“Eat when you are hungryEat sitting down in a calm environmentEat without distractionsEat only what your body wants (needs)Eat until you are satisfiedEat with the intention of being in view of othersEat with enjoyment, gusto and pleasure.”
-Geneen Roth
Eat. Real. Food.
The mantra of Whole 30, The mantra of the Paleo lifestyle. But what is real food? If I can hold it, it's real, right?
Welcome to perhaps the toughest part of my journey, the education I had to give myself on what exactly real food is. When I mentioned in my weight-loss post that it wasn't all rainbows and unicorns, and that it was in fact very hard at times, I wasn't kidding.
When I first set out on my first Whole 30 I had no idea that I was supposed to be looking at the ingredients of a product. I had always been taught to look at the calories, the calories from fat and the serving sizes.
Probably the biggest thing that Whole 30 taught me was to
READ. THE. INGREDIENTS. The less ingredients a product has, the better. The easier the ingredients are to pronounce, the better. Finally, the more REAL the ingredients are = Best.
For example, here is a picture of the ingredients in my favorite hot sauce, Sriracha;
Boom! Sugar is the second ingredient. And raise your hand if you know what Potassium Sorbate is, or Sodium Bisulfite and Xanthan Gum? *Scans Room* No hands, I didn't think so. Those are not REAL ingredients, you can't go outside and pick a fresh batch of xanthan gum. I can't grow sodium bisulfite in my garden. Those types of ingredients are red flags!
Also, can I tell you that SUGAR. IS. IN. EVERYTHING. Sugar is added into just about everything you can think of, even our taco seasoning had sugar in it, why!? And even worse, companies disguise sugar under many different names such as; dextrose, cane juice, evaporated cane juice, carob syrup, corn syrup, crystaline fructose, dextran, fructose, etc. Be careful, if you don't know what an ingredient is, goole it, but I'm guessing it's not Whole 30 approved. Remember, with whole 30 you cannot consume anything that has any added sugar (in any form).
Continuing with the theme of eating real food, many processed lunch meats contain an ingredient called, Carrageenan. What is that you say?
"Carrageenan are a family of linear sulphated polysaccharides that are extracted from red edible seaweeds. They are widely used in the food industry, for their gelling, thickening, and stabilizing properties. Their main application is in dairy and meat products, due to their strong binding to food proteins."
Why is it bad for me? It can cause inflammation in the intestines and with a month dedicated to resetting your bodies system, you don't need carrageenan hanging out making you ill.
The more and more I began to read the ingredient labels on my food, the more and more freaked out I became! I couldn't believe the crap that I had been shoveling into my body on a daily basis for so many years. So much of the food I was used to eating wasn't actually real. It was made in a factory with chemicals.
Real foods, many of them come from the ground or from trees. They are as minimally processed as can be, they usally contain less than 3 ingredients, ideally only one. Like this label from my favorite snack, Larabar:
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| REAL. FOOD. REAL INGREDIENTS. |
This brings me to another topic. How much should I be eating?
The answer I found out, is pretty simple, eat until you're satisfied. This could mean you have a pretty big plate of food at dinner, but if it's all good, whole, real food that's okay. I learned that I could eat as much as I wanted on Whole 30, and in fact, I needed to.
In the beginning I was eating my 3 main meals a day, with two planned snacks. One snack at 10:00 and the other around 2:00 or 3:00pm. I had to plan these snacks, otherwise I would get "hangry" and be no fun to be around at all. Also, while I was training my body to eat better, I needed to eat more. I wasn't used to having 3 meals a day. Whole 30 encourages no snacking, but for this girl that wasn't going to happen, at least not at first.
Snack ideas include, but are not limited to;
Blueberreies, strawberries and almonds
Almonds and Raisins
Chopped Veggies and Guacamole to dip
After about 2 weeks I no longer needed these snacks. I eat 3 meals a day.
- Breakfast within a half hour of getting up in the morning.
- Lunch, at around 11:30
- Dinner around 5 or 6
Many of my friends who have started their own Whole 30's have told me they are always feeling hungry. The most common reason I have found for their hunger is their lack of healthy fats with each meal.
HEALTHY FATS ARE A MUST! I know we are all trying to lose weight, and it seems counter productive to consume fat, but believe me, healthy fats are the key to staying full longer, plus your body needs them.
What are healthy fats?
- Coconut Oil
- Coconut Milk
- Avacados
- Avacado Oil
- Olive Oil
- Olives
- Guacamole (with no added sugar, right.)
- Almonds and other nuts (remember, no peanuts on Whole 30).
- Almond butter
Make sure to have healthy fats with every meal and I promise, you will stay full longer and it will come in handy during those times between meals. Also healthy fats have a wide range of health benefits including;
- Reduce cholesterol
- Improve circulatory and cardiovascular health
- Reduce the risk of heart attacks and stroke
One of the most common comments I get is;
"Where do you find all your recipes?"
Well, my friends, this was a huge part of our learning curve when I first started this adventure. I had to actually, get this, look up recipes online and research how to make them Whole 30 approved. This takes time and effort.
So it sometimes takes some time, research and creativity to create meals that are compliant to the program. And again, my favorite sources for all things Whole 30 recipes are
and
Do I have to eat organic, grass fed, responsibly farmed, responsibly caught protein?
It is suggested that you eat these types of proteins where you can. Buying all organic, grass fed protein can get really expensive, really fast. Try going to your local butcher shop, they can usually tell you where to get organic, grass fed meats and often times they can offer it to you there.
If you need to buy your protein at Costco (which I do, alllll the time), I see no harm in that. Some people may disagree with me but, oh well. Maybe one week you can afford the grass-fed chicken breast, and maybe the next week it needs to come from Costco. Find what works best for you. I'll tell you what, buying produce in bulk at Costco has saved me a ton of money! I've also noticed over the last year that it seems Costco is making an effort to offer more organic items.
"I would totally do this Whole 30 thing, if someone would do the cooking for me."
Here is the part where I get a little "tough love" on you all. Yes, it would be amazing if someone would prep all my food for me, cook it, assemble it and all I had to do was come to the table when the dinner bell was rung. Sounds like a pretty awesome set up. But guess what, that attitude is the same attitude that got me to over 200 pounds.
This does require work. This does require dedication. This does require time. But if it's something that you really want, you'll work for it. End of story.
I know we all work, some of us have multiple kids, jobs where we are in our car most of the day, etc. I've heard it all, and guess what, I've also seen people from all those different scenarios successfully complete their own Whole 30's. Life is busy, I get it. But if you don't start making time for yourself and your health, no one else will. It's up to you!
Get your family in on it with you, your partner, your kids. It will be easier if there are more people in it together with you. Ask a group of your friends to do it with you, and you can have Whole 30 potluck dinners together and recipe swap (I've done a few of those over the last year and they are so much fun!)
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| Whole 30 Pot Luck Dinner. Bora Bora Fireballs, Veggie Platter, Loaded Sweet Potato Casserole, Home Made Pico, Chicken Veggie Curry and Kombucha. |
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| My Fridge |
What it comes down to is this, Eat real food. Food that was grown in the ground and is in it's most natural state. Eat food that makes you healthier with each bite.
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