The Whole30 Thing – Week Four

The what and why of the Whole30 food challenge is here, but essentially the rules are no sugar, alcohol, grains, legumes, dairy, or certain additives (carrageenan, MSG, sulfites) for a 30 days.

How I Feel

There are four days left in the challenge and I’m feeling good — that same clean feeling throughout my body. I also have no cravings, or at least not any for junk food (I just really, really want some corn, okay?). My only physical complaint right now it that my right shoulder and neck are a mess — although that is more than likely from some other cause.

In general, this has been a good experience (which I’ll write about next week when this is all officially over), but I’m definitely looking forward to being done and having more flexibility in terms of my food choices.

The Grocery List

Trader Joe’s – $46.33

  • Proteins – Boneless Pork Chops, Frozen Chicken Tenders, Eggs
  • Veggies – Romaine Lettuce, Healthy 8 Chopped Veggie Mix, Sugar Snap Peas
  • Fruit –  Bananas, Freeze Dried Mango, Freeze Dried Apples
  • Other Stuff – Dry Roasted Slivered Almonds, Pistachios Olive Oil infused with lemon juice, Red Wine Vinegar

Costco  – $112.02

  • Proteins  – Aidell Meatballs, Organic Sliced Chicken, Lunch Meat Chicken Slices, Aidell Chicken Apple Sausage, and some other kind of sausage I don’t remember the name of

Lunardi’s  – $12.99

  • Fruit – Strawberries, Red Grapes
  • Other – Vegan Pesto

Total Costs – $171.34

Costs were WAY higher this week than they’ve been on any other week and that’s primarily because of the Costco run, which I used to stock my freezer up with dinner and lunch foods that I’ll be able to use over the next several weeks. It should last me a while, which should keep my costs down in subsequent weeks.

My costs were also influenced by the fact that I’ll be attending a baby shower this weekend. I’m bringing some Whole30 compliant meatballs for the party, which will provide me with something I can eat that hopefully other people will also enjoy.

What I Ate

I was not excited about my food this week, partially boredom and also some cooking misses.

Meal Prep – Same as week one.

Breakfasts – Some work days were sliced up bananas with almond butter, some days were hard-boiled eggs and avocado — I am so bored with both of these options. Although I did like the one day I did almond butter and apple for breakfast.

Lunches – My mason jar salads were not quite as good because of some ingredient swaps (a different basalmic, pre-cooked chicken instead of making my own, and almost slivers instead of sunflower seeds) — so I didn’t really enjoy them as much as I have in previous weeks.

Dinners – I attempted to make some pork loin chops and green beans — it did not quite come out the way I hoped. The pork chops were just not as tasty as I’d hoped (I may have over cooked them) and I definitely overcooked the greenbeans in an attempt to get them done faster. So, that was a big miss for me.

Other dinners included chicken lettuce wraps and salads.

My sister also made dinner for me one night, which included a beef pot roast and mashed sweet potatoes made with coconut milk (which was really rich and delicious).

Deserts – Fresh strawberries, blueberries, grapes, or dried fruit. Although, apparently the Whole30 site recommends that fruit not be used as a desert or snack. In hindsight, I get that, but I still feel like I’ve followed the challenge and I’m good with the progress.

Snacks – Same as last week — one serving or more of sugar snap peas, nuts, or Larabars. Mostly it was the sugar snap peas or the nuts. And I’ve found in this last week that I seem to be feeling less inclination to snack in between meals.

Exercise

I didn’t run at all this week, though I did get a good squat and kettle bell routine in with one sister and a nice walk in with another. This was in addition to my usual strength training work out on Wednesday.

__________

If you’re also in the midst of a Whole30, let me know how you’re doing in the comments.

One Reply to “The Whole30 Thing – Week Four”

  1. I’m so over it! Can’t wait for Wednesday morning! Im definitely done with Whole 30. Ready to get back to my eating of cheese!

Comments are closed.