The "before". A little about me, and some prep.

My name is Melanie. I'm 24 (almost) years old. This is me.

Cheesy grin.

I weigh this many pounds.

No comment.

This is my vice.

Hello, Gorgeous.

Or anything with sugar in it, really.

I could take or leave "regular" food, but show me a molten lava chocolate souffle, and I'll go weak in the knees. I guess if I'm being honest (and this is clearly all about honesty), I like the way sugar makes me feel. More specifically, chocolate. If I'm stressed, my god, do I just want to reach for a cookie. Hell, even when I'm not stressed, I want a cookie. Sugar makes me happy. Sugar makes me giddy. I love sugar.

Sugar doesn't love me.

My body clearly doesn't appreciate it the way that I do. If I even look at any piece of dessert, I gain a pound. My body cannot process sugar in any way that doesn't involve me gaining weight, and giving me bad skin. You'd think that I'd have sworn them off by now, knowing that. But no, I continue to delight in all things sweet. When I first heard about the Whole30, I thought, "no big deal. I can still bake gluten free desserts!" Ooops, no. That is one major rule with this challenge. You are not allowed to "paleo-ify" any junk food or desserts. No coconut milk ice cream. No flourless brownies. No coconut flour cookies. Nothing. This made me die a little on the inside, I'll be honest. At the same time, I'm looking forward to seeing how my body benefits from this reprieve. I'm getting off track...

I did some prep work yesterday. I made coconut flour wraps for "sandwiches". These are more egg than any bread, and, obviously, made from coconut flour. The only approved "flour," on the Whole30. I don't think that it really counts as a flour at all, really. Before I made them though, I had to answer this vital question:

"Am I trying to exactly duplicate or recreate the poor food choice with “approved” ingredients, or am I merely looking for a healthier, more nutritious substitution for that food?"

In this instance, to the former, that would be a flat out "no". I just wanted to create something that would hold whatever sandwich-y filling we might use on the days that we tire of lettuce. So, I whipped them up from this recipe here. I added some cajun seasoning to them because it's one of my boyfriend's favorite flavorings.

It doesn't get much simpler than that.

Who's pretty? You are, you are. You-you-you-you are.

I also made some clarified butter, but I forgot to snap a picture. And hey, that about covers it as far as preparation work went. Now for day one... But first, I leave you with a picture of the new and improved contents of my refrigerator.

Awww'yeah.