Day 4

Whole30: Day 4

Some days just turn into chaos when you’re not looking.  Hunger-induced chaos.  Some days, you’re so hungry that, during that time when you get off work and when you sit down to dinner, seems like eternity, even if it’s only about an hour.  Some days you snap back and forth with your wife, because IT’S THE HUNGER TALKING.  When you’re not strong enough to even pull into the parking lot of the store that sells the most delicious cream horns, even if you just need to pop in for a sweet potato.  When walking the dog around the block seems like a herculean task.  Some days, what you thought was allergies, then a cold, then the Low Carb Flu turns into a sinus infection overnight.  So you struggle to breathe while trying to sleep in between the four unreasonable times your kid decides to wake up and shout that she needs help finding something.

Eating paleo is not always an easy task, and isn’t all bacon and bun-less hamburgers all day, every day.  And the Whole30 is even harder than that.  I mean, it’s easy to remember what to eat and what not to eat.  I guess that’s the easiest part.  And this person has a great post on other pros and cons, but not nutrition-based, things about paleo.

Feelings, both physical and mental, vary by day.  For instance, yesterday morning and this morning, I ate very similar breakfasts.  But yesterday, I went to the gym at 12:30pm, and ate my lunch around 2pm without much grumbling.  But then, was starving at 5pm.  Today, I barely made it to noon before diving into my lunch (on right).

Last night, after pulling ourselves together, we sat down with a baked pork chop each, a bowl of unsweetened applesauce, and Nom Nom Paleo’s Cauliflower, Carrot, and Parsnip Puree (leftovers pictured in my lunch photo), which may have saved both of us from dying of hunger, and getting a divorce.  It was THAT good.

I think it’s this combination of my body trying to figure out what on earth is going on.  And WHY can’t it have one of those free cookies leftover from that meeting that I’m carrying in my arms.  Why can’t it have the processed ham and turkey that was sitting on my  now deconstructed chef salad, wherein I had to provide my own hard boiled egg.

Because eating that cookie might as well have been that fucking cream horn from last night.  Right?  Right.

Day 4 is turning out to be just fine so far, if only because I’ve found a couple of great resources regarding eating out at restaurants, which is something I have trouble avoiding during the weekends – Chipotle Whole30-a-fied, and Panera’s guide to their “hidden menu” which both seem like reasonable options for when we’re out and about.

This afternoon, I’m heading to the good doctor for some sinus help, and tonight is steak, sweet potato fries, and green beans for dinner.  Tomorrow, I’ll show you a before and after picture comparison of me from this time last year to now, and you can see with me why on earth doing this is so worth it.