I probably should have warned you peeps (can I say peeps?) that I was going to include the rogue last four days in this post and move it from Wednesday to Friday. I'M SORRYYYYY. Can you even believe we're at week 4?! We're on the homestretch now and I'm here with all the deets. can I say deets? did you just leave? ARE YOU THERE?
In Week 1 I told you EVERYTHING you could have ever wanted to know about what a Whole30 is, what the rules are, why I'm doing it, and what I did to prepare for the first week (physically and emotionally <- SO DRAMATIC). In my weekly updates (week 2 & week 3), I've also been listing out EVERY meal Frankie & I ate, where we got the recipes from, and what adaptations we made. We talk about meal prepping, our experience so far, and all that good jazz.
Meal Prep
OHHHH meal prep. it continues to be a love/hate affair for me. i love how easy it makes my life later… but i hate how long it takes me to do. oyyy. this week's Sunday meal prep (which i actually did on Monday because… LABOR DAY) included making and doing the following things: making and stuffed pepper filling, making nut bites, cutting up cantaloupe, making breakfast potatoes, making garlic chicken, cutting up and steaming broccoli, and cutting up cauliflower. This batch of meal prep wasn't as intense as previous weeks because i knew i was losing frankie halfway through, so i didn't need to have as much prepared – i also had breakfast sausage frozen and ready and a few emergency meals in the freezer just in case.
{the last four}
So over the weekend I bought the book well fed (which was recommended in the whole30 cookbook as a resource) and read it from cover to cover. I'd never been more mad at myself for not buying something sooner. this made things SO SIMPLE. and the meal prep that I had been complaining was taking me practically a full day? I did it in 3 hours on sunday – with the help of “hot plates” – I'm going to spare you the full details (I don't wanna steal all of Melissa's thunder) but it's basically taking protein sources and cooking them plain to repurpose different ways throughout the week. its genius and I never would have come up with it myself or known how to turn things into something else without reading it. SO my meal prep for the last four days included spiralizing: broccoli/cauliflower stems making: ground beef, a roasted chicken, chicken stock steaming: green beans, broccoli, cabbage and prepping: onions, cauliflower, and kale leaves. All that in 3 hours with some applemusic playlists and taking my sweet time. I wasn't mad at it.
As usual, I'm giving you a day-by-day look of what we were eating. If frankie and I ate different things (mainly on leftover days) i've noted it –> generally he eats what I eat but will add stuff which is marked with a additional sign( + ). we rarely eat completely different things – but, if that happens it's noted with a separation line ( | ). If frankie ate most of what I ate but not one or two ingredients they'll be marked with a subtraction sign ( – ). B = Breakfast, L = Lunch, D = Dinner. pretty simple, but if you have questions just ask! Also, frankie took off on Thursday night, so crackling chicken was the last meal of the week that we had together!
Day 22
B – breakfast potatoes + 2 sausage patties + cantaloupe {ash} + 3 eggs over-easy {frankie}
L – garlic chicken + broccoli
D – 2 hot dogs
Day 23
B – 2 sausage patties + breakfast potatoes + cantaloupe
L – week 3 beef stew {ash} | week 3 chicken salad + lettuce + cucumbers + broccoli + celery {frankie}
D – stuffed peppers
Day 24
B – 2 sausage patties + cantaloupe + breakfast potatoes
L – stuffed peppers
D – garlic chicken + broccoli {ash}
Day 25
B – garlic chicken + broccoli {ash} | stuffed pepper egg scramble {Frankie}
L – beef stew {ash} | stuffed pepper {Frankie}
D – cracklin chicken + roasted cauliflower
Day 26
B – 3 sausage patties + sautéed carrots.
