I’ve tracked everything I could think of for my first week of Whole30, and I’ve broken out day by day how I felt, what I ate, and what exercise I did–and the dreams I had about food. If you’re considering doing a Whole30, this is what the first week was like for me, what I ate, and how many calories I consumed. I’m already feeling better!
Overall, this week was pretty easy, and I credit the preparation for my Whole30 that I did. I didn’t have very many sugar cravings at all. I did crave grains, but was able to avoid them by understanding why it was important to avoid them and what my goal is. Honestly, that’s been the biggest thing for me: knowing the reasoning behind why I’m not eating things, and what benefits I might get. My energy levels were lower than normal but still fine. I felt the need to go to bed earlier, but haven’t noticed any changes to my actual sleep. For this first week of Whole30, I did wake up hungry now, though, which is different for me. I had no trouble working out, despite the warnings to take it easy.
The Whole30 programs asks us not to count calories or weigh ourselves. I think that’s because it’s a negative psychological response for most people. For me personally, I live off of data, and don’t find tracking my calorie input or output to be distracting or in any way emotional. I’m fully aware that for many people, it can be damaging, and would not recommend it for those people. However, I’m using it for the self-experimentation that they promote, to see what exactly brings about the changes. It’s pretty clear to me that part of the initial result of going on an elimination diet is also a reduction in the number of calories I’m eating. I think this will end up being a theme throughout the Whole30.
I have been less bloated. My stomach doesn’t feel any different, but it’s less bloated at the end of the day, and less bloated when I wake up. I still have some bloat, but it’s decreased a noticeable amount. I’m curious which food was causing the bloat for me.
Week 1 Total Calories: 11,113; Carbs: 697g (25%); Fat: 619g (49%); Protein: 743g (26%)
Week 1 Average Calories/Day: 1,591
Week 1 Calories Burned: 13,731
Week 1 Calorie Surplus/(Deficit): (2,598)
Day 1: Jan 2, 2018
First day down of my first week of Whole30, and it wasn’t hard to avoid snacking. I felt nauseous in the morning after working out, and had a headache in the afternoon before lunch, but I don’t think those are attributable to Whole30 (this is Day 1, after all) The hardest parts were my schedule and not getting enough veggies with breakfast. I was a bit later to work than I would have liked, and after showering, I had to go straight to a meeting. As a result, I had a later breakfast than I should have. I got my haircut after work, and the stylist was about 45 minutes late in seeing me because her other appointments ran over, so I didn’t get home until 8 pm, at which point I wasn’t hungry, and felt it was too close to bedtime to eat. I didn’t sleep much the night before (5 hours), so I wanted to get to bed early. But, I didn’t eat nearly enough, and need to eat all 3 meals going forward. I took 2 Tylenol for my neck.
Meals
- Breakfast @ 10am: Egg bake with ground turkey, spinach, and artichoke
Calories: 376; Carbs: 8.6g (9%); Fat: 23.2g (55%); Protein: 34g (36%) - Lunch @ 1:45pm: Buffalo chicken with cumin carrot salad (Territory Foods)
Calories: 733; Carbs: 26g (14%); Fat: 52g (65%); Protein: 37g (21%) - Dinner: None
- Snacks: None
Total Calories: 1,109; Carbs: 34g (12%); Fat: 75g (62%); Protein: 70g (25%)
Exercise
- 7am: solidcore Arms & Abs class
Calories burned: 1,952
Day 2: Jan 3, 2018
Woke up starving, but I can’t eat before I work out—I get really nauseous and have had to stop to vomit before. So, had to wait to eat until after. My stomach didn’t feel great while working out, and I think I’m going to need to force myself to eat dinner at night, even if it’s late. In a good mood because I was listening to the bird and the bee’s cover album of Hall & Oates songs. Got a good amount of sleep (7 hours) but was tired after doing spin in the morning. I did really well in the class, this was my first Flywheel class in well over a year, and I was within spitting distance of my personal record! I took 2 Advil for my neck.
