Betty7 - January 2017 W30 Log

[Betty7]

I decided to do a 2nd Whole30 during the first 30 days of 2017. The last (and only) time I completed a W30 was in March/April 2015, so needless to say, I was due. I knew after the holidays it would be much needed. Here we are, Day 3, and I'm off to a pretty good start. Well, at least a much better start than my last one.

 

Day 1: New Year's Day 1/1/17

Breakfast - 12oz coffee with (compliant - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01I3JD14G/ref=od_aui_detailpages00?ie=UTF8&psc=1) almond milk creamer; Three egg omlette with tomato, spinach, green pepper, and onion; handful of carrots with cashew/almond butter

Lunch - Steak salad - stew beef, spinach, iceburg lettuce,shredded carrots, cucumber, green pepper, with a lemon basil vinegrette (this recipe is amazing - https://stupideasypaleo.com/2013/07/20/lemon-basil-bacon-fat-vinaigrette/, just be sure you use compliant bacon when collecting your fat)

Dinner - same as lunch

Comments: Easy breezy. Very easy to start the plan when you're off work and have all the time in the world to prep and plan. I feel good.

 

Day 2: 1/2/17

Breakfast - 12oz coffee with almond milk creamer; Three eggs scrambled with seasoned red potatoes, spinach, and onion

Lunch - Round steak over a bed of spinach, pureed winter squash, and chopped pecans 

Dinner - 4 Buffalo chicken tenders (I <3 Frank's Red Hot), 1 cup baby carrots and 1 cup bell pepper strips with 2oz cashew/almond butter (this is delicious - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01M0B2QLX/ref=od_aui_detailpages00?ie=UTF8&psc=1)

Comments: Again, easy to stay on plan when you are off for a holiday. Very relaxing day spent shopping and preparing food. Still feel very good. Haven't hit the wall yet.

 

Day 3: 1/3/17

Breakfast - 12oz coffee with almond milk creamer; Three eggs scrambled with seasoned red potatoes, spinach, and 1/2 an avocado

Lunch - 3 Buffalo chicken tenders, 1 cup baby carrots and 1 cup bell pepper strips with 2oz cashew/almond butter

Dinner - TBD

Comments: I'm exhausted today. Muscling through as best as I can - very ready for a nap and to skip to day 7 or 8!

 

I overall feel much more comfortable with the plan and my ability to make compliant meals without as much preparation as before. I'm already bored with eggs, though. Gotta get creative for breakfast, though that should happen naturally as I start making more fun things for dinner.

[Betty7]

Day 3: 1/3/17 

Dinner - Round steak over a bed of greens; 1-1/2 cups of seasoned sweet potato fries; 1/2 an avocado; handful of almonds

 

Day 4: 1/4/17

Breakfast - 12oz coffee with almond milk creamer; 3 paleo deviled eggs (6 halves); 1-1/2 cups of seasoned sweet potato fries

Lunch - Buffalo chicken salad - 3 Buffalo chicken tenders over 2-1/2 cups of mixed greens, 1 cup shredded carrots and onions, and a small amount of crushed almonds, 2oz of paleo ranch (http://paleogrubs.com/ranch-dressing-recipe)

Comments: I hit the wall today. I feel like I can't go on. I am completely exhausted both mentally and physically. I would kill for a nap, but work it is. May have a second cup of coffee to make it through this day...

[Betty7]

Day 4: 1/4/17

Dinner - 1/2lb seasoned pork loin (http://holisticallyengineered.com/2012/08/whole30-dijon-pork-tenderloin.html) over 2 cups of spinach; handful of carrots; 1/2 an avocado; generous handful of almonds and pecans (don't judge me).

Comments: Felt okay when I got home, like I had a second wind. Got a lot done around the house and a massive amount of food prep done. Haven't had heartburn since the 2nd. Yippee!

 

Day 5: 1/5/17

Breakfast - 12oz coffee with almond milk creamer; 3 paleo deviled eggs mashed up and mixed into greens to make a salad; handful of carrots

Lunch - 1 can of Tuna salad (tuna, paleo mayo, apple, almonds) w/ 2 cups fresh spinach; 1-1/2 cups baby carrots

Comments: Unbearably tired. Still don't feel the need to Kill All the Things, but I'm sure it's coming. At least I hope. I need to move out of the dead-tired "hangover" phase, soon. My muscles feel weak and I could curl up and nap just about anywhere. Under my desk would do just fine. When I have an alcohol hangover, at least I had a blast the night before...  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[Betty7]

