Now comes the post I know you’re all waiting for–the one with all the food! As interesting as it is, I’m sure, to read about why we decided to give the Whole30 a whirl and what we felt while adhering to said Whole30, at the end of the day what matters most is the food, right? Well, wait no longer…just read on! Before you do, though, a little note: To save time and space, not every meal or recipe is recounted. This post focuses largely on our successes. I didn’t take pictures of the meals that didn’t work, after all. Who wants to remember those with a photograph? For recipes that correspond with the images, follow the links–most will take you out into the world wide web where we found inspiration. Others will transport you directly to recipes of our own, right here on happy food. Dinner, Day 1: Since we hadn’t yet stocked the kitchen with compliant ingredients, Bryce found inspiration in the cupboards and online. He threw together one of my favorite dishes of the month, an amazing Moroccan Chicken, substituting thighs for whole chickens, replacing non-compliant ingredients with acceptable ones, and adding capers, artichoke hearts, and a can of diced tomatoes. The picture barely does the meal justice–it filled the house with warm aromas and tasted even better. Day 2: Let’s go shopping! After enjoying some leftover Moroccan Chicken Stew for breakfast, Bryce and I ventured out to conduct the shop of all shops and stock our stores with Whole30 compliant ingredients. Almost $400 later and we were set for the month (and beyond). Yes, Whole30 required an initial monetary investment that was quite considerable–but what better investment than one’s own health? Besides which, the money we saved by not eating out all month helped us gradually recoup that investment. Hindsight being, you know, 20/20, I should have taken a photograph of the goodies we bought that Saturday: unrefined coconut oil, avocado oil, light tasting olive oil, unsweetened coconut flakes, eggs for days, pork shoulder, grass-fed organic ground beef, coconut aminos, spinach, sweet potatoes, jicama, grapefruit…the list goes on, and I am rambling. To help make our first week as successful as possible, Bryce conducted a lot of Internet research the month beforehand. One of the blogs he discovered, Melissa “Melicious” Joulwan’s The Clothes Make the Girl, offered a lot of great tips and recipes, including a Whole30 week 1 meal plan. Bryce figured, and I quite agreed with him, that having prepared Whole30 foods at the ready would increase our chance of success, and because we went shopping, we could get down to business. Lunch, Day 2: While Bryce started cooking, I whipped up some Curried Tuna Salad Lettuce Wraps for lunch. I mixed together some tuna, homemade mayo, onions, celery, sunflower seeds, salt, pepper, and hot curry powder, serving the mixture in leaves of crispy romaine lettuce. The refreshing snap of the lettuce served as an excellent vessel for the spicy goodness of the tuna salad, and we didn’t even miss bread. What started as an experiment turned out to be a recurring Whole30 recipe. TIP: The homemade mayo recipe from The Clothes Make the Girl (follow link above) is simple to make and quite easily the best mayonnaise I’ve ever tasted. We will never go back to store bought mayo again. Dinner, Day 2: The crux of the Week 1 plan suggests spending an afternoon in the kitchen cooking up foods you can eat all week long. It involved creating specific meals (like the amazing Chocolate Chili, pictured) but also focused on prepping piece-meal items (like Italian pork roast and roasted veggies) that you could mix-and-match come meal time. At the end of our first cooking day, we enjoyed the savory Chocolate Chili mentioned earlier, spooned over roasted spaghetti squash. Breakfast, Day 3: With a fully stocked kitchen, Bryce and I were back in business for breakfast (read: we had eggs). Having made a broccoli scramble on Day 1, I thought I’d mix things up on Day 3 with a spinach & onion frittata. In theory, the plan was solid–sautéed onions and fresh baby spinach floating in a pillowy blanket of eggs. But, as we dug in, Bryce and I found that the iron flavor brought by the fresh spinach was far too intense and frozen spinach would be better for future recipes. Lunch, Day 3: One of the many upsides to spending an afternoon preparing food for the week is the numerous options the spread provides. Take this Slow-cooker Italian Pork Roast, another