Half way through, half way through, half way through! Whew. This second week has been an interesting one…In week one, we were all firey and motivated since it was still so new. We are still motivated, but we have also dealt with a little Whole 30 boredom and have at times felt a liiittttle over it. BUT – we are pushing over this hump and are determined to finish strong! Let’s break down this week:
WHAT WE ATE
Breakfasts:
- Still a decent amount of eggs, but less so just scrambled with a side of bacon. I did have that a few times this week, but I also had some Elvis bananas (more on that later), avocado “toast” (more on that later – PRAAIISSE), and breakfast egg muffins. So more variety there this week for sure!
- Definitely still bulletproof coffee. LOVE. It’s still a highlight of my day, and I’m definitely going to continue drinking it after this is all over.
- Fruit! There has been lots of fruit for breakfast this week to break things up a bit.
Lunches:
- Still goin’ strong on the leftovers – #leftovers4eva.
Dinners:
- Night eight: Spicy marinara stuffed spaghetti squash. This was my first ever venture into spaghetti squash – I’ve never had it before. We loved it!! It’s a nice little pasta copycat. I will say that I overcooked the spaghetti squash this night, so it didn’t really have that “al dente pasta” feel – it was a little softer than it should have been. BUT – super comforting and super delicious. I will definitely have spaghetti squash on my weekly menus in the future! And the spicy, meaty sauce was delicious, too.
- Night nine: Leftovers from night eight, ^^^ and it was just as delicious if not more so!
- Night ten: Ginger-coconut “noodle” bowl. This one is from the Whole 30 cookbook, and it was SUPER yummy. Thai food is some of our favorite food to eat, and this tasted very Thai-y (word? Probs not). The flavor of the marinated chicken, the zucchini noodles, and the slightly spicy coconut broth…heaven.
- Night eleven: Chipotle! This was date night, so we went out. We researched Whole 30 approved restaurants, and Chipotle was on the list as long as you get their carnitas. This was shockingly delicious without many of my typical Chipotle ingredients. With no cheese, rice, beans, tortilla, or chips, I was thinking it was going to be a sad little boring burrito bowl, but it was SO yum. I got carnitas, fajita veggies, salsa verde, lettuce, and guacamole, and it was seriously super good and satisfying.
- Night twelve: Chinese beef and veggie bowls over cauliflower fried rice. Man, I wanted pizza tonight. I was not super into this dinner as I was making it, but I made it anyway and it turned out delicious, and I felt better after eating it 😌. I’ve made cauliflower rice in several different forms so far, but this fried rice form was my favorite. I added some of the stir fry sauce I had made for the beef and veggies (basically coconut aminos, rice vinegar, a tiny bit of sesame oil, garlic, and pepper flakes) and added a few fried eggs, and I seriously felt like I was eating regular old fried rice. It was delicious!
- Night thirteen: We went to a BBQ this night. We brought Whole 30 approved mashed potatoes (made yummy and creamy with ghee, cashew sauce, almond milk, and coconut oil), and my brother made ribs that didn’t have any sugar in the rub, just salt and pepper. So we had mashed potatoes, fruit, and the ribs. I love ribs, and he makes the best ribs that he cooks low and slow in his smoker…yum.
- Night fourteen: Coconut spaghetti squash noodles. This was a blog recipe test, so it’ll be on here in the next few weeks! It was delicious. Creamy, coconut-y, and super flavorful and satisfying! I had this as leftovers for lunch the past two days, and I am about to go home and eat it again for lunch right now…sooooo Ima fan obvi.
Here is a little collage of our dinners this week from my Instagram stories (@thegarlicdiaries):
WHAT WE LOVED
Breakfasts are going to appear on the “what we loved” and the “what we struggled with” lists today, and that is because for most of the week, breakfast was a highlight (more on the less pleasant days later). Usually for breakfast I just have scrambled eggs with a side of bacon, but I went a little bit more out of the box this week, and it was DELICIOUS. With two things, specifically. One – avocado “toasts” with a sunny side up egg. The toasts are made up of little baked hash brown disks made with a combo of sweet potato and regular potato. They get crispy in the oven and hold together just like a little piece of toast. I topped the “toasts” off with a super simple avocado mash and a sunny side up, runny egg, and IT WAS HEAVEN. Fo reals. Two – something I have dubbed “Elvis Bananas.” Slice a banana in half, spread a little cashew butter onto each half, and top with crumbled bacon. One slice of bacon is the perfect amount for both banana halves. Y’all. I AM IN LOVE. It is salty, it is sweet, it is soft, it is crunchy, it is probs one of the best things I’ve eaten while on Whole 30. So I had that for two breakfasts this week and the avocado “toast” for two breakfasts, and that made breakfast a highlight for me this week. Gotta switch it up!
