Whirlwind Weeks

Hi friends!

(Side note: at the beginning of each period, I greet each class by saying, "Hi friends!" I try to avoid gendered language as much as possible, and calling my students "friends" has been pretty effective. On the rare occasion I greet my sixth-period class with something different, one of my little girls emphatically exclaims, "Um, hi FRIEND!" The little things kids notice -- and care about -- crack me up.)

Evidence that I do, in fact, sometimes wear real clothes, not workout attire.

So I obviously haven't written for a while -- 15 days, to be exact. This was totally not my intention. I have had dozens of ideas and updates brewing in my head every single day, but I have been so darn busy. I am done with work at 2:30 but often have meetings until 3:30, and then I go to the gym for an hour-and-a-half to two hours, and then I go home and put everything away (I hate clutter), and then I cook and eat dinner, and by the time I sit down to write, it's after 8:00, and I'm pooped.

I'd like to say that my lack-of-writing-regularly will change, but I cannot make any promises until life is a little less chaotic. Plus, I feel like I post most of what I would say here on Instagram, and I don't want you all to get bored.

Let's cut to the chase:

WHOLE30

I am on Day 22 of my second Whole30. And it's been a struggle.

I loved my first Whole30 -- so much, in fact, that I did it for 58 days straight and only stopped because I went out of town for a bachelorette party.

This time, I am going to make it 27.5 days and then call it good. Whatev.

So let's compare what's different:

Then: I enjoyed cooking up a storm.
Now: I still enjoy cooking, but there are times that I just want to go out to dinner and not have to worry about analyzing the menu ingredient-by-ingredient beforehand.

Then: I truly loved the recipes.
Now: I still love most of the recipes, but I need some variance in my life. I am so sick of sweet potatoes, eggs, and slabs of meat.

Then: I completely overhauled my diet and therefore felt a drastic (and phenomenal) change.
Now: I don't eat like absolute shit on a daily basis, so I haven't felt much different. I can say that I am less bloated than I was, but that's about the only difference.

Then: I was sleeping better than ever.
Now: It still takes me forever to fall asleep, and I still wake up several times a night.

Then: I was eating huge meals.
Now: I know that I am not eating enough. I just haven't been hungry. That also may be why I'm not feeling the "Tiger Blood" or experiencing the amazing sleep that Whole30 promises.

Then: I was not exercising at all.
Now: I am kicking my ass with lifting and running at least 90 minutes a day. This does not leave a lot of time for cooking. In addition, whereas Whole30 was my obsession the first time around, I am now way more obsessed with the gym, and nutrition, while important, is a side factor.

So anyway, I just want to be done.

And I really, really want a glass of wine. And a burrito bowl with rice. And one of my mom's chocolate chip cookies. And cheese in an omelet.


EXERCISE

Friends, I am killing it at the gym.

I am, however, still sucking at gym selfies.

I have been sticking with the schedule that I create every week. Here is this week's schedule:

If you've been keeping track, there are some new exercises this time around. I am switching up most of our accessory lifts so that our muscles don't get too used to doing the same movements. (Do you like how I pretend I know what I'm talking about? I actually have no idea, but it sounds good.)

Even when the "running" row is empty, I am still doing cardio work -- walking at a slow-ish speed on the treadmill in order to get all of my steps in. So far, despite technical difficulties with each of our trackers, my sister, my sister-in-law, and I have all reached 10,000 steps every day of our challenge. And all three of us have said that we are not going to stop after the 30 days is up.

This is what I look like after I run a reallllllllllly fast (for me) mile.

As far as the abs routine goes, Sunni and I finished Alexa Jean Fitness' 30-Day Abs Challenge (Sore to the Core), and we both have seen tremendous results:

The pictures on the left were from January 4th, and the pictures on the right were from yesterday, January 30th.

I am pretty damn proud of myself, and seeing this progress makes me really, really, really excited to continue. Sunni and I are going to do the first round of the program again, and then we are going to purchase the second round.