Day 5: 1/5/17

Dinner - 1/2 lb Mocha Coffee Pot Roast (https://stupideasypaleo.com/2013/06/29/slow-cooker-mocha-rubbed-pot-roast/ Seriously. Go make this right now...); 1/2 red pepper; 1/2 orange pepper; 1/2 avocado

Comments: Dude, no. That pot roast made me want to cry. I cooked it in the crock on low all day while I was at work - about 10hrs with the commute and whatnot - and it was perfect. I'm thrilled I get to eat it three more times. Overall, I'm doing a better job of staying on top of the dishes in the evening this time around, too. Probably because I don't have a head cold and don't have shingles, either. I also don't have 170lbs of beard and hair in my way, telling me what to do with my life... My motivation and experiences are my own again. Feels good. For the first time since I broke up with my ex, I really feel like I'm getting "me" back.

 

Day 6: 1/6/17

Breakfast - 12oz coffee with almond milk creamer; 3 paleo deviled eggs (I never added the recipe - http://www.paleocupboard.com/deviled-eggs.html) and 1/2 and avocado mashed up and mixed into 2 cups of spinach to make a salad

Lunch - 1/2lb of seasoned pork loin; 1-1/2 cups seasoned red potatoes; 1/2 avocado

Comments: I've been feeling lazy in the morning, hitting snooze a lot. Then I'm frantically running around trying to make sure I make a template meal for breakfast. I'm already completely burned out on eggs, but they are the easiest thing when I am unprepared. The deviled eggs are gone, so NO MORE! The snooze stops today, too. Okay, okay, no promises I'll stop, but I promise to try. I do feel like my energy is picking up a bit today; I'm not nearly as tired as the past couple of days. It might just be because a.) it's Friday and b.) my 401(k) loan money came through. Feeling more confident about my finances and having a plan is always something that makes me feel in control, and that helps me feel more alert and awake, I think. Feeling helpless always makes me feel fuzzy. I don't know. That might make sense, it might not. Haha.

[Betty7]

Day 6: 1/6/17

Dinner - 1/2lb pot roast, 1 large sweet potato, baked with spices and topped with chopped pecans, 1/2 an avocado 

Comments - Really felt the need to snack in the evening. Feeling very restless.

 

Day 7: 1/7/17

Breakfast/Lunch - 1/2lb seasoned ground beef, 1-1/2 cups seasoned white potatoes & spinach, handful of almonds

Lunch/Dinner - 1/2lb of pot roast, 1 apple, 1 avocado.

Comments - I could only manage two meals today. I slept in very late and woke up feeling like absolute garbage. No appetite at all. I ate M1 around 11am and M2 around 7pm. I'm keeping up on my water intake, and obviously getting enough sleep. I'm really surprised my energy is still this low, but it might just be taking me much longer to get back into the swing of things because I ate (and drank) so poorly over Xmas/New Year. 

 

Day 8: 1/8/17

Breakfast - 1 can tuna salad over a large bed of spinach

Comments: Slept in very late again today. Not sure I'll get three meals in so I ate light at breakfast so I'll be hungrier sooner, maybe. Still very tired and groggy. 

 

[Betty7]

Day 8: 1/8/17

Lunch - 3 paleo deviled eggs; Large Handful of baby carrots

Dinner - 1/2lb of seasoned pork loin; 1/2 yellow bell pepper; 3 celery stalks with cashew/almond butter

Comments: I ate somewhat light all day, but I was able to get my three meals in. M1 around 11am, M2 around 3:30pm, and M3 around 8pm. This feels daunting and I feel somewhat dejected. At this point during my first W30, I was definitely feeling better than this, and I had a massive head cold for the first two weeks. Just makes me sad that I'm baseline healthy and I'm still not feeling as well as I want to.

 

Day 9: 1/9/17

Breakfast - 3 paleo deviled eggs mashed up in a bed of spinach

Lunch - 1/2lb pot roast; 1-1/2 cups baby carrots w/ 2oz of cashew/almond butter

Comments: Getting very bored with lunch options for work. Need to do more prep so I have more interesting vegetables to bring. This all ties in with being less lazy. I'm just not there yet. Still dead tired. If I thought I wanted a nap before... boy do I want one now. Took all of my willpower to get up this morning. Snoozed several times. I need to make sure to go to bed earlier and get more like 7-8 hours instead of 6 hours of sleep. It was hard to go to bed at a decent time last night since I slept so late on Saturday and Sunday mornings. Next weekend I've got to plan to do something in the mornings so I have incentive to get out of bed and keep my sleep cycle somewhat normal. My boss wants to take my team to lunch one day this week to thank us for our hard work in 2016 (of course she would want to do this for the very first time in my 3 1/2 years of employment during the 30 days that I'm eating clean), so I'm concerned about staying on the plan. I suggested a place where I knew I could get a compliant salad (provided I bring my own dressing), and she shot it down because she's such a picky eater. She ideally wants to go to an Italian pasta style place. *eyeroll* We still don't know where we are going so I'm stressing about planning ahead. 

