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Whole30 - Week 1 in the books!

I really want to start posting on this blog more.  I promise to keep it mostly about books but I want to include some posts about what's happening in my life too.

Last Sunday, I started the Whole30 program and have am now on my 8th day of following the program.  If you haven't heard of it yet, you basically give up dairy, gluten, legumes, sugar, alcohol and processed foods for 30 days.  There are a lot of reasons that I've been wanting to do this program but I would be lying if I wasn't hoping to lose some pounds along the way.  The main reason I'm doing this is because my diet is terrible!  Even when 'dieting' I mostly just eat low calorie processed foods and very few (if any) fruits and veggies.  I'm hoping this will give me a kick in the pants to start eating better food.

How was the first week?

Not nearly as bad as I thought.  I did have a headache for the first couple of days but otherwise, I've felt fine.  I feel a ton less bloated and the scale says that I've lost a few pounds (though I'm sure they're mostly water).  The food has been really good too!

Is it hard?

It has been a somewhat of a challenge.  I used to cook a lot more before I had Julia but most of what I've been cooking have been easy, dump in the crockpot meals.  I have had to deal a lot of meal prep on the weekends to make sure we have food for the week.  I've been making a lot of recipes I've found on pinterest and the nice thing is that, so far, they make a large quantity so we can eat them for lunches or other dinners throughout the week.  (Our dinner last night made enough for 6 meals!)

One of the hardest things has been looking at my mindset.  My daughter was sick last week and so I was home with her for four days; usually when I'm at home, I mindlessly snack.  I also had to make a million trips to Walgreens and I used to not leave the store without a soda and a treat of some kind.  It felt weird not partaking in these 'normal' rituals for me but I realized that these things are all mental and not things I do because I'm actually hungry.  I'm hoping to continue to have a better mindset with food when all is said and done.

What have you been eating?

I now have a new love of cashews!  I found some roasted 'compliant' cashews at Natural Grocers and they are delicious.  A few go a long way to filling me up!  I've also been embracing my love of sweet potatos.  My husband hates them so I usually don't make them but I ate them a lot last week.  They cook up so well (and so fast) in my instant pot!  We've had things like 'spaghetti' with spaghetti squash instead of noodles and fajitas with lettuce wraps.  Super yummy!  I have also made the recipes below and all were really good.

Crockpot Hamburger Stew

Mexican Chicken Soup

Mini Egg Frittatas

 Is it expensive?

It has been a bit expensive but since we aren't eating out much, stopping at the snack shop or making ice cream runs, I'm not too sad about it.  Aldi has been a lifesaver with their inexpensive produce.  I'm going to try to shop at Wal-Mart instead of Target next week and see if that helps.

Overall...

I'm pretty happy with the program so far.  Yes, I would still like a big cookie but I can handle it.  (I made cookies yesterday for a family dinner and it was pure torture!)  I'm looking forward to the next week!

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