Day 6: hotel living

The trip to the grocery store today was key. I got hard boiled eggs for breakfast and two containers of squash salad for snacks / sides.

The grocery store here in New Haven is amazing for whole30ing. They have a hot food bar where they post all ingredients, including the oil they cool with. I was able to get grilled lemon chicken + baked carrots and cauliflower for lunch.

For dinner we went to a nice restaurant but there was only one menu item that was compliant. It was pan seared sea bass topped with arugula. Not what I would ever normally order but very very good. As an app we had amazing guacamole which they make fresh with only avocado tomato and lime. I just ate it with my fork of course... Can't have those corn chips!

The waitress places a piece of bread right in front of me on a small plate. It sat there for too long taunting me, but I didn't budge. Sorry, wasted bread piece. 

So long day 6. It's been real.

Day 5: traveling. The struggle is real

Today was freaking hard. This is another bed blog. 

I got stuck at the airport thru lunch and had to make due with what was available. I managed to find approved trail mix with only raisins, almonds, and cashews (no peanut oil!!) and approved, no additives beef jerky. I also had a halo orange that I brought from home. Soooo that was lunch! I was able to get my greens in during dinner, where I had a romaine and spinach salad with avocado & eggs & apples on it.

Not the prettiest day, but also not a fail. Wow though, day 5... You almost got me.

Day 4: blog from bed

I forgot to post!! Everything is ok, I'm fine, day 4 is fine, all thumbs up over here.

I am posting from my iPhone in bed because I can't very well sleep now that I remembered the missing blog entry.

Breakfast green peppers,eggs, half a chicken sausage

Lunch n Dinner that delicious roast from yesterday with carrots

Nuts and a banana for snacks

The roast didn't finish on time for me to actually have it for dinner last night so I had to settle for leftover lunch for dinner yesterday. 

Ok day 4 down, short and sweet. Nite!

Day 3: Goin' strong!

Ah, Day 3... Where I buckled last time. It's a Saturday and the Steelers are playing -- but there's no beer in the house so I can't be tempted to crack one and enjoy the game :) #ReversePrep?

Breakfast: Eggs
Lunch: Chicken sausage with greens + balsamic vinegar, olive oil, & garlic dressing
Dinner: Balsamic beef roast

I haven't had the dinner yet, but it's cooking and smells amazing. Instead of the white wine in the recipe, I used white vinegar so we'll see how it goes (?).

I feel like I was going pretty strong today. I did have to look away from the TV when a pizza hut commercial was on. The saddest part is that they were showing "unappetizing crust" leftover in the box and I think your reaction was supposed to be "ew, I wish pizza crust wasn't so dull" probably so they could show their better, more awesome crust. It didn't work on me. I was all "OMG too delicious, have to look away." Joe always leaves his pizza crust in the box like that & I always go get it and eat it. What a sicko I am.

TV is kinda the worst while Whole30ing. There's some Atkins candy on there right now which is probably so gross, but Sharon Osbourne is selling the hell out of it for me.

Ta Ta for today, blog.

Day 2: The day's over

I'm still in it here at the end of Day 2.

Breakfast: hardboiled eggs

Lunch: Grilled chicken and sweet potatoes

Dinner: Same grilled chicken I had for lunch with salad mix

Snack: Cashews & Almonds, Kale + Banana + Conconut oil + pineapple shake

I went grocery shopping today and picked up a bunch of stuff. The list includes:

• Greens for salad
• Kale for smoothies
• Bananas, Oranges, & Apples
• Almonds & Cashews
• A beef roast for stew & whole30 approved beef broth (REALLY freaking hard to find)
• Balsamic vinegar
• Onions
• Lemon juice & lime juice (for my water)
• Whole30 approved chicken sausage
• I can't really remember what else?

I feel like I got a lot more because of course it cost a cool $1million. I already have broccoli carrots, chicken, ground beef, lots of coconut cooking items so I think I'm set for a bit. The only problem is that I leave for my work trip on Monday... Maybe should have considered that before I got so many perishables ... Oops. I am only just now realizing this as I type. Maybe I'll just eat a ton this weekend & bring some leftover apples on the plane with me. Is that allowed? Can apples make it through security?