excellent recipe from The Clothes Makes the Girl’s week 1 meal plan, for example. The melt-in-your-mouth pork, flavored with garlic and Italian seasonings, centered meals like the one pictured below while also inspiring several other dishes later in the week (more on those later). Dinner, Day 3: Bryce, having spent most of Day 2 in the kitchen, tasked me with putting something together for dinner. Challenge accepted! Using available ready-made ingredients and our new wok (yay!), I threw together a Whole30 version of Chinese Take-out Beef with Broccoli. You may wonder, how do you make Chinese take-out without soy sauce? It’s not as hard as you might think. I combined date paste (sweetness) with coconut aminos (umami) and Frank’s RedHot® Sauce (spice). Breakfast, Day 4: To prevent myself from getting tired of eggs, I sought alternatives online while bouncing from Pinterest to Instagram. I eventually ran across a breakfast bowl consisting primarily of sliced bananas and almond butter. Eureka–a tasty way to break up day after day of eggs! My favorite combination = bananas + crunchy almond butter + toasted & salted pecans + unsweetened coconut flakes + blueberries + a dusting of ground cinnamon. So yummy, I still make them. Breakfast, Day 5: Another exercise in egg alternatives grew out of the Whole30 program’s invitation to rethink meals entirely. Why does breakfast have to fit a prescription? Truthfully, it doesn’t, which is partly what makes Whole30 life changing. So, I started day 5 with a salad: spinach topped with cherry tomatoes, diced onion, sliced avocado, and cilantro–dressed with fresh lime juice, kosher salt, and fresh-cracked pepper. I enjoyed this dish so much, I added it to my morning rotation. Dinner, Day 5: Staring into the abyss of the refrigerator at dinner time and wondering what to make, inspiration suddenly struck–Sweet Potato Shepherd’s Pie! The best part? The baked sweet potatoes and ground beef browned with onions were ready to go! I adjusted the recipe by taking out the cauliflower (we didn’t have any), replacing the beef stock with chicken stock (we couldn’t find compliant beef stock), and using individual serving crocks. So delicious…and filling. Breakfast, Day 6: Eggs were back on the menu, and one of the many wonderful things about them is versatility. I thought, why not combine eggs with a spinach salad? So, I crisped up some sliced bacon and fried two eggs to serve over a handful of fresh baby spinach. No oil or vinegar needed! The warm, runny, rich yolk created a creamy dressing of its own, seasoned simply with salt and pepper. With a half grapefruit and cup of black coffee, it was a true, Whole30 breakfast of champions. Breakfast, Day 9: There seems to be a theme developing with a heavy focus on breakfast. Not surprising, considering Whole30 completely upended my morning routine. Always looking for new egg dishes, inspiration struck once again when I saw sweet potatoes, Italian pork roast, onions, peppers, celery, and eggs in the fully stocked fridge. Let’s make hash! The sweetness of the potatoes combined perfectly with the savory pork and rich eggs to start the day off right. Lunch, Day 9: After watching his students graduate from James Madison University, Bryce came home and made the two of us another delicious lettuce wrap lunch. Using chicken prepared according to The Clothes Make the Girl (“The Best Chicken You Will Ever Eat. Ever.“), he stirred together diced chicken, raisins, cilantro, red onion, and homemade mayo before serving it in bibb lettuce. The seasoning from the chicken provided plenty of flavor–another Whole30 win. Dinner, Day 9: By the ninth day, Bryce and I had been through a few ups and downs but really began hitting our Whole30 stride. In celebration, I went all out and turned to one of our favorite Food Network chefs, Ina Garten, for her Perfect Roast Chicken recipe. We didn’t have any fennel, so we compensated by adding extra carrots, onions, and potatoes. Eating roast chicken with lemon and garlic over roasted root vegetables with a side of green beans on the deck…how bad could that be? TIP: There are many great recipes out there that are pretty darn Whole30 compliant to begin with that require only minor tweaks, much like Ina’s Perfect Roast Chicken recipe. The only substitution we needed to make was swapping the butter out for ghee, otherwise the recipe is wholly Whole30 (Batman). If you’re considering Whole30, I recommend flipping through your