One week down

I’ve just complete the first week of my Whole 30 journey, so I thought I would give a little update.

I would love to say that everything has been easy peasy, and I am now completely in control of my food choices. The truth is, the past few days have been really hard. I’m sick of all of the food. I actually want to kill the food. I want to scream at the sweet potatoes and the eggs and the Brussel sprouts.

I know that I’m detoxing from sugar and diet soda, not to mention all sorts of other foods that I have eliminated from my diet. But the past few days, my food cravings have really been messing with my mind.

I find that my days usually start off well. I have exercised every day since I started, which has made me feel great. I usually eat a big breakfast that includes protein and veggies or fruit. Sometimes, I even eat leftovers from dinner for breakfast. Lunch also is fine. But around 3 p.m., I start getting restless. I want a quick fix. I want to just grab something to give me the energy and rush I need to make it to dinner.

With my old way of eating, I could grab some chips or a cookie and I would immediately feel better. Now, I go for a hard boiled egg or celery with almond butter. I’ve found that it takes at least 30 minutes to an hour before my body is able to process the energy. I finally do feel much more satisfied and energetic than I would have with my quick fix, but it’s hard to wait.

I usually make some combination of meat and veggies for dinner. I’m eating a lot of food, but it all kind of tastes the same in the end. The excitement of finding new recipes has kind of passed, but I know that’s what I will have to do if I’m going to make it three more weeks.

It’s funny, but the two things I miss most are my daily can of diet Root Beer and chewing gum. Whole 30 doesn’t allow any type of added sweeteners, not even artificial sweeteners. I miss being able to grab one of these two as another quick fix to get me through the day.

I also miss dairy. A lot. I’ve already decided that dairy will be the first thing I will add back into my diet after the 30 days.

The biggest positive right now is that I’m really learning a lot about myself and how I use food as a crutch not only for physical cravings, but to make me feel better in stress, boredom or if I’m upset. I use food as a reward or to “get me through” a difficult situation.

The other thing I like about Whole 30 is that it’s so restrictive that it actually makes it easier to decide what to eat. Each meal is really just a different combination of protein and produce. I don’t have to put a lot of thought into what I can and can’t have. It’s all pretty simple.
I joked about taking photos of my food in my last post, but several people have asked me to post photos. So here goes… I probably should have taken these with my real camera to make them look more appealing!

Breakfast meatloaf with raspberries… (I put coconut milk in my decaf coffee, so it looks kind of funny.)

Turkey salad on salad greens with pomegranate seeds…

Scrambled eggs with zucchini and mushrooms…

Pork loin (made in my electric pressure cooker) on cole slaw with roasted Brussel sprouts…

Rosemary chicken (made in my pressure cooker) with cauliflower rice and roasted sweet potatoes and apples…

Fried eggs on spinach cakes with raspberries… (I think the oat bran in the spinach cakes probably makes these noncompliant, but I’m OK with it. I had these in the freezer already, and I had never thought to eat them with eggs!)

So, here I go. I’m ready to plan out my next week and stock up on some new varieties of fruit and veggies from the grocery store.
If you are doing anything differently health wise this year, I would love to hear how it’s going!