Day 16

Good Morning and welcome to Day 16 on Whole30 -- the beginning of the downhill journey. I know I still have 14 days left, but I really don't want it to end. I have never felt so good, so happy, so energized, so fresh, so excited...and I am almost afraid of Day 31. I really think after Whole30 I will continue and do another Whole30, or at least keep with the lessons I have learned and continue to eliminate certain foods from my diet. Eliminating dairy, grains and sugar has not been as hard as I thought I am feel incredible. Where I used to feel sluggish and tired and bloated, I no longer do and I know it is because of my food choices the past 15 days. I know that by eating protein and fat and eating 3 large meals a day and not snacking that I have changed my taste buds, my habits and my body in a good way. My blood sugar is regulated, my body is using fat for fuel instead of sugar and all aspects of my life are benefiting! That's not to say I will never have a paleo brownie or cupcake, but not on a regular basis and certainly not everyday. I am definitely going to stay with a paleo lifestyle after Whole30 and keep grains out of my diet and dairy because I know those things negatively effect me and my body and mind! Sugar will be on special occasions - like a Saturday evening at home baking with Ryan, or an event where I can bring something sweet so I know I can have something while everyone is having sugar laden and carb heavy treats. I don't want to deprive myself, I just want to control when and how I "treat" myself. I want to get rid of seeing food as a reward and more as a decision that I am conscious of making!

The first day downhill started with a morning at home with Ryan! I really wanted to go to Bar Method but sometimes an extra hour of sleep is more important than an hour working out. Breakfast for Ryan was a bowl of gluten free cereal and a simple scrambled eggs!

I used the remaining leftover chocolate chili from Saturday night and made chili with fried eggs (runny) and some slivered almonds, shredded unsweetened coconut, pistachios and goji berries. It was delicious - so warm, so filling and was a great alternative to a vegetable omellete. I really love the chili and next time I need to make a larger batch to freeze!

Lunch today is a large vegetable salad with leftover pork chop and mango salsa!

For dinner I really want to make spaghetti squash "pizza" from OMGPaleo but it takes a lot of time to cook because the spaghetti squash takes 40 minutes and then the pie takes 1 hour of additional cooking time. But it is going to be great for morning breakfast instead of omelettes on Bar Method mornings the rest of this week so I really want to do it. Ryan said if he gets home early enough he could buy the spaghetti squash and prep it for me to save time! Fingers crossed!

Have a great day everyone!

XO