Whole 30 Review and Results

So I promised to write a review of how our 30 days went of eating

Well, as expected, it was H.A.R.D.

It was hard to say no to so many things and to say it so often.

It was hard to see that despite thinking we ate quite well before we did this, we weren't doing as great as we thought we were.

It was hard to deal with the withdrawals.

It was hard to swallow how much money we spent (no pun intended....)

It was hard to be in the grocery store every 3-4 days.

It was hard to have to cook every.single.day and every.single.meal from scratch.

It was hard on our social life. The past long weekend we weren't very busy at all. Partly because we didn't want to book it up with BBQs and having to face one temptation after another.

It was hard to bake and not have a single lick of the beater...or the spoon...or from the bowl. Do you *know* how yummy cookie dough is?! Do you KNOW how YUMMY a fresh and warm homemade chocolate cookie is?!?!?

 

But, it wasn't all hard. It was also amazing!

It was amazing to come face to face with foods that we could actually have, foods that have been around all this time for us to eat!

It was amazing to fight through each temptation and challenge, succeeding!

It was amazing to see how blessed we were with such an abundance of healthy food at our fingertips.

It was amazing to see the changes in our bodies as the days went by.

It was amazing to see how fast a week goes by.

It was amazing to see how long an evening can feel when you can't eat anything.

It was amazing to work together as a team, tackling each and every day.

So, the review? Yup, it's hard, don't fool yourselves. But it is also amazing!

Now as for the results.

Nathan's results:

• lost 8 pounds
• the whites of his eyes have never been whiter or brighter
• lots of energy
• proud of himself for achieving the goal of eating like this for 30 days
• feels great about himself

My results:

• lost 5 pounds
• face is clearer
• sleep at night is waaaaayyyy better
• more energy
• no bloating (flatulence was at an all-time low......pretty much non-existent)
• proud of myself for actually doing this, the cooking, the shopping etc.

We have been off of this now for 3 days. We are loving the lack of rigidity of it all but are still pretty much eating the same as we have been the last 30 days. Because I did this for 30 days, my instinct is there to pack a lunch, including healthy snacks, as opposed to slapping a sandwich together with peanut butter (that's a "healthy" protein, right?! HA), with a container of greek yogurt (15 grams of sugar, people!!!) and a granola bar......what? It's got dark chocolate on it. That's the "good" chocolate, no?

Actually, what's really been neat is that all that stuff we've been craving for 30 days? Yeah, now that we are allowed to have it, we don't want it!! Murphy's Law, eh?! But seriously, the first thing we ate that was off limits before was that homemade chocolate chip cookie we were drooling over a few days earlier. It was rather a letdown - not nearly as tasty as our minds had made them out to be.

Are we glad we did it? Yup! I am!! It felt good to be given a challenge, meet it head on and successfully complete it.

But if you ask Nathan if he would do it again, his response is: I will never, ever do this in my life again.

We shall see, we shall see.

Me? Well, I would do it again.....but for now I am enjoying not having to live in a grocery store for awhile. And I better wait until my debit card has some time to cool down. :)

Finished!!!!! Well, Almost.....

Do you know what day it is today?

DO YOU KNOW WHAT DAY IT IS TODAY???!?!?!

It is May 30th. So, what's the big deal you say?

That means it is the 30th day of our Whole 30. There are 3 hours left of this 30th day; 3 more hours and this eating whole foods for 30 days will be OVER!!

30 days without sugar, grains/wheat or dairy.

And we did it!!! We did it!!!!!

When I heard about this Whole 30 stuff, I honestly didn't think I'd ever take up that challenge ever in my life. But alas, 30 days ago we did.

Let me show you a few more food pictures of what we ate that did not contain sugar, grains, and dairy.

Coco-Curry Pork on Cauliflower Rice:

Sloppy Joes on a bed of lettuce and tomato:

Basil Chicken on Sweet Potato Mash:

 

This was a meal I made when I didn't feel like cooking something elaborate: chicken, roasted potatoes and green beans, using proper spices and clarified butter/coconut oil:

Lunch: Spinach, Strawberry, Avocado and Pine Nut Salad:

Shepherd's Pie, using pureed cauliflower instead of potato:

Homemade hamburgers on portobella mushroom as a bun:

Spaghetti using spaghetti squash for noodles:

 

 

Paleo Pizza using butternut squash as a "crust" (the ones with cheese are for the kids):

So as you can see, we enjoyed some scrumptious food. In fact, I will continue to make most of these recipes again as we loved them so much.

