Day 3: I survived my first weekend!

Confession 

This is my second time to try doing a Whole 30. Last time I tried was February of this year. If I remember correctly, February 1 was a Wednesday and I kicked ass for the first 3 days. Even on February 3, which is a day called Setsubun here. On Setsubun people eat a rolled sushi while facing that year`s lucky direction. Koichi had a work function that evening and I remember I made cauliflower rice and made my own Whole 30 approved sushi roll. It wasn`t bad and I was really proud of myself for doing it. Then, the very next day, we went to a Setsubun bean throwing event at a town about an hour from here and were all hungry when we arrived. There were food stalls with lots of good stuff...but not one single grilled meat on a stick stall. That was the one thing I knew I could have and not compromise my Whole 30 goals. My hunger got the best of me and I ate something that wasn`t allowed. Now, looking back I realize that I should have just chalked that up to me not being prepared and then gotten back on track from the next meal or at the very latest the following day...but of course I didn`t do that. After a few days I thought, "I`ll try again in March!" Then I remembered Noa and I had a trip to Kagoshima in March and I wasn`t going to want to have to question every single thing I ate while there. So you`d think I would have tried again in April, but I found some reason not to, I don`t even remember what it was now. Then in May we traveled to the inlaws` place for a few days and then Meghan came to visit and I didn`t want us to be limited on what we could eat while she was here, so May was out! Finally June came and we don`t have any big plans this month so I decided now is the time. I could have been eating this way all along and have an occasional treat, but I felt like I really need to do a strict 30 days if I`m going to do it. So here we are! What I learned from that first quickly failed attempt was that I need to be better prepared.

Day 3 (2nd attempt)
Yesterday I woke up before Koichi or Noa and immediately headed to the kitchen to make egg cups, one of my favorite Whole 30 approved breakfasts. I can make like 12 at a time and then have them in the fridge for a few days worth of breakfast. I used recipes from a woman I am following on Instagram. You can check out the recipe here. Yesterday I made the chicken fajita and the veggie pizza versions and they were both so delicious!

Yum yum yum!

For breakfast I had one each of the veggie pizza with marinara on top and the chicken fajita with salsa and cilantro on top. I also made some homemade sausage patties and added some fresh fruit.

Noa has been wanting to go to the zoo lately so after breakfast we decided to go. We can drive there in around 30 minutes, depending on traffic, but parking is so expensive! So we decided to bike to the nearest train station and park our bikes there, then we took a train and a subway ride and walked about 1/2 a mile to the zoo. Between the train and subway stations Noa said she was hungry, I`m guessing because she didn`t eat much of her breakfast, so we stopped for a snack.

Noa had chicken tenders and fries, Koichi, who has said he`d do this with me except for lunch at work and dinner parties, (HA! so much for that) had a vanilla shake and I had a black iced coffee. I was pretty proud of this small victory. 

Especially because my darling daughter kept offering me her fries. 

I AM STRONGER THAN MY LOVE OF FRENCH FRIES!

After our little snack break we made our way to the subway station and then walked to the zoo. It was fun, but I really miss the zoo in Kagoshima. The Kyoto Zoo is much smaller, which Koichi likes because it means less walking, but to me it has way too much concrete. We had lunch at a buffet restaurant that looks over the zoo. I hoped there would be more options of things I could eat, but there wasn`t much at all. 

So I ended up having both a plate and then a bowl of salad. Since I can assume there was sugar in all the dressing options I opted for curry flavored salt and soft boiled eggs which kind of served as a dressing once I broke the yolks. They had some fresh pineapple on the dessert bar so I had a few pieces of that as well. 

When we got home I was a little hungry so I had some iced coffee with coconut milk and a little pack of walnuts and...

coconut flakes and golden berries.

That little bit tided me over until long enough to organize my kitchen cabinets and get dinner ready.

This is a big drawer which is located under my sink. This part is all stuff I can have while doing Whole 30.

I did have everything in this cabinet, but it`s a bit high for me to reach, so I only put these things on the bottom shelf which I can reach just fine.

I like having my oils and spices that I use most often here so I can get to them easily. Plus if I put them in a cabinet or drawer I tend to forget what I have and don`t use them as much.

This cabinet is not organized at all. It is full of stuff that I can`t eat during this 30 days, so I put it up high and out of my way. Once I`m done I may use some of it, I may not. I haven`t decided yet. Whatever I do I will definitely have to organize this mess at some point. 

Finally, dinner! Since I had some marinara from breakfast I thought pasta sounded good. Of course I can`t eat pasta, so I made zucchini "noodles" and to the marinara I added some mushrooms, bell pepper and onions. I needed some protein so I prepared some beef cubes I had in the freezer and ate it all with a salad. 

All in all I think I had a successful day. I didn`t have a headache like I did on day 2, at least not during the day. I did find myself getting snappy as the day went on, but that`s pretty normal for me anyway. Now it`s Monday again and I am confident I can stay on track through the week, so bring it on days 4-8!