Day 1

     I did it. Somehow, someway, I made it through Day 1. 29 more to go!!!

     The day started off real strong with getting breakfast with my best friend (shoutout to Claire who has been with me since the pre-K days) and feeling confident in my ability to adult and "diet".

This is from the birthday when Claire gifted me with soap.  

However many years later, and we're still at it. 

     Claire and I met up to talk Whole30 - why I'm doing it, how to do it, if she should do it, etc. I was so excited to start and I ordered something with tomatoes in it, which is a huge step for me. Basically, I left the restaurant feeling like I could conquer the world.

Egg white omelet with tomatoes, grilled chicken, and fresh avocados.

     Naturally, I would run into road bumps, but damn it, I thought I evened those out before I started. I mean, I even went grocery shopping! What else did this program want from me! Here are the few mistakes I ran into:

1. Remember to THAW the chicken drumsticks before trying to make a meal. (This resulted in a very angry Amanda eating guacamole instead of Chicken with Rosemary and Roasted Oranges).
2. Become accustomed to all the weird doo-dads of the kitchen (i.e. where the heck is our slow cooker, do we even have a meat thermometer?!)
3. Remember that during Lent, there's no meat on Fridays...leading to a late night Whole Foods run. 
4. Instead of leaving said chicken in the fridge to thaw for 4 hours, leave it on the counter. This mistake led to me eating at 9:20 PM instead of 8:30 PM because the meat stayed pink for forever. (I did find the meat thermometer, though). 
5. Everything requires time. Even the fricken smoothie that looked so good requires extra ingredients, money, and time. 
6. Fruit and meat is not a good idea. 
7. Eggs still kinda make you gag.
8. Get the salted pistachios next time because treat yo self. 

     On the other side, here are my SUCCESSES for today:

1. Even though I wanted to eat all those little candies at work, I completely refrained.
2. I made two meals today that weren't just Mac n' Cheese
3. I went and bought groceries for a shrimp meal tomorrow
4. Even though the meal was a flop, I still managed to feed myself before 10 PM. 
5. I didn't accidentally eat any of the rice noodles that Papa made.
6. I AM ALIVE AND HERE. 

To some, my successes may seem like an over-exaggeration, but this is literally how difficult it is for me to get through this challenge. Cooking still stresses me out and I have a hard time understanding why you would ever deviate from the things you know you love, because then meals are never a flop. While the chicken with rosemary and roasted oranges (Blogger just auto-corrected oranges to organs...weird) was probably good to most, my pre-pubescent taste buds still have to adjust. 

Overall, I made it through today. I have a plan for tomorrow and it's time to treat myself with some reading time and/or New Girl. 

Day 1 Picture Representation of How I Feel: 

this is all I want.