New Year New Me: Whole30 Recap

Everyone says Whole30 is life changing, but what does that even mean? I think it’s different for everyone. I know my results weren’t exactly the same as some of my friends but I got everything I wanted out of this life changing diet and more! Now I can finally understand what people mean when they say Whole30 is life changing because it 100% is!

Before deciding to commit to the Whole30 diet, I looked at others doing it and said “ugh, I could never do that…I like food too much”.

Two weeks into December, I decided I was tired of the unhealthy eating habits that I’ve developed over the past year and committed to kicking off the New Year with the Whole30 diet.

My whole life I’ve been blessed with a fast metabolism and small frame, so everyone asked why I would put myself through such an “extreme” diet. This was frustrating. If I want to change my eating habits to be a better, healthier, happier person then support me, damnit!

In the past year, I started going out to eat much more than I was cooking at home (at least 5 nights a week). My body hated it, I put on a few extra pounds, was sluggish and tired all the time, and extremely unmotivated.

That’s when I decided it was time for a reset. The Whole30 diet wasn’t about losing weight for me, it was about resetting my mind to crave WHOLE foods that make me feel good.

Whole30 teaches people how they should be eating, and shows them how they can feel once bad food is eliminated from their diet.

It’s helped me sleep better than I ever have in my entire life I went from sleeping 6-7 hours a night to sleeping 9-10 hours. I have so much more motivation and focus during the day even after lunch when I’m usually so tired that I have to hold my head up so it doesn’t come crashing down on my keyboard.

I am a huge advocate of this diet and I want others to have success with it as well. If you’re considering trying Whole30 or have already started, keep reading because I have lots of tips and recipes!

Day 1, where do I start?

It’s day 1 of Whole30 and you’re like, “ok, where do I begin?”. I strongly suggest finding some Whole30 compliant meal subscription plans to kick off your first week. This will make your life much easier.

I fell in love with Territory Foods and Terra’s Kitchen, both companies have lots of Whole30 options. Territory Foods will do the cooking for you so all you have to do is heat it up, and Terra’s Kitchen will do the grocery shopping and prepping for you so all you have to do is cook it. Want to try either of these at a discount? Click here to sign up for Territory Foods for a discount off your first order!

Do this your first week and I promise Whole30 won’t be hard!

What Happens When I Get Hungry Between Meals?

Make sure your pantry is stocked with Whole30 compliant snacks like almonds, That’s It bars, plantain chips, and anything else on this list.

When you’re craving something sweet, go for the sweet potatoes. I purchased an air fryer off amazon and made sweet potato fries every time I craved chocolate or sweets. When I craved my favorite salty snack (Goldfish) I ate these roasted potatoes or potato chips. Yes, potato chips are compliant! Just make sure you read the ingredients.

NEVER let yourself get to the point where you’re starving and hangry…this is when the cravings kick in and make it extremely hard to stick with Whole30.

Things I learned

• Your true friends will still love you after displaying extreme signs and behaviors of hanger. During the first week of Whole30 you’re trying to figure out what you can eat and starting to feel like the list of “no” is much longer than the list of “yes”. This can cause a lot of frustration, and definitely hanger. My advice? Eat some almonds, don’t let yourself get hangry. Good news is, if you do start displaying signs of extreme hanger, your friends will forgive you!
• ADD can come from the food you are eating. Certain foods boost your energy level, while others leave you feeling sluggish, groggy, and ready to nap under your desk. By eliminating all the bad stuff, you are resetting your mind and body and ultimately fueling it with the things it really needs and wants in order to thrive. Think about it this way, would you fill up your Ferrari with regular gas? No. You’d put premium in there!
• Depriving yourself of all the things you love can result in the strangest behaviors. I’m not perfect, nobody is. I’ll admit it, I cheated once or twice during the 30 days because sometimes you just need a piece of chocolate to keep you sane. I was craving chocolate hard AF and hid in the bathroom at work once to sneak a piece while no one was looking. It was definitely not my proudest moment and it wasn’t worth it because I felt negative effects from just eating a small piece of chocolate!

The big results

While I experienced MANY benefits from Whole30, here are the three results that were the most significant for me.

• My skin looks and feels so much better. I’ve heard dairy can have a huge negative impact on your skin, and doing Whole30 showed me just how accurate that is! My pores even look smaller.
• I’m sleeping better than I have in my entire life. This is a big win for me, because I’ve been taking sleep medication for years. Two weeks into Whole30 I noticed my sleep pattern was significantly different. I was sleeping better and a lot longer. I’m known for waking up between 6:30 and 7 am every morning without an alarm…I AM the alarm in my house. Immediately I wondered if I could now sleep without medication, so I tried and have slept soundly, medication free ever since. Thank you Whole30!
• My muscles are way more defined. I’ve always been active and athletic. I go to the gym several times a week and sometimes work out with a personal trainer. My muscles grow but it feels like they grow under my fat, making me look bigger. While I only lost about a total of 6 lbs, over the past month I’ve noticed my fat decreasing and my muscles becoming more defined. Not like a bodybuilder or anything like that, I just feel like a leaner, sexier human!

Keep it up!

Every time I felt weak during Whole30 and wanted to reach for a cookie, I went to the Whole30 website to read this quote: “This is not hard. Don’t you dare tell us this is hard. Fighting cancer is hard. Birthing a baby is hard. Losing a parent is hard. Drinking your coffee black. Is. Not. Hard. You’ve done harder things than this, and you have no excuse not to complete the program as written. It’s only thirty days, and it’s for the most important health cause on earth the only physical body you will ever have in this lifetime.”

That little snippet is one of the things that got me through the last 30 days. It’s 110% true. I have done much harder things in my life than eliminating a few things for one month.

My go-to Whole30 recipes:

If you’re just getting started with Whole30, here are a few compliant recipes to help you get through the first few days!

• Whole30 Green Goddess Salmon Bowls
• Mushroom Bolognese
• Slow Roasted Mini Potatoes
• Whole30 Egg Roll In A Bowl
• Air Fryer Sweet Potato Fries

Check out my Whole30 Pinterest board for more ideas!

Post Whole30: What Now?

I didn’t do so well with “reintroduction” I just kind of went for it. My first meal was at Magdalena and I ate EVERYTHING. I don’t regret it.

My plan moving forward is to order from Territory Foods every week. I’ll have six Whole30 compliant meals from them in addition to making myself a Whole30 compliant breakfast every morning. For dinner, I vowed to cook a healthy meal four nights a week and allow myself to go out the other three nights.

Are you considering trying Whole30? Are you in the midst of the diet? Have you completed it? Tell me in the comments!