Saturday, January 6th -day 27, 28? I’m not sure!
My lack of blocking in this last week on my whole30 journey is not due to me throwing in the towel. On the contrary I’ve been sticking to the restrictive foods as closely as ever. But I’ve also been staying up late nights working heavily and heartily on my novel during this rare opportunity of scheduled-work-free winter vacation days.
While writing I sit down at my computer for what feels like 15 minutes and look up to find that two or three hours has quickly passed. Apples and bananas with a thin layer of almond butter have become my new best friends.
Also I’ve seemed to have over come the plateau that I felt I was in maybe just a little bit.
This is my top pick for outfit choices to wear on the Video project. I’ll be covered up in a coatas much as not but when not I think this will do well.
Sunday, December 31st -Day 22
Even though my Christmas turkey dream dinner did not go as planned due to lack of availability, my New Year’s eve dinner went exactly as I imagined and even better.
Turns out stripped think makes a really delicious temakizushi hand rolled sushi option. A sliced avocado that no one but myself wanted to eat was the perfect replacement for all the rice that is usually laden with sugary sushi vinegar.
I’m really beginning to think that Olive Oil and herbed seasoned salt might be my preferred choice for a dipping sauce.
Monday, January 1st- Day 23
As per tradition we went to my husband’s parents home for traditional Japanese New Years dishes called Osechi ryori. A lot of my Japanese friends and clients claim not to really like much of the traditional foods because they’re financially prepared early I meant to keep a long time and have distinct sometimes unusual flavors. I myself have always loved my mother-in-law’s osechi and I think this year I discovered why. It’s because she puts a lot of sugar in almost all of the dishes she makes! From the black beans which has at least two or 3 cups of sugar, I know from the recipe, to the vinegar radish and lotus root dish, to the rolled eggs, to the nimono boiled chicken and vegetables pot which is one of my favorites, they all have sugar and in the latter two cases a heavy load of soy sauce.The only dish that I could freely partake in this year on the table was the simply baked sea bream fish.
Thankfully I had a ton of whole 30 friendly quiche and salad that needed to be eaten anyway brought from home to supplement my New Year’s dinner.
I thought I would actually be rather sad missing out on all of the traditional dishes that I enjoy eating just once a year, but I really wasn’t. The main reason I think is because this year due to so many holidays falling on the weekends and keeping mom busy with church activities, she didn’t have the energy to make some of the more labor-intensive dishes like her Chinese fried chicken slathered in a sweet Ginger and chives soy sauce. The only thing I did miss was there not being any sashimi or other fresh seafood like the prawns and scallops that she often prepares. But this year’s food prices are no joke! I’m not sure why they’ve gone up so high but buying healthy Whole Foods is prohibitively expensive right now.
Tuesday, January 2nd – Day 24
I made a very mild chicken curry which my husband seemed to like. He asked me to make it again when his rather well known fellow comic and anime artist friend comes over for dinner on the weekend. I think he also likes it because the ingredients are not terribly expensive.
I did decide without remorse this time that since non-chemical laden bacon is OK on the whole 30, my homemade chicken bacon is going to be OK as well. I do understand the whole “we’d rather you didn’t” thought on having smoothies during the whole 30 but in this case I was just tired of not having something easy and simple and enjoyable like a sweet treat. I enjoyed it but I didn’t revel in it like I was eating a whole Häagen-Dazs ice cream bar. 
Wednesday, January 3rd – Day 25
Thursday, January 4th- Day 26
Friday, January 5th- Day 27
I think the previous three days were just too busy to bother taking pictures of my food, or I wasn’t eating anything new, just those bananas and apples and salads and such to sustain me through the heavy writing periods. However, on Friday I got to go out for a ladies dinner for the first time in ages and I’m very proud of myself for being able to get through it without breaking my whole 30.
I was sorely tempted to order a nonalcoholic beer on the premise of being a proper adult but barley malt would be a no no so I had Darjeeling iced tea which was perfectly lovely. And my salmon and wild variety of salad greens dish with olive oil and balsamic vinaigrette as a special requested thing on the side rather than their lemon onion dressing was fantastic. I mean, it was OK taste wise, not nearly as good as my own homemade salads but it was healthy, compliance, and beautiful and tasty enough.
Saturday, January 6th Day 28 (continued)
I did it for real this time. I made a flat out smoothie because I woke up with 30 minutes before teaching an online class hungry but with no time to fix any proper food plus no ingredients in the house. My smoothie was banana, blueberries and sparkling water because none of my store bought nut milks are sugar or dairy or chemical free. I did add some Allmond meal in which was a nice thickener and a teaspoon of morenga powder. It worked out well to sit on it throughout my two lessons and getting rushed without feeling rushed or super deprived.
Delaina Miyazaki 