I have been wanting to change my eating for a VERY long time. I have been having some skin issues and recently I also was diagnosed with uterine fibroids. I really want to find natural ways to deal with these issues instead of going to the doctor and taking poisonous medications or having to have stuff removed. I just haven’t taken the plunge and done it. I always felt like it was too hard and I couldn’t stick with it. Well, Sherilyn told my about The Whole 30 one of her friends was doing. I looked it up and decided I was doing it.
What is the Whole30®?
Established in April 2009, the Whole30® is Whole9’s original nutritional program designed to change your life in 30 days.
The physical benefits of the Whole30 include improved body composition, energy levels, sleep quality, attention span, mental attitude and athletic performance.
The psychological benefits of the Whole30 include changing long-standing, unhealthy patterns related to food, eating and your body image, and a dramatic reduction or elimination of food cravings, particularly sugar and carbohydrates.
Testimonials from Whole30 participants reflect the prevention, improvement or “cure” of: high blood pressure, high cholesterol, type 1 diabetes, type 2 diabetes, asthma, allergies, skin conditions, PCOS, infertility, migraines, depression, bipolar disorder, heartburn, GERD, joint pain, ADD, thyroid dysfunction, Lyme disease, fibromyalgia, leaky gut syndrome, Crohn’s, IBS, Celiac, diverticulitis, and ulcerative colitis
It is basically the Paleo way of eating but for the first 30 days it is SUPER strict. I am happy to announce that I have just finished day 2. I have documented my weight and taken pictures so that I can see if I can tell a difference when I am done with the 30 days. Hopefully I will see a big difference in my skin. Yesterday about half way through the day I developed a headache. Here at the end of day 2 I still have that headache. I am guessing it is due to the fact that I haven’t had my Coke/Big Red fix for two days. I am guessing the headache is from not having the mixture of the caffeine and the sugar.
I haven’t done well with eating breakfast but that will change tomorrow. The first day for lunch I had chicken tenderloins seasoned with onion powder, garlic powder, salt, pepper, and paprika, and I cooked them in coconut oil. I also had a small avocado and raw carrots. It was actually pretty tasty and filling. For supper I had a pork chop, steamed asparagus, and a peach. I also had a banana as a snack. Today(Wednesday) I didn’t have breakfast. I had to take my car to the auto shop and my mom picked us up. We stayed there til Steve got off work. Everyone had Taco Villa for lunch. In case you didn’t know Taco Villa isn’t Paleo. 😦 I did have two handfuls of olives, some turkey deli meat(the Hormel brand with no preservatives), a small avocado and a plum later that afternoon. Steve’s dad came into town and wanted to take us to supper. We ended up going to Fuddruckers’s. I ordered a 1/2 lb. hamburger patty with no cheese and then piled up the tomatoes, pico de gallo, purple onion, and lettuce. It was REALLY good!!!! I also had a plum when we got home. I feel like I am doing pretty well so far. I am sure it will be hard some days because I love junk food. I love ice cream, cake, chips, hot sauce, etc. You name, I like it! I really want to get healthy though, so I am going to power through. I know I can do this. I loved this excerpt on the whole30.com~
It is not hard. Don’t you dare tell us this is hard. Quitting heroin is hard. Beating cancer is hard. Drinking your coffee black. Is. Not. Hard. You won’t get any coddling, and you won’t get any sympathy for your “struggles”. YOU HAVE NO EXCUSE not to complete the program as written. It’s only thirty days, and it’s for the most important health cause on earth – the only physical body you will ever have in this lifetime.
Don’t even consider the possibility of a “slip”. Unless you physically tripped and your face landed in a box of doughnuts, there is no “slip”. You make a choice to eat something unhealthy. It is always a choice, so do not phrase it as if you had an accident. Commit to the program 100% for the full 30 days. Don’t give yourself an excuse to fail before you’ve even started.
Dairy is one of the food groups that is completely out during the 30 days. The only exception is clarified butter. If you are like me you have no idea what clarified butter is. Clarified butter is butter made clear by heating and removing the sediment of milk solids. I googled how to make clarified butter and set out to make some. It was really easy to do. Here are the directions I followed to make it:
Clarified Butter
- Unsalted butter, cut into cubes
1. Heat the unsalted butter in a heavy-duty saucepan over very low heat, until it’s melted. Let simmer gently until the foam rises to the top of the melted butter. The butter may splatter a bit, so be careful.
2. Once the butter stops spluttering, and no more foam seems to be rising to the surface, remove from heat and skim off the foam with a spoon. (It can be saved and added to soups, bread doughs, polenta, pilaf, or a bowl of warm oatmeal.)
Don’t worry about getting every last bit; you can remove the rest when straining it.
3. Line a mesh strainer with a few layers of cheesecloth or gauze (in France, I use étamine, which is cotton muslin) and set the strainer over a heatproof container.
4. Carefully pour the warm butter through the cheesecloth-lined strainer into the container, leaving behind any solids from the bottom of the pan.
Storage: Clarified butter will keep for 3 to 6 months in the refrigerator. Some say you can leave it at room temperature if the conditions are optimal, but I keep mine under refrigeration. It can also be frozen for a similar length of time.
I will be posting my progress here and hopefully I will have great results to report.
