Whole30 Week 2 Update + Meal Plan

It’s Monday…and I’m actually excited!!! You know why?? Because Monday means that I officially survived the first 7 days and starting my Whole30 week 2! Lord knows that there were countless times over the past seven days that I didn’t think that I would make it. That I would cave in or have a moment of weakness and totally have to fess up to you guys. Somehow, by the skin on my teeth, I survived and am dishing all about it today. That being said, I hope that you didn’t expect a rainbows and butterflies post, because that’s not what’s about to follow…in fact, quite the opposite…

If you need to play catch up, see last weeks post all about my WHY and what I planned out to eat over the week. The below is what I had (anticipated) to eat over the past 7 days, because the premise of Whole 30 is that planning and prep is key to success.

This food looks good, right??? IT WAS! It was really really good, in fact. There were a few things that caused my meal plan to shake up this week which, for the most part, I was mentally prepared for. If you saw my Instagram story about having to store all of our food outside in the snow to keep it from spoiling, having to prepare burgers by candlelight or cook them in the snow on our grill because we lost power ALL day Saturday…I will have you know that I was NOT prepared for ANY of that! For our family, some leftovers lasted longer than I anticipated, so we happily obliged and I ended up liking mixing up my salads for lunch, so that shifted around my lunch plans. Overall, I stuck to the general plan, but wanted to also give you guys a true food diary of what went down the pie hole this week, so here it is (along with a few notes)…

-The Taco Salad was amazing! You can see that I had it for 3 lunches in a row and was actually sad to see it end. I added radishes, cauliflower rice, cabbage and topped it with last weeks chimichurri recipe.

-The Potato Soup is still one of our favorite recipes! We’ve been making this recipe for a few months now and it’s still SO good to both of us. I’ve modified it so much now, that I will probably make it again next week and share a full recipe. Overall, I add onion, garlic, carrots, celery, garlic powder, onion powder, and up the recipe to 2 full cans of coconut milk (with cream). It lasted us for 3 full dinners for all 3 of us. WOW!

-I don’t like sweet potatoes. I gave it a real go, y’all. I really tried to like them. I had them in the casserole (which I choked down) for breakfast and used them at dinner for the enchilada sweet potatoes, neither of which I liked. Night two of the enchiladas, I swapped mine out for a regular white potato and LOVED it, so the overall recipe is still a winner.

-Breakfast is already getting boring…going to try really hard to get more excited about it this week.

(Refer back to last weeks post, for all recipe links)

Now that you’ve seen all the pretty food, plated and posed, it’s time for the real details of how the first 7 days were.

It was hard. Harder than I had even anticipated.

I felt lots of emotions, withdrawals, and overall like I walked around for 7 straight days absolutely kicking rocks. I was not a happy camper this week and won’t really even try to sugar coat that. Did I mention that my sweet husband agreed to join me on this journey? Well he did, and having him along also gave me a 3rd person perspective of how the plan shifted moods. Both of our rock bottom days were Day 3 and Day 7. Day 3 was very physical symptoms…flu-like, tired, and we both ended the day with massive headaches…crawling into bed before 10pm, letting our bodies rest. Day 7 was more emotional…some might attribute it to being stuck inside with snow and no electricity, but we both knew that it was more than that. We were snappy at each other, lacked patience with Landry and were generally annoyed that we were refusing ourselves the comfort food that we were both craving.

The hardest part was definitely the emotional part for me. I really do have an emotional attachment to food. It’s my love language and I’m realizing that I’ve been using food to “make me happy”…which is kind of sad. I was eating more out of emotion than I was out of hunger and going cold turkey on that this week was quite the shock to my feelers. I was, however, able to identify that my most vulnerable times are mid-afternoon (2-4 pm, usually as Landry naps and I wrap up the workday) and after 9pm (when Dan and I are watching TV/working from the sofa). Those are the times when I am the most uninspired and looked to a snack or sweet treat to reset my mood. I guess the sugar high gave me a false sense of pleasure? Cutting out these little treats was real hard friends, especially as my brain kept using the pregnancy narrative to try and convince me that I “deserved” to indulge in something…total BS.

The next hardest part was the social aspect…and this was something that I didn’t really anticipate. If you haven’t guessed by now, I’m a really social person. I flourish being surrounded by the energy of and interactions with other people. Whether they are total strangers or my best friends…I try to give myself many options to be social on a daily basis. I felt like *most* of my normal routine (working from Starbucks, lunch at Chickfila while Landry played, an afternoon FroYo treat or even dinner out with my family) was too risky this week, so I avoided it all together. I worked from home everyday, avoided my daily coffee out and we ate every dinner at home as well. This really made me feel depressed and disconnected. I didn’t realize how much I’d miss the social aspect of things and know that I have to find ways to work those things back into my life (albeit they might look different) for this to work. I don’t want to alienate myself based of what I am eating, so I will have to adjust my expectations. I am happy to report that I am typing this from Starbucks on Sunday and I’m happily sitting here with a peppermint tea (totally W30 approved) and am so happy to be surrounded by the lively conversation of strangers. Call me crazy (I know), but baby steps nonetheless.

