Sorry this post is a week late but we have made it through our first Whole30!

Here are my observations on the final week:

• I felt my pants were looser but I did not realize I had lost 9 lbs! I am officially back under 200 again and hit my 1st goal. It’s been a couple of years I think since I had been under that threshold. I seemed to have been holding steady between 206 & 208 for a long while.
• I now actually like apples & almond butter.
• Still missing a few items but I’m resisting temptations pretty well… even when you shoot a toddler’s birthday portraits with Krsipy Kreme donuts instead of cake. They looked so delicious but I was good!

Week 4 Meals:

• leftover Whole30 Shepherd’s Pie (from their book) – used sweet mini peppers instead of carrots, added some Penzey’s Fox Point seasoning
• Grilled chicken breast with various veggies (had this several times)
• InstaPot Mole Pulled Pork (pork shoulder) with homemade chili sauce, sauteed mushrooms and sweet fried plantain slices
• Bacon-wrapped scallops with baked Brussels sprouts (also with bacon)
• Sous-vide beef filet with fried plantains
• Paleo Swedish Meatballs (ground beef & turkey) & Cauliflower Couscous (added some celery)

Eating Out:

• Fajita Willies beef fajitas & gaucamole (skip the tortillas)
• Fuddruckers beef patty & hot dog with shredded lettuce (working lunch
• Luby’s Blackened Tilapia with green beans and zucchini/summer squash mix
• Skewers gyro meat with side salad and grilled veggies
• Logan’s Roadhouse Chopped Steak, grilled mushroom skewer & house salad with balsamic vinaigrette

Snacks:

• raspberries, grapes
• apples with almond butter
• mixed salted nuts (no peanuts of course)
• boiled eggs
• Larabar lemon bar
• Bare Apple Chips

So we’ve got a couple of more days left of the Whole30 and it hasn’t been that hard per se but that has been because my husband is also doing this with me and between the two of us, we have a great partnership. I like to research, pin recipes, create the weekly menu and make the grocery list. I don’t like to cook though, nor does it come natural to me at all. That is where my husband comes in. He is a great cook and he has been making the recipes I select especially delicious with his kitchen skills. I do try to help as I can without being too much of a bother. Just call me his sous chef, LOL.

I also appreciate the support from my friends at work and my friends on Facebook and of course, in real life. As I mention the diet to people, I actually find out that several friends have tried it, are doing it or are (more often) doing a modified version of paleo. I am especially grateful for Sherry & EJ who patiently answer our questions and give us their own tips that they’ve learned along their paleo journey. We get to try Sherry’s delicious paleo meals and in turn share ones we like during our weekly get-togethers.

My challenges have been minor but I wanted to put them out to paint a realistic picture of *my* particular journey… these are in no particular order. Just my random thoughts.

• Whole30 (and Paleo) drink options are really limited. Sparkling water with fruit “essences” is not as good as fruit juice. And unsweet tea is getting easier to drink but I’ll never enthusiastically love it (I didn’t even really like it when I could add sweetener). I’m getting used to black coffee but do miss cafe mochas. Unfortunately, drinks with any flavor mean that they have sugar. So yea, not thrilled about my drink options but I’ll live. I may try mixing some pure OJ with some sparkling water as a treat occasionally since no sugar added pure fruit juice isn’t technically against the rule, just should be avoided on a regular basis. I may also try adding almond milk to my coffee and see how coconut sugar works in some drinks. Again, not trying to get back to sweetening everything since that defeats the purpose but may try every now & them.
• I miss freshening my breath with gum or a mint. I bought a paleo compliant breath spray that EJ told me about and EJ & Sherry even found me paleo compliant mints (no sugar, no artificial sweeteners added) to try. We’ll see how those taste.
• I miss eating popcorn at the movies.
• Energy levels have not changed but that’s OK. I know I need to go to bed earlier to help on that front.
• Hunger levels vary. My snacking habit has been harder to break than the sugar habit. Just because nuts and fruit are OK does not mean I can have them whenever I want, especially since I am trying to lose weight.
• The 2nd half of Whole30 we backed off all the meal planning. Cooking elaborate recipes every night was just not sustainable for us. We got lazy this last week too and just started to cook simpler meals from what we had in the freezer and fridge. We were still able to stay compliant because we still are going to the grocery store each week and stocking compliant items and fresh meats and veggies but leftovers weren’t as yummy. We also need to work on making better sides. In the future I need to find a better balance of recipes and we need to work on actual meal prep on Sunday to help with the week-day cooking.
• There have been a few leftover lunches that I have not been thrilled about. and couldn’t even finish. Times like that is when I get a bit frustrated that I can’t easily go grab something better.
• Pants are finally feeling looser. I don’t expect much weight loss but I am hoping for 5 lbs. at least. Wish me luck!

I’ll post a wrap up Thursday morning with final Whole30 thoughts so till then…