Whole30 – Day 28

Summary of the Day:

* Moving towards a paleo diet

* Whole Foods salad bar ROCKS

* Dining out – Whole30 style

Made it through another day! Whew! As I sit here in the hotel room craving chocolate. Only 2 days left! I’ve decided that after my 30 days are up, I’m going to take a mini break from any sort of eating plan and allow myself to have some cheese, grains, and alcohol over New Year’s Eve. In January, I will most likely be switching to a paleo diet (very similar to Whole30, but a little less strict). I want to keep eating well because it feels so good, but I also don’t want to drive myself crazy with rules and restrictions. So…even going forward, I will do my best to maintain a higher standard of health, but I won’t beat myself up if I need some chocolate at the end of the day!

Lunch today was a GORGEOUS salad from Whole Foods. I’ve never really ventured into the salad bar area there. I falsely believed that a ‘salad’ meant a bunch of vegetables and some olive oil. Boy, was I wrong! They had plenty of Whole30 approved options, and they list EVERY SINGLE ingredient so you can check for yourself and not have to guess. I ended up getting a Detox Salad and a Curried Cauliflower Salad, among other things. YUM!

I felt like I literally sprang to life after this meal! Something gave me a jolt of energy. It was nice to not feel weighted down with Christmas leftovers. I will DEFINITELY be paying the salad bar more time in the future.

For dinner, my friend told me about a vegan/raw/gluten free/organic/etc. restaurant in Minneapolis that would work well for Whole30. It’s called The Ecopolitan. I had to ask them VERY SPECIFIC questions about what went into each meal, and luckily they don’t add any sugars and they make everything from scratch (even the hot sauce, so no added preservatives or sugars). After drilling the waitress, I ended up splitting an approved “nachos” over kale and a creamy cashew cheese sauce over zucchini “noodles”.

I almost felt like I was cheating, but everything here is compliant! All the creamy looking stuff is made from nuts + lemons:

I loved how they plated everything beautifully too! It was fun to eat out again, although I don’t think I could ever do a purely raw food diet. I like my food warm!

Ok folks, another day in the bag! It’s almost midnight and I’m still reeling with energy. That’s what this program will do to you! I’m not sure if that is always a good thing, but it’s definitely worth a 30 day exploration.