It's January, so that means it's Whole 30 time! I seriously have been looking forward to this for weeks. There was just too much fun to be had to start earlier, but now I'm ON. Here's my resource and recipe post, updated for 2017. Jump to the bottom if you just want the links.
So what is Whole 30? It's a month of strict clean eating. Fruits, vegetables, meat, eggs, spices, nuts and seeds. And all the delicious things you can make out of those things. You clear all the junk out of your system, learn about what makes you feel good and what makes you feel shitty. You cook a lot. Or you find someone to cook for you. I happen to like cooking.
What's Whole 30? Before you start, read these and make sure you understand the rules and know why you want to do it and what you want to get out of it.
Is it hard? Yes and no. You need to plan. You need to shop. You can't just go out to eat spontaneously. Is it worth it? For me, yes.
I seem to be very sensitive to sugar, gluten and dairy. They all do bad things to me (headaches, general muscle soreness, respiratory issues, skin problems). I also happen to be an all or nothing person, so moderation doesn't work for me. I need to totally eliminate things and tell myself that I'm just not having them. Once I click into that mindset, I'm good for about three weeks. Then I can push through for another few weeks. Then I really want a drink and to eat without thinking for a while. Then I get back on. Usually. Except every year between Thanksgiving and NYE, when I fall way off. And that's where I am now. Feeling like shit. I've had a cough for about 10 weeks. Which is right around when I stopped being careful about what I ate. My whole body hurts. When I eat W30 I feel great. I also slim down pretty quickly. The bloat goes away within about a week. I don't really like scales so I don't know how much weight I drop, but probably about 6-10 pounds in a month. And I'm not that big to start out, so that isn't insignificant.
So, what do you eat? And how do you plan?
I'm not much of a meal planner. I just make sure I have lots of options on hand and decide what I want a day or two in advance. I try to keep a few prepared meals in the freezer, and have some things that Mark and I can just take for lunch packaged up. I did a big shop and cook yesterday.
 |
| not pictured: more fruits and veggies, chicken breasts, chicken thighs and ground beef |
I made:
- Turkey Mushroom Meatloaf Mini Muffins (this is one of my made up recipes - ground turkey, mushrooms and onions blitzed in the food processor, dried mushrooms pulverized in the processor, spices. Scoop into muffin tin, bake for about 25 minutes at 425). Froze them in individual portions for lunches.
- Chicken Carnitas - I followed the recipe, but made them in the InstaPot. I'll make plantain chips to eat with this later in the week. Also great as a salad topping or in a lettuce wrap. Froze some, kept some to eat this week.
- Bo Kho (spicy Vietnamese lemongrass beef stew) - again, just threw it all in the InstaPot - I cooked it on the meat setting adjusted to 25 minutes, then depressurized and added in the carrots, and set it on manual to cook another 7 minutes. Froze some, kept some to eat this week.
- Meatballs and sauce - again made up this recipe - ground beef, onions and garlic blitzed in the processor, some diced up olives and sundried tomatoes (only because I had leftovers), dried basil and oregeno. Made into balls, cooked at 425 for 20 minutes, then put into pyrex containers with sauce (box of crushed tomatoes, more blitzed up onion and garlic), mushrooms, basil and froze to eat later over zoodles.
- Chicken breasts with Tessemae's buffalo sauce. Froze in individual portions to take for lunches.
 |
| my kitchen with nearly every gadget I own in use |
My W30 pantry basics and favorite tips:
- Dried mushrooms - this is huge, and something I invented and haven't seen elsewhere. Pulverize them into powder and use in meatloaf and meatballs instead of flour. Use as breading on pan-fried chicken or chops. I found giant bags of dried mushrooms for a few dollars at the Asian market.
- Nori wraps - you can get them for cheap at Asian markets, or pay a ton for them at Whole Foods. I use them to make "sandwiches". Egg salad, smoked salmon, turkey... just put them on a nori sheet with some onions, lettuce, tomato, paleo mayo... and roll up. Favorite quick lunch.
- Nut butters - almond, cashew or sunbutter - eat on apple slices or celery. Trader Joes has good stuff at decent prices.
- RX Bars. I like these better than my previous love, Larabars. They're less sweet and have more protein so keep me full longer. And they're a Chicago company. Trader Joes carries a few flavors.
- Coconut milk - makes everything creamy and delicious. Mix with Thai chili paste, throw in some veggies and chicken or shrimp and make a quick, tasty curry. Whip the solid part (drain the can) and eat with berries when you need a treat.
- Cauliflower - I love cauliflower. Roast it and it turns into popcorn. Mash it and it turns into potatoes.
- Kale (or chard, or mustard green) chips - sometimes you just need crunchy. Easy to make.
- InstaPot - this is game changing people (or ppl as my friend Jani says) - Pressure Cooking beats crock pot cooking every time. Less dried out. Easier cleanup. I use this all the time. Get one. Anything you'd make in a crock pot you can make in the pressure cooker in under an hour. And you can brown meat and sautee onions in it first, and reduce the cooking liquid after - so much easier to clean than the crock.
- Farm CSA: if you can, try this. We do one with Cedar Valley Sustainable Farm. We get 10lbs of meat per month, and I've learned to cook all different kinds of meat. And learned that goat is tasty and healthy.
- Coconut aminos - soy sauce substitute
- Red Boat fish sauce - most other fish sauce brands have sugar
- Trader Joe's jalepeno hot sauce doesn't have sugar or other crap in it. Neither does their Harissa. So good.
- Tessemae's has W30 mayo and hot sauce.
- Use your freezer. Make large batches of everything and freeze some to eat later when you don't feel like cooking.
- Grilling cheat sheet
- Buy yourself some fancy teas. Have a cup after dinner. Enjoy.
Recommended recipes
First a disclaimer. I do not follow recipes exactly very often. I look at them for ideas, and usually improvise. I do a lot of adjusting and substituting and will try a "normal" recipe and just leave out the sugar or flour. It usually turns out tasty. Also substitute oil (olive oil, coconut oil...) for butter.
* I make this in the InstaPot - regardless of what the recipe calls for. I just sautee whatever you're supposed to sautee in the InstaPot, then throw everything in and use whatever the pre-set is for whatever kind of protein it is. It always turns out good.
+ My favorites - things I made all the time, even when I'm not W30
MEAT
POULTRY
FISH
EGGS + VEGGIES
- Shakshuka - I haven't used this specific recipe - but this is one of those recipes where you just take the basic idea and throw in what you've got on hand.
- Baked Sweet Potato Fries - I used both regular and Japanese sweet potatoes, and seasoned with cayenne pepper and cinnamon. And they actually turned out crispy and tasty.
- Aloo Gobi - had this with the Indian Lamb Spare Ribs for Christmas Eve dinner. We used to go out for Indian food as a Christmas Eve tradition, but now that I won't eat anything at the place we used to go (not my kinda meat), I figured I'd make us a substitute feast.
- Grated Beet Salad (this was good - I left out the sugar and it tasted very sweet to me)
Good luck! I hope you have the kind of results that I get. I know I'm counting the minutes until the magic kicks in. Please share any great recipes that you find.
