Ok. Yes. I’ll admit, happily, that things are certainly getting easier as we officially begin the descent on our 30 day mountain top hike. What I will also admit to is shoving my face with the world’s supply of chocolate last night during one of my (now very deep) slumbers. You guys. It was so real — like, dripping from the corners of my mouth real. Half way through my binge, my dream self realized the horrors of what I had committed and frantically tried my darndest to spit out all traces of the Whole30 sins. It didn’t work — the sugar guilt had a power I didn’t stand a chance against.

By now, I shouldn’t be as shocked/terrified/flabbergasted when during our Day By Day morning real aloud, Melissa’s words so precisely detail my personal experience to a tee. But, 16 days in, it continues to freak me out. Her readers learn about the intense ‘cheat’ dreams, which in turn of course, helps normalize the situation and lessens my feelings of insanity. She also encourages you to enjoy the sugar binge — after all, Whole30 rules don’t apply in dream land. That feels like a leap my subconscious isn’t yet ready for, though appreciate the sentiment, Mel.

Subconscious temptations aside, what also seems to be true with many Whole30-ers during the somewhere-in-the-middle stretch is yes, we’re getting our kitchen groove down, we can list in alphabetical order the spices on our spice rack, we’ve cooked sweet potatoes literally 15 different ways, eggsaution is a very real phenomenon, and putting that elbow grease into those dishes so you really feel connected to the experience is not cute anymore.

I’m feeling these mid-way worn out blues hard over here. And today folks, Day 16 is the day I am feeling more grateful than ever for Territory and our slammin’ chef network. For the first time since the W30 kickoff (approx 1 billion years ago), my entire day was fueled by their delicious talent. Every. Single. Meal. While I don’t encourage this sort of total reliance behavior — super important to build your clean eating kitchen muscles, Territory saved me today. Saved me from the burn out. From the recipe hunting, meal prep, grocery store bonanza that is just friggin hard to keep up with sometimes. So, in honor of one heck of a Whole30 sidekick — I give you my Day 16 food journal.

AM game coming in HOT with the Winter Harvest Breakfast Bowl. Can’t stop, won’t stop. Def had this meal twice in 24 hours. Cauli grits are the showstopper in this meal for me. And that winter squash? It’s sprinkled with cinnamon and nutmeg and pure delight.

Greetings, lunchie poo poo. Had one of my go-to, fave meals — Chicken Oreganato. When I’m working from mi casa, I prefer to toss my meals on the stove top. Allows me to feel like I’ve contributed, in some small (and deserves zero credit) sort of way to the process. Takes about 5.5 minutes to heat — just enough time to crack a LaCroix and catch up on what Melissa and her hair are up to.

Toss on a plate (literally toss #notafoodstylist), bring it next to your inbox, ensure an adorable succulent is nearby for joy bearing purposes, and voila. Nom, nom.

For those that understand zero percent why you would dirty a skillet and plate unnecessarily in this process, I give you my other half’s lunch. Delicious-salad-in-container. Just as tasty. Just as Whole30 compliant. Involves nada on the effort front. Pro tip: you can save, reuse, dish wash, microwave, and recycle our containers. The gift that keeps on giving.

Day 16’s finale was a v epic one, team. Tonight we hosted a few of our friends that have way more friends (IRL and social media) than I will ever dream, for a Whole30 Approved dinner. From top to bottom, folks… EV-ER-Y-THING was compliant. And well, to put it casually, I felt like my self-spun Whole30 cocoon dissolved and out came a food anxiety free butterfly. To borrow a line from Tara’s arsenal tonight, “How amazing to have a meal among the living”.

In short, it was an incredible night full of delicious clean eats, and super fabulous humans. I’m ending Day 16 in gratitude up to my eyeballs for all things Whole30 community and Territory. Because geesh, what a dream team.

p.s. TARA GOT A PUPPY! And captured some mid-way advice in yesterday’s post. And… A PUPPY! Go! Read!