We’re not getting slammed by Jonah’s blizzard like states farther north are, but we do have very cold temps and a tiny dusting of snow. Enough that I worked from home yesterday and the rest of the city ground to almost a standstill. As per usual, everyone on social media was griping about lines at the grocery store and a dearth of bread and milk. Luckily, when you’re doing a Whole 30 you don’t have to worry about that! I had Andy pick up an extra dozen eggs on Thursday evening and called myself prepared.
This week had some rough days FO SHO. I finally got my butt back in gear to exercise before work, which revved up my appetite. Plus I just started getting bored and tired of cleaning the kitchen so much.
Luckily on Day 20 I had planned a happy hour for some women at work and picked True Food Kitchen as our venue, knowing I’d be able to find something to eat (or at least drink). It was exactly the boost I needed 2/3 of the way through this journey. I drank a kale juice concoction as my “cocktail” and shared the crudite and roasted vegetable platters with another co-worker who’s doing the Whole 30. The fun options and the good company perked me right up.
Day 15
- Breakfast: egg bake, Aidell’s chicken & apple sausage, banana
- Lunch: leftover Italian pork and cauli rice, 1/2 an avocado
- Snack: 1/4 cup cashews, lemon La Croix, cantaloupe
- Dinner: zoodle ramen with sliced pork, mushrooms, and a soft boiled egg (so good! Recipe to follow.), 2 mandarin oranges
- Snack: spoonful of almond butter (I was peckish and we were out of Lara Bars.)
I got up and did a workout from my Couch 2 5K app in the gym in my building! Wahoo. Today’s challenge was procuring a cookie cake for work that I couldn’t eat. The warm and comforting dinner on a dreary day made up for it, though.
Day 16
- Breakfast: egg bake, Aidell’s chicken & apple sausage, 2 mandarin oranges
- Snack: coconut milk latte
- Lunch: pulled pork on salad with avocado, hard boiled egg, carrots, and salsa; 1 apple
- Snack: 1/4 cup cashews, banana
- Dinner: Turkey-Sweet Potato chili, avocado, side salad
It was slim pickin’s by this day, as I was planning to grocery shop the next day! We made it, though.
Day 17
- Breakfast: 3 scrambled eggs with canned salmon and mushrooms, 2 mandarins, coconut milk latte
- Lunch: leftover beef chili, celery & sugar snap peas with Trader Joe’s guacamole
- Snack: 1/4 c cashews, banana
- Dinner: Turkey stuffed bell pepper, Trader Joe’s frozen grilled cauliflower, kale with apple cider dressing
- Snack: Rooibos tea, Cashew Cookie Lara Bar
I like stuffed bell peppers, but I think I didn’t quite get enough protein in tonight, as I felt hungry very shortly after dinner. In fact, that ended up being sort of the story of the rest of the week: feeling hungry. That was a new problem, after starting to feel like I needed to eat less last week.
Day 18
- Breakfast: pumpkin custard, apple, black tea
- Lunch: leftover stuffed pepper, kale salad, carrots & sugar snap peas with guacamole
- Snack: Lara Bar, mandarin orange
- Dinner: steak, mashed potatoes, green beans
I worked from home in the morning and then went to volunteer on an MLK Day service project. It made me realize that snacking on the go under Whole 30 guidelines is difficult! I pretty much had to bring a Lara Bar. I know there are other things, but I didn’t have any on hand because I haven’t needed them. There were all kinds of tempting snacks at the service project, but I stuck with a mandarin.
I think Andy must have been feeling the lack of protein, too, or maybe just food boredom, because he texted while he was out running some errands to ask if I minded if he picked up a steak for dinner. It was a nice treat to fix an alternative dinner.
Day 19
- Breakfast: pumpkin custard, banana
- Snack: apple with almond butter
- Lunch: spaghetti squash with meat sauce, kale with dressing
- Snack: 1/4 c cashews, 2 mandarin oranges
- Dinner: beef stir fry, cauli rice, broccoli
- Snack: leftover mashed potatoes
Maybe the roughest day of them all. I don’t think the pumpkin custard on its own had enough protein to be satisfying, but I hadn’t bought enough eggs to have a hard-boiled one alongside. I was excited about the beef stir fry in the crockpot, but when I got home and looked at it I was pretty unappetized. (It ended up tasting fine, just wasn’t a looker.) Plus the kitchen was still a mess from the night before (cooking meat in good fats makes a lot of splatter!) and I just wanted to call it quits. Luckily for my willpower there were no other options. :) I needed something comforting after dinner and went with a bowl of mashed potatoes. It actually hit the spot.
Day 20
- Breakfast: pumpkin custard, hard boiled egg, banana
- Snack: apple with almond butter
- Lunch: leftover stir fry with cauli rice, broccoli
- Snack: 1/4 c cashews, 2 mandarin oranges
- Happy Hour: kale juice, crudite, roasted veggies
- Dinner: Italian chicken soup
Day 21
- Breakfast: egg bake (I had to cook it last night at 10PM!), prosciutto, 2 mandarins, Earl Grey tea
- Lunch: Italian chicken soup, mashed potatoes (I stirred them into the soup!), cantaloupe
- Snack: 1/4 c cashews, banana
- Dinner: Trader Joe’s frozen turkey burger with guacamole and fried egg, sweet potato wedges, kale with dressing (Oh, and a second plain turkey burger.)
I hit the protein mark a bit better today and felt much more satisfied. The dinner didn’t even make me feel like I was missing a dern thing by eating Whole 30! The TJ frozen burgers cook up really nicely and are super cost effective ($3.99 for 4 turkey burgers or $6.99 for 4 angus beef). I also want to try the chili lime chicken burgers! I bet I’ll continue to keep these on hand even come February 1 (although I hate driving to Trader Joe’s).
What’s the best thing you ate this week? If you’re doing the Whole 30, what are you most looking forward to adding back in at the end?
