Whole30 Days 5 - 7: Addictions & Lessons

Alright, let me get to the meat and potatoes (though no white potatoes, only sweet potatoes in this house) of the Whole30 program. If you didn’t check out the website, I’ll give you a basic overview:

• No sugar, grains, white potatoes, legumes, alcohol, and dairy. You want to stay away from processed foods with few exceptions, and absolutely no MSG, carrageenan, and sulfites (and they are in lots of things, even almond milk and organic chicken broth).
• Eat lots of vegetables, good fats (olive oil, avocado, coconut oil, nuts), meat and seafood and some fruit. Basically, real food.
•  Do it for 30 days. Or longer. Then reintroduce foods as desired.

There are many other rules such as no paleo desserts, which I’ve obviously failed at. Another is to stay off the scale. Another failure. Though, I don’t consider these failures, only challenges that I will overcome. I have some deep issues, people. Cut me some slack. I’m getting better. Just learn from me. Don't do it.

There is a lot more to the Whole30 program than that, so again, read more at the Whole9Life website here.

Also, check out the book on Amazon here: It Starts with Food

Let’s get up to date on the diary. 


My Whole37 Diary

Day 5-6 (Fri-Sat): I probably didn’t eat as well as usual, though did stay Whole30 compliant. Had to drive 3 hours back and forth in one day, so besides my normal veggie and eggs for breakfast, I had to pack up some options. Friday I had a protein smoothie with fruit, coconut milk and hemp protein (not truly Whole30 but compliant according to what I have seen on website). That is what rushing and no planning gets you. Saturday morning I ate a Lara bar and then another later that day. Not good. Compliant sure, but not good. For lunch, I packed a banana, some almonds, raisins, unsweetened coconut, chicken and avocado wrapped in lettuce, cucumber, and carrots sticks. My road planning needs some improvement for sure.

I got home (well, stopped at my sister’s) around 7pm and I was famished. What an exhausting day. I am beating myself up for not planning better. But…but while everyone else ordered food from Subway and McDonald's, I stuck with my packed food. And it was good. Just not enough. So when I saw my sister's leftovers, I attacked them. I’ve already gotten her to switch to coconut oil, among other things, so I knew the food was "safe." I shoved some steak down followed by some roasted zucchini and squash, and more steak. I was content. I will research Whole30 travel foods tomorrow.

Okay so I had a few rough days, but things were good. I was feeling spectacular considering I hadn’t had coffee or sugar in a week. Trust me when I say, those two things are huge. I was drinking coffee every day prior to starting my Whole30. As for sugar, well, I’ve been trying to fight that addiction for years. After switching to real food about a year ago now, I have given up refined sugar and was mostly consuming maple syrup, honey, and coconut sugar. Yet, I knew I had a problem. After dinner, I immediately started thinking about what to have for dessert. Maybe a piece of dark chocolate or should I throw together some flourless chocolate chip cookies? Tea with honey. More than I really needed. I mean, I’m drinking it plain now and I'm not spitting it out in disgust. Why did I need so much before? 

If you can’t tell yet, though I didn’t embark on the Whole30 program to fight my sugar demons, they are there. I’m still working on it. I haven’t had any sugar, but I still feel that need for sweetness. With all those jars of honey, chocolate bars (that I refuse to throw away), and dreams of desserts that I was trying to fight off, you would think sugar would be my kryptonite and would have knocked me right off of my Whole30 high. But it wasn't the sugar... 

After I texted my sister late Sunday night, I felt a slight urge to just drink some tea with honey. I was reminiscing about the scrumptious steak I ate the night before as I was heating up some soup. Oh no. How was the steak flavored? I can’t believe I forgot to ask. After a few texts where my sister felt the need to apologize for marinating the steak without my crazy food rules in mind, I found out there was soy sauce involved. Just a little, she said. Lesson learned: Always ask before eating someone's food. For permission to eat it of course (I don't remember if I did. Sorry, dear sister.), but during the Whole30 program, ask about ingredients. Even with a steak.

I told myself at that moment that I’m not letting this get me down and I’m pushing on. I could have decided that I messed up and I might as well start over and sit down to a gigantic plate of pasta. I texted my sister, “No biggie, it’s just another week to test my willpower.” I sat down to my zucchini and tomato bisque (made with coconut milk) and some strips of spicy beef. Then I followed it with some red rooibos tea – without sweetener.

This weekend, I will share some pictures of what I’ve been eating. Then we will get completely up to date with my diary, which is currently at Day 11.