[Betty7]

Day 9: 1/9/17

Dinner - 1/2lb beef brisket (i used the rub from the mocha recipe on Day 5); 1 twice baked sweet potato topped with pecans

Comments - The brisket was delicious but needed another hour or so to be as tender as I would have liked. I had a friend over for dinner. He liked the brisket a lot too, and while I'm super glad I proved eating paleo isn't torture, I'm sad I don't have as many leftovers as I would like. Haha! 

 

Day 10: 1/10/17

Breakfast -  3 paleo deviled eggs mashed up in a bed of spinach; 1/2 an avocado

Comments - Still don't know where we are going for lunch today, and I just realized I forgot my salad dressing. UGH. I went the extra mile and made this delicious orange/lemon rosemary vinegrette dressing last night all for nothing. I am so mad and disappointed. I actually feel rage right now, so I guess Kill All the Things has finally arrived. I can't just ditch lunch with them because I didn't bring anything else to eat. I don't know what I'm going to do, besides pray for a miracle... and I don't pray. SON.OF.A.BISCUIT

[Betty7]

Day 10: 1/10/17

Breakfast - I forgot to mention that I had 12oz of coffee w/ sub. creamer as usual.

Lunch - Steak salad (steak, mixed greens, tomato, cucumber, 1/2 avocado) with oil and vinegar dressing

Comments - Not sure if I made Lunch compliant. I asked about the steak - cooked in canola - but I didn't ask about the red wine vinegar (I was halfway through the salad before I thought to question it). The place was swanky and probably used something high end, but ultimately, I DGAF. What I did was the best I could do, and I'm fine with it. 1oz of suspect dressing is not going to bother me, and I'm not going to even consider starting over. The fact is that I don't know, and I'm going with a combination of Answer#4 & Answer#5: I did what I could, and I'm a grown up and I'll do what I want. The likelihood of the sulfites in an ounce of salad dressing hindering the healing process is slim. 

Anyway, I wish the damn carton of creamer for my morning coffee would be empty already. The creamer isn't all that good and I'd prefer to ditch the barely compliant additives soon.

[Betty7]

Day 10: 1/10/17

Dinner - Leftover brisket, 1 baked sweet potato topped with almonds

Comments - My energy might be picking up. Might. I got a ton accomplished and got into bed at a decent time.

 

Day 11: 1/11/17

Breakfast - 12oz coffee with almond creamer; Egg salad (3 hard boiled eggs crumbled over 2 cups of spinach, shredded carrot, diced tomato, and a handful of sugar snap peas); 2oz rosemary-orange vinaigrette (http://paleoleap.com/salad-dressing-and-vinaigrettes/)

Lunch - 1/2lb leftover pork loin; 1-1/2 cups baby carrots; 2oz cashew/almond butter

Comments - I feel a lot more alert this morning, but super cranky. My muscles still feel fatigued, but feeling awake is a start. I got 8hrs of sleep, so that's probably helpful.  And the salad dressing is fantastic. It's so easy to make good dressing, I don't know why I ever buy any.

[Betty7]

Day 11: 1/11/17

Dinner - 1/2 an acorn squash, stuffed with 1/3lb seasoned & grilled ground beef & onions; 2 tablespoons of tuna salad; a handful of bell pepper slices; a handful of sugar snap peas; a large handful of almonds

Comments - I was ravenous. I just kept eating. I even had another handful of almonds shortly before bed. My cycle isn't due for a couple of weeks yet, so I must just not be eating enough. I know that I feel exponentially better (more alert, less moody) when I eat two starches per day, and I just haven't been doing it. Tomorrow is a new day.

