Okay, okay, I know it’s a little late. It’s already Friday & I ended Whole 30 last week & you have no idea my thoughts & opinions!! Well friends, I started a new job this week & my body is getting a little used to normal hours. 9-5, Monday through Friday is just craziness on my body & my sleep pattern. But more about that later, this post is about Whole 30.
Tag Archives: whole 30
Halfway Through Whole 30
Happy Sunday friends! What do I owe you this pleasure of a Sunday posting?? The first 15 days of my Whole 30 stint is just about over. I am halfway there. Last week I told you guys that I was going to start Whole 30. A month full of no carbs, no alcohol, no sugar, no dairy, & no fun. Well now I am going to share my favorite recipes, my cheats, what I miss & what helped me get by.
Besides following Whole 30 I am also using the My Fitness Pal app to track my calories throughout the day. It really holds me accountable and makes sure I don’t go crazy on those spinach salads & grilled chicken.
My Favorites
As most of you know, I love me some pasta, but I also love veggies. So last Thursday I put two & two together & made some amazing meatballs with red sauce to put over spaghetti squash. Super simple & all from the Whole30 book. Well except for my pasta sauce. That’s my mom’s quick sauce recipe. But it is super simple & Chris even liked it. Shocker!!
My Cheats
My schedule gets a little crazy sometimes at work. If I close the store a lot of times I don’t go to work until 1:30pm and take my lunch between 4 & 5. So usually I eat a pretty big brunch, usually eggs, an avocado, & some sort of fruit, & then for dinner I can have left over protein & veggies from the night before. But around 8pm, before I am off for the night, I usually end up getting a little hungry. Even though oats, grains, & wheat are all big no-nos on Whole 30, I bought some Kashi bars to tie me over. But don’t worry friends, I found a solution. After looking into Whole 30 a little better, I saw I am able to eat LaraBars. Next week I won’t be cheating.
Okay & truth is, I did have some wine the other night, & let me tell you, 1 glass got me a little tipsy. Two got me drunk. Apparently now I have the tolerance of a 15 year old sneaking wine at the dinner table. I don’t hate it though.
What I Miss
Wine. I miss wine. Currently I am watching Olivia Pope & Abby drink beautiful red wine out of their massively tall wine glasses, the same glasses that I have sitting over on my dry bar, & I want to jump through the TV to take a sip. Uhg, 15 more days.
What Helped Me Get By
One night I wanted something sweet. And bad. So I got a banana & drizzled some almond butter over it for the perfect amount of sweet without the sugar. I use Trader Joe’s Raw Almond Butter because it has the least amount of sugars of all the almond butters I have found. Anyone else have some Whole 30 fixes to sweet cravings?
Veggie Chili & Whole 30
At the beginning of the year my best friend from home asked me to be in her wedding. I was honored, excited, & then totally horrified. I knew right away I would need to drop a few lbs before throwing on a bridesmaid dress & standing beside her. Is it terrible that all I could think about was her photos!!! Yikes!
So I started looking into a few different diets. I knew that I couldn’t just do a quick fad diet, but instead I need to change my lifestyle. The maid of honor, who is actually my oldest friend, gave me some tips that have helped her. She told me about a diet that she stays true to & has had a ton of success on. While researching the Keto diet I stumbled upon The Whole30
I saw that a lot of people had great long term results by using Whole 30. They started looking at labels more, eating fresher, & craving less sugar. My biggest weakness is carbs. Um hello, I’m Italian. So I love me a dinner full of pasta, red sauce, topped with cheese & amazing bread to dip in my sauce. AKA everything I cannot eat on this diet. So here goes nothing!
Yesterday started my month of no carbs, no alcohol, no sugar, no dairy & no fun. This past week I have been doing Whole 30-light. We had a lot of people over this past weekend, which in turn means we had a ton of food. So once those Mexican rice, & Mac and Cheese leftovers were gone, I stopped eating carbs. I still have a few yogurts in the refrigerator that I am finishing up otherwise, it’s been all protein & veggies for me.
I have been researching a ton of Whole 30 recipes, & trying to find some of my own recipes that I could change up to make Whole 30 approved. Chris has been great. He agreed to do it with me, but I am sure he will be sneaking some of the sugars & carbs at work for lunch.
Here is one recipe that I made a few weeks ago as a clean out the refrigerator recipe, but it turns out if you pull out the beans & lay off the cheese topping, it is a great Whole 30 meal. Instead of using chili powder in this I actually used Flavor God’s Everything Spicy seasoning. It was amazing!!! Much lighter than normal chili powders & perk… they are GMO & MSG free… aka great for Whole 30 or even the Paleo diet.
Try my Veggie Chili out & let me know what you think. Also, who else has done Whole 30? What are your favorite recipes?
4 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 lb carrots, chopped
1 lb celery, chopped
5 garlic cloves, chopped
1 head broccoli
1 pinto beans
1 can red kidney beans
1 can black beans
14.5 oz petite cut tomatoes
2 cups water
½ tsp black pepper
2 Tbsp Flavor God Everything Spicy seasoning or chili powder
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1. In a pot add vegetable oil, carrots and celery and cook on high for about 5 minutes, stirring regularly. Allow vegetables to get tender and add chopped garlic. Allow garlic to brown.
2. Add broccoli, and all three beans to the pot. Cook for 10-15 minutes.
3. Add diced tomatoes, water, and seasonings.
4. Lower heat to medium and cook for 45 minutes covered.
5. Top with cheese if desired.
restlessretreat.com 