Whole 30: Days Fifteen through Twenty Three

It's been a while since I've posted so you're getting a whole bunch of these at once.

Day 15
Whole 30 Beef Jerky
Leftover Spaghetti Squash with Lucini and Steak
LIke... 5 grapefruits

Days 16-17
Imagine Chicken Broth
Kombucha!
Bananas
Apple Sauce

Day 18
Whole 30 Approved Sausage
These Baller Wings

Days 19

Blue Ribbon Country Captain Chicken from Well Fed

Days 20-21

I had a final in Managerial Accounting and I pretty much stopped recording what I was eating. MY BAD! I think I made some ground beef, mixed some taco seasoning in, and ate it on lettuce with some avocados at one point. I know, it sounds awesome.

Day 22

Mashed Sweet Potato

Apple Pork Sausage

Taj Mahal Chicken from Well Fed 2

Day 23

Leftover Chicken

Shrimp with Old Bay Seasoning

Sweet Potato Fries

Ok, so I dropped the ball on this. I hadn't been writing down what I'd been eating (it was all Whole 30 though!) and I just wanted to put it out there before I got too far behind. 7 more days! It's practically in the bag.

Whole 30: Days Ten Through Fourteen

I definitely caught the flu over the weekend (Day 11) which, as I'm sure everyone knows, sucks. It also put a hiccup into trying some new foods (or makes meal planning a lot easier because you can't eat anything?) With the said, my wife made some Whole 30 dishes that were so DAMN good that I couldn't resist, even in my partially vegetative state.

Day Ten

Breakfast: Fried Egg and Avocado Slices

Lunch: Fruits and veggies on the go.
Dinner: Raw Oysters with Horseradish at Hank's Oyster Bar

Day Eleven

Breakfast: Baby Carrots and Hard boiled Eggs

Lunch: Nothing :(

Dinner: Chile Lime Chicken Wings with Brussels  (FRIGGEN GOOD)

Day Twelve

Breakfast: Fried Plantains (fry in a skillet with coconut oil, cumin, salt, pepper)

Lunch: Mushroom Broth with Prosciutto, Green Onions, Lime (like a faux Pho)

Dinner: Frozen Pineapple Pieces :( :( :(

Day Thirteen

Breakfast: Grapefruit

Lunch: Mixed Green Salad with Flank Steak and Tessemae Lemon Dressing

Dinner: Ground Beef Hamburgers topped with Sunflower Butter and Strawberries, garnished with Green Onions (sounds weird, tastes delicious)

Day Fourteen

Breakfast: Pineapple & Grapefruit

Lunch: Applegate Farms Lunch Meat & Leftover Hamburger

Dinner: Spaghetti Squash with Lucini Pasta Sauce and Steak bits (our "go-to")

Whole 30: Days Five through Nine

We were pretty concerned about how we would fare heading into our first work week, but we made it again. We ended up cooking a lot of food in advance and then eating it throughout the week. Maybe not the most exciting meal plan ever, but it certainly made it easier to follow through and stay on track for the Challenge! Anyway, I'm not going to list all the the snacks anymore. Rest assured, I'm not starving myself; I supplement what I eat here with fruit, carrots, nuts, etc.

Day Five
Whole30 Beef Jerky 
gimME Organic Roasted Seaweed Snacks
Whole 30 Chicken Nuggets
Ugli Fruit (This was just randomly at the store, impulse buy for sure)
Mashed Cauliflower

Day Six
Whole 30 Chicken Nuggets
Mashed Cauliflower
Collard Greens with Sausage and Carrots

Day Seven
Whole 30 Beef Jerky
Whole 30 Chicken Nuggets
Whole 30 Egg Drop Soup (chicken broth, green onions, egg)
Applegate Lunch Meat (just grabbing some slices when I'm hungry)

Day Eight
The last of the Whole 30 Chicken Nuggets (I made four pounds!)
Pineapple & Cauliflower Fried "Rice"
Whole 30 Egg Drop Soup
Orange and Grape Salad
Applegate Lunch Meat
Salmon Sweet Potato Cakes
Steamed Spinach with Onion, Almond Slices, and Lemon

