My Whole 30 Experience (with before and after photos)

I've been procrastinating writing this post! I did #Whole30 for the first time in September of 2018 and then now again in January 2019. I am finally sitting down writing my fav/non fav parts.

Doing Whole 30 for the month of September at first I was hesitant since it's still nice out and rooftop season is kind of still in session. I wanted to try it out of the blue because I just felt I needed to get back on a healthier track. Since I'm also getting married this June I wanted to get more fit for that too.

If you don't know what it is, it's a 30 day eating plan that removes things like sugar, grains, and beans and you eat more meat, vegetables, and fish. The foods you give up also help with inflammation and sensitivities so it helps you figure out what foods upset your stomach. I think it's awesome with people for stomach issues or digestive systems so you can see what food it is that upsets your stomach and it also de-bloats you incredibly!

I read a ton of blog posts about it (about what you can and can't eat) and pinned SO many recipes but I ended up eating about 5 of the same things all the time. Here's all the recipes I pinned. What I ate the most were chicken thighs with potatoes, sweet potato fries, eggs, ground beef with avocado and salsa, and chicken fajitas on lettuce wraps.

I definitely did some research a week or two before I started because I wanted to have all the right ingredients so I didn't fail.

I also kept raisins, apples, and peanuts at work so that I could snack on those if I was too hungry. (but they do say not to really snack)

My thing I was worried about was that I love condiments so much that I knew I would miss ketchup and ranch. The reason you can't have that kind of stuff is because sugar is basically in EVERYTHING. I found an amazing substitute for ketchup from Primal Kitchen (has no sugar) and I went without ranch and was totally fine. I bought my ketchup at Whole Foods. I only really loved ranch with pizza so since I couldn't have pizza I was ok without the ranch. I started out with Tessamae's ketchup which I lived with at first because I didn't know about Primal Kitchen but the consistency of Primal's is WAY more authentic to real ketchup. Tessamae's was a bit thicker and kind of like mashed up tomatoes.

This experience made my relationship with food so much better.

I was eating to live not living to eat. I would think if I was hungry or not and wouldn't eat just to eat. I realized food still tastes amazing even if it's not all carbs and fats and bad ingredients. Before, I was just eating out a ton and not realizing what I put in my body, good or bad.

The first 5 days I think I lost like 4 pounds (basically water weight) but I felt great. I never got a headache like some people who do this diet, and maybe that's because I never really eat that much sugar anyway. I also don't drink coffee, but you can have black coffee on Whole 30. I felt so much less bloated too.

These photos are from about 25 days into it in January 2019. BUT I have cheated a couple bites and meals.. I did January more of as a lifestyle of healthy eating and not too religious on the Whole30 regimen. It just shows that removed the majority of grains, sugar, and alcohol really makes a difference.

What shocked me was that you can eat white potatoes and sweet potatoes.

That saved me when I was feeling so hungry, that filled me up.

During September’s #whole30 I lost 7 pounds and during January’s I lost 6 more.

I’m down 13 pounds so far and love the results from just eating well. I actually have not worked out in months either other than a jump pilates class after those photos were taken. This is all the results from eating better.

Now there were times that I did have bacon (on accident, I totally thought I read the ingredients say no sugar) but they do have sugar free bacon around, it's just hard to find. I had a lot of raisins which is compliant but I think I ate too many haha. Funny thing is I had my glucose tested that month and it was fine so, ALL GOOD.

On my 30th day (in September) I chowed down more chicken and potatoes because I totally wasn't ready yet to put my body through processed food. JK I wish that was the case. I WAS doing well that day until my dad brought home Mcdonalds and "accidentally" brought home a 2nd big mac and fries... I had a bit of it, not ALL and I regretted every minute of it. Showed me how much I was so happy during whole 30 because I NEVER felt bad for eating anything. The day after, I made turkey burgers and Colin made me a toasted bun but I truly did not want any of the bun, I felt it was too much bread and it tasted weird. It's so weird what 30 days could do to you! haha- I used to LOVE bread.

I definitely wanted to do it again in January as a kick start to the new year and after all the eating of the holidays it was perfect.

I think I’m honestly going to keep on this same path until June (wedding month) but obviously not be ask strict to myself. As long as I don’t eat out a ton or have big portions, I should still be on a good path.

Hope this helps if you're debating to try it! I loved it. A few of my favorite meals I made are below and if you are interested in seeing more, I have a highlight on my instagram for my whole 30 experience.

Make sure you're subscribed to my Youtube Channel to see all my current and future videos. :)

Speaking of...don’t forget to watch my insta stories for the behind the scenes of my everyday and I also buy a lot of pieces off Amazon for cheaper- here's my favorites from there.

xoox ela