I used to be self-conscious in this top because it was skin-tight. Today, it was baggy.

I haven't stepped on the scale (Whole30 rules), so I don't know how much (if any) weight I've lost, but I know there have been some major changes taking place.

This top is a size medium -- AND IT FITS.

And although I don't have a photo of me in them (yet), the jeans that I haven't worn since 2012 fit -- with no muffin top!

These are the jeans -- that you can't even see. I just like this picture. :)

Although I am so ready to be done with Whole30, life is obviously going pretty darn well. I think I have turned into a gym rat, and I am totally okay with that. It's clearly making a positive impact -- both physically and emotionally.

Many of you have asked -- either in person or via Facebook, Instagram, or text -- about the Sore to the Core program and other apps I use for workouts. Fear not, friends. I am about to drop some info on you in a pending post. Stay tuned for that to come later this week.

Much love to you all!


Question: should I continue the blog, or would you prefer to keep updated on my not-super-interesting life via Instagram? If you would like me to continue writing, what kind of material would you like to read? Give me a topic, and I can talk for days. :)

So Much To Say, So Much to Say

And now you have Dave Matthews stuck in your head. You can thank me later.

Side note #1: speaking of Dave, Katie and I saw him in Des Moines this past summer. We also saw him in 2009 at a -- very fragrant -- outdoor event.

We looked so much younger -- about six years younger -- in 2009!

While I had a blast both times, I don't think I need to see Dave live again.

Side note #2: Katie and I are going to the Mumford & Songs concert in St. Paul in April. I can't wait. I love live music (and Katie) so much.

Okay, so back to -- or to start, actually -- the actual post: despite all of my best intentions, I have not blogged for nearly two weeks. I have so much to tell you about, and I don't even know where to start. It's been a super-busy few weeks (hence the lack of writing), and everything with which I have been busy is totally applicable to this blog. Let's get started, shall we?

First, I have been to the gym every day since December 29th, the day that I re-emerged as a human (from Stomach Flu 2015) and that I returned to Minneapolis from my Chrismukkah vacation in Omaha.

I cannot even tell you how much I love this place. I wrote a lengthy Instagram post about it, but essentially, this place is my second home, my refuge. Time flies when I'm at the gym: my mind is clear, my body is focused, my sweat is on.

I think it also helps that I am most often there with Sunni:

Sunni, too, is addicted to the gym. This doesn't surprise me at all since we're basically the exact same person.

We have been killing our workouts. It is so helpful to have Sunni with me -- and my beautiful sister-in-law Aly with us from afar -- as we bust our butts with Alexa Jean's Sore to the Core 30-Day Ab Challenge.

Here we are after a particularly tough abs workout. Sexyyyyyyyy.

You guys, this ab routine is working wonders. We are now done with two weeks of ab workouts, and I have noticed some major change. I posted on Instagram yesterday that I had a non-scale victory with my skinny jeans not giving me muffin top (woo hoo!), and this morning I woke up feeling extra lean, so I decided to take some photos.

This is TWO WEEKS into a 30-day program (that will likely become an every-week-until-I-get-sick-of-it program for me):

In addition to doing an ab workout four days a week, Sunni and I are doing a lot of lifting and cardio as well.

Here was this week's workout, for instance:

On the days that I didn't run, I still headed upstairs to the treadmills to get some steps in, as I am doing a 10,000 steps challenge with Aly and my sister, Erin. So far, we are 14 days into the challenge, and all three of us have reached our goal every single day. (Admittedly, though, I still have 4,000 steps to go today. There may or may not be a lot of marching in place happening in my apartment tonight. Or, who knows? Maybe I'll head back to the gym for some more treadmill work. I am, after all, still sitting in my sweaty workout clothes -- because I'm a classy lady, you know.)

As you can see by the workout calendar, I have it pretty well divvied up so that we're only working each muscle group once a week. (I am pretty proud of myself, by the way, for figuring out this plan all by myself.)