Meals
- Breakfast @ 9am: Machaca Con Huevos (Territory Foods) and a handful of strawberries
Calories: 711; Carbs: 19g (10%); Fat: 51g (64%); Protein: 44g (26%) - Lunch @ 12:30pm: Red Pepper Coulis Chicken with Broccoli Mash & Sweet Potato Provencal (Territory Foods)
Calories: 449; Carbs: 40g (33%); Fat: 14g (26%); Protein: 51g (42%) - Dinner: @ 8pm: Awaze beef tibs, roasted curried carrots, and blueberries
Calories: 564; Carbs: 55g (38%); Fat: 25g (39%); Protein: 34g (23%) - Snacks: None
Total Calories: 1,725; Carbs: 144g (25%); Fat: 90g (46%); Protein: 128g (28%)
Exercise
- 7am: Flywheel 45-minute
Calories burned: 2,197
Day 3: Jan 4, 2018
I didn’t think I would have a dream about food in my first week of Whole30, but I had my first dream about food last night. In my dream, I was making good food choices and turning things down because they weren’t compliant, but then I ate something that I thought was compliant but definitely wasn’t, and freaked out because I had to start all over again. It was literally a nightmare.
My lunch was not satiating. It was chicken salad on a bed of lettuce, essentially. Don’t get me wrong, the chicken salad was delicious, but I need more substantial veggies. Because I wasn’t satiated, and because there was a birthday celebration that I couldn’t partake in, I ended up snacking in the afternoon. I went foraging in some coworkers’ snacks (with their knowledge, don’t worry!) and found some Whole30 compliant snacks: cashews, fruit leather with no added sweetners, and raisins. Eating the fruit leather was a bad idea, because immediately after eating it, I had a massive sugar craving. Not a good feeling.
Meals
- Breakfast @ 9am: Egg bake with ground turkey, spinach, and artichoke
Calories: 376; Carbs: 8.6g (9%); Fat: 23.2g (55%); Protein: 34g (36%) - Lunch @ 12:45pm: Tangine Chicken Salad with Peppercorn Dressing (Territory Foods)
Calories: 514; Carbs: 21g (16%); Fat: 28g (49%); Protein: 45g (35%) - Afternoon Snacks: Harvest Grap Fruit Strip and cashews
Calories: 66; Carbs: 12g (73%); Fat: 25g (21%); Protein: 1g (6%) - Dinner: @ 7pm: Awaze beef tibs, roasted curried carrots, and blueberries
Calories: 564; Carbs: 55g (38%); Fat: 25g (39%); Protein: 34g (23%)
Total Calories: 1,450; Carbs: 80g (22%); Fat: 77g (47%); Protein: 113g (31%)
Exercise
- 7am: Solidcore
Calories burned: 2,149
Day 4: Jan 5, 2018
Today I hit my limit of how much of the beef tibs I could eat. I ate about half, and then just couldn’t eat any more and ended up throwing out the rest. I need more variety in my meals.
Meals
- Breakfast @ 9am: Egg bake with ground turkey, spinach, and artichoke
Calories: 376; Carbs: 8.6g (9%); Fat: 23.2g (55%); Protein: 34g (36%) - Morning Snacks: Dried mango
Calories: 46; Carbs: 11g (96%); Fat: 0g (0%); Protein: 1g (4%) - Lunch @ 12:45pm: Ghost Pepper Beef W/ Roasted Broccoli, Cauliflower & Green Beans (Territory Foods), dried unsweetened mango, and cashews
Calories: 586; Carbs: 38g (25%); Fat: 27g (41%); Protein: 50g (34%) - Dinner: @ 8pm: Awaze beef tibs, roasted curried carrots, and blueberries
Calories: 326; Carbs: 29g (35%); Fat: 16g (44%); Protein: 18g (21%) - Evening Snacks: Frozen blueberries and Kalamata olives
Calories: 220; Carbs: 36g (60%); Fat: 10g (37%); Protein: 2g (3%)
Total Calories: 1,554; Carbs: 123g (31%); Fat: 76g (43%); Protein: 105g (26%)
Exercise
- None
Calories burned: 1,798
Day 5: Jan 6, 2018
Today I tried to eat before my workout, and I was okay. I had a very, very small snack of one slice of deli turkey and 3 cashews–I didn’t want to push it and have too much food since it usually doesn’t go over well. But, I was fine. My issue today is that my workout was so late, which pushed back my breakfast, which pushed back everything.
