The most daunting thing about my Whole30 round was the amount of time it took to prepare food. I’m used to cooking dinner every night and with my Weight Watcher’s journey, I often made food for my family and then made a healthier version for me so I’m no stranger to long evenings in the kitchen making food. And I really like to cook and create new recipes so it wasn’t a chore exactly, but sometimes I was hungry and just wanted to eat something fast and easy. Those were the most trying times for me on my Whole30 adventure, when I was tired and wanted to make quick (AKA: bad) choices.

I think the time commitment and being tired leads to a lot of people’s downfall when they try the extreme clean eating that Whole30 demands. Nobody has enough time and Whole30 demands a lot of it. So today I’m sharing some of the things that helped me stay on track and some lessons I learned.

Prepare for the week on Sundays
I have been doing this for years now and I swear it’s the biggest factor in my success. We’re pretty lucky that our church has Saturday night services so that we can make Sundays our family day where everyone stays in their pajamas and we just watch movies, catch up with chores around the house, and get ready for the week. On Sundays I get my breakfasts and lunches ready for the week.

For Whole30, I always put a pound or two of chicken in the Crock Pot in the morning, I boiled eggs (I started this baking method and I like it a lot more than boiling), I cooked uncured Canadian bacon and put it in baggies for breakfasts. I don’t leave myself time in the mornings to get breakfast or lunch ready so I have to do it ahead of time or I will end up eating things I’ll regret later. Quitting early wasn’t an option so I made sure to have plenty of things ready at all times.

Prep food ahead of time
I always had shredded sweet potatoes, zucchini noodles (done with this magical tool), and shredded carrots in the fridge. Because I found it worth the extra expense, I would buy shredded carrots, broccoli slaw mix, and sometimes even diced onions and green peppers from the grocery store. You know yourself well enough to know if you’re going to actually take the time to prep these or it would just be easier to buy them. And for me, I chose buying. Every week at the store, I made sure to buy sweet potatoes and zucchini; I’d shred four to five sweet potatoes on a cheese grater and store them in a Tupperware container so I could grab a few handfuls whenever I needed them. The same with zucchini, I’d turn them into noodles and then refrigerate them. Adding them to a meat dish or just sauteing them in some olive oil was a filling meal in a pinch.

Stock your kitchen with your favorites
Sometimes nothing looked or sounded good on Whole30. I was less hungry and occasionally had to force myself to eat because I knew what would happen later if I didn’t. So keeping your favorite Whole30-approved snacks ready is convenient for smaller meals. In my kitchen, I always had avocados, sweet potatoes, olive oil, steak, eggs, and butternut/acorn squash stocked. I could always come up with a few good, filling meals with those things.

Buy a new veggie to try
I didn’t even know I liked acorn squash until Whole30. And even though I’m not currently following that meal plan, I still eat string beans cooked in ghee about once a week. I had no idea I liked string beans or ghee until this experiment. If you’re buying something new and you have no idea what to do with it once it’s home, check out Instagram or YouTube. There are so many people that can show you how to make something foreign actually taste good. Plus, you might find a new favorite!

Cashews, cashews, cashews
I had cashews hidden everywhere: in my car, in my purse, in my desk at school. If I ever hit a time where I needed something to eat that would help me not race to the nearest McDonald’s drive-thru, it was cashews. Most grocery stores sell seasoned ones without added sugar and made with the compliant oil, so if you burn out on the regular salted ones, try a new variety.

Don’t change where you grocery shop
Some people might not agree with this one, but here’s my reasoning: I don’t live close to a Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods, or Fresh Thyme (all specialty grocery stores that carry a lot more Whole30 complaint food than your neighborhood store probably does) and so making a special trip is just that, special. It takes time and I mentioned I don’t have lot of that in this current season. I needed to figure out how to eat Whole30 complaint while shopping at Wal-Mart, Aldi, and Marsh because those are my stores. If I truly wanted to make a lifestyle change and not just try a fad diet out for a month, I had to be successful at the same place I buy my toilet paper, dog food, and get my oil changed. Did it make it a little more difficult? Yes, but it was manageable. And it has made me much more likely to stick with it since I can make better choices in the same place I’m shopping for my family’s groceries. I did make one trip to Trader Joe’s because I needed ghee (also called clarified butter) and I could not find that anywhere else. I had less options at my regular stores, but I was still able to find plenty of things to eat there. So don’t let lack of access to specialty health food stores deter you, most local grocers carry grass-fed meats, oils, fruits, and veggies and really that’s all you need.

