A Whole 30 WOOOOOOOORLD {Recipe Files}

Hello, ladies! I have a confession to make to y'all. Last week I started the Whole30 program without telling anyone. EEEK! Yeah, I know, shame on me being a blogger. But, I wanted to try it out to see if it was something I could actually accomplish before I let the world in on my new goal. I've been intrigued by Whole30 for awhile, yet wasn't sure it was something I could complete without failing. After a week though, I've found that even though it's hard it's worth it and something that I am 100% going to ride to the end.

What is Whole30 you ask? The easiest way to describe Whole30 is a short term nutritional reset. Not quite a detox or a diet, but a lifestyle change for 30 days.

While on Whole30 you are not allowed to eat the following foods:

• "Do not consume added sugar of any kind, real or artificial. No maple syrup, honey, agave nectar, coconut sugar, Splenda, Equal, Nutrasweet, xylitol, stevia, etc. Read your labels, because companies sneak sugar into products in ways you might not recognize.
• Do not consume alcohol in any form, not even for cooking. (And it should go without saying, but no tobacco products of any sort, either.)
• Do not eat grains. This includes (but is not limited to) wheat, rye, barley, oats, corn, rice, millet, bulgur, sorghum, amaranth, buckwheat, sprouted grains and all of those gluten-free pseudo-grains like quinoa. This also includes all the ways we add wheat, corn and rice into our foods in the form of bran, germ, starch and so on. Again, read your labels.
• Do not eat legumes. This includes beans of all kinds (black, red, pinto, navy, white, kidney, lima, fava, etc.), peas, chickpeas, lentils, and peanuts. No peanut butter, either. This also includes all forms of soy – soy sauce, miso, tofu, tempeh, edamame, and all the ways we sneak soy into foods (like lecithin). Do not eat dairy. This includes cow, goat or sheep’s milk products such as cream, cheese (hard or soft), kefir, yogurt (even Greek), and sour cream… with the exception of clarified butter or ghee. (See below for details.)
• Do not consume carrageenan, MSG or sulfites. If these ingredients appear in any form on the label of your processed food or beverage, it’s out for the Whole30.
• Do not try to re-create baked goods, junk foods, or treats* with “approved” ingredients. Continuing to eat your old, unhealthy foods made with Whole30 ingredients is totally missing the point, and will tank your results faster than you can say “Paleo Pop-Tarts.” Remember, these are the same foods that got you into health-trouble in the first place—and a pancake is still a pancake, regardless of the ingredients." {source}

Woof, that's a lot of things Do NOT EAT, right? But honestly, it's not that hard if you plan for it. The hardest part for me is the no dairy and no alcohol. I like some cream in my coffee and a glass of wine to celebrate a special occasion. But, besides that, I've been having a great time finding fun recipes to try to keep things fresh and keep my eats clean. Even though I'm not on Instagram, I found the Official Whole30 Insta page and immediately bookmarked it because the recipes looked so amazing.

I've been LOVING this salad recipe, that I jazz up with a lil chicken or tuna for added protein. I also am inhaling this avocado-citrus dressing [I've cut the orange/lemon portions in half]. I'll put it on veggies, wraps and it was a life saver at the bachelorrette party. I didn't feel as deprived because I was actually able to snack on veggies during the festivities.

Special treats are kind of off limits, so it was a bit of a trial to find something delicious to sip while everyone sipped wine on Saturday. I haphazardly threw things together and was quite happy with my creation. I happily have I dubbed this drink the "Not Prego Fake Wineo" ;)!

It's super simple, I promise. You'll need sparkling water [or if you want a Ginger Ale or Sprite if you drink soda], cut strawberries and minced mint. Pour yourself a hearty class oh drink and then add lots of strawberries [they taste best when slightly frozen] and mint. Stir and enjoy!

This is the sparkling water I used. I normally don't like sparkling water, but with the extras it tasted pretty good.

Let me know if you try it out. If you're drinking white wine, I highly suggest freezing grapes and using them as ice. I served frozen grapes on Saturday and everyone loved them. Frozen grapes are my go to in the summer, tasty and does the cooling job well.

