Whole30 #2 Day 30

I feel like since this is the last day of my Whole30, I should have something profound, or at least interesting, to write, but I've got nothing. Tomorrow, the only difference is going to be that I'll weigh myself and see how the weight loss aspect of this went, although I truly think that's only a tiny, tiny part of what eating this way can do, and I'm a lot more concerned about things like feeling better, having clearer skin (not that my skin was too horrible before, but over Christmas I had some breakouts that have now cleared up), having more energy -- things that are harder to measure, but are more important than a number on a scale.

I do go to the doctor next week, I hope to see some improvement in my cholesterol and blood sugar, but I don't really know how soon after making a change like this changes in those numbers show up, so I don't really know what to expect. 

Anyway, here's what I ate today:

Breakfast -- egg casserole, zingy ginger dressing (I'm really liking this dressing, on pretty much everything), cauliflower/squash soup, and some coffee with coconut milk that I ended up not even drinking half of.

Lunch -- salmon patties, coleslaw and strawberry/pineapple/coconut kombucha (I was out of tartar sauce, and mayonnaise to make tartar sauce, and eggs to make mayonnaise. Sad day. But the salmon patties were good anyway.)

Supper - baked sweet potato stuffed with browned ground beef and spinach and Magic Dust seasoning, and a pineapple coconut kombucha.

Whole30 #2, Day 29

Whole30 #2 is almost over, which has led me to think about what I do on day 31. I think I'm just going to keep going for a while, although I have some things coming up in the next month that I may not be able to be 100% Whole30 for. I feel like, since I eat at home (or food I've prepared at home) most of the time, if I stay completely Whole30 compliant at home, then relaxing the rules a little when I do go out should be okay. Of course, then I have to figure out exactly what "relaxing the rules a little" means -- does it mean ordering anything I want, or does it mean ordering basically the type of food I would eat at home, but not worrying about possible added butter or sugar or soy or other things that I would avoid at home? Or is it a case-by-case thing, where occasionally I decide that a burger or enchiladas or even dessert may be worth it, but not every time? I do know that what I don't want to do is start allowing a little of something here, and a little there, and then a little more, and the next thing I know, I'm back to having Starbucks once or twice a week and candy and french fries multiple times a week. I know that doesn't work for me. I haven't done all of this to go back to that.

I guess I'll figure all of that out as I go. For now, here's what I ate today:

Breakfast -- egg casserole, cauliflower/squash soup.

Lunch -- sirloin steak (the last one I had in my freezer -- no more steak for a while), baked sweet potato, spinach topped with zingy ginger dressing, and pineapple/blueberry/coconut kombucha.

Supper -- salmon patties, tartar sauce, coleslaw.

Whole30 #2, Day 28

Today was good. Got up, went to work, came home. Nothing exciting. I am getting a little tired of this cold weather, though. I'm ready for spring. 

Anyway, here's what I ate today:

Breakfast -- breakfast casserole, zingy ginger dressing, cauliflower & butternut squash soup, and strawberry ginger kombucha. 

Lunch -- salmon patties, tartar sauce, coleslaw, and a blood orange.

Supper -- baked sweet potato with olive oil and magic dust seasoning, fried eggs, orange/cranberry/cinnamon kombucha.

Whole30 #2, Day 27

Today I cooked, and then cleaned the kitchen, and then cooked some more, so now I need to clean the kitchen again. I feel like this is a never-ending cycle. If I ever win the lottery, I'm hiring someone to come clean the kitchen every 12 hours, just to keep up with the dishes/mess from cooking.

Anyway, all the cooking did result in some tasty food, so I guess it was worth it. 

Breakfast -- breakfast casserole (two shredded sweet potatoes, 12 eggs, a whole bunch of spinach, and some baked chicken, mixed together and baked in a 10x13 baking dish), spinach topped with Zingy Ginger Dressing from Well Fed 2, and iced coffee with coconut cream, canned pumpkin, and cinnamon.

Lunch -- Sirloin steak (topped with Magic Dust, a seasoning recipe from Well Fed 2 (sensing a theme here yet? You can see a free sample pdf of Well Fed 2 here, if you're curious), baked sweet potato, and Wildbrine's beet and red cabbage sauerkraut. Also, ginger/cinnamon/vanilla kombucha.

Supper -- salmon patties with tartar sauce and coleslaw, all from -- you guessed it -- Well Fed 2.