favorite recipes. You might be surprised to find some that can easily be adjusted to fit within the program parameters. Breakfast, Day 10: If you read my previous posts about our Whole30 journey, you know that by week two I had grown frustrated with breakfast. I despised spending 30-45 minutes preparing and cooking my first meal of the day. The awesome answer to my morning meltdown came in the form of a Whole30 Breakfast Casserole. Once cooked and properly cooled, it made for an easy breakfast. Pictured is the original, chock full of eggs, homemade pork sausage, mushrooms, onions, and spinach. TIP: The breakfast casserole remains one our top five Whole30 meals, not only because it tastes great but also because it lends itself to endless possibilities. Once you get the hang of recipes like this one, play with the ingredients. Experimenting provides variation and a certain amount of fun while also preventing tastebud boredom. We tried numerous versions of the breakfast casserole, each of them scrumdiddlyumptious, but none quite as good as what Bryce affectionately calls the Most Amazing Breakfast Casserole. Dinner, Day 11: As you most intelligently derived from my blog, Bryce and I enjoy the Food Network and gravitate toward several of its stars when researching meal ideas. Enter Pioneer Woman Ree Drummond and her Coconut Curry Shrimp. Of course, slight modifications were necessary–date paste instead of honey and roasted spaghetti squash instead of basmati rice. And we prefer cilantro over basil. Talk about flavorful! Another one of my top five Whole30 meals. Dinner, Day 14: Our good friend Dianna came from Minnesota to visit us and graciously tolerated our Whole30-ness. With recipes like Easy Paleo Homestyle Meatloaf topped with fully acceptable Prosciutto (Bryce’s idea), I think we succeeded in honoring our guest as well as the stipulations of the program. We kept things appealing, compliant, no-nonsense, and tantalizingly tasty. Who wants to spend all day in the kitchen when the Shenandoah National Park is calling? Whole30 food fail: I attempted to make some coleslaw to pair with the meatloaf, leaving out the sugar and adding apple juice in addition to the apple cider vinegar. I don’t care who you are, you cannot make a successful coleslaw without sugar! Apple juice as a substitute just doesn’t cut it. Dinner, Day 15: Happy birthday, Dianna! Let’s celebrate with Turkey Chili, using my own tried and true recipe (sans any off-program ingredients like beans, brown sugar, and alcohol, of course). Oh, and let’s top it with sliced avocado, diced onion, and fresh cilantro instead of Fritos corn chips, shredded cheese, and sour cream. You know what? I didn’t miss those contraband toppings one bit. Turns out cheese is often used to add salt to recipes–so why not just use salt? Dinner, Day 21: Facebook feeds can be annoying. Every once in a while, though, a featured post piques my interest and I click that link. Such was the case with this Turmeric Lime Chicken recipe from The Splendid Table, one of our favorite NPR programs. It could not have appeared at a more opportune time, as Bryce & I were constantly looking for new recipes. Served with a side of noodled zucchini sautéed in cherry tomatoes, garlic, and olive oil, we were certainly glad we tried this one! Dinner, Day 22: What is my #1 favorite Whole30 meal, you wonder? The answer may surprise you as much as it surprised me: Oven Roasted Potatoes, Onions, and Boar’s Head Kielbasa with Sauerkraut. (I mention Boar’s Head here because of its compliance.) The combination of the salty sausage, heartiness of the potatoes, sweetness of the onions, tanginess of the mustard sauce, and sour bite of the sauerkraut married to form a most perfect union. My mouth is watering (again). Dinner, Day 23: While traversing Whole30 it’s fun to meet up with fellow travelers. No one better understands the rocky path, and you get to swap stories both triumphant and tragic. Such was the case when Bryce and I enjoyed a four-course dinner with our friends, Ian and Katie. The kingly meal included guacamole with jicama, Caesar salad, roasted capon & potatoes with multicolored carrots & mashed potatoes, and peach cobbler. Over the top? No question. Worth it? Definitely. SIDE NOTES On capon: Never having eaten rooster before, I found Ian & Katie’s version deliciously decadent–the crispy skin in particular. The recipe they used was simply fantastic, and I look forward to having it again