Day 14
BACON!
Yeah, OK, I got excited a little too early.
Bacon without sugar is just Samgyeopsal. 
Nothing to write home about.
But I did eat 2 helpings.
And that egg fried in the bacon grease (I can't believe it is legal to do that!) was heavenly.

Get ready I'm about to ramble.....

Today I'm feeling better; when I really started thinking about it I started wondering why this Whole30 thing is SO much easier for Hubby than it is for me.  I eat healthier than he does on a normal day, so it should be harder on him.... anyway, my mind started going and going and going and then it hit me.  I have to put this in perspective - I am doing this for ONLY 30 days (maybe longer).   If I can live through deployment after deployment where I am missing the love of my life for 12-15 months at a time while he is being shot at and my stress level is higher than any normal preson's stress level should ever be then I can live through 30 days of not eating my favorite foods.  Hubby does it for a YEAR (or more) at a time each time he is deployed.  I think about all the cans of mackerel & packages of rice I would send him....that would be his dinner for weeks/months at a time.  He has been totally food deprived for years at a time!  Can you imagine eating MRE's on a regular basis?  GROSS!!  And here I am whining about not having a cupcake.  What is wrong with me?!  Suck it up Trish.  It's just food.  You eat to live, not live to eat. 

So anyway...my new outlook is to forget about those things that are making me grumpy.  Be happy and move on.  Everything we do is a choice and no one is FORCING me to do this. I'm doing to become healthier, stronger and to live longer with my memory intact.  I just have to remember that! (See the irony..? hehehe..)

So moving on:
Lunch: I took my camera, but my card was in my computer so it did me NO GOOD.
Today I went out to lunch with friends to my favorite all you can eat Korea Buffet.  I was so good that I even put my meat at the top so none of the yummy juices from their marinated meat would run into my non marinated meat.
It was pretty easy at lunch today.

OH CHECK it out; I found an old picture from the place, NO I DID NOT DRINK THE CASS....this is an old picture.  But check out the Samgyeopsal (uncured, no sugar bacon) on the right side...yes, I had it AGAIN for lunch.  o)

Dinner: We had an event for Hubby's work.  I really wanted beer. But I didn't have one.  Instead I had dried chicken, dried salmon, dried pork and lots of fruit.  (It was a buffet.)  I couldn't even eat the salad because it was drenched in dressing.  Grr....don't they know people like their dressing on the side?

Oh, and I broke my blender today while making another one of the 'ice cream smoothies' from yesterday.  I'm crushed.  Going to the PX to see if they have the one I want, if not I am going to have to wait 5-7 days to get another blender..... ah the life of the Whole30 on the peninsula....

Day 13
I went back and read this today because in all seriousness I would like to quit. 
Don't worry, I'm not going to I'm too determined (stubborn) to quit.
It seems that I am falling in line exactly with what they say will happen on Days 8-15.
"This is the part of the program where our minds try to drive us back to the comfort of the foods we used to
know"
And it is true.
Today I want a pancake today; yesterday I wanted a waffle, the day before I wanted a cupcake.
AND I don't even eat those things very often!! 
I make them for the kids all the time, but I rarely eat them and when I do most of the time it is just one or two bites.
But dude, with the cravings I've been having you would think those were my favorite foods.
The good news is my energy levels are super high.
And I've been experimenting in the kitchen.

Last night after I posted Day 12 and I stopped feeling sorry for myself I went to the kitchen and whipped these up for dessert for Hubby and I.

Avocado Mousse with Strawberry Puree.  I got the recipe here, but I couldn't make it the way she did because I CAN'T add sweeteners so I made it Whole30 approved.  It was pretty good, but would have been much better with a little more sweetness added.  I WILL make these again as I thought they were pretty dang good and can only imagine how much better they will be when they are not Whole30.

Strawberry Puree - 8 strawberries in a blender (next time I will do 4 frozen and 4 fresh to make colder) pureed.
Put contents in bottom of wine glass.
Wash blender.

Avocado Mousse - 
1 ripe avocado
1/2 cup pineapple juice
1 cup coconut milk
 Toss in blender and blend until smooth.
Spoon on top of strawberry puree.

