I did it! 30 days of no processed foods (with the exception of a few LARABARS and beef jerky), no gluten, no legumes, no sugar (including maple syrup, honey, or stevia), no dairy, and no alcohol. The last one is what I missed the most. Not that I’m a lush or anything but I enjoy a glass of wine a few times a week and this was definitely missed. However, I will say that I feel…
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I’m going to be posting a full recap of my results tomorrow but for today, since it’s What I Ate Wednesday I wanted to focus on what I ate over the past 30 days.
Breakfasts –
The Whole30 suggests for you to eat breakfast within an hour of waking up and before drinking your coffee. At first this was somewhat difficult for me as I was used to waking up and heading straight to my Keurig for a cup of Joe.
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Egg and Bacon cups with a side of roasted veggies and coffee with coconut milk
I wouldn’t eat until an hour or so later and when I did I found I wasn’t very hungry since by that time I had drank at least one full cup of coffee. Now I enjoy waking up, drinking a tall glass of water while I catch up on emails, blogging, etc. then eating breakfast when I notice I’m hungry. Which most days is within 30 minutes of waking.
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Turkey, Sweet potato and spinach hash with a fried egg and coffee
I still enjoyed my coffee just during or after my meal rather than before. I found this helped me to eat more real food rather than fill up on liquid. It’s also suggested to fill up most of your plate with veggies, then animal protein, and healthy fats.
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Scramble with Bilinski chicken sausage, kabocha, and sweet potato with fried plantains topped with coconut butter. This was a post workout meal which is why there are so many carbohydrates.
While I love my veggies it was a little difficult sometimes to eat so many greens for breakfast. I made sure to always have organic spinach, kale and pre-roasted veggies on hand to heat up and mix with sausage or eggs. This helped to make sure I was always getting in a good amount of produce at each meal.
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Apple Pie Scramble enjoyed with a side of spinach
I found that from eating a good, wholesome and filling breakfast that I was so full I wasn’t even tempted to snack before my next meal.
Lunches –
Lunch again is encouraged to be a large helping of veggies, lean proteins and fats.
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Lots of organic mixed greens with chicken salad made from shredded organic chicken, homemade mayo, mustard, grapes, dill and pecans.
Lunches were typically leftovers but when I didn’t have anything from the night before I was able to throw meals together within minutes thanks to all my preparations on the weekends.
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Leftover crock-pot chicken, carrots and parsnips
However, eating a big lunch was a little difficult for me. Before I wasn’t a big lunch person. I was used to eating a much smaller meal then having a few small snacks before dinner.
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Tuna salad collard wraps with veggies
The Whole30 discourages snacking as it turns eating habits into grazing (which is what I did before most days) and can disrupt our systems. However, I did include some snacking which I’ll discuss a little later.
Dinners –
Dinner was the most fun! I enjoyed finding new recipes to cook and creating some of my own that the whole family enjoyed!
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Several people asked if The Hubby and Love Nugget were doing the Whole30 as well. I touched on this before but I’ll answer it again. No, they weren’t specifically following the plan however, they ate what I cooked. That means at dinner what I made is what everyone ate. Breakfasts and lunches were a little different as some mornings The Love Nugget might have had oatmeal, toast or a smoothie and lunch he may have had a sandwich or something else.
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Paleo Butternut Squash soup with salad
Question is, did they like it? Honestly, there wasn’t a meal that they didn’t!
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Kabocha Salmon Cakes with Paleo Dill Sauce
Snacks –
As mentioned earlier, snacking is discouraged and this was definitely one of the reasons I wanted to do the Whole30 in the first place. My snacking was getting out of control so I while it was a little difficult for me at first, I was happy to make the change. Not that snacking is necessarily a bad thing. It works for some people but I was noticing I was eating less and less wholesome, real foods and more snacks to fill me up. Personally, this doesn’t work well for my body but if several mini meals works better for you, great!
While I cut back a lot on my snacking, I did eat a few smaller snacks, pre and post workout meals during the past 30 days.
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Veggies with Paleo Pumpkin Hummus
If you are working out during the Whole30, it is suggested to eat a little before and then again after. The pre-workout meal should be something with protein and healthy fats such as macadamia nuts, hard boiled egg, chicken, avocado, etc.
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Handful of macadamia nuts EARLY in the morning before my workout
Then after your workout you can eat another more carbohydrate dense meal.
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Roasted weet potatoes, apples, and kabocha squash
Most days I didn’t go workout until after breakfast so I would eat a normal breakfast, go to the gym, then eat something small and carb based after like the above picture. Even though I wasn’t usually hungry I knew I needed to refuel my body from my workout. However, if my workout wasn’t very intense like yoga or Stroller Strides, I would skip my post-workout meal and just wait until lunch.Some days I would workout first thing in the morning and the small meal this early was a little difficult. I would usually have a small handful of macadamia nuts or a hard boiled egg just to get a little something in my body to fuel my workout. Then I would come home and eat a full size breakfast which I was usually pretty hungry for by that time.
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I will admit that my snacking monster would still come out between lunch and dinner. Luckily I always had some yummy, Whole30 approved snacks on hand just in case I got hungry or needed a little something in between meals. I did find that most of my desire to snack before dinner came out of boredom. If I was sitting at home in the afternoons not doing much, I would get the urge to go to the fridge or cupboard for something to eat. If we were out running around, playing, or doing something else, I didn’t notice it as much so I tried to keep pretty busy. This became easier as the month went on and I noticed a huge increase in energy and mood which I’ll discuss tomorrow!
I think I better stop here since this post just became a book! Make sure to check back tomorrow for more on my Whole30 but for now head on over to Jenn’s page for WIAW!
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QUESTIONS –
- Have you ever done a 30 food/lifestyle challenge before? If so, did you stick with it or cheat at all?
- Interested in the Whole30?
- What would be your first alcoholic beverage of choice after 30 days without?
The post What I Ate During My Whole 30! appeared first on My Healthy Happy Home.