So Many Eggs

I call it "Bowl of Limp-Looking Kale, Zucchini, and Fried Egg, Plus Some Tiny Baby Toes in the Corner." Subtitle "A Little Too Much Green All at Once."

During the blizzard, my neighbor was telling me about her experience doing Whole 30 (basically a month-long paleo blitz diet, if you're unfamiliar...in other words you pretty much just eat meat, eggs, vegetables and fruit) and although I've heard about it a bunch, this time it piqued my interest for real. My sugar consumption was getting out of control and I was feeling so sluggish and gross. So I decided to do it, and Matt joined me.

16 days in, I'm officially over it. Luckily we decided from the beginning that ours would actually be a Whole 20.

I'd happily do it again in the future, but I'd only do it for a week or two. The pluses: I've been eating a ton of greens. I have never liked eating greens; although in normal life I dutifully stuff big bunches of them into smoothies a few times a week, I wouldn't eat them with meals if I could help it. This month I've eaten big bowls full of them with every meal and it doesn't even faze me. I think this is a habit I can keep up in some form. Another plus: I actually do feel really good. I am sleeping great at night and feel energetic during the day. I thought I read ingredients on packages before, but now I pay even closer attention. And possibly the biggest plus: in the past 16 days, I have eaten lots of big meals but not once have I regretted eating too much of anything, which has been a lifelong problem for me. I grew up with giant bowls of ice cream as the norm. For adult Eliza, giant bowls of ice cream are still tempting but they leave me with a hangover.

The minuses: Whole 30 is sort of a cult, and during the first week I could feel myself drinking the kool-aid, as it were. Not a comfortable feeling. Another minus: awkward at dinner parties. Another minus: not fun at restaurants. Another minus: no cookies. Another minus: more expensive and more time-consuming. Another minus: although my consumption of most vitamins and minerals went through the roof (hellloooo, vitamin A and iron), without fortified milk I really struggled to get enough vitamin D and calcium.

Another minus: so many eggs.

Because I know my mom will worry about this, I will also say that my milk supply has been great. Although I had a brush with mastitis, but I don't think that had to do with my diet.

Anyway so that was an adventure but I'm glad it's almost over. And when I get to day 20, I'll make myself some cookies, and I'll eat them without any spinach at all.