I decided to put some money where my mouth was and signed up for the Whole30 daily e-blast and it was totally worth the $15.95, each day I was able to click the little link on the bottom after a successful day, such a great reward!
My goals in doing this were to:
1) reset my eating habits 2) lose weight 3) get off sugar completely.
I accomplished all of this. I'm 5'1" and weighed 142 when I started, I weigh 137.4, so I lost a little more than 4 lbs, which I'm happy with. Some unexpected results are that I love having my coffee with some full fat coconut milk and a cap full of vanilla extract. At first, I was going to quit the coffee all together, but it started to become awesome.
The habit that I've developed solidly since I started is having a full on cook-fest each week. My kitchen started to feel too small and inefficient, so I invested in a white board to keep track of what I'm going to make and what I'm out of, I got some hanging baskets for the gagillion lemons I use each week, and got an actual spice rack. . I'm like a multitasking whirlwind. This results in my having breakfast, lunch and dinner ready to go. My fridge is like a Whole30 restaurant. (note : I'm doing another Whole30 with my gym starting 9.4)
The foods that I ate were freaking awesome.
The Best Chicken You Will Ever Eat from The Clothes Make the Girl, you MUST try this..and absolutely don't skip the brining. Seriously. I also made loads of her tahini sauce and sunshine sauce. The tahini goes perfectly over the chicken which goes perfectly over Spinach. Man.
The best things to make were things like Merguez Meatballs, turkey meatloaf, pulled pork, Chocolate Chili, (I spent a LOT of time on CMTG's blog...a lot). Things that made enough for multiple lunches, things I could heat up easily. I also prepped my veggies, make sure my Kale was salad/stir-frying ready, brussel sprouts cut, bell peppers diced or cut into strips, cucumbers peeled and sliced etc. Anything and everything that made a meal about 10 minutes away at most. That was key for me.
I roasted like crazy, one of my favorite treats was roasted grape tomatoes (red and yellow) with some balsamic splashed on them. After going without sugar, those tomatoes were like gorgeous candy. YUM.
I also got a dessert idea from paleOMG that was Whole30 ok. She's super into desserts, which I appreciate..but of course, there is the 'dessert is dessert' camp. It's one green apple sauteed in coconut oil, with 1/2 tsp of vanilla and cinnamon. It's the best thing ever...so good, so comforty. She has a lot of other great desserts that would work post Whole30 as treats.
I skipped going out to eat, with very few exceptions. I managed to attend a family barbeque and make good decisions, and I avoided the dark chocolate kisses left at my place by my boyfriend's son and walked past co-worker treats like I had armor on. It felt great.
Since I'm starting a new Whole30 in a few days, I've decided to allow myself some NON Whole30 food before restarting. I'm not going crazy, I'm going to have some Gouda, like the nice aged, crunchy butterscotchy kind with pears. I've contemplated corn chips and popcorn, but I'm going to skip grains. Best not to open that door, 'cause I run through that sucker. I'm also going to make a few treats from paleOMG, but without honey or maple syrup, I'll sub apple sauce. Then back at it!
I'm excited to do it with my gym although they have upped the ante by having a competitive component, which included one hour of daily movement. I mean, I'm down with daily movement...but I a BIG fan of rest days. I'm doing it though.
I've bought into the paleo lifestyle hook line and sinker really, and I want to see and live the results I see in others. The Whole30 was the reset I needed, and I'm excited to keep going!!
