Last week quickly in review: IF went nearly perfect this week! I indulged daily with a couple glasses of wine with dinner, had a pretty low key weekend, and enjoyed my last day of normal eating by having birthday cake in the afternoon and a donut for dessert, which was delicious!

Monthly stats check-in:

	1/6/2019	2/3/2019	3/1/2019	4/1/2019
weight	146lb	145lb	143lb	142lb
Chest	33.5″	33″	32.5″	32.5″
Waist	26″	26″	25.5″	25.5″
Hips	37″	37″	36.5”	36″

Trending down… scared and excited to see what Whole 30’s gonna do to me 😛

WHOLE 30: 
After three months of mostly successful intermittent fasting, it’s time to move on to the next diet. Whole 30 is a craze that has swept the nation for the last few years. Meant to be an elimination diet with a two-week “reintroduction” period for the foods which were not allowed during the 30 days, many people turn to this diet as a reset / cleansing regimen or even for weight loss. Many people also dive right back in to eating “normally”, and don’t do the reintroduction period. 

Weight loss should be easily seen in those who have weight to lose. This diet is so restrictive I’m already worried I won’t be able to meet my carbohydrate or protein needs. It’s almost like an intro to Keto. 

Here is a brief overview of Whole 30:

For 30 days, you may eat no:

• Grains
• Dairy
• Beans / Lentils / Legumes
• Sugar, real or fake (honey, agave, xylitol, stevia, etc…)
• Alcohol
• Artificial ingredients
• Not suppose to use flours and trickery to create versions of things you miss eating
• Not suppose to eat things that come from packages… with the exception of Lara Bars and some RX Bars (I smell $$)

For 30 days, you can fill up on:

• Meat / Chicken / Seafood
• Eggs
• Vegetables
• Fruit (limit fruit juice, dried fruit)
• Nuts
• Oils – coconut oil, olive oil, avocado oil, sesame oil, ghee (clarified butter)
• LaCroix (??) 

They suggest that everything is organic, farm raised, all-natural, etc unless you can’t afford to buy those things. Which I can’t, at least not right now. LaCroix and a few other fizzy waters make the cut but, come on people. It’s just 30 days.

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You’re suppose to eat three meals per day, limit snacks, and not step on the scale for the whole 30 days… Although I will probably be able to limit snacks, I step on the scale every morning while I brush my teeth, more out of curiosity and research than actually caring what it says. Thus, I will try to limit my scale stepping to Mondays and Fridays. I will try not to incorporate bars and packaged foods, almond flour and whatnot, as the point of the diet is to eat whole foods for 30 days. I’m not sure why flavored seltzer is allowed since no one really knows what “natural flavors” means. The fact that “Whole 30” now has an approved product logo (which can really only go on packaged foods, not fresh produce and meats) just goes to show you that they’re in it for the $$$. 

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Shopping – With an arsenal of Whole 30 recipes I’m actually excited to try (thanks, Pinterest!), I went through my pantry and looked at the oils, vinegars and sauces available. I had to buy new fish sauce, rice vinegar, “sriracha”, because the ones I already had have sugar in them. I also purchased ghee, coconut aminos to use in lieu of soy sauce, and tapioca starch to thicken things when necessary. 

My first shopping trip was to Whole Foods, where I stocked up on sugar-free bacon (3x 8-oz packs), bought chicken thighs and ground pork. This was a lot more meat than I’m used to buying. I also stocked up on lemons, oranges, and herbs to use for seasoning things. With the meat and the Whole 30 oils/sauces needed my grand total was $110. This is a lot higher than my typical grocery trip, but a quarter of the items will last through the month. Citrus fruits are probably cheaper at Trader Joe’s (79C per lemon and $1 per orange ain’t cheap). 

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Hungry Harvest only delivers fresh produce and eggs, so I have plenty of complaint eggs, lettuce, tomatoes, summer squash, potatoes, mangoes and pears to use this week. 

Meal plan:
* Breakfast – eggs w bacon, asparagus, onion, spinach; potatoes
* Lunch – “Eggroll in a Bowl” and smoothie w beets, spinach, fruit, coconut milk, H2O
* Dinner – Lemon Garlic Chicken w asparagus and summer squash (add salad if needed)

Because I ate so much yesterday (Sunday) and enjoyed lots of carbs, sugar and alcohol, I went ahead and skipped breakfast today. This week I have a date on Tuesday, he’s cooking dinner and knows I’m doing Whole 30 so I’m excited to see what he comes up with (but nervous at the same time, lol). I plan to have lunch at Sweetgreen on Saturday because I get out of pilates at 2pm and there’s a location next door. Plus I have a gift card. Obviously the weekend will be the hardest, and I don’t have it planned out completely at this point. Luckily, many of my friends have done Whole 30 and should be supportive of my efforts! 

When reviewing Whole 30 weeks, I will be addressing my calorie intake and macros, which I have been tracking with My Fitness Pal since the beginning of the year. I’ll share the entirety of my personal tracking spreadsheet, so you get a better idea of how OCD I am, haha…