It’s January 2020 and we’ve decided to start our new year with doing our second official Whole30. If you don’t know what whole30 is, check out the website HERE. Basically, you can eat meat, seafood, veggies, fruit, but no processed foods, sugar, dairy, grains, or legumes (not even hummus). AND you can’t step on a scale for the whole 30 days. It takes complete dedication, there are no “cheat days” or “cheat meals”, for an entire 30 days.
My favorite line from her website is:
This is not hard. Fighting cancer is hard. Birthing a baby is hard. Losing a parent is hard. Drinking your coffee black. Is. Not. Hard. You have done harder things than this. It’s only thirty days, and it’s for the most important health cause on earth—the only physical body you will ever have in this lifetime. Hear me now: The Whole30 is exactly as hard as you decide it’s going to be, so repeat after me: “This is not hard.”
Whole30 has been known to assist with all sorts of health problems and issues like: high blood pressure • high cholesterol • type 1 diabetes • type 2 diabetes • asthma • allergies • sinus infections • hives • skin conditions • endometriosis • PCOS • infertility • migraines • depression • bipolar disorder • heartburn • GERD • arthritis • joint pain • ADD • thyroid dysfunction • Lyme disease • fibromyalgia • chronic fatigue • lupus • leaky gut syndrome • Crohn’s • IBS • Celiac disease • diverticulitis • ulcerative colitis. If you’ve seen this before, you’ve been reading our fertility blog!
Okay, Let’s get down to business (comment if you started singing Mulan).
Samantha has come up with an entire month of meal plans and shopping lists so that we can eat the right foods on a budget. We’ve also been going to the gym and yoga on a regular basis and the weather is so nice we take a few of our dogs out for long (2 mile) walks once the sun starts to go down.
I think it’d be easier to share our meal plans each week with you guys and then follow it up with our favorites! (We started on January 2nd because we are rebellious). See some shopping hints below!
Thursday, Jan 2
Breakfast: Fruit + Scrambled Eggs (cooked in green chile oil with jalapenos!)
Lunch: Sheet pan chicken sausage (NO sugar), broccoli, and potatoes.
Dinner: Teriyaki (Primal Kitchen) Chicken and zucchini
Friday, Jan 3
Breakfast: Fruit + Scrambled Eggs
Lunch: Leftover Teriyaki chicken and zucchini
Dinner: Hamburgers (no bun) and Air Fryer Crispy Garlic Potatoes
Saturday, Jan 4
Breakfast: Fruit + Scrambled Eggs
Lunch: Leftover Burgers and Potatoes
Dinner: Chili Lime Crispy Chicken Tenders with Avocado Ranch and a honey crisp apple
**We cooked the chicken tenders in the air fryer!
Sunday, Jan 5
Brunch: Hard Boiled Egg + Chomp
Snack: We went on a long bike ride and stopped at Starbucks. We got Peter Rabbit fruit pouches and the Evolution pressed juices (‘super fruit greens’ and ‘defense up’ flavors).
Dinner: Sloppy Jane’s
Monday, Jan 6 (Steph Starts School Today – 730am class)
Breakfast: Egg Salad on Sweet Potato Toast
Lunch: Leftover Sloppy Jane’s
Dinner: Skinny Shredded Buffalo Chicken (good for wraps too!)
Tuesday, Jan 7
Breakfast: Egg Salad on Sweet Potato Toast
Lunch: Leftover Skinny Shredded Buffalo Chicken
Dinner: Philly Not-So-Cheese-Steak Stuffed Peppers
Wednesday, Jan 8
Breakfast: 2 Hard Boiled Eggs
Lunch: Leftover Philly Peppers
Dinner: Chicken Sausage and Green Beans
*** Our favorite was the Sloppy Janes ***
Side note: We went to trader joe’s and found these AMAZING date and coconut bites that have been helping between Steph’s morning classes. There’s a cashew apricot flavor and a blueberry almond flavor and they are Whole30. Click HERE.
Just the TIPS:
We get most of our meats from Costco/Sams in bulk. We got a Food Saver for Christmas so we separate the meats into the portions we need which has been super helpful! For the sauces and seasonings, we spend most of our time at our local Trader Joe’s. We also really like Aldi for fruits and veggies and they sometimes have surprises like fruit pouches that are whole30. They’re really good to curb your sweet tooth – also Apple Sauce with Cinnamon.
We recommend getting a handful of Chomps (the Country Archer beef sticks are also Whole30) to snack on from Trader Joe’s. It’s not encouraged to have snacks on Whole30 since one of the purposes of Whole30 is to eat enough food to sustain you for the next meal and to stop you from reaching for the “snacks”. We also have boiled eggs ready to go in the fridge because sometimes that’s what we have time for and it’s super quick as a snack or a meal. Also, a HUGE help is to have a bunch of shredded chicken ready to go. You can shred a compliant rotisserie chicken or make your own in the crockpot or instant pot.
There’s a ton of Whole30 mayo recipes online and the sauces make everything amazing (Healthy Little Peach is our go-to for the healthiest, yummiest sauces). If you don’t have one yet, GET AN IMMERSION BLENDER. It will make your life SO much easier with sauces and mayo and homemade avocado ranch. Also, an instant pot would make your life easier and makes cook time WAY shorter. Most blogs will have an option for Instant Pot recipes and crockpot versions.
One of the most helpful tips we read before starting Whole30 was to clean and organize your kitchen. That way you have an inventory of what you have in the house plus you have a nice clean kitchen!
Sam writes EVERYTHING in her planner. She has our meal plans in there, the shopping list for the week, when to pull things out of the freezer, AND she has the printed recipes that are numbered for each day. She has a Happy Planner with Weekly Menu Plan inserts in it.
Sam’s favorite people to follow on Instagram (and their blogs) are @littlebitsofrealfood (Little Bits Of), @maryswholelife (Mary’s Whole Life), @thebetteredblondie (The Bettered Blondie), @tasteslovely (Tastes Lovely), @thedefineddish (The Defined Dish), @healthylittlepeach (Healthy Little Peach), @40aprons (40 Aprons), and…
BONUS BLOG: Nom Nom Paleo We know she’s not specifically Whole30 but most of the recipes can be altered and who doesn’t crave Asian food literally all the time (see her Pho recipe).
**Because this is our fourth round of Whole30 AND we are Gluten Free, we already have a lot of the flours and various ingredients that are needed for a lot of Whole30 recipes. Whole30 doesn’t have to be difficult and you don’t have to make a special Pinterest recipe every night. Whole30 is just about making healthier choices and eating enough vegetables to curb your appetite.
THE METTLER ADVENTURES 