I am also doing a fairly good job of listening to my body. I was supposed to run 1.5 miles on Wednesday, for instance, but as soon as I got up to the treadmill, I was not feeling it. I did my "long" run on Sunday followed by a really-fast-for-me mile (9:10) on Monday and a heavy leg day on Tuesday. I started off my run on Wednesday at a 6.0 pace and then dropped down to 5.5 and then finally to a walk; I tried to up it again to run, but my body was like, "Heck no," and I ended up walking the rest. I have been killing it with my runs lately, and apparently I just needed a break. So I walked on Wednesday and ran on Thursday. And that was just fine.

Please notice my "extra" workout last Sunday. Yes, friends, I did a pole dancing class. Laurie, one of my besties from work, asked me to go with her. This is the same friend with whom I attended an aerial fitness class a couple of months ago.

The website said that we should wear shorts and heels. I don't ever wear shorts, y'all -- never to work out and very, very rarely in the summer. I don't even know why I had these itty-bitty spandex shorts in my closet, but I did. I put them on with my four-inch heels and my are-you-kidding-me face and immediately snapped a picture to send to Laurie.

Thankfully, my heels stayed in my gym bag for the entire hour-long class. But you guys, that workout was incredible. We went to Dollhouse Pole Dance studio in Northeast and had the toughest -- and most empowering -- workout of our lives. Both Laurie and I were sore for days after the class, and despite our aching muscles and bruised bodies, both of us were raring to go back immediately.

Lucky for us (i.e. my bank account), there's a Groupon available for the studio now.

If you haven't tried pole fitness, I highly recommend it and promise that you won't be disappointed.

In addition to working out like a madwoman, I am on Day Six of my second Whole30. This one is going a bit differently than Round One a couple of years ago.

First, I am not having difficulty at all with the eating plan. I am not craving non-compliant food, and I'm not sick of eggs, meat, etc. I really don't feel like I've had to change much about my nutrition, so that's good. I haven't experienced the carb flu, major fatigue (other than the pure exhaustion from my crazy-busy week), or bloating like many do in the early stages of the challenge.

Second, I have not done a great job of meal planning this go-around. I need to be much better about that this week and will likely spend a chunk of tomorrow figuring that out. I epically screwed up Thursday: I didn't eat breakfast until about 9:00, and then because the day was so busy, I didn't eat "lunch" until around 6:00. As a result, I didn't eat "dinner" and woke up hungry in the middle of the night and slammed a Larabar. That shouldn't happen again, obviously.

I have had some delicious meals:

Uova in Purgatorio -- Nom Nom Paleo

Thai Chicken Curry -- Home in Disarray

Both were very easy and will certainly make appearances again during this challenge. Uova in Purgatorio, in fact, might be a weekly occurrence because it's just as good for breakfast as it is for lunch and dinner.

I do foresee a few challenges with this Whole30, and those mainly revolve around events that are coming up. (I did not schedule this well.) I have a friend in town this weekend, a friend in town the following weekend, and I have a trip to Des Moines scheduled the weekend after that. That whole "no booze" thing is really going to suck. But, I can do it.

Whew! If you've made it this far in the post, congratulations! And thanks for hanging in there with me! I hope to start blogging more regularly.

What content would you like to see on this ol' blog?

How are your New Year's resolutions coming along? Any wonderful meal/workout plans you'd like to share?

Stay warm, friends!

Round Two

I thrive on routines.

I am sad that summer is over. I mean, I love sleeping in, bumming around the house, reading a book a day, traveling extensively, etc.

However, I'm not sure what it is about oodles and oodles of free time, but there is just something about it that does not lend itself to productivity for me. For instance, other than a few races, countless bike rides, and a week of boogie-boarding, I had a hard time exercising. And while I did not eat greasy fast food every day, I did not necessarily eat (or, let's be real, drink) super healthfully either.

