(affiliate links and a referral link are used in this post} {shoes are old target ones – sam & libby- you may be able to find them on PoshMark // Two piece gingham set is c/o Shop Red Dress // Hat is c/o J.Mclaughlin from last year – though they have some new ones this year // Bag is Zara but sold out but oh my goodness Zara has some amazing bags this season }

If you follow me on instagram, you’re probably already well aware (and possibly annoyed! sorry!)  that my husband and I are on whole30.  JB and I decided after a weekend of eating terribly, and not feeling great, that we’d give Whole30 a go.  I had two migraines the week before, and both left me completely wiped out.  So I was hoping a change in diet would help.  Lindsay Reagan Thorne has been doing it, and I have really enjoyed her posts about it.  We had dinner with JB’s cousins who did it and they said how much they loved it.  I said something like, well with kids, how could you even do it?  And he said “yeah, like you don’t want your kids to be healthy or anything”.  And that hit home for me.  I do want to model good eating habits for them, and eat and serve real food.  Though as an aside, they aren’t on whole30 – but they’re eating better than before.  I’ll be honest, it seemed like literally the most miserable thing ever.  But JB wanted to try it, I was up for it for health reasons, and so without a ton of preparation, we started the next day.  I put the boys down that night and he ran to the store.

This is the first time I have ever done a “diet”.  The deal with me is, I have always had a hard time gaining weight.  I know that’s annoying for some.  It doesn’t matter a ton if I eat great or not weight wise.  Though I definitely feel the effects of eating junk.  I also got sort of used to not feeling the best.  So I wanted to do this diet, which is really more a lifestyle, just to reset my body and mind about choices surrounding food.  Being healthy has been important to me all of my life, I even went to grad school for health promotion, but recently I became increasingly into quick and convenient eating over healthy.  I also mostly just wanted to feel strong and healthy for myself and my family.  You are just supposed to weigh yourself the first day and the last day.  I never weigh myself unless I’m at the doctor.  But for this I am going to weigh myself throughout it to make sure I don’t lose weight. I’m also snacking more, and especially after I work out.  RXbars and Lara Bars were once compliant, but people were eating them too much like treats, so now they aren’t.  I am still having the bars, though JB isn’t, after I workout or for a snack here and there.

The basic gist of Whole30 is meat, veggies, fruit, some nuts, and water.  No additives.  No Legumes.  Organic if possible.  It’s an anti-inflammatory diet.  Also, no corn!  Pretty simple, but the first day I overthought it.  But nine days out (but who is counting haha) it isn’t so tough to come up with meals.  Especially now that I have bought every whole30 compliant dressing, ghee, and sauce out there.

JB has always made a hot breakfast for our family.  He generally wakes up early to study for his CFP or work out, while the rest of us sleep.  I know, I know, I am spoiled.  I married up.  He has made a lot of veggie egg bites in muffin tins.  I’ve been eating those with an avocado and some greens.  Trader Joe’s Everything Bagel seasoning helps me out here.  He also has made homemade sweet potato or potato hash.  Breakfast wasn’t too different for me, though I usually have some sprouted toast.  The boys usually have birch bender protein pancakes (the mickey pancake maker is life around here), some fruit, and bacon.  I thought I’d be able to have bacon since I bought it at wholefoods.  But guess what?  Literally 99% of bacon has added sugar or maple syrup.  Though they do have some without – and that is on my list of groceries to buy this week.  I think that is one of the most eye opening things for me… how much extra sugar or additives are in things that seem on the surface pretty healthy.

Lunch I generally pick something up or eat leftovers on a normal day before Whole30.  Lunch has forever been a tricky meal for me.  For Whole30 I have made mostly salads.  Mixed greens, grilled chicken (jb grilled a lot of chicken breasts to keep for lunch), boiled egg, avocado, this new salad topper seeded mix from trader joe’s, blueberries, tomatoes … whatever we have on hand.  Before I bought whole30 compliant dressing I was just having EVOO on our salads.  The dressings are pretty good – especially when you add in some homemade mayo.  JB either came home for a salad, or I brought him one to his office.

Dinner wasn’t too different than normal.  We had been doing Hello Fresh for a couple months now, and since we decided to do this on a whim, we hadn’t skipped that week yet.  I used what we could out of the box, and saved the rest.  But for the most part I cook pretty simple meals with whole foods already.  We did zoodles and sweet potato noodles with homemade meat sauce.  I made zucchini chips – not quite chips but roasted and thinly sliced and a little crunch.  I made homemade sweet potato fries. Spaghetti squash with ghee.  roasted asparagus and roasted green beans.  We had steak, chicken, and fish jb caught off the dock.  One day we grilled bananas after dinner and put almond butter on it.  I think this was actually cheating as it’s a “fat bomb” (though technically we didn’t cheat I don’t even know)?  But having been so deprived of sugar, it literally tasted like the best thing we have ever had.

JB has felt amazing, and he’s actually dropped a belt size in a week.  Though I feel my jeans are tighter (which is a good thing).  I’m eating a lot of fats – at least two or three avocados a day, lots of olives for snacks, and almond butter on fruit.  I feel awesome too, and didn’t have a lot of the unpleasant stages they talk about people having.  Do I miss bread?  Wine?  cheeeeese?  yes yes and yes.  I miss sugar.  But the pay off is that I feel strong and healthy.   I have had two people tell me my skin is glowing, so that is a plus.  And I don’t feel bloated.

Tips if you’re going to try it:

• You can buy the Whole30 book – There are lots of recipes, but I also just love Melissa Hartwig’s tone.  she’s no-nonsense,  sensible, and easy to understand.
• You can also just read the website and their Instagram for recipes.  My absolute favorite instagrammer who is mostly Whol30 is The Defined Dish.
• Homemade Mayooooo – I have added it to the primal dressings to make it creamier, and it feels like I’m cheating.  I’ve also added it to make tuna salad.
• Be prepared.  I got a provisional Thrive Market (full disclosure: referral link) account because they have a whole30 section, and the prices were way cheaper than Whole Foods and Amazon.  I now own one million Whole30 sauces, spices, and whole30 approved snacks.  Once I got these, it made salads better and cooking easier on Whole30.
• Do it with someone.  JB and I both would have quit if we hadn’t done it together.
• Get yourself every kind of La Croix you can. We actually stocked our wine fridge with La Croix and the harmless coconut water brand.  In my regular water I put some fresh lime, and/or cucumbers.  I love how hydrated I am on this.

Obviously, I’m not a medical professional, but I do feel amazing.  I have never been behind counting calories or people feeling constant hunger …  and have always been a proponent of eating simple whole foods.  So for me, this is the only diet that has made sense.  Is it 100% sustainable?  No.  I want to live a little!  But my hope is it resets our way of thinking about food, we become more active in reading ingredients, and live our healthiest life.  I hope we do it around 80% or more of the time after our thirty days.  I hope we are more mindful about what goes in our bodies.

Have you done it before?  What are your tips?  Want me to update y’all weekly?  Or just once more, once I (hopefully) complete thirty days?