Author: Dave

Day 7

Started the day with a group run. There was homemade Mexican food afterward. Thankfully I actually had somewhere to be afterward so I had a valid excuse not to go in and be tempted. 

In the evening we had dinner with some friends. It was somewhat of an awkward arrangement. They are observing a vegan diet for health reasons. So there wasn’t much overlap between what we can eat in common. We ended up bringing our own food to their house for dinner. Their tabouli looked delicious. We could share a salad and fruit for dessert. 

  • Breakfast: egg scramble
  • Lunch: fridge scavenging 
  • Dinner: beef soup

Day 3

Ice Cream Cake
Work temptation

Today at work someone brought homemade ice cream cake. The homemade sour dough bread was easier to ignore… and it wasn’t even Fat Wednesday.

  • Breakfast: egg cups
  • Lunch: pulled chicken and broccoli leftovers, more egg cups
  • Snack: almond, cashew, and raisin gorp
  • Dinner: spaghetti squash and sauce

Day 2

Turns out that dental work is impactful to the Whole30 plan. The supplements I need to take to promote bone regeneration all have banned ingredients… meh. I’d rather this tooth issue gets resolved right than fret over why my vitamin D has sugar in it. And having to eat easy-to-chew or preferably liquid calories translated to chew delicately. My preferred post-dental trauma treat is a milkshake. But besides drinking from a straw being banned for the next several hours there are a number of things wrong with milkshakes in the food plan as well. Instead I went to watch Deadpool. 

We discovered a food that missed the pantry purge: cooking spray. Why the soy? Here’s hoping for a good substitute. 

  • Breakfast- eggs with leftover turkey chili and a tomato. 
  • Lunch- leftover potato and turkey chili. 
  • Dinner- shredded chicken, broccoli, applesauce, and leftover cauliflower rice (in very small delicate bites). 

Day 1

So far, so good. Breakfast was a kitchen sink egg scramble. It was a little unnerving not being able to put cheese in or eat it on a tortilla. But I made it through with no gaffs despite not having purged the fridge yet. That task came while lunch was underway (baked potatoes with bean-less ground turkey chili). The fridge and pantry looked nice and bare afterwards. But it was satisfying to feel like it would be harder to slip up when cooking at home. The big grocery trip came before dinner: $250 of produce and pantry stuff. We had a little snack before going. Dinner was salmon with spinach and cauliflower rice- yummy!

Day 0

Goodbye pizza. Goodbye avocado curry. Goodbye sticky rice with mango. Goodbye tall glass of milk… anyway I enjoyed some yummy foods that I won’t be eating for a while. Here’s hoping that in 30 days that won’t seem like such a sacrifice. 

I did take a picture of myself. No, I won’t share it (this is still the internets). Maybe if results are excellent I will reconsider, but I think the point of all this has more to do with the inside of my head than my prodigious arse. 

We have the food to get us into the day tomorrow. The pantry clean out will happen after lunch with a trip to the grocery store to follow. 

Getting Started

The plan is to start Whole30 on Sunday, February 21, 2016.

I’m a little worried about it.

Why? I know it will be difficult, but I’ve known I need a new relationship with food for a while. I am a full-blown sugar addict. Portion control is for people who aren’t HUNGRY. I’ve always been active enough to cover my food indiscretions. But not so much lately.

Why? I ran the Boston Marathon last year. It was a great experience, but I’d been running pretty hard and pushing my marathon performance and was burnt out. So there was the expected diet and exercise letdown after I finished that. Then, my wife and I had a baby! Baby is great and amazing and beautiful. But my schedule is no longer what it used to be. Between those double-whammies my weight went up and I haven’t felt great since. It is time to reclaim my own health and set a good example for my child.

Why? My wife knows about Whole30 from people at work. We did a little research into it and figured the nutrition science behind it was sound. It is extreme, but we both need a kick in the right direction. I know there will be some dark days ahead, but the rumor is that by the end the outlook is a lot more cheerful.

What I’m hoping to achieve:

  • End up with a new and improved relationship with food.
  • Kick my sugar habit.
  • Set a healthy example for my daughter so she can reap the life-long rewards of fueling her body well.
  • Get back on track for feeling healthy and fit.

I’ve never written a blog before, but I’m a web guy and I figure this is probably an experience worth documenting.