As a result, I have gained back a lot of what I lost during my Whole30 days, and I am feeling not so wonderful.

So, now that school is starting again (and hence a routine is back in place), I have decided to give myself an extra little healthy-lifestyle boost and start another Whole30.

Tomorrow, friends, Whole30 Round Two starts.

Source

There will be a few differences between this Whole30 and the Whole30 (or Whole57 or whatever it ended up being) that I completed a few months ago. First, as many of you know, I discovered that I am allergic to many of the frequent-flyer foods. The one that I am most worried about with this go-around is sweet potatoes, as that was an easy carb to add to dinner. I am going to attempt to simply omit those from my diet, but if I find that I need a little extra something with my evening meal, I am going to substitute rice, even though that is technically forbidden on a true Whole30.

In addition, I am not going to be as strict with some of the meat. For instance, I bought chicken sausage at Trader Joe's today, even though it has minute amounts of brown sugar. It was only $3.99 as opposed to the $7.99 I would pay at Whole Foods for completely compliant sausage. I will be doing the same for bacon: I will try to find the least non-compliant type, but if it has a trace amount of sugar, I'm not going to say no.

I obviously wouldn't recommend making these substitutions during your first Whole30, but since I've already done a couple months of eating wholly compliantly, I am going to do a variation of the program that will work for me.

So, who wants to play along with me? A good support system is paramount to Whole30 success.

How were your healthy-living habits this summer? Any amazing recipes you think I should try for Round Two?

Allergic to Whole30

Hello friends!

As I have mentioned the past few posts, I am sorry for the absence as of late: life has been busy! Get ready for my list of excuses:

• School is winding down for the semester, and as a result, I have been insanely busy trying to plan lessons, write final assessments, contact parents of failing students, grade papers, etc. It's been crazy.
• Tennis has been keeping me busy until fairly late into the evenings, rendering me too tired to do much of anything once I get home.
• Other activities -- judging a talent show, going on a couple of dates, heading to doctors' appointments, and running races -- have taken up a lot of my time.

Essentially, I'm trying to tell you that in three more weeks -- as soon as school is over and summer hits -- my blogging will become much, much more regular.

But, enough with my excuses: let's get to the meat of this post.

Allergies.

I have mentioned several times that over the course of the last two months, I have had some really horrible allergic reactions. I cannot remember, however, if I actually showed you photos. So, let's take a trip back in time:

This is the rash that has cropped up pretty much all over my arms, torso, abdomen, butt,
and back over the last couple of months. It's really, really pleasant. Also, I'm not sure what's
going on with my tummy in this picture; it's lumpy, for sure, but I swear it's not this lumpy.

This is the reaction I had at school one morning -- the one that finally prompted me to
call a doctor. This was also the reaction with which the doctor gave me an EpiPen -- and
the one where I was certain I looked like Sloth.

This is where I got collagen injections in my lips my mouth swelled up and became
super painful after eating Chipotle.

Interestingly, these reactions occurred when I finally started taking care of my body, especially nutrition-wise. I had cut out all preservatives/processed foods, all added sugars, all gluten, all alcohol, all dairy, all legumes, all white potatoes, etc. I was eating nothing but good, clean, whole foods.

And my body rejected this lifestyle.

Starting about halfway through my Whole30, I had major allergic reactions. When my Whole30 (or Whole56-ish) ended and I started adding in "non-compliant" foods, I stopped having reactions: my body was back to normal.

And, I had five doctors' -- dermatologist, family practice, and allergist -- appointments during that time as well. Finally, on Friday, I received some answers after the allergist tested me for food allergies (which included lying on my tummy for 15 minutes while the nurse poked me with 72 different potential allergens).

Here are the results, friends:

Let's review in more detail:

Cantaloupe: Interestingly, I hated cantaloupe as a kid. I have two theories on this: either my body knew I was allergic to this fruit so automatically disliked it, or I became allergic to it because I was not exposed to it. Either way, I'm not too disappointed. I mean, I like cantaloupe now, but oh well.

