Menu Plan Monday: The Whole 30

Sometimes you have to go to extremes before you find a good middle ground. I've been doing great on a loosely paleo-based diet lifestyle change for over a year now. My current weight is in the high 160s, but with the weekly Fitbit Challenges, I've gotten to a point where people are telling me I can stop losing now.

Luck be a lady tonight

A photo posted by @hankito on Dec 12, 2014 at 6:26pm PST

My kids are used to it, and even have a few favorites -- if you follow Menu Plan Monday, I bet you can guess which ones. But as of tomorrow, in solidarity, (you're making me give up honey and half-&-half +Hank Yeomans, and chocolate. I can not and will not be held responsible for my mood swings due to a drop in necessary SSRIs), I'll be doing The Whole 30. When I read the rules, I will admit, I blanched. That's not easy to make me do, you know.

I mean, everything that makes a paleo-style lifestyle doable for me is on the NO YOU CAN'T EAT THIS FOR A MONTH list. Psychologically, I hate being told flat out "No". That's a sure fire way to make me see how far things can get bent. I know I can do this, most days I do it without thinking about it (except for my morning coffee!!!!), so I will just have to try to forget about the "don't" and try to turn this into a positive, instead of positively torturous. No chocolate indeed...

I can't (won't) do black coffee unless it's 100% Kona, but I'm on a budget y'all, so I will be consuming large amounts of Black and Green tea (thank you +Stash Tea for your Fusion tea), which I can do (reluctantly) with no honey. But seriously, a bit of raw honey every morning has changed my life and now I am being asked to give it up. Just a week without it I could tell the difference on my last trip to Boston and couldn't wait to get back home to start cooking for myself again and having coffee at home! And, you know, I don't think apple juice would work in either tea or coffee...

By now, if you've read this far, you are probably tired of my whinging. Here's the plan. Ah, coconut milk, you will be my saving grace. And spices. Lots of spices.

Sunday: Tilapia with green beans and grape tomatoes.
Monday: Blackened chicken with sauteed zucchini and avocado slices
Tuesday:  Lettuce-wrapped B.L.A.S.T.
Wednesday: Curry Shrimp and Spinach (for some reason, didn't make it last time)
Thursday: Chicken, Mango, Pineapple Salad
Friday: is usually cheat/pizza night, but I guess I will go with Strawberry Avocado Spinach Salad and come up with some other dressing that doesn't involve pecans and Gorgonzola cheese. I usually use a pear/Gorgonzola vinaigrette you see.
Saturday: Beef & Broccoli as if I'm making it for my daughter (just the spices, no soy sauce, water or brown sugar). Extra veggies.

If you've done The Whole 30, what are some of your tips for success?