For the second January in a row, Thomas and I completed a round of “Whole30,” which is generally defined as a 30-day reset for your body by eliminating certain food groups that might be having a negative impact. For 30 days, we did not consume the following: sugar, dairy, grains, alcohol, legumes, carrageenan, MSG, and sulfites. It’s challenging, but I felt great pretty much all month. (I say in retrospect, those grumpy times of drinking black coffee or skipping a sweet treat in the evening a pleasantly fading memory).
After three rounds of this program, I can safely say that January is my favorite month to do it in. May was terrible–way too full of specially occasions and it made me grumpy to repeatedly turn down fun things. Generally in January, people are cutting back on things after the holidays and it’s a pretty quiet month. We didn’t have to attend tons of parties or social gatherings–where inevitably there will be yummy treats–and since we were on a tight budget b/c of adoption stuff, it was easy not to eat out. It’s almost impossible to eat out when you’re eating this way because soooo many things have added sugar or ingredients on the no-list.
A friend asked me how my diet was going at some point during the month and I resisted that label, but as my wise husband pointed out, a diet simply means you’re eating a certain way to get a particular result…which is totally what we were doing. Perhaps diet just has a negative connotation in my mind? Semantics aside, we’ve found it to be an effective way to think more about what we are putting in our bodies; to enjoy new recipes; and to lose a little of that holiday fluff.
For Christmas, Thomas’ parents generously gifted us a a spiralizer, which was excellent timing for whole30. It’s this one. During the month we spiralized zucchinis, sweet potatoes, butternut squash, apples, and pears, and it was a fun way to expand our repertoire of recipes. The kids loved the spiralized fruit but couldn’t hang with the veggies.
It was a great month, and fun to pull it off together. I am certain I would not be able to do it on my own–accountability is a powerful thing! Equally fun was enjoying a pretty large slab of chocolate cake on the night we finished…everything in moderation, right?
Team Grooms 