Grapes: I bought a bag full of grapes on Thursday, the day before my test. Awesome. I'm not too bummed by this one -- aside from the fact that the doctor also reminded me that this meant no wine! Say what?!

Milk: And yes, this also means no cheese, no sour cream, no ice cream, no yogurt, no cottage cheese, etc. I don't eat much dairy at all, but I do enjoy the occasional ice cream or fro-yo (and who doesn't like cheese?!), so this is kind of a major bummer. Interestingly, my tummy doesn't react super well to a glass of milk or a slab of cheese, so it could be somehow related? 

Lamb: I like gyros, but other than that, who cares?

Pork: No bacon?! Ugh. This is yet another interesting one to me: I have disliked pork (with the exception of bacon) almost my entire life. Hmm...

Onion: I'm allergic to onion?! I didn't even know this was a possibility!

Potatoes: Unfortunately, this includes both white potatoes and sweet potatoes. This is the worst for me: I eat at least one sweet potato per day. And now I can't have any?!

Raspberry: Yep, I am allergic to my favorite fruit. Wow.

So, it's no wonder that I was so allergic during my Whole30: I mean, all I was eating was food that I was allergic to! Seriously, I ate more pork, onions, and especially sweet potatoes than I have in my entire life. When I introduced non-compliant foods into my diet, my body had more to work with and wasn't just being inundated by allergens.

On Friday, I thought this was absolutely hysterical: I was cracking up at the fact that I was allergic to all of this stuff. I posted on Facebook that the whole "no wine" thing was going to kill me, I called my mom and my sister-in-law to joke about what a freak I am, etc. It was hilarious.

Now, however, I'm thinking it's a heck of a lot less funny. And, I'm thinking that meal-planning has gotten a heck of a lot tougher.

But, I am trying to keep it in perspective, too: these aren't allergens that cause me to go into anaphylactic shock, I don't suffer from celiac disease (which would limit a heck of a lot more foods), I don't have an auto-immune disorder (which is what I was fearing after the first round of tests), etc. I just have a few foods that cause rashes and swelling. I can deal with that.

It's going to be difficult, though.

I mean, Katie and Emmy Jean and I headed to Eatery A yesterday for happy hour, and we were trying to order a couple of pizzas to share. Because the white sauce obviously included dairy and the red sauce contained onions, I basically ordered a sauce-less pizza with fig jam and greens. Yum, yum. (And obviously this would not be a Whole30 meal, but that's besides the point...)

Game Plan:

The doctor told me that I needed to completely cut out all eight of those foods for one week. He then told me that I needed to reintroduce each of the foods individually into my diet for a couple of days to see how I react.

So, that is what I'll do: I'm going to start another Whole30 (with a couple of exceptions), and add the above eight items into the "non-compliant" category. I'll add those back in after the fact and see how it goes, I suppose.

Prior to this whole diagnosis, I was reading labels like crazy: that's kind of the point of Whole30, after all. Now, though, I need to read labels even more closely.

While the doctor said that they all reacted with the same intensity, I'm just guessing that sweet potatoes and onions are the biggest culprits.

Ugh.

Do you have food allergies? Any great advice for me to meal plan (especially sans sweet potatoes and onions)?

Whole30, Take 2 (Kind Of)

Hello friends!

I apologize (again) for the irregularity of posting lately. Ever since I got back from Atlanta, it has been so hard to get into a routine -- for blogging and, more importantly, for working out and eating healthfully.

First, I have been traveling quite a bit (to Nebraska for a weekend, to Ottumwa and back one night for tennis, to Jefferson and back for a race the following weekend), so it's been tough planning meal plans and grocery lists. Second, I have been busy with tennis meets every single day after school, so cooking has been the last thing that I've wanted to do.

In actuality, those reasons are both excuses.

Source

I could have been eating much better than I have been: I could have planned my weekly meals, I could have gone to the store, I could have cooked easy and fast things. But, I didn't.

