Wendy's Day 12-17

I have been terrible about updating this blog.  I have a good excuse (kind of).  My husband was out of town and took our only computer with him.  So, I am still plugging away at this Whole30.  I can't remember all of the meals I've had for the past 5 days, but there have been no fun new recipes because I have been too lazy.  I also had some late nights hanging out with an old friend, so I didn't go grocery shopping until way too late.  This meant 2 of the last 3 nights I made Paleo Pumpkin Pancakes for dinner.  Yesterday, I finally got my act together and planned out some meals and went grocery shopping.

I am feeling great.  I haven't really been having cravings, but when I go to the store or when I see people eating some non-approved items, I do kind of miss them.  However, the good news is that I haven't even been keeping track of what day I'm on.  During the first week, every day I was thinking "Oh crap, this is only day 3.......How is it only day 7?....etc.  Now, the days are flying by and I'm not paying much thought to what day it is. 

I am excited for Thanksgiving though!  Bring on the rolls, stuffing, turkey, and pie! 

Katy's Day Twelve, Thirteen and Fourteen

Let's start with the dramatic.  I woke up the night of day thirteen with an upset stomach.  And proceeded to have my stomach attempt to expel dinner again, and again...and again.  Not fun.  The beautiful roast I made for family dinner will not be repeated for a long time.

Day twelve/Saturday I ate fruit for breakfast, a Larabar and left over Sun Dried Tomato Meatballs.  Day thirteen/Sunday I fasted in the morning, ate a Larabar right after church and had the beautiful smelling/looking/tasting roast for dinner with a banana for dessert.  Day fourteen/Monday I was not in the eating mood.  So I had a pear, pineapple and some more Pumpkin Pancakes (these have been my saving grace!).

The Whole30 experience was most tempting to give up after getting so sick.  Especially when my roommate offered to pick up soup from Zupas for me :)  But I've nearly made it half way.  There is no quitting now.

Wendy's Day 10 & 11: Let the crazy dreams begin

I have been paying close attention to the timeline posted on the Whole30 website.  My experience hasn't followed the timeline exactly, but has been pretty close.  I never really felt the hangover phase.  I'm not a soda drinker, so that probably helped.  I also never felt really short-tempered unless it had been a while since I had eaten.  The "I Want to Take a Nap" phase was a good 5 days for me.  Now I am on the next phase which involves a lot of crazy dreams.

I have been dreaming that I go on these crazy binges and can't stop shoving my face with doughnuts, cookie dough, and chocolate.  The funny thing is, I'm not craving these things (at least not uncontrollably) during the day.  I also had a dream that I cheated and weighed myself before the 30 days was up .  I wake up every morning relieved that I haven't been gorging myself on sugar.

 Day 10
Breakfast: 2 boiled eggs, sweet potato fries, 1/2 of a banana

Lunch:  Leftover Cabbage Rolls (gross...had to choke down....and they made my whole office stink)

Dinner:  Red Thai Curry.  I make this all the time, but now I just ate it as a soup instead of over rice.  I also left out the sugar that I usually add.

Snacks:  Almonds

Day 11
Breakfast:  2 boiled eggs, sweet potato fries, blackberries

Lunch:  Went out with some friends to the Village Baker.  I got the mango chicken salad with no tortilla strips and just brought my own dressing.

Dinner:  Pumpkin Cashew Coconut Curry with Cauliflower Rice.   This was pretty good.  I was especially impressed with the cauliflower rice.  It tasted almost like real rice.  Good find!

Katy's Day Ten and Eleven

Saga of the Sweet Potato Chips.

I managed to make about 30 Sweet Potato Chips in the microwave.  Easy and so tasty.  My propensity is to burn them however.  If I literally look away for 5 seconds at the crucial moment they'll burn.  So frustrating because I'll wait and wait and then suddenly I distractingly think I should put that dish in the sink and BAM...burned chips.  So I tried them in the food dehydrator.  The food dehydrator slowly did its magic and suddenly I have trays of beautiful sweet potato chips.  They are crispy, curly and disgusting.  Seriously?!  I guess Sweet Potato Chips have to be cooked a certain amount and the dehydrator just didn't cut it.  I attempted to transfer them to the oven which didn't save them.  Still beautiful but gross.  So now I've gotten better and using the microwave.  I just have to carefully watch and pull them out the second...seriously...the second they turn slightly brown.  Success to some degree because my friend Lamia and I managed to eat Sweet Potato Chips and guacamole!  Woot woot.

Back to eating Whole30 style.  Day Ten/Thursday I had Pumpkin Pancakes for breakfast, half an avocado and hard boiled eggs for lunch and more Pumpkin Pancakes for dinner (I'm obsessed).  I had my dried fruit and nuts for snacks.  Day Eleven/Friday I had Pumpkin Pancakes for breakfast and lunch (I made a huge batch Thursday night) and Sun Dried Tomato Meatballs for dinner with steamed peppers, onions and zucchini.   Then a mid Jazz game snack of Sweet Potato Chips and guacamole.

