I liked participating in the Whole30. It challenged me to eat differently and it showed me there was quite a bit of unhealthy food I would have decided to mindlessly eat if I wasn’t specifically abstaining from it.

Am I glad I did it?
Yes, yes, yes. Even if you don’t plan to change your eating habits permanently, I think it’s a great idea to shake up your daily routine. It really gives you a new sense of awareness about how you’re fueling your body when you eat more of certain food groups while cutting out others.

Would I do it again?
The ultra-strict version with no alcohol? Probably not, unless I was pregnant and had to avoid alcohol for that reason. But I know I could do it.

Was the Whole30 difficult to follow?
Not if you’re ready and willing to prepare your food in advance, or at least have a rough idea of what you plan to eat that week (or at least over the next few days). Make sure you always have something in your kitchen (or at work, or while traveling) that you can eat so you won’t be caught without the right fuel when you’re hungry. I made that mistake several times at work and regretted my lack of preparation.

How were the cravings?
Honestly, I never thought about eating something sweet, like a dessert, unless it was directly in front of me. I also didn’t care about bread at all, it was no problem to give up the legumes, and I was fine without dairy (I had already been using almond milk in my oatmeal, so really the only dairy I had to cut out was cheese and Greek yogurt).

What about your weight?
When I was halfway through the Whole30, I noted I had lost four pounds in the first 15 days. When I took Melissa’s advice to add more carbs to my diet to increase my energy (I started eating a sweet potato for breakfast and a piece of fruit in the afternoon), I gained back a pound a half. My weight tends to fluctuate by a few pounds depending on what time of the month it is and how I’ve been eating, so that’s normal. I’m still down at least 7 pounds since January 1st of this year, so I’m happy with that.

How will I eat going forward?
Like I said a few days ago, I’m no longer on the Whole30…technically. But while I’ve added alcohol back in and will occasionally indulge in food I don’t normally eat (mostly at restaurants and while visiting other people), my daily food consumption will stay pretty consistent with how I was eating on the Whole30.

I don’t mind that meal planning takes a bit longer. I like eating braised cabbage in place of rice and rice pasta. I may have rice and other gluten-free grains occasionally, but I learned that I don’t need them as a staple in my diet.

Did the Whole30 fill you with energy as you hoped?
My primary purpose with doing the Whole30 was to increase my energy and put me in a better mood on a day-to-day basis. I do think my energy is a little better and I also think my mood is better, but it’s not the dramatic difference I was hoping for.

My plan is to continue doing what I’ve been doing in terms of eating and ramp up the amount of exercise I do. I’m not a fan of chronic cardio (nor is it necessary), but I could definitely do better in terms of the amount I walk, jog, and strength train. I do body weight exercises at home, but I need to do them more often, and I also plan to get outside on a more regular basis for long walks and jogging. Paul and I have been better about going outside after work and on weekends, but during the heat of summer our motivation diminishes. If I need to wake up early a few times a week and exercise outside before work, that’s just what I’ll have to do.

How did you handle making food for two people when one person wasn’t on the Whole30?
It wasn’t difficult at all. During the workweek, Paul eats breakfast and lunch on his own. He ate everything that I made for dinner, and I made certain modifications specifically for him. (For example, I would make rice for him to eat with his dinner, or he’d eat tacos in corn tortillas while I had mine in salad form.) He never complained about anything we were eating and has always been supportive of my reasons for doing this.

(When I take my plate of food to the dining table to be photographed before dinner, he jokingly refers to it as my “display plate.” That’s probably because it only looks pretty long enough for me to snap a photo.)

What does Paul eat for lunch? Does he also bring food from home?
Paul has taken dinner leftovers for lunch on several occasions, but he doesn’t do it very often. He works in an area with a lot of food options so he usually ends up buying his lunch outside the office.

I think another reason he doesn’t take dinner leftovers for lunch is because he knows I rely on them for my lunches, and he’s a sweetheart who wants to make sure my eating needs are met. Usually there are only enough dinner leftovers for one person to eat the next day, so if both of us were eating them I’d have to bump up the volume of food I prepare.

What did you eat during the Whole30?
Many examples of the food I consumed can be found in my Whole30 Flickr photoset.

Today is the final day of my Whole30! I’ll write a recap post soon, but today I want to talk about how I felt when I drank alcohol this weekend (after not having any for four weeks).

I had alcohol on both Friday night (three vodka seltzers) and Saturday night (three glasses of wine), and I felt pretty depressed for most of the day Saturday and Sunday. When I get in these dark moods, I don’t feel like talking to anyone — in fact, it’s a great effort to carry on a conversation.

My mood improved by Saturday and Sunday evenings, but that was after spending most of the day in a funk and then taking a long nap both afternoons (1.5 hours on Saturday, 1 hour on Sunday).

I don’t know whether I can completely blame it on the alcohol — I’ve experienced these moods before, including occasionally during my Whole30 when I wasn’t drinking alcohol at all, so there must be other factors involved. The timing of my dark mood this weekend seemed more than coincidental though, so I’m pretty sure the alcohol played a part.

