I began my Whole30 journey on Monday, July 4th for a much needed reset in my dietary practices. If you have not heard of Whole30 before, I highly recommend you visit their website or read the book, It Starts with Food. It is a very simple way of eating where you focus on filling your body with nutritious whole foods such as high quality meats, organic vegetables and fruits. You remove all added sugar (it is in EVERYTHING), dairy, grains, beans and alcohol (this one is easy being preggo 😊).
After completing week one, I have to say it hasn't been that hard. I have really missed my morning oatmeal but other than that, I feel pretty awesome. It takes a bit of planning to make sure you have food and I have been cooking a lot more, but the food has been absolutely delicious. I thought it would be fun to share what I ate each day in case you want to try anything and also so I can look back and duplicate weeks in the future when I want an easy week of meal planning.
Monday, July 4th
Breakfast: 1 fried egg + 1 Aidells chicken sausage + 1/2 sweet potato + french pressed decaf coffee with nutpod creamer
Snack: apple with almond butter
Lunch: classic chili (Whole30 pg342) + Salad (toasted pecans & pumpkin seeds, avocado + EVOO & balsamic vinegar)
Snack: almond pulp crackers & roasted red pepper sauce (Whole30 pg316)
Dinner: grass-fed burger with super gyro seasoning + roasted sweet potatoes + grilled zucchini & yellow squash
Snack: chocolate smoothie
Tuesday, July 5th
Breakfast: melissa's chicken hash (Whole30 p228) + french pressed decaf coffee with nutpod creamer
Snack: 1/2 Thunderbird bar
Lunch: leftover classic chili + salad (leftover squash & sweet potato, asparagus, toasted pumpkin seeds & pecans + EVOO and balsamic vinegar)
Snack: 1/2 Thunderbird bar + banana
Dinner: perfect seared chicken breasts (Whole30 p157) + steamed broccoli + sautéed green bell pepper, zucchini & yellow squash
Snack: chocolate smoothie
Wednesday, July 6th
Breakfast: 2 eggs + 1 Aidells sausage + 1/3 sweet potato
Snack: leftover chicken hash
Lunch: salad (leftover chicken, squash, peppers + raw pumpkin seeds & pecans)
Snack: larabar + strawberries
Dinner: shepherd's pie (Whole30 p350) -- run and make this NOW!
Snack: chocolate smoothie
Thursday, July 7th
Breakfast: 1 egg + handful of cashews (pre-workout snack)
Snack: spinach frittata (Whole30 p206) & avocado + 1/2 banana
Lunch: leftover shepherd's pie
Snack: grapes
Dinner: cod croquettes + green beans from Green Chef box
Snack: chocolate smoothie
Friday, July 8th
Breakfast: 1 egg + handful cashews (pre-workout snack)
Snack: leftover frittata + banana
Lunch: leftover chicken hash + 1/2 carrot cake larabar
Snack: apple + almond butter
Dinner: portobello sloppy joes with carrot fries from Green Chef box
Snack: chocolate smoothie
Saturday, July 9th
Breakfast: 2 eggs + avocado + 1/2 sweet potato
Snack: banana + brazil nuts + cashews
Lunch: salad (bbq chicken + toasted pecans + avocado + apple + cucumber + ranch dressing)
Snack: grapes
Dinner: dined out at True Food Kitchen (bison burger wrapped in lettuce + sweet potato hash + kale salad, no cheese)
Snack: chocolate smoothie
Sunday, July 10th
Breakfast: perfect scrambled eggs (Whole30 p150) + avocado + 1/3 sweet potato
Snack: tropical berry smoothie
Lunch: chipotle carnitas salad with tomato salsa & guacamole + 1/2 apple
Snack: banana + brazil nuts + cashews
Dinner: stir fry chicken (Whole30 p340) with curry sauce (Whole30 p 307) + cauliflower rice (whole30 p272)
Snack: chocolate smoothie
Overall I feel it was a very successful week and I feel really good. Two things I would like to point out that the authors of Whole30 are not big fans of:
1) Smoothies. Smoothies tend to be high in natural sugar and also "send different satiety signals to your brain than food" so people tend to overeat. I made the personal decision to continue having my nightly smoothie to ensure I am getting enough calories for my growing baby.
2) Snacking. I choose to have six smaller meals (including 3 snacks) daily. The Whole30 folks aren't totally against it, but they do believe that snacking can turn into grazing, so if you choose this route as well just be aware.
And that is a wrap, see you next week!