Day 6 - let's do this

12:57 PM okay - so far it has been a day about adjusting. I expected that my sister would have eggs that I could make for breakfast...they ran out yesterday morning. Thankfully I had planned and prepared! I had cooked chicken breasts that I brought with me. I simply warmed it up with some onion, cut up half an avocado...that I brought with me and had breakfast! Warmed chicken is much better than cold chicken for breakfast.  Oh, and I was up early enough to eat breakfast at the table!! Woohoo!!!!! Then of course it had my coffee with coconut oil. Lunch is served at the retreat. I was able to ask for no dressing on the grilled romaine head with grilled chicken. But once I sat down with it the only thing compliant was the 2 small strips of chicken. There was bacon, Parmesan, and fried onions all through the lettuce. So I pulled out my handy dandy "just in case" bag. Cooked chicken breasts, shares some with my sister, carrot sticks and cauliflower. I honestly felt like everyone was staring at me.  No, I didn't feel like they were, I just worried that they were. I decided my determination to be successful on this whole 30 for 30 days and my desire to find my way in having a healthy lifestyle far outweighed what anybody might think about me pulling food out of my insulated lunch bag. In all actuality I am sure very few even noticed what I did. Getting over myself! Also - they had desserts! I seriously had NO desire to have any. Patting myself on the back.

Side note - this retreat is wonderful! Just what I needed!! One more workshop and one more final session and it will be over...too soon.

8:38 PM  I am home and I  am pooped! I am thinking bed by 9:30.  Part of my tired is physical, part of it is emotional.  The retreat made me take another step forward in my faith, a step of committed seeking to grow.  Today was also the hardest day I have had on Whole 30.  That being said it still wasn't bad.  I made it through.  I was on my way home by 6:30 and I hadn't eaten since 11:30 ish.  I felt a strong tinge of hunger and was getting a headache.  I; wasn't sure if the headache was from my emotionalness (yes, another new word) at the retreat, hormones , or hunger.  But I did know if I waited the hour and half until I got home to eat that it would be dangerous to my ability to reason through the making of a compliant meal.  Mazzio's salad bar to the rescue again.  Salad, boiled eggs, vinegar and olive oil.  Today was hard because it is frustrating to eat when you don't have a choice of what you are going to eat (lunch today, preplanned menu), and it's frustrating to find a place compliant to eat on the road.  I thought about rib crib - but don't they use a dry rub? Don't dry rubs have brown sugar in them?  Charlie's chicken - do they offer chicken that isn't battered?  Taco Mayo or Taco Bell - Can I have a taco salad with lettuce, tomato, onion and chicken only? Later I realized Taco Bell used to have a fresco menu...didn't it eliminate the stuff we shouldn't have?  UGH!  I had eaten all my prepacked chicken breast, and I thought I was taking too much. 

A couple of things I learned from my reading last night; 1) I am not eating enough protein at each meal.  I literally though - WHAT? I have to eat more? Good grief!  2) Variety will be important going forward.  I need to mix up the proteins through out the day for sure.  A couple of things I learned just from the past 2 days; 1) If the meal isn't perfect life will not end 2) The realization of preparation become more evident each day of this Whole30.

Finally, I FEEL GOOD!  I feel really good.  Good enough that I am content to continue moving forward.  Good enough that I am hopeful of feeling even better over the next week! 

That's all for tonight folks - sleep well!

D. J.