Big Changes aka Whole 30

This is going to be a long post.  Settle in.

I won’t get into all the reasons I chose to do Whole30.  Suffice it to say that I felt fed up with many things about my diet choices and I wanted to make a change.  It’s never worked for me to “cut back” and eat in moderation.  I didn’t have a baseline to start from.  That’s what I felt I needed.  Drastic?  Yes, but that’s what I felt would work for me.  I needed to get past the addiction to sugar and carbs, the cravings and change my palate.  I wanted to taste my food…learn to enjoy vegetables not drowned in cheese or a sugary dressing.  I’ve been eating pretty healthy overall for the last year, which helped make the transition, but it has still been eye opening.

The first thing I did to prepare was to read the book It Starts with Food.  It was quite eye opening and nearly everything resonated with me.  I downloaded some cookbooks to go along with the book and began to follow Melissa and Whole 30 on Pinterest and Instagram.  I signed up for the website community, but haven’t utilized it at all.  One of the first things participants are advised to do is to tell someone…to seek support.  I am lucky to have my boyfriend Joe making the commitment with me.  Not only is he my biggest support, but he’s a kick ass chef.  I cannot underestimate how amazing this is. 

While we are always a team on meal and recipe creation, the rules were about to change, and we had less ingredients to choose from.  A challenge that we were ready to accept, right?

So, before we went on a week’s vacation to visit family, I went through all of the cupboards and got rid of nearly everything with sugar or other forbidden ingredients in it.    Some of them I packaged up to donate to a food bank.  Others went on the bottom shelf, in the back so we could eventually consume them.    I was rather amazed at the emptiness of my cabinets.  I did my best to allow the fear to run through me and then let it go.  I was determined.

Our trip was great, and was filled with food, carbs, alcohol and all of the things a vacation should include, I suppose.  I came home feeling exhausted,  my back was sore from travelling and a lack of yoga.  I felt slightly sick to my stomach, and had heartburn after ingesting everything over the week.  Is this really what I want to do?  It didn’t take much soul searching to determine that I was ready for this.  My mind was set, so I needed to follow through.  I can be quite good at talking myself in or out of things I don’t really need or want to do.  I had to be stronger than that.  It was time.

I made a trip to Costco to stock up.  I went a bit overboard and spent $350!  Yikes!  This was clearly how I dealt with the stress and fear.  Be uber prepared.  I reminded myself that I was paying for a month’s worth of meals up front.  That helped.  I wouldn’t spend more at restaurants for the next month.  Plus, $350 is probably a month’s worth of eating out anyway.

Here’s what I bought at Costco:  I bought as many organic ingredients as I could.

Organic salad mix, organic spinach, mini peppers, baby carrots, grape tomatoes, snap peas, pineapple, butternut squash, avocados, bananas, grapes, frozen organic green beans, frozen organic broccoli, frozen organic strawberries, organic frozen cherries, frozen pineapple, frozen shrimp, frozen chicken breasts, frozen salmon,  2 dozen organic eggs, sliced almonds, walnuts, avocado oil, green olives, canned tuna, chicken sausages, green juice (which I think had some sweetener in it) and coconut water(with no sugar).  And a rotisserie chicken for dinner.  This probably had sugar in the ingredients, but I didn’t check.  I assumed, and probably was wrong.  I’ve looked since then.  I think Whole Foods has one that is compliant. 

I also ordered a slew of items from Thrive Market, online.  They have good prices, hard to find items, and free shipping over $50.  Here, I stocked up on (chocolate) herbal tea, coconut aminos (in place of soy sauce), full fat, organic coconut milk and curry pastes. 

Finally, I went to Sprouts and stocked up on cashews, raw almonds, sunflower seeds, ghee (browned, clarified butter) and produce: cucumbers, sweet potatoes, yams, onions, celery, garlic, ginger.

I was a bit overwhelmed by all of these ingredients.  I didn’t have any specific meal ideas in mind for the week.  I think that would have made the first week easier.  This way, all ingredients would be on hand.  And thinking wouldn’t really be required.  It was a bit overwhelming the first week.  Good thing my resolve was high.  We were excited by the challenge in the beginning.  But it was still overwhelming.  This change was big.  I knew we’d be eating every meal at home, and they’d all have to be prepared by us.  Did I mention that I am the dishwasher?  Yea. 

Here’s what I had in the pantry:

coconut flour (a ginormous bag I bought from Costco awhile ago…come borrow some, no need to buy so much)

almond meal/flour

olive oil

avocado oil

coconut oil

sesame oil

coconut aminos

coconut vinegar

red wine vinegar

black cherry balsamic vinegar

peach white balsamic vinegar

balsamic vinegar  (go for the aged…it’s luxuriously sweet)

nutritional yeast

coconut flakes

cacao nibs

raw cacao powder

tahini

canned tomatoes (watch for sugar)

canned chiles

chicken broth in a box (and in the freezer)

Other ingredients not mentioned:

lime juice (fresh and frozen)

lemon juice (fresh and frozen)

capers

spicy pickles

banana peppers

cherry peppers

hot sauce (NOT the tabasco chipotle, however)

La Croix flavored waters

herbal, black, green, hot, iced teas

herbs and spices, fresh and dried

mustards (again, watch for sugar)

As we close in on the 30-day mark, I am glad to report that we still have many of the frozen and pantry items that I purchased from Costco and Thrive Market.  

Stay tuned.  More to come.  Lots more.