Our Whole 30

Chimichurri Kebabs

Last month Evan and I tried Whole 30 for the first time. For those who are not familiar with Whole 30 is an experiment of sorts where you cut out all sugars, grains, dairy, and legumes from your diet. The idea is to see if eating these foods are causing you to have negative reactions.

I have always felt that I probably have some sort of allergy to dairy so after hearing how much better a friend felt after doing Whole 30 I talked Evan into trying it.

Here is a brief overview of our experience.

Asian inspired tacos

Days 1-10

The first week we were off. While we had purchased the book and had read up on the plan, we didn't meal plan which we found out was imperative for us.

The sugar detox made us crabby and short tempered on day 6. Evan got it the worst. He said several times how he didn't understand why he was so agitated and short fused. 

One day 7 we made a meal plan for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for Mon-Friday and did our grocery shopping and food prep.

By day 8 we were feeling less crabby and sluggish and started to get some confidence that we could make it through the 30 days. 

We were eating a lot of fruit and berries which tasted so so sweet since we weren't eating the added sugar in our diet. 

Mexican meatball soup

braised chicken and spinach

Days 11-20 

The meal planning was so helpful for us. We made extras for leftovers and it helped us to both be on the same page when it came to cooking meals.

We were still only meal planning for the work week and then kind of playing the weekend by ear. This only sort of works. It's hard to be out at the park or running errands and just grab some food on the go when you are doing this. 

During this period we started to feel really good. We were not bloated or gassy and were sleeping soundly and waking up before the alarm (until the time change that is). I felt much more focused and clear headed and had lots more energy.

Victory grill

our reward

Days 21-30+

The last part of the 30 days were really smooth. I had a few times where a restricted food looked really good but I really felt good about finishing the 30 days.

We finished on a Tuesday and continued on the restrictions completely until dinner on the 33rd day. We grilled and celebrated with, what at the time, we thought was the sweetest smoothest wine ever!

The no sugar makes everything sweeter, taste wise. 

I lost 25 pounds during the 30 days, Evan lost 12 pounds. When we started to slowly add foods back we found out that, Evan has a definite sensitivity to too much dairy and I have much more of a sensitivity to sugar than to dairy which was really surprising to me. 

We have continued to meal plan and try to eat Whole 30 70% or more of the time. 

It's so easy to go off the rails diet wise for me so I'm hoping that this ratio or maybe even 80% Whole 30 will work out for us.

We found it to be a great reset for our bodies and we picked up the good habit of meal planning. I didn't thing that I would like it as much as I do but it's been really helpful to us. 

I also enjoyed trying new foods and food preparation.

Something that saved us other than the meal planning was fresh salsa and Trader Joe's roasted plantian chips. They are Whole 30 compliant and gives you just the little crunch you need when you are feeling weak. 

Anyone else have a Whole 30 experience to share?