My next goal on this journey was to increase my energy level. My kids were driving themselves now and didn’t need me home as much. I decided it was time to increase my work hours to full time. The problem with this was I didn’t know if I could sustain a 40 hour work week with my current energy level. In my research, the Whole 30 diet seemed to address energy. The Whole 30 Diet was my next project.
For my first Whole 30, I followed the Whole 30 diet plan that Michelle Tam of Nomnom Paleo created on her website Nomnompaleo.com. We enjoyed her recipes while we followed the Specific Carb Diet. It seemed a good transition for family. The recipes were very flavorful. My family never felt like they were deprived of good food during the 30 days.
Like all of the whole food diets I followed, the Whole 30 Diet would require a lot of work and planning. Especially, since I love to snack. If I am tired, I can easily convince myself to go out or prepare an easy processed frozen or boxed dinner. I had to take all of those options away from myself. This had to be so easy, I didn’t need to think about it, I just came home from work and did it.
At the begining of each week, I printed out the recipes. I prepared a weekly calendar, a shopping/preparation list. The calendar I created for the family was for dinners. I planned to eat leftovers for lunch. For my breakfast each week, I cooked the breakfast recipes and froze them. Then I heated them up during the week.
Sunday, was shopping day. After shopping, my family chopped vegetables and stored them in containers for the refrigerator. We prepared sauces, dressings, and seasonings for the week. We baked the week’s breakfasts and snacks.
The calendar, shopping and preparation lists for the Nomnom Paleo Whole 30 I created are available if you email me.
Some Whole 30 tips and tricks I learned from the Paleo/Whole 30 bloggers I follow which helped me be successful during my Whole 30:
- Choffy brewed chocolate and a tablespoon of Nutpod to replace lattes,
- Tessamae salad dressings,
- Primal Kitchen Mayonaises, Ketchup,
- LaCroix sparkling waters,
- Hint waters,
During my Whole 30 the first and last weeks were the hardest, mentally. In the middle of the 30 days I felt really good. My energy increased and continued to increase during the 30 days. I was able to get out of bed with my alarm every morning. I hadn’t been able to do that in quite a while. It was amazing. I have done 5 Whole 30s since my first one. Each Whole 30 I do, I find a new food I don’t tolerate exposing new layers in my journey to heal myself.