Okay so those were my two biggest complaints, the next one is something that I didn’t anticipate and something that both my husband and mom (also doing W30) all noted…so I thought that it was worth sharing. I feel like I’ve been a fire breathing dragon all week. Ick! These recipes are all filled with potent seasonings, spices, garlic, and onions to give the food its flavor and while it tastes amazing when you’re eating it, afterwards it ain’t so pretty. We all found ourselves dying for a gum, mint, or toothbrush between meals…and only the toothbrush is W30 approved lol. I’m finding lots of lemon water is helping.

There were other things too…the meal prep was hard for me, which I actually did expect. I didn’t anticipate the amount of dishes and clean up that cooking all of those meals produced. I felt like we were chained to the kitchen either cooking or cleaning…and, if you know me, you know that’s not my happy place! I’m going to work on some meal prep strategies and also on recipes and lunches that require little or no cleanup.

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I’m happy to note that while my first week was overall negative, there were a few positives. My skin is definitely brighter! I actually skipped under-eye concealer two days this week and I haven’t done that in recent memory…probably EVER! I’m still feeling naked with no powder, but I don’t necessarily feel like I need it. There are no new breakouts and my skin tone is even and less red. Hallelujia!

I feel MUCH less bloated. After the Holidays, I was so uncomfortable with a growing belly and two weeks worth of shitty eating that I could barely eat without feeling pressure and pain in my upper abdomen. I felt 9 months pregnant and it was the WORST feeling. Over the past 7 days I’ve noticed a ton of that bloat go away, feeling much lighter on my feet, no back pain and much easier workouts. Dan of course is fast tracking towards a 6-pack already…gosh, guys are such a$$H*%$s.

I’m rarely actually hungry. The meals that I’m eating are so well balanced and filling that I’m truly not even close to being hungry until about 45 minutes before my next meal, which is so refreshing to me. I’m realizing that my previous meals were lacking in so many nutrients that my body was telling me I was hungry again about 2 hours later and that only made it easier to slip up and eat something even worse.

The food is damn good! It’s like really good, y’all. I have no complaints there at all. I feel very satisfied with the flavors and am learning my way around the kitchen and trying new things. I’m also falling in love with fruit again. For 4 years now I’ve given Landry 3 servings of fresh fruit a day and cannot tell you the last time that I really even touched it for myself…that seems so dumb, right? Now I can’t get enough of the sweetness of pineapples, the versatility of a banana and the yumminess of a ripe strawberry.

I feel good about what I’m eating! There have been no regrets about anything that I’ve put into my body over the past 7 days and that feels amazing. While I love food, don’t let me fool you into thinking that I don’t feel guilty after eating a big ole chocolate chip cookie. The guilt is sometimes crippling and I’ll think about it for hours. It’s been so refreshing to be free of that feeling all week and instead feel confident that what I’m putting into my body is clean fuel for the baby and I.

…and just like that…typing all of that out is just what I needed to reset my perspective. There are tons of positives and as soon as my body aligns and rids itself of all of these toxins, I know that my updates will also continue to get better. Without any more blabbing, here’s what I’m planning for my Whole30 Week 2!

WHOLE30 WEEK 2 MEAL PLAN:

Monday: 

Breakfast: Egg + Sausage Scramble (Brown sausage and scramble in 3 eggs, a few diced yellow and green onions)

Lunch: Plantain Nachos (overly excited about this one)

Dinner: Potato, Kale and Sausage Soup

Tuesday: 

Breakfast: Bananas, Strawberries, Blueberries and Pineapples topped with toasted coconut, almond butter and walnuts. Experimenting with this to see if it keeps me full.

Lunch: Plantain Nachos

Dinner: Potato, Kale and Sausage Soup

Wednesday:

Breakfast: Browned jalepeno sausage (Trader Joes), scrambled eggs + fruit

Lunch: Egg and Avocado Salad (might add tuna if I get brave)

Dinner: Eggroll in a Bowl

Thursday:

Breakfast: Egg + Sausage Scramble (Brown sausage and scramble in 3 eggs, a few diced yellow and green onions)

Lunch: Egg and Avocado Salad

Dinner: Eggroll in a Bowl

Friday:

Breakfast: Browned jalepeno sausage (Trader Joes), scrambled eggs + fruit

Lunch: Sweet and Salty Salad (broccoli slaw, riced cauli, strawberries, blueberries, cabbage, raisins, 1 slice of bacon)

Dinner: Lettuce Wraps

Saturday:

Breakfast: Banana Pancakes (I topped with almond butter and reduced a few strawberries in a touch of ghee)

Lunch: Lettuce Wraps

Dinner: Crockpot Roast + Veggies

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Thank you from the bottom of my heart for all of your support this week. For cheering me on, referring your friends and even emailing me your favorite recipes. If it weren’t for you guys holding me accountable, I can assure you that I would not have pushed through. Please continue to share YOUR journeys with me, because I’ve found that to be so inspiring. I’m keeping everything pretty real time on Instagram Stories (@styleyoursenses) if you don’t want to wait for a weekly update. Cheers to an amazing week, friends! xo