A few weeks ago, I ordered myself a couple of cookbooks -- Well Fed 2 by Melissa Joulwan and Nom Nom Paleo: Food for Humans by Michelle Tam. This week's food planning was basically just looking through WF2 and trying to decide which recipes to make, which was actually really hard because all of them looked really good. So far, I've liked them all, even though I didn't let the coleslaw sit for at least an hour as recommended. It was still good, and I'm sure it'll be even better as leftovers tomorrow. In a week or two, I'll do the same with the Nom Nom Paleo book, but since not every recipe in it is Whole30 compliant, I thought I'd wait, so if I want to try one that isn't, I can. Did that last sentence make sense? I hope so. Anyway, it's almost midnight, I think I'm going to go to sleep now.

Whole30 #2 Day 26

I spent today shopping and cooking, with short breaks to cuddle with my cat, Peanut, who insists on getting in my lap immediately whenever I sit down.

Peanut.

I did cook a lot, although, as usual, nothing seemed to be done at the time I wanted to eat, so today's meals look pretty boring:

Breakfast -- roasted zucchini and scrambled eggs with sausage, and blueberry-ginger kombucha.

Lunch -- chicken/cauliflower/zucchini bake, and baked sweet potato with cinnamon and coconut oil.

Supper - Aidell's chicken and apple sausage and the last of the veggies from the chicken/cauliflower/zucchini bake, over broccoli slaw with Zingy Ginger salad dressing from Well Fed 2 and a little mayo, and kombucha.

Tomorrow's plan -- finish cooking for the week, because there were a couple of things I didn't get done. And then I'll do the dishes, again. Oh, and work.

Whole30 #2 Days 24 and 25

Worked late last night, and then today spent most of the day with my parents celebrating my dad's birthday. I didn't take pictures of all of my food. I didn't exercise. I stayed on track food-wise as well as I could, although I was short on veggies today and missed breakfast.

Here's yesterday's first two meals:

Breakfast -- sweet potato topped with fried eggs (I broke the yolk of one of them. I have the hardest time getting fried eggs right, I don't know why I don't just stick to scrambled, they're so much easier.)

Lunch -- taco salad with guacamole

Yesterday at supper, I had a baked sweet potato with cinnamon and coconut oil and a couple of Aidell's chicken & apple sausage.

Today, I slept too late to have breakfast. Dad picked the restaurant he wanted to go to for his birthday and chose Tachitos, a Mexican food restaurant that we've been going to for years, and where I'd normally order enchiladas or cheese tacos, which are totally not Whole30. I opted for fajitas, didn't eat the tortillas or beans, so basically I had chicken with grilled onions, bell peppers, and tomatoes, and some avocado. For supper, we went to another restaurant, 342 Grill, where I had a ribeye steak, I specified no butter finish, grilled zucchini and squash, and a salad with just some lime to squeeze over it instead of dressing.

Anyway, tomorrow I'll go grocery shopping and cook for the week, I've planned out a menu, sort of, to the extent that I plan anything. Now I've got to go finish cleaning up the kitchen so I'll be ready to cook tomorrow.

Whole30 #2 Day 23

I have no idea what's wrong with me, but I've been craving sweets today. Cravings really haven't been bad lately, but today I've wanted ice cream, and a candy bar, and a white chocolate mocha from Starbucks. Anything sweet, basically. Very annoying. I didn't have anything off plan, though, so that's good.

Breakfast -- baked sweet potato, leftover chicken/mushroom/zucchini bake

Lunch -- taco salad (spinach, lettuce mix, broccoli slaw, guacamole, taco meat) and a pineapple-blueberry kombucha.

Supper -- Chicken/mushroom/zucchini bake, beet/cabbage sauerkraut, grapes. Also a crio bru with some coconut oil.

Whole30 #2, Day 22

It's late, and I'm tired, so just a quick look at what I ate today:

Breakfast -- I realize this looks like something green and a bit fuzzy, but really, it was much better than it looks -- three eggs, some spinach, and a sweet potato, all blended together, then cooked in a little ghee.

Lunch -- Taco Salad (spinach, lettuce, tomatoes, broccoli slaw, guacamole, seasoned ground beef). Also, pineapple blueberry kombucha.

Supper -- Eaten at work -- chicken baked with cauliflower, zucchini, and a can of fire roasted chopped tomatoes with Italian seasoning, topped with mayo and a cabbage/beet sauerkraut. Also, an apple with some sunbutter. It was an odd combination, but not too bad. That's what happens when I don't plan very well, I throw together whatever's available to take to work with me. Also, sunbutter is just not that impressive, I'd much rather have almond butter. But at least I won't be eating it straight out of the jar, so that's something.

