I have good news, and I have bad news.
First, the goods news. I was surprised to learn on Monday that we are not going cold turkey (pun intended) this week when it comes to following the Whole30 nutrition guidelines. Instead, this is our preparation and transition week (so much for last week's binge...), and we were given specific guidelines to follow as the week progresses. By Friday, no dairy and ensure all meals include both a protein and a fat. Beginning at midnight on Monday morning, no grains or alcohol. Learn to upload pictures of all of our meals onto Tumblr by Monday, and complete a few reading assignments from the creators of Whole30 and their book It Starts With Food.
Now for the bad news. The challenge does not end in time for St. Patrick's Day. It ends on Monday, March 23rd. So instead of green beer on my absolute favorite holiday of the year, I'll get my green on by putting a slice of lime in my iced club soda.
We had our first, hour-long nutrition call with our Fearless Nutrition Leader (a.k.a. Megan) on Tuesday night. Actually, it was not a call, it was my first official Google Hangout, which makes this forty-something gal feel super hip (yes, smarty pants, I do know that by just using the word "hip" I am in fact proving just how unhip I am). To take a stab at summarizing Fearless Nutrition Leader's rules for the program, I will paraphrase a quote from one of my favorite movies, Say Anything:
"You can't eat anything bought or processed, buy any food sold or processed, or drink anything sold, bought or processed."
Awesome. This should be fun.
To prep for the upcoming week, I spent a lot of time over the past few days flipping through my voluminous cookbook collection, picking out recipes to populate the meal plan I am creating for the upcoming week's meals. As someone with a self-professed cookbook problem, I own hundreds of recipe collections with most focusing on how to prepare healthy vegan or vegetarian fare that should be easily translatable into dishes that stick to the guidelines on the plant-based version provided to me by Megan.
I also invested in two amazing cookbooks that I highly recommend to anyone trying the Whole30 - Well Fed and Well Fed 2. The author and esteemed Paleo blogger Melissa Joulwan actually created the meal template for Whole30, and my relatively educated review of these cookbooks is that they are absolutely amazing. They include everything from specific meal-planning suggestions, including a description of the author's "Weekly Cook-up" (what I refer to as my "Sunday Ritual" thanks to my Precision Nutrition training), grocery lists, ideas for quick meals and snacks, a list of essential kitchen tools, and of course, numerous Whole30-approved recipes that are simple to make but full of flavor thanks to creative seasonings and plan-approved sauces.
While all of the protein recipes in these cookbooks are meat or seafood-based, I went through each recipe, marking down suggestions for which Whole30-approved vegetarian protein might be the best substitute for the meat or fish in a particular dish. Oven-Fried Salmon cakes will become Soaked and Smashed Chickpea Cakes. Chicken Nanking can easily transform into Tempeh Nanking. And who needs beef in chili when you can have sprouted lentils instead (don't answer this question, Meatatarians - or Texans...)?
I know. I know. The Paleo Police are about to come get me when they read I'll be eating soaked beans and organic tempeh as part of this program. All I can say is that I am following the guidelines from the vegetarian/vegan Whole30 plan provided to me by Fearless Nutrition Leader. I promise you, while I may bow down to the Legume Lucifer over the next 8 weeks, I will resist the temptation of the Grain Satan and avoid the wrath of the Alcohol Apocalypse at all costs.
I've always found that when it comes to healthy eating (or pretty much anything for that matter), planning and preparation are the keys to success, so my next task was to rid my kitchen of all of the ingredients I would not be able to partake in over the course of the program. I spent several hours sorting through the pantry and the refrigerator, carefully stashing away non-perishables in bags that I have stored in my guest room closet, where they will sit patiently (and out of sight, out of mind) until the end of the 8 weeks. As for the non-compliant items in the refrigerator, I graciously offered them up to the garbage gods, although I fortunately had far fewer foods to throw away than to store.
I finally set out to purchase ingredients for my weekly meal plan at the grocery store. As usual, I headed to 3 separate locations: (1) Trader Joe's for their great prices on items like nuts, seeds, read-to-eat/cook fresh fruits and vegetables, and my absolute favorite frozen berry/cherry mix; (2) Whole Foods, for some harder-to-find items, but really just because perusing the aisles makes me feel happy and as if all is right in the world; and (3) Mom's, a local health food store that has a smaller selection but better prices than Whole Foods. At the end of my supermarket tour, I ended up spending more than I would in a normal week, but I invested in a number of staples that I will not be purchasing weekly - coconut aminos (think soy sauce minus the soy but plus coconut), natto (a fermented bean product that was high on the Whole30 vegetarian protein list - I have no idea what it is, but how weird can a bean be?), sunflower seed and cashew butters (the raw version without sweeteners or sunflower oil was pricy, but I'm sure it will taste like food crack), etc. Here's a picture of some of the special items I put in my cart to prepare for Week 1:
(Do not fear, Fearless Nutrition Leader [of course, you are Fearless, so fear you do not]. I included the beer as a little comic relief, and it will most assuredly be consumed in advance of this Sunday's alcohol cut-off. Plus, it's local, so that should count for something...)
It Starts With Food recognizes that food is emotional - "it's comfort, it's celebration, it's punishment, and it's reward." The authors warn that the combination of the physical and the emotional ties to certain foods will likely mean during the first week we'll experience "'withdrawal'" symptoms like headaches, lethargy, and crankiness." So, if you happen to run into me this week, consider yourself forewarned.
With the kitchen organized and stocked and my meal plan in hand, I am ready to begin the program. As I embark on this adventure, I cling tightly to the words of author, motivational speaker and leadership expert Robin Sharma, having faith that he speaketh the truth: "As you move outside of your comfort zone, what was once the unknown and frightening becomes your new normal."
And so, I dive head first into my new normal.
Until next time,
Kathleen
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