In January of 2020 I did the Whole30 for the very first time, and I would say it was a major success! You can read all about that experience here. I was able to complete the entire program, and not only did it result in physical changes, but mentally I felt so much better, my skin was clearer, and most of all my body truly had the reset it needed.
Truth be told, I’ve attempted to start Whole30 again twice since my first completion, but unfortunately both were unsuccessful attempts after about 3-4 days. In my defense, the last time I started Whole30 earlier this year, I ended up testing positive for COVID and that completely through everything off! I decided earlier this summer that I would do another round of it after summer was over and at the start of September before the holidays begin.
Through lots of trial and error over the last few years and getting to know my body as I age and mature, I’ve come to know that fad and crash dieting isn’t for me. I know the importance of fueling my body with whole and healthy foods, and that’s what I love most about the reset Whole30 provides. It’s not something I plan to maintain forever, let’s be honest… we all need a cookie every now and then, that’s why it is 30 days. For me, I view the Whole30 as a launching pad into making healthier daily choices and helping my body to reset and detox from all of the junk.
One thing that I have learned about myself since completing my first Whole30 and throughout the year and half in between is unfortunately, I do think dairy is one of my greatest downfalls, which is super sad for a girl who loves queso as much as I do. Seriously, it’s my favorite food ever. I could eat chips and queso for every meal for the rest of forever and be happy. I have noticed so many benefits (clearer skin, easier weight loss, less bloating, etc.) of cutting out dairy from my diet and replacing those items with dairy free options like in the coffee creamers and yogurts I eat. My hope is to continue to have a mostly dairy free diet beyond Whole30, and indulge in queso (and ice cream, duh) every once in a while or occasionally on weekends!
So with that being said, if you are interested in maybe trying out the Whole30, I am happy to talk with you more and share some of my tips and tricks for successfully completing it. I had a few requests when I shared that I was doing it again to share the things I am eating, so I thought this would be an easy way to share weekly recipes and favorites I am fueling my body with!
Week 1 Whole30 Meals
Breakfast:
All week long I have been eating homemade egg muffins for breakfast. I throw all of these items in a bowl together, throw them in a muffin tin and bake at 350 for 20ish minutes. One batch lasts me all week and I just heat one up every morning in the microwave. I like to eat mine with a little hot sauce on top!
Egg Muffins
- 4 eggs beaten
- 4 egg whites
- Ground turkey sausage
- Chopped green bell pepper
- Chopped red bell pepper
- Handful of chopped spinach
- Salt
- Pepper
- Cajun seasoning
- You can add any other veggies you like – onion, tomato, mushroom, etc.
Lunch:
I try to eat as many leftovers for lunch as possible! Any time I make a recipe I try to make sure there will be plenty of leftovers to eat on at least 1-2 days for Drew and I. If I didn’t eat leftovers this week then I made a cobb salad with lettuce, turkey deli meat, tomato, avocado, boiled egg and a Whole30 compliant dressing.
Snacks:
- Cotton candy grapes
- Honeycrisp apples with almond butter
- Salted almonds
- Turkey pepperonis
Dinner:
Here’s where the real fun begins! For this first week I went back through my Pinterest boards to find recipes I enjoyed from my first round of Whole30 as well as other recipes that I searched for. There are SO many great things out there, you just have to do a little research. My hope is to fix completely different things for the first 2, maybe 3 weeks of this round. Then, on the fourth week I’ll sit down with Drew to go through all of the different meals we had and pick our very favorites for the final week.
Here are the meals we had this week during Whole30…
Day 1
One of my very favorites from my first round of Whole30 – crockpot enchilada chicken! SO easy, yummy and gives me a taste of Tex Mex while still being Whole30 compliant. I make this recipe and eat it on homemade cassava flour tortillas – also YUM!
Day 2
This is another repeat recipe – creamy tuscan chicken. It’s good, but to be honest I wouldn’t say it’s great. Not too difficult to make and it get’s the job done… just not like my favorite ever, you know?
Day 3
Day 3 was Saturday and that means it was Aggie Football day! We went over to my sister and brother in-laws and I was able to eat wings he made along with sweet potato fries and fruit! Here is a recipe to some wings we made the first round of Whole30 that were super yummy, and the sweet potato fries recipe linked here.
Day 4
Sunday I planned for our meals to be out. After church for lunch we went to Jason’s Deli and I had a salad from the salad bar. I loaded up the salad with veggies and a boiled egg. I will say the one non Whole30 compliant component of this was definitely the dressing, but I let this one slide. For dinner I grabbed one of my favorites – Zoe’s Kitchen. I had the chicken kabobs, roasted vegetables and Greek salad. All Whole30 approved, all really yummy!
Day 5
Monday night I tried out a new recipe I found on Pinterest, and it turned out super good! It was this spicy taco skillet, and it definitely hit the spot. Easy to make, made plenty for leftovers, and was also a easy lunch to heat up and go! Definitely adding to my repeat list.
Day 6
You see… I had really good intentions of cooking on the night of day 6, but then my family decided to all go out to eat since Mallory was leaving for several days for Miss Texas duties, and I couldn’t pass up an opportunity to be with all of my people. I had plans to make this recipe, but then we ended up going to Clear Springs where I ordered grilled catfish and shrimp with a side of broccoli and a house salad. There were probably a few non-Whole30 compliant ingredients in there such as in the salad dressing or in the cooking oils used, but it was more than worth it to be with family.
Day 7
Another repeat favorite – bang bang shrimp! SO good, super easy, and just the best. Definitely a recipe I will continue to make even when not formally doing the Whole30!
While there were a couple of hiccups this week and an unplanned meal out… overall I would say it was a pretty successful first week. I love that doing this program challenges me to cook more and eat out less (something I am very good at doing lol). Here’s to hoping the rest of the program goes well! I’ll be back next week with a week 2 update and list of meals and recipes!
xx,
Madison
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