L – cracklin chicken + roasted cauliflower
D – 2 hot dogs + butter lettuce + cucumbers + homemade creamy Italian dressing
Day 27
B – 3 sausage patties + breakfast potatoes
L – buffalo bacon burger
D – 2 hot dogs + steamed broccoli + sautéed onions
Day 28
B – 3 sausage patties + breakfast potatoes
L – buffalo bacon burger + broccoli
D – roasted chicken + carrots + nut bites + watermelon
Day 29
B – 2 sausage patties + breakfast hash
L – ground beef + carrots + green beans + broccoli garlic/onion hot plate
D – chicken + broccoli + green bean curried hot plate
Day 30
B – 2 sausage patties + breakfast potatoes
L – green bean + ground beef + broccoli teriyaki hot plate
D – buffalo bacon burgers + broccoli
Day 31
B – 2 sausage patties + breakfast potatoes
L – chicken + broccoli + hot sauce hot plate | green bean + broccoli + teriyaki hot plate {Frankie}
D – roasted chicken + roasted cauliflower + green beans
Day 32
B – 3 sausage patties + broccoli/onion hash + carrots
L – red wine vinaigrette + ground beef + green beans + broccoli + onions hot plate {ash} | ground beef + broccoli + green bean taco hot plate {Frankie}
D – inspiralized turkey burgers + roasted cauliflower
The cost.
SO. lets talk numbers! For those of you just joining us, I'm tracking the cost of my Whole30 on a weekly basis. it won't be totally accurate because each week I've bought things that I'll use throughout the process (and likely even after) AND i started with a stocked pantry/freezer so there are things that I didn't/won't need to buy. Week 1 cost us $135 total, $67.50 per person, and $3.21 per meal. Week 2 cost us $255 total, $127.5 per person, and $6.07 per meal. Week 3 cost us $222 total, $111 per person, and $5.29 per meal. This week we spent $103.49
$104 weekly cost / 2 people = $52 per person
$104 weekly cost / 33 meals per person = $3.15 per meal
You'll notice the calculation was a little different this week! that's mainly because frankie left and I wanted to account for him missing nine meals (42-9 = 33 meals consumed in combination). We came in WAY lower than last week. which really didn't surprise me. I didn't make anything super exciting & we had a lot of stuff already bought/prepped in the freezer etc. I'm really happy with $3 per meal – i don't really have any complaints!
{the final four}
Those last four days – I spent $70.67 in one sole grocery trip! (keep in mind it was only for the four days….) Frankie came back Tuesday night so he wasn't around for the first five meals – SO. in total that $71 covered 19 meals, for a per meal cost of $3.74. Not too shabby & a lot of that is being used throughout the rest of the week too ;)
The week overall.
{ash}
It's starting to feel like second nature now. i just do this and it feels good. I feel good. I like how i feel mentally, the energy i have for training is top notch, and i like not feeling like food rules my whole life. Like i'll be completely ruined if i don't have just one slice of pizza. i didn't really anticipate the emotional changes, but i completely embrace them 100%.
TRAINING. um, it's hard. i hope you guys will think about using the app Charity Miles to help me raise money for the ALSa. but the actual act of training. geeze. i'm the type of person who thrives off a routine. i like having to-do lists and things to check off, so it's helping that i'm following some guidance. And um, i love my garmin telling me i'm breaking PRs left and right! I have an accountabilibuddy who i text every day after i do my workout. that seriously helps a lot. also, audio books! i thought i'd hate being read to, and sometimes I do find myself drifting off and not focusing, but if i'm being honest i tend to skim pages of books even when i'm reading for fun because i get bored…. i'm listening to a cheap one that i found (did you know audio books can go for like $30???) because i wanted to see if i even liked the act of listening to a book and to be honest, i think it helps me. I'm not focused entirely on RUNNING – which is good because it's definitely a mental battle for me.
I thought I was going to have a harder time without frankie here. i didn't think i'd crash and burn but i definitely expected more boredom and thus cravings. it surprisingly went really well. i kept busy the whole weekend and when i felt like i might be getting on the verge of boredom i'd set myself to a new task – i even had an “at home spa-night” one night and it just felt good. UM ALSO. frankie's definitely over this but i haven't been into TV. I mentioned it on Sunday that i hadn't watched anything and i'm still not feeling it. like at all. Frankie asked me today if it was my way of avoiding the cravings that come with watching tv and the desire to snack – VERY INSIGHTFUL – the answer is maybe? i don't know. i'm not consciously doing that. i just have stuff i WANT TO DOOO. like selling most of the crap in my craigslist adds! WOOHOO.
I did have a pang of jealousy when frankie was done though, he weighed himself Wednesday morning (he started reintroducing foods then) and lost FIFTEEN POUNDS. i'm so proud of him but also scared and wildly competitive and i know i haven't lost anywhere near fifteen pounds. i keep telling myself to focus on how clothes fit. pants that had been tight on me for probably a year now are looser and i definitely feel more comfortable in my skin than I did before.
