Whole 30: Week 2 Recap
Well, life got busy, so as I’m approaching the end of the third week of my Whole 30, I’ll give you the re-cap of last week. There was more good than bad, but still some “house cleaning” going on, which caused some ups and downs.
The Good:
Much more energy
Somewhat improved digestion
Clear skin
Increased mental focus
The whole family is eating better
The Bad:
Some residual digestive “back-up”
Emotional fluctuations
Some food boredom
I really wanted a glass of wine ;)
Overall I felt much better and didn’t have the “wading through peanut butter” fatigue. I still had moments of irritability and probably snapped at my kids more than usual, but also felt that bubbly, happy feeling quite a bit. We had to get a little more creative to avoid food boredom - no more cauli-rice next week!
One of the best parts of last week was the increased mental focus. I’ve been really productive and feel much more creative and excited about my new business, upcoming personal events and even my day job. An added bonus (because we eat meals as a family) is that my kids are eating most of what we’re eating (with a few exceptions) so they’re also getting the benefits. I can tell that their moods have improved, digestion (especially for my oldest daughter) has been much better and early wake-ups for school have been easier as she’s sleeping better and has more energy.
Things I did differently Week 2:
Paid more attention to hunger cues
Ate less dried fruit
Took less time to meal plan (we have more staples on hand from last week)
What did I eat?
Breakfast and snacks are typically the same and lunch will be a salad with protein or leftovers from dinner (see my standards for those meals here and here).
Week 2 Dinners:
Monday: Crock pot whole chicken (made on Sunday) with roasted sweet potato rounds and mixed salad
Tuesday: Grilled flank steak with cauli-rice and Asian stir-fried veggies
Wed: Chicken sausage with cauli/potato mash, peas and salad
Thurs: Grilled swordfish with broccoli and leftover sweet potatoes (see pic at top of post)
Friday: Breakfast for dinner - omelets with stir-fried veggie filling, potato cakes (from leftover mash), pasture-raised breakfast sausage and avocado/cherry tomato garnish
Next week is going to be super busy with late meetings for Aaron and some after hours clients for me, so we’re going to supplement dinners with a few Kitchfix meals and sides to make it easy to wrangle kids and make dinner solo.
Things to work on for Week 3:
Drink more water - I didn’t drink as much as planned last week and I’m sure that contributed to the digestive back-up
Add in more exercise - Lily was teething last week and woke up a lot, so I skipped more morning workouts than usual
**Note: Exercise and sweating is a great addition to Whole 30. Sweating helps detoxify the body through the skin and the extra movement helps move waste through the digestive tract.