A "Whole" New Journey
Hey Friends! I have about 10 blog posts mulling around in my head but this one I’ve told too many people that I would write, so it's getting pushed to the beginning of the list. I recently received the news that I was progressing into a possible PCOS state. PCOS stands for polycystic ovarian syndrome, and it's no fun! It's more or less a complex metabolic condition, and I deal with it a lot at work helping women and it's not something I want to have. However, my doctor felt that perhaps having a prolonged high carb diet and maybe I have a propensity for it anyways, might have put me there. In addition, in the last two years, my LDL ("bad") cholesterol has gone up 39 points! YIKES! Guys, this was a wake-up call for me. I have looked at these really healthy diet plans before but I never felt like I had the motivation to overcome the unknown. Because let's be real, I have no idea how to cook healthy. I mean in nursing school I was required to take a nutrition class, but I thought it was lame so I didn't pay any attention. I might be smart in other areas, but when it comes to nutrients (macros/micros), I’m clueless. This has hindered me for years, but mainly just as an excuse. A couple of months ago my mom did the Whole30 diet, which is an extreme elimination diet. I have been intrigued by doing an elimination diet for some time. I've heard that many people have intolerance to different foods but just don't know it. However, when they eliminated them from their diet they feel so much better. Honestly, because it was such an extreme elimination diet it actually seemed a little more doable to me. Because really there was not much to focus on as far as how many grams of carbs and fat and protein you are getting, more just a giant list of things to avoid. And then you could basically just have whatever you want so long as you avoid those things. Thankfully, since my mom had just done it, she had done all the research on where to get all the Whole30 compliant foods, and with the help of my faithful friend Pinterest, we were ready to go!
Now, another thing with the Whole30 is that you can’t cheat once - or you have to restart your 30 days. From some research I've done, I think the reason for this is because your body develops antibodies for foods it doesn’t agree with. These antibodies can create unpleasant side effects (eczema, headaches, stomach pain...etc). I takes about 30 days, once you stop eating the offending food for the antibodies to be eliminated from the body, which is why you can’t cheat - even a little. So in that sense - we did not do the Whole30. We cheated like 5 times, but we still saw huge benefits. After we got over the initial first few days of withdrawal symptoms (mainly from cold turkey quitting soda drinking) we noticed that we had: more energy, fewer headaches, fewer stomach aches, decreased hunger (like we weren’t starving a few hours after eating), and weight loss. All in all, after 30 days we each lost about 12 pounds. I’ve felt so good and basically every time I cheated I regretted it and didn’t feel great afterward.
Downsides: lots of cooking and lots of dishes.
I wanted to share my favorite recipes with everyone so you can more easily start your journey to healthy living and eating.
To learn about the Whole30 diet visit https://whole30.com/
Breakfasts
Costco low-sodium bacon (is Whole30 Compliant) + eggs were our go-to breakfast.
Bryce said any diet where he’s allowed to eat bacon every day means he WILL eat bacon every day.
Notes: The directions make 2 omelets, but I bought 1lb chorizo which would, in the end, make 8. So if I did it again I would buy more green peppers and mince up all my onions and peppers together at the beginning so I could have a quick/easy breakfast each morning. If that makes sense…
Bonus: I made a Whole30 salsa I topped with it too! Check out the “Sauces and Sides” part of the blog for that recipe.
Whole30 Breakfast Casserole with Sausage, Eggs, Spinach, and Mushrooms
Notes: I liked this but Bryce just wanted bacon and eggs.
Notes: bacon and eggs still trumped this breakfast.
Paleo pancakes by Birch Benders topped with fruit and almond butter
Notes: technically, while ingredient-wise this is Whole30 compliant, it is not compliant because you aren’t supposed to have anything sweetish/snackish/pastryish...but we didn’t care that much about that rule.
Salads
Notes: Ok, so I didn’t realize I had to buy already smoked salmon so we just cooked ours on the stovetop and it still worked great! Also, the recipe says to just eat the zoodles uncooked, but I prefer mine cooked.
Dinners
Notes: This was good but confirmed the fact: I HATE BRUSSEL SPROUTS. And add more bacon!
Notes: YUM, YUM, YUM! I made this one twice. My only recommendation is to add chicken. I used the Pampered Chef “Crushed Peppercorn and Garlic” seasoning on my chicken and it was so good.
Make sure to buy high-quality beef or your meatballs will not be very tasty. ALSO, if you have an instant pot, save yourself 40 minutes and throw the spaghetti squash in the instant pot. Check out the following website for those instructions: https://detoxinista.com/spaghetti-squash-in-the-instant-pot/
Notes: Costco has a giant bag of cauliflower rice in the frozen section that is great! For leftovers, I made paleo naan bread (find the recipe in the “Sauces and Sides” section.)
Notes: I did this in the instant pot by sauteing my veggies then adding everything else as directed on high pressure for 6 minutes and it worked great.
Notes: My husband’s favorite dish! And, if you have an instant pot, save yourself 40 minutes and throw the spaghetti squash in the instant pot. Check out the following website for those instructions: https://detoxinista.com/spaghetti-squash-in-the-instant-pot/
Notes: So good! I made up some zoodles to serve with it to add a little more substance.
Notes: This felt 100% like cheating because it was so good! The breading is so on point.
Tacos
Taco Seasoning: https://therealfoodrds.com/homemade-taco-seasoning-whole30/
Notes: We made them with Cassava Flour Tortillas that Walmart sells in the frozen section. Again, technically, tortillas are not Whole30 compliant. Topped with sauteed veggies, homemade guacamole, and salsa (see “Sauces and Sides” for recipes).
Chicken Fajitas
Fajita Seasoning: https://www.thepinningmama.com/fajita-seasoning-mix-paleo-whole30-compliant/
Notes: I just whipped this up to use with our leftover taco shells and fixings.
Notes: This recipe is NOT whole30, but I substituted the heavy whipping cream with cashew milk and it was great!
Notes: This is “Thanksgiving Dinner” good guys, I’m telling you, make this! The only adjustment needed is to substitute tapioca flour for the corn starch thickener in the gravy. To. Die. For.
Sauces and Sides
Notes: Guys, I thought I hated cauliflower, but I couldn’t get enough of these!!
Notes: This is my all time, MOST favorite guac EVER. And eat them with these delicious cassava flour tortilla chips (I got them at my local health food store).
Notes: Pairs well with buffalo chicken tenders...and just about anything else.
Notes: Naan is my thing so I added parsley and a bunch of fresh garlic to the dough. You could also add fresh garlic to the pan with the ghee if you so desired.
I literally made about 5 different ranch dressings, but this came out the winner!
“Desserts”
Again, desserts are technically not Whole30 compliant, but if you want to “cheat” or add these to a Paleo diet then you should definitely try them.
Notes: Make sure to pre-peel and cut your bananas and pre-slice your strawberries before freezing...I didn’t do that the first time which was less that ideal.
I wish I had taken lots of pretty pictures of everything I cooked, but “ain’t nobody got time for that.” There are so many good Whole30 recipes out there. Have you tried any that you absolutely love? Please share them with me! Also, I’d love to hear how your journey goes if you decide to embark on it. It’s so worth it!