in the future. On mashed potatoes: To be completely honest, I never truly loved or even liked them as they typically tasted bland and had a paste-like consistency. While on Whole30, though, I developed a newfound appreciation for mashed potatoes. The trick? No cream or milk needed…just boil some cut up potatoes and then blend them with garlic, ghee, salt, pepper, and a little of the cooking liquid until smooth using an electric hand mixer. I don’t even peel the potatoes…the skins are where many of the nutrients are, anyway. For amped-up, back-of-the-nose spiciness, stir in some prepared ground horseradish. Yummy! On peach cobbler: Whole30 guidelines specifically state not to recreate compliant versions of non-compliant baked goodies, because it completely misses the point of the program. But we wanted to end our special meal with something sweet, so we went ahead and bent the rules anyway. Yet, even when taking out the vanilla extract and a sweetener substitute, the end result left something to be desired. Lesson learned! Lunch, Day 25: Chinese take-out food proved quite an obstacle as it’s usually laden with forbidden fruits. We kept looking for adapted recipes to try, though, since it’s a favorite cuisine of ours. Bryce, the ever resourceful researcher, found an excellent Hot and Sour Soup bursting with umami that satisfied our cravings. To keep it Whole30-approved, the only correction Bryce made was replacing the honey with apple juice and extra vinegar. We also opted for water chestnuts instead of bamboo shoots. Dinner, Day 25: Memorial Day means summer, and summer means grilling & eating out on the deck. What better way to start the season than with Grilled Balsamic-Mustard Salmon, Ina Garten’s tomato salad without the feta cheese, and mashed potatoes (I’ll have mine with horseradish, please)? I couldn’t think of any better ways to kick summer off, either. Well, okay, maybe a gin & tonic and some ice cream could. Only a few days left to go, though, so we just said no to temptation. Dinner, Day 26: The dinner of Pan Fried Chicken Thighs and Roasted Zucchini & Yellow Squash that Bryce prepared near the end of our journey rounds out my top five favorite Whole30 meals. The fried chicken thighs felt like a guilty treat, but dredging them in well-seasoned almond flour and skillet-frying them in coconut oil proved a much healthier alternative to fast food. My sense of guilt was therefore (mostly) unfounded. Buffalo style with Frank’s RedHot® Sauce? Yes, please! Absolutely craveable. Whole30 food fail: On day 28, Bryce spent the better part of an afternoon making Anne Burrell’s amazing bolognese sauce, complex and layered with flavor. It is intense and lip-smackingly delicious, the real deal. But when we served it over squash that just wouldn’t cooperate with the noodler and some leftover roasted spaghetti squash, we set ourselves up for nothing but disappointment…kind of like going to a Fleetwood Mac concert where Justin Bieber had replaced Mick Fleetwood. Not okay.
In the six weeks or so since our Whole30 adventure officially came to an end, Bryce and I have reintegrated some formerly forbidden foods and old favorites but adhere by and large to the plan guidelines. So, I drink my coffee with a little cream and sugar every morning, but no more Fruity Pebbles. The breakfast casserole tastes so much better and keeps me going strong until lunch time. I avoid most soy products but not peanut products. I occasionally indulge in ice cream and cocktails. I wrap tacos in crunchy, yellow corn shells instead of lettuce and serve guacamole with jicama AND tortilla chips. Burgers with cheese? Sure, but still no bun. On that note, Bryce and I went to Red Robin not too long after day 30, and we both wondered what the heck we used to love about the food so much. It was just tasteless and unsatisfying. Turns out pizza isn’t as good as it once was, either. Probably because it provides little nutritional value and therefore results in over-consumption (and therefore uncomfortable bloating). Freshly popped popcorn drizzled with melted butter and salt is a different story, though, and still one of my favorite foods, one I’ll probably never give up entirely. Well, there you have the rather lengthy run down of the great meals and delicious foods we ate while livin’ la vida Whole30 (and even a couple failures). This post has been a labor of love, taking nearly an entire month to complete, and I hope it was worth the wait.
