Summertime for me is full of sunshine, hiking in nature, picnics and ice cream. Lots of ice cream. I announced at work that I was going to do the Whole 30 and luckily Brittany jumped on board with me. It is always easier to start on a healthy adventure with a friend. Especially someone you spend 8 hours a day with!
If you haven’t heard of The Whole 30-let me fill you in. It is a 30 day challenge where you eliminate:
Sugar
Dairy
Grains of any kind (this includes corn)
Alcohol
Legumes
There are more “rules” involved and you can find them here.
While most people do naturally lose weight during this challenge-it is really meant to be used as a reset for your body. I literally eat ice cream 1-2 times a week in the summer and found myself “celebrating” with food the last 3 months. This hasn’t been good for my skin, energy levels and sleep quality. I needed to make a change.
I was ecstatic to have Brittany jump on board. Typically I run into a lot of questions and excuses when I ask others to join me on any healthy venture. So I thought I would come up with 10 tips to help you if you are ready to make any kind of healthy change in your life.
There is never a good time.
Brittany and I started the Whole 30 on September 1st, which happened to be a Friday and happened to fall on the weekend before a major holiday-Labor Day. While most of us have a “I will start on Monday” attitude for any big health changes we opted to start right before a weekend and I thought that was genius. It is easy for me personally to eat healthy all week and then go bananas on the weekend. Starting on the weekend eliminated any issues because I was so excited to get things going.
Keep in mind-there will always be social challenges-weddings, holidays, bachelorette parties, etc. You just have to make the commitment and figure out how to deal with it.
Don’t do it alone.
I announced to my co-workers that I was going to do the Whole 30 because I have a horrible habit of getting into the Goldfish crackers around 4:00. I needed someone to hold me accountable. Even better I have Brittany doing it with me. We can share meal ideas, pep each other up and know that we aren’t alone.
Eat a lot of veggies.
Anytime I need a healthy reset I make it a priority to eat veggies at every meal. Even breakfast.
That way I know I am eating until I am full and not having to worry about snacking as much.
Make Pinterest your friend. Check out my Whole 30 page-you will notice I have too much time on my hands. Don’t judge. :/
Meal Prep
In order to be successful with eating clean you have got to prepare. I write out my menu for dinners every Friday and go to the store that afternoon. I be sure to prepare enough for leftovers for breakfast (just ask the staff at IFC-I totally eat chicken and veggies for breakfast!) and lunch and also have something quick that I can take if leftovers are not available.
We do a lot of Wildtree freezer meals at our house to make dinner a breeze. This eliminates any extensive meal prepping on my Sunday afternoons!
Make sure you are eating enough protein. You should have between 4-6 ounces of protein at each meal. Add some veggies to that and you are set to go!
Drink water! Make sure you are drinking enough. My brain gets all crazy when I am detoxing from sugar. My brain tells me I am hungry even if I am not because I feel like I am missing out on mountains of ice cream. Really I just need to drink more water and if you need to do something more exciting….sip on teas.
I try to limit myself to one serving of fruit a day.
Try one of these: sliced banana with a drizzle of almond butter and some shredded coconut; sliced apple tossed in coconut oil sautéed with cinnamon
Keep eating out and socializing with a food to a minimum. Trying to navigate the Whole 30 at a restaurant is tough. If you go to a friends for dinner be sure to either speak up or offer to bring a dish that you know you can eat!
Reward yourself! This is a big deal my friends. Go get yourself a massage during your Whole 30! Afterward go get your nails done or get that new outfit you had your eyes on. Don’t reward yourself with food afterward. You want to maintain how great you feel right?
Stay tuned for Brittany’s blog where she will go over how the Whole 30 experience was for her!
