We survived week three! I ran into a friend this week and she told me she's been reading these Whole30 articles. I'm not gonna lie, that made my day! Knowing at least one person is following this journey, was enough to keep me on track and wanting to see this through to the end. So if you've been following along, thank you for holding me accountable. It really does help.
To catch you up... Hubs Mike and I are doing the Whole 30 for the month of January. I'm doing it to identify food sensitivities, following my GI doc's recommendation. Mike is doing it for solidarity's sake (best hubby ever). Here are the first two articles: Getting Ready, Week One Recap, Week Two Recap.
Only ONE. WEEK. LEFT. Until REINTRODUCTION! Yippee! That's right, y'all. It's not really over on Day 31. We'll just be done with the 30 day process of clearing out the foods that might be affecting our health. Starting on Day 31, you begin the reintroduction process, introducing one food group at a time and paying attention to how you feel. There's a really good explanation for why do it this way, in the book Whole30: The 30-day Guide to Health and Total Food Freedom. I'll paraphrase here for you. Imagine every time you go outside, someone comes along and kicks you in the shins. Pretty quickly, you'd learn to wear shin guards every time you go outside, right? If you are eating something on a regular basis that bothers your digestive system, your body has ways of building up its defenses, so you don't necessarily notice. But, if the mean shin-kicker disappears, then after a while, you'll probably decide it's safe enough to get rid of those shin guards. However, if the jerk sneaks up on you one day and kicks you again, you are really going to feel it! That is how Whole30 is supposed to work. For thirty days, you get rid of all the shin-kicking-jerks in your diet, so your body relaxes and heals. Then, you bring the likely culprits back, one at a time, to identify the real meanies. Makes sense to me!
I am not a huge fan of spaghetti squash, but I *really* liked it this way, Japanese style with shitake mushrooms, fresh ginger and garlic. The only sauce added is compliant fish sauce (which I would have NEVER tried if it weren't for this dish).
Day 15 - "The Halfway Point"
This was the day I finally started feeling back to normal. We're proud we've made it half-way. Mike reports most of his co-workers are no longer truly in the game, but only eating Whole30-ish. One fell victim to a box of donuts at a work meeting and then decided she might as well have Chick-fil-a for lunch. A cheat day. Mike scolds her, "you can't have a cheat day on Whole30!" She knows. "It's just a *diet* now," she says. This makes me even more determined to do it. Food can't win. This is a real life "hunger games." Who is going to be the last one standing?
Days 16 - 20 - "Tiger Blood"
Every day we are asking each other. Are you feeling it yet? Do you feel different? And the answer is always... nope. Mike's co-workers have already warned him that it's more like "kitten blood." We ARE feeling soooo much better than last week, it is true. But, like I already said, more like back to normal than "oh-my-gosh-I-feel-INCREDIBLE-I-am-rockin'-life!" Luckily, this is reported to be normal, especially if you are doing Whole30 for the first time, after years of SAD (standard American diet) eating. Ok. Honestly, I'm just happy to be out of the "kill all the things" stage.
Day 21 - "I Am So Over This"
Today I was hiding out on the porch, enjoying the gorgeous weather and hyper-focused on a Mac Kid project. Mike strolls in about 5 pm and asks me what's for dinner. The chief family chef (me), then proceeds to throw a giant fit and declares a strike. I don't know, I was going to make a pork butt, BUT I'm sick of cooking and its Sunday and the kids never eat anything I make so I have to make two meals and IT'S YOUR FREAKIN' TURN. Mike is normally really good about making dinner at least once or twice a week, and he even made me a delicious omelet with sliced fruit for breakfast this morning. But this month, he's been slacking and apparently, Sunday breakfast was too little, too late. He promptly marches into the kitchen and begins prepping the pork butt. Unfortunately, it has to sit overnight, so we can't eat it. Luckily, we are saved by some frozen taco burgers I made a while back.
Coconut curry chicken soup. This was so good and fairly easy, so I'm going to share it with you in a separate article this week. This is my favorite thing I've made this month so far.
Day 22 - "The Scale and Mirror are Calling"
This morning, I am wakened by the unmistakable "beep" of the scale in the bathroom. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! DON'T DO IT!!" I yell in to Mike. He ignores me. Ok, now I want to know. He tells me where he started and where he is now. WHOA. I cheer for him. He looks ecstatic. I told you, I say, smugly. He's on track to losing twenty pounds in one month, y'all. Now that is pretty stinkin' cool. I'm going to stay off the scale for the rest of the time. It is not supposed to be about weight loss, after all, and it is totally against the rules. Still, I am so excited for Mike. Proud of him for improving his health and grateful he is supporting me through this at the same time.
Takeaways This Week
Some "non-scale-victories," this week? I cooked up some incredible food this week! Like coconut curry chicken soup (omg, it is so good, I'm going to republish it for you guys in this week's newsletter). Of course, the kids wouldn't touch any of the things I've been slaving over from scratch. Sigh. Also, I'm getting *used* to unsweetened coffee. I'm still going to return to sweetened when this is all over, I'm sure, but I'm pleasantly surprised that I'm not hating it anymore.
A Whole30 fail. Everyone, in my Facebook Whole30 support groups, is bragging about their amazingly now clear skin. I have a lovely, gigantic zit on my chin (I'm forty for the love of middle-age). Mike reports he still has his usual trouble spot of eczema on one hand.
New Years Fail. If you decide to try this at home, I highly recommend making it your focus for the month. I have some other New Years resolutions that I'm working on, but they are turning out to be solid fails right now. But... I'm okay with this. At the beginning, I knew I *really* wanted to win at Whole30. I had high hopes to accomplish other things too, but it is just too much. Whole30 has to be the priority this month, or we ain't gonna make it to the end.
Another interesting egg-free breakfast idea. Sweet potato, blueberry and granny-smith apple hash. I liked it, but I still put a fried egg on top of it the second day. Another recipe I probably never would have tried if I weren't doing Whole30.
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