It’s D11 Already
Wow!!! Where does the time go. It’s day 11 on this new journey. I haven’t written in several days because I didn’t think I had anything worthy to say. But as I sat in front of my dinner plate, a thought raced through my head. “Who wouldn’t want to read about this?”
I got really excited and couldn’t wait to finish dinner so I could share my recipe. I went from self-doubting to pure excitement and confidence that someone else would have to find this interesting!
The first several days were hard. I had a terrible headache, didn’t feel well, I was irritable, and so very sleepy. The body’s natural response. It was crying out to me. “Don’t do this!!! I need sugar, carbs, processed goo!” If those symptoms weren’t bad enough I was bloated and gassy. My family loved that one. Again, a natural response to the increase in fiber consumption. I’m a trooper though and hung with it. It’s not the first time I’ve had to work through discomfort to get the results at the other end.
I’m far from the finish line but on this day 11 I feel great compared to how I’d been feeling for the last few months. I’m not so groggy, my mental clarity has improved and low and behold I’ve been sleeping better. I can’t wait to see how I feel after day 30.
We try to eat consciously most of the time but eating only Whole Foods takes nutrition to a whole new level. Huh, enjoy the pun. The Whole30 program eliminates possible food triggers that may cause irritation to one’s body.
My disclaimer: I am not a nutritionist or an expert on Whole30. I fact I just got the book yesterday, 10 days into my 30 day program.
Not having all the information has never stopped me from doing whatever I want. And I jumped into this with both hands in the fire with little to know information. Only the help and guidance from my friend Dana and her Facebook Whole30 support group.
I have to admit it has been so much fun to cook up tasty meals that look like they were sliced off a rainbow.
(Pic to come)
Last night was my birthday. Instead of the nutient void, carb excessive, cardiac waiting to happen feast I usually request with a cake whose only purpose is to support the ton of homemade sugar frosting for desert, we made a dinner using only Whole Foods. For dessert Brittany and Patch made a fruit cake. Not the kind you get for Christmas from Grandma and throw away after she leaves. This one was made with fresh fruit carved and put together in a decorative, festive way. It helped that Brittany used to work for one of those stores that makes fruit arrangements. To top off the fruit dish I whipped up some coconut cream. As my friend Dana says, “coconut cream is the bomb! Never in my life would I think anything could replace real whipped cream. I was wrong. And it’s guilt free.
(Pics to come)
Tonight dinner was a notch above the last few days. I’m not sure if it’s because I am feeling better, if my taste buds are waking up, or some other reason but it was so pretty and yummy.
I called it fruit smoothie baked chicken breast.
Recipe: 2 whole skinless, boneless chicken breasts sliced into cutlets. Total 4. Place in a bowl. I added frozen mango, pineapple, cantaloupe, watermelon, the juice from one lime, salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, celery salt, cumin, turmeric and grape seed oil into a cup and puréed with an emersion blender. Basically making a smoothie. I added that to the chicken with a diced shallot, covered and marinated in fridge for several hours. I then took it out of the fridge, arranged cutlets and smoothie mixture in a cast iron pan then baked in a 425 degree oven for 15 minutes or until done. I served it with a mixture steamed broccoli, carrot slices, and turnip cubes. Then rounded out the plate and with avocado and grape tomatoes. It was so yummy. My mouth exploded with flavor. With recipes like these I should be charging a fortune.
Enjoy!