Whole30 - Day 11

Hard to believe that it's already 11 days into our Whole30!

Thus far, it's been a pretty easy journey. The biggest change, as I mentioned before, is Pierre's switch away from bread. He has discovered the deliciousness of romaine wraps, and sounds as though he'd like to continue this trend after the month is over! Yay!

Our days have been crazy-busy full (as usual), and the food has been fab. Breakfasts have consisted of a combination of pan-fried zoodles, hash browns, eggs, left-over meats, homemade pork sausage patties (YUM), and fermented veggies. We usually have two of any of the above. Pierre's doing fine with black coffee, instead of having it with his usual glug-glug of milk. I'm still loving iced sun-tea. And we enjoy three or four ounces of booch each morning, too.

That's been keeping us full until lunchtime. Then, Pierre usually has a canned salmon or tuna sammy and a bowl of gumbo. Last batch -- and the one I'll make tomorrow -- are without the usual brown rice addition, but he's liking the extra veggies in each tub. 

My lunches vary wildly. Usually there is some sort of ferment -- cortido, currykraut, or kimchi/kaktugi. Egg salad with homemade mayonnaise is yummy in either romaine or just on a fork. Sometimes there's a piece of meat left over from dinner the night before. And ocassionally, I'll join Pierre in a small tuna or salmon romaine wrap.

Eating dinner at a decent hour is still my biggest challenge. (Can you say a lifetime of eating late?) I'm trying to set a goal to eat by 7:00, which I know is still late for many, and most of the time we're sitting down closer to 8:00. Students, art, friends, writing... so many things mess with that goal, not to mention the fact that I've always been a forget-to-eat person. Perhaps setting a timer to begin preparing dinner would be a wise plan.

We stayed on the RealPlans schedule last week, only switching a few dinners to fit our tastebuds and timing. Fresh Italian sausages and chard from the garden got slipped in one night, as we'd been out boating and didn't have the patience to defrost and then cook. Picnics at the marinas have been easy, though, with cold bbq chicken or steaks barbequed out there, along with big mixed green salads. 

 I'm not sure whether or not I'll continue with RealPlans. The first week, I input breakfasts, lunches, and dinners, and it was a LOT of work. Because of that, I haven't kept up with it. There may be time in the next couple of days to do dinners only for the upcoming week, but we shall see. The recipes are so very tempting...

My only slip up has been a small one. I ran across town to buy ingredients for our kitty, Penny's, raw food at T&T, the giant Asian grocery, and forgot to eat before I left. (See?) By the time I was finished shopping, it was 1:30, and my stomach was complaining. Across from the grocery was a Saint Hubert's roasted chicken joint, so I went through the drive-through and ordered a quarter dark, no slaw (because the dressings are made with sugar) and no fries. 

The woman on the headphones (good salesperson that she is) said, "Are you sure? Fries are just 70 cents more." 

Ugh. 

My brain said, "Potatoes are okay on the Whole30. And so is oil."

My mouth said, "Okay. Fries."

The tray came with a LOAD of deep-fried spuds. 

My brain said, "Oops! Deep fried = not allowed!"

My mouth said, "Just a few..." and my hand agreed.

Luckily, my brain stopped my hand before too many made it to my mouth, and at least three-quarters of the cold fries got tossed into the compost when I got home. The chicken was about as far from organic as one could get, but it was roasted with no sauce, and was scrumptious to my hungry belly.

Speaking of which... here it is, almost 1:30 again, and I've not had lunch. Off to eat! 

Hope you're all enjoying your summer, and enjoying delicious, healthy meals. :)

[Oh, and did I mention that I'm down 2.8 pounds, and Pierre's lost 6 over the past 11 days? It's not our only goal, but it's an easy one to track.]

'Til next time... bon appetit!