 

Day 12: 1/12/17

Breakfast - 12oz coffee with almond creamer (that's the last of it - finally!); 3 buffalo chicken tenders; 1-1/2oz of paleo ranch; 1-1/2 cups of red, yellow, and orange bell pepper slices; 1 banana

Lunch - 1/2 an acorn squash, stuffed with 1/3lb seasoned & grilled ground beef & onions; 1/2 a plum tomato; 1 avocado

Comments - I need to eat something leafy green for dinner. And some starch. It was still so hard to get out of bed this morning... maybe it had something to do with the almonds I ate before I crawled in bed.... I again, got 8 hrs of sleep, but just haven't been able to snap out of this slump.  I feel foggy again today. I need to go grocery shopping again soon and stock up on squash. It's kind of annoying that Sam's Club doesn't carry any kind of squash. No zucchini, no acorn, no butternut... nothing. I wonder if the Walton's have some kind of gourd phobia. Anyway....

[Betty7]

Day 12: 1/12/17

Dinner - Steak salad (1/2lb stew meat, 1-1/2 cups of spinach, handful of shredded carrots, handful of sugar snap peas); 1oz orange rosemary dressing; 1/2 twice baked sweet potato

Comments - All. over. that. Got my greens and my starch in. I had another really big dinner. Plowing through the food this time around. I feel like eating well in the evening makes me more hungry in the morning. I really struggled with that last time around - not being able to eat at breakfast.

 

Day 13: 1/13/17 Friday the 13th!!

Breakfast - 120z black coffee brewed with cinnamon; More steak salad (same as above, bigger salad) 2oz orange rosemary dressing

Lunch - Two large grilled buffalo chicken tenders; 1 large twice baked sweet potato; 1oz paleo ranch dressing

Comments - I feel okay today. Was still hard to get up, but I'm awake and alert. It's almost the weekend - a 3 day weekend. Very ready to kick ass and take names. I've got a lot to get accomplished around the house this weekend, and I'm going to feel SO much better mentally when I'm done. Almost halfway through this journey and I feel like I'm on the upswing for the first time.

[Betty7]

Day 13: 1/13/17

Dinner: 3 egg omelette w/ spinach, onion, red bell pepper, and tomato; 1/2 a twice baked sweet potato; handful of almonds

 

Day 14: 1/14/17

Breakfast: 12oz black coffee brewed with cinnamon; 1 can worth of tuna salad; 1 cup of red, orange, and yellow bell pepper slices; 1 banana

Lunch: 1 seasoned chicken breast; 4 celery sticks w/ cashew/almond butter; 

Dinner: Steak Salad (stew meat, mixed greens, sugar snap peas, tomato, red onion, radishes); 2oz orange rosemary dressing; seasoned and baked sweet potato "fries"  

Comments: Today was a good day. I got a lot done around the house and had a friend over for dinner and horror flicks. I need to pay attention to my water consumption when I'm at home. I definitely didn't drink enough today. My skin is clearing up around my hairline. That didn't happen until like Day 28 the last time around. Ready to start seeing more NSVs soon.

[KDiDom]

Hi Betty!  Nice work with yesterday's intake!  I am new to the forum and look forward to following your success! 

[Betty7]

And then I hit the wall again....

Day 15 - 1/15/17

Breakfast: 12oz coffee brewed with cinnamon; 1 avocado; 10oz mug of bone broth

Lunch: 1 can worth of tuna salad, 1 cup of red, orange, and yellow bell pepper slices; 1/2 a twice baked sweet potato

Comments: I feel like I got hit by a truck. I slept until noon today and could have slept even longer. I've barely gotten off the couch. It's just getting worse as the evening is going along. My back started to ache in the middle of the afternoon... still aching a lot. I am trying to hold off taking ibuprofin, but I'm not going to last much longer. I shifted around a little on the couch and noticed that the skin under my right arm is tender and sore to the touch. I swear that if I get shingles again I'm done. I can't do this again.  I might eat again tonight, but I might not. I don't have much of an appetite. I'm completely heartbroken right now.

[KDiDom]

10 hours ago, Betty7 said:

And then I hit the wall again....

Day 15 - 1/15/17

Breakfast: 12oz coffee brewed with cinnamon; 1 avocado; 10oz mug of bone broth

Lunch: 1 can worth of tuna salad, 1 cup of red, orange, and yellow bell pepper slices; 1/2 a twice baked sweet potato

Comments: I feel like I got hit by a truck. I slept until noon today and could have slept even longer. I've barely gotten off the couch. It's just getting worse as the evening is going along. My back started to ache in the middle of the afternoon... still aching a lot. I am trying to hold off taking ibuprofin, but I'm not going to last much longer. I shifted around a little on the couch and noticed that the skin under my right arm is tender and sore to the touch. I swear that if I get shingles again I'm done. I can't do this again.  I might eat again tonight, but I might not. I don't have much of an appetite. I'm completely heartbroken right now.

