Since Nathan and I have been going strong with our Whole30 for just over a week now I thought it was time to share some thoughts with you all! I’m also going to share meal-by-meal what we ate this week because it seems like all I do with my spare time these days is read Whole30 meal plans and pin recipes sooo hopefully I’m not in that alone and this is helpful to someone.
A quick recap of Whole30 is cutting all dairy, sugar, grains, legumes, and alcohol from your diet for 30 days. And they mean ALL. So many of the foods we eat have sneaky names for those things in their ingredients so you really have to read the labels on everything. There are so many great posts on the web about Whole30 (Is ____ Whole30 compliant will be you most Googled phrase for sure) and the creators also wrote a book explaining everything that I would highly recommend you read beforehand!
Why did I choose Whole30?
A quick scroll through Facebook will remind you that there are 10000 ways to lose weight these days and to be honest I’ve tried a lot of those different things over the years. Shakes and supplements have never felt right for me even though I understand the benefits of the extra nutrition they give you. Give me the real food. Plus, all that stuff is too expensive for me to justify something that is going to only feed me. Then you have the counting diets. Counting calories, using containers, counting macros, counting points – it becomes an obsession to me and my brain can not think of anything else. Whole30 seems to me to be the opposite of all that. Fuel your body with these real foods and eat protein, fat, and veggies at each meal. You should be getting enough from your meals so that you don’t have to snack in between them. Boom. Simple and straightforward because mom brain is real guys.
How do I feel after Week One?
First, I feel very happy I have a partner in my own home who is doing it with me. I’m not sure I would have even made it a week without that. So if you are single or your significant other isn’t on board find someone else to keep you accountable! I’m in like three Whole30 Facebook groups and they have all been awesome.
I don’t feel deprived at all. Of course there are foods that I miss (chips and queso being at the top of that list) but each meal has really left me satisfied which is totally different from other “eating plans” that I’ve done. “Well, these are all the calories I get so I guess I’ll just be hungry until later!” was a regular thought through my head.
I feel like this isn’t for the feign of heart. So much cooking. So much tupperware. So many dishes. So many thoughts of “one ____ won’t kill you Rachel! Just have one!”
Physically I feel ok. I have definitely been more tired than usual but from everything I’ve read that’s totally normal in the first two weeks. This is a great post that explains the normal “symptoms” of Whole30. I also have loved not having food guilt or having that feeling of yuck after over eating or eating something yummy but not body fueling.
Here’s our Week One Meal Plan:
Day One – Breakfast: Sausage, Caramelized Onion, and Sweet Potato Frittata | Lunch: Turkey Taco Salad | Dinner: Pork Carnitas (Google Whole 30 compliant taco seasoning for those last two and I’ll share our’s soon!)
Day Two – Breakfast: Leftover Frittata | Lunch: Turkey Taco Salad | Dinner: Chicken Fajitas (used same taco seasoning)
Day Three – Breakfast: Leftover Frittata | Lunch: Turkey Taco Salad | Dinner: Buffalo Chicken Sweet Potatoes
Day Four – Breakfast: Leftover Frittata | Lunch: Leftover Buffalo Chicken Sweet Potato | Dinner: Chicken Bacon Ranch Casserole
Day Five – Breakfast: Two scrambled eggs, 3 frozen hash browns, and half an avocado | Lunch: Leftover CBR Casserole | Dinner: Buffalo Chicken Meatballs with cauliflower mash
Day Six – Breakfast: Chicken & Apple Sausage, 3 frozen hash browns and half an avocado | Lunch: Tuna packet and Broccoli Salad (I’ll share the recipe soon) | Dinner: Egg Roll in a Bowl
Day Seven – Breakfast: Sausage Hash Brown Egg Bake | Lunch: Tuna packet and Broccoli Salad | Dinner: Ground beef marinara (I use the compliant Simply Nature Tomato Basil from Aldi) over zoodles
I hope this is helpful to some of you! I’m sharing more about it over on Instastories so come follow along there if you are interested! Let me know if you have done a Whole30 and leave me your favorite recipes if so. If you haven’t let me know if you have ever considered it or what works for you down in the comments. In my opinion, healthy diets are like churches. If there was a one-size-fits-all we wouldn’t have to have so many <3
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