Oh Jazz.  Favorite lines of the night: "Officer Favors is here to SERVE and Protect!" and the "Baby-Faced Assassin" referring of course to Don Hayward.  Now if only we could have pulled through and won.  

Katy's Day Eight and Nine

Happy Halloween!  I want some candy.

This was one of the hardest days just because of the candy everywhere!!  I was thinking about Laura Ingalls Wilder and how excited they would get about fruit and frozen maple syrup.  It's the overexposure I have to candy and processed foods.  My roommate has a nutty bar in a cupboard which everyday I open and remember the satisfying crunch, the chocolate and peanut butter.  Which leads me to think about Little Debbie (a former best friend) and her Swiss Cake Rolls.  Put them in the freezer....mmm.  And all the Reeses around.  Yikes.

Anyway.  Wendy and I stashed a few pieces of candy for after Thanksgiving :) 

Day Eight I had a green monster for breakfast, and asparagus with sunny side up eggs for dinner.  Delish.  I added a little olive oil and fresh cracked black pepper...mmmm.  For lunch I was supposed to have Chicken Bacon Alfredo but I just couldn't bring myself to eat it again.  Still yummy...I was just over it :)  I had the usual nuts, dried apples, etc for snacks.  I made Sweet Potato Chips however I think the microwave doesn't cook evenly because the outside chips burned and the inside weren't cooked completely.  So it's back to the dehydrator!!

Day Nine I had a green monster for breakfast, leftover asparagus and eggs for lunch and Pumpkin Pancakes for dinner.  Side note: Next time I'm at the grocery store I need more cinnamon.  I accidentally burned dried bananas by not turning them off in time...lame.  During the day I snacked on dried apples and pistachios.

Wendy's Day 8 & 9

The last two days have been a blur.  I have been feeling great, but also feel like I have been working in the kitchen way more than any normal person should.  This Whole30 thing takes a lot more work, but I have to admit that I like having an excuse to try new recipes.  Yesterday was the easiest day so far.  Today was Halloween, and I was dying for some of the candy that was going around the office.  I also really want a pumpkin pie shake.  Only 21 more days, right?

Day 8

Breakfast: Sweet potato fries, pineapple, and 2 boiled eggs.

Lunch:  Leftover Pot Roast Soup.

Dinner:  Salmon Cakes (Recipe from Practical Paleo) and a salad with avocado dressing.  The salmon cakes were easy - only about 20 minutes to make, and super delicious.  Another recipe to add to my "make again" list!

Snacks:  Almonds, Tea with Coconut Milk

Day 9

Breakfast:  Sweet potato fries, pineapple, and 2 boiled eggs.

Lunch: Leftover Pot Roast Soup (really good, but glad it is gone).

Dinner:  Cabbage Rolls with Cranberry Dressing.  These were good, but were very time consuming and difficult to make.  Not worth it.

Snacks: Almonds, Tea with Coconut Milk

Katy's Day Seven

And one week bites the DUST!

Today I ate a green smoothie for breakfast, Chicken Bacon Alfredo for lunch, and Pumpkin Pancakes for dinner (SO GOOD!).  I snacked on dried bananas, pistachios and a Lara Bar Cashew Cookie (not good).  Seriously though.  The Pumpkin Pancakes were a great substitute for something starchy that you can bite into.  They are dense but I added the smashed banana and I loved that subtle flavor.  Wendy was thinking of adding pecans (brilliant) and I'm thinking adding some applesauce with a little cinnamon could be yummy.

Here is my self assessment one week in.  

I don't eat enough vegetables.  Big surprise.  The constant snacking makes it so my meals are glorified snacks and if I have the choice between chicken with veggies or just chicken...I'll pass on the veggies.  

I still have that desire to gorge (or 'mange' as I used to say in France).  Maybe not necessarily on sweets but something.  Since I've started dehydrating fruit I will eat through a whole bag of dehydrated apples (we're talking seven dehydrated apples) in one sitting.  

This leads me to the perpetual question...should I change my snacking habit?  Who knows.  In the past when I have tried to change it turns into full meals and snacking which isn't good.  I feel like my body does just fine eating every few hours but I have to start focusing on eating healthier (which is ironic considering what I'm limiting myself to eating right now).

Enough Rambling.  So I'm going to focus on eating more vegetables this week and try to be more mindful about my eating (gorging/binging/etc.).  Which means I will sit down at the kitchen table when eating dinner.  I will use the Formula for Change from Ana Forrest to help:

1. Catch yourself doing behavior
2. Take many deep breaths to reset your energy
3. Congratulate yourself for having caught behavior
4. Take a step that puts you in a healing path or direction (as you do this you will develop a repertoire of steps)  

My step will be assessing if I'm actually hungry or just used to eating/snacking.  Brushing my teeth or a Listerine Strip (Whole30?!) also helps if I'm not actually hungry :)

Well hasn't this gotten a little existential? :)