The Last Week?

     Today is day 23 of my Whole30.  By now, I just eat the right stuff without even thinking about it.  Meals have not been anything worth photographing.  Last night I roasted two whole chickens, so we'll be having leftovers for at least a couple of nights.  I might make some of the recipes for leftover chicken, depending on how I'm feeling.  My husband and daughter are both sick right now.  My daughter caught a cold or something that developed an ear infection and my husband caught whatever she has.  So far, I am fine.  I don't know if it's because of boosted immunity from the Whole30 or mom immunity (maybe a combination of both).

     This week is supposed to be the last week of my Whole30, but I am not sure I am ready to stop.  I like being headache free, sleeping better, having more energy, and feeling more focused.  I still have cravings and a few times have thought, "Oh, soon I'll be able to eat..."  That says to me that I am not ready to go back to "normal" eating.  Some days I can't wait to be finished, but other days I feel like I need to extend to at least 45 days.  I will probably make my final decision on day 30.

     I don't have any pictures of food, but here's a picture of a sock I've been knitting.  I've been making great progress, maybe because of my increased focus?

Choices

     The first thing many people ask when they hear about the Whole30 is, "What can't you eat?"  It's not a matter of can't,  I am choosing not to eat these things.  At any moment I can choose to go eat a tub of ice cream or a plate of pancakes, but I don't want to.  I made a commitment to eat whole, non-inflammatory, unprocessed foods for thirty days.  That mindset has made all the difference this time around.  During my first Whole30 I was stuck on the foods I "could not" eat.  I obsessed over all the things I was missing out on and planned all the foods I was going to eat once the Whole30 was over.  I believe that mindset led to my first Whole30 basically failing.  I mean, I felt great during those 30 days, but after that, it was mayhem.  I ate anything and everything and I paid for it in headaches, weight gain, and fatigue.  Just like I chose to do all those things after my first Whole30, I am choosing not to repeat those mistakes again.  I want to stay headache free, continue to have more energy, and sleep better.  Does that mean I will never eat dessert again?  No.  But, when I do eat dessert (or bread, or pasta, or whatever), it will be a choice.  It won't be because I have to have it, it will be because I decided it was worth it.

     Meals have pretty much been typical day to day foods.  I have eaten a lot of leftovers.  I think we definitely waste less food while I'm doing the Whole30.  A few nights ago we had Hawaiian burgers that were pretty tasty.  I used the leftover toppings on some leftover ranch steak for lunch the next day.  I feel like by now, day 17, I have gotten into a good routine and started to build some good habits.  It has gotten so much easier to get out of bed in the morning.  I even naturally woke up at 7:30 over the weekend.  I am also sleeping much better and today is my 14th day without a headache!

                                 Somewhere under all that avocado, there is pineapple

Bacon!

     I have bacon!  I was so worried that my ButcherBox was going to be full of defrosted, gross meat.  I mean, they shipped it on the 3rd and it didn't arrive until yesterday.  Everything was still frozen.  Shout out to the people who pack the boxes!

                                              Bacon makes my belly smile

     I am really starting to feel the effects of the Whole30.  I did not have to drag myself out of bed this morning.  I actually was going to stay in bed longer this morning, but I was ready to go when my alarm went off.  Also, I am so cheerful.  I just feel happy and full of positivity.  I have chronic depression, so this is a big change for me.  It's like the sun finally broke through the clouds after a long, long storm.  I am really focusing on changing my relationship with food this time around.  During my first Whole30 I obsessed about all the things I was missing out on and what I was going to eat after the thirty days were over.  I did not go through the reintroduction protocol and dove right in to eating everything.  I am not doing that this time.  I am taking it day by day and just really trying to enjoy all of the good food I eat.  It doesn't need cheese or sugar to be delicious.

     Nothing interesting as far as food today.  I will be having either leftover fish or chicken with leftover vegetables for lunch and leftover grilled ranch steaks (not ranch flavored, it's a cut of steak) for dinner. Now that the box arrived, I have all sorts of goodies defrosting in the fridge: chicken wings, chicken tenders, German bratwurst, and a pound of ground beef.  I plan on making Nom Nom Paleo's magic wings once the wings are defrosted.  I don't usually enjoy chicken wings, but the magic wings are so good!  I put the chuck roast and some pork rib roast (I think that's what it was called) in the freezer.  I am going to research some possible recipes for those.

Day 12!

      I can't believe it's day 12 already, almost halfway through!  Actually, more like a quarter of the way through if I extend to 60 days.  I am feeling much better than I was on day 10.  I think it gets easier each day.  Last night we had the chicken smorgasbord from Well Fed Weeknights.  It's basically chicken with a bunch of nibbles on the side and a yummy dipping sauce.  The recipe in the book has specific sides (like beets, I hate beets), but it's really easy to just use whatever you have.

                              Chicken, fruits, veggies, and some pecans and dried apricots.

My daughter loves the smorgasbord because she gets to pick what she wants to eat and it's fun eating a bunch of finger foods for dinner.  I love it because it's so easy!  Really the only thing that needs to be cooked is the chicken and it's just poached.  Also, the dipping sauce is super yummy.  I highly recommend Well Fed Weeknights (and the other Well Fed books), I have enjoyed everything I have made from it.

