Day 3: KILL ALL THE THINGS

My toddler was up in the middle of the night from midnight to 3am. I hadn't been to bed until almost midnight to begin with, so when I woke up this morning with a little less than five hours of sleep under my belt, I wasn't exactly optimistic about the day. My normal reaction to a lack of sleep is to make convenience (and sugar-laden) foods and limp the day along until I got a chance to take a nap. Since I have cleaned all those foods out of my kitchen, that just wasn't an option today. I stifled a groan when I remembered that we ran out of eggs last night, so I did the unthinkable: I went to the grocery store hungry. 

I was strangely in a good mood as I walked up to the front doors of my local Hy-Vee. The first thing I saw when I waltzed into the store was a huge display of baked goods. I would love to say that I marched right past those tasty-looking loaves of sweetened breads and cookies with all the will power of an Olympian, but that wasn't entirely the case. I reacted more like I was trying to avoid an ex-boyfriend I spotted across the dairy aisle; I ducked my head and practically ran the other direction. Still, I made it out of there with exactly what I needed for breakfast and nothing more. Another smiley face sticker on my mental "Way To Go" chart.

The rest of the day went basically without incident. I dealt with my cranky toddler better than I had anticipated, and the rainy day slums didn't create a sense of snackiness that I had expected it to. Day 3 was already a success and I was pretty excited about it.

And then came the mayonnaise.

There's a recipe in the Whole30 book for homemade mayo that I've been dying to try. You can't get more foodie than making your own mayo. More than a little excited, I followed the simple recipe using my immersion blender. The mayonnaise broke halfway through. I was NOT going to be defeated, so I tried again with my food processor. Again, a failed attempt. This time because I left the egg sitting on the counter top. So I tried a third time with my blender and yet again, I ended up with a soupy, oily mess. What followed was a screaming, fit-throwing, husband-blaming thirty minutes that ended with me sobbing like a child in the middle of the kitchen. I was angry and yelling and covered in oil. My food processor ended up in the trashcan. It was so embarrassing.

I was warned about this. The Whole30 book has an outline and an explanation behind the behaviors that typically happen during the different stages of the program. Usually the "Kill All The Things" day doesn't hit until Day 4 or 5, however. Darn me and my overachieving. 

The best thing about this breakdown (maybe the ONLY good thing about this breakdown) is how quickly I bounced back from it. It was the most amazing experience to feel in control of my emotions again after such a weak, out-of-control moment. On a typical day, I'd pout into a bag of chips or a cookie from Whole Foods (everything from there is healthy, right??) and spend the rest of the evening in a junk food fog. Instead I felt optimistic and determined.

It was freaking awesome.

What's not freaking awesome is that mayonnaise recipe that I haven't yet conquered. With a little help from google and the Whole30 site, I think I know exactly what to try for next time. This mayo will not beat me.

What I ate:

Breakfast: Leftover salmon patties over a bed of greens topped with fried eggs and a side of raspberries.

Lunch: Wilted kale with almonds and lemon juice topped with baked sweet potatoes.

This was SO GOOD. Can't wait for leftovers tomorrow. Seriously, people. Try this.

Dinner: (See breakfast. Dinner was a little bit of a fail. Thank goodness for leftovers).