Whole 30 Review

Yesterday Justin and I finished our first Whole 30! I can't tell you how nice it feels to be done. It is this unexplainable freedom that I feel now. I know that is weird because no one was making us do it but that's how I feel. I first wrote about us doing it here. We started July 27th and ended August 25th. I think the biggest miracle for me was that I did not consume any tortilla chips, ice cream or beer for 30 days (along with a ton of other things). We learned a lot more about what is in foods. Some of my non-scale victories include: clothes fitting better, new recipes, better habits, flatter stomach, leaner appearance, more defined muscle tone, more confident in my appearance, healthier relationship with food, fewer cravings and learning to not blow all my hard work on the weekends. I must be clear though: my cravings for sugar did not go away. I don't know if they ever will. Maybe I needed to do a Whole 45, 60, or 90? While I do still crave sugar, I have definitely learned that I have the will power to abstain from it. I previously never thought I would be able to give up dairy and sugar for that long. When I nursed Everly I almost had to give up dairy for a bit and I couldn't comprehend that. Even when I gave up ice cream previously for lent, I still had it occasionally on Sundays. So it is definitely a nice boost in my ego to know that I am capable of finishing something that a lot of people find difficult. As I said before, I don't have any sensitivities to food and because of that I am not strictly following the recommended reintroduction program. I am not going all out today or tomorrow or anything but I chose to end the program this way. This morning I had a whey protein shake after my workout and I feel fine. It is so convenient to be able to do that again!

Now to the good stuff! Justin lost about 17 lbs and I lost almost 11. For both of us, that is a lot of weight. I can see the most progress in Justin's profile and in how much more my waist and hips are
defined from the back. I would definitely recommend this program to anyone wanting to make some changes to their food habits, especially if you have sensitivities to food.

obviously, he wasn't a big guy before which makes 17 pounds even more amazing

glad to be done! 

Here are my biggest tips if you are wanting to do the program:

 

1. There will never be a perfect time to start, but do yourself a favor and try not to schedule it during really, really important food/drink related events/holidays. 

 

2. Find what you like and stick with that. While it is nice to try new things, don't plan a week of 5 completely new recipes. Keep some safe items in there that you know you will be happy with. For us that was shredded buffalo chicken, anything with bacon, lemon rosemary chicken, and hot dogs.

 

3. Go to Costco. We loved Costco for mini guacamole packs, butter lettuce, chicken, ground turkey, fruit (sometimes), almond and nutzo butter eggs, and oils.  

 

4. Plan to make extra dinner to have for lunch leftovers. So much easier this way!

 

5. Follow Whole 30 instagram and pinterest accounts for inspiration and ideas.

Here are some things we ate:

 

Eggs every day, even in the car. This turkey from the deli at Target is compliant and great for quick lunches.

 

I love almond butter but also really like this nut and seed butter from Costco and those guac packs made boring chicken more interesting.

 

Whole 30 salad bar (on sale day) is awesome. Bring your own avocado and the lemon herb dressing is compliant and delicious. Leftover buffalo chicken turned into a salad with homemade paleo ranch on the go. I inhaled that lunch.

hot sauce is my bestie

We also appreciate better coffee when we have to drink it black!

Weekend in Review

Last weekend was technically our last weekend of Summer as Everly started school on Monday although summer is far from over here in AZ. It was almost too hot for the pool at nighttime so that should clarify how it was. Friday I had a soccer game and then Saturday we took Everly to get her first real haircut. She actually had a tiny trim before my sister's wedding at about 18 months but this was a couple of inches off. The boys get their haircut all the time so we tagged along and even Mae joined...and we got a picture of all the kids! We ran some errands on Saturday and Justin worked on making our new farmhouse table and then my sister came over that night to swim in the bathwater pool. On Sunday I got up early to run with my sisters. They ran farther but I did get in a 10k so I am not mad at all. We ate at my sisters house Sunday night and although we had some good Whole 30 meals last weekend, I really wanted a tortilla chip! We have a busy weekend coming up tomorrow and it is our last weekend of the Whole 30 program so we are really in the home stretch!

First Haircut!

                       

Before and After

                         

All the cousins!

our new favorite Whole 30 meal: buffalo chicken!

it's too hot...even starting at 4:45 AM

                 

Shopping with my girls and Justin's table progress! 

