Can You Say Half-Way?
That's right, you've got it! We are HALF WAY THERE! I have to say, this little fact has me extremely excited for so many reasons! First and most importantly, I can't believe we have made it this far! When we first started I was hesitant to tell anyone about it because I didn't want to take the chance that I would fall on my face and have to start over a dozen times. But yet, here we are! It's an amazing feeling, every once in a while, to find that you have underestimated yourself. 

"No Thank You"
Those three little words - so simple to say, so hard to stick to! We were invited to a potluck over the weekend with friends who are typically health-conscious food eaters. We knew there would be a few treats to avoid, but I had no idea that EVERYONE would go absolutely overboard in showcasing their culinary abilities! Baked Macaroni and Cheese, Homemade Fried Chicken, Cream Puffs and Homemade Baked Beans brought us to a hard reality check as we were offered on scrumptious plate after another... I don't know how we made it out of there alive, but by God's grace - and some stiff-necked refusals, we did!

Smooth Sailing?
Wow - I hate to sound boring, but I can't think of anything interesting to write about these past few days!! It has been surprisingly easy, adjusting to this new Whole30 world, and I finally feel like we're starting to get the hang of it! Don't get me wrong - there are still plenty of temptations to avoid and learning curves to make, but I'm starting to feel like this is becoming a lifestyle not just a diet.

Kill Me Quickly
Fall is by far one of my very favorite seasons. I am absolutely infatuated by all the spices, the bright colors, the delicious smell in the air.... especially when the 'air' you're breathing is coming from a bakery. Pumpkin scones, apple pie, and cannolis. CANNOLIS! Oh my soul, it cannot be.... but alas, it is all too true. Today I was forced by the cruelty of fate, to site across the table from a steamy Pumpkin Spiced Latte and an over-stuffed, creaming cannoli. Shoot me now.

My New Infatuation
I love soup! I LOVE soup! I will make soup every week until the day I die. Never did I realize the ease with which it would simplify my life! Between the normal Whole30 Menu trials and an extra-hectic schedule at work this week, I think we probably would have ended up eating raw carrot sticks and celery had it not been for the leftover chowder I was so afraid to make. My fears utterly dissolved with every serving, which, I might add, were several. 2 Dinners and 2 Lunches for both of us isn't bad for 30 minutes worth of prep time and a sliced thumb! 

Chop, Chop, Chop
I have a confession... I'm scared of soup! Not eating it, but making it and everything that goes with it. My cooking friends tell me I'm crazy - that it is the best-kept secret of crazy-life-cooking, but I'm still not convinced. I did get brave enough, however, to try it myself. I found a good chowder recipe (check it out on my Pinterest board) and went to work chopping every single cube by hand, because, at this pathetic moment in my culinary history, I do not own a food processor. It was all going just grand until, 30 minutes into chopping, I got to the onion. I have since found a tutorial of how to cut an onion, and the knowledge that I acquired will be drawn upon the next time I am unfortunate enough to have to use it. But alas, with my  fingers wet and slippery, my eyes swelled up with tears, I made the bad choice to push through and cut that last block, and....slice! Right down through the top of my thumb. 

Warning, Graphic Material
Steaming French bread. Thick, creamy Alfredo sauce. Gobs of luscious whipped cream. Triple-layered-chocolate cake. Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies, apple crisp, or a friend's frozen 1-year-old wedding cupcakes on Facebook - anything and everything good and sweet and delicious in this world has been popping up in my Pinterest and Facebook feed today! Seriously, people, are you doing this on purpose? Commercials, email ads - they are all screaming EAT ME! I didn't think I was having a hard time resisting, but today I have had to painfully overt my eyes to keep myself from drooling. This battle has become a reality in my home: my husband and I call it Food Porn.

The Battle of The Prices
And here we are on day 6, nearly to the end of our first Whole30 week! I must have lucked out with my shopping last week because we used just about all of the fresh produce we purchased before it went bad, but without running out. So now that it's time to plan another week's menu. Not wanting to spend another day driving to Trader Joe's this week, I researched the best places to find organic food in our area. Most reviews pointed to our local Wegman's and so that's where I found myself this afternoon, with my Whole30 menu and shopping list. The one thing I forgot, however, was my calculator.

GIVE ME DAIRY!!
And we're at Day 5! And I'm craving cheese, Girl Scout Cookies, cupcakes, cheese, bread (in any and every form), yogurt, cheese, yes, I'll say it again, CHEESE! And I'm not the only one! My amazing husband who has been going through this week like a true sport, sent me a desperate SOS today around lunchtime confessing that he was resisting the temptation to dump shredded cheese all over his salad, top it off with a 'gigantic heap' of cottage cheese, and wash it down the a huge glass of chocolate milk!
I guess you could say we're all starting to feel it!

Where Is My Energy??
I think my body must be a day behind.... either that or I have more than the average chemical stock-pile in my system! For some reason I just cannot kick this tired feeling! It's not really exhaustion, just a sleepy, tired, lazy feeling that makes me want to curl up and sleep anywhere. This is typical according to the Whole30 program, but they say it usually happens on days 2 and 3, not days 3 and 4, but maybe I'm just weird like that. Regardless, I knew I could not go another day like yesterday so I tried so switch up my routine to keep myself awake. (In the Whole30 they strongly recommend taking naps.... this is not conducive in any form to even the slightest piece of my schedule, so I have had to improvise.)