Whole30

What is the Whole 30? Why I decided to try it. 

Whole30 is an elimination detox. You are given a set of rules, for lack of a better word, on what you can and can’t eat. It helps determine what types of food don’t sit well with you or may be working against you. 



The following are the rules:

Can’t have

*Alcohol
*Dairy
*legumes
*Carrageenan – MSG or added Sulfites
*Grains
*Sugar or added sweeteners

**Exceptions**

Clarified butter or ghee
Fruit juices as a sweetener
green beans, snow peas, snap peas
most forms of vinegar (void malt vinegar) 

And some more rules. 

No Stepping on the Scale throughout the 30 days. Check it on day one and leave it be until Day 31.
Because not only is this an elimination detox its also and mind one too. 

No pancakes, yes, there are some that would fit into the limitations but this will help you to adjust your mental thinking when it comes to food. Also, no smoothies, for the same reason and it’s a lot of sugar. 

The biggest thing, I immediately thought was “it’s going to be hard.” I think any dietary change is hard just because your stuck in your ways. 

Main tips I like to do when changing my diet

·         *Prepare

·         *Plan

     *Prepare

            I usually decided on a start date, about a week out and the week before I start making changes slowly. Starting with one meal at a time. So by the set date it’s not a huge change.

            I also like to prep as much as I can. I usually prep snacks, and one meat choice. I will purposely make extra for dinner to have as lunch the next day. That way I’m not spending all day in the kitchen on my prep day. 

            Find easier ways to prep food. Toss some frozen chicken breast in the cock pot, then shred it up for salads or lettuce wraps. Cut up lettuce, and veggies for easy grabbing. 

            Have fruit out where you can see it. It makes it easier to grab if you’re hungry.

Why I decided to try it. 
I was stuck, I was stuck not wanting to cook. I was stuck grabbing for processed junk that wasn’t doing anything for me. I needed to reset and readjust. My youngest was going on 7 months old and I was fighting to lose the baby weight. But unless I made changes nothing was actually going to change. My husband was going to be gone to his annual training so that meant I was just going to be cooking for myself. I had the ability to cook the things he doesn’t like. I decided to take advantage and quite frankly it helps pass the time while he’s away. 

At about day 5 I really started noticing that I wasn’t snacking as much. I didn’t have cravings or want to mindlessly munch. Actually, the quite opposite happened. I started realizing that the food I was eating was keeping me full longer so the snacking didn’t have to happen.  

Now as much as I’d like to admit this was successful it was really hard. At the end of week 3 I have family come into town and had two different birthday celebrations. It’s hard saying NO to yummy food and especially Birthday Cake! So I took a break and decided that I would let myself have those few days. I’d say it went a lot better than I expected. I was very mindful of what I was eating. 

I have jumped back on the Whole 30 meal plans knowing that I’d be starting it over. But it doesn’t scare me or worry me. I really enjoyed what I was eating and how I was feeling.  

If you’re interested in learning more about it there’s tons of different recipe books that are Whole30 books. You can check out the Whole30 website and there’s a bunch on pinterest about it.