Crystal Madrilejos

And I thought Week 2 was full challenges. Week 3 was tough on many fronts. The biggest being totally unrelated to the Whole30. Last week, my Dad went into the hospital and had heart surgery, followed by a minor stroke. It’s been a rough week on my whole family. Fortunately, despite his setback, he’s still on the road to recovery making progress daily. (A huge thanks to everyone who sent love and well wishes. He’s got an amazing bunch of people in his life, that’s for sure.)

With that said, basically everything else going on in my life has paled in comparison. I even debated writing this post since any small challenges I had faced this past week in regards to what I was eating were just small potatoes compared to what my Dad went through.

But I figured, I’d continue posting because it does give me a tiny respite from everything that’s been going on. It feels good to just focus on this small task for a moment after such an emotional week. Since I’m now on Day 23, I’m thinking of trying to post daily Whole30 updates on my progress during this final week- but we’ll see if I can squeeze those posts in. If not, I’ll just do a final week recap after Day 30! Dare I say… that sort of went fast?!

Obstacles

• Before we knew that my Dad was going into the hospital, we had planned a little mini-family vacation up to Lake Erie. We originally were planning on being away for three days, but ended up only staying one night so we could be back for my Dad’s surgery. In terms of the Whole30 – it was a bit of a struggle packing food for the trip since we stayed in a hotel that had only a microwave and a mini-fridge. I ended up bringing hard boiled eggs, some chicken I cooked beforehand, salad fixings, avocados, fruit and cashews. This was also my first time eating out in a restaurant while on the Whole30 and luckily had the foresight to bring my own salad dressing. If all else fails, you can always get a salad.

• The latter part of last week was spent mostly going between the hospital, our house and my sister’s house.Which means not a ton of time to be spent preparing meals. I managed to carry around a tote bag with various tupperware of leftovers which I heated up in the hospital cafeteria microwave. Though I avoided any slip-ups it probably wasn’t the best I’d eaten the past few weeks. Some days I barely ate a thing for dinner. And I felt it. Between emotional fatigue and not getting enough calories, my energy levels were really low. It wasn’t until yesterday that I was finally able to catch up and feel like I ate enough. I probably ate more fruit than is advisable on the Whole30 and I did polish off those Banana Almond Butter Cups I mentioned in my last post, but again, not to satisfy any sweet cravings. I was seriously just hungry and didn’t want to break down and just eat a non-compliant bowl of cereal at 11pm. I figured, it was the best option at the time.

Physical Condition + Mood Meter

• Considering the circumstances of last week, it’s hard to judge what was what in terms of my moods and physical condition. Not only was this stuff happening with my Dad, but I was also PMS-ing, not eating enough, and didn’t have time to exercise, so to say that I felt a bit off is no surprise.
• My skin has cleared up with the exception of a few spots that may be PMS related.
• I feel a general calmness about not  being able to eat sugar, however I’m starting to think it’s going to take more than 30 days to really nip my habit in the bud. All cravings aside, I generally enjoy sweets – especially well-made, high quality desserts. And I don’t want to lose that. Moving forward after the Whole30, I will be more selective of sweets I consume. Only the best for me!
• This won’t be a “perfect” Whole30 since I did break one rule. I weighed myself. That was one rule I didn’t feel too compelled to follow from the beginning so it makes sense it’s the one I broke. I realize the creators of the Whole30 don’t want to tout the program as a “weight loss program” – and I totally get that. But I feel their reasonings for banning the scale don’t necessarily apply to my situation. I understand weight is not a determining factor of anything. Of course on some level, I feel good about the fact that, yes, I have lost weight. But at the same time, it’s not the thing driving me. I didn’t have to step on the scale to know I had lost weight or that I feel better. I was more curious than anything.

What I’ve Been Eating

Unfortunately, I don’t have a ton of new things to add since last week was pretty much a bust in the cooking department. I stuck to old, quick and easy standards (in the realm of the Whole30) – leftovers, eggs, and a whole lot of lettuce from the garden. I did try two new recipes, one being the Garlic Basil Mayo that my friend Chandra posted about which is fantastic. As well as the Prosciutto-Wrapped Mini Fritatta Muffins, which ended up being perfect for toting around and really delicious.

One more week to go! Wish me luck!

Tags: Fitness, Food, Inspiration, Self, Whole30