Yes, I’m in the middle of the Whole Life Challenge. Yes, it is restrictive. But, I’m eating great food. I’d hardly call it “No Fun.” So, I decided to list what I ate yesterday as an example of what all I get to eat.
Here’s a quick overview of the rules – no dairy except small amounts of butter, no grains (vegetarians are allowed brown rice, quinoa, buckwheat, wild rice, and amaranth), no sugar or other sweeteners except for stevia, no corn or potatoes, no fruit juice, no alcohol, no processed food, no soy except miso and tempeh for vegetarians. It is designed to be a Paleo challenge with allowances made for us “poor” vegetarians. The rest of the challenge involves daily workouts and stretching and taking a supplement of our choice. I’m taking B12.
Normally for breakfast I’d make a smoothie. Of course on the day I was going to post I had a craving.
Yeah, I had spaghetti for breakfast. This is a pasta made out of brown rice and water. I figured that was legal for me. I was craving the mouth feel of pasta. The sauce is a bottled sauce with no chemicals or sugar.
At 10:00 I had a Lara Bar.
I made this creamy vegetable soup yesterday morning. It is mostly this 7 Vegetable Soup but I was missing a few of the vegetables. I finished it right before work so the jar was hot when I was carrying it in. By lunch time it still hadn’t totally cooled in the frig so I didn’t need to warm it up. People realized that I had made it before work. “You made homemade soup before work? Who DOES THAT?”
“Um, a person who was up at 5:30 for 6 AM CrossFit class?”
“Freak”
It isn’t that hard especially since I don’t leave for work until 10. Plenty of time to make some food.
I ate about half of the jar of soup and another Lara Bar too.
I had an orange when I got home from work and then went for a walk with the husband and the dog. After that I had a bowl of rice with salsa and pumpkin. Being allowed to have rice on the challenge this year is amazing. Last year I did this and I kept craving something chewy. Now I’m totally satisfied with my rice options.
I’m always surprised that I don’t crave sugar when I do this. I eat a lot of fruit and dates so it isn’t like I’ve cut all sugar out of my life but I’m satisfied. I always wonder when I’m in the midst of this why I don’t continue after the 2 month challenge is over. I guess I get lazy about making food. After last year I kept the no processed food ban in place. This year feels more like a lifestyle change than a diet challenge.
In the first 4 weeks I’ve lost 7 lbs.
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Haha I love that you made soup before work, that’s exactly my thinking – if I have the time, why not? I guess it’s more about priorities. I’ll take fresh homemade soup over a lie in any day 😉 (well, most days!) Sounds like you’re doing great on the WLC, I think when you see a plan as a lifestyle change rather than a ‘diet’ etc you’re going to benefit do much more from it.