Whole 30 Update

We are more than halfway through January and I thought I'd give you a quick update on our Whole30 progress.

Uh.....not the best.

The first week of January was a joke.  My fridge was PACKED full of leftovers from hosting Christmas and tailgating snacks for football.

Do you know how hard it is for me to just throw food away?  Didn't happen.  Instead we ate Whole30 for breakfast and lunch and then ate leftovers at dinner.  We made it through cleaning out the fridge and we've been doing much better (minus my coffee)  I really need to kick that habit.

My favorite dinner:
I'm not a food blogger.  Sorry.

Grilled chicken and onions with a side of avocado or roasted cauliflower.

Justin and I decided to continue into February!  Yay!

I'm getting back into making smoothies in the morning, but I'm in need of suggestions on what to replace my Greek yogurt with.  Ideas?

Whole30 Juicing

Juicing isn't exactly encouraged on the Whole30 regimen.  However, our little man LOVES his homemade juice with dinner and I love knowing that I can get a few more vegetables into our diet than we would otherwise.

Our juicer

I don't use the juice as a meal replacement only as a supplement.  I also make sure half of the juice is vegetables so the sugar isn't taking over.

Our standard juice is:

Kale/spinach blend

1/2 - 1 Cucumber

 3 Celery

3 Carrots

1-2 Apple

1 Orange

1/4 Pineapple

This makes enough for all three of us....for now.  #wiggydiggy drinks as much as Justin and I do!

When we start Whole30 in January, I'm going to keep juicing in our routine because it's incorporated into our dinner, not replacing it.   Any way I can sneak extra vegetables into #wiggydiggy and Justin, is a good thing!

Some fruits and vegetables I'm looking forward to mixing in:

Beet Root

Pear

Swiss Chard

Zucchini

Mango

Another benefit of juicing - it's helping me kick my caffeine cravings.  Once we started juicing regularly, I wasn't needing a latte as often.  I'm trying hard to cut back so that I'll be coffee free starting in 2017.

Whole30 Snacks

With Thanksgiving two days away, I wanted to share some Whole30 Snack ideas that I'm keeping on hand.  Besides the obvious - whole fruits and veggies (think: sliced fruit, grapes, blackberries, carrot sticks, sliced veggies etc).

Those are delicious and great snacks - but I like to mix it up so I don't feel like I'm stuck eating nothing but salads.

Nuts are great (but NOT peanuts)  I love sunflower seeds.  Bonus if they are in their shells - removing them is a distraction and time killer if you are guilty of snacking without thinking!

I love appetizer trays for the olives and pickles!
(careful on pickles though.  Bubbies Brand is the best, but Clausen will do)

Potato Wedges

I'm making these for our Thanksgiving meal.  Great as both a snack and mashed potato replacement.  Dairy is a no-no on Whole30

Sweet Potato Sticks

I'm so excited to try these!

Any good snacks you like?

Whole30 Prepwork

The concept of Whole30 has intrigued me for the better part of a year.  On my own I had already started cutting out processed/artificial food and drinks.  I've been soda and red bull free for about 6 months now.  I've been cutting out sugary snacks, but Halloween was a huge test for me.   Only a few bite sized candy bars were eaten and everything else was handed out to trick or treaters!  The day after Halloween we were candy free in our house.

I have always been in tune with my body.  My chiropractor has joked that I can feel every shift of muscle and bone.  He's not far off!  Now that I'm paying even more attention to how I feel after eating certain foods, I'm beginning to have a clear picture of cause and effect.

Long winded intro to say I'm going to try Whole30 after the New Year.

I'm not crazy enough to do it over the holidays!  Haha.

By mentally preparing during the hardest season to eat healthy, I know that January will be a successful month.

I've been laying the groundwork and taking Step 5 by storm.  (Step 5: Get Your House in Order)
I'm making as many meals as I can now with all of the non-Whole30 compliant foods we have.  This means lots of pasta, rice, beans, etc.  By making as many meals now as I can, I means that when I run out of something, I'm filling it with a Whole30 compliant food instead.

Already my salad dressing has gotten a face lift.

Pinterest has helped immensely.  I'm already incorporating Whole30 recipes and meal plans into my lunch rotation.

I'm going to try Cauliflower Rice this weekend.

If you've done Whole30 before - have any good recipes to share?