Garnish with a strawberry.

Breakfast. 
These were supposed to be smoothies, but they turned out more like ice cream. 
EVERYONE LOVED these!
It was like dessert for breakfast.
2 frozen bananas
1 cup of frozen mixed fruit (strawberries, blueberries & mango)
1/2 a can of coconut milk
3/4 can of water
Blended till smooth!
Yum-O!

We also had homemade sausage and scrambled eggs for breakfast. But the 'breakfast ice-cream' was the star of the show.  :o)

I had a crazy day yesterday fixing things that I should not have had to fix, so I was running like a mad woman.  I kind of forgot about lunch, so when I finally got home at almost 3PM I had an avocado, and a hand full of almonds for lunch.  I know it's not good, but hey at least I'm honest.

While I was out today I swung by E-Mart (Korea's version of Super Target, but not really.....) and I picked up an unidentifiable squash and some mackerel for dinner.  We LOVE, LOVE, LOVE mackerel around here.

I just season the mackerel with kosher salt and grill it. 
I tossed a little ghee in the squash and baked it at 350 for about an hour.

And to top it off I am super stoked that I found bacon with NO SUGAR added in E-Mart!  I'm looking forward to breakfast tomorrow!  (Is it sad that I get so excited about food?)

All in all a pretty good day, my 'grains' cravings have subsided somewhat.
Thank goodness.

Day 13 - DONE.
We are almost 1/2 way.

Day 12
Yes, I'm still grumpy about the damn cupcakes.
So I thought I would channel my anger in the kitchen.
I made a Whole 30 version of eggs benedict.
Looks YUMMY doesn't it?

Well, don't get too excited because it SUCKED ASS.
True Story.
The bottom layer is a Whole30 approved waffle. 
WAFFLE. 
That makes me laugh!
It is made with Almond flour.  Almond flour in waffles is YUCK. And I mean Serious YUCK. 
Don't do it. DON'T EVERY do it.

OK....so I was exaggerating a little. 
The egg was good, the prosciutto was good, the spinach was good and the hollandaise sauce was OK.
I wasn't exaggerating about the waffle though.
I spit it out.
Literally.
SPIT.IT.OUT.
I really wanted to eat one of the 'real' waffles I made for the kids.

I might still be harboring resentment from yesterday. 

Breakfast was actually brunch so I didn't make anything else for 'lunch'.

Dinner was leftovers.
Grilled pork chops and a big fat salad.

I really hope tomorrow is a better food day for me.
I'm such a food snob and I'm starting to miss some of my favorite things.

Day 12
Over and Out.

Day 11
I'm just going to put it out there - today is going to be hard.
We are having Boy 2's 10th Birthday Party, and as with tradition he gets to pick the menu and I cook it.
So here is what is on the menu:
Kalbi BBQ meatballs
Crunchy Cheetos
Puffy Cheetos
Pretzels
Chocolate Cupcakes
Strawberry Cupcakes
Chocolate/strawberry swirl cupcakes

On a normal day we don't have these things.
On a special day we do and we all feast and eat only junk.
I make the cupcakes & frosting from scratch most of the time so today I cheated and used a box and premade frosting.
I like to taste the things I make & was afraid I would not be able to resist.
I'm still afraid it is going to be UBER hard.
God help me.

I made sure I had a filling breakfast BEFORE I started the cupcakes.

I love licking the bowls.
I was able to resist, but started feeling a little grumpy about it so I ate lunch before I frosted.

I had left over ribs and a few raw vegetables.
 And then started frosting.the.damn.cupcakes.
Frosting got on my finger.
I washed my hand immediately.
Then it got on my finger again.
I washed my hands immediately.
This happened at least 10 times.
Finally I was immune and didn't need to wash the frosting off my finger until I was done.
I made the kids clean the frosting bags.

As I was passing out cupcakes frosting got on my finger AGAIN.
I instinctively put my finger to my mouth - good thing the scent hit my nose first and I was able to  yanked my finger away before it made contact with my tongue.
Seriously good save.
I high fived myself.

By the end of the party I was exhausted.
Fighting Cheetos, cupcake & Kalbi meatballs took it out of me.
But I did it.
However today made me question why I am doing this.

