Unsweetened tea?

Hello Day 4 of The Whole30! Starting a diet on a Friday was the best & the worst! It was the worst b/c I spent the weekend out of town, ie. eating out, but it was the best b/c I didn't feel like I was starting my week out with a new thing. One less thing to add to the grossness of Monday is fine by me!

Friday aka DAY 1: I did pretty good Friday & with all the car drama I really didn't have an appetite. This was my dinner Friday night. Strawberries, Asparagus and "Egg Mcnuthin's." (As my dad has named them!) I will maybe do a blog post of the recipe and how to make them! They are delicious! So much so that I made more to have for breakfasts this week. That plus a piece of fruit in the mornings is the ultimate yummy, healthy grab-n-go!

Saturday- Day 2: 
Breakfast: Banana & Boiled Egg
Lunch: Went out to eat to Ruby Tuesday had a 6oz sirloin, broccoli and spaghetti squash! It was healthy and delicious and I was STARVING! I ate every bite and by the time it came to the table I was about to devour it whole so I didn't snap a pic. I highly recommend the spaghetti squash!
Dinner: Again, we were out of town and out and about so I had a Zaxby's Grilled Club Zalad. It has a tiny bit of cheese on it as well as onion straws and the vinaigrette dressing which I'm sure contains sugar. Honestly though I didn't feel bad about making the choice to eat a little cheese and the onion straws. I realize it's not a part of Whole30 BUT it was maybe 2 tbsp. Life is to short!
Saturday was by far the hardest day so far, mainly because we were out and about and I was out of my routine. I also had a headache the majority of the afternoon. I know that was a symptom that the book said was going to happen, but I think part of it was a caffeine withdrawl headache because I didn't have coffee that morning, and obviously soft drinks are OUT!

Sunday- Day 3:
Breakfast: Ham, eggs, fruit and coffee. Fixed all this at my gmas house. Great way to start day 3.

Lunch: We took the gmas to S&S cafeteria (along with every other old person after Sunday service) and had some yummy food. It was SO hard to pass up the Mac & Cheese. I ended up with Roast Beef, Sweet Potatoes (again I'm sure it had a bit of butter and sugar, but it wasn't covered in Marshmallows) and Green beans. This meal held me a LONG time! I also had to get ahead of having another caffeine headache. The coffee and my gmas house was caffeine free and I knew I couldn't spend another afternoon with a headache. So I let go of my southern roots and grabbed an unsweetened tea! *collective gasp* For a while before the Whole 30 I had been having half sweet and half un-sweet if I had tea at all and honestly I like unsweetened tea! It gives me the caffeine fix and it's something different than water to drink. Now, that being said it was my old glass for the day all other meals was H20! :)

Dinner: I didn't even eat until 7:45, but that was mainly because I was in the kitchen whipping up some food for tonight, lunches and breakfast for this week. The chicken had marinated in Weber brand lemon pepper (no MSG) and lemon juice since Thursday night! YUM! Broccoli and a sweet potato were excellent side items! I went to bed very full and pretty proud of my food choices.

Here is a picture of my "egg mc-nuthin's" and my chicken soup I made for breakfasts and lunches this week! The soup is chicken broth, chicken, carrots and mushrooms!

Monday: Day 4
Breakfast: "Egg Mc-Nuthin," Banana, & Unsweetened Tea! Y'all it really is good! Is it even possible to put the word y'all anywhere near the word "unsweetened tea?" I promise it won't hurt you and the actual taste of TEA is good! So good in fact I think I will make my own instead of going through the BoJangles drive threw. Biscuits look especially amazing when you can't have them!
Lunch: I went with my manager to Hu Hot Mongolian Grill to celebrate her birthday... instead of eating my soup. Womp Womp. BUT I had beef and veggies. I had broccoli, green beans, carrots, mushrooms, pineapple and mango. I went light on the sauce. Again, I understand that Whole30 wants you to eliminate all sugars, but sometimes it's just not possible. A little bit of teriyaki cooked with meat and veggies has to be permitted rather than a cup cake. I have not had ANY sweets since Thursday and I can already tell a difference in the way I feel. I woke up refreshed this morning and ready to go! It's the afternoon here and so far no slump! I am ready to go to the gym for a quick hour of cardio.
I knew going into this that I couldn't be completely strict with this diet, I can't always afford the organic/hormone free meats and veggies, or like this weekend it wasn't available to me. But I know I will feel better and probably lose weight cutting out any grains, white foods, sugar, beans, etc. In just 4 days it has made me really aware of what goes in. So far, so good. I look forward to experiencing all the stages that the Whole30 website says one will go through of this diet.
Dinner: Pretty much the same as last night, more chicken, another sweet potato and green beans!

A little more about the weekend: we went to visit my gmas and this beautiful tree was at one of their houses. How can you not love fall?? All that color against a crisp blue sky! God's handy work indeed! Stay lovely...