And now I feel like crap.

So, it's time to get back to a mostly Whole30/Paleo diet.

I say mostly, though, because I know there are going to be times in the near future (as I alluded to in my last Five on Friday post) where I am going to choose to eat non-compliantly. For instance, Eric and Alicia's wedding is coming up in two weeks. Also, summer is coming, and I am going to want to have some cocktails while lounging by the pool. And, a boy is cooking me dinner on Thursday night, and I don't want to be picky.

Um, say what?!

Yes, a boy is cooking me dinner on Thursday. This is the first time in years that a boy will have cooked for me. I am stoked.

And, I'm really, really, really excited about this guy. He is so smart, he cracks me up, he is extremely thoughtful and sweet, he is pretty darn smoking hot, he is motivated and driven and successful, he is active and has varied interests, he and I share a ridiculous amount of similarities, and I could go on and on and on. I am fairly confident in saying that this was the best first date ever.

Suffice it to say that I am very hopeful, and I would appreciate it if you could all cross your fingers for me. K thanks. :)

Source

But, let's get back to the topic at hand: Whole30.

I pretty much restarted my healthy living at dinner tonight. I had no food in my fridge this morning: literally, there were a few condiments and some cans of La Croix, but that was it. So, I went to Bruegger's and got a bagel with cream cheese for breakfast and the smoked salmon salad for lunch. So, I ate a lot of carbs and gluten today.

(And then I ate the leftover gummy bears from yesterday's race. Oops.)

But then, I went to the grocery store and spent $100 on delicious, super-healthy eats. And tonight, I cooked dinner in the first time in far too long:

I took this recipe and made a Balsamic Mustard sauce, and I took this recipe to pan-sear a ribeye. It turned out amazingly well; I'm seriously super pleased with how delicious it was.

I also sauteed some green beans in olive oil and rosemary sea salt and sided the whole meal with some fresh grapes that were oh-so tasty. And, I had a La Croix (of course).

But on that note, friends, I have to head to bed. I am still so, so tired from Market to Market on Saturday. (And speaking of M2M, expect a recap tomorrow morning!)

I hope y'all have been well!


What's the best recipe you've made recently? I'm totally looking for some inspiration.

Back to Reality

What a wonderful weekend!

I'm not going to go into crazy details right now, but stay tuned for tomorrow morning: I'll have a play-by-play recap up for y'all. :)

I did an okay job of sticking to a somewhat Whole30 diet on Friday, although I did have some booze as well as a few bites of cheese and crackers at dinner.

Saturday, on the other hand, was a different story. Not only did I have even more booze (and quite a bit of it), I also enjoyed a candy bar, some hotel snacks, pizza, and other deliciousness that you'll read all about tomorrow.

When I fall off the wagon, I clearly fall off hard.

Honestly, I'm glad I didn't spend more of the weekend in the bathroom.

While my tummy was relatively okay, I was definitely feeling yesterday's choices today.

First, I had a twinge of a headache. Obviously some of that is likely due to alcohol consumption, I believe most of that has to do with two other factors: my hormones (darn lack of birth control pill) and my diet.

Second, I felt bloated. I didn't necessarily feel "can't suck your tummy in bloated," but I certainly felt "chubbier" than I have in weeks. I felt super gross, and I felt like I looked super gross (although I'm pretty sure that was all in my brain, not in actuality).

Third, my ankles and toes were really, really swollen. I noticed while we were driving home that my feet just felt funny. Like, I couldn't bend my toes all the way, and my ankles -- while usually sore anyway -- just felt weird. I looked down and realized that I had some ridiculous puffiness happening. I'm assuming that has to do with the fact that I was really dehydrated, despite being sure to drink some water yesterday. I bet it also connects to eating more processed foods than normal, thereby likely significantly upping my sodium intake.

I tell you: it's crazy how much diet and nutrition affects absolutely everything else.

