After having my little love, who will hereinafter be referred to as Massimo, I struggled–like most–with losing the “baby weight.” I struggled because I like sweets. I like junk food. Pizza. Tacos. Margaritas. Wine. ALL that is bad for me. I greatly enjoy Hostess cupcakes. And no matter how much nursing I did, I (unlike the celebrities whose weight just flies off from this activity) could not manage to lose the leftover poundage. UNTIL I found something called the Whole 30.
During my first Whole 30, I was very strict, and quite successful. I lost 15 pounds that first month. It was so great. . . . I did it again. . . . two months later and lost 10 more pounds. Yes, I was nursing. BUT STILL 25 lbs in 2 months. THAT was amazing. I kept it off too until I began emotionally eating again from a huge disappointment (we all have them right?).
Not only did I lose 25 lbs in 2 months–I had a TON of NSVs (non scale victories) as well. I felt a sense of emotional clarity. I had no acne. No PMS. And a ton of confidence–if I could do 30 days of that –I was pretty sure I could do most anything.
The Whole 30, for those of you who don’t know, is a 30 day diet reset. You cut out added sugar, dairy, grains, and a whole bunch of other stuff that is well documented on The Whole 30 website and in several books written by Dallas and Melissa Hartwig (who are apparently not writing together anymore).
I repeatedly try (lately unsuccessfully) to recreate that magical first Whole 30 so that I can feel the way I did after those first 30 days just one more time. Maybe one day soon I’ll be successful.
In the meantime, since that really hard Whole 30 I did two years ago there are a TON of compliant products readily available on the market now. Two years ago–it felt nearly impossible to find anything compliant. Some things were available at Whole Foods or online at places like Amazon or Thrive Market. But there really wasn’t all that much stuff. Let me just say times, they are a changing. And for the better (at least for Whole 30/Paleo junkies).
So here goes it, I cannot live without the following Whole 30 compliant things:
(1) Nutpods (Pumpkin Spice) because its pumpkin spice season AND let’s face it we ALL want our pumpkin spice latte and we shouldn’t have to give THAT up just because we want to be healthy (available on Amazon or on the Nutpods website);
(2) Unsweetened Betterhalf (Califia Farms) because we NEED coffee and cream and we don’t ALWAYS want pumpkin spice (which happens to be seasonal anyway) (available at Whole Foods and Fresh Market–maybe even coming to a regular grocery store near you);
(3) Tessamae’s Salad Dressings. They aren’t all compliant so be careful. The ones I like are the Balsamic and the Creamy Ranch. These used to be hard to find but now are in almost every supermarket–even Food Lion. I understand they are upgrading their factory and are having some supply issues but I haven’t had trouble finding them;
(4) Coconut Secret Coconut Aminos. These are still a little harder to find. They are available at Whole Foods or in your local health foods store. They work really well for terryaki style dishes.
(5) Epic Bars and Bacon Bits. The bacon bits are wonderful on salads and the bars are good if you have a food emergency. Available at Whole Foods, Fresh Market, and even sometimes in your local supermarket.
(6) Larabars. Also good for food emergencies and available almost everywhere now. Only certain ones are compliant. My favorite compliant bars are Cashew Cookie and Apple Pie.
(7) Riced Cauliflower; Sweet Potato and Zuchini Noodles. These items are now readily available in supermarkets. The Noodles are usually in the fresh foods section and sometimes the cauliflower is too. There is also frozen microwaveable riced cauliflower. These are GENIUS because even thought its easy to prepare these staples this way. . . . who has time?!?
(8) Self control, self forgiveness, and no judgment. There are ton of helpful websites, Social Media sites, etc. Between you and I, orthodox Whole 30ers can be kind of judgmental. They often offer great (orthodox) advice. But, at the end of the day–its your own Whole 30 and your own life. You don’t have to be bound by anyone else’s rules.
With love,
J
A Life Created With Love 