Now to cook dinner. 
WHAT?!? 
I so didn't want to cook, but couldn't think of any place to go out to eat where I would not be frustrated so I threw a bunch of crap together and called it dinner.
It wasn't bad, but it wasn't good either.

I'm sure it would have been better if I didn't have cupcakes staring me down.

Day 11
Today I learn that I have great willpower. 

I made it by the hair of my chinny, chin, chin.
I may be pissed off, but I did it.
(And NO, I don't really have a hairy chin.)

Day 10
Nothing too exciting to report...
I have lots of energy and am feeling GREAT!
(It is so much more entertaining when my head is spinning around like a crazy woman..sorry, I'll try to do better on the entertainment scale tomorrow.  ;o)

Today's breakfast is one of my fav's -
spinach
bell pepper
tomato
sautéed till spinach is wilted 
Topped with an egg fried in coconut oil

SO I was SUPER EXCITED to get the Coconut Aminos in the mail!
YUM, YUM, YUM!!
A FANTASTIC substitute for soy.
I'm lovin' it with my favorite lunch - sashimi!

Please forgive me.
Everyone.
But mainly my family.
Turkey Legs.
That's it.
That is all we had for dinner.
And they were tough.
I didn't cook them slow enough.
BUT in my defense, they are lucky they got anything -  I had a man to watch on stage....
                                                 JASON MRAZ was LIVE in SEOUL and I was there!!
                                              (My Hubby ROCKS - thanks for a great evening sweetie!)

We are 1/3 of the way done with this adventure!
High five people, high five!

3AM - Hubby's crackberry rings.
3:30AM - Hubbys crackberry rings again.
3:45AM - Hubby goes to work.
3:50AM - Trish is out of bed, wide awake.
This day just might call for a nap.

So this morning I made a sweet potato hash brown type thing.  IT.WAS.AWFUL.  We ate hard boiled eggs and avocados instead.  It was so bad I'm not showing you the beautiful pictures I took during the process.  Boy 2 said he liked them, but I think he was just being nice.  Everyone else (including me) gagged.

Energy levels high again today.

Lunch was a grilled chicken salad chalked full of yummy goodness.

At 2 PM I hit a wall.  Super tired, but I think waking up at 3AM will do that to a person.  I took a 20 minute nap so when Boy 2 walked in I was busted.  Boy 2 thinks I take naps everyday so now he has ammunition.  I will NEVER hear the end of it.

They were called: 
Slow Cooker Korean Short Ribs.
Expectations were high.
I LOVE Korean short ribs.
I should have known better.
Disappointment.
Don't get me wrong, they were good and if you have never had 'real' Korean short ribs 'IN KOREA' you will probably really enjoy them.
I would rather just run down to my local galbi joint and  chow on some there.

Hubby and I have made it throug day 9!  Tomorrow and we are 1/3 of the way there!  Yeah us! 
I had a few cravings today, but not bad enough to want to beat up a teenager.  :o)
Bring it on day 10! 
(But be kind - OK?)

Day 8
I think it is possible that I slept the ENTIRE night.  There was a time around 2AM that I may have woke up but if I did it was briefly, which is good because normally I wake up at night and am awake for a minimum of 15 minutes. 
YEAH for good sleep!

Breakfast wasn't THAT creative - fried eggs (in coconut oil of course) with a little homemade salsa on top served with the pork sausage I made yesterday.

Once I got all my peeps off to school and work I realized I was working super-fast.  In fact I was doing everything super-fast.  Holy goodness...I have way too much energy.   Where did this come from?  If my leg were not jacked up I feel like I could run the Army 10 miler and I'm only a 2-3 mile runner.  Seriously.  What is going on?  Super high energy levels....let's hope this continues.  I feel a little like the Road Runner today.

