My friend Lindsay and I are doing this together. Our original plan was to launch HalfAss30, which was going to take the world by storm. It was a slight variation: we'd follow whole30 but eat rice, quinoa, corn (but not chips, my week staple), beans and honey -- keep it real with grits, tortillas, corn on the cob, hummus, and other small joys. Losing D A G S (dairy, alcohol, gluten and sugar) seemed more than a gargantuan demand.
As we've gotten into it, though, we've become a little less half -- we axed beans and honey (except those coco dusted almonds from Trader Joe's...), corn, rice, and I may even drop quinoa...
So, the HalfAss30 has morphed into Near-Whole30 (I make chocolately smoothies -- illegal but made from all legal ingredients). Week one texts reflect the texts of all the people who've ever done Whole30:
day 4 like a boss!
eating bacon
I'm hungry...
We can do this!
photo sauteed vegetables in skillet (emoji of muscle arm)
are french fries allowed?
no
how about sweet potato french fries?
no
photo sauteed vegetables in skillet (emoji of muscle arm)
still hungry...
Let's move to France and eat cheese and butter
fried eggs are stupid without toast
coffee without cream and sugar (emoji of sobbing face)
keep on! photo sauteed vegetables in skillet (emoji of muscle arm)
so much almond butter
stomach not happy
eating bacon with these photo sauteed vegetables in skillet (emoji of muscle arm)
still hungry
what would I do without Netflix?
kids making brownies !(#$^#&@*
I didn't eat them! (emoji of 5 trophies)
photo sauteed vegetables in skilled hate everyone
still hungry
what would I do without Netflix?
kids making brownies !(#$^#&@*
I didn't eat them! (emoji of 5 trophies)
photo sauteed vegetables in skilled hate everyone
But we are doing it. And six days in I have a few observations:
(they get deeper as they go)
1. Family problem: Maeve eats no vegetables. Zero. Not a carrot stick. Not a friendly slice of cucumber. Zero vegetables. *Occassionally* I can make her a smoothie with kale, but it's a rare day she drinks a whole smoothie, so it comes out to probably a quarter of a leaf. Maeve also eats no meat. Zero. Not a piece of bacon. Not a hotdog. Not a chicken nugget. Zero meat.
I am eating meat and vegetables. All day long. Today as we were making tuna, Ben pointed out that there is no bread in the house. And no cheese. And no yogurt or corn chips or tortillas. Apparently, I now only shop for myself. He and Maeve are at the store .
2. I have apparently been dehydrated for months and months. Welcome, water.
3. Tea and I have gotten back together, and suddenly I drink it all day long like I used to -- morning into night. (It's also chilly and grey here -- all the more reason). Can one have too much tea?
3. I am low-grade hungry All. The. Time. (this is the important one).
I'm sure there's something about learning to eat without staples (and learning to like it -- turns out I only love eggs if they're on buttered toast or scrambled with Parmesan...), but there's more.
The first few days I felt hungry all the time, even after I'd just eaten a full meal. What was that? I actually wasn't hungry but my mouth really wanted me to put a piece of buttered toast, some chocolate, or a bowl of cereal in it. That made enough sense -- the deprived, craving, told-"no" parts of me were all rebelling.
But as the days have gone by and this background hunger's continued, I've had to ask the next layer of questions --> what's that hunger about? If my body is sated, but my mouth is still asking for a cappuccino with frothy whole milk/almond cake/avocado on toast, what in me is asking to be fed? Something.
When Lindsay and I were planning the HalfAss30, we were talking with friends about poor self care, and the word escape came up. Were we trying to escape throughout our weeks? We figured we'd check it out. (And of course the answer was, yes). That, apparently, is the real work of Whole30: trying to figure out what's happening at the gut level (not literally, though that may come up, too - ha). What beasts in us are trying to be fed; what are the actual cravings?
SO, that's what I'm doing these days, tuning into the growling want of comfort, connection, and reward, and the impulse to eject from stress, boredom, expectations -- and I'm feeling hungry at the same time.
Hoping this is the learning curve...
(they get deeper as they go)
1. Family problem: Maeve eats no vegetables. Zero. Not a carrot stick. Not a friendly slice of cucumber. Zero vegetables. *Occassionally* I can make her a smoothie with kale, but it's a rare day she drinks a whole smoothie, so it comes out to probably a quarter of a leaf. Maeve also eats no meat. Zero. Not a piece of bacon. Not a hotdog. Not a chicken nugget. Zero meat.
I am eating meat and vegetables. All day long. Today as we were making tuna, Ben pointed out that there is no bread in the house. And no cheese. And no yogurt or corn chips or tortillas. Apparently, I now only shop for myself. He and Maeve are at the store .
2. I have apparently been dehydrated for months and months. Welcome, water.
3. Tea and I have gotten back together, and suddenly I drink it all day long like I used to -- morning into night. (It's also chilly and grey here -- all the more reason). Can one have too much tea?
3. I am low-grade hungry All. The. Time. (this is the important one).
I'm sure there's something about learning to eat without staples (and learning to like it -- turns out I only love eggs if they're on buttered toast or scrambled with Parmesan...), but there's more.
The first few days I felt hungry all the time, even after I'd just eaten a full meal. What was that? I actually wasn't hungry but my mouth really wanted me to put a piece of buttered toast, some chocolate, or a bowl of cereal in it. That made enough sense -- the deprived, craving, told-"no" parts of me were all rebelling.
But as the days have gone by and this background hunger's continued, I've had to ask the next layer of questions --> what's that hunger about? If my body is sated, but my mouth is still asking for a cappuccino with frothy whole milk/almond cake/avocado on toast, what in me is asking to be fed? Something.
When Lindsay and I were planning the HalfAss30, we were talking with friends about poor self care, and the word escape came up. Were we trying to escape throughout our weeks? We figured we'd check it out. (And of course the answer was, yes). That, apparently, is the real work of Whole30: trying to figure out what's happening at the gut level (not literally, though that may come up, too - ha). What beasts in us are trying to be fed; what are the actual cravings?
SO, that's what I'm doing these days, tuning into the growling want of comfort, connection, and reward, and the impulse to eject from stress, boredom, expectations -- and I'm feeling hungry at the same time.
Hoping this is the learning curve...
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