Weekend in Review

So, I realized I was really bad and didn't take a ton of pictures of my kids or anything this weekend! I did take several food pictures, though! Sad, but true. I have started playing soccer again on Friday nights to get ready for the outdoor season so I had a game Friday night. It was fun hearing Ev and Teddy cheering from the bleachers. Saturday morning I slept in (!!) and Justin went for a run. We hung out Saturday morning and then headed out to Ikea. We didn't get anything big but a few fun little things. Since my life currently revolves around food (Whole30) I had already planned to get an In n' Out burger after Ikea. It was my first double and it was delicious. Can't wait to have fries again, though. After Ikea we were pretty exhausted. Saturday night my sister brought the boys over to swim. I got no pictures but I took a lot of go pro video that I need to go through. The kids had fun jumping in with the go pro in their hands. On Sunday morning I attempted a run. Once again, my body is still learning how to adjust to the changes I am making. I am going to cut the running back a little while I learn to adjust. We went grocery shopping and got some yummy Chipotle for lunch. After naps Sunday we met my sisters at Target to do a little back to school shopping. Everly picked out a new backpack and it is pretty adorable on her. She is starting preschool in 2 weeks! I normally feel pretty good about the weekend, but this one felt a little short! Ready for the weekend to come back again!
  

We found Whole 30 compliant bacon!

A photo posted by Justin Larkins (@justinlarkins) on Aug 1, 2015 at 12:01pm PDT

A video posted by Justin Larkins (@justinlarkins) on Aug 1, 2015 at 1:05pm PDT

Our new laundry cart

stop growing up!

Our first Whole 30

This Monday Justin and I started our first Whole 30 challenge. If you don't know what it is, the program rules and anything you need to do it are all online HERE. You can also get the books It Starts With Food and The Whole 30 basically anywhere. I checked them out from my library because I am cheap. To extremely simplify it, it is a 30 day program that focuses on eating whole, nutritious foods and cutting out foods that could be having a negative impact on your life. Later, you reintroduce foods to see how your body is impacted and figure out what works for you. It is close to Paleo, but a bit more strict. I had been wanting to do it for a while but did not want to have supply issues with breastfeeding and there was just always something going on that it didn't seem like a good time to start (birthdays, holidays, etc). I am nearing the end of primarily breastfeeding Aspen and I saw a good opportunity with no big events coming up so we finally started it. The reasons that I am doing it are to lose the last bit of baby weight but also to gain a healthier relationship with food (i.e. not having ice cream every night, being able to say no to donuts/cookies, eating better on the weekends). Justin and I already ate pretty healthy. We already ate at home during the week but we definitely had a lot of things to clean up. Today is Day 5 and while it is not easy, it is definitely not impossible. So far, I have learned that I need to just stick with what I like sometimes and not over complicate things. For example, I tried to eat hardboiled eggs and I definitely gagged. I will stick with my scrambled eggs because I like that and it is just as good for me. I am also still learning how to fuel correctly for runs. I went out for a 5-miler on Wednesday and it was one of the worst runs I have had in a long time. Definitely need to eat carbs appropriately leading up to a run. I have definitely not felt hungry but I do miss my treats. My supply has decreased but it had already been decreasing as Aspen has been eating more solid foods. I still want to continue nursing but I have a good backup in the freezer so I am not too worried. I have no energy issues (except for that run) but I do workout 5-6 days a week still so I am sure that helps. As far as what we have been eating, it includes a lot of eggs. We already went through like 30 eggs this week so I have to get more for the weekend. We have been eating lots of meat and veggies with some fruit and potatoes. My favorite things so far are bananas and almond butter, all nuts (no peanuts allowed), scrambled eggs, sweet potatoes, avocados, and green beans. We have been making extra dinner so we have leftovers for lunch and that makes things a lot easier, but we used to do that before this challenge. We weighed ourselves before and also my gym owner let me use the Body Fat Calculator so I will compare that to my results at the end. We also took before pictures to compare with after pictures. I have a feeling I will be gaining muscle just due to the increase in protein I have been eating so the Body Fat Calculator will help with that. I will try to do an update halfway through and then again at the end. It won't be easy, but I am fairly competitive and I started it, so I will finish it. Here are a couple things from this week:

Breakfast: Fruit with almond butter (Costco), veggie/egg scramble, sweet potatoes and a slice of prosciutto (Trader Joes).

leftovers for lunch: grilled chicken, guacamole cup (Costco), green beans and sweet potatoes

Prosciutto egg cups (with spinach, tomato, and onion)