avocado-cucumber-onion salad + orange

Thoughts: Pretty easy day. I noticed how much I tend to just graze: eating kids’ pretzel scraps, asking my son for some of his bubblegum, popping some of my daughter’s snack in my mouth while prepping it for her, seeing a treat and eating it. After doing some grocery shopping and prepping and then a mediocre dinner, I was tired, feeling uncreative and not feeling very optimistic about the variety the next 30 days would bring me. 

Day 2

Breakfast: 2 fried eggs + 1 chicken apple sausage + veggie hash (diced zucchini, red onion, red bell pepper, mushrooms, shredded sweet potato) 

Snack: Apple slices w/ almond butter

Lunch: spinach salad w/ cucumbers, bell peppers, tomatoes, chicken, boiled egg, 1/2 avocado dressed with avocado oil & balsamic vinegar

Dinner: Turkey burger on spinach topped w/ sautéed mushrooms, yellow bell pepper, onions + 1/4 avocado + sweet potato fries + mustard

Thoughts: Lots of energy this morning. Around noon feeling a little headachy — not super painful, just a little groggy. Headache this afternoon. Drinking water seemed to help. Not a hard day, I’m just starting to wonder if I’m going to be able to get enough variety mentally. Already a little tired of spinach and eggs and sweet potatoes. 

Day 3 

Breakfast: Fried Eggs w/ veggie hash + bananas/almond butter + peppermint herbal tea

Lunch: sautéed kale (massaged with olive oil & salt), avocado, lemon + chicken sausage + tomatoes + boiled egg + banana

Snack: Almonds and pomegranate seeds

Dinner: Frittata (carmelized onions, garlic, mushrooms, broccoli, spinach w/ s&p and 10 eggs w/ a dash of cayenne. Baked at 350 for about 23 minutes + sliced sweet potatoes + sliced avocado + a few grape tomatoes + raspberry leaf tea. 

Snack: sliced bananas w/ almond butter

Thoughts: Today has been harder mentally. Not completely down-in-the-dumps hard, but I keep having slivers of doubt about my ability to stay strong, see positive results, push through the food boredom, etc. I’m craving more comfort foods, mouth is watering at some of my kids’ snacks, and I’m feeling like I want to snack. A positive from this is that I feel like I have a better idea what sorts of meals I want to have on my menu next week. I want marinara sauce! I want soup! I want variety!!!!! 

Day 4

Breakfast: Leftover Frittata w/ Trader Joe’s Homesyle Salsa + 1/2 avocado + Raspberry Leaf tea

Snack: Almonds

Lunch: 1.5 chicken & apple sausages + cilantro lime cauliflower rice + raw tomatoes, cucumbers, yellow bell peppers, carrots + pomegranate seeds & pineapple. 

Snack: Avocado slices w/ pomegranate seeds

Snack: Almonds

Dinner: 1.5 Grass-fed Angus Burger (Trader Joe’s) over bed of raw spinach w/ mustard + veggie hash + 1/2 an apple, sliced 

Peppermint Tea before bed.

Thoughts: Today was not too hard. I had a very clear cravings this afternoon. I wanted my son’s popcorn and almost went to the pantry to get a Larabar to satisfy the craving. I realized that might be defeating the purpose of trying to shake off cravings so I grabbed a handful of almonds instead. Had a couple of “digestive” pains this afternoon. Detoxing? I hope so.

Day 5

Breakfast: Omelet w/ Bell Peppers, onion, mushrooms + extra filling on side + sliced chicken apple sausage - all topped w/ Trader Joe’s Homestyle Salsa Especial + Peppermint Tea.

Snack: Coconut Cream Pie Larabar

Lunch: 3 applegate beef hot dogs w/ raw onions & annie’s mustard + roasted sweet potatoes + roasted broccoli 

Dinner: big bowl of Turkey Chili (ground turkey w/ sautéed onions and diced carrots and chopped spinach w/ trader joe’s marinara) + 1/2 apple

Thoughts: This morning I was bugged about food. I haven’t felt angry towards my kids or anything yet — just sort of angry that I’ve already spent more than my weekly budget on groceries and I feel like we are almost out of food for the week and need to get through the weekend without spending much more. We’ll make it…but I don’t want to have to go to the grocery store every other day and I mentally NEED some variety to what we’ve got left in the fridge for the next few days. I’m also really tired this morning and just want to get back in bed. On a positive note, I love doing this “experiment with DJ and knowing that we’re in this together. And we made it to Day 5. 1/6th of the way through. :) And maybe halfway through the “hardest” part? P.S. while ground turkey isn’t my favorite flavor I loved the bowl of chili tonight — variety from same the meat & veggies on a plate.

Day 6 (Saturday)

Breakfast: 2 Fried Eggs w/ dill + leftover steak slices (blugh!) + bowl of diced cucumber w/ rice vinegar, s&p, dill + Banana w/ Almond Butter + Peppermint tea

Lunch: on-the-go...Egg Salad (boiled eggs, mustard, dill, cucumbers, rice vinegar, s&p) + Almonds + Pellegrino water w/ lemon & lime

Snack: Cashew Cookie Larabar

Dinner: 2 Applegate Beef Hot Dogs "Completo" style -- topped with avocado, tomatoes, red onions + 1/2 a "Bubbie's" Pickle + Sweet Potato Chips + Handful Blueberries
Snack: Blueberries & Almonds