My Whole30 experience

First of all, if you don't know what Whole30 is, I recommend you read up on it.
In a nutshell, Whole30 is an elimination diet. For 30 days you cut out dairy, alcohol, sugar (real and artificial), grains, legumes (including peanuts), and soy.
For thirty days, you consume foods that are real, whole, and unprocessed.


This was a game-changer for me. I had moments that I didn't love the whole process. There's a timeline that amazes me with it's accuracy. Especially on the "kill ALL the things" days. But overall, this experience was extremely encouraging and gratifying. I was so proud of myself when I made it through all 30 days. Without cheating even once.


So, here's the thing.
It takes a lot of work: the meal planning, grocery runs, chopping and dicing and cutting and peeling, not to mention the actual cooking. But here's the other thing -the food is delicious! We've found some amazing recipes that I will continue to use. I'll share a few of them with you. In fact, just check out my whole30 board on pinterest for all of the recipes.
Some of our favorite meals:
Hearty Vegetable Soup
Buffalo Chicken Casserole
Shepherd's Pie w/sweet potato topping
Breakfast Pizza Quiche
Creamy Spinach Sweet Potato Noodles with Cashew Sauce (I added Chicken)
Whole30 White Chicken Chili
Whole30 Breakfast bowl
Sweet Potato Breakfast Casserole (this was probably our all-time favorite breakfast - don't let the picture fool you. It's delish!)


I purchased a spiralizer through this whole process and we have been loving zoodles, curly fries (baked of course) and sweet potato noodles. It's been a fun new way to cook!


We have been finished with Whole30 (officially) since May 4th. I've mostly stuck with it though I've added in some honey on occasion, eaten a few grains here or there, a couple of sweet treats, two or three alcoholic drinks, but overall we've been sticking with it.


My goal is to continue eating this way as much as possible, but not stressing if I want to eat a piece of cake at a wedding or have a popsicle with my kids at the beach. However, I want to be intentional about what I eat and not have multiple treats in one day and eat unhealthily at most meals. It's a balance that I am far from mastering, but that I am striving toward.