I mentioned earlier this week that I was doing Whole30 for the month of January. I’m on day 4 now and feeling pretty good. My good friend Liz is actually the person who inspired me to finally try Whole30 so I’d thought I would have her share some of her thoughts on it, tips and tricks for surviving Whole30 and even her goals for this round. {Psst…at the end there is a link to 30 recipes to get your through Whole30 too}

So…meet Liz

What better time to start 30 days of Whole 30 than after two months of straight binging on the most delicious holiday treats. I must have eaten three pounds of my friend’s sausage balls at her holiday party. More like, “Part-haaaaaaaaay, girl, are those sausage balls? I’ll take 20.” 

This is the second time in my life I have said to myself, “I’ll eat a restricted diet for 30 days and make all my meals from scratch … on purpose.” The first time was last January, and by February I was feeling fantastic. I was eating well. I organized myself. I didn’t feel like I was shootin’ from the hip at dinner time, where most of my bad choices happen. Whole 30 was the kick in the pants I needed, and I have stayed with the basic principles for a year. So WHY do it all over again? Well. November happened. And then so did December. First it was the stuffing, then it was the treats I snuck here and there, and then there was the booze, and then I have no idea what came over me, but I ate an entire 7 layer dip and bag of M&Ms (the GIANT fill your candy dish bag) by myself. I want to hit the reset button and retrain myself to make better choices – because I know I feel great when I do. And who doesn’t want to feel great? 

There’s lots of ways to be successful on Whole 30. It really is a journey that forces you to try new things and get out of your comfort zone, try new foods, try new cooking techniques. To get started, here’s some of the things I can’t live without:  

1. Egg cooker from pampered chef
   I eat eggs every day. Every. Single. Day. And yes, I have had my cholesterol checked. And no, I didn’t see any changes over the course of the year. I don’t eat eggs because that’s the ONLY thing on Whole 30 to eat for breakfast. I do it because I like them, and it’s easy, and it’s my routine. I can’t live without this product. It lives in my desk drawer at work, and I make eggs in the kitchen in the morning. For anyone that has microwaved eggs before at work – it can sometimes be in the same “work sin” category as microwaving fish. But I have found that using this product, there’s no looming “egg” smell in the air. I’ll bring in whatever veggies are on their last legs and toss them into this for an easy frittata creation.

2. Well Fed books
   There are a lot of cook books out there, and websites. My favorite book, the one that I lived and cooked by the most was hands-down Well Fed (original). I do own Well Fed 2, and it’s great as well, but the first is my favorite. Before you buy, you can check out the recipes online at The Clothes Make the Girl. 

3. Spiral Veggie Slicer (<–affiliate link)
   I love this thing. So does my daughter. I’m sure there’s a better model out there that doesn’t get jammed with zucchini, or perhaps I’m just doing it wrong, but I still end up with a pile of zucchini noodles so I keep it around. And it’s $13.00. I can live with that.

4. Online Resources
   Google Whole 30 and the results can be overwhelming. Here’s my top 3 online picks:
   – Whole9 Life – all the information, “can I eat this?” answers, shopping lists, and meal plans that you need.

For recipes, be careful. Just because something is Paleo, doesn’t mean it is Whole 30. The major concept in Whole30 is to go without those treats that you “think” you need – like cookies, muffins, sweets. There are some Paleo recipes for muffins using honey or other “Paleo approved” sweetners, but this would not be Whole 30 compliant. Just because you can make a cake out of bacon and almonds, doesn’t mean you can eat it. Whole 30 doesn’t allow for cake at all; even if it’s made out of bacon. 
If you need food inspiration, try the following sites. Both will often put notes on what may not be Whole 30 compliant:
– PaleOMG
– NomNomPaleo (she has a great app too for iPad)

5. Accomplices
   I hesitated on mentioning this because I don’t want anyone to think you can’t do this on your own. But it sure is more fun if you have someone to bounce ideas off of, and even share food with. For me, during my first Whole 30 my accomplices were in the form of a Facebook closed group. We would post recipes, swap cook books, and share ingredients. You will see, sometimes there’s an interesting item that isn’t easily found (like Coconut Aminos, a Soy Sauce alternative) and if you found it, you’d buy 2, and share 1. Let me also say, that I did not do Whole 30 with my family. My kids still have fruit snacks for lunch, and chocolate milk. For dinners, I would make a main dish (meat-based, hearty), and then I found ways to add a non-Whole 30 side for them. They still ate their rice. And pasta. And surprisingly, I found they needed their special sides less and less by the end of the journey. Yay for zucchini noodles! 

So, what are my goals this time around? Lots of people talk about weight loss, but that’s secondary. That’s a result of the other more important things that are happening. Here’s a few of my top goals for this round:

1. Try some new cooking techniques and ingredients. I never did make cauliflower rice.
2. Get back to basics, like black coffee. Eyeroll.
3. Eat more vegetables. Beyond Kale. There’s more out there for me to try.
4. Get dinner under control. Have a plan. Stick to it.

*****************************************

Thanks Liz! You have definitely been my accomplice so far with loads of great ideas and support.

If you are thinking of doing Whole30 or maybe just want to try some amazingly delicious recipes that are also good for your body, check out