Whole30. I mean Whole14.
I lasted 14 days on the Whole30. Long enough for me to confirm that processed food, refined sugars, and probably even grains and dairy were contributing to me feeling tired, sick and weak. It is so hard to stick with something this strict though. You have to make sure that you have an entire month free of social obligations and lots of time for food prep. I cancelled two lunches and one dinner in the 14 days I was eating Whole30. I felt guilty and high maintenance. Ultiimately, that was not the reason I stopped though. I quit because I was a ferocious beast obssessed with food. Not only was I spending significant amounts of time prepping breakfast, lunch and dinners, I was constantly thinking about food. I was reading labels to see if there was anything forbidden. I was stressing over the possibility that even though it said there was no sugar in the Sunbutter, my taste buds (well trained in detecting sugar) said otherwise. And I was ALWAYS craving sweets. At one point I even considered....well, Im not even going to tell you. It was a low point in my life. Most importantly, I was becoming difficult to live with. That, my friends, is definitely a sign that something needs reevaluated.
So here I am getting ready to embark on another way of eating. I never call them diets because I go in with the mindset that it is a lifestyle change, albeit one that doesn't last as long as I think it should. But then I ask myself, who says it has to last a specified amount of time? Did it make me healthier? Did I learn something about myself? Of course I did. I have learned that I am not the most enthusiastic of meat eaters, that I have a serious sugar addiction, and that I genuinely love food in its most natural state. I have learned that eating out as a vegan is hard and buying groceries on the Whole30 is expensive. I have learned there are ways in any method of eating to "cheat" while still technically following the plan. Vegan chocolate chip cookies still have calories. Through all of my dietary changes in the past 15 years, I have strived to eat clean and really what more could I possibly want?
My husband and I are not going to return to the Whole30. We are going to follow a paleo style diet for the next 30 days and then evaluate where we would like to go next. Do we want to try incorporating grains back into our diets? Dairy? One thing I know for sure, if I can get a grip on this sugar demon, it is not welcome back. I am not a moderator when it comes to sugar. I am in the all or nothing camp and I need to wrap my mind around that. I am going to post our dinner meal plans for each week on the blog - an accountability tactic so to speak. For the most part breakfast will consist of eggs in their various forms. There is a recipe for coconut "oatmeal" made out of squash that I would like to try. Lunches will be a salad of some sort with protein and fats. Dinner will be meat and veggies. I am going to really try to limit my fruit to one serving a day. In the past I have used this as a sugar/dessert replacement and while that is much healthier than eating cake or cookies, I still think I overdo it.
On to the menu: Monday - Steak and Oven Fries Tuesday- Honey Lemon Sticky Chicken Wednesday- Coconut Curry Thursday- Leek and Prosciutto Frittata and Chicken Sausage Friday- Ginger Lime Shrimp Saturday- Italian Meatloaf Muffins Sunday- Bacon Beef Stew