Weekly Preparations
My schedule allowed me to do my grocery shopping on Saturdays and some preparation for the week on Sundays. If you want to open up some time during the week, I would suggest preparing all of your lunches for the week at one time (for me, this was salads each day with different toppings to mix things up). I purchased these #MyLeftovers storage containers off Amazon, and I loved them! They held the perfect amount of salad for my lunches, they stacked well in my fridge, and they were dishwasher safe (and lined up neatly in my dishwasher as well!).
DAY #1:
It's my first day of doing the Whole30 and I'm feeling good, but really lacking energy. Temptation wasn't too bad- I easily passed on some cookies that were sitting in the teachers' lounge. I really craved sweets after lunch, but distracted myself with work instead. I also found that putting a slice of lemon in my water tastes great and makes me drink a lot more water throughout the day.
I found out I don't care for cooked spinach because the Spinach Frittata I made last night did not taste appetizing this morning. (A few weeks later I tried a frittata recipe similar to this one with just sausage, eggs, green pepper, and mushrooms and loved it!) My salad for lunch consisted of chopped romaine with chicken breast strips, a hard-boiled egg, and homemade vinaigrette dressing.
Note: After trying many different dressing combinations, I found my favorites were the Herb Citrus Vinaigrette and Homemade Ranch.
Supper was stuffed peppers. My whole family loved the meat mixture, but the kids didn't eat the actual pepper. I ended up chopping up their uneaten peppers and adding them to my scrambled eggs the next day. The sweet cravings were so unbearable after supper, I ended up eating a small container of unsweetened applesauce. I understood I wasn't going to break bad habits by substituting, but I had to start somewhere!
I have just the slightest headache, but not too bad. My "hunger" is really just my sweet tooth craving something to satisfy me. This is the hold that my sugar dragon has on me...
DAY #2:
Scrambled eggs with peppers and sausage patties made a fulfilling, delicious breakfast this morning. {You'll see later that this ended up being almost a staple for me, and I actually didn't get too bored with it}. Lunch was a spring mix/spinach greens with strawberries and chopped chicken breast. Supper was one of my favorites: Roasted Chicken, Roasted Vegetables (cut up squash, sweet potatoes, carrots, etc. drizzled with olive oil and kosher or sea salt and baked at 400 degrees for almost an hour or until tender), and a salad of mixed greens. My seven-year-old daughter said, "Mom, this eating healthy is yummy!" and I couldn't agree more.
Surprisingly, I felt good today. I was a tiny bit irritable at times, but that's not unusual. :) I ended the day with a cup of chamomile tea, which helped with the sweet cravings after supper. I knew that giving in to something like applesauce was going to be bad news for me. I think I could get used to having a cup of tea at night instead of dessert. Did I just say that??
At work today I couldn't stop thinking about sweets, and I had a hand full of almonds mid-afternoon, not because I was hungry but just because I couldn't stop thinking about food! Hopefully by the end I can retrain my brain and tame that sugar dragon!
DAY #3:
Still feeling good today! In fact, I keep thinking I'm going to wake up feeling miserable so every day that I don't is a blessing! Supper was Porkchops and Applesauce- yum! (Is it just me, or do you think about Brady Bunch every time you hear that combination?)
DAY #4:
I made it past my biggest temptation yet! I went out for supper with a group of friends and watched them enjoy bacon cheeseburgers, fries, and beer. This wasn't exactly a "fancy restaurant" (in fact, it was a small-town bar) so I went with sirloin steak and a plain baked potato. It came with a salad, but they had no olive oil or any compliant dressing so I had to eat it plain- gross! I brought along my one LaCroix sparkling water (highly recommend these- in fact, I may never drink a soda again!) and treated myself to a Larabar. I really enjoyed the sweet taste, and realized these could be dangerous for me. Note to self: limit these to special occasions only.
DAY #5:
My husband and I are both very irritable. (He has not read any of the books but is doing the Whole30 with me as my "support". Spoiler alert: hubby quits on day 7). We both have colds coming on, so that's not helping our moods. We had sweet potato and chicken hash for supper and loved it! I'll have leftovers with eggs for breakfast!
DAY #6:
I woke up with a headache this morning. I made fresh mushroom and sausage omelets and didn't even miss the cheese I would normally put in! Today we were out of town for lunch so I had to find a compliant option at a restaurant. I came up with HuHot- a perfect decision! If you've never eaten there, it's a place where you fill a plate with meat, seafood, and vegetables, then add your sauce and they cook it in front of you. I chose lots of beef, chicken, some crab, a ton of veggies (broccoli, red potatoes, some sugar snap peas) and then added just a bit of sesame oil for my sauce. I didn't feel like I was missing out on what everyone around me was having (we just passed on the white rice they normally bring to your table). I think the hardest part of doing the Whole30 is finding dine-out options. I have a whole new appreciation for anyone who has food allergies.
DAY #7:
Today I sat through my first bible class without sweets. We normally have some kind of sweet treat or carb option on Sunday mornings, along with coffee. I stuck with just coffee and had to explain my new "diet" to my extended family. My daughter came out from Sunday School with ice cream and lots of delicious toppings, and I really wanted something sweet! Today I mostly crave peanut butter, cheese, and of course, chocolate! I want monster cookies like you wouldn't believe. I started reading It Starts With Food and this has helped me learn more about what makes us crave these foods and what foods are most nutritious.
Breakfast consisted of leftovers with eggs and lunch was Sweet Potato Soup and sauteed kale with sunflower seeds. For supper we had Spaghetti Squash with Tomato Sauce and Hamburger. For being a huge pasta lover, I didn't even miss the real noodles!
My husband quit the Whole30 today (ok, he prefers I don't use the word "quit" so I'm going to say "failed" but really he's already learned a lot that he plans to continue so I wouldn't say that's a failure). I was 100% devoted to my decision to complete the Whole30 and really took my time preparing and listing goals for myself. He did not read the books and I think this was part of the reason he did not succeed this time around. Note: he does continue to eat compliant lunches and suppers with me, but might have a snack or bowl of cereal for breakfast from here on out. I'm still proud of him for making it 7 days and as of today (about two months after beginning the Whole30), he has yet to have a Mountain Dew. He used to have one daily, and that is a win in and of itself! FACT: The Whole30 authors say that it's 34% harder for soda drinkers to complete the Whole30.
Looking forward to my next post for Week #2!
God's Blessings,
A Good Food Fanatic
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