Whole30: Week One

I started the Whole30 plan on Monday (5/5/14) not necessarily to lose weight, but because I don't always eat the best that I should and have been feeling really bad for months. I am constantly bloated, have headaches, nausea, and just exhausted. All.the.time. So I went into this challenge hoping to learn more about the foods that I consume and to also feel so much better!

 There are so many chemicals that we our eating and drinking these days it's really scary. Have you ever read the label on a lot of the foods we eat?! I mean, I can't even pronounce some of them! 

So not only do I love a challenge, but I wanted to take away all of the things that aren't "whole foods". Now this isn't really a diet but more of eating whole foods for 30 days to reset your body to food allergies. At the end of the 30 days as you slowly introduce dairy, gluten, etc into your body, you can see what causes your body to react negatively to, and what makes you feel bad.



What you can NOT have on the Whole30:

• no added sugar, real or artificial
• alcohol, not even for cooking
• no legumes, which includes beans of all kinds
• no dairy whatsoever 
• no white potatoes
• no MSG 
• no "paleo-ifying baked goods, desserts, or junk foods.

and you are not allowed to step on the scale for the entire 30 days

Now I know that sounds extreme to most, but I can tell you it is VERY doable. 



Exceptions to the rule:

• clarified butter or ghee
• fruit juice as sweetener. (some products use orange or apple juice as sweeteners)
• certain legumes such as, green beans, snap peas, and snow peas. They're more of a "pod" than a bean.
• vinegar. including, white, balsamic, apple cider, red wine, and rice.

What you CAN have on the Whole30:

• meat
• seafood
• eggs
• tons of vegetables
• some fruit
• good fat from fruits, oils, nuts, and seeds

Eat foods with few ingredients, all pronounceable ingredients, or no ingredients. 

You can click here for a list of everything you can have. 

I'm one week in and I have lost my bloat and have so much energy! Usually around 3-4pm everyday I would hit a wall. I would be trying to keep my eyes open and would have a killer headache. The wall slowly went away over the week. I noticed that I had more energy withing the first 2 days, and my headaches seemed to get better every single day. By Friday I didn't have a headache at all. :) Yay!

My best advice is just to prepare.Prepare your food for the week, or just meal plan. Try to have an idea of what you will be eating all week. And if you find something that you really love, eat that for several days in a row! Easy! 

Here is what I ate for week 1 in no particular order. Some may be snacks, breakfast, lunch, or dinner. I'm sure you can figure out whats what! And these were eaten more than once :)

Chicken salad 

recipe can be found here

Portabello stuffed (and I mean really overflowing!) with sauteed mushrooms, onion, bell pepper, tomato, one egg, and chicken.

Mandarin and what I call a "birds nest".

Sweet potato hashbrowns in the bottom of a muffin pan, with egg, and bacon!

My favorite breakfast!  

Strawberries and Pineapple :)

Steamed carrot chips and sauteed veggies and cooked diced chicken. 

Broiled grapefruit.

Banana pancakes. Recipe can be found here

Sweet potato hashbrowns, poached eggs, and deer sausage.

Green beans, sweet potato chips, burger with sauteed onion.

I hope to encourage you to eat healthy! 

I'm on to week 2 now! :)