Whole30 bandwagon, let’s do this

April 21, 2015

Given that the current theme of my life appears to be deprivation and downsizing, I’ve decided to do the Whole30. In fact, today marks the eighth day and I’m still alive. I would have mentioned something sooner, but wanted to make sure I made it through the first week without caving to a donut. What can I say? I know what I like.

Truthfully, I’ve done this thing before and had great results. The first time was after I saw Erin Wasson at The Parker in Palm Springs. If you need motivation to stop eating everything just have a run-in with her. Trust me. It’ll rip that sandwich right out of your hand.

If you don’t know what the Whole30 is here’s a link with all the info. In a nutshell here’s what you can eat for 30 days:

  • Meat (I stick to organic, grass fed especially with beef to avoid cross contamination with grains).
  • Vegetables
  • Some fruit
  • Nuts

Yes, you can eat eggs (but try to make sure they’re not being fed grains) and shellfish. The goal behind it is to kill the sugar cravings and have you rethink what you put in your body which, if you stick with the program, totally works. What I enjoy most is it gets me thinking about real food and challenges me in the kitchen. I like to cook and seeing as you’re allowed to eat as much as you want of the things you are allowed to have (there is a God), I focus on getting into those foods and experimenting with spice/flavor.

This time around I’m looking at the Whole30recipes Instagram account and it has SO MANY great dishes on there. On Saturday morning I whooped it over to Whole Foods and picked up some lemongrass and achiote spice to make Chicken Inasal. The marinade was easy and I even made my own oil in the process. Super cool! It had to sit overnight, but on Sunday I lit the grill and mowed through so much chicken and grilled asparagus…yet still woke up hungry this morning. Metabolism on fleek, even though I don’t know what fleek means.

This entire thing sounded so extreme three years ago, but it doesn’t anymore. Removing the unnecessary from my life has taught (and continues to teach) me a lot about myself. What are my safety mechanisms? Where do I go for comfort? How do I deal and avoid dealing with things? Uhhhhh by buying stuff I don’t need and eating cake? Sometimes, yes. Not that I won’t ever do those things again, but at least I’m more aware and won’t be doing them to insulate myself. If you let it, the truth really will set you free – from self-sabotage and a host of other things, cheesy as it sounds.

On that note I just want to say I will not be quitting the spicy cucumber margaritas and they are the thing I miss the most. That once a week indulgence has me counting down the days. And a side of chips and salsa, too. Wish me luck and let me know if you hop on board!

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4 Comments

  • Reply This Free Bird April 23, 2015 at 2:18 am

    Angela, I’m so excited for you. I know that sounds kind of dumb, but I really mean it. My first Whole30 was such an eye-opener. All the things you said. It’s crazy to see sugar and corn syrup and corn and wheat in so many things that they just don’t need to be in. And here we are, as a society, mindlessly consuming this stuff, unaware of all the harm it’s doing. The time constraints for the kitchen can be a factor. I definitely plan ahead and eat leftovers. Snacks are where I hit a rough patch, so I’m going to try roasting some cashews tomorrow. I’ll let you know how it goes. For now I have olives and mushrooms on hand, as well as these flax cracker things that I eat with cucumber and shredded chicken or guacamole on top. So dang good! I’ll get the brand and send to you. Do you eat meat? It sounds like you do. Do you like curry? Thai food? Spice? If so I’ve got some recipes for you!! So happy you commented. It made me SO HAPPY to see your familiar handle after all these years. Hope everything’s going well for you! xo

  • Reply fshnonmymind April 22, 2015 at 4:24 pm

    I saw this post on Facebook and had to comment because I got coerced into doing this with my friend. We are on day 3 and man what I wouldn’t give for some cheese and/or bread right now but I’m determined to stay strong because I’ve spent way too many years putting junk into my body. Sugar is my main weakness so I’m using this experiment to see how my body feels and looks when I cut that out. Just like Jen stated I’m amazed at all of the unnecessary stuff they put in food. Seriously, why does Aleve need to have any form of sugar in it!?
    I will say that having to meal prep and actually make my food has been a little challenging but in a good way. And I also love that I’ve been experimenting with different vegetables. I hope to tackle some recipes next week so that I can move beyond salads. And I felt a little silly but I was so excited that I made my own salad dressing yesterday lol. It was so easy and yet I’ve been unnecessarily buying bottles of the stuff all these years.
    Good luck and any advice you can pass along to make this process easier would definitely be appreciated!

  • Reply Jen April 21, 2015 at 4:35 pm

    Ah, enjoy the challenge/process. I did Whole30 in January 2 years ago after reading about it on your blog. It was a really good experience and for me, the best part about it was gaining so much awareness about what’s in the food we buy. I considered myself pretty informed even before that, but after reading all sorts of labels when shopping, I was so frustrated by all the needless additives in food! I hope you are feeling great, I know that month was filled with ups n downs but it was cool. I am pretty sure I ate way too much fruit, but even so, it was all good. I tried to do it again later in the spring when I was training pretty hard, and I couldn’t manage the low carb aspect…I kept bonking in my workouts. I know some endurance athletes can swing it, but no matter how much sweet potato I ate, I couldn’t make it work. I probably should have done it again this winter when I was off running in Feb for injury…next time!! Meanwhile, keep up the good work! Happy Spring!

    • Reply This Free Bird April 23, 2015 at 2:08 am

      I’m feeling pretty good so far. Aside from the occasional croissant pang in the early morning, it’s been fun to get into the kitchen and cook some spicy stuff! I never thought about the low carb aspect for an athlete…I guess the only running I do is to and fro the refrigerator. HAHAHA! Happy Spring to you, too!

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