It's true!
The Whole 30 is but a happy memory.
Perhaps the happy part is debatable :)
Aaron and I were talking about it last night and I told him that I feel like you have to be hardcore to do the whole 30 and eat paleo in general.
I wouldn't say that anyone would use the word hardcore to describe me.
Fun? Maybe.
Quirky? Yes.
Slightly ridiculous? Probably.
Hardcore? No. No no no no no no noooooooo.
And I'm not saying that hardcore people can't be fun, quirky, and/or slightly ridiculous. I'm just not able to multitask in that manner.
Anyway, here's a small example about why it was hard...aside from all of the insane prep work.
Take a look at
this broccoli recipe that I'll be making at least twice this month (without the rice). I couldn't have it because there was a tiny bit of sugar in one of the sauce ingredients. I kept running in to recipes like that which was kind of frustrating and discouraging.
I maybe felt a little better doing the whole 30. I feel like I woke up easier in the morning, but I don't really have a hard time falling asleep at night, so I didn't notice a change there.
My friend, Kendra, was doing this the same time as me and she felt amazing!
I'm guessing that I don't have sensitivities to dairy or gluten or whatever else I wasn't eating, so I wouldn't have the same sensation of feeling sooooo much better!
If I would have noticed a huge change in how I was feeling, I think I would have been more apt to stick with a lot of those changes after the whole 30 was over. It would have been a lot more worth it. Aaron and I both agree that I'm a lot, um, shall we say, more myself and less irritable when I'm not doing the whole 30!
I did have some really awesome takeaways, though!
- Water! I hopped back on the drinking water train, and I like it! I'm doing well with drinking close to 3 nalgenes of water a day which is what I was shooting for.
- Snacks! I think I trained myself to not feel like I need to eat after the girls go to bed. I also didn't have snacks during nap time, either, and I'd certainly like to keep that up.
- Vegetables! I already ate a lot of veggies even before the whole 30. But, I'd like to have veggies at every meal (including breakfast) and have a salad and other sort of vegetable at supper. I feel fine replacing the breakfast veggie with berries if I'm having steel cut oats.
- Lunch! I'd like to have soup or salad for lunch every day. This has always been my preference, but I'd like to actually do it! I'm not a huge sandwich bread fan. I mean, I like it, but if I'm going to have bread, I'd way rather have crusty bread or fresh, homemade dinner rolls.
- Zoodles! Making noodles out of zucchini was by far my favorite discovery of the whole 30. I thought they were great! I'm totally going to continue to replace spaghetti with zoodles for myself.
- The Good Creamer! Another outcome I was hoping for with the whole 30 was to decrease my desire for sweets. I drank my coffee with coconut milk during the whole 3o and it was drinkable. Not my preference, but I could kind of enjoy it. I'm glad to say that now when I enjoy coffee with The Good Creamer, I only use about half the amount of creamer than I did previously (1 and 1/2 tablespoons as opposed to 3 tablespoons...yeah, I measure it. I'm the nerd with the digital watch and timer, remember ;))
The above takeaways were the type of outcomes I was hoping for, so I'm really pleased!
I should tell you that I did go off the plan a few times at the end. I had 2 pieces of homemade pizza, a chai, the broccoli I mentioned above, and ate whatever I wanted for the Super Bowl. I woke up with a food hangover on Monday morning! I mean, I've never had an actual hangover, but from what I've heard, it was pretty similar. I had a pounding headache and was really thirsty.
So, here's our buddy, the menu for the rest of February!
Monday, February 10 Honey Garlic Balsamic Chicken
Saturday, February 15 Sandwiches Pizza for Leah's Family Birthday Party
Sunday, February 16 Sandwiches/Leftovers Silly Cereal Supper
Lots going on the week of the 10th! I'm making these for Mom2Mom on Tuesday, these cookies for Valentine's Day for Leah's class, this cake for Leah's birthday, and then these cupcakes for Leah's birthday for school on Monday. Good thing I like to bake :)
Monday, February 17 Hot Dogs (Leah requested for her actual birthday)
Thursday, February 20 The Sandwich (Aaron's favorite :))
Friday, February 21 Pizza
Saturday, February 22 Sandwiches Beef and Rice Casserole (in the microwave)
Sunday, February 23 Sandwiches/Leftovers Silly Cereal Supper
Wednesday, February 26 Baked Oatmeal (trying a new one from this cookbook)
Friday, February 28 Pizza
