The Whole30 - Week 1

If you follow me on Twitter, you've heard about my insomnia and probably gotten the idea that I'm constantly in hyper-drive. Correct. Never before have I had an issue sleeping though, so when my inability to sleep began to collide with my hyper-drive, I did some serious thinking about what may cause it all. I'm sure you all have your theories (you do too much! you're over involved! you need to learn to rest!) and frankly, you may be right - but it's never affected my sleep before. Your opinions are now invalid.

I also know that my eating/drinking has been decidedly "off season." Victoria had recently completed the Whole30 and had positive things to say about it. I did some googling and some contemplating, and decided that when I got home from Ragnar Wasatch Back, I would dedicate myself to being all about what I eat.

Here is Week 1, brought to you by snark and sugar cravings:

Day 0:
Any type of elimination/restrictive diet really does require some research and planning. I'd spent the week or two before reading It Starts With Food, which is basically a much more in-depth Practical Paleo (another of my favorite resources). I also bought the Well Fed cookbook, which is right beside some of my other favorite cookbooks...and that's saying something. I made a quick outline of what I'd be eating for the week and made a grocery list.

Liz and I met up at Safeway and stocked up to cook. That night, I tripled up on the Italian sausage/spinach and pepper and started brining chicken breasts for Tuesday night. I went to be apprehensive, but excited.

Day 1 (Tuesday):
This day was pretty easy.

Breakfast: 2 eggs, spinach, raspberries, almonds
Lunch: Leftover spinach/sausage/peppers, spaghetti squash, apple, nuts
Dinner: Chicken breasts with a Moroccan dipping sauce, spaghetti squash

I did really want a beer when I finished teaching, and the thought of making it 30 days without having a glass of wine after a rough day suddenly felt reallllly overwhelming (yikes.) I considered looking up AA (mostly joking).

Day 2 (Wednesday):
Still easy...in some cases. Chadd and I had a lunch snafu which wound up leaving me with the same thing for lunch and dinner on Wednesday. I had to work after track practice, so I brought my food. Let me tell you, when I was still dragging ass from Ragnar last weekend, this was a challenge - to not grab a diet coke or dress my coffee up in a manner that doesn't suck.

Breakfast: 2 eggs, green beans, strawberries, almonds
Lunch: Leftovers from Monday (sausage mix), apple, nuts
Pre workout meal: Lara bar (carefully checked to be whole30 compliant - the blueberry bars are fine!)
Dinner: Leftovers from Monday

Day 3 (Thursday):
The first shock of today was that I woke up HUNGRY. I NEEDED breakfast and RIGHT NOW. Once I ate, the other hard parts of the day included avoiding an ice cream party at the office (right around 3:30 - when my sugar cravings have been hitting, curse you, goodbye parties) and watching a friend drink a beer over dinner (I swear, sparkling water is the exact same!)

I do continue to love cooking and pushing myself to try new flavors. It's a welcome relief that these new recipes are healthy and delicious. I don't feel stifled cooking.

Breakfast: 2 eggs, raw spinach
Lunch: Leftovers from Tuesday night
Dinner: Olives, almonds, moroccan lamb meatballs, spaghetti squash, cocoa roasted cauliflower
Dessert: berries with coconut milk "whipped cream" (highly recommend)

Day 4 (Friday):
Highs and lows.

Highs - I found out that if you over sleep and are running late, you can definitely microwave fried eggs, smother them in hot sauce, and put beside tomatoes and avocados and be the envy of the office. Leftover meatballs are also amazing after sitting in their sauce all night.

Lows - The office ice cream surfaced again, as did peanut m&m's, right about the time my sugar cravings hit (which are, apparently, getting stronger). I still hate black coffee. And the office broke out champagne at the end of the day to celebrate a big contract win. I find myself really battling sugar cravings - I've tried to get myself to cheat at least once a day "it's only 1 m&m...." but it isn't. So far, I've stayed strong. Planning things blows. I'm already worried about going to a wedding in two weeks out of town...and I know I'm going to be the biggest party pooper for the next month while I avoid bars, etc.

Breakfast: 2 eggs, avocado, tomatoes
Lunch: left over thursday dinner, strawberries, almonds
Dinner: shepherds' pie, olives, nuts

Day 5 (Saturday):
Another mixed bag, but generally looking up.

This was a bizarre day because it was my first brick workout on this diet. I wasn't meeting up with anyone, so even though I hit snooze a time or two longer than I should have, I made time to eat breakfast. I also packed two lara bars with me for nutrition on the bike, since I can't rely on gu packs or nuun. I decided to do 11 (yes, ELEVEN) loops of Hains Point instead of an out and back, in case there were terrible issues during my ride. Thankfully, no issues. In fact, after my first warm up loop, I felt great. My speed was a little slower than usual, but I expected to be missing some power. The run in the heat was no problem, minus some ankle twinges that required stretching around mile 2.5.

The hardest part of today was actually later when I went to a golf match up at Congressional. By the time the rounds finished, I was starving and there wasn't much I could do about it. It was VERY difficult to not swing by somewhere and pick up dinner. Thankfully, I'd thought about marinading shrimp and doing a quick grill for them and heating up left over veggies. Dinner in 10 minutes. While I was doing my best to keep my hangry under control, I had a handful of nuts and some olives with a bottle of sparkling water and I leveled out.

It's also hard to be unable to *really* go out on the weekends. I'm sure I *could* go out for dinner, but frankly, after a billion special requests, I'd be better off in my own kitchen, making a final product I know I'll enjoy.

That said...oysters are on the table 100%.

Breakfast: 2 eggs, broccoli, tomatoes
Lunch: leftover meatballs, spinach, strawberries
Snack: olives and nuts
Dinner: Grilled lime/ginger/garlic/pepper shrimp, broccoli

Day 6 (Sunday):

BUY ALL OF THE VEGGIES, SPICES AND MEATS.

The best part of living in Dupont may be the Sunday farmer's market. Amanda and I got together to scour the market for veggies for the week. I picked up some fruit, as well, since the peaches and sour cherries were too good to pass up.

This was the first time I actually found myself getting emotional, though. In the evening, I was ALL tears. Everything set me off. Trying to chalk this up to the diet and not stress going into the week.

Breakfast: Sleep (yes, sleep for breakfast)
Lunch: Sour cherries, peach, eggplant strata
Dinner: pork tenderloin, broccoli, half a sweet potato
Post dinner "desert": apple with almond butter

The better part of today was that I woke up, looked in the mirror and saw myself in "fighting condition" staring back at me. Not poofy, not in off season. That was the best reward yet.

Day 7 (Monday):

Well shit. What do I say about today. Things started off fine with a normal breakfast and then I got into a bad car accident. Still waiting on the assessment, but likely, I'm in the market for a new car. Danny was my super hero today and came to pick me up on the side of the GW Parkway...and offered me a brownie. Y'all. Danny's brownies are legendary. And boy, if seeing my beat up car spewing out radiator fluid didn't make me want one with my coffee (which survived impact!) But I said no.

I resisted eating a pizza for dinner, grabbing a bottle of wine, and planning my imminent move to a remote part of the country where all I have to do is feed a chicken once a day. I did get in bed at 8:30 and read Texas Monthly while I cried, however.

Breakfast: 2 eggs, spinach, raspberries
Lunch: Eggplant strata, nuts, peach
Dinner: shepherds pie, squash

Week 2 starts today