Whole30 Update

 Ok, as I mentioned earlier, I am doing my first ever Whole30 challenge.
The Whole30 challenge is a strict (but not too strict)/Clean/Paleo type diet. Oh, man. I hate the word diet. It makes you sound like you are doing something weird, when really every single person is on a diet. Be it a fast food diet, eat what ever I want diet, Paleo diet, All things in moderation diet, We all have our 'diets'. Anywhoo.. Whole9 are the people behind Whole30, if you do it for 2 months straight its Whole60, if you do it for one year straight its Whole365, etc. You get it, i'm guessing.
Whole30 (as well as eating clean/Paleo) is supposed to clean up a lot of health problems and I have a couple I am excited to say good bye to.
During a Whole30 you do not consume added sugar of any kind, real or artificial. You do not consume alcohol, grains, legumes, dairy, white potatoes, carrageenan, MSG, or sulfites. Also desserts and snacking are not permitted even if they are healthy, and fall under the Whole30 guidelines.

"No Paleo-ifying baked goods, desserts, or junk foods. Trying to shove your old, unhealthy diet into a shiny new Whole30 mold will ruin your program faster than you can say “Paleo Pop-Tarts.” This means no desserts or junk food made with “approved” ingredients—no banana-egg pancakes, almond-flour muffins, flourless brownies, or coconut milk ice cream. Don’t try to replicate junk food during your 30 days! That misses the point of the Whole30 entirely" -Whole9

Keep an eye on your labels! Unapproved ingredients and additives can sneak into things so easily!  

Also you are not supposed to weigh or measure during it all, because it is about getting healthy not skinny and we need to get our dang heads out of the scale! However this is one rule I have kind of broken because I am currently in a summer long diet bet, and I am not about to let $500 get away from me that easy (that is the 1st place pot! Whoop!)

In the first week of my Whole30 I lost 8 pounds. 8 pounds. let that sink in. 8 pounds. I am not weighing everyday, usually I just weigh once a week but weight loss is very motivational to me, so occasionally I will twice. sigh. Before I started my Whole30 I had family visiting for 3 weeks and I ate kind of crappy for at least 2 of those weeks ( and yeah I even gained a pound or two!) so I have no doubt that much of those 8 pounds were pounds of salt and water bulging up inside my body, tricking people into thinking I was fatter than I really was. Nice try water weight. Nice try.
I am super happy with Whole30, you don't count calories you just eat 3 meals a day (I always tried eating 6 to keep my metabolism up (obviously it wasn't working for me;), 3 is so much easier!). Your meals are proteins and veggies, and some healthy fats. Whole30 has been around for years, and so there are some great recipes, and helpful links out there.
I am very excited to start sharing my Whole30 friendly recipes with you all, as well as their origins. I used to look at clean recipes and think "I can't make that, I don't own any of those ingredients much less know where to find them", well that is not the case these days. I have swapped out some unhealthy staples for things like ghee, coconut aminos, La Croix, coconut oil, coconut flour, almond flour, grass fed organic meats, which sounds expensive but I am also queen (ok! not that good!) princess of deals! I got 11 pounds of organic grass fed beef and chicken along with tons of (1.5 week worth) veggies, eggs, and all my other groceries for $40 this week! As we speak read I am currently roasting a whole organic chicken covered in herbs and veggies. It smells divine, and is so family friendly.
I have never used so many herbs, and veggies in my whole life as I have on Whole30, I kind of love it.
Whole30 has already been so rewarding to me, and I am very excited to see where I can run with it!