Whole30 first third

The end of the first third of this Whole30 thing is supposed to be (according to the book) the hardest part. That phase when the novelty has worn off, your body is still adjusting to different fuel, and you begin to resent that you still can’t have a bite of your kid’s Starbucks croissant.

All that is happening, for sure.

Also, the sheer toil. The list-making, shopping, soaking, chopping, preparing, cleaning in order to stay compliant. The mood swings. The energy fluctuations.

It’s work.

But I must say, inflammation is roughly 25% down. Eyes are brighter. When I’m happy and I know it, I stamp my feet. Little bursts of tiger’s blood are happening. So are little bursts of despair. Mood swings, like I said.

Smiles starting to appear during random chores.

Biggest difference: I’m not that hungry unless I go more than five hours without food. There is something to be said for the relationship between Whole30 eating and satiety. The sugar highs and lows are eliminated, and, it’s well-documented that fat sticks with you longer.

Oh, and I’ve had zero tummy discomfort. Zero. Which is a complete 180 from before this thing.

And, something else.

I’m challenging my paradigms. Shaking things up. Here’s an example. Typically, I go to the grocery store in rote mode. Buy pretty much the same things each week. Autopilot. Not so, this past ten days.

Example. Yesterday, in prelude to making Moroccan stew, I went to three different stores for lamb. I wanted chunks of stew meat in little cubes. Nope. So at the big Beaverton Freddies, in the “natural hormone-free meat” section, at last I found a bundled up boneless lamb shank in the right size. Alas, if there’s one thing I’m averse to, it’s cutting up a big hunk of bloody meat.

Nice and tidy. No muss. No fuss.

I know, I know, that’s super modern girl out of touch with hunting and gathering of me, but I have been known to get all bloody accident light-headed about that particular task. But then I thought, Gee, maybe they’ll cube it up for me in the butcher section. And they did! Without extra cost. I had no idea it was as simple as that. Some thirty-odd years as a grocery store consumer, and I didn’t know you were allowed to request such a thing. So that was a win.

Colorful carrots in my stew. Tasty af.

The stew was fairly delicious, and very satisfying (though the thickening agent they allow—arrowroot, leaves a pasty aftertaste, next time going to use almond flour). Today I’m going to make coconut chicken breasts. Doesn’t that sound good?