The Whole 30 is a hot topic of conversation for me. I get tons of questions and love having conversations about the program with friends and family. To say it changed my life would be entirely true. Before I ever tried Whole 30, I didn’t have a set of really good eating habits. I would crash diet on unhealthy foods (hello, 100 calories packs) with crazy expectations (20 pounds in 2 weeks, anyone?). Obviously, that’s an exaggeration, but in all reality, I’ve gained and lost the same 10-15 pounds over and over again. It’s something that I joke about now, but I was overweight through school (especially middle school) and with that came pretty thick skin and a whole slew of body image issues.
If you remember, this time last year and I started a huge challenge for 2016. We called it Live Whole 365. The main goal was to eat whole 90% of the year. It was met with tons of support and love and a fair share of criticism. It was totally doable for me for about the first 6 months of the year, I joined CrossFit and planned my meals. I plugged into great blogs and podcasts by women who inspired me, Paleo food bloggers and cookbook authors, I immersed myself in the culture 100%. It was Juli’s blog and cookbooks that inspired me to venture into a Paleo-lifestyle, and I found it to be a great fit. I think a Paleo 80/20 split would be closer to what the second half of this year looked like.
Did I fail? Well, I didn’t eat Whole 30 approved foods 90% of the year, so yes. Do I feel like this was a failure? Absolutely not. This year was amazing. I reevaluated and reset my relationship with food, I stopped crash dieting, I worked hard to get control of my body image and love myself more. I’ll enter 2017 finally rid of that nagging 10 pounds (plus a few more!), a size smaller, and happier than I’ve been in my entire life about my body and my relationship with food. I’m not Crossfitting on a regular basis, but I did take up running and logged 6 milers a couple of times each week (I couldn’t run a mile this time last year).
Since it’s the end of the year, it only seems right to kick-off a new year with a new round of Whole 30. I’ll be starting again on January 2. We did manage to keep up with our Live Whole 365 Instagram for a huge part of the year, and it will be back in full force, too! You can find that account here.
So if you’re here because you want to try the Whole 30 and you have reservations or fears. If you think you can’t do it, if you think it’s too hard, let me be the first to tell you that you can. It’s tough and you’ll be in the kitchen a ton, but you’ll be a better version of yourself in the end and I have a feeling you’ll never look at food the same way again. Plus, it’s just 30 days and you can do anything for 30 days!
I thought I’d put together one big list of resources for everyone coming here to look for Whole 30 related posts. All of the links below will take you to those specific posts, if you have any questions just comment below or shoot me an email.
Freezer Meals – This post on freezer meals was probably one of my favorite things I did this year and it made a huge difference. I’m still cooking and freezing for quick lunches and dinner when everyone else wants to order pizza.
Store Guides and Shopping Lists
Meal Plans
- 7 Day Meal Plan (week 1)
- 7 Day Meal Plan (week 2)
- 7 Day Meal Plan (week 3)
Recipes
- Bacon Balsamic Roasted Brussel Sprouts
- Fiesta Breakfast Casserole
- Top Five Roasted Vegetable Recipes
- Buffalo Chicken Dip
- Cilantro Lime Jalepeno Sauce (or dressing)
- Beef Brisket (Cook once, eat twice)
- My Top Five Whole 30 Dinners
- Plantain Nachos
Kitchen Must-Haves – Obviously you can do a Whole 30 without these things, they just make my life so much easier!
Printable Resources can be found here.
The results after my first-ever Whole 30 .
15 Things I learned in 15 days (my first Whole 30)
And I always, always, always recommend starting with the Whole 30 book (affiliate). You’ll fly through these pages. I think Food Freedom Forever is equally as amazing and the perfect read during your Whole 30.
Ready? You officially have the next few days to plan and prep! Meet me over on Instagram or on the blog every Sunday in January as we navigate the first round of Whole 30 for the New Year!
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