Whole30: The Start

Pardon the radio silence - I know it's been awhile! And I know 2014 was overall sparse... I took some unintentional time off from blogging, simply to have a mental reset. I felt like I needed to reevaluate what I spend my time on and find out what was worth my time. I don't know if I'm fully back to blogging, but I wanted to document my experience through Whole30, just to keep track of this own personal goal of mine.


I started Whole30 yesterday. Thankfully Michael is doing it with me, even if he's already said he wants a "cheat day" on the weekends. I don't blame him - this diet is no joke. It is whole foods only, omitting all grains, dairy, legumes, sugar, and alcohol. It sounds pretty scary when you read that list.

It all started when I read this post by Anna almost a year ago.
I thought, "that's nice for her, but I could never do that. It seems like so much work and I would have to change so much about my diet." Coconut milk and ghee were foreign foods to me. I couldn't wrap my mind around the idea of committing to something so extreme, even if only for 30 days. But Anna's thoughts on the experience really piqued my interest. I let the idea marinate over the next several months. I couldn't get over how she said it "wasn't that hard" and how she no longer drinks her coffee with cream, even after coming off the program. I was also slowly making some subtle changes to the way I cook - more veggies, omitting cheese or grains if it didn't need it, experimenting with coconut oil (I was shocked that it doesn't have a coconut flavor!), looking at labels of grocery items, etc. I even gave up putting Sweet n' Low in my coffee. All very subtle, but they were subconsciously helping me realize that healthy food could still be delicious. I was still, however, indulging in pizza, fries, and wine whenever I felt like it, and would really binge on those things on the weekends, on vacation, or whenever I felt like "I deserved it."

Then in August I read this post about being a slave to food and relying on it in times of happiness, sadness, stress, etc. Everything in life is celebrated with food/alcohol, or commiserated with it. I realized how I truly do not have any self-control in this area of my life, and that's when I decided this needed to happen. Thirty days is not that long, and I could stand to exercise some self-control and discipline in my life. If I'm honest, I've been feeling a little flabby lately and I also want to lose a few pounds. My goal is to use this as a kind of "fast" - if I am craving something, talk to Jesus about it or read my bible and spend time with Him. How awesome would it be if I could transfer my dependency on food to dependency on the Lord? I started talking to Michael about it in November, and suggested that we try it after the holidays. I knew that I would mentally need a couple of months to think about it some more, and come to terms with all that I'd be giving up. Also, doing this during the holidays would be a terrible, terrible idea.

So here we are in January, and since we are going on vacation in February, it was start by January 11 or bust. I spent all last week researching recipes and figuring out how the heck we were going to do this thing. Saturday I did a huge haul at Costco, Trader Joe's, and Whole Foods (I had to go to all 3 because there were some random pantry items that I didn't have - I won't need to make 3 stops every grocery trip). I found out that, like they say on their website, sugar is in E V E R Y T H I N G. Seriously, why does salsa need sugar in it? Also, store-bought almond milk is pretty terrible if you look at the ingredients. I was able to find a lot of Whole30 compliant foods though (the rogue beer and wine bottles in my fridge are leftover from prior shopping trips, and have since been removed!).

Why I'm doing Whole30:

+ to not rely on food to make me happy or satisfy me emotionally, and transfer those desires to the Lord
+ to get unaddicted to sugar and chemicals (research is showing that sugar lights up your brain like cocaine does, and Americans are literally addicted to it because it is added to almost all of our processed foods)
+ to fill my body with nutritious food that will make me feel good and hopefully look healthier & lose some weight
+ to see if my sleep patterns are better on this diet. I have always had trouble with sleep - as in, I have trouble falling to sleep sometimes, and then once I'm asleep I sleep really deeply, and it is near impossible to wake up in the morning (I set like 5+ alarms per day). Some of the people who have done Whole30 have said that they slept a lot better and started waking up without an alarm clock. That would be insane if this happens for me!
+ to challenge myself to cook delicious meals with only healthy foods - without the flavor inducers I'm used to (sugar, cheese, and artificial flavorings)


Here are some things I'm making in our first week:
Colleen's roast chicken & kale salad

Shepherd's pie & steamed green beans

Jolie's pulled pork & roasted veggies

Grilled salmon topped with chipotle mayo & peach salsa (adapted from here)

Leftovers or this green bean scramble

Grilled chicken and veggies 

Some random thoughts about my first 2 days:

- On the first day I totally wanted to cheat by lunch time. I really had a craving to go out to eat after church, mainly just for the activity and ease of it. I am going to miss eating out a LOT.
- Sunday afternoon we went on a run and I literally felt like I couldn't do it, and I think it was because of the lack of carbs. I'm trying to add in potatoes to our breakfasts and lunches now.
- I feel full mostly all the time, but last night I had a massive craving for bread or something sugary. I had no idea I was so addicted to those things, but it makes sense as I am used to eating a typical American diet. I settled with tea, and while it didn't satisfy the craving, I told myself it was okay. This is going to hurt a little in the beginning. I have to admit I didn't read my bible or pray during this time, but next time I should do that.
- Meal planning is overwhelming, but this morning it felt awesome to have an already-prepared breakfast - veggie and sausage frittata! - that isn't processed (like my typical oatmeal or freezer sandwiches) and a healthy lunch to take with me to work. And it was all satisfying. Cooking dinner tonight will also be easy because I have the ingredients and some of the prep work is already done. So that feels awesome.
- In the past week I have made my own chicken stock and clarified butter, and I put coconut milk in my coffee instead of half & half. It wasn't actually that bad. I feel like I can do anything (check back in with me in a few days...).
- All in all I'm really excited to be doing this. I think it will be great for my body, and maybe even better for my mind. I am going to refer back to this post to keep myself accountable!