I really didn't know a lot about doing the Whole30 when I started
I had a list of what I could eat and that was about it
I just learned along the way
and to my advantage, I had 2 friends at work doing it with me
so between the 3 of us, we figured it out and gave each other tips
Now I have a lot of people asking me about it and how to do it
so I thought I would write up a post with things I learned
so here ya go......just random stuff that I learned
- Trader Joe's sells canned coconut milk for 99 cents per can. Everywhere else is over 2 bucks a can
- Trader Joe's is also where I shop for my clarified butter, hamburger patties, Thomcord grapes (the best) avocados, salsa, lots of veggies
- Whole Foods is where I buy my raw cashews and coconut chips
- I didn't always have a protein at each meal in the first week but I quickly learned that you must have protein with every meal
- It is better to eat your fruit with your meal
- My favorite snack is a mixture of raw cashews, almond slices, coconut chips and unsweetened dried banana chips. I mix this all together and keep in Ziploc bag. I always make sure if I'm going to be out and might not eat on time, I have a small baggie of my trail mix to hold me over
- Olives are so dang good and you can have all you want! They are another favorite snack of mine
- I buy my grain fed hamburger patties at Trader Joes. Then I put each pattie in a Ziploc baggie and freeze. Whenever I'm in a pinch for a quick lunch or dinner, pull them out, they thaw in about 15 minutes. Fry up in some coconut oil and top with salsa....so good!
- Trader Joe's salsa is awesome.......and it has NO SUGAR
- Speaking of coconut oil, you can buy a very large container of organic coconut oil at Costco for about $15
- Always try to double up on whatever you're cooking so you'll have lunch for the next day
- I worried in the beginning about eating too many eggs and the effect it would have on my cholesterol. Well I didn't really need to worry because after 30 days, my cholesterol dropped from 241 to 202 and even better, my triglycerides dropped from 239 to 93!!! My doctor told me that eggs are good for you and eat all you want!!
- And let me tell you about salt.........I felt like I craved it. So I asked my doctor about that and she said have all the salt you want. Because when you give up processed food, you are not getting the sodium your body needs so it's fine to salt your food.
- When you go to the grocery store, it's a much quicker trip now. You only shop the produce/fruit and the meat section.......done!!
- Read every label before you buy. If there are ingredients that you cannot pronounce, then don't buy it.
- Also sugar as an ingredient goes by about 10 other names....google it and then learn them :)
- If in the nutritional label on food it has grams of sugar but in the ingredients list there is no sugar, then that means it is natural sugar from the food, so you're good to eat that. But again, learn the different names that sugar goes by because the food manufacturers try to sneak it in everywhere!
- Some people say this is a lot of work but think about it.....it's just 3 meals a day, which you're going to have anyway. Just plan ahead.
- I roast all of my veggies the same way ... drizzle with olive oil and salt with sea salt and cracked pepper....on a cookie sheet, oven 400 degrees for 30 min. I roast mushrooms, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, string beans, sweet potatoes.....just every veggie you can think of! You'll never go back to fixing any other way
- Make yummy smoothies.....1 cup coconut milk, 1 cup crushed ice, fruit....run through the blender or use an immersion blender. For my banana smoothie, I use 2 bananas. For berries, I use 1 cup of berries. Mangos are my favorite smoothie!!
- To make it easy on myself, I did not go out to eat in restaurants during my Whole30. But now, I do as I have learned how to order food that is good for me. Never did I think I would say "hold the cheese"
- I learned for me that cheese is bad for my sinus'. So as much as I loved it, I love feeling great better so I'll skip the cheese and that's just fine.
- I started my Whole30 on July 10th. Today Oct 6th I pretty stay on it but I have added some things back into my diet......wine and popcorn being 2 of them. I now cook my popcorn in a lunch bag in the microwave....so good and no chemicals.
- As of today I have lost 15 lbs and a lot of inches......I haven't measured lately. I went from wearing a size 12 to now a size 6. Just 2 weeks ago I bought new size 8 pants and now they are too big. But better than all of that, I can't believe how good I feel.
That's it for now......if I think of other things, I'll list them. If you have questions or are starting it and need help, just let me know.
later.......