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Hopefully you’ve had the chance to read through my first post about why Bryce and I decided to embark on our Whole30 journey. If not, you can check it out below. This second post centers on the emotional ups and downs and mental reactions Bryce and I experienced while livin’ la vida Whole30®. It’s a tale of excitement, trepidation, surprise, frustration, and enlightenment, among other things. Before I get too far into our story, though, let me start by saying that the Whole30 website provides a nifty timeline of what to expect on an emotional level throughout the program. I found this resource particularly helpful, and though my trek did not follow the calendar to the day, I did eventually go through all of the stages. The most amusing–especially for my coworkers–were the ‘Kill All the Things’ days. More on those in just a few paragraphs. Knowing very well the road that lay before us would be marked with do not enter signs, I made up my mind on the day prior to our adventure to take advantage of a few, shall we say, treats before they’d be verboten. Several of my coworkers and I ventured out for a ‘last lunch’ at Cuban Burger in downtown Harrisonburg, where I devoured a burger. The patty itself was technically Whole30® compliant, so you may think that I was behaving myself…but I ate that burger with non-compliant goodies like a toasted bun, melted cheese, crispy french fries, and an ice-cold Coca-Cola. So freaking good! I wondered whether or not I’d be able to make it through the month without such greasy goodness. SPOILER ALERT–I did! That same day, later in the evening, Bryce and I met Ian and Katie, some friends of ours with Whole30 experiences of their own, for drinks at a new downtown joint, Pale Fire Brewing. I wanted to try the brewery’s offerings before beginning Whole30, mostly because I had converted to a beer enthusiast over the past year and a half and couldn’t resist a final adult beverage on Whole30 Eve. (Verdict? Really good beer and great atmosphere, made better because of the people I was with.) Now, my intention to enjoy a beer…or two if I’m honest…was not because I thought it’d be hard to go a month without alcohol. Rather, I knew the Whole30 experience could affect my palette, and I wanted to enjoy the beer in case I lost my fondness for it. As we prepared to depart, Katie and Ian asked what our plan for Day 1 was (having already been down the Whole30 road before). When we responded that we didn’t really have one, they both chuckled and said, “Well, good luck!” Uh-oh. What had we gotten ourselves into? Day 1: On the first morning livin’ la vida Whole30, I woke up slightly worse for wear, perhaps a little hung over from the previous day’s pre-program food and drink bender, perhaps a little overly tired due to the lack of a good night’s sleep, and perhaps nervous that we were not truly prepared. Regardless, I resolved to make this thing a success, so I whipped up my first compliant breakfast: an egg and broccoli scramble with a side of crispy bacon and fresh sliced tomatoes. It was a great kick off–I didn’t even miss my usual bowl of cereal. How could I? I felt sated and ready to face the day–no, the month–ahead. I should also mention that I drank some black coffee with that inaugural breakfast, and newsflash! It wasn’t as bad as I had been expecting. In fact, I quite liked it. Somehow, the coffee rounded out the meal. This was truly a pleasant surprise and a rather encouraging way to start the program. After making and consuming a delicious, wholly compliant first meal that morning, I felt if I could drink–and enjoy–a mug of hot, black coffee, this Whole30 challenge wouldn’t be so difficult after all. My spirits were further buoyed by a tasty, successful lunch and an out-of-this-world, Moroccan-inspired dinner. I convinced myself this would be easy even though we weren’t fully prepared and the timeline referenced above suggested otherwise. And don’t worry, my next/last Whole30 post will focus entirely on the food we ate, recipes and (more) photos included.
Day 2: If Day 1 was a home run, Day 2 was a grand slam. Bryce and I conducted the Whole30 shop of shops, hitting up Costco, a local natural food store, and the supermarket. We got home, unloaded the veritable cornucopia of goodies, and emptied the kitchen of non-compliant items by freezing or boxing up all possible temptations. Auf wiedersehen, peanut butter. Guten tag, almond butter. Until next month (or never), ramen noodles. How you doin, spaghetti squash. Hasta luego, cheese. Hola, coconut milk. The transition seemed fairly easy, probably because we immediately restocked the kitchen with all the good things we could eat instead of mourning over our departing contraband. Now fully prepared, Bryce and I were overcome with excitement. We both love to cook, and the seemingly endless possibilities newly available to us provided much needed encouragement, especially when I experienced my first ‘Kill All the Things’ moment. TIP: Maybe not surprisingly, Costco offers a bounty of Whole30 compliant products: organic grass-fed beef, organic whole chickens, organic unrefined coconut oil, organic fruits & vegetables, avocado oil, almond butter, and I could keep going. If you’re thinking of starting the Whole30 Program and have a Costco nearby, I