I’ve finally made it to the halfway point! To be honest, this whole thing has gone by pretty fast, but I’m excited to get my hands on a glass of champagne in 16 days.

So post week 1 I have not experienced that many changes or difficulties. I do think (hope), the hardest part is over and right now the only thing I’m trying to avoid is getting burnt out  on the foods I’ve been eating. My second week ended up being  a lot busier than I expected, so I failed on my goal of being more creative in the kitchen.

I’ll spare you from details of my week and point out a few highlights:

• My cravings have pretty much gone away. The hardest times for me this week were rejecting cake at a coworker’s goodbye party, rejecting cookies at a bridal shower, and not being able to get drinks somewhere when it was 75 and sunny this past Friday. On the PLUS side, my future mother in law made me my own Whole 30 brunch meal so I didn’t feel left out from eating during the bridal shower!
• My co worker bringing me my own carton of nut pods (You can order these on amazon, they are whole 30 approved and pretty good!)
  
• Discovering that Whole Foods sells a whole 30 approved coconut milk latte, and the fact that I really liked it! (Pro Tip — Throw some cinnamon on top for an even more delicious taste)
  
• These prosciutto wrapped egg cups: Preheat oven to 375, then, in a muffin tin, lay down prosciutto on the bottom and on the sides, (lox also works really well), add whatever else you’d like (don’t put too many veggies or the eggs will be more soggy), then crack an egg into each. Bake 8-12 minutes depending on how you like your eggs. 
• Going to my friend’s house for dinner and a movie (she is NOT on whole 30) and having her surprise me with a whole 30 approved meal! It was delicious.
• Roasting cauliflower rice rather than cooking on the stove. SO good: preheat oven to 400 degrees, mix 1 tbsp olive oil, salt, pepper, and cauliflower rice onto baking sheet, bake for 15 min, stir around, then another 8-10 min depending on how crispy you want it!
• I went and got a 1/2 way point in body test and am down 4 pounds and 2% body fat! This basically puts me where I was pre Thanksgiving and all the holiday fun.  Seeing these results definitely helps me keep motivated for the next couple weeks.

Difficulties:

• I really miss being able to socialize with my friends and family over drinks. This might sound a bit sad, but since starting Whole 30, working out at Orangetheory or Wednesdays with Reggie has turned into my social time/hour. This is great and all, but backfires because it makes me want to work out everyday which my body definitely can’t handle (Don’t worry I took off a few days this week, recovery is super important). Yes, I’ve had a few movie nights with friends and still went to a bridal shower, but I miss going out and being able to day drink, especially since we’ve had such beautiful weather.
• I’m super nervous for our upcoming work trip to Richmond. I’m going to prep some food ahead and bring it with me, (along with some RX bars and nuts) but we are taking a 6 hour bus there and back, have a party Wednesday evening, and will be provided with food and snacks all day. I’m going to do my best to keep it all Whole 30 friendly, but I most likely can’t request my food to be prepared a  certain way at all times, and am not going to sit there and starve.
• This is not really related to Whole 30, but I joined a local gym this month so I could have more time to focus on strength training. I absolutely love cardio, don’t need someone to tell me do it, but know I should and need to get stronger, especially in my legs. I honestly don’t really enjoy working with weights, but have forced myself a couple times to go to the gym and complete a full workout on different machines. I’m hoping I’ll eventually enjoy these workouts, but for now… it’s not my favorite.

That sums it up! Please let me know if there is anything you all want me to cover or blog about, I’d love to help out! I’ll be out of town this Tuesday – Thursday so still wont be in the kitchen much, but hope to whip out a few good recipes later this weekend! I’ve loved reading all your comments and messages on instagram, it definitely inspires me to keep this up!