The Whole 30 cookbook. I really enjoy cookbooks – I collect them and have a massive cabinet in my kitchen loaded with them, BUT they are mostly just for me to look through for fun – I almost never use them. I am always recipe testing things for the blog, so most of the stuff I make at home I create my own recipes for. But I bought the Whole 30 cookbook, and I try to at least make one thing from it each week, and that has been super fun! The recipes are all delicious, too, and I have really enjoyed using it!
Fruit. I have never really eaten a ton of fruit before this. Not because I have anything against it, I’ve always enjoyed it, but I just don’t buy it super often. But since we’ve been on Whole 30, we eat a TON of fruit. A ton, ton, ton. And that has been something I’ve grown to love, especially this week. Since we’ve been eating no sugar, fruit has started to taste progressively sweeter, almost like it’s a treat. It’s the perfect bright, juicy, refreshing element to our meals, and we have just been eating it like crazy. My all time favorite fruit that I have been plowing through like my life depends on it: Asian pears. Have you ever had them? They are a perfect mix between an apple and a pear. The taste and texture are exactly like a pear and an apple were smashed together. It’s the perfect fruit! We’ve also been eating a lot of apples, bananas, grapes, clementines, and lots and lots of cantaloupe. All so sweet and juicy and delicious. Natures candy, nahmean?
WHAT WE STRUGGLED WITH
Dates have been a big struggle this week that we were frustrated with. We love going on dates, and we go on at least one every weekend. But we were having the hardest time figuring out what to do! We had a super, SUPER small amount of Whole 30 friendly restaurants to choose from that would allow us to get something other than like…a burger patty with a side of steamed veggies. There’s also this really fun wine tasting vineyard like right across from our neighborhood, and we can’t do anything like that either. So we ended up going to Chipotle and then went to a coffee house afterwards and just sat and talked and sipped coffee with almond milk…It ended up being a really fun night, but it’s really hard to be creative with food-free dates! This makes us sound like the most un-creative couple ever, so maybe it’s a good thing that it’s forcing us to be more “out of the box” with our dates…but we love going out to eat!
Lack of pre-workout. I miss my pre-workout…I just do. I’ll be very excited to drink pre-workout again when this is all over. It makes working out so much more enjoyable, not to mention productive!
Breakfasssstttttt. So for most of the week, like I mentioned earlier, breakfast was great. But then we ran out of eggs, and I haven’t had the chance to get to the grocery store and buy more. And honestly, I am just getting a little sick of breakfast. I need to make more of those hash brown toasts, because I could eat those every day and not be one little bit upset about it. But mainly eggs are just getting boring to me. I find myself really wanting things like oatmeal or pancakes. CARRBBSS. Or a protein shake…my protein powder is sitting in my cabinet calling my name…”Come drinkk meeeee…I am totally egg-lesssss…and I am yummy and chocolate-yyyy…come drink meeeee.” SHUT UP PROTEIN POWDER, WHY YOU WANT ME TO FAIL?!
In general, we both lost a little bit of steam this week and both had many moments where we were just excited to be able to eat other stuff. So hopefully we get a little bit of a second wind and can finish this out strong! From what I’ve read, it’s common to hit a slump at this phase, so if you’re a fellow Whole 30-er, don’t fret! You’ve got this!
THE CONSENSUS AFTER WEEK TWO
We are still motivated and going strong, even though we aren’t in the “honeymoon phase” that we were in during week one. We are still for sure going to finish the 30 days cheating or breaking. We have both still really loved the food, and I have had a lot of fun coming up with Whole 30 recipes. I feel very inspired by Whole 30 food, so the recipe ideas for the blog have been flowing, and I love it when that happens!
Overall, we feel great! We have lots of energy and just feel healthy, which we both love. So we’re still on the Whole 30 train!
Let’s go, week 3!!
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