Whole30: Week Three

I'm in the home stretch now and for some reason, it's gotten harder again. I'm not sure what it is, except maybe I'm a little more "hormonal" and am wanting to give in to cravings (but I haven't yet). Another reason it's hard right now might be that I can see the light at the end of the tunnel and just want to get there.

How I feel:
I am still feeling pretty good, but this weekend started having some gastrointestinal issues, so I am looking at what I ate and how I might need to adjust some things. My clothes are really fitting more loosely, which I like, and I can tell that my midsection is slimmer. That feels good!

What I have learned this week:
I have noticed that I am not "needing" my mid-afternoon snack as often as I used to. I still get hungry mid-morning, even after a good, protein-filled breakfast, but my afternoon appetite isn't as strong. When I was on another eating plan, the facilitator told me that I should eat five times a day:  three meals and two healthy snacks. I had been sticking to that for a few years, but I also don't think I should eat if I'm not that hungry, so I've been letting go of my afternoon snack, especially if I'm going to go home after work and can eat dinner before too late.

What I miss:
I still miss oatmeal and am thinking that it might be my first food to reintroduce, along with other grains. I still need to read more about what the Whole30 people recommend, but I am not really missing legumes, so I may not reintroduce that first.

What I've been eating:
I saw recipe for avocado egg salad and made an adaptation of it. It is so yummy and I have made it three or four times this week for lunch.

Daniel was home for Spring Break last week and was at my house for dinner on St. Patrick's Day. I made some Whole30-approved salmon cakes, green beans, roasted kale and new potatoes. Not necessarily an Irish feast, but there was lots of green and we enjoyed it!

I finally got around to trying another recipe I had seen for a turkey sausage/sweet potato/apple skillet dish. It also became a new favorite for me to have for breakfast with eggs & spinach or for dinner with some other roasted veggies thrown in.

What's next:
I want to continue eating "clean" after the Whole30 is over, and have been reading about how to reintroduce foods and how to stay on track, while letting myself not be so strict. I will need to be careful about sugar and will probably still limit dairy, based on what I learned from my past eating plan and how I felt reintroducing it.

I'm going to keep on keeping on this week and will look forward to a treat of some kind (not necessarily food) on Day 31!