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Whole30 #2, Days 17-21

Over the weekend, I went to visit my sister and her family. She's also doing a Whole30, so I had no problems sticking to the plan. I did have one meal (not at her house) where I made the best choices I could, but suspect there was dairy in something that I ate -- it was scrambled eggs, and they tasted buttery. Other than that, I had some really good meals. She made fauxtmeal, something I never make for myself, but which always looks yummy in her pictures, so I told her I wanted to try it. I didn't get the exact recipe from her, but from what she said, I think it was like this banana and egg based one maybe. It was really good. We went out to eat one night at Texas Roadhouse -- I had a New York Strip steak, baked sweet potato, and salad, no butter on anything, no cheese on the salad, just lemon for salad dressing. I didn't take pictures of any of it, I just enjoyed my time visiting, not dragging the phone to the table with me.

Today was my first full day back at home, so back to normal. Here's what I ate:

Breakfast -- Baked sweet potato topped with eggs scrambled with broccoli slaw and leftover steak.

Lunch -- Salad (spinach, lettuce mix, broccoli slaw, tomatoes) topped with guacamole and leftover sirloin steak from last night, and Holykombucha blood orange flavor. I found the kombucha at a local health food store, and even though I started making my own last month, when I realized this was a local company based out of Fort Worth, and they had flavors I'd never seen in other brands, I decided I needed to try one. It was really good.

Supper -- chicken breast cooked in ghee, zucchini, mayo, and Wildbrine Red Beet and Red Cabbage Sauerkraut Salad.

Whole30 #2, Day 16

Not a lot to report today. I did exercise, but was kind of half hearted about it and didn't push myself at all. I didn't get eight hours of sleep. Not doing well at all on the eight hours of sleep a night.

Here's what I ate:

Breakfast -- scotch eggs, roasted sweet potato, breakfast salad, with some mayo and mustard on the side.

Lunch -- pork chop breaded with a little almond meal and fried, roasted turnip, salad, unflavored kombucha.

Supper -- hamburger salad and roasted sweet potato.

Whole30 #2, day 15

Halfway through! Although, since I plan on continuing to eat this way most of the time even after this Whole30, that doesn't seem like that big a deal. Anyway, I woke up late today, but still didn't manage eight hours of sleep. I didn't exercise. But I ate good food, so that's something.

Here's what I ate today:

Breakfast -- I was running late, so I threw some breakfast salad in a container, added a sliced banana, some coconut flakes, and crumbled up a couple of Scotch eggs into it, and took it to work with me. It was actually not bad, a mix of sweet and salty, with just a little spicy from the sausage. Also, a cup of Crio Bru, which is like coffee only instead of coffee beans, they use cocoa beans, roast them, grind them, and then you brew them like coffee. It was pretty good. I added a little coconut cream to it, but I'm going to try it black tomorrow -- supposedly it's not as bitter as coffee, and there was definitely a dark chocolate flavor to it. I'd read about it a few months ago, and finally decided to order some to try.

Lunch -- salad (baby spinach, spring mix, broccoli slaw) with roast beef, with lime juice, olive oil and Penzey's Sunny Paris seasoning mix. This was supposed to be just part of my lunch with some other veggies, but I just wasn't very hungry. 

Supper -- Cauliflower and butternut squash soup topped with beef hot dogs, an orange with some coconut cream, and some pineapple ginger kombucha.

Whole30 #2, Day 14

Today went well. I got in my exercise, although I didn't get eight hours of sleep. Food was good. Nothing exciting. 

Anyway, here's what I ate:

Breakfast -- Scotch eggs (Think sausage meatball with a boiled egg in the middle) and breakfast salad of jicama, carrots, zucchini, and apple. Also, I had coffee with coconut cream when I got to work.

Lunch -- salad of baby spinach, broccoli slaw, and sugar snap peas, topped with roast beef and a sort of ranch-like dressing I made from mayo, spices, and vinegar.

Supper -- cauliflower/squash soup, topped with roast beef and carrots. Not the most appetizing looking meal in the world, but it was filling and tasted okay. Also, I had an orange.

After supper, once I got home from work, I had another Scotch egg because I was hungry.

Whole30 #2 Day 11

Today went well. I exercised. I didn't quite get eight hours of sleep, but I did get about seven, so that's not too bad. Most of the dishes are cleaned and put away, except a couple that didn't quite fit in the dishwasher. That last part doesn't sound like much, but it is, really. I'm still not sure how one person goes through as many dishes as I do, but they pile up constantly.

Anyway, here's what I ate today:

Breakfast -- soup with chicken

Lunch -- spinach, roasted turnip, sugar snap peas, and hot dogs with mustard and mayonnaise.

Supper -- roast beef, roasted sweet potato, salad, blueberry/ginger kombucha.