whole30: week one.

well, we made it through a week of whole30 eating!

you're not supposed to weigh or measure yourself until day 30, so the literal results are yet to be discovered, but i can comment on the intangible results so far...and they are good! i'm not going to claim there has been any sort of miracle transformation (yet - mwahaha!), but i figure we've been eating very indulgently for months/years now, so it's unlikely everything will just be amazing in a single week. that being said, i definitely feel a difference. the first few days were draggy - low energy, cranky, i-want-to-nap-non-stop. but by the weekend, i was feeling waaaay better. specifically, i have consistent energy levels all day. am i ready to run multiple marathons and tackle the day with so much gusto immediately upon waking? no, though i'm told by the end it will be closer to that. but - there are no slumps. i can plow right on through until it's bedtime, without really any mood swings or bouts of wanting to pass out under my desk. i'm also sleeping like the dead, which is awesome.

so, what exactly have we been eating? some pretty delicious stuff. i was initially worried about the absence of cheese, no creamer for my coffee, and (of course) no vino for 30 days!! but seriously...so far, no crazy cravings. my homegirl's birthday was last friday and i even went to a brunch and a booze-y boat party to celebrate and managed to do so without drinking! and it was still fun! like, way way fun! not saying i'm off the sauce permanently, but i do think i'll be able to breeze through the next three weeks fairly well since that was my biggest social engagement of the month. woohoo!

here was our meal plan for week 1+ (since it's already tuesday!):

monday:
meal 1 - 2-egg omelet with spinach, red onion, cherry tomatoes; 1/2 an avocado
meal 2 - salad made with power greens (blend of baby kale, spinach, chard, etc), red pepper, carrots, broccoli, snow peas, strawberries, and chicken. dressing was just some evoo
meal 3 - flank steak (cooked on the stove with ghee as the cooking fat) with roasted sweet potatoes and roasted zucchini & yellow squash

tuesday:
meal 1 - two eggs over medium over a bed of sauteed kale with half an avocado
meal 2 - leftover flank steak on power greens with leftover zucchini and squash (side note: leftover roasted veggies on a salad is a genius idea), yellow bell pepper, dressed with evoo & white balsamic
snack - 10 raw almonds and an apple (snacks aren't super-encouraged, but they say to have one if you need one and i was dragging this day)
meal 3 - this was delicious: spaghetti squash sauteed in ghee with cherry tomatoes and power greens, topped with baked steelhead trout.

wednesday:
meal 1 - sweet potato hash (this wasn't as delicious as i was expecting it to be, but it was very filling and satisfying afterwards): cubed sweet potato sauteed with ground beef and red onion in coconut oil. topped with a fried egg
meal 2 - slaw of red and green cabbage, shredded carrots, green onions, pineapple, sesame seeds, and slivered almonds. topped with chicken and dressed with a blend of homemade mayo, sesame oil and ACV
meal 3 - amazingly delicious: roasted sweet potatoes topped with shredded pork from the crock pot then topped with guacamole. hella good.

thursday:
meal 1 - eggs, half avocado, sauteed snow peas
meal 2 - leftover slaw topped with leftover pork
meal 3 - grilled bratwurst with grilled sweet potato packets (foil packets made with sliced sweet potatoes, sliced onions, some evoo, orange zest and the juice from the orange), plus more slaw

friday:
meal 1 - eggs, ground beef, guacamole
meal 2 - more leftover slaw (this stuff makes a ton so we ate it for basically a whole week), leftover chicken, a zucchini and a squash sauteed in a little coconut oil with fresh dill
meal 3 - grilled chicken with mushroom tarragon cream sauce - recipe here (soooo gooood); roasted green beans with a splash of balsamic, roasted broccoli with lemon zest & juice

saturday:
meal 1 - leftover pork, sweet potatoes, avocado
meal 2 - 2 eggs over medium, sauteed spinach, bacon, tomato juice
meal 3 - brisket & shredded pork - we were on a boat, so no veggies. but the meat was delish!

sunday:
meal 1 - omelet with leftover brats & power greens, side of avocado - realized that i'm not a huge fan of omelets. so dry!
meal 2 - leftover slaw, leftover chicken, zucchini & squash with a little homemade mayo
meal 3 - salad at whole foods - side note: i was absolutely shocked at how sugar is in basically everything. i was wanting to add some meat to my salad, but every meat on the salad bar had sugar in the ingredients! ended up getting some prosciutto from the deli and two hard-boiled eggs to add to my salad of power greens, rainbow carrots, daikon raddish, and golden beets. also had some dried plantains and guacamole.

monday:
meal 1 - eggs with sauteed zucchini & squash, half of a leftover brat, leftover guacamole
meal 2 - chicken protein salad (chicken, onion, celery, grapes, slivered almonds, homemade mayo), power greens, yellow bell pepper (about a quarter of one), homemade paleo ranch, small apple
meal 3: spaghetti squash with ground beef and homemade whole30 tomato sauce (super super yummy and surprisingly satisfying)

tuesday:
meal 1 - leftover "spaghetti" from monday night
meal 2 - tuna protein salad (same as the chicken salad, but with tuna), half a red bell, small apple, ranch, baby carrots
meal 3 - chicken with roasted sweet potatoes and slaw

it's not always easy to find sample meal plans, so maybe this will help someone else. i don't make stuff with pretty graphics, but the content is there!