The Skeptic’s Whole30: Day 4
Thursday, Feb. 22, 2018
This post is part of a series. For the previous post, click here. For the whole series, click here.
Banana chia pudding is gooooood. And easy to make. If I’m not having hunger pangs at 10am, it will become a staple breakfast during this experiment.
Yesterday I was feeling doubtful that I could make it through even a week of this insanity, let alone a month. Today, at least this morning, I feel better. It helps if you’re well rested. I wonder how I’ll feel in a few hours, after the day gets into full swing.
OK, so far so good. I just had the leftover pork meatball and spaghetti squash soup from last night, for lunch, and I’m feeling satisfied. Tonight for dinner it’s gonna be Turkey and Squash Chili, made with butternut squash. I’m thinking that maybe every day there needs to be a potato, sweet potato, or squash component in order for me to feel okay. As for the kids, I learned my lesson: I’m going to put it in quesadillas for them, with tortillas and cheese.
So far, I haven’t had to make a separate lunch entrée once. Every day I’ve been able to have the previous night’s leftovers for lunch. Which means that last weekend I overbought, and hopefully I can just save the recipes I didn’t cook this week for next week. And perhaps my grocery bill will also be smaller. I have plenty of frozen meat and fish in my freezer already.
Which reminds me: In two days, I’ll be going shopping again. Even though I bought enough to last me through Sunday, I will need to plan out next week before I go to the store on Saturday. And it looks like there are 5 meals I didn’t cook this week that can be all the dinners for next week, Monday through Friday! I figure I’ll be able to eat leftovers for lunch again, same as this week. And for breakfast during the week, I can alternate between hash browns and chia pudding, my two winners from this week.
This evening I was super organized and started cooking dinner before 5pm! That makes such a difference. I made the chili, Big Kid ate pretty much a whole quesadilla and Little Kid ate a nontrivial amount of his! It was very good; I’ll be having the leftovers tomorrow. The only problem I had with it was that it tells you to add the squash and then let it simmer for 10–12 minutes, until the squash is tender. And it took a whole hell of a lot longer than 10–12 minutes for my squash to get tender. You really don’t want to eat a squash-based chili with big hard pieces of squash. You want your squash squishy. I bet it would help to soften the squash up in the microwave for a bit before putting it in the skillet.
But now it’s 9pm, and you know what? I wish I could HAVE SOMETHING. Just, you know, to have something. Should I have some chia pudding? But I’m saving that for breakfast. I wish I could just have, like, a cookie. It isn’t just the cookie I miss. It’s mostly the ability to have it. To just decide on the spot that you want it and then go get it. Is this something that can or should be “gotten over”? If it can, can it be done in 30 days?
What I’m hoping to be able to do, after this is all over, is incorporate all these recipes into my life in such a way that I am making them all the time and they’re making up the bulk of what I eat, but still have the freedom to do what I want. Like if one day I happen to be going out, I don’t have to bring a special meal in a thermos while everyone else gets food from a restaurant. Or, if after a long day of eating healthily, I want a cookie, I can have a cookie. The thing I like about this diet is what it ADDS to your eating repertoire, not what it takes away. Sure, it takes away a lot of things, but the way I see it, the value lies in learning how to cook wonderful food without those things, so as to decrease the amount of those things you eat overall. I know I could stand to eat less sugar, and I’d love to ease up on the refined carbs and the cheese, but I don’t think it’s necessary for me to give them up entirely. That’s not what this is about for me.
I read about the “reintroduction phase” today. That’s the period right after you finish the Whole30 when you start to eat grains, dairy, and sugar again, among other things. They tell you to introduce one of these at a time, so you can see how it affects your body. Like, on the first day, add just grains to your otherwise strictly Whole30 regimen, and see how it makes you feel. Then they want you to go back to completely Whole30 eating for two more days after that. Really? Maybe it’s just the fact that I’m only on Day 4, but I don’t know if that’s really necessary.
The thing is, they expect that after 30 days you will FEEL SO MUCH BETTER. I’m still as skeptical as ever about this. I am really not convinced that gluten or dairy are hampering my daily ability to function. So far, after 4 days, I don’t feel any different. I feel a sense of accomplishment for having stayed on the plan, I feel hopeful about weight loss, but the way my body feels? THE SAME. So when they act as if bringing back gluten for one day is gonna be this OMG experience, like “wow I had no idea gluten was dragging me down so much,” I’ll believe it when I see it. Maybe after 30 days, I’ll feel differently.
Tomorrow: I’m thisclose to quitting, but my kids save me by not wanting pizza.