So sorry you aren't feeling well Betty!!  Feel better!

[Betty7]

@KDiDom, thank you. I'm feeling down, so thanks for your support.

I had another glass of bone broth last night, but no more food. I just have no appetite. My side is still sore this morning, but no rash yet. I spent the evening sleuthing, reading about food and shingles. I read an article that associates foods high in arganine (chicken, turkey, pork, nuts, gelatin) being foods to avoid during a shingles outbreak, and foods high in lysine (lean beef, fish, and eggs) being foods to increase. I've been eating a ton of nuts, chicken, turkey, and pork, and I would assume bone broth has gelatin in it. Supposedly, arganine helps viruses in the herpes family (chickenpox/shingles is the herpes zoster virus) replicate much faster than normal, and lysine helps counteract arganine. So I took a couple of lysine supplement pills to counteract the arganine, and will continue as the bottle recommends until this either goes away or a rash breaks out and I need to go see the doctor. But hopefully that will help keep it at bay and help me get back on track with my W30.

[Emma]

I just listened to a show on npr where they talked about how absolutely miserable and painful Shingles are.  I remember when my grandmother had them as well as a friend in her 30's and both said it was awful.  Hopefully you can ride through this quickly.  I've never googled shingles so the information about lysine and arganine is really interesting.  I'm always impressed with how hard it is to find a balance in our bodies when things go awry.  I hope you're feeling a touch better today.

[Betty7]

@Emma, I had it in March '15, so unfortunately this isn't my first rodeo. It's no picnic at all, though the earlier you seek treatment, the better it's supposed to be. 

And I agree - getting to a point of balance is so difficult.

[Betty7]

Day 16 - 1/16/17 MLKJ Day

Breakfast: 12oz coffee brewed with cinnamon; Steak salad (1/2lb beef tips over 1 cup mixed greens, and some radish, onion, sugar snap peas, and tomato); 1oz orange rosemary dressing

Lunch: 4oz seasoned filet of mahi mahi, handful of carrots dipped in Paleo ranch, 1 banana

Comments: I have so far eaten lightly today, but I'm forcing the food down. I can't heal if I don't eat. I've been heavily relying on nuts as my healthy fat, so I need to figure out some better substitutes.

[Betty7]

Day 16 - 1/16/17

Dinner: 1 seasoned chicken breast; 1-1/2 cups seasoned white potatoes & onions; 1/2 avocado

 

Day 17 - 1/17/17

Breakfast: 12oz black coffee brewed with cinnamon; 3 hard boiled eggs; handful of carrots; 1/2 twice baked sweet potato

Lunch: 8oz mug of bone broth

Dinner: 8oz round steak; 1-1/2 cups seasoned white potatoes & onions; 1/2 avocado; 8oz mug of bone broth

 

Day 18 - 1/18/17

Breakfast: 20oz black coffee brewed with cinnamon; 3 hard boiled eggs; 1 cup baby carrots; 1/2 an avocado

Lunch: 8oz round steak; 1/2 twice baked sweet potato; 1 cup celery sticks; 1/2 an avocado

Comments: I.feel.like.hell. 

The pain in my back & side is killing me. I almost hope I do break out in a rash now because at least then I can go see the doctor and he'll give me an antiviral. I took yesterday off work sick and just laid around all day doing nothing. Yay crappy TV. Another season of Grey's reruns under my belt. I only managed to eat twice yesterday, too. I just want to feel better already. UGH 

Further research I did shows that I don't necessarily need to avoid foods with high arganine content, it's foods with a low lysine to arginine ratio that need to be avoided, since lysine counteracts the arganine's effects. Paying attention to the overall ratio consumed appears to be key. So cutting way back on nuts and foods in the gourd family seems to be what I need to do going forward, since I currently can't counter-balance them with dairy products (see this article for more info - http://www.herpes.com/Nutrition.shtml). I'm almost excited to do this all over again in a few months, keeping this new information in mind, to see if I can do a W30 without an illness catastrophe. Hah.

I also think that long-term, after doing a reintroduction, that I'm going to put at least a small amount of dairy back into my diet permanently to help me in my fight against shingles... because I freaking love nuts.

[Betty7]

Something I forgot to mention before - The Dreams started last night.

I woke up a bunch last night in between terrible dreams of very purposefully going off plan, and then feeling guilty as hell about it afterward. The relief washing over me when I woke up helped me drift off to sleep again, but man, I wish I could skip this part!