Lunch was a pain in my arse yesterday. I planned to go to lunch with Hubby since I had to run him to Camp Kim to pick up his car (oil change -tire rotation).  As it turns out he had a meeting that wasn't on his calendar so I told him I would run to Subway to grab a salad for him and meet him back at his office- no biggie right? Right.  Except that after I waited in the SUPER LONG LINE at Subway the first question they ask me - 'Cash OK?" Me - "Um, No, debit" (I had 1,000 won on me seriously!) Them, "Oh, no, no, so sorry - cash only - credit card broken."  For real?  I looked around to see if I could order from any other place.....  That is a BIG FAT NO.  I ran (hobbled) to the ATM for cash then back to Subway where the line was still SUPER LONG - informed all the people in front of me that it was a cash only day - the line got shorter ;o)  - finally ordered Hubby's salad and got it to him 10 minutes before his meeting.  Guess what - I forgot to order mine.  Forget it, I made one at home.   I tell you that because you get NO PICTURE.

2PM - my midafternoon lull DID NOT HAPPEN!! 
             I didn't even notice it was 2PM!  I always know when it is 2PM!                
What?! 
That never happens.
I am always waiting at the bus stop with a cup of java in my hand ready to tackle the afternoon fights that occur before my children even step off the bus. :o)
I can totally get used to this feeling.
If I feel like this every day I will NEVER go back to eating sugar or carbs again.
(OK....maybe I'm getting a little ahead of myself as a nice piece of cheesy garlic bread just popped into my head!)

Dinner was Tom Kai Gai - Hubby's favorite.  I wasn't sure about this at first, but I thought I would give it a try.  I can't imagine making Tom Kai Gai without palm sugar, but the verdict...DELICIOUS!  I can't believe it is just as good (or better) than what I typically make!  The original recipe is from here from SeriousEats.  I will post how I made it later. (I keep saying that don't I?)

Day 8 ended on a high note. 
Great energy, great dinner, not much fighting between the kids.  :o)

Let's keep our fingers crossed for Day 9!

Day 7 = one week.
One week baby!
Today I woke up feeling totally normal.
No headache, no crazy popcorn dreams, nothing.
Just normal, nothing going on in my head kind of day. 
(Now that sounds all kinds of wrong...)
I mean I had stuff going on in my head; it just wasn't totally focused on food.

For breakfast I made HOMEMADE sausage. 
True Story. HOMEMADE freaking sausage and it was super easy.  I made them exactly the way she made them over at Stupid Easy Paleo.  Just click the link for the recipe.  Next time the only thing I will change is I will put the onions and apples in the food processor to make them *tiny* so my kids won't see chunks of onions or apple.  Hubby and I loved these, and the kids though they thought they were different still ate them saying "they are ok". 

I actually added a little steamed coconut milk to my coffee today - I gotta tell you, I'm NOT lovin' it.  I'll stick with black.

                                    Lunch! 

We went to a sashimi place near the Camp Coiner walk out gate - YUM! 

The main plate is different types of tuna.

This place was fantastic, they kept bringing us food, much of what I could not eat, but all that sashimi was a bit of heaven. 

I left a happy girl.

Dinner was  Mexican Street tacos which are normally on our menu a couple of times a year, this time I just left the tortillas, chips and cheese off the mine and Hubby's.  I have got to say that I totally missed having chips to much on and a rita to drink during this dinner.
I also made my regular guacamole and salsa - the only substitution I had to make was to leave out the Lawry's Seasoning salt and add more kosher salt in the guac- the 2nd ingredient in Lawry's is SUGAR.  Go figure.

Week 1 wrap up:

It wasn't as hard as I thought it was going to be.  I thought I was going to be a crazy woman EVERY.SINGLE.DAY, and really day 6 was my only kicker.  Yeah, I could have lived without the headaches on Days 3 & 5 but it wasn't anything a little coffee and motrin didn't take care of.   

I am amazed by  all the foods that have sugar in them:
Bacon. Lawry's seasoning salt. Almost all packaged salad dressing. Most Pasta Sauces.  (But not my favorite, Rao's!)
Almond milk. Better than Bullion.  And this is just the tip of the iceberg.

When my energy levels started feeling low I hit the gym and it would bring me right back up.  Works outs seemed a little harder, but nothing to complain about.

What do I miss the most?
Certain things that go with specific meals - chips with Mexican Street Tacos, a nice glass of Pinot Grigio with Fisherman's stew, AND my NUMBER 1 missed item is soy sauce with sashimi.
I can't wait for the coconut aminos to arrive and I hope it really is a good substitute for the soy sauce.

