So, despite a wildly successful 18 days of my first Whole30, that all came crashing down when I sought comfort in friends, beer, a very un-Paleo burger,  sweet potato fries and a cupcake after tearing my ACL.

Deep down I was disappointed in myself for caving, especially since the junk food satisfaction I was seeking wasn’t as thrilling as I’d hoped. Except for that beer. That was a good beer. And those fries…. nom nom. I miss beer and wine. I’m not a big drinker, but I love me a pint of a quality hoppy craft brew or a glass of really good wine once or twice a week.

While I didn’t pay for that indulgence in the way I thought I would (upset stomach and sugar hangover the next day), my skin sure looked like hell. Hello dark circles and dry skin. Ugh.

But I was stuck in a sort of limbo. Do I start over with Day 1 until knee surgery (why I’m using this as a cutoff point, I don’t know. I think mainly because if I’m relying on others for food, I don’t want to be picky). Or just go back to Paleo but with a better conscious? How do folks reintroduce into a less restrictive eating pattern after a W30?

Then I realized – Hmmm. I should probably finally read the book that started this whole thing, “It Starts With Food” (Which is kind of a requirement before starting a W30 but a W30 cookbook looked more fun than the W30 “Instruction Manual”, of which I understood the basics).

And I have a fridge full of vegetables that need to be cooked and eaten, plus meat and veggies. So why couldn’t I start again? In fact, it’ll probably help prepare my body for recovery, as well as I can continue the best I can post-surgery if I prep a bunch of W30 meals and freeze them ahead of time. It’s fall anyway – great time to make soups and stews.

However – interesting observations. Since my caving in, which was on Monday evening, through last night, Wednesday evening, I let myself indulge a bit. I tasted those cupcakes and peanut butter/chocolate balls I made for the party last weekend. Ugh. They weren’t that satisfying. I had a piece of pizza at a friend’s house last night, which was really good and hearty on a chilly rainy evening, but I didn’t have a desire to get a second piece. I wish I’d gone with the small glass of beer instead.

This morning, waking up was like it’d been the past few weeks but man, I had a nagging headache as I left the house. Not a lack-of-sleep or a beer-hangover headache but felt sluggish. I’m wondering if I was paying for Monday-Wednesday’s indulgences.

So… back to the Well Fed Cookbook, The Clothes Make The Girl, Nom Nom Paleo and destroying my kitchen regularly with hearty dishes. At least for the next three weeks. In fact, tonight, I’m looking forward to finding a good chicken recipe and trying to recreate Brian’s veggie “noodles” he made for me the other night.

So, here goes. Whole30, Version 1.2.