Meals Day 4 – 8/22/13

Breakfast: Bacon and eggs
Lunch: Grass-fed beef patties with bacon, jalapeño, pickles, lettuce, guacamole, tomatoes
Dinner: Roasted chicken with mashed sweet potatoes and green beans
Snacks: Apple with almond butter / Larabar

Meals Day 5 – 8/23/13

Breakfast: Sweet potato hash, 2 egg omelette, 2 sausage patties
Lunch: Salad with all manner of topping (Whole30 approved) and grilled chicken
Dinner: Steak with roasted curry sweet potatoes and brussel sprouts sautéed with pancetta
Snack: Apple

Meals Day 6 – 8/24/13

Breakfast: Sweet potato hash, 2 eggs omelette, 3 strips of bacon
Lunch: 2 grass-fed beef patties, fried eggs, lettuce, tomato, pickles, jalapeños
Dinner: Prime rib, pork tenderloin, steamed veggies, salad with balsamic vinaigrette dressing, sautéed shrimp and vegetables, sweet potatoes with walnuts, cinnamon, and bacon
Snacks: 1/2 gluten free wedding cupcake, banana

The breakdown

Man what a whirlwind days 4-6 brought. On Thursday I actually was a bit smarter with what I fueled up on prior to the gym. My previous Whole30 gym experience was less than stellar so I was determined to not repeat that mistake. Before heading to the gym this time I had an apple and some almond butter (quickly becoming my favorite snack btw). This was clutch as the apple gave me a little sugar boost and the almond butter gave me some fat and protein. After the gym I didn’t feel like I wanted to die, or make other people die. Winning! For lunch I met up with a friend and had a burger with some toppings (lettuce, tomato, bacon, guacamole, jalapeños) and no side! This was a pretty big step as I typically have some sort of side with my burger. Then again, I usually have a beer, and a bun, but those are also out of the picture. Any way, the rest of the day was pretty good. I had high energy and was generally in good spirits. For dinner, we were smart and had a rotisserie chicken, some mashed sweet potatoes and green beans. This certainly made for a dinner reminiscent of a non-Whole30 meal. That’s something I can totally get behind!

Friday was another pretty good day for the most part. I worked from home which gave me the opportunity to go and have lunch with my wonderful wife at school! We hadn’t had a massive salad in a while so I went and picked up one from Jason’s Deli with all manner of toppings that were wholesome and delicious. Since she now works so close to home, and there are many more eatery options around, having lunch with her is a lot easier! Apparently Friday was “have things we haven’t had in a while day” cause for dinner we had steak and brussel sprouts sautéed with pancetta! Yum!! Well, this would have been a lot more “yum” had it not been for me over cooking the steaks. Its not something I typically do, but this particular time I did, and subsequently paid for it. See, I have an issue with my teeth that causes me some serious pain when I eat tough cuts of meat or generally get things caught in them. Its a long and boring story, but needless to say the meat was tough and eventually led to a SERIOUS toothache (one I’m still nursing today). When my tooth gets to aching, its all down hill from there. That pretty much ended the night.

Saturday was my friend Daniel and Lacey’s wedding!!! The plan was that Jess would go to her CPR training in the AM while I went to the wedding (who has a noon wedding anyway?!), and after the wedding I would pick her up and we would head to the reception (noon wedding and 6pm reception). The wedding itself was beautiful and it was over in a flash. I met up with Jess for lunch and had a repeat of Thursday’s lunch and off to get ready we went. Now here’s where the “fun” begins.

We both knew going into this that there was a wedding to contend with right at the beginning. Weddings have receptions, and receptions have alcohol and off-limits food. We both decided that we would be moderate in our consumption and stick to the plan as best as we could. Upon our arrival we were both having doubts of being able to hold strong. We gave each other pep talks and went in sticking to our guns. Then the wheels started to fall off. It had been 2+ weeks since either of us had drank any alcohol or had any real sugar or grain or anything. The waiters started bringing around trays of wine and other tasty concoctions and of course we had to at least have one (each) to celebrate with everyone. Well, one led to two, and two led to “lets just have one bite of [insert food item here]”. The next thing we knew it was 11:30, and we were a bit tipsy on sugar and the little alcohol that we consumed. We were lightweights and it didn’t really take much. In our former days, this quantity of booze and food wouldn’t have even put a dent in our demeanor.

The rest of the night was downhill. For the past two weeks I had been more connected with my wife than in quite some time. We were on the same page with most everything. I had been feeling great overall. She was feeling the same way. We both looked and felt fantastic after only two weeks, and all it took was one night to set us back. First drink in weeks, first “fight” in as many days. What is it about the consumption of alcohol and overloading of sugar that makes people just get stupid. Oh, that’s right… it’s alcohol, that’s what it does. One poor decision led to another and things just ended poorly. All we had to do was not take that first step back into that realm and we would have been fine, clear headed, and capable of simply enjoying each other’s company.

Definitely learned our lesson on this occasion. Just like we eased into this challenge, we should probably ease out. We climbed up this mountain slowly and it was a great view from the top, but the plummet down was swift and painful. Never-the-less we picked up our bootstraps the next day and started the climb again. I don’t think two weeks of hard work was gone in a flash, but we were certainly set back.

Stay tuned for days 7-9! More startling revelations around food at energy and all things Whole30 related to come.