Change some of your family’s eating habits too…but slowly
If I suddenly took away my daughters’ Goldfish crackers there would be a mutiny. I understand that. So while I did not decide to make the Whole30 diet a family affair, I did make some subtle changes for my family’s health. I got rid of the Country Crock that we loved and replaces it with coconut butter. I stopped using Pam spray and only used real oil to flavor pans and food. I’m slowly transitioning everyone out of peanut butter and going to almond butter (this is the hardest change so far). Reading It Starts With Food opened my eyes to a lot of the food I was feeding my family and their lack of nutritional value. And since I do all the grocery shopping and cooking, I have control over that and I needed to make some changes. I had a friend that did the Whole30 challenge with her whole family; her and her husband plus their two small girls all cut out sugar, processed foods, dairy, breads, and a million other things that weren’t making their bodies better and she said the benefits were shocking. I’m not as brave as she is. At least not yet.

After my thirty days ended, I celebrated with dark chocolate. Lots and lots of dark chocolate. But other than that, I kept eating the same things because I enjoyed what I was eating and I still craved it. The thirty days, although sometimes tough, really sold me on this cleaner way of eating. After the holidays are over, I’m going to do another round. If you’re interested in doing one with me, I’m thinking of starting a closed Facebook group for support. I did my first round with three other girls from my First Thursday group and I think at times it was all that kept me going. We got to share successes, complain about things we missed, cheer each other on, and hold each other accountable which is something I thrive on. If you’re interested in starting a round in January, I’m thinking of starting a few days after the new year, email me or leave a message here.

Have you done Whole30 before? What made you successful? If you didn’t complete a whole round, what stood in your way?

This is part two of my thoughts of completing my first round of Whole30. You can read about the book that started this journey here or part one from yesterday.

Things I Missed

Gum, chocolate, an occasional chocolate donut, and hot chocolate. So mostly chocolate. And I wanted so badly to chew gum. I’m in kids’ faces all day at school and hyper-aware of my breath so sometimes I had to chew on mint leaves or drink mint water. As the days wore on, my breath actually seemed fresher and I noticed that even in the mornings I wasn’t rockin’ nasty morning breath. My friend Jessi said that’s what happens when you cut out dairy.

Things I Didn’t Miss

Cheese, bread, and Diet Mt. Dew. I love cheese and bread…and I’m not saying I won’t ever have them again because, hello, pizza. But those weren’t the things I was dreaming about eating as I ended my Whole30 run. I can tell you a few days out, I’ve still not had cheese or Diet Mt. Dew; I did have a roll with dinner once and it felt like such a luxury!

Diet Mt. Dew took the longest to stop craving. I do still think about it occasionally, but not enough to have one. And I could if I really felt like it was worth it. I’m not saying I’ll never drink pop again, but right now, I’m still doing okay without it.

What Now

Right now I’m taking what I learned on my Whole30 round and making better choices. I’m transitioning to eating mostly Paleo foods but without all of the extra creations where people make all their favorite foods just with cleaner ingredients. The Whole30 program frowns on re-creating all your favorites because it’s not handling the addiction or triggers or whatever, it’s just making new ones (they call it “Sex with your pants on” look it up, it’s really funny). So I’m trying to eat clean and basic just like I’ve been doing. But I’m not as strict as the Whole30 was. I’m also much more aware of food labels and what I’m feeding myself and my family. I’m making subtle changes to our family’s diet. I’m eating dark chocolate as a treat. I will have a drink out with friends if I want one. I’m buying cured bacon like a rebel. But I’m not missing much right now or feeling left out of some awesome treat that makes me want to change my patterns. I’m giving myself grace if I want to indulge. And you better believe I plan to have one of my Grandma’s rolls on Thanksgiving because, come on, it’s Thanksgiving. Oh, and gravy too.