[Betty7]

Day 18 - 1/18/17

Dinner: 1 can worth of tuna salad, 1-1/2 cups of sliced bell pepper dipped in paleo ranch

 

Day 19 - 1/19/17

Breakfast: 14oz black coffee brewed with cinnamon; 3 hard boiled eggs; 1 cup sliced bell peppers; 1 cup baby carrots; 1 avocado

Lunch: Steak salad (1/3lb beef tips over 3 cups mixed greens, onions, radish, & sugar snap peas); 2oz orange rosemary vinaigrette dressing

Comments: Still so tired! I am getting really impatient waiting to feel better. On the upside, the pain in my side has gone away. I officially think I am over the shingles danger... as long as I keep watching my amino acid ratio. I took lysine this morning, but I think that will be my last dose unless it starts to flare up again.

[Betty7]

Day 19 - 1/19/17

Dinner: 2 palm-sized portions of salmon w/ mango-avocado salsa (be sure to sub oil for butter - http://againstallgrain.com/2013/05/18/blackened-salmon-with-mango-avocado-salsa/) over 2 cups of spinach

 

Day 20 - 1/20/17 Inauguration Day

Breakfast: 14oz black coffee brewed with cinnamon; 3 hard boiled eggs; handful of baby carrots; handful of sugar snap peas; 1/2 avocado; 1/2 cup of seasoned sweet potato "fries"

Lunch: 1 (larger than) palm-sized portion of salmon w/ mango avocado salsa over 2 cups of spinach; 1/2 avocado; 1/2 cup of seasoned sweet potato "fries"

Comments: I probably skimped on the fat for dinner last night (there's some avocado in the salsa, plus cooking fat, but that's not a lot), but I just couldn't figure on anything else. I needed to save my last avocado for today. No nuts is killing me. At least avocados are on sale right now for $0.98/ea. I can't tell if I feel like crap of if I just generally feel dread about the next four years. I'm excited to try the chili I made for dinner, but it's going to be a long day at work. I have a lot to get done and no motivation...

[ArtFossil]

42 minutes ago, Betty7 said:

Day 19 - 1/19/17

Dinner: 2 palm-sized portions of salmon w/ mango-avocado salsa (be sure to sub oil for butter - http://againstallgrain.com/2013/05/18/blackened-salmon-with-mango-avocado-salsa/) over 2 cups of spinach

 

Day 20 - 1/20/17 Inauguration Day

Breakfast: 14oz black coffee brewed with cinnamon; 3 hard boiled eggs; handful of baby carrots; handful of sugar snap peas; 1/2 avocado; 1/2 cup of seasoned sweet potato "fries"

Lunch: 1 (larger than) palm-sized portion of salmon w/ mango avocado salsa over 2 cups of spinach; 1/2 avocado; 1/2 cup of seasoned sweet potato "fries"

Comments: I probably skimped on the fat for dinner last night (there's some avocado in the salsa, plus cooking fat, but that's not a lot), but I just couldn't figure on anything else. I needed to save my last avocado for today. No nuts is killing me. At least avocados are on sale right now for $0.98/ea. I can't tell if I feel like crap of if I just generally feel dread about the next four years. I'm excited to try the chili I made for dinner, but it's going to be a long day at work. I have a lot to get done and no motivation...

As a former Betty (until college) let me just say I'm with you on all fronts, including the dread, and I am also cheering you on. You're being admirably dedicated to your Whole30. Do you like homemade mayo? That's my favorite fat for salmon, especially with a little chopped gherkin for a quick tarter sauce. 

[Betty7]

I do love homemade mayo @ArtFossil. I always use it in deviled eggs. I didn't really think of making tartar, though. Might encourage me to eat more fish! But I feel like I can never find compliant pickles. I think it might just be that there's some additive in most brands, and I can never remember if it's okay or not, and then I just give up and don't get them. I should just look it up already and get me some dang pickles. Lol.

I don't necessarily feel "better" right now, but I do feel better about myself when I'm following a Whole30, being responsible and nourishing my body. It's easy for me to be dedicated to that kind of self esteem booster.

The only thing I can honestly say I miss is alcohol. I love beer. Love. And I enjoy wine with girlfriends, or after a bad day. So it's hard, and I think about it a lot, but it's also eye-opening to realize the depth of my relationship with alcohol as a reward, as a comfort, for socializing, and also as a coping mechanism. I think a January Whole30 may be a permanent fixture in my life. That's at least something I can control for the next 4 years, right?!?