Whole30 - Halfway

Another Whole30 week down! Recap: for 30 days, no sugar, grains, dairy, legumes, alcohol, white potatoes, and other additives.  A great book if you want a hard copy resource is It Starts with Food, by Doug and Melissa Hartwick.

General thoughts: I'm eating a ton of eggs.  Partly because I'm too lazy to get up early enough to pull together something more complicated for breakfast, and then can't think clearly enough to be creative.  I don't mind, I like eggs. . .so far!

Also, I'm eating some of the same meals over and over, but that's because they are fast and delicious, and I have a horrible tendency to wait until the last second before prepping meals.  If you need more variety, check out this Pinterest board that has 30 breakfasts, lunches, and dinners (although I think some of the meals are for inspiration only and would need slight tweaking to meet Whole30 restrictions).

Will I keep going?



You bet.  The even, under-control moods and decreased brain fog are worth it even if nothing else changes.  Am I losing weight?  Yep.  I did lose a bunch after I started running, so I figured all my easy weight would have been gone, but I am still steadily dropping pounds.  Which, my friends, flies in the face of the idea that all dietary fat is evil and makes you fatter.

I squashed all the daily meals down at the bottom, in case for some reason, you don't want to examine every bite I eat.


Eight.  Had a short night due to sick baby, but I feel pretty good today despite that.  Definite lessening of the fatigue from last week.  Continued even mood, despite sick kids (which is pretty much miraculous.)  I realized I have a dirty skillet and cutting board out at all times.

Nine:  Okay, judge me.  I had this lovely pancake thing all mixed up and ready to go in the oven, and then somehow I knocked it over.  Not just a little bump.  We're talking a spectacular crash involving a quart of egg mixture, a bag of flour, and the hand mixer.  Oh, and the hand mixer managed to hit the baby on the nose and foot on the way down.  No breakfast, kitchen suddenly a disaster (egg mixture oozing down the cabinet doors and finding it's way onto all the plates and bowls) and baby crying with a bloody nose.  So I decided right then and there I would put some honey in my dang coffee today.  I'm just patting myself on the back that I didn't hope in the car and go get a Sausage Egg McMuffin (shudder) and a McCafe with bourbon.  In other news, feeling great today!  No fatigue, no headache, no dark moods.

Eleven. Wicked chocolate cravings this afternoon.  Not necessarily for sugar, just some serious chocolaty goodness.  I absolutely know I'm not hungry, but my brain is sending out desperate snack signals.  Frantic internet searching ensued.  Good, even mood, but tired.  I'm flying solo right now, Mr. Cyrus is out of town this week on a business trip, so maybe that is why.  I'm sleeping great though.

Thirteen. That Fruit and Nut Medley is surprisingly filling.  Add a hard boiled egg, and I think you'd have a really solid meal, even for a guy.  I just haven't thought ahead enough to boil any eggs! Have not felt that great after my coffee, and generally more tired than usual these past few days, so I decided to try cold brewing the coffee.  Mild tasting, didn't seem to make me feel yucky the way regular coffee has been affecting me.
Mood good, motivation strong, but pretty tired despite sleeping well.
Also, I really really wanted some chocolate again on Day 12, so I was doing more searching for an acceptable treat and found this quote/article from Whole9 (parent company for the Whole30 program).  Drat.

While 100% cocoa sure isn’t sweet in flavor, it’s chocolate-y enough that many will see it, use it and abuse it as a pseudo-chocolate crutch.  You know who you are -  the carb-addicted sugar-a-holics,  missing your beloved chocolate while on the Whole30.  And while you are here to change your habits, change your cravings and change your relationship with food… you are also desperate enough to get your fix by rationalizing the addition of “Whole30-approved” cocoa powder to your coffee, coconut milk and anything else that could act as a Pseudo-Chocolate Delivery Mechanism.

And that goes against everything the Whole30 stands for.

because that's how we roll.

Day Eight
Breakfast: Fried Eggs, bacon, lightly cooked veggies, black tea.
Lunch: Sweet potato and almond butter wraps (coconut flour wrap), sliced lemon cucumber. 
Dinner: BBQ chicken and zucchini slices

Day Nine
Breakfast: Fruit and Nut Medley (peaches, blueberries and raisins, topped with almonds, coconut and cinnamon), coffee with honey (see reflections)
Lunch:  Chicken salad (shredded chicken, chopped lemon cucumber, tomatoes, olives, and avocado, olive oil mayo from It Starts with Food (this mayo is so zesty and versatile!))
Dinner:  BBQ chicken and raw green beans with olive oil mayo for dip
Snack: Chocolate banana milkshake (found on my friend Heidi's blog)

Day Ten
Breakfast: Fruit and Nut Medley, coffee with coconut milk
Lunch: Hamburger patties, spinach, and carrots, all grilled on the George Foreman grill, and topped with dijon mustard
Dinner: Classical Conversations Orientation Potluck
Snacks: Chocolate banana milkshake

Day Eleven
Breakfast: Eggs over spinach and green beans (lightly sizzled), and coffee with coconut milk
Lunch: BLAT Chicken Salad
Dinner: Scrounged around for leftovers in the fridge.
Snacks: Chocolate Almond Butter (almond butter + cocoa powder + teensy bit of salt + tsp of coconut oil. warm up slightly). (prepare yourself, this butter does have somewhat of a peanut-butter-in-a-dog's-mouth effect, so make sure you don't have any talking to do when you're snacking. )

Day Twelve
Breakfast: Fried eggs, warm pureed squash with coca almond butter (delicious!), coffee with cocoa and coconut milk
Lunch: Big ol' chicken salad with Dreamy Avocado Dressing (dressing recipe from It Starts with Food)
Dinner: More salad.  Not motivated make anything else, and leftovers were abundant.
Snacks: Apple Pie Larabar, blackberries straight off the bush. 5 Good & Plenty candies.  Oops.

Day Thirteen
Breakfast: Cold brewed coffee with coconut milk. Fruit and Nut Medley
Lunch: Fried eggs with green beans, tomatoes, and Dreamy Avocado Dressing.  Sweet Potato Hash (except mine was canned squash)
Dinner: No Fuss Salmon Cakes (recipe from It Starts with Food), with the Avocado Dressing again.  Served on a bed of spinach.  So very good.
Snacks:  Chocolate date balls (thank you Heidi!), ginger peach tea

Day Fourteen
Breakfast: Cold brewed coffee with coconut milk, eggs as usual.
Lunch:  Leftover Salmon Cakes.  So darn good.
Dinner: Thai Coconut Shrimp (simplified version of this recipe), grilled pattypan squash with olive oil and garlic
Snacks:  Blackberry milkshake


Whole30 week one

Whole30 week three

Whole30 week four

Beyond Whole30