Food

I almost backed out of The Whole 30 today. Not because I wanted to eat sugar or have a Mexican feast with rice, but because I had these intense stomach cramps around 4 p.m. today. I got really nervous that something was wrong. And since I had semi-started The Whole 30 a few days prior, I was scared my stomach was reacting to not having carbs in it.

I’m not telling you this to scare you, I’m telling you as a learning moment. Because I realized two things when I sat down and analyzed my day. 1. I was not drinking enough water. And 2. I hadn’t eaten enough food.

Because I was so focused on eating veggies, meats, and fruits, I totally forgot the lack of calories I was consuming by not having carbs in my diet. And because I wasn’t quenching my carb intake with water, I hadn’t realized I wasn’t drinking enough water either. A large protein-packed snack and plenty of water later and I was all fixed.

I probably should have realized when I only had a blueberry smoothie (no dairy) that I wasn’t getting enough foods in my belly. But I do have to share the blueberry smoothie with you, because it was delicious and I’m so glad that Andy made it for me. I have never had almond milk before and was pleasantly surprised at how great it tasted. (You can make your own if you can’t find one without sweetener in it.) Win-win for being healthy, too. This was our recipe, not from The Whole 30, but it follows all the guidelines, I believe.

The Whole 30 Blueberry Smoothie

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Turns out, if you plan ahead, you can have a pretty killer lunch on The Whole 30. Last night I took the time to cook dinner, which consisted of some killer sweet potato fries, bacon, and green beans. Oh yeah, and chicken that was cooked up in that bacon fat. No one said I couldn’t use the bacon fat to cook, so I’m doing it. Or at least I’m doing so until I’m told it’s against the rules. Continue Reading

So I kind of cheated. And to be honest, I haven’t even started. I’ve read the rules, I know what I can and can’t eat, and I’m aware of how it’s all supposed to go. But I still cheated.  Let me back up. I made a promise that this Saturday I would take the plunge and do The Whole 30. But being the overachiever and compulsive organizers that I am, I started early. Three days early by testing myself.

You see, I have this fear that during our 30 day experiment, that I’m going to prepare all of these lunches and then forget to bring mine to work. Which means that I’ll be stuck at work without any idea of what I can and can’t eat. I don’t want to feel like I have to break down and grab a quick sandwich just because I forgot my food.

So I tested myself and went to the grocery store on my break and made a promise to make a Whole 30 shopping trip. I walked back with pork chops, green peppers, and tomatoes. And I’m lucky enough that my office has a kitchen, because I can cook on my break. I just have to be quick.

So I used my dried garlic herbs threw the seasoned pork chops in a hot pan (no oil) and some diced peppers. Cooked that up, removed it from the pan, then threw in the sliced tomatoes. I ended up with this:

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