My Whole 30 Journey

My husband and I started our first Whole 30 around two years ago after my surrogacy journey. We were planning our destination wedding and I had just given birth to twins after months and months of hormone injections. I gained roughly 60 lbs and my body was a mess. Kyle gained some happy weight or more than likely weight from stress eating.. as I carried my first twin pregnancy while finishing my degree, working part time and raising a toddler. I was a hormonal mess to say the least.

We were ready for a real change and were determined to get in shape for our wedding in the Dominican. I heard about the Whole 30 as it was just starting to take off. I told Kyle about it and he was fully on board. Whole 30 is definitely hard core. It is not to be taken lightly and I recommend doing it with a friend or family member. We went out and bought the book, went to the grocery store, prepped all weekend and we were off!

We started with simple pinterest recipes to get started. We started cooking together and we loved it. We were so busy, but found the time every Sunday to shop and cook as a couple. Granted, there were days we were pulled over in the Boston Market Parking lot eating a rotisserie chicken with our fingers until it was nothing but a carcass like cavemen in the car because we were out and didn’t prepare food. But for the most part we were great about having our meals planned out and that was key! I was used to my Starbucks lattes everyday followed by my Bread Co breakfast sandwich and whatever I could grab out for lunch and dinner considering I was running from appointments to class to internships to daycare. I had all the excuses in the world. But I was so tired of making excuses for why I was not taking care of myself. I was overweight, had no energy and my moods were out of control. I was so stressed with everything going on in my life and I took it out on food and family. I snapped easy and I was constantly eating crap left and right. Committing to the Whole 30 was one of the best decisions we have ever made for our health.

The first week was hellish. I wanted to tear everyone’s heads off and I am pretty sure Kyle felt the same. But after about 10 days I noticed I wan’t craving all of the sugar that I had been dreaming about days before. I cut out my coffee because if I drink coffee I want it white and sweet and that’s an obvious no-no. My husband simply drank Americanos and black coffee at home and was perfectly content. I missed the coffee more than anything. We weren’t as creative with our first round. We were by the book and ate simple recipes from the Whole 30 cookbook and from online. We just wanted to get through it and not mess up!

After 3 weeks on the diet everything was clearer. I had so much energy without my loaded coffees in the morning and fast food benders. I was in a great mood and wasn’t so short tempered. With only one week left, we knew we were in the homestretch!

After our first whole 30 was complete, we felt like a brand new couple. The outlook we had was so positive. We felt the true impact that sugar had on our bodies and wanted to live a life without it for as long as possible. Even taking one sip of a caramel macchiato or one bite of a cupcake gives me a sharp headache which tells me just how dangerous those things are to my body. Don’t get me wrong. We do have a dessert here and there and do eat what we want on a date night along with a good cocktail, but we are whole 30/Paleo 95% of the time. The only difference from Whole 30 is we will occasionally incorporate honey into some recipes and we will imitate desserts but with clean ingredients. Because of those reasons, I label it Paleo as opposed to a whole 30 lifestyle. The biggest challenge is trying to get our toddler to follow suit but we have eliminated 90% of the sugar and processed food from her diet as well. She eats only healthy snacks, mostly fruits and veggies and drinks up to 4 oz of juice a day and even then we tend to skip it. Juice is pure sugar and we definitely see the effects on her little body. She also used to drink a cup of strawberry milk every morning when she was around 2. I couldn’t even think of the last time she had milk at the house. She hasn’t had a glass with us in probably 2 years and she hasn’t asked for it since we stopped. Milk contains so much sugar and when you add chocolate or strawberry powder to that you are setting them up for trouble. This might not be the case for some, but it was for us. I did not feel right giving her a glass of liquid loaded with sugar then arguing with her 10 minutes later because she is wound up and not listening. They have tiny bodies. They cannot control themselves when fueled with all of that crap. We have seen such drastic changes in her behaviors since eliminating the junk, I highly recommend giving it a try. The resistance is tough at first by give it a couple weeks and they won’t look back. Merrit now comes to us and requests healthy snacks. If it is all you keep in the house, they won’t bother fighting with you for something bad because they know it is not an option.

As far as weight loss, Kyle lost around 20lbs and I had just given birth less than 2 months prior to starting so that helped me out a bit. I lost around 30lbs with that round of diet and some exercise classes thrown in. We have fallen off the wagon here and there because life gets crazy, but we try to hop back on together. Kyle is still around the same weight and I have lost a total of around 55lbs from this last round of whole 30 and I also had my son about 2 months before we started this round. I am pregnant alot..

I had a CBC done before and after my first round and the results were astonishing. The amount of bad cholesterol I had as opposed to when I finished was scary. All of my numbers were dangerously high. After 30 days, they were beyond perfect. My body felt better than ever which was just what I needed when breastfeeding and healing from a pregnancy.

One of my many goals with this blog is to eventually have all of my favorite recipes as I come across them on this site. I love cooking and eating clean and I especially love doing it as a family. It is such a powerful feeling to take control over your body and what you put in it. When I started taking pride in what I ate and how I treated my body, I had the confidence to help others with their journey.

After completing our first round, we learned A LOT. We now have a ton of go-to recipes and sauces that make eating healthy taste better than ever. Kyle makes a homemade mayo and ranch that is to die for, not to mention his tuna and crab cakes! I have been making my own coffee creamers and almond/cashew milks. And after two years of trial and error can confidently say, I have perfected it! I crave my cold brew with almond milk every day. I also make desserts and quick meals that satisfy whatever craving I might be having at the time. It is all about finding balance and finding yourself. I realized I associate food with almost everything. I love food! And that is okay. I eat as much as I want but it is clean. Before I was eating to suppress something or to feel something and that always made me feel worse after. I am well aware of how I am going to feel before I even partake in whatever junk is available to me. This helps me make a more informed decision and in most cases have more self control.