On to Day 3 tomorrow... the same day that I quit last time around. eeeeek!

Kale Shake (it off)

One thing that's different about this Whole30 is that I procured a Ninja sometime over the past 2 years. Today as a snack I made a delicious Kale shake / smoothie that goes somethin' like this:

Single Serve Cup
Kale (fill up about 1/2 the smoothie vessel with the kale... really pack it in there, ya know?)
1/2 a banana
a few pieces of frozen cubed pineapple
some coconut oil (I did something like 1-1.5 tbsp for a single serve)
some ice cubes
fill in the space with water. The more water, the thinner it gets.

I don't use a juicer, so I really don't know how this translates into a juice recipe. I just blend it all up until it's thick but without any chunks. The Ninja is perfect at that kind of job.

Good thing it tastes a lot better than it looks... also I have no future in photography.

MMMmmmmMMMMmmm!

Whole30 Prep : Grocery shopping

Since I hate grocery shopping, my biggest fan / husband found an awesome shopping list for me to use today. I am not sure whether he did this because he truly loves me and wants me to succeed, or because he can't stand not being a regular subject in my blog due to his lack of Whole30 participation this go 'round.

Here's the list from WellFed. I am pretty excited to see unsweetened sunflower seed butter on there, because I didn't know such a thing existed. YUM, though, right?!

Anyway, just needed to post that quick so I don't lose it. Day 2 Post later today!

Update: Unsweetened sunflower seed butter DOESN'T exist - at least not around these parts. There were like 9 kinds of sunflower seed butter at my grocery store and cane sugar / "evaporated cane juice" (a sneaky word for sugar, I think?) were always included. Damnit.

Day 1: Like a boss

Whole30 Day 1 down, and going strong. I guess I can't be too proud since this is my 4th or 5th Day 1... but practice has made perfect I suppose.

Breakfast: Scrambled eggs & Coffee (black, of course)
Lunch: Saurkraut and sausage
Dinner: Burger, brussel sprouts, + Mashed sweet potatoes w/ coconut oil
Snack: 1/2 banana, Apple

I do need to do some grocery shopping and cooking tomorrow after work, which are two of my least favorite activities. I need to get some greens for salad & sides, nuts for snacks, and some ingredients for a recipe. I'm planning on trying out these "Whole30 Burritos" that I saw, where my favorite part (the flour tortilla) is replaced by a bell pepper. I have no expectation that I can trick my mouth into thinking pepper = tortilla, but I like the idea anyway.

I have a work trip coming up on Jan 5th where I'll be living in a hotel for 4 days -- I'm trying to start now researching and thinking ahead of how to make that trip work during a Whole30. Luckily, I'm very familiar with the area and know of a couple restaurants nearby my hotel with some Whole30-friendly options.

Someone recently asked me for any tips on successfully completing the Whole30, and the first one that came to mind first was this: You really need a go-to "emergency plan" for times when you fail on food prep. You can absolutely avoid sweets / convenience foods unless you're super hungry and literally have nothing else at your disposal.

An example of this for me was if I didn't have any breakfast food pre-made, and had to leave for work without time to cook. In that case, there was a Pilot gas station on the way to work which sells single bananas/apples and a pack of 2 hardboiled eggs. Some people are grossed out by the 2 pack hardboiled eggs (sold as most bigger gas stations), but those people should get over it because they're convenient and delicious. In fact, they're usually even better than the ones I make at home. If you're really in a bind and only have time for a drive-through, some of them sell apple sauce squeeze packets (Go-Go's) which don't have any sweeteners, artificial ingredients or preservatives. Obviously that won't hold you over for a whole day, but it's a fine snack until you can get your hands on something more substantial.

That's all for me tonight -Adios! to my good buddy Day 1 and "... oh, hey" to my frenemy, Day 2.