Whole 30

I've been talking about doing Whole 30 for about 4 months. I could have finished it 4 times all ready. But I kept talking myself out of it. Here's a link to what the program is- website. Basically we will be eating meat and veggies and occasionally fruit.

We started it Wednesday because we are doing it for Lent. So although it's called Whole 30 we are doing it for all of Lent- 46 days. So far it's been okay. I was joking that my brain is telling my body its full because it doesn't want all of the vegetables!

Tuesday night I made broccoli frittata for us to eat for breakfast all week. I used WAY too much broccoli/not enough eggs. Otherwise it's pretty good.

Wednesday night I made zoodles with shrimp. This seems like a lot of "noodles" but when I threw them in the pan with the shrimp they seemed to disappear. I actually like zoodles so I'll just have to work on portions and keeping them dry. Maybe by the 46th day!

Thursday I dove into the world of cauliflower rice. I LOVE cauliflower but I read mixed reviews of the "rice". I won't say it tastes like rice BUT I added some cilantro and lime and made a chicken burrito bowl with salsa chicken and salad and it was really good. Even Mackenzie liked it!

Before we started I read the book It Starts with Food which is the book that accompanies Whole 30. I really like the way it's written and how they break down the chapters and explain WHY they limit sugar, carbs, ect. It's a good read about nutrition even if you don't want to do Whole 30. They also use a little humor too which I appreciate. They said you should eat however many eggs fit into the palm of your hand (like any protein portion) and they joked how most women come up to them and say that "I only had one egg for breakfast this morning!" and are so proud but it just shows that they can't possibly be eating enough. 

One example I really liked in the book was comparing how you feel after eating steak vs. Oreo's. Eventually when you are eating steak you start to feel satisfied and eating the steak itself is less satisfying- if that makes sense. But when you are eating Oreo's your body never gets notice that you don't need anymore food so the 10th Oreo is just as delicious as the first. So you just keep eating. I'm not saying it as well as they are but this point really helped me realize the difference between eating food that's good for you vs. food that isn't good for you. 

Friday night, I made cod with ghee (clarified butter) and garlic and baked it in the oven. It was really good- even Mackenzie liked it! I have a feeling we will be eating  A LOT of broccoli! 

Saturday night we had left over salsa chicken salads with oranges. I tried La Croix for the first time and I didn't really like it. It's too fizzy for me which I think is interesting since I drank a soda almost everyday for years. I tried plain water with some lime today and that was much better. I really though I would like a fizzy drink. George likes the Trader Joe's flavored sparkling water that I bought (its less fizzy than La Croix). Drinking plain water was his biggest complaint. 

For brunch today I made eggs, chicken/apple sausage and broccoli. Neither Mackenzie nor I finished our sausage but I'm sure we will eat it at another meal. We had almost the same meal yesterday for lunch. This time I cooked the eggs in ghee to add a little fat because I don't think I'm adding enough fat to our food. Which is such a weird thing to say. 

I'm actually really surprised it's going so well for me. I really thought I would harp on not being able to eat certain food- mainly cheese. But I haven't missed anything yet. I haven't really felt sick. Just a little hungry- which just means I'm not eating enough in my meals. Yesterday, Mackenzie and I stopped at Safeway because they sell Tessemae's salad dressing (SOOOO GOOD and Whole 30 compliant) after her swim class. We were both hungry because we only had time to eat some fruit before her class. I was looking at the options for a quick fix and I saw some corn bread. I really had a moment where I wanted to eat all 8 pieces or however many pieces were in the container but I kept it together! (I went for baby carrots instead). I've walked by aisles of cheese and soda and haven't really had a moment like that for either so that's good. Obviously I will be eating cheese again. And I won't say that I'm not going to enjoy a Coke every once in awhile but I'm just hoping that my brain stops craving them. It turns out that I do have a little willpower that I always claimed I didn't have. I just didn't want to have willpower. There's a huge difference! So we have 5 days down. Hopefully the next 41 days are going to go equally as well. We are going to have to branch out a little vegetable wise but I think we'll get there eventually! 

When I got towards the end of the book there was a section that said WHOLE 30 ISN'T HARD. Fighting cancer is hard. Giving birth is hard. Whole 30 isn't hard. And I started tearing up because I've done both of those things. And they were really hard. So eating some more veggies and not eating sugar/carbs for awhile isn't really that big of a deal. It really helped put it into perspective for me and maybe that's why it hasn't been as hard as I thought it would be. I'm looking forward to start feeling a little more energetic this week (I hope) and just feeling better in general.