I started my first Whole30 Program on January 28, 2013. Just 30 days later, I was 10 pounds lighter, and 2 sizes smaller. It really helped me shift my focus a bit when it comes to eating, and it certainly didn’t hurt that I’ve had tons of compliments about how great I look since changing the way I eat.

Since completing those 30 days, I’ve stayed on paleo (mostly still Whole30) with a few exceptions during a recent trip to Disney World for a conference. I should mention that I probably could have stayed more or less Whole30-compliant during the trip, because the folks at Disney are super helpful about accommodating everyone, but I found myself drinking a few Diet Cokes (because I was exhausted) and I ate some cheesecake (twice… learned my lesson because both times made me sick!!).

Today I’m starting another round of Whole30, which means for the next 30 days I’m not going to have any sugar, alcohol, grains, legumes, dairy, carrageenan, MSG, sulfites, or white potatoes. I’m also going to skip my daily Larabars, because “Paleo-ified” junk is still junk. The hardest thing for me is going to be not stepping on the scale for the next 30 days. I did it this morning so I could get a starting point, but won’t do it again until day 31.

So what am I going to eat for the next 30 days? Real food! I pre-cooked a few things to make my life a little easier:

• Pot Roast with Balsamic Onion Gravy – I got a little lazy, threw everything into the slow cooker this time, and I didn’t use the immersion blender for the gravy this time. Plus I added some grape tomatoes and carrots, so no need to cook a veggie on the side.
• Chocolate Chili – I also added some bacon from US Wellness Meats this time. YUM!!
• Scotch Eggs
• Paleo Pad Thai – My version had thinly sliced red cabbage and red bell pepper instead of the spaghetti squash and snap peas, and for my Sunshine Sauce, I left out the vinegar and doubled up on the coconut aminos

I’m going to cook up a few more things this week, including:

• Chorizo and Sweet Potato Hash
• Carnitas – Made some last week, but they were so good they didn’t last long enough to end up in the freezer
• Something with chicken and bacon… Not sure what yet 🙂

That just leaves a few veggies that I have to make over the course of the week, to supplement the more protein-and-fat-heavy dishes.

Day 1 Summary

I thought it would be helpful to just keep track of the food I’m eating (not calories, carbs, etc… just the actual food), and the exercise I’m doing during the next 30 days. Here’s day 1:

Food

• Scotch Egg (1) with some dijon mustard
• Chocolate Chili
• Pot Roast with Balsamic Onion Gravy

Exercise

• About 1 hour of yoga – we have lunchtime yoga twice a week at Pongos 🙂
• 1 hour of belly dance