Whole 30 Day 2 (continued)


Day 2 has not been so bad at all. I feel good. The thing I am struggling with most right now is not to weigh or measure myself. I feel thinner already, and after the twice a day weighings of the Elimination Diet I am really curious to know how this is affecting my weight. Fortunately the scales are tucked away under the spare bed so I have resisted the temptation.

My food today was great, I am really enjoying it so far. I still haven't got into the detailed planning of food, but I did have in my head this morning what my two meals would be made up of, though when BB fell asleep this morning I took the opportunity to swap them around so that I could get most of the cooking done while he napped. So, for lunch I had what I am calling Pork Bolognese with Courgette/Zucchini Spaghetti.

Zucchini Pasta
Pork Bolognese

For dinner it was a large egg and avocado salad (I managed 3 eggs), plus 1/2 avocado, lots of leaves, tomatoes, cucumber, celery, and spring onion and served with a dressing of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, mixed herbs and seeded mustard. That was followed by banana, blueberries and coconut milk.

Egg and avocado salad

Banana, blueberries and coconut milk

I am really not a meat eater, so this whole thing is a bit of a challenge for me really. I was pesco-vegetarian for almost 30 years and I have an unhealthy association with meat. I didn't like it as a child. I would chew and chew but I could not swallow it - there was a gag reflex going on. I didn't like the texture either, but that could have been how it was cooked. I was made to sit at the table until I'd eaten my meat and there was no other food allowed until it was gone. Once the dog was asked to leave the house at meal times I found places to hide it, but never ate it. Finally my parents accepted that I wasn't going to eat it when I was about 7 and that was the end...

...Until I was about 37, when I started eating it in the most unexpected circumstances. I went on a fasting retreat for 10 days and despite the teacher being very pro vegetarian and me apparently having the healthiest pre fast diet of all the participants, I emerged craving chicken. I have eaten chicken (breast only) ever since. I believe I had metabolic issues as a result of overcompensating for protein with carbs, so finding new protein sources was a priority - discovering that chicken could go back on the menu was great. When I was pregnant with BB I craved ham, and then sausages (only good quality ones though). I ate a few things with pork.

It dawned on me only when I had a child of my own (for whom I hide green vegetables in food) that I might even like lamb too. Apparently I used to eat lamb, but then my parents started putting mint jelly on beef and telling me it was lamb, and suddenly I didn't like it so much any more. Thinking about it, as we had cattle and one always went in the freezer, probably nearly all the meat we had was beef. I don't like beef at all. I did make a cottage pie with lamb mince a couple of months ago though and it was bearable - not nice but I could eat it.

As I was cooking the pork mince today it smelled disgusting. I found myself thinking "this diet is not for me - I can't eat this much meat - what was I thinking?" I added garlic to mask the smell. It worked and it started to smell good by the end. When I ate it I was really pleasantly surprised. In fact I went back for seconds.

So, maybe I can do this meat thing.

I think I did OK with Whole 30 rules today (if you ignore breakfast), but I am still learning. Perhaps my 'dessert' was a bit of a rule bender, but I'm pleased I had it. I feel hungry now. I will try to remember to add nuts or seeds to salads like that in the future.

Looking at other people's ideas is really helpful. I don't have recipes as yet, but I do have a bit of a plan for tomorrow. Eggs and the left over pork bolognese for breakfast, and salmon, green beans and another veg yet to be decided for lunch, and then a warm chicken salad, probably with avocado for tea. Yum. I am liking this diet right now, despite the fact that is 3 forms of animal protein in one day!

Hello, and thanks for stopping by. My name is Emma and I am a lifestyle entrepreneur, writer, teacher, coach and mentor. I am passionate about eating real food, learning, travel and health. I get to spend my days with my amazing son who has chosen to learn from the world rather than at school. We write to share the life we love and to help others create a life they love too.

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