Trying to be the best me, Primally-My Journal page

[PrimallyJenna]

I'm on Day 3 of my second Whole30 and have decided it would be a good idea to publicly track my journey.

Activity: Volleyball

Food:
Breakfast: "pancake" made of 1 egg and 1 banana topped w/1 T almond butter
Lunch: 4 oz. beef jerky, 2 lg carrots, pickle
Dinner: TBD

I usually like to plan my dinners, but volleyball night makes it more of a grab and go-maybe eggs or tuna salad, depends what I feel like.

My motivation for starting this journal is really two-fold. I want to track my progress in moving toward what I hope is the best health of my life. I recently started crossfit and am really looking forward to seeing the progress. I've also been making dietary changes slowly, but sometimes it's hard to look back and realized how long it has been. Since starting to eat Primal in February, I have switched to grass-fed or pastured meats and eggs. I brew my own kombucha. I've made my own sauerkraut twice. I started canning my own vegetables-7 quarts of tomatoes are just waiting for me in the basement. Now, I'm adding more organ meats to my diet-specifically liver.

The second part of this, is I want to have my goals out there for people to support. My boyfriend is willing to let me do whatever I want, but he doesn't actively support my primal life. He just doesn't generally sabotage me. I'm seeing my parents and other family member's health decline and I really don't want to go through that any time in my life. My mom spent my entire life "on a diet." She was always using some CW way to lose weight. My weight is healthy, and I hope, by adopting a primal diet, will stay that way for life.

[PrimallyJenna]

To also add a bit more background to my health. I've had digestive issues since I was about 13. At the time I was diagnosed with casein and gluten intolerances. Now, I guess I had a leaky guy. I almost always avoid dairy-though I've been thinking about trying yogurt or kefir made from local grass-fed, low temperature pasteurized, non-homogenized milk (can't get raw here), but have found dairy leads to sinus problems for me. I have OAS with reactions to honeydew, cantaloupe, and sunflower seeds, so they generally won't appear in my diet.

I was a vegetarian and vegan for a couple years before I went primal. I really just thought that was the healthiest way to live, but always had trouble sticking with it too long because I didn't feel overly against eating animals.

[PrimallyJenna]

I don't know what it is, but I am so pumped for today. I didn't sleep well last night, but I am still full of energy for today-I love Fridays.

Alright,
Activity: Crossfit WOD

Breakfast (post crossfit): 2 eggs, ground turkey, banana, coffee w/coconut milk
Lunch: Salad w/ground turkey, carrots, radish, pickle
Dinner: burger, kale sauteed in ghee
Snack: liver pate, carrots

Last night I made liver pate. I've had liver only a couple times before and liked it, so I'm excited to dig in to the pate later. Yesterday was CSA pick-up, so my kitchen is fully stocked with veggies. The only fruit was a giant cantaloupe, so I'll be giving that away.

I'm a little disappointed in myself for eating a lot of fruit yesterday, but when I got home from volleyball I was hungry and it just sounded too good. For that, today is another day, so I'll be doing my best to eat less fruit today. For some reason kombucha really helps with my sweets cravings, but I've been out for a few days. I think my new batch may be ready today, though. I'll check when I get home (I usually time it better, but a cool week made the fermentation slower).

Whole30 #2: 3 days complete, 27 remain

[PrimallyJenna]

Activity: Walk, 45 min.

Breakfast: 2 eggs, 4 slices bacon
Lunch: Liver pate, carrot, pickles, banana
Dinner: Ribs, kale, grapes

Had a little bit of non-compliant barbeque sauce. I'm okay with that.

Whole 30: 5 days complete, 25 remain

[TrPAssasin]

The fifth day looks good, but the first few look like you're not eating very much.

[PrimallyJenna]

It's probably more food that it seems. I don't measure things, but if I eat a serving of vegetables, it's pretty large and most are cooked in a good amount of fat-ghee or coconut oil. I'm not hungry at all.

Day 6

Activity: Life-cleaning house, cooking, etc.

Breakfast: 2 eggs, 4 slices bacon, leftover kale
Lunch: Jerky, fennel cooked in coconut oil
Dinner: Beef stewed with tomatoes and onion, banana with almond butter

I made my boyfriend cookies and two loaves of banana bread today. It was really hard not to try some. The banana was mostly a diversion so I didn't eat either of those. The stewed beef was a crockpot meal I made so I didn't have to keep track of time and I could use all the CSA tomatoes I got this week. Bonus: I have leftovers for three lunches this week. I love not having to think about packing lunch.

I'm hoping to eventually convince my boyfriend to eat a more primal diet. He's not very receptive to the idea, though. He takes sandwiches and yogurt for lunch. Eats cereal for breakfast. He does eat primal dinners with me, though he sometimes adds a grain (like if I make a taco salad, he'll make a burrito). He eats a lot of sweets, though and I struggle getting him to give that up. Yesterday, we went to an outdoor concert at a local shopping village and he had to get frozen yogurt even though we had just eaten a huge dinner...I just watched him eat it.

[Louisa655]

my husband is the same way

[PrimallyJenna]

Day 7

Activity: 4x800m sprint repeats

Breakfast: 2 eggs, carrots
Lunch: Leftover stewed beef
Snack: Almond butter, celery w/liver pate
Dinner: Chicken bratwurst, green beans

I was super busy today, so I didn't notice until I got home from work that I didn't eat enough for breakfast/lunch. I was starving when I got home-hence the almond butter spoonful straight from the jar and some liver pate while grilling up the brats for dinner.

I'm slowly working on my master's degree while working full time (my company pays for the classes, so it's win-win). Class starts tonight, so we'll see how it goes. This week both days I have class are pretty busy (Thursday is worse than today because I have a volleyball game and need to pick up my CSA after class). I probably should have packed a just-in-case snack, but ran out of time this morning. I did eat more for breakfast and packed more in my lunch so I'm hoping I won't be starving during class.

[PrimallyJenna]

Day 8

Activity: Walk to/from class ~30 min

Breakfast: 2 eggs
Lunch: Stewed beef
Dinner: Chicken bratwurst, green beans
Snack: Almond butter w/ cocoa powder

Day 9

Activity: Crossfit WOD

Breakfast: 2 eggs
Lunch: Last of the beef, banana
Dinner: Spaghetti squash, meat sauce
Snack: Last of the liver pate, celery

Absolutely crazy busy, super stressful day at work. Really looking forward to the long weekend, I'm going to need the break.

[PrimallyJenna]

Falling a little behind here...

My stress from work all came out okay. My project timeline is getting pushed forward a lot now, so I'll be busy for a while, but I'm excited for the results.

Day 10

Activity: walk to/from class + volleyball games

Breakfast: 2 eggs
Lunch: Leftover spaghetti squash and sauce
Snack: banana (while running out the door to volleyball)
Dinner: Rest of the squash/sauce (super late)

I didn't even get home until 9 pm tonight. I went to get my CSA and the line was 40 people long. They theorized it was from everyone trying to get it before they leave for the 3-day weekend, but it was crazy how long that took (and it's only ~1.5 mi from my house). I was on the run all day today. I went to work, was busy all day, straight to class, came home just to change and grab a banana, back out the door to volleyball, straight to CSA pick-up (after winning), then finally home. I'm really glad this was my last week of volleyball so I know that won't happen again.