What do I miss the least?
Well, I totally cheated and stepped on the scale - give me a break I had to, I was at the lady doctor.
(Oh yeah and that scale I accidently fell onto at the gym....)
The 5 pounds I have already lost, that is what I miss the least. :o)

Week 1:
 D.O.N.E

Everything you do is a choice.

I woke up without a headache today! 
Yeah me!
However I still did not sleep the entire night & I had a crazy dream about POPCORN!
A big FAT BOWL OF DELICIOUS BUTTER LADEN POPCORN.
For real.
So I ate smoked salmon for breakfast:

Then I was on Facebook and someone on Sites in Seoul ask about a good place to eat breakfast in Itaewon so I had to answer and send them this link, which got me thinking about their caramel macchiato...
Now I REALLY, REALLY want a freaking caramel macchiato.
I'm not going to cave, but this is the worst craving I have had so far.
I tried to eat more melon, but that didn't do the  trick and this freaking espresso sucks even though it is really good.
AND now I have to go to the lady doctor.
Where the hell is my fiddle?

After going to have my lady parts checked I had to find Hubby to take lunch to him.
While I was out searching (because he wasn't in his office) I had to stop at a crosswalk.
Guess what was in that crosswalk?
A skinny ass teenage girl munching on a 7 layer homemade magic bar! (Yeah, I could tell EXACTLY what it was)  It
took all my willpower not to jump out of my car and tackle her for that damn cookie.
NO JOKE. EVIL THOUGHTS ran through my head.
 I totally could have taken her AND her friend.

Lunch was a blur....
Stupid avocado, stupid smoked salmon, stupid salad with homemade dressing.
(It is one of my go-to salad dressing recipes and really yummy - I'll share the recipe soon. ;o)
Grrrr......
I didn't want to take pictures. 
I just wanted to stuff the food in my face and be done.

Finally after power cleaning the house and a freaking hard ass pilates class I called my husband and told him I was done.  There is no way I'm cooking.  I want sashimi that I don't have to cut up myself.

He agreed I should not be around sharp knives tonight and suggested we go to our favorite mackerel lady restaurant.  It is Korean and most things Korean are on our meal plan.
It wasn't until we started walking there that we figured out many of the side dishes were NOT consumable for us.
We went anyway.
And then when the food came and Hubby was pissed.

We could not eat FIVE, count them, FIVE of our favorite dishes.
DAMN IT TO HELL.
We ordered extra mackerel.
Hubby wanted me to go wait outside for him while he paid.
Good try buddy, good try. 
I didn't beat up a teenager for her cookie, you aren't going to ruin it with some odang & dukboki

It is a good thing we have each other. :o)

GOODNIGHT day 6 - we made it!

Tomorrow will be better - right?

I keep expecting every day to be the "bad" day, and today when I work up with raging headache at 4AM I KNEW this was it.  At 4 I woke up got water went back to bed fell asleep till 6:30AM.  When I woke I still had a headache but it wasn't nearly as bad as it was at 4AM and after I drank coffee it magically disappeared and I have felt fantastic the rest of the day.   I EVEN went to a neighborhood cookout and ROCKED it with my bunless burger.

Breakfast:
8 slightly beaten eggs - set aside 
Sauté whatever vegetables you have in your fridge with 1 TBL coconut oil.  (I used: zucchini, mushrooms, onion, yellow pepper, asparagus & tomato!) 
When vegetables are tender-crisp add eggs to pan - cook over medium heat until mixture starts to set - surface will still be a bit runny - then stick under the broiler for 1-2 minutes to finish cooking the top.   Slice like a pizza to serve.

We were busy playing kickball at lunchtime and I kind of forgot to eat....when I got home around 4PM I had a couple of slices of smoked salmon and 1/2 an avocado.
Oh, I also made a mango, blueberry, strawberry & banana smoothie.

A few of us in the neighborhood threw together a last minute cook out - Hubs and I did great and ate our bunless burgers.
And seriously I didn't miss the bun AT ALL.

Hamburger meat, lettuce, avocado, onion, salsa and some carrots on the side.