July 4, 2016
Round 3 of Whole30, Day 15!
Staying strong, but here is the list of things that I am looking forward to eating (in moderation, of course), when this round is over: pizza, falafel, chips, crackers, brie, artichoke dip, toast.
Also, wine.

Day 21,  with lots of days in between
I am still chugging along. Things that are hard: I still have cravings. I don't have the satisfaction of having junk food as comfort food (I know, the whole point is to make that behavior go away, but, damn, it's painful leaving it behind). Today I'm crabby as all get out because my four year old is making me crabby, and I'm crabby that I need to keep my grown up pants on and be a fucking parent, but I am. And I am crabbIER that I can't soothe myself with Trader Joes dark peanut butter cups and Doritos (ooh, delicious Doritos...I still want to eat you).

Things that are getting easier: menu planning. I find it's good to have lots of proteins and lots of veggies available and just picking from those in terms of combinations (tonight I'm using butternut squash up and will make soup, along with Trader Joe compliant chicken sausages). Also, I'm starting to enjoy black coffee. And roasted garlic aioli with roasted sweet potato spears make my life (and are basically like french fries with mayo, which I looooooove). And now I can finally make some decent aioli. So I got that going for me.

So my sleep is solid still, which is nice, and my little fitbit tells me that my sleep was between 93-97% effective, so I like that.

Earlier this week I caught the stomach bug that my kid had, which meant being laid up on the couch and feeling generally nauseous. It was really hard to figure out things to eat, so I settled on compliant chicken soup and had to avoid my cravings for toast and butter. I still crave that stuff! But, my clothes are fitting ever so slightly better, so I know I'm moving in the right direction. Despite crankiness.

Days 11 & 12
Okay, I had my first day when I felt fatigued today (day 12), and also my first night when I woke up at 3 am and was up for about half an hour last night. From reading, it's possible because my body is going through ketosis from lack of carbohydrates, since the above mentioned are two of the side effects. Also a side effect is cotton mouth and a lot of thirst, which I have as well. From reading, it sounds like these are the hump days. The famous "tiger's blood" that everyone talks about should maybe be following soon. I can't wait.

I still find myself tempted, and need to actually think to myself not to put something in my mouth, like W's left over chicken nuggets (man, do they smell good). I am so tempted by the things he eats: peanut butter cups! cheetohs! (maybe more of a commentary on the junk that I let my kid get away with eating).

Not quite half way there, but a third of the way through. The meals in themselves are pretty tasty, although it all involves a lot of preparation and planning. It's kind of comical how limited my diet is right now, but I'm proud of myself for staying strong.

Day 10 (and all of the days in between):
So far, so good..again. I had another challenging day in the middle of the week when another bummer-of-a-stressor happened right about when I was getting home, and I was hungry, and I SO wanted to dive into some salty crunchy tortilla chips. I was really feeling frustrated, so I threw some spoons into the sink (the loud clangs were satisfying), and then ate a meatball in the fridge. And then I was better.

I think that might have been the most challenging moment yet.

Besides that, my energy has been steady, my sleep has continued to be deep and quality (the most vivid dreams, but that makes me happy since I know my brain is healing itself), and I don't feel the dips and lulls of energy that I have before. Really, this has been worth the strictness of the diet so far.

We went to Little Goat for lunch yesterday, which I vow to go to when I'm eating a wider array of things because, goddamn, I want some of those giant onion rings. I got a delicious kim chi burger without the roll which was yummy, satisfying, and fit the eating plan.

A friend also commented that my face looks thinner, so I will count that as another vote in the right direction. My pants are not loose by any means, but are fitting more comfortably. It's only been 10 days, though, and it's taken me 39 years to put on this weight.

So, 1/3 of the way through, which I'm proud of. I like that this eating plan directs you to ignore the scale throughout, since the ups and downs of a scale can ruin my days.

Today is my day of cooking, so I'm making chicken stock, and then the menu this week will be chicken tortilla soup (without tortilla), left over butternut squash soup, thai red  curry with ground beef, meat and spinach meatballs, and stuffed peppers.

Days 4 and 5
So far, so good. I've been finding the food pretty tasty and prepping a bunch of it this past weekend has really helped in terms of lunches this week. Today's breakfast was two scrambled eggs with mushrooms, onions, turkey and then half an avocado. Lunch was left over pork carnitas with roasted sweet potato, kale, and roasted cauliflower. I think dinner will be beef and spinach meatballs with roasted broccoli.

Energy Levels: GREAT. I feel alert, and my half caf (black coffee) keeps me sailing all day. My sleep has been solid as well. I occasionally get woken up by a large caterwauling cat, but that's expected in our household. No more wakefulness and not being able to fall asleep for hours. That's a relief.

I also got my first compliment today: someone mentioned that I looked like I've gotten slimmer. Likely it was nothing, but it helped my motivation.

I had a disappointment this afternoon, and feel frustration, but don't feel like diving head first into a bag of chips, so that's good. I mainly feel like journaling. Who have I become?

I have been pleased that it's been easy to dispense with glasses of wine at night, too. There's a lot going on at work, and other stresses at home, but I'm glad to not depend on winding down with booze.

Another observation: I find I want to go to bed at like 8pm every night since I want to avoid craving dessert or drinks or anything forbidden.

Day 3:
Today wasn't so hard, except when we went out to brunch at a good restaurant which has the BEST fries, and the BEST hash browns (roasted potatoes, bacon, brie...hhrhrhrhahahghg). I was strong and ordered water (did I mention that it was a brewery?) and the beet salad, hold the goat cheese. The rest of the ingredients looked eating-plan friendly: arugula, pistachios. Yeah, there weren't pistachios there, but peanuts. Gross. So, I gobbled up the beets (which were delicious, at least), and the arugula plain (since the dressing probably had sugar in it) and dodged the PEANUTS (even if I'm eating them, I would be grossed out by peanuts in a beet salad), and paid $8, before tax and tip for the pleasure.

Then came home and cooked up a boat load of food in preparation for the week. Also, a big pot of pork carnitas that will be good for leftovers. I think I'll be in decent shape for the rest of the week in terms of not being too tempted.

However, I do have to note that W ate a peanut butter cup in front of me today (I unwrapped it for him), and it was painful.

Whole30 Day 2
I slept well for the first time in a long time, last night. No wake ups at 2 am and then insomnia, like in the past. Yes! I attribute it to better eating for even one day and no booze.

Day 2 was all right. I found some good recipe books, and the food is delicious and satisfying. I was sad at one point because I really fricking wanted a tortilla chip (crunchy! salty! yummy!), but I was strong and walked away. I imagine that it will get trickier when it gets to, say, Day 17.

But, I feel bolstered by the obsessive reading of blogs about the eating plans, that shout of decreased cholesterol readings, decreased weight, fantastic sleep, and something called "tiger blood," which is insane energy. I want that. So, I will be strong.

In the meantime, this is the end of Day 2, so 2/30 days complete, or 1/15 done. Progress!