As I cruise through my first week on Whole30 I am cautiously optimistic.

Thoughts after a week on Whole30:

ONE

Whole30 is easy.

I’m going to get into the hard parts and do plenty of complaining in a minute – but for the most part – this is easy.  It is week one, so it could get harder.  Or it could just be my perspective.

My perspective:

I spent 101 days last summer eating only foods from my hands.  This meant that every bite I put in my mouth I raised, grew, harvested, hunted or milled (to read all the details go here).  That was HARD.

Buying all this food from a store and shoving it in my mouth is not hard.  There is no end to what you can purchase at a store and consume.  Even on the Whole30 – there are still almost limitless options.  There’s the produce section – good golly.  There is the dried fruit and nut section – tons of options there.  There is the meat cases (I’m not eating store bought meat – but there’s plenty of it).  ANNNNND there’s the frozen and canned fruits and veggies.  Really?  The sky is the limit – if you want to do a Whole30 you can eat sooooo much.

It’s not bad.  It’s not hard.  You should do it with me.  It’s really fun.

Scrambled Eggs with bacon & spinach – topped with fresh tomatoes. Best Eggs of My life!

Truthfully, Whole30 is not all that different from the way I eat on a daily basis.

DISCLAIMER:  I am a big, fat cheater.  I made my own Whole30 condition that if you squeeze any product out of udder yourself, you can eat it.  I know they don’t allow dairy – but they don’t feed a milk cow, water a milk cow, care for a milk cow and milk a milk cow every day.  Secondly, I am not trying to decipher and food intolerances, issues, allergies or problems (especially not with dairy).  So, I’m consuming the liquid that I get out of Trinka’s bosom.  Yes, you can apply this rule to your life if you have a lactating mammary gland in your yard…. or can get your hands on one.

The only thing missing is my morning lattes (waaaah!) and my fresh milled grains.  Other than that – life is pretty much life.  I’m still eating eggs for breakfast.  I’m still juicing.  I’m eating meat, potatoes, fruit & veggies.  This is all standard operation for me.  What’ missing (deeply missing) is my homemade pasta, homemade tortillas, homemade breads, rolls, buns, scones, and sticky buns and everything else that starts with my Nutrimill.

I am a HUGE believer in the power of fresh milled flour & do miss it.  I (usually) eat bread as much as I want, with one rule: I must mill the wheat and make the baked goods myself.  This ensures that my breads are nutritious, protein filled and won’t cause a problem with my pants.

TWO

I am drinking carrot lattes for the first time in my life.

Why would one drink a carrot latte?  Well, it was either apple or carrot.  Carrots are orange, and pumpkins are orange, and I like pumpkin lattes, therefore, I have been drinking carrot lattes.

Still confused?

On the Whole30 you are not allowed ANY sweeteners.  None.  Not honey.  Not maple syrup.  Not Stevia.  Nothing artificial or natural.  Nothing sweet.  This is a problem for my morning cup of joe.  I’m a sissy and don’t like black coffee.  It hit me that fruit juice is allowed on the Whole30 – LOOPHOLE!  I’ll just sweeten my brew with some juice!  I have a juicer & fresh juice is crazy sweet…  Yes!  Ureka!  This could work!  So, it was between apple juice & carrot juice and since carrots are orange they won.  Yes, my coffee was orange for 2 days.

Then, thanks to all the wonderful people who follow me on Facebook (many of whom have ventured into the Whole30 world), I have been introduced to the world of coconut.  There’s coconut water, coconut milk and there’s coconut cream.

I was advised that the coconut cream was the best for coffee – it will make it creamy AND add a bit of sweetness.  I was immediately sold and went to the store (for the 85th time) to buy this coconut cream so my coffee would be somewhat normal again.  After trying coconut milk and coconut cream I was deflated… If you ask me they both taste like chalk.  BUT, chalk lattes are slightly more appetizing than carrot ones – so chalk it has been for the most part.

THREE

I am in a bit of a panic daily… I’m just waiting for the sugar detox to hit.  When I went on my first “Homesteaders Food Challenge” last June, I lived through a week of misery thanks to my personal addiction to sugar.  An addiction I did not know I had.  But I wasn’t surprised.  I have always had a sweet tooth and love to bake.