Next time I will write about how we felt the challenge went for us, any changes we noticed or didn't notice, what we missed, what was the hardest and if we would do this again.

But right now, we are going to go to bed as we don't want to be tired tomorrow for the celebration! :)

So How's that Whole 30 Thing Going Anyway?!

So, if you were a betting person (which I really hope you are not).....what would you wager that our Whole 30 turned into a Whole 10? Let me give you a little peek into my week last week: Nathan was at a two-day trade show (i.e. lots of chocolates, candies etc. everywhere), we celebrated Mother's Day with both sides of the families, and then I ended up teaching Gr. 7 a few days, plus was my regular E.A. on the other days, and Nathan and I skipped out of town for two nights to do a bit of relaxing.

Now, knowing those details, that amongst other things, I was crazy-busy PLUS we went on a mini-vacay, I'll ask you again: what would you bet that our clean eating for 30 days turned into clean eating for 10 days?

Well, believe it or not, I learned last week that it *is* possible to have family celebrations, teach 29 fun-loving tweens (albeit stinky at times :o) ) AND eat out for a couple of days and stay on Whole 30!!!

That's right, our Whole 30 is still in full force. In fact, we are just completing Day 16. We are halfway through! I accept your applause graciously :o)

Oh, don't get me wrong. There were (and continue to be) some very, very hard moments, where the temptations to grab some crackers, or a handful of chocolate chips (to, you know, clean my palette), enjoy a sip of milk or a chunk of cheese have left us salivating to the point we almost need to wear bibs, but through each and every temptation, we fought and are fighting through it! Barely at times, but we're doing it!

Although we've had our tough moments, we most certainly have been enjoying some very yummy meals, thanks again to my friend's sister who set this all up. Mmmmmm, we have not been disappointed! The flavours are amazing and I am really enjoying cooking all these new recipes. Here, let me show you some of the meals. Pictures of food aren't always appealing so you'll have to take my word for it - it is very delicious!

We've been enjoying for breakfast some Sweet Potato (with seasonings) topped with hamburger:

If I am not making the potato hash stuff, I am making omelettes (or just fried eggs etc.)

For lunches, we either finish off the leftovers from the night before, or have salads, or have tuna on salad leaves:

Despite teaching so many days last week, I was shown that I don't need to grab a pizza from the freezer, or do a "convenient" meal. The suppers on this Whole 30 are easy to make and result in some very tasty meals. Some of our dinners have been Spicy Almond Pork - scrumptious!!!

So, I mentioned that Nathan and I went away for a few days and still managed to stay on Whole 30. How, you ask? Well, we just let the waitress know our "needs" and we learned that there are some very tasty things on the menu that we would never have chosen if we weren't doing Whole 30.

Our first night we enjoyed shrimp and steak at this place.....a place you don't go to too often due to the impact on the pocketbook.

 We just asked them to hold the bread, and asked to have extra vegetables (sauteed in oil rather than butter) instead of the potato or rice. Yes, we can have potato, but how tasty would a baked potato be without cheese, butter, sour cream and bacon bits?! Yeah, not very tasty. So we passed on the potato. Our meal did not leave us disappointed!!

 

Our next supper out was also incredibly good, thanks to the cooks and great waitress here:

Again, we asked them to keep the "complimentary" bread in the kitchen (we did mourn it, but got over it quickly :o) ). We ordered a salad with avocado, pine nuts, tomotoes and sauteed mushrooms. Due to the avocado spread throughout, there was no need for dressing. No picture as we gobbled it up so quickly!

Then we ordered a pistachio crusted salmon, again asking for more veggies instead of rice or potato. Are you drooling yet?!

For breakfasts out, we had omelettes and lots of fruit. We ate breakfast late, which meant we didn't need a big lunch. I had taken a little cooler of fruits, veggies and nuts for us to munch on during the day.

Overall, we were so proud of ourselves for sticking to it and recognized actually how easy it was to order "special". We were not lacking for anything. Well, maybe a dessert, but still, we survived :o)

As for what we did for the family gatherings, we just brought our own food (leftovers from the week before). We really didn't feel bad or "embarrassed" as really, all we are doing is eating only real food. How can people make you feel guilty for that?! Well, they can.....but I must say, our families were receptive.

If we managed to tackle what last week all involved, we can DO this for 14 more days!! But honestly, we can't wait for the 15th day from now as well. :o)

PS. And yes, our kids are eating all the same dinners as us and are also loving it! That makes it easier as well.