At times I feel like I’m almost afraid to loosen up because I’m feeling good and healthy and I don’t want to lose those feelings. Through the duration, I never once thought negatively about my body or felt bad about my food choices. While my eating was heavily restricted, within those restrictions, I could feel satisfied and full so that I never had the guilt of “why did I eat that?” or “I should have stopped after the first helping.” I felt good about myself and my choices and so I felt better about my body. Even though I weigh the same as I did three months ago and I’m not at my lowest weight, I just feel good. That was the biggest lesson for me. That when I know I’m treating my body right, everything else just feels better. I feel more confident and sure in my skin. And that made it all worth it.

(Next week I’ll share some tricks and tips that helped me survive the Whole30 in case you’re interested in trying it or just want to incorporate some better, cleaner meals into your routine.)

I finished up my Whole30 journey this week and I have so much to tell you! If you’re unsure about the process or what motivated me, make sure to read my It Starts With Food book review and goals for this program post.

Goals and Results

I wanted to drop ten pounds over the course of my thirty days, see a change in my skin, get a handle on my sugar addiction, and see a change in my psoriasis/eczema.  At the end of my round of Whole30, I have lost 6.4 pounds, have noticed shocking changes in my skin, and kicked my sugar (and Diet Mt. Dew!) addiction. Unfortunately, I did not have any change in my psoriasis/eczema so my next plan of attack is some essential oils (I’ll share more about that soon). I also took measurements (on day four and again on day 30) and I lost a total of 4 inches. My stomach and butt (what I would call my two “problem areas”) lost 1 1/4 inches and 1 1/2 inches respectively. I only worked out about 5-7 times during the thirty days so I think I would have seen more significant change if I had been exercising more. But it just didn’t happen.

Beside numbers, I noticed a huge difference in my energy levels near the end. I would say the last ten days I felt full of energy and clear headed. But getting to that point was rough. The first week was lots of headaches and trips to the bathroom. I was withdrawing from caffeine and by body was clearing stuff out at record speed, if you get my drift.

I have never had problems sleeping, I can pretty much sleep anyway at anytime and I sleep like the dead. But I have always had inconsistent sleep patterns, staying up late some nights and other nights going to be really early. With Whole30, I ran out of energy around 9:00 every night. I went to bed early most nights, but woke up easily between 5:00 and 5:30. I have NEVER been a morning person and have always struggled to get out of bed no matter how much sleep I got, but during this month, I was waking up clear headed and ready for the day bright and early. There were even a couple 4:45 mornings. I think for the first time in forever, my body was sleeping in its natural rhythm and I was finally getting enough sleep on a consistent basis.

One major lesson I learned was how frequently I just throw something in my mouth without thinking about it. Making my lunch, getting a snack for the girls, walking through the kitchen, having candy with my students, or while prepping dinner, all these moments where I might throw a few Goldfish crackers in my mouth or have a couple Tootsie Rolls were really adding up. Having to actually think through why I wanted to eat something, what I truly wanted, and what I was feeling that made me want to eat were all tough things to work through. I was shocked at how often I ate because I was bored or avoiding something. Stopping to think about my actions were a needed change.

Concerns

Eating like this is expensive. I spent a lot of money on grass-fed, organic meats. I ate tons of veggies and constantly had to make trips to the store for more. Yes, I cut out a lot of other things (pop, candy, breads, etc.) but those are relatively inexpensive things to buy. And since my family was still eating them, I was buying all our normal stuff in addition to the extras for me. So this Whole30 round was a little painful on the wallet, I’m not going to lie.

While I loved the refreshed feeling I had each morning, I really need to be able to stay up later in the evenings. My kids go to bed around 7:30 and after they’re in bed is when I get the majority of my writing done. I answer emails, schedule posts, do social media, read books, and a million other things after my kids are asleep. Giving up that precious time because my body was tired, I couldn’t keep my eyes open, and I had no artificial stuff to keep me awake was hard. My first night off of Whole30, I had some dark chocolate I had been saving for a celebration and eating it made me stay up until 1:00 AM with no struggle. I got so much reading and writing done! But I don’t want to start relying on pop and chocolate to do that but I’ve got to figure out a way to stay up later. (And it’s crossed my mind to just use the extra morning time, but when I get up earlier, I go to school and get work done because there is so much of that to do also. So maybe the answer is QUIT WORKING. Eh, just kidding. That’s not an option.)

Tomorrow I’ll share what I missed and didn’t miss, it’s probably going to surprise you what I truly missed during this journey. Come back tomorrow for the conclusion!