There are times in my life where I have stood on the edge of the proverbial cliff knowing that one jump was going to make a dramatic change in the course of the rest of my life.
When I took an extended trip to India, I was searching for signs on where life was about to take me. When I stumbled on 100 Days of Real Food, I knew I could never go back to eating a standard American diet. When I read The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, I knew my life would never be the same.
I’ve heard similarly dramatic results from so many friends who have tried Whole30, but seven days into my Whole30 experience and I feel…bored? The excitement of trying something new has worn off and I’m left with piles of vegetables, too many eggs and a general distaste for eating.
So one week in and I’m not sure this is going to be a memorable life event for me, but I’m a glutton for punishment so I’m going to stick it out for the 30 days. Maybe I’ll be surprised with the results?
Week 1 was a pretty average week for us. We’re in the final stages of our home remodel, and this week we had a custom pantry built. The good news is that I now have an amazing custom pantry. The bad news is I started my Whole30 journey with the entire contents of my pantry laid out on the dining room floor, which sure made it interesting to find ingredients at meal time.
I was surprised that I didn’t have any extreme cravings or feel deprived of anything. I ate good food and ate plenty at each meal. I had a small afternoon snack of cashews and raisins two days this week, but other than that, these photos document everything I ate for my first seven days doing the Whole30 plan.
Whole30 Day 1
Day 1 started out exactly like the book says not to…with absolutely no prior planning. Take my advice and don’t do this. Breakfast was similar to what I usually eat, but we had to rush home from the park for lunch and I had to make homemade mayonnaise for the first time with hungry kids nipping at my heels.
Despite my lack of planning, my homemade mayonnaise (recipe on page 179 of the Whole30 book) in chicken salad turned out amazing! It was so easy to make and I don’t know why I’ve never tried it before. Dinner was adventurous for my taste as I normally don’t eat sausage, but the whole family enjoyed the spaghetti squash with mushrooms and sausage (I left out the butter and cheese from the recipe and tossed in some sliced chicken & spinach sausage).
Whole30 Day 2
Day 2 included leftovers for breakfast and lunch, which is nice on days when we’re out of the house a lot. Dinner was sweet potato salmon cakes (from page 346 of the Whole30 book) and they were a big hit with the kids, especially with the homemade tarter sauce (recipe coming soon to the blog).
Whole30 Day 3
Day 3 was my first Whole30 slip up. Breakfast included a non-compliant Applegate turkey sausage patty. I didn’t have the box and assumed (you know what they say about that…) that it would be ok, but it actually lists sugar on the ingredient list. Whoops. At least it’s only Day 3 so I’m getting out my flub ups out of the way, right?
Lunch was leftovers with cinnamon apples (I used clarified butter instead of regular butter) that felt like a major treat. Dinner was made in a big rush after I picked up pizza for the rest of the family and some friends we had visiting. I was feeling bummed about not having pizza, but the balsamic brussels sprouts and squash (recipe coming soon to the blog) turned out AMAZING. I definitely had the better meal and didn’t feel deprived at all.
Whole30 Day 4
Day 4 was a busy day with working on our remodeling projects so I had leftovers for breakfast and lunch and we went out to dinner. Dinner out wasn’t as hard as I expected, and my meal was pretty satisfying.
Whole30 Day 5
Day 5 started with leftovers for breakfast. I may have thrown up just a bit at having to eat this a third time. I’m not a fan of leftovers to begin with and this put me over the edge. Lunch was prepped in the slow cooker the day before (salsa chicken recipe from Gimme Some Oven) and the Spanish-style cauliflower rice (recipe from Paleo Grubs). Dinner was an experiment with a happy ending that was so good I wished I had made more. This baked fish recipe with asparagus with my kids’ favorite brown butter sauce will be on the blog soon.
Day 5 left me wondering where the burst of energy that supposedly accompanies Whole30 is. I got a great night’s sleep and by 2 p.m. I desperately needed a nap and slept for two hours!
Whole30 Day 6
Day 6 had me feeling like I was getting into a groove with eating. Anytime I start off the day with these breakfast potatoes (recipe from The Minimalist Baker), I know it’s going to be a good day!
Whole30 Day 7
Day 7 started with leftovers and a smoothie. Smoothies are discouraged on Whole30, but my kids love them, so I make them. I fill the blender with greens and only use 1/2 cup of fruit for an entire blender of smoothies so I’m OK with having a small amount of smoothie every once in a while. I made egg salad for lunch which is one of my favorite foods, but I’ve been eating so many eggs that it was slightly repulsive. I really missed having a crunchy cracker or potato chip with this lunch. I had dinner out at the same restaurant I ate at earlier in the week and had this awesome Mediterranean salad with tons of variety. It wasn’t even bad eating it without dressing since there were so many flavors.
Completing this week felt like a milestone. So much so that I cheated just a little bit and weighed myself. Whole30 rules require no weighing for 30 days, but I needed a little motivation to suffer through leftovers AGAIN. I was pleasantly surprised with a five-pound loss!
I know weight isn’t everything, but that’s a pretty crazy amount of weight for me to lose in a week so I’m definitely motivated to keep going.
Going into Week 2, I am going to work on varying my proteins. I’m not a big meat eater so I knew this would be a challenge for me, but there are enough things I like that I can switch it up more than I did this week. I’m also going to give myself permission to freeze leftover or feed them to my husband because eating leftovers more than once is just not for me.
Curious why I’m doing this Whole30 thing? See why I started here. As I go into my second a week of Whole30, do you have any friendly suggestions or advice for me? I’d love to hear it! Share with me here or on our Facebook page!
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