How We're Getting Through Whole 30
We are officially on day ten of Whole 30!Before this month, ten days didn't feel like a long time. It's a little over a week and no time at all, right?Wrong!When all good food is stripped away from you, ten days is a freaking long time! Ten days of no carbs, no sugar, and no dairy. Ten days of no iced caramel macchiatos or late night sugar binges. Ten days hiding from the Girl Scouts because you know you have no self-control when it comes to cookies.Trust me. It's a very long time when you're on Whole 30.Laughs aside, I feel like Whole 30 is actually getting a bit easier. The first couple days were tough. I got headaches from detoxing, my body was sore, and I was just tired. Granted the fatigue was probably because I used to live on cold brew coffee all day long and I switched to a cup a day.Once I got past the detoxing symptoms, I started to feel a lot more motivation.
Tip #1 Prep Everything!
At the beginning of the week, I sat down and planned out my entire week for lunches, snacks, and dinners. Then I prepped. I looked at everything I would need throughout the week and if I could prepare anything beforehand I did!One of the hardest parts of eating healthy for myself is how long everything takes. It's like my brother likes to complain, now that he lives with a family doing Whole 30. He goes to the fridge and pantry and says, "There's nothing to eat!" Even though their both full, everything requires work and the actual meals aren't always quick.Sometimes, I just don't have the time to take an hour to make a meal. Prepping beforehand has helped cut the time down a lot! I even preportioned snacks and had ready-made lunches in the fridge. It made it possible for Joel and I to just reach in and grab something when we needed to be out and about for the day.
Tip #2 Mix It Up
Doing Whole 30 has caused us to use quite a few new items. Before this, I've never used coconut aminos, tapioca flour, or even tried cashew butter.The easy option is to stick with the basics. Whip up meat and veggies for all of your meals and you're good to go.Wrong.We did that for a bit and boy did we get sick of it. We missed having sauces to slather our main course in and variety. Eating the same thing every day becomes way too much to deal with. Especially if you're already having a hard day eating healthy and want nothing more than to go to the new gourmet cinnamon roll place that opened up just ten minutes from your house. (I swear they only opened it to taunt me this month!)Be sure to mix things up. Instead of making the same thing for lunches all week, give yourself two options. Or you can grill up some chicken and use it differently each day.Give yourself options so you don't go crazy! I've been obsessed with the Against All Grain cookbook too. Her recipes are paleo but you can do most of them on Whole 30.
Tip #3 Bring Your Own Snacks
Life hasn't stopped just because we're doing Whole 30. Our schedules and lives are still the same. This means we're still super busy and we still go out on date nights.Date nights used to mean a tasty dinner and a movie. As we were thinking about our date night last week, we almost canceled. We had been dying to go and see Black Panther because I mean come on. Best movie of the year!All I could think about was smelling movie popcorn and watching everyone eat candy the whole time. Yes, I'm a recovering junk food addict.We couldn't wait to see the movie, so we bought tickets and decided to figure out the rest later.I knew I would be tempted to cheat on our diet if I didn't bring any snacks. I had to have something to snack on during the movie. I packed up sliced fruit, almonds, lara bars, and water with essential oils. We whipped them all out at the beginning of the movie and I was surprised at how easy it was.I think our bodies are getting used to those things rather than having sugar and junk. The fruit was sweet to it fully satisfied my sweet tooth and the almonds satisfied my junk food craving. The water... well the water just tricked me into thinking it was a really good movie drink.
Tip #4 Make It A Family Affair
One thing that's made the last ten days a bit easier is that our family is doing it. We got rid of all the junk food right before day one and talked with our kids about what this month would look like.They were nervous at first, but then they got excited! We told them we would be eating tasty healthy food and becoming more active as a family.Granted, they're not truly on Whole 30 with us. We still give them bread fillers and aren't strict with their eating at all. Our goal is to get them snacking healthier being willing to try new foods. For example, we may have turkey and sweet potato chili and they'll have chips with it too. We make subtle differences for them, but they love it all the same.The fun part has been going out together as a family. We try to hit a new park or trail each week and the kids are taking it as a challenge! They want to do something new each week so they brainstorm every day with us!
Tip #5 Celebrate All Successes
Whole 30 isn't just a diet for Joel and I. Our hope is that it can teach us to live a healthy lifestyle. After it's over we plan on adding back in a few things in moderation, but for the most part, we want to have our meals consist of meat and veggies.We both like how we feel right now. I feel like I have more energy and I want to teach our kids to live a healthy lifestyle. Not just that, but I want them to know healthy food actually tastes good!The transition from our old eating habits has been the hardest. This is why it's so important to celebrate your success. Whether it's celebrating that we haven't cheated as of day 10 or that we finally feel like we hit our groove with this!The biggest celebration I've had so far is after I looked at the scale today. I've lost a total of five pounds in a little over a week! That's huge for me! I see my post-baby weight melting off because of all my hard work and I couldn't be happier!Joel, on the other hand, has already lost ten! Ten whole pounds. That's a pound a day! Why do guys lose weight so much easier!? Joel can think about losing weight and he'll lose two pounds. I have to work hit the gym every day and cut out all junk from my diet to make any progress!Okay. Okay. Joel has been doing the exact same thing I have. I just have to tease him because I'm jealous. I'll still celebrate with him don't worry!Ten days down, twenty more to go. We can do this! If you want to follow along on our journey, be sure to head over to Instagram and see it all behind the scenes!