So, while I had a really, really amazingly fun weekend and sincerely enjoyed all of the "bad" food that I consumed, I am looking forward to getting back in habit with my Whole30/Paleo lifestyle. I only have another nine days until I leave for Atlanta, another nine days before I need to figure out a better healthy-eating-while-traveling strategy.

(I am still planning on enjoying myself in Atlanta, which will definitely include some alcohol and some non-compliant foods, but I am hoping to stick to a Whole30/Paleo lifestyle as much as possible, especially since it's a longer trip.)

I will tell you about today's breakfast and "lunch" (I use that term loosely) tomorrow during my weekend recap, so for today, I just have one meal to share:

Dinner:

Tonight I made a super fast, easy dinner: steak with sweet potato and asparagus.

This was the best steak I have ever made. I went to my favorite butcher at Dahl's and requested something that would be fast and easy to cook at home. He offered me the triangle steak, which I'd never heard of. Google gave me suggestions how to cook it, and I simply seasoned it with salt and pepper and stuck it under the broiler until it was done. It was so juicy and tender and delicious.

For the sweet potato, I seasoned the slices with rosemary sea salt that my mom gave me quite a while ago and sauteed them in coconut oil on the stove.

I seasoned the asparagus with crushed red pepper and cooked it the exact same way that I did the sweet potato.

Everything was done in approximately 15 minutes, and it was really, really, really good.


I hope you all had a lovely weekend, and I will "see" you bright and early with a ladies' weekend recap!

Peace out.

A Whole30 How-To

Many of my friends -- in real life, on Facebook, on Instagram, and through this very blog -- have expressed interest in adopting a Whole30 or Paleo lifestyle, which is super exciting to me, as I know how amazing I feel right now, and I want absolutely everyone to feel this good.

With this surge of interest, I have gotten a lot of questions as to how to even start such a transformation. So, I thought that putting all of that information in one place would be beneficial.

I'm interested in how many of you are already following a Paleo or Whole30 nutritional plan -- and how many of you plan to start. Please leave a comment if you are already or if you are contemplating joining me on this adventure.

But before we jump to the comments, let's first talk about some tips for going Paleo or starting the Whole30 Challenge. :)

1. Read/research as much as possible: there is no such thing as too much information when it comes to making a huge lifestyle change.

Because I personally jumped straight into Whole30, I did a ton of research on that website in particular. If you don't look at anything else on the site, I strongly recommend you check out the Eight Steps for Beginners, the Program Rules, and the Meal Planning Template. There are also a ton of other downloadable documents that will assist you in getting started.

In addition, I found it helpful to read about the why along with the lists of what I couldn't eat (As in all aspects of my life, I need my nutrition to make sense, and I need the rationale behind excluding/including various items in order to really get behind it myself.) So, I read some books. First, It Starts With Food was written by Melissa and Dallas Hartwig, the founders of Whole30, and includes the science (and oftentimes psychology) behind every single component of the program, but all of the jargon and explanations are put into layman's terms. It also includes several personal testimonials, as anecdotal evidence (and individual research) is a key component of the program. I also read parts of Wheat Belly (prior to starting Whole30 and when I was contemplating going gluten-free).

Source

Finally, there are excellent resources splattered across the Internet. My favorite sources for recipes are Nom Nom Paleo, Stupid Easy Paleo, The Clothes Make the Girl, and Plaid & Paleo. I also pinned a bunch of Whole30 recipes to my Whole30 (Half-Crazy) Pinterest board so that I had easy access to a bunch of different options -- all just a click away.

2. Clean out your cupboards: if non-compliant options are not readily available, you will not be tempted to eat them.

This is not an optional step. Seriously, go through your cabinets and your refrigerator item by item and read the labels. If you have things that are compliant, keep them. If you have things that are not compliant, either throw them away or donate them to a food pantry or a friend: get rid of them. I don't care how healthy they seem (quinoa, Greek yogurt, string cheese, peanut butter, Lean Cuisines, etc.), if they are non-compliant, they do not get to stay in your possession.

