Well, here I am on day 14 -- almost the halfway point of Whole30. I'm basically disregarding the timeline at this point, because it has been of virtually no use to me. All I can do is hope that the tiger blood I'm supposed to suddenly get 2 days from now is really coming, because I am B-O-R-E-D of this. Actually, that's not the best characterization of how I'm feeling, but it's something akin to that.
I've finally started getting deeper sleep, but I have to coax myself out of bed in the morning because I just want to keep sleeping. It's also taking some time for me to feel calm/relaxed enough to fall asleep at night in the first place, which is weird and annoying. So, so far, moderate progress on the sleep front.
The digestive issues are far from resolved. If anything, there are just new twists and turns to the saga. I had several days of sudden diarrhea (1-2 times those days) in the middle of last week and then over the weekend, which hasn't happened again since Sunday. Since then, I haven't pooped at all. I am a crabby thing when I'm constipated, so these last 3 days haven't been my favorite.
And then, of course, there were the low-carb flu days. (I've concluded decisively that this was what hit me on the night of day 3, not an actual cold. I've read a metric shit ton about it lately, and I'm thoroughly convinced.) It was an unpleasant occurrence that prevented me from good sleep and from working out, so needless to say, I was only too happy to kiss that mess good-bye when it finally started dissipating this past weekend.
Also, the cost of this has been exorbitant for me. In the past 2 weeks, my grocery bills have doubled. I am one person, eating and prepping meals for one. The health benefits are one thing, but it's simply not financially sustainable. I'm hoping that much of that has to do with the fact that I really didn't have any Whole30-compliant staples, i.e. almond butter (which I did cave in and buy, only to discover I'm not a fan >:(), and staples are a big up-front cost that then last a few weeks. Unfortunately, the other side of that coin is, there really aren't that many compliant staples -- hello, you're eating whole foods which need to be purchased fresh and consequently consumed pretty immediately thereafter. I get it. But holy crap. I definitely had not anticipated this type of hit to the wallet.
The one thing I'm pleased with, of course, is the weight loss I saw on the scale. I hope it not only sticks, but that it keeps climbing.
I'll be taking my ass to the gym tonight, for the first time since starting Whole30. Ideally, getting fitness back into my routine will have a beneficial impact on all of the above. And it better get me some pretty potent tiger blood, stat. I haven't been thinking about quitting or anything, but let's be real: I'm in it for the tiger blood. I was promised tiger blood, and if I don't get the vaunted Whole30 tiger blood, I might just lose my damn mind.
Just to end things on a good note, I'll gush about the AMAZING meal I made for my lunches this week. It's a Whole30-compliant recipe combining chicken, pecans, and apple chunks with warm fall spices in a fantastically creamy coconut milk sauce. It's completely off season, but it made my entire house smell amazing while I was cooking it this weekend, and it's kept well in the fridge and reheats very nicely. I've just been eating it over crunchy kale greens with a side of Brussels sprouts. (There's conflicting information about whether or not arrowroot is compliant; it seems largely acceptable, but if you just want to be totally safe, you can skip it and the dish won't suffer at all.) So, the joy of a new meal experience that I really enjoy -- especially as someone who typically hates cooked fruit in any setting, including/especially desserts -- is a total victory.
Happy hump day, y'all.