I will preface this post by saying that having a sucky week tends to make a super restrictive diet more difficult. Whole 30 itself did not become worse this week, but my ability to keep up with it did.

Week 2 started strong but quickly changed. It was a bad week in general, full of anxiety and worries about the future. This took a toll on me. My being upset affected my desire to cook for myself, and I ended up repeating the same meal MANY times: a turkey burger on a bed of lettuce and French vinaigrette dressing. That’s it. Additionally, when I couldn’t even make myself cook that simple meal, I ventured into Zoe’s Kitchen, Chipotle, and Outback Steakhouse.

My Chipotle meal just wasn’t good like it normally is. While compliant, it left me disappointed. My Zoe’s Kitchen meal, which I have previously loved, left me with mild food poisoning for 12 hours. And my (to-go) Outback veggies were drenched in butter, despite several requests for NO butter. I’ll admit that I ate them anyway because I was so hungry and so defeated.

Defeated was the word for my week. Everything got to me. I craved sugar and didn’t take an ingredient list very seriously a few times.

The good news is that by Sunday I was feeling better. I got some alone time and a tiny bit of retail therapy (I’m talking less than $20) and felt a little bit more like myself. I took a bath, made some jewelry, and helped John apply for jobs. I feel more motivated to keep things going this week and I have a few recipes I want/need to try this week.

One of the most significant impacts of this diet that I have seen this week is from the decrease in inflammation in my body. I have a problem in my left foot that I believe is tarsal-tunnel (like carpal tunnel but in your foot instead of hand), and the pain has been pretty steady for about a month now. I had been wearing a brace every day until this week when I realized the pain had all but disappeared. I’m now 4 days in without a brace and feeling much better. I believe this is due to cutting out foods that were causing inflammation. This has been really encouraging for me!

For now, I feel hopeful. I know I have the ability to stick this out and make it 2 more weeks. I want to prove to myself that I can do this. I want to see more positive results and hopefully lose a few pounds. And I’m thinking there is a good chance that will happen.