Monday, March 23, 2015

Whole30: Week 2 is Underway, I Can Take a Deep Breath

No really, I CAN take a deep breath. Normally at this time of year, I can't. Everyone around me is crying "allergies!" and I'm sitting around with my teeth in my mouth, breathing. My nose is not stuffed up, I'm not wheezing, my husband says I'm not snoring, and my head and eyes feel very clear.

Did I mention that I am sleeping so soundly? I think I may have.

Did I mention that my pants already fit more comfortably? No? Well they do.

But it is great to be over the hump of the first week. My biggest source of stress going into this was how I would manage all the meal planning and kitchen time. When I want a break, this is what I want a break from. It hasn't been so bad. The husband and I have been doing all of the meal prep together, which is nice, and it lightens the load. I'm also being very deliberate in my meal planning to be sure that we have plenty of leftovers for lunches and busy evenings when meals are not going to be easy to plan.

This week we have a Kalua pulled pork from Nom Nom Paleo on deck, a chicken to roast, extra steaks for lunches and steak and egg breakfasts, lots of veggies for salads, avocados to make the salads awesome, 42 cups of turkey broth, and some properly-caught tuna for quick and easy and I'm also really glad that we purchased a couple of boxes of Whole30 compliant Larabars. They have come in handy when I'm having a major craving for something sweet or on the way home from a WOD, but we are eating them sparingly. Suffice it to say that we're certainly not starving, and we're really not suffering.

If you are reading this and wondering about doing Whole30, know that you must go into with a plan. Use Pinterest, use blogs, really study the Whole30 website and inform yourself about what ingredients you cannot have. If you go in knowing that there is going to be a time commitment to food preparation and a mental commitment to not giving into cravings and temptations, the 30 days should be pretty smooth sailing.

Don't be impulsive. Don't think, "This is awesome! Real food! That's like, sweet potatoes and stuff, right? I'm going to do it!" and then fall on your face the first week because you didn't realize that there was actual hard time in the kitchen to be done. Isn't the point of this to get you back in touch with your food, anyway? To remember what it means to eat real, whole, nutritious food?

I am relearning a very important lesson that I discovered the first time I did a major food overhaul like this: to eat well requires me to be at home. Being at home involves spending time in my house--dirty or clean, and with my family--be they pleasant or unpleasant. It comes down to being where I'm meant to be with the people who need me most, meeting our most fundamental needs.

And I'm okay with that.

Day 8 Log:

B - BP Coffee, 2 eggs, banana, turkey broth with gelatin
L - smoothie, veggies, berries, banana, eggs, gelatin
D - steak, asparagus, roasted red potatoes
S - Larabar, almonds

*went a little heavy on fruit today with the extra banana and Larabar. I think I'm craving something sweet.

WOD - letting the foot rest and mobilizing. We'll see how it is tomorrow.

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