The Art of Running in the Rain

Here’s my pre Whole30 pic (they recommend you do this, the picture, not the pose that is).

The first day started on a high note, I was feeling good about the prep I’d done so far and excited for the recipes I was going to try later in the day.  I was reminded of a few things I needed to grab from Whole Foods, so Dave and I dropped by to pick them up.  That was when it happened, I looked at the donut case and I turned to Dave and said, “I really want a donut!” That’s when I freaked out thinking, “if I’m already thinking about donuts and it’s only day 1, how on earth am I gonna do this shit????”  Luckily I have some pretty good self talk, and I brought myself down off the ledge.  I was reminded of the Whole30 book and how it explained that in the first week you will have strong urges to eat your usual treats.  I also enlisted Dave as my coach, in fact from here on out (until the Whole30 is over) I will refer to him as ‘coach.’  Coach gave me some good talk, and it helped!

Day 1 – eats

We picked up a nitro and I added some coconut cream, yum!

Then I had a slice of the frittata I made topped with avocado and a side of strawberries.

I had a bunch of appointments all throughout the morning, but being busy never keeps me from eating.  For lunch I had a sweet potato topped with a bruschetta of sorts, smoked salmon and a salad.

Off to more appointments in the afternoon, coach came with me 😉  When we got home he got to cooking and whipped up a little spicy zucchini noodle shrimp dish.  It was delicious!

There were a few snacks here and there (watermelon and sweet potato wedges), but all in all I tried to fill up during the meals and avoid the snacks.  All in all day one felt filling and delicious, no deprivation other than that donut moment (but I guess it’s not deprivation when you don’t need it).

Day 2 – nut milk & work

I’m not going to flood you with pictures of my every meal, but I will share the highlights, or at least what I think are the highlights.

I had some almonds soaking in the fridge over night so in the morning I made almond milk – if you follow me on Instagram then you already saw this photo @nicolettaful (it literally took 5 minutes, I may do a post on how to make it).

Lunch at work consisted of a tuna protein salad, sweet potato wedges (I prepped soooooo many of these, best.choice.ever.) and watermelon.  This was my first day at work on the program and  it went really well.  Because the program recommends that you don’t snack between meals (which I usually do a lot) I drank a ton of water, plus this lunch filled me right up, so I wasn’t super hungry.

Day 3 – Dave’s birthday

No creative meals to report, though I have to give myself props on two accounts.  1. I went to get a donut for Dave as a birthday treat and I did NOT cave!!  I know what you’re thinking, “it’s only day 3 Nicole?”  But the temptation for donuts is strong! PS if you’re in the OC go.to.sidecar!! That is, if you’re not doing the Whole30. haha

2. A girlfriend at work had her bridal shower and there were donuts, mini cakes, and fruit.  I ate fruit.  BOOM!

Day 4 – Salmon jerky & Cauliflower mash

Feeling really good about all the yummy eats I’ve had thus far, and man does my tum tum feel great!   I recently added this jerky to the mix and it has been super delicious.

Coach and I decided that I made one of the best vegetable dishes ever.  The recipe is from the “Whole30” recipes, and it’s called “Cauliflower Mash.”  Due to copyright stuff I can’t share it on the blog, but I’ve seen millions of ‘cauliflower mashed potato’ recipes on pinterest.  The flavor was so delicious!

Coach did a pretty good job on that salmon too!

Day 5 – Coach is in!

It’s official, I’ve enrolled coach, he’s doing the Whole30 with me!!!!  He’s mostly doing it to support me, but he says if he can recover faster from his runs then he’s excited.

Portobello-cauliflower-fried-rice for the win!

So that’s my recap on my first five days of Whole30.  It hasn’t been as hard as I thought it would be.  I kind of think our eating habits were 75% of the way there anyway.  I’ve thoroughly enjoyed everything we’ve made thus far, and I was pleasantly surprised with how easy making nut milk can be!  The only struggle we’ve come up against is that we enjoy going out to dinner on date nights and I can’t seem to find somewhere that has a menu that’s accommodating (and better than something we can make at home).  I’ll have to report back on how that goes.

Be well.