definitely recommend starting the kitchen-stocking process there. Womp, womp: The honeymoon of the first few days wore off rather quickly. Though they felt like a cinch, the first entire week was pretty much the hardest–at least for me. By day 5, I was frustrated having to spend 30-45 minutes every morning preparing my breakfast. I wanted to roll out of bed, throw breakfast in a bowl or on a plate, brew a cup of coffee, and enjoy my meal in front of Facebook without having to figure out what I wanted to eat, dirty a dozen pots and pans to make whatever that was, and clean up afterwards. You know the old saying that the early bird gets the worm? That’s because it doesn’t have to plan, prepare, and cook the worm before eating it. Damn lucky birds. Thankfully, Bryce was there to listen to me whine about my morning woes, offer some words of comfort, and, most importantly, suggest a solution–one that ended up preventing me from ditching the program all together: the egg and sausage casserole. With my mornings back on a more time-friendly schedule, I no longer felt my journey was threatened by breakfast. Hulk, SMASH: Also known as ‘Kill All the Things.’ I’d read about this stage on the Whole30 website and heard Molly Mogren talk about her ‘Kill All the Things’ phase on the podcast, Go Fork Yourself with Andrew Zimmern and Molly Mogren. Basically, you get all hangry during this phase. As the Hartwigs write in their books and on their website: “Day 4 dawns and you tentatively step out of bed, expecting to feel like you took a strike from Thor’s hammer in the temple. Instead, your head is surprisingly clear. Your limbs all feel functional. This could be a good day! You walk into the kitchen and as you’re greeted by the smiling face of your significant other you are suddenly overcome…with the desire to punch them in the face for smiling this early in the morning.”* While I never felt like punching Bryce in the face, I did have moments at home when I had to leave the room to prevent myself flying off the handle. I refocused that energy into mowing the lawn–that showed him! I also had ‘Kill All the Things’ moments at work–one in particular comes to mind, when I wanted nothing more than to take a peeled banana and smash it right into someone or something. My coworkers found this quite amusing, and retrospectively so do I. At the time, though, you’d think they’d have worried I’d smash that banana in their face for making light of the situation. I got this: After going all Hulk (internally, anyway–I never turned all huge and green despite all the spinach in our diet), things calmed down emotionally, and Bryce and I hit our Whole30 stride. We continued trying out new recipes, mastered the breakfast conundrum, managed not to kill anyone or anything, and successfully resisted temptations, of which there were many. Not that I have something to prove, but let me share some examples. In early May, Bella Gelato & Pastries opened a block from my office. Shortly thereafter, several ladies from work decided to go and invited me along. Despite the obvious reasons not to, I nevertheless joined them. The pastries and gelato menu was enticing (Brown Butter Cookie Dough, HELLO!), but I was able to stare temptation in the face and walk away, albeit with an iced coffee topped with a splash of compliant almond milk. (Yum, by the way. It felt like a special treat!) Several days later, Dianna, one of my Minnesota besties, came to visit Bryce and I. During her stay, we celebrated her birthday. Now, even though we retained a compliant kitchen, I couldn’t let her go without cake on her birthday. We were high maintenance but not communists. So, I took Dianna to The Cupcake Company just down the road, and when that red velvet cupcake whispered sweet nothings through the display case, I ignored it. Even when Dianna and I walked around Washington, D.C. before she headed back to Minnesota, I ably maneuvered my way around menus at a burger restaurant and Starbucks. My relationship with food truly started changing, and livin’ la vida Whole30 became a way of life. I said to myself, “I got this.” The home stretch: With the end so near, we both confronted moments in which we wanted to throw our arms up in the air and surrender. On day 28 there was an unfortunate mishap with some amazing bolognese sauce served atop lackluster noodled vegetables. The frustration was palpable, and we swore the answer was some real pasta. 28 days is as good as 30, right? We can cook up that pot of bucatini sitting just down the hall with the rest of the contraband, right? Well, no. Melissa Hartwig and Dallas Hartwig make that clear, commenting that if it was meant to be 28 or 29 days long, they’d have called it Whole29 or Whole28. Then, with just one and half days left of the program, Bryce and I hit the road for New Jersey to celebrate a baptism and ordination with the Fergusons, more good friends of ours. We were both feeling nervous about the weekend, particularly since the special events with all of their culinary accoutrements would be taking place on the first day after Whole30. Would we stick to the program on Day 31? Would we throw caution to the wind and completely indulge? Would we fall somewhere in the middle? There are instructions of what do to after completing Whole30 in the books and on the website, and one