Whole30, Here We Come!

We are doing a Whole30 this month!

This was kind of a spontaneous thing. A friend of ours was already doing it so we were chatting about it while having coffee…and then my other friend and I said, “well, let’s give it a go, too! Can’t hurt”. Then we convinced our husbands to do it with us…and now there are six of us doing it and we have a big daily text stream that goes pretty much like this all day:

“I want chocolate.”
“Me too”
“Chili without beans is sort of weird but I kind of like it” 
“I want chocolate.”
“I miss wine”
“Roasted beets are yummy!”

…and so it goes. We have been taking pictures of our meals and sending it to each other and it’s really been quite fun. Misery loves company, right? 😉

First, let me say to all the diet police out there that I’m not doing a Whole30 to lose weight and, yes, I am still nursing. I’m making sure I’m eating tons of healthy fats, don’t you worry. I don’t see a reason you can’t do a Whole30 while nursing if you’re eating enough food and not restricting calories. If my supply starts to tank, I’ll either add even more fat and starches in my diet or I’ll just stop the program altogether if it’s not working for us right now. You do you and I’ll do me.

Moving on.

Day one and four were a little rough for me, as I’m used to having chocolate in the afternoon to get through, but I pushed through. Day one just felt like a shock to the system and on day four (yesterday), I just felt incredibly sleepy all day…like my brain was in a fog. I’m trying to drink lots of water and that helps.  Mid-afternoon and evenings are the hardest times because that’s when I’m used to boredom snacking, wine and chocolate. No wine is TOUGH, because toddlers. Tea is not a fun substitute. Just saying. 

Breakfasts have looked the most different for us because, typically, we eat toast with butter and honey every morning. It’s delicious and I miss it very much. 

Here’s a look at my breakfasts from Week 1! 

Lots of sweet potatoes and eggs fried in ghee. Bacon, too. And greens sauteed in bacon grease were welcomed and delicious. I got a bunch of sausage from Costco and it’s sugar-free and really tasty. I didn’t realize that some bacon and sausage contains sugar, which is a Whole30 no-no.  Thrive Market has come in handy for Whole30 “supplies”, if you’re interested in checking it out. I want to figure out some new breakfasts for next week that don’t involve sweet potatoes and/or eggs because I am already feeling a little burned out. Homemade sriracha has been liberally drizzled on e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g. I am ADDICTED to this and so glad I have more in the freezer.

It was a little more stressful in the mornings to make such “big” breakfasts while packing school lunch, getting everyone ready and getting out the door (versus slathering butter on bread and calling it a day), but I felt really good after breakfast each morning. I think my body was craving some extra protein! Yay bacon. And lots of coffee! Thank goodness we already drank our coffee black, so that was not an adjustment for us. 

And here’s some lunches from week 1!

Typically, we all do leftovers for lunch. Adam has been able to find paleo options at the office and has been consuming lots of guacamole. He’s a happy guy. 😉 My biggest issue was not finishing my lunch with something sweet. I always have a piece of dark chocolate after lunch. This week I tried substituting that for dried mango. I mean, it’s not chocolate but it’s sweet so it sort of works…right? 

I definitely felt a mid-afternoon slump all week. I think it’s my body detoxing from all the sugar. There have been lots of dips into the almond butter jar! I usually don’t snack during the day but have felt the need for smaller, more frequent meals. I just get hungry! Other snacks included apples with almond butter, dates with almond butter,  homemade coconut milk cappuccinos, pistachios and bananas. 

Dinners from week 1 I need to be better about taking photos of. We don’t eat until late and the light was already gone for the day. But…I did make some yummy things including NomNom Paleo’s Beef Chili and Cracklin’ Chicken. I was shocked that chili without beans was actually delicious. Even better over a sweet potato the next day for lunch! I also made some italian beef that involved me just throwing a big chuck roast into the Instant Pot with some italian seasoning, peppers, onions, garlic and broth. I served it with carrot “noodles” one night and cauliflower rice the next. 

So, that pretty sums up the first week of our Whole30. Overall, I feel pretty good and it’s fun to do this alongside a group of friends. Our favorite bakery in town is closed for the next week for vacation so at least that temptation is gone. 😉 I’m sorry for the lackluster iphone shots but this is just a quick glimpse into our first week of the Whole30!