Whole 30: We Did It (and we are still married!)

In case you were wondering, my husband and are still married. I know, I know, I kept you in suspense for almost 2 weeks since my last post, but somehow we made it though this Whole30 experiment with our wedding vows intact. Tomorrow is our last day and we couldn't be happier for so many reasons.

The last time I posted we were coming off a rough patch. About midway through Whole30 many people start to crack for many reasons. Whole food starts to get boring, if you don't plan meals around the clock hunger starts to kick in, and if you are like us, your conversations start to oddly center around food, food and more food instead of say, your children or what you're going to watch on TV later that night.

           Coined as "food porn" by one of my Tweeps.

The key to getting though the midway fatigue was changing the food up a little, as well as our bodies not being as hungry for humongous meals like they were before the diet. Luckily the weather warmed up and my hubby started grilling more (helpfully taking some of the cooking responsibilities from me). I also figured out how to make some new things, like homemade Whole30 compliant mayonnaise (which rocks!), found a few more snacks that were compliant, like more varieties of Larabars, Epic jerky, and vegetables chips. I started shopping at Aldi's for meat, snacks and produce which lowered the grocery bill some (a place I will definitely keep shopping at). 

Oh and the best discovery of all?! I figured out how to make the tastiest smoothie you will ever have in your life. My tip? No ice. Use frozen fruit instead, blend the heck out of it, and it becomes almost like a sherbet. Our favorite mix is a peeled cutie, a splash of lemon juice, half a banana and a handful of both frozen strawberries and frozen blueberries. Also a shout-out to my mother-in-law who gave us a Magic Bullet Blender for Christmas which we use on a near daily basis now. Totally unexpected amazing gift.

To be honest, smoothies may have single handedly saved my marriage. 

Marriage therapy.

Summer salad, now that mayo was discovered!

Homemade Whole30 compliant mayo.

So what next? My husband will not be slowly phasing foods back in, but does plan to take it lighter on the sweets and non-fruit sugars. He actually lost almost 10 pounds these 30 days which he attributes to no beer or sweets (and starvation if he didn't meal plan often enough!). 

Personally, I will slowly be working some foods back in. I need to read more about the plan I will take but I know for sure that I am keeping Gluten and soy out of my diet as much as possible. I also want to keep avoiding over-processed, unhealthily preserved foods as much as I can. I love that my kids (and me!) grab for apples and oranges instead of fruit snacks, crackers and chips when we are hungry. BUT... I am dying for a glass of wine and that will be one of the first things I introduce. I did end up losing about 10 pounds also, but I had gained that over the last 6 months due to my surgery, lack of running, and overall unhealthy eating recently. I feel really trim and great and I don't want to gain it all back now. I did start running regularly again this month too, so some of the loss is likely due to that as well.

I'll post more about this next week when I have been putting foods back into my diet and let you know how it goes. I am so happy I did this. I feel great, I look good. I am healthier. I have less pain and clear skin. This was not easy though. It is the hardest diet I have ever done, like a low-carb diet on steriods, but it ended up opening my eyes to many facts about myself and my nutrition that I am sad to say I wasn't previously aware of.