My Whole30 Experience: Week One

Warning: the pictures shown here are not all appealing. Most are raw, unfilted, unedited, with messy plates and no styling whatsoever. But, I still wanted to share some examples of what I’m eating anyway. Check out the captions on each for details.

I’ve spoken to friends about how much I wasn’t interested in doing the Whole30, that I didn’t understand how restricting whole groups of food would do anyone any favors, that I couldn’t possibly give up pasta and legumes.

Eggs, potatoes, tomatoes, avocado

Then, I realized how much the Whole30 has helped people and how in-demand recipes were. I was interested in providing recipes to readers who were looking for something in particular, and I felt that I had to go through the program myself to be able to create recipes for it or speak about it in any way.

Scrambled eggs, sauteed kale, jalapenos, cilantro pesto on a Siete almond flour tortilla (my thought on tortillas being restricted upcoming!)

Also, the more I started researching and reading about the experiences of others, the more I wondered if maybe I would benefit from the program. Maybe any inflammation I was experiencing was because of some of the food I was eating. Maybe, since I have been eating the same way for a long while now, I have inflammation, or I could be feeling better, and just not know it until I started Whole30.

Kale and blistered tomato omelet with compliant chicken sausage with mushrooms and herbs

What if I have felt the same way for so long, what I think is actually feeling pretty good, and I’m just unaware of how much better I’ll feel once I eliminate some food.

These were all the reasons that I started a Whole30.

Hard-boiled eggs from my husband who let me sleep in and then made me these

My Whole30 concerns:

• Meal prepping — do I even have enough time?
• Buying new condiments and other groceries — what is my bill going to look like?

So here’s how it happened. My grocery bill wasn’t that much more than normal. I bought my normal amount of fruits and veggies, I bought a little bit more meat and some condiments and dressings (which are Primal Kitchen and were 50% off at Whole Foods!). I didn’t notice a difference in my bill. In fact, I think I was a little more intentional with my grocery shopping and I think I made my bill work for me, instead of just dumping whatever I felt like or thought I would cook in my cart as I aimlessly wander the store, like I usually do.

Turkey unwich, strawberries, compliant potato chips (in a nutshell, I don’t agree with restricting “snacky” foods and I’ll explain why in an upcoming post)

And I have yet to prep. I’ll go so far as to make a larger batch of a food I’m cooking so I can have leftovers or I can freeze for later use, but no true prepping. As a very very very busy mom of two very very very busy kids, with many a freelance project and blog post I’m working on at the same time as this whole mothering business, I simply find it difficult to set aside enough time at the end of the day to prep.

Tuna salad salad…typical

I will say that I consider myself a little fortunate in that I don’t have a traditional office job where meal prepping would be an absolute necessity for me to succeed on the Whole30. If I did, I know I wouldn’t have made it past day three, honestly. My free time comes in small chunks, amid laundry and dishes and other household keep-up, and not really too much in larger portions.

More tuna salad. I get the one packed in olive oil. Life changing. Served with a warm bacon vinaigrette.

So, with that being said, I’ve just been cooking my meals throughout the day, one by one. I’ve been making simple, easy, fast meals so I can sit down to lunch with my littles (Juliette is eating so much food now!) without stressing too much. On the rotation: salads with tuna salad, egg salad, chicken salad. I’ll use up a bunch of rotisserie chicken. I eat lots of potatoes.

Turkey burgers topped with grilled onions and smashed avocado, and a simple salad

I once tried banana “ice cream” which was just blended up frozen bananas and it was so meh that there is no way I’m eating that again. A dessert it is not. Instead, I eat apples with compliant almond butter.

My banana “ice cream” which was not good at all. Blech.

How I feel on the Whole30

Maybe it’s still too early to tell, but I feel completely normal. Absolutely the same. No weird cravings, no withdrawals of food, I’m not noticing any physical differences (or mentally, or emotionally, for that matter).

Lemon pepper chicken. A highlight and a go-to meal on or off Whole30!

I don’t feel better, I don’t feel worse. I am noticing no difference whatsoever. I guess I can say that I feel accomplished? I’ve been able to stick to the Whole30 for a week, but honestly, I’m not finding it difficult to do. The worst part about it so far is I’m getting bored and I want to liven up my meals with beans, lentils, brown rice pasta.

Pork ribs, roasted veggies, yuca fries. My husband then bought so many yucas from the store.

I spoke to some friends about it, thinking that maybe I’m doing something wrong, and they all feel that since I ate a lot of Whole30 before, even without realizing it, my body is used to this way of eating and doesn’t have any feedback for me. I donʻt drink soda, my coffee consumption is minimal, I’ve been eating more gluten-free pasta options of late.

Whole30 minestrone soup. An absolute hit! Will share recipe in a separate blog post.

I’ve also read that you’re supposed to sleep better when doing the Whole30, but I don’t think I can accurately report on that because I have a seven month old who still isn’t sleeping through the night. I’m perpetually exhausted.

Lemon garlic and paprika chicken with olive oil mashed potatoes and roasted green beans

All of this to say that I see how Whole30 is difficult for a LOT of people. I see how it can benefit those who may have slight intolerances to certain foods and make those with less than ideal eating habits just think twice about what they’re consuming. I don’t think it’s a terrible program, but perhaps it’s just not for me. I’ll continue participating though.

Broccoli noodles (broodles?) Basically peeled the rough outer layer of broccoli stem, then spiralized and sauteed with chicken and Rao’s marinara sauce

Tune in next week for another update!