I’ve always been the kind of person that gets super excited about something and then reads up on it like crazy! As a kid, any time I got a new pet I’d learn everything about them.  To this day, I can still tell you more than you probably care to know about Beta fish and Hermit Crabs lol

So in preparation for this experiment, I read through the Whole30 book and reviewed other various articles on the internet.  I just wanted to make sure I had a good idea of what I’d be eliminating, good alternatives, and any tips and tricks that might be helpful. Plus, I like knowing all the science and reasons behind something like this–that’s what helps me feel motivated and driven.

Quite honestly, I started feeling pretty good about it.  I realized you can still have potatoes, which is a HUGE deal for me haha I think just that alone will help me feel like I’m not starving myself of carbs.  For the most part, I already eat this way for breakfast and lunch during the week.  I don’t really eat any dairy or carbs during the day, so the only real struggle is going to be at night.  A meal doesn’t feel complete for me without 3 parts–meat, carbs, and  veggies.  So finding satisfying replacements for my pasta and rice will be a big deal.  I do really enjoy spaghetti squash so I’m hoping between that, cauliflower rice, and potatoes I’ll be good to go! Plus, you’re allowed to keep eating until you feel full, so it’ll be nice not having to carefully measure my portions.  I can just allow myself to enjoy the food until I feel like I’ve naturally come to the end of my meal.

In preparation for today (my first day!), I went to the grocery store on Sunday and got lots of goodies to get me started:

Spinach, lettuce, tomatoes, red peppers, eggplant, cucumbers, spaghetti squash, zucchini, squash, avocados, apples, strawberries, bananas, oranges, watermelon, coconut milk, coconut aminos, kombucha, chicken, ground turkey, and beef.  My new neighbors already loaded me up with their chicken’s and duck’s eggs, so I’m good to go there.

I knew in order to be successful with this, I needed to do a little bit of meal prep.  I know some people go crazy with it, but I like to do a little at a time.  So yesterday I cooked several potatoes (red and sweet potatoes) in the crockpot along with 3 chicken breasts.  I also hard-boiled some eggs and made 2 chia puddings (just 4 tbs of chia seeds and 1 cup of flax milk, mixed together and put in the fridge).  Later in the week, I’ll be roasting my spaghetti squash but for now I’ll just be making zoodles for dinner with my zucchini.  In the morning, I finish putting together my breakfast and lunch.  Today I diced up some strawberries and chopped up some pecans and threw them on top of the chia pudding I prepped.  For lunch, I made a salad with the lettuce, red pepper, cucumber, and avocado and then threw some of my slow-cooked chicken on top! I also always make my dressing the day of–I just get a small container and pour in about 2 tablespoons of olive oil, a splash of whatever vinegar I’m in the mood for (today I did red wine vinegar), salt, pepper, and some herbs (today it was parsley).

I don’t anticipate the work-day to be much of a struggle because it’s no different other than adding in meat…which I’m pretty excited about.  The real test will be how crazy I feel not having real pasta with dinner tonight…and not snacking all night long on carbs…

Stay tuned!