It's Day 10 and I am now one-third of the way through my Whole 30 reset!

According to my Whole 30 Day By Day journal, Day 10 or 11 is generally the day that people break Whole 30 and fall of the wagon. But Day 9 was actually my worst day and the day I was tempted to say to hell with this. I woke with a pounding headache and it NEVER let up, all day. I went to bed with a headache. And the sugar cravings and constant feeling of being hungry have been intense.

But this morning I woke up with Tiger Blood!

Tiger Blood is the term Whole 30 uses for feeling great, and today I finally do. I turned the corner. I feel really, really good. I have loads of energy, no more headaches, my complexion is...

Continue Reading

Whole 30 is inconvenient. Especially when, like me, no one else in your family or social circle is on the program.

Without planning you may quickly grow frustrated and/or be tempted to eat something not allowed. Forget about any sort of drive-thru fast food joints, there is nothing on any of those menus you can eat. Qdoba or Chipotle is the closest thing I have found to eating out. But remember: no rice, no beans, and careful with the sauces and condiments as they often contain added sugar and gluten.

The best way I have found to combat the inconvenience is to have your own version of "fast food" on hand. Premaking compliant meals is the ticket for me and actually kind of fun. I spent a couple hours yesterday making meals that I can grab and reheat. Johnny will be returning to college soon,...

Continue Reading

The goal and focus of Whole 30 is not suppose to be about losing weight, it's about learning to listen to your body's likes and dislikes, eating whole healthy food, and feeling great. But, for me, weight loss is one of the main reasons I'm doing this round. With the lost two rounds, I lost between 8-11 lbs in 30 days. I want to lose 10 lbs. for health reasons, but the non-scal victories will be most welcome. I am looking forward to feeling my very best again and getting off of gluten and refined sugar is the ticket.

Non-Scale Victories (NSV) is the term Whole 30 uses to put a name to things that are the result of being on Whole 30. Things that are more important than weight loss. Here's their list of NSV. Take a peek, and...

Continue Reading

Snacking is basically not allowed on Whole 30, it's not encouraged anyhow. We are suppose to be retraining our bodies to eat three meals a day and feel satisfied and our minds need to learn to ignore snacking cues that arise from habit or boredom. In my case that's watching TV at night. The minute I sit down my brain thinks chips, nuts, ice cream.

The following recipe is not awesome, but there's not much that is compliant to snack on. I don't consider raw veggies, olives or salami much of a snack, but that's about all you can have on Whole 30. Nuts are allowed and will help satisfy the snack urge. They're also good to have in your purse or car, along with a meat stick and a piece of fruit, in case you find yourself stuck someplace...

Continue Reading

A soak in the tub with epsom salts and eucalyptus essential oil last night got me through it, but it was a rough one. I went to bed hungry and pissed off at the world that I've gained 10 lbs. over the Holidays because I lack willpower.

Here's something that I know to be essential to staying compliant on Whole 30 - quick and easy meals, meals I can make for just myself, in a hurry because I worked late or I need to get to the soap shop and I'm starving. So I will share two of those meals with you today, in case you're thinking Whole 30 is too restrictive. Truth is Whole 30 IS restrictive, but with some planning and a list in hand before hitting the grocery store you can do it. If I can, you can,...

Continue Reading

Carb withdrawal is real, friends. The Sugar Dragon doesn't give up easy.

I woke up with an even worse headache than I knew I was going to have because I've done Whole 30 twice before. In fact, it was actually the headache the woke me at 7:00am.  I have zero energy and an entire days worth of work in front of me. My Whole 30 Day To Day journal (which I strongly suggest you get)  "Welcome To Day 2" chapter says 94.3% of us will have a headache, feel foggy, lightheaded and lethargic today because "the amount of suck you are feeling today will be in direct proportion to the amount of junk you were eating before you started Whole 30". I have a doozy because well, Carba-Palooza.

I don't have much energy right now to type, so I will...

Continue Reading

I don't make New Years resolutions, they tend to be grandiose ideas with unattainble goals that just set me up for failure. Instead I set realistic goals for myself throughout the year and try to stay on track. Living my best healthy-self life is one of those goals and clean eating is an absolute essential piece of that goal. However, since September my food choices and eating habits have been terrible, I am officially off track. When Johnny moved to college, my whole life and household routine was turned upside down. Eating well was the first thing out the door.

So I made up my mind in late December to start Whole 30 - this will be my third round. I'm thinking of this as a Control/Alt/Delete on my body, a cleanse and an opportunity to start over from scratch. I...

Continue Reading