Mostly just to feel less dependent upon food and be healthier. Everything I've read up on in the past year or two has left me really wanting to focus more on whole foods. I know I already eat pretty well, but I definitely have an unhealthy relationship with carbs. As in, I cannot survive without them. EVER. So I read up It Starts With Food and decided I was game to give it a shot. I did some research on how to make this work as an athlete and I think I'm going to be just fine. It's all about clean, healthy fuel, which I am down with. I'm hoping this might help with some of my tummy issues while running and also help me just get leaner as I focus on the marathon.
So here goes!
Another thing: who in their right mind starts this on December 30? Oh yeah. NO ONE. Except I do. Here's why: despite the fact that this will make me SUPER lame on New Year's Eve (which let's be honest, I usually am anyway), I wanted to get over the shock of the first few days while I am home and NOT working. Hopefully the worst of any sugar withdrawal will be over by the time I head back to work.
I did head to both Heinen's and Trader Joe's and still got accidentally duped into buying things with sugar. SERIOUSLY WHY IS THERE SUGAR IN EVERY PRODUCT IN AMERICA FOR THE LOVE OF GOD? Chicken broth! Organic Chicken Sausages! It's quite annoying. So a few of the things that I bought are actually not Whole30 compliant. Guess I'll eat them in 31 days...?
Day 1 Recap
Workout: 40 minutes on the bike trainer with intervals
Breakfast: 2 "Sausage Egg McMuffins:" 1 lb. local italian sausage, 9eggs, kale, spinach, Wildtree Greek Seasoning, and roasted peppers. Mix it all up and pour into 12 muffin tins. I had 2 for breakfast with a side of blackberries and black coffee and water.
Lunch: Persimmon Kale Salad from Nom Nom Paleo. Delicious! Also followed it up with Butternut Squash and Apple Soup. NOTE: THIS WAS NOT ENOUGH. I WAS HANGRY (emphasis on ANGRY) by 3:45pm
Snack: I know you're not supposed to but I was going to hurt someone if I didn't. Apple with almond butter.
Dinner: Steamed asparagus, baked sweet potato with some ghee and salt/pepper, and steak.
I'm proud of myself for Day 1. There were many, MANY times I wanted to just grab a handful of pretzels SWEET BABY JESUS JUST LET ME HAVE PRETZELS OR CHEERIOS OR THOSE M&MS FROM MY KIDS STOCKING NO ONE GOTZ TO KNOW ABOUT IT. But I didn't, and that's a huge victory. I'm realizing even more how much food is tied to my brain.
I planned out a few things for the rest of the week. Good news is that a lot of what I usually eat is compliant--I just always add brown rice at dinner, so that's an easy skip.
We'll see how I feel about this in a week or so!
