We Attempted Whole30: Here’s What Happened

We attempted Whole30 last month. I say attempted because we only made if officially 14 days. But wait, hear me out. I just wanted to write my family’s experience. I recognize that the Whole30 community would say that we didn’t complete the 30 days so it doesn’t count, and I would agree. But just in case this helps someone plan better, want an honest review, or are just reading through to gain some knowledge, I hope this helps them!

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Now, let me back up a second. This year for my last year in my 20s I decided each month I wanted to focus on one area of my life. January was Me Time, February was Filling My Freezer, and March was about Organizing. In April I focused on getting outside with the kids, May was getting my garden all planted, June was about Focusing on my Mornings (course via MoneySavingMom), and July – I took off due to some family things. I picked back up in August and wrote every night about things I was thankful for. Some months I only wrote about my monthly challenge to my email list, so if you aren’t signed up click here and you will also receive my FREE monthly meal plan printable!

September was all about Whole30. If you aren’t familiar with what that is you can read about it on the Official Whole30 website. A quick explanation on Whole30 is removing all forms of grains, sugar, dairy, legumes from your diet for 30 days. It not only resets your body but also as you add those food groups back in, you can determine how your body reacts to them. Our main reason for doing Whole30 program was to get my family back into eating more whole foods and to determine if some of us actually have any negative reactions to those foods we avoided for 30 days.

We started planning in August.

I’ll also say that I planned and started to shop in August in order to have a successful September. I also had a few conversations with the kids to explain the why, how, and help plan our meals to be Whole30 approved. Another hurdle we faced was the fact my husband travels for days at a time, so figuring out food for him was a bit of an extra step.

I started purchasing Whole30 ingredients in August.

I bought extra of things like nuts, almond butter, frozen veggies that I knew we would need to make it through the September. We had meat in our freezer thanks to buying a 1/4 cow and 1/2 pig, so I didn’t stock up on any kind of meat, even though we did buy some Whole30 approved lunch meat and some whole chickens in September.

What went wrong?

If I had to narrow it down there are three things that kept us from having a successful Whole30.

1. We wasted food. I tried way too many new recipes- some no one liked, others the kids didn’t like, and some we ate but wasn’t filling enough. Tip: if you liked it, cook it again and double it! I love and use a mixture of Pyrex containers, wide mouthed canning jars with reusable lids!
2. Thanks to #1 and the fact that we went through so many fresh vegetables I actually spent our whole month budget in two weeks! And remember that didn’t include the things I purchased in August in preparation. (things like ghee, nut pods creamer, BBQ sauce, compliant nuts from Costco, etc).
3. We were hungry all.the.time. The first few days I thought “ah, we’re just adjusting to a new way of eating” but after 7 days we were still feeling that way even though I was following Whole30’s meal template protein, carbs and fat with every meal. Although not encouraged, we did find ourselves making lots of smoothies.

What we thought about Whole30?

Believe it or not it has changed our view on food. Some the recipes we made (find them on my Whole30 Pinterest Board !) we will definitely keep making! For example the Jalapeño Chicken Burgers, Lettuce Wraps, Sloppy Joes over Baked Potatoes, and Homemade Lara Bars! Even though we only officially made it 14 days, we have still been eating mostly Whole30/Paleo since then. And plan on continuing!

Oatmeal was the main thing we added back in right away. We continued to stay away from bread, rice, and pasta (except on my sons birthday- we ate lasagna and loved every bite! ha!). I continued cooking meals like the ones listed above that we did enjoy with a few added non-complaint foods.

Would I Do Another Round of Whole30?

Absolutely. Walking through something and making mistakes is the only way we learn.! So, we “failed” this time…. except we really didn’t.

I would love to hear your experience on Whole30! Leave a comment or email me at findingfaithsfuture@gmail.com.