It has been ONE week since I decided to commit to this Whole30 program. I am going to be super honest that there are times I have regretted it – like when N got notice of his promotion and I popped open a bottle of champagne but didn’t have any (okay, just ONE tiny little sip), or when we spent the entire day together on Saturday (it was our 6 year anniversary!) and we went to Clover, (fav lunch spot when we used to work down the street from each other) – and all I could get was some baked eggplant and a side salad with no dressing #lame —- and then we had dinner plans to this amazingly good restaurant with N’s brother and wife and friends that night. I HATE being that person that asks so many questions about the menu, but I HAD TO! I did my research before we went, but I still needed to know the ingredients in some of the items. I honestly felt tortured throughout the whole eating experience – not to mention when they bring out the most amazing petite desserts and leave them ALL on the table – If you follow me on Snap (@KPMroczko), you would understand the pain.
On Sunday, my grandfather decided to invite everyone to this really nice Chinese restaurant for my aunt’s b-day as a surprise for her. uhhhh, CHINESE FOOD while on Whole30? Might as well give up? Yup, that is what I was thinking. Luckily, the restaurant is MSG free, regardless, it left me with a plate of steamed chicken and veggies – I sprinkled some s&p on it and tried not to look at the chicken fingers, crab rangoon or veg fried rice.
Piece of advice: DO NOT embark on WHOLE30 when you have weekend-going-out-to-eat-plans! I mean, you totally can but it will make you regret it tremendously and everyone you are with will be concerned for you and think you are torturing yourself.
On a positive note, I am beyond proud of myself for not giving in to those temptations and can thus continue with this experiment.
So 7 days in and here is my breakdown —
PROS:
I must cook healthier than I thought because the meals taste good and not much different from what we normally eat.
Nico seems to have come around and supports it after reading about it some more. He did encourage me to continue satisfying my sweet tooth (or maybe his?), which after reading some more about the program, I realize is against the rules — even though all the ingredients are Whole30 approved! I’ll try to avoid doing this for the following weeks.
Seeing a refrigerator full of fruits and veggies, organic produce – makes me feel confident and happy with my purchases. Free-range and grass-fed is non-negotiable.
I never feel swollen or overly full after meals, and no <3 palpitations after eating!
CONS:
I find myself dreading social situations that might involve food/beverages. This is my #1 dislike of any cleanse or eating program… I don’t need any more reasons to stay home. I’m already such a homebody!
I feel like I spend all my time at the kitchen sink washing dishes, pots and pans…and prepping.
I am constantly bookmarking new recipes which has got a little over-whelming because I end up going to the grocery store every day for an ingredient. The Whole30 book just arrived, so I’m hoping I can just use that for this next week and that I already have all the essentials.
I crave desserts and have made Whole30 compliant ones but then found out that I can’t do that because it’s this whole “sex with your pants on” theory.
SOME FAVORITE RECIPES
BREAKFAST:
I made this frittata on Saturday morning and it was really good and a nice change after eating the same thing for breakfast for a week.
I have been missing oatmeal w/ pb or w/ yogurt + fruit in the morning, so I have been experimenting with different ways to make it. I really like this one and this one.
LUNCH:
Working from home, I would usually have a quick bowl of cereal with almond milk and fruit or boil some raviolis with butter sauce, or have some toast w/ a hard-boiled egg + avocado + tomatoes. So, I have been sauteing a bunch of veggies and tossing an egg in and topping it with some avocado.
I had some leftover taco meat, so made the taco salad for lunch again.
DINNER:
I made this zucchini “pasta” with avocado sauce and we loved it. We had this salmon with it, which I baked instead of grilled. Obsessed.
This taco salad is SO good. Leftover meat can be used for another lunch salad the next day!
These sweet potato noodles with cashew sauce are delish.
This had become a weeknight go to recipe for me – fried “rice” without the grains and with waaayyy fewer calories (I left out the soy sauce this week for Whole30). I topped it with this lemon artichoke chicken, instead of the shrimp.
DESSERT:
They say you can’t recreate desserts even with compliant ingredients, so I wont make them for the rest of the 3 weeks, but I WILL for sure make them after this program is done with, as they are super simple and clean.
These paleo sticky-date pudding cupcakes – N referred to these as “crack” and we both couldn’t stop eating them.
I made this brownie 2 days in a row, once in the oven and the other time in the microwave. I used 1/2 sunflower butter and 1/2 almond butter (I am running low on almond butter!)
We have had this baked banana two times already – so good. I have such a sweet tooth!
That’s about it for now! I’ll share another update next Wednesday.
Let me know if there if there is anything specific you guys are wondering and if you’ve done Whole30 before – I’d love to hear about any favorites you might have! Thanks so much for reading – XO