January Whole30 – Day Zero

Here we go!! Where are my January Whole30 peeps at?! I’ve been looking forward to doing another Whole30 for weeks now. As expected, the holidays got the better of me and I ate at least 20 pounds of fudge. Paleo fudge, but still. I’m ready to slay that sugar dragon once again.

My first experience with the Whole30 completely changed my life. At that time, I had the world’s biggest sweet tooth and was entirely dependent on artificial sweeteners. The bulk of my diet was protein bars, protein powders, and egg whites. I’d even put flavor drops (made of sucralose) into my water. Clearly, I had a problem. I justified it because they were all low-calorie foods and I was trapped in a ‘diet mentality’. I knew I needed to change, but I didn’t know where to begin. Enter Instagram. At the time, I’d spend most evenings looking at pictures of donuts online. Food porn addiction is a real thing people. Luckily, the only thing stronger than my sweet tooth was my inability to get off the couch past 8pm, so I never actually ate these treats. But through my hashtag trolling, I found the Whole30. I was beyond ready for change, so I started the next day. And let me tell ya, best decision I ever made. I cut out the artificial sweeteners for good and discovered I don’t do too well with grains of any sort. I’d say it’s 50/50 with the grains: shit on the floor, or no shits for a week. Until I’m old enough for Depends, neither option is ideal.

I’m excited to see what my second round of Whole30 will reveal. Like many others, I indulged in some sweets over the holidays and now that sweet tooth has become a problem. That’s my first goal: kill the sweet tooth. I’m not going to rely on fruit either. Not that I’m against eating fruit. Apples and almost butter are my LIFE. But it’s still a sweet treat and my body would be better served with broccoli or something. Next goal: determine the impact of dairy on my body. I’ve been totally obsessed with goat cheese the last few weeks and at the same time have developed room-clearing farts. Even I clear the room. Coincidence? Probably not. Last goal: focus on eating large meals. I have a tendency to snack way too much when I don’t have large enough meals. I don’t keep snack food in the house, so that always leads to some weird ass conconction like dipping cauliflower in salsa. It’s not good.

The journey starts tomorrow and from what I can tell online, everyone is at Costco stocking up on almond butter or they’re at home cooking all their meals for the next week. Cheers to all of you! I’m at home drinking coffee and thinking about how much kale I’m about to eat. The next month will be filled with (hopefully) delicious new recipes and lots of reflection. Though my pinterest may feature all the recipes I want to EAT, I don’t necessarily want to MAKE all of them. I tend to keep it pretty simple, which is the beauty in eating real food. I’m ready to get back to that.

I’ll be posting updates, grocery hauls, recipes, and my thoughts on the process every day this month! If you’re also doing the January Whole30, comment below! I’d love to follow you as well 🙂

Happy cooking!