of the wise suggestions is not to schedule the Whole30 during a special event–or to end on the day before a special event. Whoopsie. Still, we were optimistic that we’d be able to handle the transition out of Whole30, and despite potential moments of weakness, we powered through the desires to give up. Day 30: The last day was surprisingly easy and almost passed without notice. Compliant breakfast at a New Jersey diner for breakfast, check. Compliant leftovers for lunch, check. Groceries from Trader Joe’s for a compliant supper, check. I think because we kept busy all day, we faced no real challenges and didn’t think about straying. Suddenly it was bed time and we realized that we had successfully made it through the Whole30 program. Woohoo! Let’s celebrate with a cookie, on day 31. Results: Funny things happened over the course of the month. When we started, I was adamant that I’d go back to eating the foods we worked hard to eliminate. As we settled into the program and our bodies grew accustomed to the real, honest-to-goodness food we ate for every meal, however, I realized this way of life was not so bad after all. And, truth be told, I didn’t really miss that bowl of Fruity Pebbles all that much. It really does not compare to a homemade egg and sausage bake paired with a spinach tomato salad and half a fresh grapefruit. Cravings for that afternoon candy bar disappeared. Both Bryce and I also noticed that we thought cheese would be one of the most difficult things to eliminate but discovered we didn’t miss it at all. In fact, we commented just a day or two ago that cheese often seemed an ingredient added to recipes for salt. But why not just add some salt? Some expected things happened over the 30 days, too. After a week or so, we both starting sleeping better. Our energy levels stayed consistent throughout the entire day. Our seasonal allergies didn’t bother us as much. Digestion worked effortlessly (read: no constipation, no diarrhea, no irregularity). By the last day, Bryce lost 16 pounds and I 10. Completely worth the emotional ups and downs. In fact, it was so successful that two weeks after completing Whole30 for the first time, we’re still mostly following the program and considering little things like adding honey to hot tea and cream to coffee cheats. What’s wrong with thinking that way? Nothing, if you ask me. Turns out livin’ la vida Whole30 truly educated us about the importance of eating real food, all while transforming our emotional relationship with food for the better. Coming up in the third (and final) post about our Whole30 trek will be the culinary hits and misses of the month, complete with recipes, links, and post Whole30 experiences for you to explore. * See more about the Whole30® timeline: http://whole30.com/2013/08/revised-timeline/#sthash.jq864Xw0.dpuf. What if I told you I didn’t make (or eat) a batch of blondies for an entire month? What would you say if I casually mentioned that I also hadn’t eaten any cheese during the same time frame? Nor any soy OR corn products? Would you believe me? Had you been following my blog previously or happened upon it by accident, you’d most likely be skeptical–especially since happy food started with ice cream. Heck, had you asked me in March if my May menu would exclude these items, I’d have thought you were crazy. But over the month of May, Bryce and I consciously decided to do just that as we embarked on a life-changing, month-long, nutritional journey and digestive reset, otherwise known as the Whole30® Program.
How did we get there, you ask? Well, earlier this spring, Bryce stumbled upon the Whole30 Program somewhere on the Internet. Knowing him, he probably discovered it on one of his trips down a Buzzfeed rabbit hole. He pored over the details of the program and declared in early April that he was going to start this diet thing he found called the Whole30® on May 1. Piqued by his seemingly sudden interest in the program, I asked for more details. That’s when he told me the diet cut out all dairy, soy, grain, legume, and sugar products (real or artificial). No milk. No cereal. No peanuts or peanut butter. No alcohol. No soy sauce. No ice cream. No popcorn. No butter to put on the popcorn. You can perhaps see why I initially balked at the idea. All of these things are staples, right? I told him and myself there was no way I could do this. I mean, 99% of the time, my day started with a bowl of Fruity Pebbles and cup of coffee sweetened with cream and sugar. How could I manage an entire month when the only allowable part of my typical breakfast was the coffee–as long as I drank it black? As I continued to contemplate joining Bryce on this adventure and he continued to read about the Whole30 Program, I became more open to the idea and he became more obsessed with the plan. Over the course of a couple of weeks, I went from a definite not-gonna-happen to a solid it’s-a-possibility to a resounding when-do-we-start? You might wonder what changed my mind, and actually a combination of factors led me to hop aboard the train.
So, while I started the month of April thinking I’d never agree to this Whole30 nonsense, I ended the month excited (and more than a little scared) to start on this adventure. Come May 1, we were livin’ la vida Whole30. |
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