W30- Day 1, Mandy

Day one has come- it's time to get serious.  While I have been following the Whole 30 for most meals over the last week, I did allow myself little treats. I nibbled on a chocolate bar throughout the week, had sweetener in my coffee, had a soda, and enjoyed my last non-W30 meal [Chick-fil-a, I confess]. Now that it's Monday, the official start of our Whole 30 challenge, it's down to business.

I made my husband's lunch last night- a salad loaded with meat, a side of carrots, a couple boiled eggs, sliced almonds for something crunchy, and a Lara Bar in case he needed a snack.  I woke up early to make his breakfast- scrambled eggs and chili leftover from lunch the day before.

I do hope he will be filled and not cranky and starving by dinner, but I realize he will probably be filling a bit hungry and cranky until his body begins to adjust!  We've been through this before (not the Whole30, but a candida diet). He knows how it goes. The first week and a half always seems to be the hardest.

I made a frittata for breakfast and have one piece remaining which will be perfect to put in husband's breakfast or lunch tomorrow.  Shortly after breakfast, my friend Nanci called me to see if I wanted to meet up for lunch at my favorite Mexican restaurant.  This posed a little issue because, like I said, FAVORITE restaurant. Whenever I think of Gringo's Mexican Restaurant, my mouth begins watering over the thought of their deliciously creamy green sauce which I could honestly drink, but usually do the dignified thing and just dip my chips in it.  Both green sauce and chips are off limits, and you know how it is.... One usually mindlessly consumes chip after chip without thinking about it.  It's simply reflex when you sit down at the table!

I decided it would best to check the website so I could be prepared to order when I got there, rather than having to pour over the menu in the restaurant while lovely scents wafted over me.  I settled on a fajita salad for myself (no cheese, no sourcream, extra guac) and mixed fajitas for the kiddos. I decided to let them go for the chips, green sauce, and tortillas, although I did mention that it was not on our diet. Surprisingly, they did not go overboard. We didn't have any refills on green sauce, chips, or tortillas as we normally do (which is probably mostly due to me anyway), and there was still plenty remaining.

I had forgotten about the creamy free icecream they offer on the way out the door.  Wow, that was tough. Not only did I have to refuse my favorite chips and green sauce, but the icecream as well!  That's the thing about restaurants and potlucks. When you are at home, you can avoid all those off limit, unhealthy things as long as you keep them out of your house. But when you're out at a restaurant, you will smell and see and taste in the air all those things you may wish you could have.. and even if you don't really want them, just the idea of them being off limits is enough to make you desire them.

But, score- I didn't give in!  Although my stomach is a little grumbly over missing what it really wanted.

This evening, after Brandon arrived home from work, we had some errands to run for friends of ours, so I shoved a take-out box of leftover fajita meat in Hubby's hands and told him to eat up as I snagged a sliced of chicken for myself. We both had a banana before leaving too since it was so close to 5 o'clock and I was pretty sure we wouldn't be back for at least two hours.

We were heading to errand number three two hours later (picking up medicine for my bestie whose toddler daughter had been throwing up for two solid days), and I felt my stomach grinding. When my Hubs ran in to the pharmacy to grab electrolyte pops and such, he brought back mixed nuts (almonds, pistachios, and cashews), and a handful of those helped for a bit.

However, by the time we got back home, I was in full crankster mode, and could hardly wrap my brain around cooking dinner, but I did manage to (garlicky thin sliced chicken on the stove top and garlicky green beans), but then I felt exhausted and my head hurt, so I went straight to bed while the kids graciously cleaned the kitchen (and they did a great job!).

Note to self- getting off the meal routine is not a good idea!  I was glad we did grab snacks this time (which I've been avoiding snacking for the last week) because otherwise I would not have survived.  Correction, no one in my household would have survived.  Who knew I could be so cranky when hungry?  I thought that was just my husband's thing. ;)

Last night we had a delicious steak and a side of asparagus.  Really, if we eat as wonderfully as we have all the time, who cares about all that off-limit stuff!  I was thinking, as I drove home from the restaurant, that I never really have intense, gotta-have-it-right-now cravings for, say, broccoli or roasted chicken breast or frittatas.  I've come to see if I'm intensely craving something, it's likely not because I'm hungry.  Those intense, gotta-have-it-and-have-it-now cravings are normally for things that are not real food. I realize they've been altered to make them addictive, and so it's comforting to know that it's not just me, but that these foods are actually engineered to make me crazy over them.

I'm really hoping to move past those cravings in these next 30 days. I may not ever be fully past them, but hopefully, I can get to the point where I can drive down the street and not have menus of tempting yummies scrolling through my brain as I pass stores, bakeries, and restaurants.