
Let me start by saying, I did not complete the 30 days. Womp womp, what a letdown, right? No! This blog is just to inform you of what I learned and how excited I am to try again! For those of you unfamiliar with Whole30, it is an eating plan created in 2009 by Melissa and Dallas Hartwig. Whole30 is explained in depth in their book, It Starts with Food. I HIGHLY recommend reading the book FIRST. You eat vegetables, fruit, protein, and fats for 30 days. You skip sugar, grains, legumes, dairy, and alcohol.
At first I thought this sounded easy. I was a vegetarian and a vegan for many years. I know how to stay disciplined and enjoy the “right” kinds of food. BUT I have been pleasantly surprised at all of the challenges that arose during these 30 days.
I wholeheartedly believe that food is medicine and you are what you eat. I know from studying nutrition that food plays a huge part in how we feel and how our bodies perform everyday. At home I have coined the phrase, Food affects your Mood. My husband and son constantly roll their eyes when I say this. Until recently.
Please note that I am not saying this is a blanket fix for everyone, nor do I think that it’s something everyone should do. However, I do recommend checking out the book and/or website if you’re curious.
I kept a log of how each week went. Successful or unsuccessful, this was going to be for me. I also added in some of my favorite recipes at the bottom. I hope you enjoy!
I spent most of these days hungry. My stomach just continuously growled. All day long. On the positive side of things, around day 3, I noticed I wasn’t exhausted like I normally am. I have a long work week, but I also have a baby girl who doesn’t sleep. Most days I would come in to the office looking and feeling like a zombie. I used to be a vegan for many years, so cooking was a fun experience. I couldn’t wait to try some of these recipes. I listed my favorites at the very end!
This was the hardest week by far. I could feel my body changing. I can’t really pinpoint what it was though. The hardest part of this week were the three out of seven days I had to go out for dinner for events. I resisted cheesecake, macaroni and cheese, and wine. Really good wine at that. I was pretty “miserable” this week. I was in too far to quit. So I was annoyed that I needed to keep going. Anyhow, I made some AMAZING recipes this week.
The beginning of this week I was feeling REALLY good. The best I had felt in the last year. I wasn’t tired. None of my joints ached at all. My skin was perfectly clear. I had a lot more energy. I was feeling so good, I decided to break one of the rules. It is not recommended to weigh yourself through Whole30 but I did anyway. To my surprise I had lost 9lbs! Wow! I was on top of the world. As I was nearing to the end of this week, knowing I had another 2 events to attend, I started to get grumpy. I really wanted to just cheat a little bit. But I held off. I was feeling so proud of myself.
The holding off to give into the urge to cheat was starting to consume me. All could think about was pizza. My favorite kind of pizza is Casey’s Taco Pizza. (Don’t judge me) I told my husband that to celebrate finishing Whole30, I was going to get a taco pizza. Well, Day 23 rolled around. We didn’t have time to meal prep that weekend because we were so busy. I figured since it was the last week, it would be fine; I had groceries for all of my favorite recipes. The night of Day 23, I broke down. I just wanted to eat pizza. It’s so strange looking back how desperately I wanted pizza. So after 23 days, I bought a pizza. It was the most delicious pizza I’ve ever eaten. I also had wine and ice cream.
Yes, I went all-out on going off of this eating change. I wasn’t the least bit upset. I had made it 23 days of a lot of temptations, avoiding poor food choices, and feeding my body the exact fuel it needed! I feel like the first go-around, I looked at this all wrong. I saw a lot of the negatives instead of the positives. I focused on everything I couldn’t have versus everything I could have. Yes, it’s hard, but remembering exactly how I started to feel is so worth doing it again. I lost 9 pounds, which still remains gone. I understand how food really affects my body. In March I plan to try Whole30 again. I think having this test run under my belt, I’ll go through it with flying colors! Wish me luck!
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How To Prepare
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For the ranch dressing:
For the sauce:
How To Prepare
Ingredients
For the Taco Meat:
For the Dressing:
For the Salad:
How To Prepare