I did not quit the Whole 30! I did shed some tears and think about quitting, though.
Whole 30 Day 11 – 15
Thursday, July 31st – Monday, August 4th
I haven’t updated my Whole 30 diary in several days because Day 11 was rough. Tears were shed at the dinner table, and it was an out-in-public dinner. I just haven’t felt like updating since then, and I also haven’t felt like eating very much. Thursday, Day 11, started off pretty great. I knew I would be away from home all day so I planned out my food day, beginning with a hearty breakfast, and I packed a lunch of favorite foods so that I would enjoy each meal and feel satisfied. I ate a larger breakfast than usual to help keep myself full longer. The day went by smoothly, and even though there was an Umami just a few doors away from the office building, I didn’t indulge, and I enjoyed my packed lunch.
By the time I was making the drive back to Orange County from Pasadena, I was majorly craving Umami Burger and convinced David that we should have dinner there. I had it all planned out in my head. I would order my usual Hatch Burger, with lettuce instead of the bun and omit the cheese. I would order sweet potato fries and enjoy them with Umami’s house made garlic aioli. I forgot one crucial detail about dining at Umami. They do not make substitutions. This is something I actually really like about Umami. I think it’s pretty cool that a restaurant can say, “look, I spent time coming up with these flavor combinations, and switching them up all over town would diminish the flavor pairings. So what you see on the menu is what you get.” I approve. Except when I am doing the Whole 30 and would like to make some substitutions.
I was able to get my burger wrapped in lettuce instead of a bun because that is something they offer on the menu. I was not, however, able to order it without cheese. By the time I realized that I would not be able to eat a Whole 30 compliant meal, I was very hungry and we had two hungry girls with us, so leaving wasn’t exactly an option. So we stayed, and I had my burger with cheese on it. I also had it wrapped in lettuce, and that just did not satisfy my burger craving. My brain still believes that a burger is something served on a bun, preferably a toasted one, and lettuce is not an acceptable replacement. Then there were the sweet potato fries. I’m trying to get my tastebuds used to the sweetness of not-white potatoes, and I was having a burger, so I wanted fries. I ordered some sweet potato fries, and found out upon my first bite that Umami coats their sweet potato fries in some sort of brown sugar salt. I was not a fan of the flavor, and I also was not a fan of the added sugar. Already upset that my burger was non-compliant, and also not very satisfying, and now finding out that the sweet potato fries, a Whole 30 staple, were also non-compliant just tipped my fragile state over the edge. I cried. Actual tears fell out of my eyes because of my dinner. I felt so silly and embarrassed that I was crying over fries. I also felt dumb for going out to eat in the first place, and furthermore going out to eat at a place where I couldn’t find a compliant meal. When the server came out and offered dessert, I had to exercise all of my willpower to refuse a big ice cream sandwich and throw in the Whole 30 towel right there and then. I am realizing more each day what an emotional pull food has in my life.
Breakfast: scrambled eggs, crispy prosciutto, raw carrots, banana.
Lunch: 2 hard boiled eggs, carrot sticks, figs, banana, handful of dry-roasted almonds.
Dinner: Hatch Burger protein style, sweet potato fries.
Whole 30 Day 12
Friday, August 1st
Breakfast: scrambled eggs, prosciutto, fruit smoothie
Lunch: 2 hard boiled eggs, 1 banana
Dinner: 1 head roasted cauliflower (oops! I started picking at it after it was roasted and then never got around to preparing a protein to accompany)
Whole 30 Day 13
Saturday, August 2nd
Breakfast: scrambled eggs, prosciutto, fruit smoothie
Lunch: chinese chicken salad, handful of pistachios
Dinner: honeydew and canary melon, apple (again with the non-protein dinner! We had a busy day, and by the end of it I didn’t have much of an appetite)
Whole 30 Day 14
Sunday, August 3rd
Breakfast: green smoothie
Lunch: Chicken lettuce wraps, fruit salad
Dinner: Chinese chicken salad, honeydew melon, 1/3 of an Apple Pie Lara bar
Whole 30 Day 15
Monday, August 4th
Breakfast: scrambled eggs, extra crispy prosciutto, kale apple juice
Lunch: 5 carrots, handful of pistachios, fruit smoothie
Dinner: Chili burger protein style, sweet potato fries with mayonnaise and buffalo sauce
By Day 15 I was starting to get back into the swing of the Whole 30 and ate pretty well that day. My dinner was totally satisfying, too! I took a different approach to the burger and ate it with a knife and fork. So I think I got my brain away from thinking about the fact that burgers are supposed to come with buns, and the added lettuce was a welcome crunch. The sweet potato fries were not dusted with added sugar, and when dipped in mayonnaise and/or buffalo sauce were quite tasty.
I’m halfway there! I think I can I think I can!
1 thought on “I Did Not Quit! Whole 30 Day 15”