Whole30 Day 1

Day 1 has been decent. I made it to the evening hours.  I have not had any major food cravings, I'm not struggling to figure out what to eat, and I'm not regretting embarking on this plan.

The day started out really early. We unexpectedly had three extra boys in our house to spend the night. Like any good preteen mom, I ran to Wal Mart and bought a bunch of snacks...cookies, soda, chips, donuts, and chocolate milk. Even with all that junk in the house, I'm not overly tempted by it right now.  I got up early because Evan and I were heading to volunteer and the boys were getting picked up early. 

I started my day with black coffee. I have only been a coffee drinker for a few years and that is with lots of Splenda and creamer. Suddenly switching to black coffee was a bit of a shock to my taste buds. But I survived. And it was the jolt I needed that early especially considering I am not getting my caffeine fix from Diet Coke.

Yeah, that was me prior to this morning.  I love me some flavored creamers!  I am currently missing my pumpkin spice creamer.

Anyhow, I felt decently successful managing this very first important coffee step. 

All the teenage boys left and I quickly cut up a small potato, onion, and sausage for breakfast. I wished I had remembered to buy a red pepper to put in the breakfast hash. It still tasted great.

A red pepper would have made it prettier, too!  I plan to eat this each morning this week.  I may or may not add in scrambled egg.  I think that will depend on my food for the morning.  I have been wanting to figure out healthier breakfasts for myself for a while now.  I ate protein bars for months and months and months.  Lately, I've been eating Special K cereal that still has a lot of sugar.  This seems like a great compromise.

Getting meal one finished really made me feel like I was on a roll!

Evan and I volunteered at the Poverello House for three hours. We cut up lots of fruit.  At one point, Evan helped serve the breakfast line.  I stayed in the back cutting onions and talking to a girl attending Fresno State.  There have been a lot of kids getting hours for college requirements.

I wasn't hungry while working.  After we got home I was feeling pretty hungry.  Eric started teasing me saying I'm eating dirt.  Ugh!  I'm not eating dirt.  But the stuff that comes from dirt is some of the best stuff to eat!

I made a salad with olives, almonds, salami, olive oil and vinegar.  It was good.

I love eating salads, but I do have to say I miss my blue cheese.  It just adds such a tang to a salad.  But again, I'm doing just fine without cheese.

I cut my arm and have no idea how I did it.  That little scar above the new cut was another random thing that I have no idea how it occurred.  And that one took forever to heal!  I wonder if healthier eating will help this scratch heal faster?

Eric and I went shopping in the afternoon at Trader Joe's.  I got a bunch of produce, some meat, and some almond butter.  And then I started getting really angry.  There is sugar in EVERYTHING!  And I mean EVERYTHING!  It is in salad dressing, in tomato sauce, in crackers, in salsa, and in pretty much every single prepackaged meat product.  WHY???? Why is there sugar in roast beef?  It just seems gross to me.

And it makes me so mad.  There does not need to be sugar in 99% of the items.  Is it a bulking agent?  Is there actually a purpose?  Does it enhance flavor?  WHY?  The one that sent me over the edge was McCormick taco seasoning.  Seriously?  Sugar in a taco seasoning?  Jiminy Christmas.  

Rant over.

For now.

We made chicken thighs wrapped in prosciutto.  There is a dividing line in the above photo because the family had theirs sprinkled with garlic salt....which has SUGAR!  Mine were sprinkled with plain old salt and pepper.  The prosciutto really enhanced the flavor of the chicken, so I felt fully satiated.  Plus I've got left overs to eat this week.

I also had a bowl of medley cherry tomatoes in a compliant dressing.

Thoughts so far.

I like the idea of eating healthy, but I'm not gonna lie...it is an effort to find compliant prepackaged foods and it is a bit overwhelming to think of making everything from scratch.  Plus, shopping makes me angry.  See above rant.

I have a bit of a headache and I am so very tired.  I don't know if that is from new food choices, or if that is from being up early with teenagers, standing on my feet for three hours cutting fruit at the soup kitchen, and spending a lot of time walking around the grocery store.  Regardless of the reason, I'm tired.

Like I said, there have been no cravings.  I miss blue cheese in my salad, but it was not an overwhelming craving. It was a little irritating to see chips and Oreos on my counter and not be able to eat them if I wanted.  But again, not a big struggle.

My hopes at the moment for the end of this plan: I'd like to kick the soda/diet soda habit for good.  I'd like to avoid fake sugar as much as possible. What I am pretty sure of is that I'm not going to lose sleep over trying to eliminate all sugar.  I'd drive myself crazy reading labels and getting mad.  I also hope to rely less and less on prepackaged food.  I'm getting the feeling that prepackaged deli meats aren't the best choice.

Tomorrow's plan is to eat hash for breakfast, salad with chicken for lunch and either pork chops or taco in a lettuce leaf for dinner.