One more week of whole30ness.

I actually ended up taking a week off from Whole 30 to enjoy visiting with my family from Idaho. I knew they were coming ahead of time and I recognized that it would be unrealistic to expect myself to avoid some treats and wine during their visit. We love to enjoy good food and drink together and we only get to visit maybe twice a year.

Since I already enjoy a pretty “clean eating” lifestyle, I didn’t feel as though a week off from the rules would derail the purpose of the intervention (for me). If you are new to a whole30 and you know that you have a trip, vacation, holiday, or other events that will make it difficult to commit to the whole 30 days uninterrupted, evaluate if you should wait for a more mellow 30 days in order to gain the most insight from the program.

Things I’ve learned so far.

• I’m incredibly dependant on the lara bar/rx bar allowance and they don’t even fill me up that much.
• Preparation is KEY to avoiding that first pitfall. I feel so much better when I pre-roast veggies, make tuna salad, dressings, and hardboiled eggs ahead of time for those crisis-hungry moments. Bars only do so much.
• My digestion has really been compromised since giving birth. It’s like my whole body is trying to adjust to this new season. I’m not oblivious to how stress and sleep deprivation may be contributing as well.
• Placing parameters around my eating (for a time) encourages me to be more creative and branch out from the comfort zone of my typical meals. I find myself trying more new things in the kitchen lately.

Target carries some great products for clean eaters! I just started noticing 100% GrassFed Beef and I love getting pasture raised eggs for a good price.

Here’s a fun grocery find to get out of your “comfort zone”. Preserved Lemons. They add a wonderful brightness to salads, dressings, and roasted veggies. During the fall and winter seasons, we end up turning to a lot of warm and grounding foods and spices. Preserved lemons counteract all that heaviness with a burst of fresh flavor. A little goes a long way…

I’ve been blending lots of superfoods into my smoothies. This was a blended coffee for an afternoon energy boost. Go check out my Instagram for the recipe!

Here’s an example of a bulk roasting session.

And another example of how that preparation makes my meals SUPER easy to make, especially with a baby in the house!