One Week In: The Pros and Cons of Whole 30 & Paleo So Far

I just wrapped up my first week of the Whole 30 challenge, and it is not easy. You read all the blogs out there and they're lobbing praise at the diet like it's amazing, but I want to be honest with people out there: I come from a long line of human beings who like to eat food for sustenance and we don't care who knows it. Suddenly having to be discriminating in my tastes is something I do not like. But there are good things I've noticed so far for sure. I'll give you my Pros and Cons.

PRO #1: Flat stomach! This is probably the first thing I noticed about the diet. I think I've read that dairy causes bloating in the stomach region? Sounds right, especially since there's no dairy in this diet. My stomach looks the same at the end of the day as it looks when I wake up in the morning. This is the most obvious pro so far.

CON #1: Dishes. All the time. Dishes. You have to cook all your meals if you want to eat and my God, the dishes. The piles of dishes. And am I imagining things or did my wife just use 4 pots to make hard boiled eggs? YOU USE TO MANY THINGS TO COOK, WOMAN! Just rinse the bowl out then reuse it, daaaammmmmn.

We don't have a microwave either, I couldn't really tell you why, but that certainly doesn't help this situation.

PRO #2: No smelly farts, had to put that here somewhere. I'm not particularly known for my smelly farts, but they were there. They were real. Now, there's still some farting, but they be like a lil' bubble or something. Kinda cute. I'm gonna think of a name for them.

CON #2: I am so FIXATED on food. I have thought about foods I wanted to eat that I haven't eaten in years. Literally, everything I can't eat looks good to me. On top of that, everyone around me knows this as I can't stop talking about it. Friends, I am sorry. I am sorry but you're gonna have to stop eating food in front of me because you'll make me go to a dark place.

This burger haunts my dreams:

Source: http://manmadediy.com/users/martin/posts/1602-how-to-make-a-peanut-butter-cheeseburger

PRO #3: My wife and I are spending a lot of quality time together. I love her, she's pretty. "Accidentally" bumping into her while I measure a cup of coconut flour... well, let's just say things get pretty PG-13 up in here.

CON #3: Like I said before, we spend a lot of time making food. These recipes don't really taste that great ifI'mbeinghonestwitchu. Even the ones out of the expensive books. We've definitely found recipes we like (i.e. pretty much anything with spaghetti squash, cauliflower, or almond butter) but they can be very hit or miss. When you're buying the best food from the store, misses are costly.

PRO #4: I'm getting to know my way around the kitchen a little better. I found a great way to make steaks in the oven which for some reason I'm really proud of. I guess I've always seen it as a rite of passage for a man. I also know where we kept the lemon zester which is both important AND manly. Bonus tip for everyone out there: invest in a garlic press if you don't already own one.

CON #4: There's a social cost in all this. No more brunches or dinners with friends. Go to a party, you're the weird sober guy. My friends are great, so they still want me to hang out but going to a restaurant and just ordering water... not an option.

So there they are, the Pros and Cons from my first week of Whole 30 in all their glory. I will be writing more about the cost of the diet (I've got a lot of past data on our spending habits) so I can address this from a financial perspective as soon as I can.

See ya!