PSS. or is it PPS.? Anyway, you honestly thought my blog was quiet due to the fact that I just had no energy to update, didn't you?! I mean, no refined sugars, grains or dairy? The thought of us wasting away and no longer breathing even crossed your mind, didn't it? Well, shame on you! :o) We are alive and well, enjoying some results already - more energy, clearer skin and a overall great feeling!

We Started What?!

What is this? April is behind us?! How did that happen??

It is so cliche to say but time truly does fly by. May started with a bang though. We have jumped onto the Whole30 bandwagon. What this means is that for 30 days, we are not eating any refined sugars, grains or dairy. Not even a lick off the knife from making the kids a jam sandwich! Nope, nada, nothing that falls into any of those three categories.

We heard about this plan a few months ago and then I ended up talking to a friend last Saturday night about it. Her and her husband were almost done the Whole 30 with great results, and I am not talking weight loss results (although that may be a result if it's necessary). I am talking about much better sleeping, much better skin, more energy, steady moods etc.

I came home that night and told Nathan about it and he says, "We are starting tomorrow. Something needs to change for me. But I'll only do this if you do this with me."

And so we started and today is Day 6 of no refined sugars, grains or dairy.

I can already hear you wondering - so what DO you eat then??

Eggs, meat, eggs, nuts, fish, eggs, lots of fruit and even more veggies, eggs, and well, eggs. What we like about this "fad" is that it brings us completely back to whole foods....meaning, real food. No process stuff at all! We live in a culture where processed food is all around us....food that is filled with preservatives and chemicals to increase shelf life. Sugar is in everything! Even in bacon!!

The marketing out there is so good that we are convinced that if it has the health check mark on the box, well, we must be eating healthy, right?!

Oh how we are so easily fooled. Since starting this, we are learning to read labels/ingredients on everything and knowing what to look out for......so much so that I caught myself in the shower grabbing the shaving cream, turning it to read the label to see if we can eat it ;o)

So we are spending the next 30 days (or 24...but really, who's counting?! :o) ) cleaning out our bodies of all the junk we have put in it, and at the same time learn to reach for the vegetable or fruit instead of the granola bar. We are learning how controlling food is in our lives by going through true withdrawals - headaches and grumpiness etc.

Thankfully the friend that was just completing this has a sister who made a 30 day menu, 3 meals a day, plus a shopping list for each week. If she hadn't done that, I don't think I could have done it. Actually, it would never have started for us. What she has done is amazing and so, so helpful. I am very grateful.

Now that our fridge is stalked, let me tell you, we are eating like royalty!

Salmon with chopped pecans, rosemary and salt, anyone?

How about some spaghetti squash chicken alfredo with a cashew sauce?

Or a yummy breakfast of sweet potatoes and hamburger with lots of spices?

Yes, it does come at a cost. Eating healthy isn't always cheap, especially when you need to use this. I won't tell you what each jar cost :S

But believe me when I say that what we are eating tastes amazing! I am learning about what spices work together and the food is just so full of flavour. I've always loved to cook and, if I can say, my food is usually quite tasty. So it's been fun to push myself even more, working with spices that I've never worked with before.

Has it been hard? Ummmmm, yes. For sure. Part of this also is we are not allowed to step on a weigh scale the whole month - that also has been hard to follow! This program is about learning your body by listening to it, not by using a scale to determine your health.

So yes, the last 6 days have been quite the adjustment....but it's certainly been eye-opening. Here's to 24 more days and then we can introduce sugars, grains and dairy slowly back into our bodies, staying in tuned as to how it affects us - moods, bloating, weight gain, lethargic, wanting more of it.....that's what sugar does, eh? You eat it and it makes you want more.

But hey, for 30 days? It's worth it - we've been given one chance with the body created by God. It is His temple. So really, it is time we treat it with respect by feeding it properly. Yes, we are firm believers of everything in moderation, but by starting this we have learned that we really weren't doing everything in moderation. So it is time to reset our bodies and learn what true moderation will look like once we are done resetting!

Please don't take this as "preaching" and "you should do this, too!" While we are on the bandwagon, we do not think everyone should be on with us. We will not "force" this on anyone. We will answer questions and talk about it, but we will never make anyone guilty for the food they are eating.  You have to be ready to do something drastic like this. It took us years! But with one of us struggling with yo-yoing weight and the other with yo-yoing moods, we felt it was time to take 30 days to reflect on what we are putting into our bodies and the affect it has on us.