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At this point, your cabinets will likely be very, very empty. When I started my Whole30, I literally carted five paper bags worth of food -- everything from bacon to salad dressing to cereal to pasta -- to one of my former student's houses. I needed room for my new, compliant food, but mostly I just needed to get rid of temptation.

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For those of you who live with other human beings who may not be participating in this wondrous lifestyle change, create a space for non-compliant food, preferably a space where you will not keep compliant food, places where your eyes will not gravitate when looking for food. Maybe you have a separate cupboard for the non-Paleo people (and honestly, you will not need much pantry space for your compliant food -- I maybe need one shelf). Maybe the bottom shelf in the fridge and the top shelf in the freezer are their spaces.

Do your best in clearing your kitchen of "bad" food.

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3. Prepare for your first week: it is important to plan each and every meal for the entire week (not one day at a time), make your grocery list (to restock your likely empty cupboards and fridge), and prepare meals as much as possible.

I have talked at length about how to plan for meals and create grocery lists based on those meal plans, so I am not going to go into too much detail here. Please just know that this is not an option, and it is definitely not advisable to try and plan meals day-by-day; obviously plans can change, forcing you to revise your original meal plan, but counting on that only sets you up for failure.

What I haven't talked about much on the blog is spending a day (or a couple of hours) prepping meals. The reason I haven't mentioned this strategy is because I do not personally partake in it (I actually find chopping veggies and cooking meals meditative, so I opt to do that each day); however, it is very advantageous for some people, so discussing it here is relevant.

If you have a hectic schedule or dislike spending a heck of a lot of time cooking, spending an hour or so each Sunday preparing for the week can be very beneficial. For instance, you could dice all of your veggies at once and store them in separate resealable containers for easy access throughout the week. You could grill or pan-fry all of the meats you are planning to use so that you just have to reheat everything when you want to use it. You could make full crock-pot meals, store them in freezer bags, and pull them out when you need them.

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Robb Wolf, a Paleo guru, has an article jam-packed full of excellent meal prep ideas.

One thing I must say in regard to meal planning and grocery shopping is to read labels. Sugar, for example, can be disguised as a thousand and one different things. Preservatives are generally hard-to-pronounce scientific mumbo-jumbo. Things as "basic" as packaged taco seasoning, containers of minced garlic, and store-bought bacon can contain ridiculous amounts of sugar, preservatives, and other non-compliant ingredients.

4. Tell your friends and family about your healthy-living adventure: the more people who know, the better off you will be.

First, if your friends and family know you are embarking on a new challenge and understand that you will not be eating sugar, hopefully they will not gift you with cookies, cupcakes, or ice-cream dates within the next 30 days.

Second, if your friends and family know what you are doing (and, more importantly, why you are doing it), they are likely to offer you ample support throughout the program. And, there will be days that you want nothing more than to face-plant into a truck full of cookies, but this support system will hopefully talk you off the ledge.

Kumbaya, my friends, kumbaya!
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5. Figure out why you are doing this: as Jillian Michaels said, "If you have a why to live for, you can tolerate any how."

It is so, so, so important that you have a purpose for doing what you do in life, especially when what you do is such a significant life change. I discuss my personal why in the blog entry entitled Just Me: essentially, I wanted to, needed to complete this challenge to show myself that I was worth it.

Maybe your why is similar. Or, maybe your why includes improving or eradicating various ailments. Or, maybe your why pertains to strengthening your athletic abilities.

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It doesn't matter what your why is: rather, it matters that you have a why. Once you have a why that you wholeheartedly believe in, nothing will make you stray from your plan.


These are tips and tricks that have worked for me in overhauling my unhealthy lifestyle and making my way to a happy, healthy life.

What advice do you have in regard to making such a big lifestyle change? And, how many of you are with me on this Whole30-Paleo-Healthy Living adventure?