I want to continue to identify the factors that put me in these moods and also why my energy stays so low. I’d like to do that while continuing to drink alcohol once or twice a week, but I also don’t want to feel so antisocial the next day. It’s not good for me and it’s not fair to the people I love.

I already know that hypothyroidism can mimic the symptoms of depression. (When you have such low energy, doesn’t it make sense that it would affect your mood?) While I know I’m not seriously depressed, I do sometimes experience melancholy in the form of those quiet moods.

I have two outings scheduled after work this week, both of which involve alcohol consumption, and then a trip to Richmond this weekend to see my family. I’m planning to drink, but I’ll also be monitoring what happens to my mood when I do.

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Paul and I went for a 3.5 mile walk this evening. Our route took us around the Capitol, and when we passed by the front we noticed there was a military band playing a concert. We walked closer to get a look and ended up stopping to listen for a few minutes.

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Breakfast: 2 hard boiled eggs, 1 sweet potato

Lunch: Cuban Picadillo with braised cabbage, 1 apple

Snack: A small container of CrockPot Chuck Roast

Dinner: Baked salmon seasoned with dill and lemon, served with braised cabbage (Paul had sauteed spinach)

(Reminder: I followed the Whole30 for the month of July. Here’s why.)

I woke up at 730am and decided to head to Whole Foods so I wouldn’t have to deal with the larger crowds and increased traffic later in the day.

There’s a Whole Foods on P Street NW that I had been to once before with Paul, so I decided to go to that location since it’s closer to my place than the others in the area. It’s only about three miles from my apartment but it took 15 minutes to drive there (too many traffic lights in-between).

I spent a few hours in the kitchen this afternoon doing food prep. I chopped a head of cabbage and braised some of it to eat later, made hard boiled eggs for future breakfasts, and chopped onions and grated carrots for a dinner coming up this week. I’d rather save time and do a bunch of prep at once while I have the cutting board and knives out.

Breakfast: Scrambled eggs and a tilapia filet, 1 sweet potato

Snack: 1 nectarine

Lunch/Dinner: Cuban Picadillo with braised cabbage

I had some thawed ground beef in the fridge I needed to use, so I mixed up a batch of Cuban Picadillo (I’ve made Turkey Picadillo in the past that uses bottled sofrito sauce, but I liked this version because I didn’t have to purchase that bottled sauce.) Verdict? Very good! I like the sweetness of golden raisins with an otherwise savory dish. I’ll be eating this for lunch over the next few days.

(Reminder: I’m following the Whole30 for the month of July. Here’s why.)

In the interest of full disclosure: I consumed alcoholic beverages on Friday night. Three vodka seltzers, to be exact.

It wasn’t a sudden decision. I thought it out earlier in the day and decided I was going to do it. The last few days of my Whole30 fall on a weekend and I didn’t want to go another weekend without alcohol.

I could try to rationalize my decision further (It’s already been four weeks since my last drink! I only have three days left to go anyway!), but the simple fact is, I was invited to a social event at a bar and I wanted to attend. I didn’t want to sit home while my boyfriend went without me, and alternatively, I didn’t want to attend but not drink.

This does not mean I’m going off my diet in any other way. I have not consumed grains, legumes, dairy, or anything else on the “Do Not Eat” list since July 1. I’m close enough to the end of the Whole30 that I’m satisfied I can review my experience (and discuss my plans for the future) without continuing to abstain from alcohol.

I’m absolutely comfortable with this choice. But tell me: do you disagree with my decision?

Breakfast: 2 hard boiled eggs, 1 sweet potato

Lunch: Cafe salad bar: grilled chicken, salmon, arugula, black olives, beets

Snacks: 1 apple, 1 nectarine

Dinner: CrockPot Chuck Roast with braised kale

(Reminder: I’m following the Whole30 for the month of July. Here’s why.)

I rarely ate cabbage before starting the Whole30. I didn’t dislike it; I just never had a reason to include it in any of the food I prepared.

I’ve discovered that cabbage is a great replacement for pasta or rice when you want something to serve with pulled pork, chuck roast, taco salad, or turkey burgers. Those are just a few examples.

Why do I like braised cabbage? It tastes good. It’s easy to make. The texture of the cabbage takes longer to eat than soft rice and pasta, so it automatically slows down my eating. Plus, instead of eating a bunch of carbs with no nutritional value, I’m eating more veggies than I would otherwise.

I do have to make sure I eat my cabbage cooked, since I have a thyroid disorder. Certain foods (like cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, and kale) block the production of thyroid hormone if they’re consumed raw. Cooking does away with most of the damage (but with all the cabbage I’ve been eating, I hope I haven’t been overdoing it).

How to Make Braised Cabbage

• 1 head green cabbage
• Coconut oil
• Salt and pepper
• Organic, raw apple cider vinegar

Step 1. Cut the cabbage in half, then remove the core. With the flat side of the cabbage against the cutting board, cut it into thin strips, and then use your knife to chop the strips into smaller, bite-size pieces.

Step 2. Heat 2 tsp coconut oil in a skillet over high heat. Add enough cabbage to fill the skillet without overflowing. Add salt and pepper to taste. Cover with a lid and cook about 4 minutes. (I start off with high heat to encourage browning/caramelization.)

