Whole30 Week Three

Last week was pretty good in the food department. I did have a few cheats, but they were planned ahead of time, and I don't regret them. Another thing I noticed was that we've eaten meals out a lot more than usual since I've been doing the Whole30. We've had birthdays, small group, dinner parties, and just meals in other people's homes. At first I was a little frustrated that these things were coming at a time when I had a "restricted diet" but then I realized that's just life. And part of having a healthy diet (at least for me) is going to be learning to make wise decisions when I'm not eating at home. I know some people are really strict with their diets and don't eat many meals hardly at all that aren't prepared in their own kitchens. That is great, but it just wouldn't work for me. The fact of the matter is, we're GOING to eat out, we're GOING to go to birthday parties and dinners, we're GOING to be in social situations that include food (we live in the South, after all - social situations ALWAYS involve food. HA!), and I wouldn't have it any other way. This has really opened my eyes to the fact that it is possible to make relatively healthy food decisions while eating away from home. There is almost always fruit available and salad is usually an option, too. When going to people's houses for meals, it's usually not very hard to be heavy on the meat and vegetables and light on the grains and sugar. Of course, relationships always trump food decisions for me, so when eating a meal that someone else prepares for me, I'm going to eat it and be grateful, regardless of what it might be. Anyway, all that to say, it's been good for me to get into the habit of ordering more "healthy" options at restaurants and making wise decisions in social settings.

I did also figure out that when I eat too many almonds, I don't feel great the next day. This was a sad discovery because almonds had been one of my "go to" snacks. I think I was just eating WAY too many of them, because I quit eating them for a few days and felt so much better. I ate a few handfuls a few times after that and felt ok, so I guess I just need to eat them in major moderation. (Before starting the Whole30, I almost never ate any nuts. So, when I wasn't feeling my best, almonds were the logical thing to eliminate. And sure enough, I felt better without them!) Cherries, on the other hand? No moderation there! ;)

Monday: I had my usual sweet potato hash for breakfast. I ate leftover chicken soup from last Sunday for lunch. That afternoon, I had a raspberry, pineapple, banana, and coconut water smoothie for snack. I really like that combo! I cooked chicken and vegetable stir fry for dinner using this recipe. I made brown rice for my family to eat with their stir fry, but I just ate mine plain.

We were out of cherries, so I had make an emergency run for more that night ;)

Tuesday: Black coffee for breakfast. I cooked sweet potato hash and a chicken and apple sausage for lunch. That night was a cheat :-/ David and I got a last minute date night because my parents took the kids for the evening. I decided that I was just going to enjoy that time and try to make good food decisions but not obsess over what I ate. We went to one of my favorite Italian restaurants, Amerigo. I ate a SMALL amount of bread, and I had a Caesar salad (with cheese and croutons). For dinner, I ordered a grilled chicken breast on top of a black bean, corn, and tomato salsa. It had green beans on the side. Beans and corn aren't allowed on the Whole30, but I did think that was a better choice than, say, fettuccini alfredo or something like that. I definitely enjoyed every bite :) And I didn't notice any negative side effects from my "little" cheat.

Wednesday: I was really hungry late morning, and we were going to the park with friends, so I ate leftover stir fry for "breakfast." That afternoon, I had a chicken and apple sausage with avocado and pico and a couple homemade pickles on the side for lunch.

I was still hungry so I ate an apple with cinnamon, too. I cooked a spaghetti squash casserole and asparagus for dinner. The casserole was pretty good. Fairly spicy.

Thursday: I had coffee for breakfast. We ate lunch at McAlister's and I ordered a veggie spud with no cheese. That night we had hamburgers and homemade sweet potato and white potato fries. I baked the fries, which I've done before, but these didn't turn out so great. I think I was impatient and didn't let them cook long enough because they weren't crispy at all. I used a recipe that said to coat the potatoes in an egg white to get them crispy, and that just seemed to make them soggy. They had a good flavor and were definitely edible. Just not very fry-like. I ate my burger with a lettuce "bun" and pico on top. It was good! But I missed my bread and cheese ;)

Friday: I ate a coconut chew Lara bar for breakfast with my coffee. I had never had that flavor, and I liked it! For lunch, I ate leftover spaghetti squash casserole. That night, we ate at Newk's. I had a chicken cobb salad with no cheese or croutons or dressing. I had taken my own homemade basil vinaigrette, and that made the salad a little more exciting than just plain oil and vinegar ;)

Saturday: I took Aubrey to a birthday party that morning, and I ate some fruit there. It was tough to resist all of the delicious party food! I ate leftover spaghetti squash casserole for lunch again. That night, we hosted a dinner party at our house. We were in charge of the main dish, and I had volunteered to cook lasagna about a month ago before I started the Whole30. I thought it would be awkward to change at the last minute, and I thought it would be REALLY awkward to not eat my own food. ;) So, I planned for this to be a cheat night. I made the Pioneer Woman's lasagna, which I love, but I did use higher quality ingredients (grass fed beef, sausage from Whole Foods, and good cheese). But it was definitely still a cheat ;) Someone else brought a delicious kale salad with lots of vegetables, so I had a small slice of lasagna and two servings of salad. And I passed on the sweet tea :( I did have dessert, though, which was vanilla ice cream and homemade blueberry sauce. So good!

Sunday: I had black coffee for breakfast. We went to my grandmother's house for lunch after church. I didn't pack a lunch for myself, so I was just really hoping there would be something I could eat. I didn't want to "cheat" again. Thankfully, there was plenty for me to eat! I had pork loin, carrots, green beans, and fresh tomato slices. It was good! After church, we ate at Jason's Deli. I ordered a Mexican potato or something. By the time I asked them to take off everything I couldn't have, it wasn't that great. It was just a dry potato with some chicken and pico. Ha! But it was fine.