                                                               Get in my belly!
 
Tonight I have some ranch steaks I need to cook.  I have not tried ranch steak before, so I am excited to try something new.

My Mom Keeps Telling me I Should Have a Food Blog

           Every time I send my mom a picture of some food I made, she tells me I should have a food blog.  I always insist that I shouldn't because I don't create my own recipes.  I am on day 10 of my second Whole30 and decided, why not?  I am already journaling about my Whole30 anyway, so why not share it with other people?  So, that's what I'm going to do, along with sharing pictures of the food I make (giving credit where credit is due).  Mom, this is for you. <3

Here is what I have journaled so far for my Whole30:

January 1, 2017 - Day one of my second Whole30.

            Apparently 30 days is not enough for me to establish a habit, because I fell right back into eating poorly after my first Whole30.  I am determined to create lifelong habits this time, and am already considering extending to 45 or 60 days.  I started this Whole30 much like any other regular day, with scrambled eggs for breakfast.  I topped them with salsa and guacamole.  Eggs are my go-to breakfast, but I am definitely going to have to add some new breakfast items to my arsenal, because I don't think I will want to eat them for breakfast every day for 30-60 days.

            I am feeling pretty good about this Whole30.  I already know I can finish, because I've done it before.  I learned from my first one that lunch is my challenge.  I don't usually plan lunch.  It usually ends up being whatever is lying around (which isn't always good stuff).  My first Whole30 was during warmer months, so I ate salad a lot, topped with tuna or chicken.  It's cold right now, and salad does not sound appealing.  Knowing that lunch is difficult, I actually planned for it.  This week, I decided it would be easiest if I ate basically the same thing for lunch every day, it would help ease me into it.  I am making the deluxe burger mix to top on potatoes from the Well Fed Weeknights book.  I love the Well Fed books; I own all three.  I bought a mixture of russet and sweet potatoes to have a little variety.  I don't have bacon yet, but I have opened the guacamole, so I'll add that to my meal.  I might even add a fried egg to the top.  Mmmm...

                            Deconstructed burger on a Sweet Potato from Well Fed Weeknights

January 5, 2017 - Day 5

            I have been so tired the last couple of days!  I had a minor headache on days 2 and 3, but they went away surprisingly fast.  I didn't even take any Excedrin on day 3.  I think I am less tired today, and perhaps have had a slight case of "kill all the things" today.  One of my cats keeps following me around and meowing at me and I keep yelling at him to leave me alone.  I realized today that I haven't left the house since the day before New Year's Eve.  I was going to do some grocery shopping today, but am just not feeling like facing people.  Perhaps tomorrow?  I know we are almost out of milk (my daughter and husband are not following the Whole30, except at dinner when they have no choice, mwahaha!)

            My plan to have basically the same thing for lunch everyday has worked out well so far.  The deconstructed burger on potato is delicious, and I added avocado the last couple of days for extra yum.  I am addicted to crispy fried eggs now!  Nom Nom Paleo is to thank for that.  I haven't even tried them on salad yet, but I am looking forward to it.  I did not plan as well for dinner, which is unusual for me.  Luckily, I had some back-up food and we have had leftovers around, so it's worked out.  I just haven't felt up to cooking the pork Osso Buco we have in the fridge.  I better do it before it goes bad though.

                                 Crispy Fried Eggs, and they actually made it onto salad once!

January 10, 2017, Day 10

            I am just tired.  I am already tired of cooking all the time.  We have had eggs a few nights already (not in a row).  I feel like by this time last Whole30 I was feeling much better.  It is probably because this time I was eating a lot more junk right before and last time I had already been eating fairly healthily.  I stopped taking my allergy medication because they have corn starch and lactose in them.  I don't know if the trace amounts of those things are affecting anything.  So far, my allergies aren't too bad, but that is probably because all the rain is keeping the pollen out of the air.

            Having the same thing for lunch every day worked pretty well.  I am out of ground beef, but still have a couple of potatoes left.  I defrosted some mahi mahi and am thinking of making fish tacos for the next couple of days.  I haven't had a problem with food boredom yet.  I think discovering crispy fried eggs really helped in that area.  It's usually the eggs I get sick of first.  Also, my ButcherBox should hopefully come in the next day or so and hopefully still be safe to eat.  The box has Whole30 approved bacon!  I am glad I asked for two packages, because they don't seem to have bacon available this month.  I also ordered chicken wings.  I plan on making Nom Nom Paleo's magic chicken wings with those.  I made them once before and they were quiet tasty; I don't normally like chicken wings.

                            Mahi Mahi Salad with a simple lime dressing, eggs for added protein

           

             I actually feel better now than I did this morning.  I had some eggs for breakfast and ended up making a salad with the first portion of mahi mahi.  I made a simple lime dressing I found on the internet.  Easy peasy.  I haven't decided on dinner yet.  I have some hot dogs in the fridge.  A couple of nights ago I made the Chicago Dogs from Well Fed Weeknights and the were so good!  Last week I made the Tex Mex Dogs and we all really enjoyed those as well.  I think I have ingredients for at least one or two of the other hot dog recipes in the book.

                                           Chicago Dogs from Well Fed Weeknights

This first post is really long, future posts will not be quite as long.  I will try to post regular updates about my Whole30 progress.