Whole 30 and Other Stuff Going On…

Have you heard of the Whole 30?

It’s a 30 day eating challenge (I prefer to think of it as a challenge rather than a “diet”) that I’d been hearing a lot about lately. Several people I know have tried it, and I’d heard several good things about it. Alisha brought it up one day, and we decided to give it a shot. We also convinced several others to try it with us, including Travis and my sister, Jenn.

Basically, for 30 days, you eat meat, seafood, eggs, veggies, fruits, and good fats. You don’t eat added sugar (real or artificial), alcohol, grains, legumes, dairy, MSG, carrageenan, or sulfites.

It’s supposed to help your body heal from inflammation and “reset” after 30 days of eating clean. It supposedly will help curb your cravings and change the way you think about food in the future. That’s the part I was interested in; I’m SUCH a sugar addict. Really, I’m a carb addict. I love sweets, bread, pasta, and cereal. Giving those things up (along with milk and cheese, which I also love) for 30 WHOLE DAYS would be next to impossible, right?

I guess that’s still to be determined, but Travis and I are on Day 6 and still going strong!

A few observations from our first week:

1. Day 1 and 2 were probably the hardest for me so far. Travis and I both felt a little shaky, and I had a headache on day 1. I think our bodies were in shock over the lack of sugar intake!  My Day 2 was probably worse than Day 1…I just didn’t feel good and had a headache that wouldn’t go away.

2. Ever since then, we’ve both felt pretty great! Travis says he feels more focused during the day at work, and he’s able to wake up easier in the mornings. I’ve felt better too! I just have a steadier energy….no mid-afternoon slump and cravings for a sugary snack (so far!).

3. I’m really enjoying eating a big breakfast. I think that’s helping me throughout the rest of the day. I’ve been eating 4 scrambled eggs, fruit, and nuts almost every morning. We’ll see if I’m sick of eggs by the end of this challenge :)

4. So far, the food we’ve been eating has been pretty good. I’m not going to lie…most of it doesn’t compete in flavor with the foods we’re used to eating. How can you make up for the lack of cheese and real butter?? It’s hard to do. But, we’ve definitely found a few recipes that will be added to the regular rotation even after the 30 days is up!

5. I haven’t really had any bad cravings so far for “forbidden” foods. It HAS been hard to go to the grocery store and walk past the bakery, but I just try not to look :) I can’t believe I’m not dying for chocolate yet. Hopefully, it will be this easy the whole time, but who knows? Travis says the hardest part for him has been not having his usual snacks after dinner. No popcorn and a Coke in the evenings! We’ve experimented with “milkshakes”, fruit and nut combos, and other snacks to try to fill the gap though.

6. This new way of eating is SO MUCH MORE EXPENSIVE! I guess processed foods really are cheap compared to “clean” foods. My weekly grocery bills have pretty much doubled, and our grocery budget for March is definitely blown. Oh well! We’ll see after 30 days if it was worth it :)

Here are some of the meals we’ve had this week:

Typical breakfast for me: scrambled eggs, fruit, and nuts

Lunch on Day 1: Turkey Apple Hash with a side salad. It was really good!

Day 1 Supper: Spiced Pork Tenderloin with roasted cauliflower and green beans. That tenderloin was AMAZING!! Will definitely be making it again :)

Another supper this week: “Breaded” chicken thighs with carrots and sugar snap peas

Chocolate chili (It has cocoa powder in it, but doesn’t taste like chocolate!) – this was very good for chili (but neither Travis or I are big chili fans…haha)

Jamaican turkey burger (bunless) with steamed squash and green beans

Snacks have been things like this: fruit, nuts, a sprinkle of unsweetened coconut, and a dash of cinnamon/nutmeg

We also made milkshakes the other night with only 3 ingredients: strawberries, bananas, and coconut milk. They were yummy!

Well, that’s it for the Whole 30 update. I’m really enjoying eating more healthy so far!

As for Brooklyn, she’s eating mostly what we eat with a few exceptions…

Cheerios!

…and yogurt! :)

We’ve been spending more time in the kitchen (obviously!), so we’re washing way more dishes than normal…

Good thing I have a cute helper!

Speaking of the kitchen, Brooklyn was standing up and holding onto a kitchen chair after supper Tuesday night, and she lost her balance and fell. She must have either bit her tongue/cheek or hit her mouth on the way down because she had a mouthful of blood when I picked her up! Poor thing :( It took several minutes of chomping down on a wet paper towel before it quit bleeding. That was her first accident, and I’m sure it won’t be the last. At least we didn’t end up in the ER or something; it could’ve been way worse!

She was back to normal after a few minutes! :)

The cats are oblivious to our new way of eating. All they care about is sleeping and eating their own food :)

Gabby’s favorite place to nap…on top of the folded laundry fresh from the dryer!

And, we’re starting on our first big house project since Brooklyn was born. We’re painting the garage and putting in some nice shelving. We finally got tired of everything being so unorganized and sitting on the garage floor. And, I don’t think the walls have been painted in 20 years! So….it’s way overdue for a facelift.

We moved everything to the center of the garage on Saturday and wiped the walls down. They were so dirty and nasty. It was disgusting! Travis also filled and sanded several holes in the walls. We bought the paint we’ll be using. Now, we just have to tape off, and we’ll be ready to get started painting! And, we strategically made it where we can’t park in the garage anymore until we’re finished. Hopefully that will motivate us to get finished faster! We’ll see :)

I guess that’s about all that’s going on around here (besides the fact that I’m planning a lingerie shower, baby shower, group trip to Gatlinburg, and a bachelorette trip/lingerie shower that will all be happening by early June). Whew! One day at a time…