Source:http://www.everydaymaven.com/2013/paleo-salmon-cakes/

Day Nine
The rest of the Salmon Sweet Potato Cakes
The rest of the Spinach
Turkey Leg in the Slow Cooker
Baked Sweet Potato

I Won't Be Able to Live Without:

• gimME Organic Roasted Seaweed Snacks: The entire package is 50 calories, making them perfect for snacking.
• Applegate Lunch Meat: The roast beef tastes like little slices of steak heaven, but it's about $6/package so....
• Coconut Oil: It's pretty much magic in a jar. BONUS: coconut is fun to say.

Whole 30: Days Two through Four

I made it through a couple more days, so far so good. Although, if you were wondering, here's what I've been craving that's off the menu... and here's what I've been eating instead:

Day Two
Breakfast
Mashed Sweet Potatoes (made with coconut milk, ghee, and cinnamon) with Raisins and Roasted Pecans.*
*This dish was leftover from our NYE dinner.

Lunch
Mixed Green Salad with Roasted Pecans, Apple, and Lemon Pepper Chicken, topped with a hard boiled egg and Tessemae's Lemon Garlic dressing.

Dinner
Sauteed Shrimp with Garlic and Lemon
Steamed Broccoli

Day Three
Breakfast
Sauteed Shrimp with Garlic and Lemon (Leftover from Day 2 dinner... I will eat anything in the morning!)
Apple
Hard boiled Egg

Lunch
Two Hard boiled Eggs
Broccoli
Pistachios
Remainder of the Mashed Sweet Potatoes
Baby Carrots

Dinner
Roasted Spaghetti Squash (cut in half, emptied out, baked face down for 45 minutes at 375) with Ground Beef (garlic, cumin) and Lucini Sicilian Olive & Wild Caper Sauce.

Day Four
Breakfast
Roasted Spaghetti Squash, Ground Beef, Pasta Sauce from Day Three

Lunch
Collard Greens with Baby Carrots and Whole 30 compatible sausage (made in slow cooker)
Banana
Raisins

Dinner
Raw vegetables (tomatoes, carrots, broccoli, and cauliflower) off a party tray
Cocktail shrimp (without the cocktail sauce)
Hawaiian Meatballs (Whole 30 compatible recipe)
Fruit Salad

I Won't Be Able To Live Without... 

• Lucini Pasta Sauce: Pricey at approx. $9 a jar, but it's Whole 30 compatible, and convenience is important. 
• Spaghetti Squash: So easy to make and I am not lying when I say it tastes better than pasta.
• Tessemae's Lemon Garlic Dressing: Whole 30 compatible, subtle flavor, and it really went well with the fruit in my salad.

Whole 30: Day One

I get why people choose the first of January to start these self-improvement projects.  A New Year. A fresh start. Symbolism. I'm eating it up. However, I feel very confident when saying it has to also be the day with the highest hangovers per capita. Which is exactly where I found myself this morning. WHY DID IT HAVE TO COME TO THIS!?

Anyway, no more beer. No more whiskey. No more bubbly. As of today, I'm starting the Whole 30 challenge with my wife and, as an enterprising young man, I will be eating much healthier. Like vegetables. Fruits. Meats. Good stuffffffffffff.

Well thank you, sloth! You're an odd spirit animal for someone who's trying to get more active, but I can't resist the irony.

In all seriousness, I am 100% invested in doing the Whole 30 challenge. My wife and I have been doing the research, cleaning out the bad foods from our pantry, and mentally prepping for this day for some time now. If Whole 30 is all it's cracked up to be, we want this be our lifestyle from here on out. From here until the end of Whole 30 (and maybe beyond?), I will periodically be posting about my experience and what we've been eating.

Here's what I had on Day 1:

Breakfast/Lunch:
Orange
Steak (I use this method, except with olive oil. Salt, pepper, olive oil. Easy day)

Snacks:
Pistachios
Grapes
Baby Carrots

Dinner:
Lemon pepper chicken with avocado slices