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My (Modified) Whole 30: Week 2 Recap

Whole 30 Week 2

I made it through Week 2 of my Whole 30!
As I mentioned in my previous post, I am not following the Whole 30 as prescribed by the original creators. I’m allowing myself to “cheat” when I’m out and about or when I’m at someone else’s house. Also, I’m trying to cut back on dairy (not drink 2 glasses of milk a day) instead of giving it up completely. I personally think that dairy can be a perfectly healthy food if you aren’t allergic and it’s organic/local/grass-fed.
I’ll let you now how I’m liking eating this way, but first let me show you my meals from last week:

Whole 30 Day 8

DAY 8:
Breakfast: The usual: scramble with fruit!
Lunch: Leftover orange chicken stir-fry.
Supper: Taco salad. I “cheated” by using sour cream and cheese. I also had homemade water kefir to drink.

Whole 30 Day 9
DAY 9:
Breakfast: Scramble with blueberries and strawberries.
Lunch: Leftover taco salad and water kefir. This was seriously the biggest salad I’ve ever plated for myself.
Supper: Roasted chicken with potatoes and baby broccoli.

Whole 30 Day 10
DAY 10:
Breakfast: strawberry + coconut smoothie (I “cheated” by using some cream) and orange slices.
Lunch: Leftover potatoes and baby broccoli with Bulletproof-style coffee (I used butter, and cream instead of coconut oil).
Supper: Southwest-style stuffed peppers (another dairy “cheat”) and strawberries. These stuffed peppers were delicious.

Whole 30 Day 11
DAY 11:
Breakfast: Another scramble with grapefruit.
Lunch: Secret salad (this was for an upcoming guest post). It was a cheat meal because it contained orzo and cheese.
Whole 30 Day 12
DAY 12:
Breakfast: Scramble (with bacon!) and strawberries.
Lunch: Leftover curry soup.
Supper: Shepherd’s Pie (another sort-of cheat because it had cheese on top). I left out the wine, used grass-fed beef instead of lamb, and homemade chicken broth instead of gravy powder.

Whole 30 Day 13
DAY 13: 
Breakfast: Scramble with bacon and orange slices.
Lunch: We were out shopping, so we ate at Dickey’s BBQ. We got the 2-meat plate with two portions of beef brisket and sides of baked potato casserole and mac & cheese. I was a good girl and didn’t eat any of the mac & cheese and only took one small bite of a bun. 
Supper: Leftover shepherd’s pie.

Whole 30 Day 14
DAY 14 (Cheat Day):
Breakfast: Scramble with bacon and cheese (made by Reuben) and orange.
Lunch: Zuppa Toscana (potato, sausage and kale soup made by my sister from scratch) and homemade focaccia. 
Supper: Tortilla roll-up sandwiches, meatballs, pecan pie bars, and lemon bars.
For snacks between meals I had apples + almond butter, other fruits, pickles, seaweed snacks, super “cookies,” etc.
Besides the cheats mentioned above, Reuben convinced me to eat a piece of buttered popcorn and a salt-and-vinegar potato chip.
HOW I’M FEELING ON MY WHOLE 30
  • * My sugar cravings are really down. I was really missing it the first few days of my Whole 30. I had to eat dates to get by. 
  • * I found that I was on the verge of a headache for a few days. I’m wondering if that has to do with the exercise I’m doing, or my body adjusting to less sugar, or not eating enough for lunch.
  • * I’ve also noticed that I seem to have less energy.
  • * I’m getting into the swing of cooking so many different meals. It’s actually a lot easier than how I normally cook, because I have everything planned out and all of my ingredients bought. The most important thing is to remember to take meat out of the freezer to thaw.
  • * One thing I really miss is the fun of food. I tend to get excited about my food, but when I’m restricted it takes the fun out of it for me. It’s not a moment-by-moment struggle, but I definitely long for a latte or a piece of chocolate…
  • * Added on 5/18/15: I forgot to mention that before I began the Whole 30 I had a bit of acne, which has cleared up now! 

And just like that I’m halfway through! I’m interested to see how I feel in the next two weeks. I’ll keep you posted.

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Erica Lea

Monday 18th of May 2015

Thank you, Erika! I've been surprised by how good the meals are on the Whole 30. I guess I decided to try to make meals that didn't call for "banned" ingredients in the first place, so it doesn't feel like there's a lot missing. So glad you're enjoying this series!

Erica Lea

Monday 18th of May 2015

I'm not a fan of restrictive diets (or diets in general) as well - that's why I knew I needed to give myself a few "cheats." I already knew that additives (especially MSG) make me feel a bit "off," and I think grains tend to make me feel a bit bloated. But it's nothing that would make me swear off a certain food. I wasn't feeling bad to begin with, so I guess I'm not the best test subject for this program. :)

Water kefir tastes a bit like kombucha - kind of fermenty. It's a bit of a "cheat" as well (you use organic sugar to "brew" it), but it's quite healthy for you so I'm including it in my Whole 30.

Erika

Monday 18th of May 2015

Very proud of you. Your meals look delicious! Thanks for posting about this; it's very encouraging to me.

Elizabeth Rose Hisle

Monday 18th of May 2015

I've been considering doing a whole 30 but I just don't know. I hate restrictive diets but I kinda think it would be good to know what you need and don't need in your diet. I know someone who tried it and realized she was highly sensitive to grains and had never made the connection before! Crazy! I think a part of me is scared that I will find out I don't tolerate something I love. I know I could do without sugar cravings, but so far I have found melons to be very effective at satiating my sugar desire.

Also... what does water kefir taste like?

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