Meals
- Breakfast @ 11am: Scrambled eggs and spicy mango cajun chicken sausage, cashews, and turkey
Calories: 915; Carbs: 8g (3%); Fat: 66g (65%); Protein: 44g (32%) - Morning Snack: Banana
Calories: 105; Carbs: 27g (96%); Fat: 0g (0%); Protein: 1g (4%) - Lunch: None
- Afternoon Snack: Dried mango
Calories: 91; Carbs: 21g (95%); Fat: 0g (0%); Protein: 1g (5%) - Dinner: @ 8pm: Beef tenderloin with roasted broccoli, cauliflower, and squash
Calories: 771; Carbs: 19g (10%); Fat: 59g (69%); Protein: 41g (21%) - Snacks: None
Total Calories: 1,882; Carbs: 75g (16%); Fat: 125g (59%); Protein: 116g (25%)
Exercise
- 10am: Solidcore
Calories burned: 2,006
Day 6: Jan 7, 2018
For dinner, I went to a Whole30 potluck dinner party, and ate some delicious, healthy food. I didn’t really feel that hungry. I realized today that I haven’t felt the need to take anything for my neck for the past few days, which is incredible! Hoping that all that stuff about Whole30 reducing inflammation is turning out to be true!
Meals
- Breakfast @ 10am: Scrambled eggs
Calories: 390; Carbs: 3g (3%); Fat: 30g (67%); Protein: 30g (30%) - Lunch: None
- Afternoon Snack: Dried mango, cashews, frozen blueberries, half an avocado
Calories: 372: Carbs: 50g (51%); Fat: 19g (44%); Protein: 5g (5%) - Dinner: @ 8pm: Portuguese fish stew, lemon & thyme chicken, roasted squash and sweet potato, spinach salad with poached pears
Calories: 1,322; Carbs: 97g (29%); Fat: 81g (54%); Protein: 58g (17%)
Total Calories: 2,084; Carbs: 150g (28%); Fat: 130g (54%); Protein: 93g (18%)
Exercise
- None
Calories burned: 1,761
Day 7: Jan 8, 2018
No sugar cravings today, but I’ve been grazing since I worked from home this afternoon. I forgot my breakfast today, but was able to pick up some hard-boiled eggs at the cafe to make sure I ate clean and would be satiated. At the wend of my first week of Whole30, I’m feeling confident that I’ll be able to get through the program. My neck is feeling less painful, and I’m still able to have the varied flavors that I love.
Meals
- Breakfast @ 9am: Hard-boiled Eggs
Calories: 280: Carbs: 2g (3%); Fat: 20g (63%); Protein: 24g (34%) - Lunch @ 1pm: Moroccan Beef Tagine W/ Sweet Potato Mash (Territory Foods)
Calories: 430: Carbs: 42g (38%); Fat: 11g (22%); Protein: 44g (40%) - Afternoon Snack: Frozen blueberries and a pear
Calories: 220; Carbs: 61g (98%); Fat: 0g (0%); Protein: 1g (2%) - Dinner: @ 6pm: Baked salmon with lemon and thyme and asparagus
Calories: 400; Carbs: 55g (16%); Fat: 25g (35%); Protein: 34g (49%)
Total Calories: 1,330; Carbs: 121g (35%); Fat: 47g (31%); Protein: 119g (34%)
Exercise
- 7am Solidcore
Calories burned: 1,753
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