But I complained anyway.
This is my second round with the Whole30. I shouldn’t get a medal. Some people do this food lifestyle a few times a year. Those are our real American heroes (Shout out to my American sister in Costa Rica who likes a good bi-annual Whole30).
If you’ve been living in a hole or haven’t yet heard me complain about the Whole30, let me catch yo up with this uber-hyped-and-popular food lifestyle non-diet:
The Whole30 is a food life-style that works to identify certain food groups that may be having an adverse affect on your health. The creators of the program believe that your energy levels, your weight gain, your focus, your hormonal balance and a myriad of other health-related problems can be directly linked to foods we consume on a daily basis. They say:
Cut out all the psychologically unhealthy, hormone-unbalancing, gut-disrupting, inflammatory food groups for a full 30 days. Let your body heal and recover from whatever effects those foods may be causing. Push the “reset” button with your metabolism, systemic inflammation, and the downstream effects of the food choices you’ve been making. Learn once and for all how the foods you’ve been eating are actually affecting your day to day life, and your long term health. The most important reason…?
This will change your life.
I survived my first Whole30 almost exactly two years ago, and I never thought I’d do it again, despite losing almost 10 pounds and feeling GREAT afterwards. It’s hard. All that cooking (and I love to cook), meal prepping and not being able to eat tacos two times a day, not to mention no alcohol!?
I did keep up the Whole30 lifestyle for awhile two years ago. I was cognizant of the additives in my food. I checked labels. I didn’t add cheese to a meal when it wasn’t really necessary (Occasionally, that’s possible). I drank ONLY red wine.
But eventually, the bad habits started creeping in. I got the fries instead of salad when I was out to eat. I added cheese to my egg scramble. I ate the WHOLE bagel and not just half of it. I remembered how good a cold beer tastes on a hot summer day. I stopped caring what Sodium Nitrate or BHA And BHT or Citric Acid was and just bought that can of diced tomatoes. It’s from Whole Foods. It’s fine, right?
And in the last 6-9 months, I’ve felt pretty terrible. From skin issues to constant bloating to an extra 5 “ish” pounds I just can’t lose, no matter what I do, I knew I needed a reset. My busy urban-lifestyle, living just steps away from convenient affordable takeout, means I’m buying more tacos than making my own. I bring home my one bag of $100 Whole Foods groceries with a few recipes planned for the week, and the food spoils because it’s just more convenient to order Indian when I finish work at 7:30 or 8 pm.
I knew I needed a change, and it needed to be drastic.
So here I am, back in the Whole30, writing to you on day 21, not sure I’ll make it through these next 9 days.
Okay, it’s really not that bad. I wasn’t exaggerating when I wrote my original post 2 years about how much I was struggling. My first Whole30 was so much harder. Read all about it here.
But the Whole30 is so much more popular now, and there are so many more resources to help you through it. There is a great healthy-TV-dinners-for millennials spot called Snap Kitchen in my neighborhood that has been a lifesaver when I’ve been too busy to cook dinner. They have an amazing Sweet Potato Noodle Shrimp Pad Thai. Plus there are many compliant products these days that you don’t have to make EVERYTHING. Tessemae’s has a ton of complaint products like : Whole30 Ketchup (Somehow without sugar, it’s sweeter), Ranch Dressing (buy these packets!) for eating with carrots or on salads.
This would’ve been good to find a few weeks ago: There’s a Whole30 Master Kit with BBQ sauce, Dressings, Ketchup and vinaigrettes:
One of the ways I break the Whole30 rules is with store-bought chips. There are too many compliant brands out there that I just save time making my own Kale Chips and buy them. And by “kale chips” I mean Grain-Free Tortilla Chips which I think might be better than the real thing. These chips from Siete are made from Casava root and with a compliant salsa, are a Whole30 Lifesaver: Siete Grain-Free Chips.
I also use the “emergency” food approved Rx Protein bars (Chocolate Sea Salt is delicious) when I don’t have time to make breakfast or am fading midday. (Technically, these are not approved because people starting using them as snacks. But all the ingredients ARE approved, and I use them because get-outta-my-way if I don’t have time to make eggs for breakfast and haven’t eaten.)
So I’m surviving. My boyfriend and I are anti-social together (though we’ve ventured out and enjoyed a class of water while our friends drank). Bea is my text support for when I’m feeling extra cranky because she’s a day behind us. She and I even have a shared Recipe List and I’ve published my meal plan (on the second tab).
Made this Skillet Blackened Shrimp Fajitas
As you’ll notice, as the weeks have gone on, my meal plan is less detailed. And that is what works with me. Each Saturday or Sunday when we’ve shopped, I’ve just made sure to get some staples:
Vegetables:
- Avocado
- Broccoli
- Asparagus
- Green Beans
- Artichoke (Occasionally for a treat!)
- Zucchini or Spaghetti squash for “noodles”
- Mushrooms
- Tomatoes
Proteins:
- Salmon
- Shrimp
- Eggs (2 dozen a week!)
- Chicken for the man
- Paleo Bacon (the only kind without sugar!)
And chips. Lots and lots of chips.
And do yourself a favor, Whole30 or not, and buy Raos Tomato sauce, specifically their Roasted Garlic. I could spoon this stuff into my mouth cold it’s that delicious. I sauté veggies (mushrooms, tomatoes, garlic and shallot), throw them in the sauce, maybe add shrimp and a fake noodle and slurp it like it’s a cheesy soup. So savory!
So I’m surviving. I ONLY have 9 more days (until reintroduction, which I plan to do correctly this time to see WHY I feel as great as I do) I don’t know if I’ve lost weight, but I probably have (The boy has lost more than 10 lbs because men are assholes like that). The more important thing is that I FEEL great. I feel slimmer. My pants are looser. My bloat is (mostly) gone. And I’m eating as much as I want because when you eat clean… that’s a thing you can do.
Had a Whole30 Date Night for Valentine’s Day at Sweetgreens
I’m bored. I’d like to go out with friends*, I’d like for someone else to prepare my meal, but I’m really happy I’m making myself do this. Besides figuring out what foods really DO bloat me up and make me feel bad after eating, I hope I continue with my meal planning and weekend meal prepping. If I can come away from this round of Whole30 being really great at planning, shopping for and prepping 3 dinners and 4 lunch a week, I’ll feel like this was totally worth it.
You should do the Whole30. It’s hard but worth it. It’s 30 DAYS, not 30 Months. You can do it!
*I have gone out for sushi twice, brought my own coconut aminos like a weirdo, and ordered sashimi
