Whole 30 Halfway Point Update

Well, this is a few days late (surprise, surprise) but I am absolutely tickled pink (& no, it's not just from the amount of beets I've been eating in the past 18 days) to report that my Whole 30 challenge is going AMAZING.  I feel like a rockstar... well, maybe not, because I'd guess that a rockstar might feel hung-over a good amount of the time.  So let me re-phrase that - I feel like AMAZING!  Not quite the same punch as "rockstar" has, but I think you know what I mean. I'm sleeping the best I have in as far as I can remember, my skin is awesome, my energy levels are off the charts, in short, I feel fantastic.

I truly, honest-to-god thought it would be hard for me to take on this challenge.  It is by far, the most resistrict "diet" I've ever been on, second only to fasting for 8-12 hours before bloodwork, but I don't think that counts.  I thought I'd be clawing at the walls craving milk in my coffee, a big old bowl of pasta, a tub of hummus & tortilla chips, but no.  I can 10000% honestly say that the 2 times I had real cravings were when I was stressed/got some bad news.  Which made me take a deep breathe & realize that they were totally emotionally driven, and not driven out of nutrition deprivation.  So, I held my head high & microwaved myself a baked sweet potato to hit the carb & sweet craving spot.  It really is amazing how sweet fruits & some veggies taste when you strip all artificial or overly sugared items from your diet.

The *only* downside to the challenge so far is that my milk supply has gone down. Not down to the point where I'm not making enough (thankfully, otherwise I'd be modifying the diet immediately as milk is my #1 priority right now) but I'm definitely making about 8ounces less a day. The forums on the Whole 9 (whole 30 parent website) have been so amazingly helpful & full of great tips on how to make sure that you do get enough calories in order to keep your supply up; my only issue is that the Whole 30 eating plan is so filling for me, it's tough to add those in!  problems, problems.  All kidding aside, I did have a few days of deep panic that I was going to tank my supply but now that I'm more than halfway through I know I'll be ok.

 

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So... what have I been eating on this?  I thought I'd share to perhaps inspire anyone who may be thinking about trying it but is afraid based on the restrictions in the plan overview:

Main Meals
- beanless chili - loaded with veggies & organic turkey meat - yum!
- pork chops & applesauce (i always think of my dad mimicing the brady bunch when I have these)
- salads, salads & more salads - loaded with veggies & hardboiled eggs (which I hate, btw, but choke down)
- veggie & meat stir frys
- roasted chicken
- pulled pork (with homade bbq sauce sweeted with fresh pineapple)
- spaghetti squash & meatballs
- scrambled eggs, fritattas, omelets

Veggies
- squash - all shapes & sizes.  roasted, toasted, pureed into soups - yum!
- brussel sprouts.  i'm addicted.  i know its weird.
- sweet potatos - all day long!
- cucumbers/carrots/celery - dipped into almond or cashew butter - yummmmm
- green beans & sundried tomato sautee
- avocado, in every way possible
- kale... i am now addicted to Kale chips
- cauliflower "rice" - you seriously wouldn't even know that you weren't eating a starchy carb with your meal

I'm also enjoying basically any fruit I want & have a new found love for coconut milk (which was a total surprise for me).  I could go into more detail but than we'd be here all day.  

Bottomline, when they say that this challenge is life changing, (which I kind of smirked at reading) they're not lying.  I'm nearly 2/3 of the way through & can already see that it is.  So I'm not quite sure what the purpose of this post is except to check in on this diet & tell you all it is awesome.  Yes, it takes some preparation - cooking/shopping wise & mental stamina, but it is sooooo worth it.  I will certainly be doing another Whole 30 at some point this year, so maybe if anyone is interested we can do it together?  I'll let you know my plans... 

Happy Friday & Happy Superbowl Weekend!!!!  I'll be munching some homemade guac with veggies & a hearts of palm dip, & am not even upset that I can't dig into the 7 layer dip... seriously!!!  (who am I?!)

xoxo

p.s. I also must admit that I broke one of the Whole 30 rules... I weighed myself... already down 10lbs!!!  20 more to go to my July 27th goal!  Whoo Wooo!

 

p.p.s. here's a shot of a veggie & egg pineapple cauliflower fried "rice" I made myself a few nights ago.  SO. GOOD.  (sorry instagram (@erin_ethier) followers for the re-post here) 

p.p.s.s. Is anyone on Vine?  I signed up (erin newly fabulous) but have absolutely no clue what I'm going to post on there...  what are you doing on there?