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I'm choosing to document my journey daily so I have something to look back on at the end of the program. I didn't just do this program for Lent nor did I just do it as a diet. I really wanted to try and test my willpower and see what happens when I actually stick to something for 30 days. Feel free to skip if it's too much text, I totally understand. 

Day 1: Today we start Whole30. It was my idea and I am honestly a bit surprised Le Husband jumped on it with me so quickly. I think it mostly has to do with his injury and inability to workout as much as we normally do. There are a TON of food on the DO NOT EAT list and I'm a bit worried I'll be able to get through the 30 days. I know I'm going to miss dairy the most, especially with my coffee, but I'm gonna give it a go. Nothing seems to be making a difference food wise in my body, so this is kind of my hail Mary. Hopefully this documentation will help me when I look back for progress.

Day 2: Ugh, black coffee. I miss my organic creamer. Breakfast and lunch today weren't too bad and I don't really have a headache. I am a lil more munchy though. I don't think I packed enough veggies/fruits to snack on, so I'll have to pick it up tomorrow. There are a bunch of prep recipes I plan to make tonight, so fingers crossed they taste good. I'm following Whole30 on instagram [well lurking since I don't have Insta] and found some tasty meals. Here's hoping I don't get burnt out.

Day 3: The new recipes I created last night were really good today. I'm still waking up tired, so I'm waiting for this amazing NEW ENERGY everyone talks about with this meal plan. I forgot part of my snack and so I had to improvise with just tuna, not what I wanted at all, but I ate everything. Le Husband created a new meal for us, with sausage, marinara and eggplant and I tried zoodles for the first time. Had a bit of a oops, but will definitely be incorporating them more in the future.

Day 4: Work from home day and golly is it hard to stick to just Whole30. I get so snacky when I work from home and I really want a cup of hot cocoa. I guess I could try with almond milk and tea, but can't have cocoa, sad face. We have Sportyspice's bday dinner tonight and who knows how that will go down. My family gives me a hard time about my meal choices sometimes and I hope we can get through the night without the standard food argument.

Day 5: WOOHOO, we've made it to Friday. Last night went okay, but I was starving after dinner. My family has become a bit touchy with Le Husband and my choice of diet and while it's frustrating, I try to balance attending family events and keeping everyone happy as best I can. Tonight should be fun though, we are going to Top Golf for Sportyspice's bday which will be a good time I'm sure. It's gonna be cold and I kind of wish I could look forward to a hot cocoa while golfing, but no such luck. Work was a bit crazy tonight and I really wanted a glass of wine and pizza for dinner, but stuck to our plan of fish and veggies. Le Husband and I both gave it the side eye, because we wanted something heartier, but we ate it and I honestly felt good about it once we arrived at Top Golf.

Day 6: Today was kind of all over the place, diet wise. I didn't really eat ANYTHING until 2pm because I was soooooo busy getting everything together. I'm getting used to plain black coffee, but sometimes I really just want to add a lil cream. Only 24 more days, woohoo! I have to admit that I'm REALLY proud of myself today. I hosted a bachelorrette party and didn't eat ANYTHING that wasn't on my diet. Did I mention it was a WINE & PAINT party? And that dinner was at my favorite Spanish tapas restaurant that also serves some amazing sangria? Yeah, talk about a test of willpower. I wanted to bump starting Whole30 to next week because of today, but Le Husband said no. And honestly, I'm glad he did. I've never said NO for a special occasion and it was great to see that I could enjoy myself without indulging. #thankyoulentfortheextrawillpower

Day 7: Woof, today I was exhausted and cranky. Makes sense since I didn't eat much at all yesterday and worked my lil tail off. It was a busy, icy morning and I just wanted to curl up with nachos and hot cocoa, not together of course. But, I ate my eggs for lunch and then spent an hour prepping for the week. I have to say as annoying as prep is, Whole30 has made me realize I really can MAKE the time to eat healthy. In the past I'd just say forget it and forge around in the morning or eat out for lunch. On Whole30 I can't cheat, so I have to force myself to prep which helps out in the long run. I had a late soccer game tonight, too and even though I've been out for four weeks with trips, I felt pretty good. Must be all that healthy food.

Linking up *here*, *here*, *here* and *here*.