Step 3. Add 1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar and stir the cabbage until incorporated. Reduce heat to medium-high, replace lid, and cook for another 3-4 minutes. Cabbage is done when it is tender and starts to appear translucent.

Notes:

• I usually chop a full head of cabbage at a time, but only 1/4-1/2 of it fits in my skillet. I just put the rest of the chopped raw cabbage in the fridge to cook at a later time.
• If I’ve cooked meat in my skillet before the cabbage, I just pile the cabbage in the same pan without washing it first. This lends an even darker color and deeper flavor.

Whole30, Day 26

Breakfast: 2 hard boiled eggs, 1 sweet potato

Lunch: Country Captain Chicken with braised cabbage

Snack: 1 apple

Dinner: Leftover taco-seasoned beef (with onion, mushrooms, yellow bell pepper) from yesterday’s dinner, braised kale, and guacamole

(Reminder: I’m following the Whole30 for the month of July. Here’s why.)

Paul and I went for a walk after work. I bought him a Nike+ GPS sports watch for his birthday, so he was using that to track our speed and distance while I used the Map My Run app on my smartphone. At the end of our walk, my app said we went 0.4 miles farther than his watch did…I’m not sure which one to believe! I’d prefer to believe his watch since tracking distance and speed is its primary purpose (unlike my phone, which does so very many things), but then again, my phone told me we walked farther. Which I like. Hmm.

Our walk took us past Nationals Park. (Those big silver things are baseballs.)

The CrockPot was simmering all day with homemade chicken stock, so I strained the liquid through cheesecloth when we got home (I’ve started using cheesecloth instead of a regular strainer because the broth turns out much cleaner). One container went in the fridge for upcoming meals and the others were stacked in the freezer for later.

Breakfast: 2 hard boiled eggs, 1 sweet potato

Lunch: Country Captain Chicken with braised cabbage

Snack: 1 apple

Dinner: Taco salad (beef with homemade taco seasoning, onion, mushrooms, yellow bell pepper) over braised cabbage with guacamole and salsa

I had browned the ground beef and chopped the bell pepper and onion before we left for our walk, so it was a simple process to turn it into a big taco salad (for me) and regular tacos in soft shells (for him).

(Reminder: I’m following the Whole30 for the month of July. Here’s why.)

I didn’t bring enough food to work today (luckily this hasn’t happened since earlier this month). Usually I’ll have an apple or something in the late afternoon, but I forgot to bring that final snack. And of course today was the day they had free pizza sitting out in the kitchen. Stupid pizza.

(I didn’t have any.)

Paul’s parents left this morning to return to Buffalo — plus I was pretty hungry by the time I got home — so I consumed leftovers for dinner. I did end up making another batch of Country Captain Chicken later in the evening, though. I made it last week and really liked how it turned out, so I’ll be taking it to work for lunch over the next few days.

Breakfast: 2 hard boiled eggs, sweet potato (microwaved with 1 tsp coconut oil, salt, and cinnamon)

Lunch: Sausage and Pumpkin Sauce over braised cabbage, side of cooked zucchini & squash

Dinner: CrockPot Cajun Chicken and Shrimp Creole with 1 pear

(Reminder: I’m following the Whole30 for the month of July. Here’s why.)

I’m in the home stretch now! Only one week left.

Although I would have liked to consume alcohol this past weekend with Paul’s parents in town (and indulge in his birthday sweets last night), I think other people feel worse for me than I do for myself. This month hasn’t been at all difficult to get through.

Other than a few occasions of wanting to drink alcohol when I had to abstain, or eating the same food for two meals in the same day because I didn’t have a sufficient alternative (which has only happened a few times), and spending a little extra time in the kitchen prepping ingredients — I must say, the Whole30 has been easy to follow. It helps that I already liked the food I’ve been eating (and really just needed a good excuse to eat it more often).

I’ve only had one close call, and that was last night at dinner. Paul had ordered an appetizer with octopus and offered me a small bite of what looked to us like a scallop (exact same size and shape). As soon as I put it in my mouth, I could tell it was a white potato. For a few seconds I thought about just swallowing it (what harm would one tiny potato morsel do?), but as I was contemplating what to do with the bite in my mouth, Paul said, “You don’t want to break your Whole30!!!”

In the absence of a paper napkin or suitable alternative, I excused myself to the restroom and spit it out. Mini-crisis averted.

Breakfast: 2 hard boiled eggs, sweet potato (microwaved with 1 tsp coconut oil, salt and cinnamon)

Lunch: CrockPot Cajun Chicken and Shrimp Creole with braised cabbage, and a side of cooked broccoli drizzled with balsamic vinegar

Snack: 1 apple

Dinner: Sausage and Pumpkin Sauce over braised cabbage with cooked squash and zucchini

Although I’ve only had this sauce served over rice pasta, I wanted to make it for Paul’s parents since it’s one of our favorites. As I suspected, it tastes just as good over cabbage! (I had it over cabbage; they used rice pasta.) I received compliments from everyone so it was definitely worth the time spent in the kitchen after work.

(Reminder: I’m following the Whole30 for the month of July. Here’s why.)