At the end of this week i also didn't really feel scared anymore about what happens at the end. On Sunday i re-read the Reintroduction FAQ section in the Whole30 cookbook and that made me feel better. I also had been resenting the two extra days i have to do it because of the accidental slip in week 1 and trying to convince myself it was okay to just forget that and only do the 30 days. Then i re-read a section in the book that talked about how this was a promise TO MYSELF. and i'd only be cutting myself short if i took shortcuts or tried to bend the rules. (i had also been longingly wanting to step on the scale which is against the rules!) the idea that i'd really be only letting myself down and this was really about me achieving my own goals really lit a fire under me – I was ready to finish out the last four days and reintroduction. it's a process and it's working and i'm proud of myself. its not worth ruining it for no reason.
{the final four}
I was pleasantly surprised with how i liked the hot plates! they made my life a LOT easier for making foods! Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday weren't too difficult, but that last day felt like the end of the world. I felt so nervous and scared to jump on that scale and REALLY take progress pictures. I just wanted to get on it in those last few days and see where I was at – but i was also petrified that i wouldn't see the results i wanted…. not to be a tease but I”m not telling you what they are just yet… next wednesday things will get personal up in here, don't worry. maybe i'll even show you the progress pics! But we'll definitely talk about what it feels like to be “finished” and have made it through this and what i gained from it.
{Frankie}
So i already mentioned that frankie finished up his “whole30” on Wednesday this week. he weighed himself and lost a whopping FIFTEEN POUNDS with only 23 full days in. He started “reintroducing” foods on Wednesday – aka he went out to a bar after his soccer game and didn't eat dinner and stayed out till ELEVEN – aka. practically DAWN in my book. dude might as well have not come home. the next morning he told me when he got home he had “two nut bites” for “dinner” – its like he learned NOTHING about nutrition. geeze.
the next day he had a bagel with peanut butter and a coffee with cream – he was thoroughly underwhelmed. he texted me practically giving up. he said he asked for a LITTLE cream and it was basically half cream and he couldn't drink it. the bagel + peanut butter was “a subpar experience” – i asked if it was because his tastes had changed or if it was just a bad bagel and he basically said “it just isn't anything special” He left friday night after dinner to go to DISNEY.
overall, he said he tried to pick healthier options when he had the opportunity. he was drinking water instead of juice and he wasn't really snacking at the park, even if his family was. He chose bolognese over quatro formaggi pizza – because bolognese is healthier <- frankie logic – he also ran a 5k while he was there and “had a few almonds before because he didn't have time for breakfast” – he had been drinking all night before and didn't eat a “real” dinner the night before… and yet he still managed to come in at 6th in his age group. (WHY DOES THE WORLD LOVE HIM AND HATE ME?)
his overall impressions of eating off-whole30 foods have been – “eh” “nothing special” or “subpar” – the meals he had out at actual restaurants were good, though. he came back yesterday and he says he's back on it with me now until I stop – we'll see, I know he has a dinner invite this week and we have two soccer games to go to. i'm curious to see if it's harder for him to fall back into the whole30 guidelines now that he came off it for a week.
Weekly Resources
prior week recipes: any recipes that are labeled as week 1 would be detailed here, anything from week 2 would be here, and anything from week 3 is here.
recipes from the whole30 cookbook: sausage patties {adapted} + basic mayo
my recipes: 6 ingredient garlic chicken {adapted: omitted chia seeds – I think they are technically compliant, I just didn't have any and it's just as good without them!) + roasted cauliflower {adapted: subbed olive oil for the grapeseed oil} + buffalo bacon burgers + nut bites + {recipe coming your way soon} + almond milk for cold brew coffee {adapted: omitted cocoa powder and vanilla extract}
other places: cracklin chicken (NOM) {i used italian seasoning + salt + pepper on the “meat” side} + stuffed peppers {adapted: made the filling ahead of time + cooked the peppers in the oven + used basically every veggie i had in my crisper} + WELL FED. Read it. Love it. Live it. I really can't say enough good things about this guy! I'm about to buy Well Fed 2 because i loved the first one so much!
anyway, that's pretty much everything I have for you. are you guys as excited as I am to find out my results?! i can't wait!
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