Discomfort, anguish and torment are words that come to mind.  I was shaky.  I was nauseous.  I was weak.  I had no energy.  I went to bed at approximately 7:00 pm every night for a week.

Taco Night! No shells, of course, but they were great.

If you think you aren’t addicted to sugar try completely giving it up and see how you feel in 5 days.  Horrible.  The agony lasted less than a week but the insane cravings went on and on and on.  It was probably 6 weeks before I stopped thinking about eating sweets on a regular basis.

The good news is that my journey misery to give up sugar made a lasting impression.  I almost gave up sugar.  The entire Homesteaders Food Challenge lasted about 14 weeks.  I CRAVED sugar for the first 6 weeks.  Once I was free from the sugar-slammer I wasn’t exactly excited to become reacquainted with the seemingly “sweet” adversary.  When the 101 days ended I went another 4 weeks before I touched sugar.  Then came Thanksgiving & Christmas.  I fell off the wagon a bit, but NEVER returned to my past sugar consuming lifestyle.  Nope.  No thank you.  Don’t want to come down off that drug again.

I now use honey and maple syrup when I sweeten things (mostly).  If I make a dessert that contains the white stuff I use cane sugar and usually reduce the amount of sugar in the recipe.  Sugar is just too sweet for my taste now…. which is great.

As I ventured into the Whole30 I thought, maybe, I would go through another sugar detoxification.  Thankfully, it hasn’t hit too hard.  I did feel a little weak on day 5, but the next day I was fine.

If you are on a Whole30 and dying from sugar withdrawal, I have no good news for you.  You are going to be miserable for a week and then think about sugar 800 times a day until the 30 days is over.  If you want to break your sugar habit for good I’d suggest going at least 7 weeks without it – the longer the better.

FOUR

The meal plan……

I loosely followed my 7-day meal plan.  It worked really well to have a plan and know what I was cooking/ preparing each day.  I didn’t make everything on the schedule….. because I didn’t need to.   Rules are made to be broken and so are plans.

I found that I had so much food left from breakfasts & dinners that I had plenty left for lunches.  I really didn’t need to make all the different salads.  I’m going to be putting more leftovers into the menu next week.

Another tidbit I learned by going through this is that guacamole is a meal for me.  I need nothing else for love, satisfaction, and complete fulfillment.  Avocados bring me unspeakable joy.  On days that I didn’t feel like making lunch or a snack or dinner I just ate a bowl of guacamole and was the happiest girl in Kentucky.

Interesting observations about the meals:

I made noodles from a squash!!!

A WARNING ABOUT THE SPAGHETTI:  

First of all, Spaghetti Squash does not taste like pasta.  It tastes like squash.

But it LOOKS like noodles so it was lots of fun to serve it to everyone.

THE EGG SITUATION:  

I love eggs.  I eat them every day and I still want to eat them.  I had them for breakfast and lunch yesterday.  I’m told that everyone hates eggs by the end of whole30 – so we’ll see.

THE COFFEE SITUATION:

The coffee situation sucks.  I know I’ve already covered this, but it is truly the hardest part for me, so it’s worth reiterating how horrible it is.  No matter how bad my day is, no matter how many weeds there are, no matter how miserable your homeschooled child decides to make you, no matter what – I ALWAYS have my coffee.  Nope.  Not this month.  This month I get to choose between carrot lattes, chalk lattes or no lattes.  Waaaaaaaah!

I am the girl who starts to get giddy at bedtime because in the morning I get to drink coffee.  I never have a day that I don’t cherish, adore and sing praises to my cup of joe.  I miss my coffee, for sure.

THE DIPS, DRESSINGS & SAUCES:

These are fabulous.  I can not tell you how much we are enjoying all the spreads.  I recommend this book if you are thinking about doing a Whole30.  It lays out the plan really well & includes tons of recipes.  They have all been great.

Steak salad with Cilantro Lime Dressing

There are entire sections devoted to dressings, dips, sauces, and spreads.  We have only made a few, but have enjoyed them immensely.  The cilantro-lime dressing is to-die-for.  The avocado mayo is heavenly.  The vinaigrettes are simple and tangy.

Meal Plan for Next Week

Here’s my menu for next week:

Feel free to jump in and do a Whole30 with me!!!  It’s so fun! We can complain about the coffee situation together.  For the Week 1 Menu go here.

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XO,

Candi