whole 30 one week of recipes and meal plan

Taking the Leap - The Whole 30 Challenge

2/3/2016

I have not been happy with my body since having my son, Arthur, almost two years ago. With my daughter, I went to the gym 6 days a week and was in the best shape of my life only 6 months after her birth. However, I've not found it as easy this time. I find it hard enough to give them both the attention I feel they need without exercise. When I toss that into the mix it seems impossible. I've been dedicated to working on it since Christmas and have managed to squeeze in a workout about 5 times a week. But, I've not been going to a gym like I did with my daughter and have not seen the results that I want.
My husband has always been a fan of restricting his diet, sometimes a little too drastically, to achieve his body goals and he has seen great success. I've always been of the kind of person who will kill themselves at the gym and then go eat a cheeseburger (Not every time of course but, if I want a burger, I eat a burger.) I do use moderation when eating and am not actually a big fan of sweets but, maybe it is going to take a little more this time around to achieve the body goals that I have in mind. I did turn 30 this year and everything I hear says that when it all starts going downhill.

"Established by Dallas Hartwig and Melissa Hartwig (of Whole9) in April 2009, the Whole30® is our original nutritional program designed to change your life in 30 days. Think of it as a short-term nutritional reset, designed to help you put an end to unhealthy cravings and habits, restore a healthy metabolism, heal your digestive tract, and balance your immune system."

So, I've decided to try the Whole 30 Challenge. If you're not familiar with the challenge, it is a way of resetting your body and giving it the chance to detox from food that isn't all that great for you by following their food guidelines for 30 days. It also gives you the ability to see how certain foods effect you in way of your body and your mood. It is similar to paleo in that you don't eat carbohydrates or refined sugars but it is even more severe because you also omit dairy and anything artificial including sweeteners. Basically, you eat protein, vegetables and fruits and nuts in that order. I plan on not only doing the challenge but also keeping up my exercise regimen of at least 4 tabata/interval style workouts each week at home using the Nike Training App and the Tabata Trainer app.

After reading about the program I realized that the key to succeeding is to plan. Just like any diet, if you fail to plan you are planning to fail. So, I began to scour the internet for recipes that I felt would help me not only succeed but actually look forward to the food I would be eating. I will say that they suggest not creating whole 30 friendly food bread knock-offs like pancakes and muffins but, I am using them. The ingredients do follow the whole 30 guidelines. I know myself and if I'm not allowed to have something every once in a while that resembles bread I might not make it. My plan also includes doing A LOT of prep before we start our week including pre-cooking and preparing breakfasts, prepping veggies and organizing ingredients in ready to go "kits". I'm thinking about making a homemade version of HelloFresh boxes by pre-portioning everything in a box giving us very little prep work on our weeknights. But, that might be too ambitious so I guess I'll find out Sunday what is achievable.

My plan includes recipes like knock-off Chik-fil-A nuggets & Mustardy Kale Salad with Bacon and Sweet Potatoes, Paleo Pad Thai and Paleo Alfredo with Zucchini Noodles. I even get my chocolate fix with Chocolate Banana Coconut Chia Pudding. I'm pretty excited to try them all!

I have included my meal plan, shopping list, Sunday night prep plan AND recipes for each of the meals I will be making for week one so that you can also give the whole 30 challenge a try if you like. I'll let you know how it goes and post week two as soon as I'm finished. I plan on starting on Monday (today is Wednesday). Wish me luck! I've also included a blank menu planner if you want to do your own thing.

*My shopping list does not include a few key ingredients for seasoning and cooking because I already had them. Make sure you double check for things like coconut amino acids and coconut oil. :)