AmyG74

So, the Whole 30 book says Days 10-11 are the days on which the majority of people who quit their Whole 30 are most likely to quit, and I am definitely feeling that today. I'm NOT quitting, and I WON'T quit, but my cravings are really testing me today, and particularly my sugar craving. How do you guys push through days like this? I had some chopped dates to try to soothe the sugar beast, and the natural sweetness in the dates helped. But what I really want is an Oreo, lol! Open to any and all suggestions of things I can try to keep this at bay or to tell my body it IS getting something sweet and to chill out. THANK YOU!!

I'm on Day 5 now and feeling pretty good! I was really tired yesterday and took a half-hour nap before dinner, and then had some trouble falling asleep, but overall have felt like my quality of sleep has been better, which is nice. Meals are going pretty well, but I feel like I need to do more raw veggies versus always cooking them. Have only had a few really hard cravings to overcome, mostly on Day 3. Baked goods are my weakness, lol! But I resisted and I find the cravings getting less as each day passes and I fine-tune my eating. I can tell this is flushing out the bad stuff from my body though - my rings are feeling looser, my body looks a bit deflated with no puffiness/bloating, and I feel different on the inside. All good!! We've almost got a whole week down - way to go, y'all!

Way to go, @jchap09! I had carrots & guac as part of my lunch yesterday - so yummy. I'm really glad that a nice simple guac is okay on Whole 30 because it's one of my favorite foods and easy to make. Your dinner sounds yummy, too! My husband and I discovered zoodles a little over a year ago and love them. My half-Italian kids are a harder sell on zoodles over pasta, but frankly I think the sauce is where it's really at anyway!

I first heard about Whole 30 from my chiropractor in early fall 2019, but had never heard of anyone I knew who had done it, so it just kept rolling around in my head for a while and then one day I saw something about it again and decided to order the Whole 30 book on Amazon. When it came, I read Part 1 and was instantly overwhelmed by the idea - there was NO WAY I was going to be able to go 30 days without ANY sugar, cheese or wine, LOL! But I kept finding myself coming back to the book and reading on, and when I FINALLY got past the "scary" bits and started looking at the shopping lists, meal templates and recipes, I realized that I already ate a lot of that kind of food - I just wasn't reading labels for ingredients or consciously avoiding sugar, dairy, etc. That made it all feel more approachable. I decided in early November that I was going to do Whole 30, and initially thought maybe I'd do it in December, but we had a LOT of various gatherings and dinners and I knew I'd be setting myself up to fail if I launched 12/1, so I set 1/2/20 as my start date. My husband has done similar programs in the past but has also eaten poorly this year and so when I mentioned this program to him, he was on board to do it with me (although he may not adhere to it 100% as I am), and then I also talked to my kids - 16 and 8 - about it, just to tell them what I'll be doing and why. I asked if they wanted to participate with me but they said no - and I understand that because MY first reaction was NO, too! But as the weeks ticked down to 1/2/20, and they saw me reading the book and making notes, they asked more questions about it and we've talked more about why it's a good thing. When I made dinner last night - the coconut-curry chicken and cauliflower rice - my kids kept coming into the kitchen to see what I was making and comment on how great it smelled and looked, and we all ended up eating it - and they loved it! We spent our dinner hour talking about what was in it and I read them some other recipes from the book that I'll be making, and I think they are realizing that there's room for this in their lives, too - I just may need to give them a bit more time to get fully on board with it. And that's fine because my hope is to go 90 days on this program, so if they pick it up 100% in Feb or Mar, that's still better than nothing. I'm especially glad my 16-year old son is showing interest: he loves to cook and is on his school's competitive culinary team and organizes friends' dinners with his group of buddies where they all get together to cook a meal, so he's always looking for good new recipes. If he can help encourage a healthier approach to eating among his teammates/peers, then he's making a difference in others' health and wellness, too. And I love that my 8-year old daughter is seeing all of this interest in cooking and healthy eating as she grows up, and she has been starting to help prep food in the kitchen with us, too. She's a master at peeling garlic cloves and mincing them up with her kids' chef knife. Anyway, my point is that a good way to get your kids involved is to talk with them about the program and about the "why" behind the elimination of certain food items, and have them help pick recipes and prepare them - the more invested they are in the various aspects of the program, the more buy-in they are likely to experience. Even if my kids don't go all in on this with me, I'm happy to make them more aware of what's IN their meals so they can make better choices going forward.

How was everyone's first day yesterday? Mine went better than expected! I was so nervous to start this because I have a serious sugar addiction and - being a Wisco girl - a deep and abiding love for cheese. But yesterday wasn't nearly as bad as I feared it might be, and I felt pretty good all day. I made the coconut-curry chicken and cauliflower rice for dinner last night and even though only my husband (a bit loosely) and I (100%) are doing the Whole 30, my kids ate that, too, and loved it! I love Indian food, especially chicken or beef shahi korma, and the curry sauce for the chicken tastes just as good as the authentic sauce I've made in the past and takes way less time, so I was thrilled to find that I can still satisfy my Indian fix in a healthier way. I did add a handful of raw cashews before I pureed the sauce, just for a little extra depth of flavor. Anyway, I love that the Whole 30 book has so many good and easily adaptable recipes - they taste delicious and I don't feel I'm missing out on anything. I'm lucky to have a Trader Joes within 10 minutes of my house because they carry a lot of Whole 30 compliant foods, like no sugar bacon. And they have these yummy little fruit bars for $0.99 that are literally just apples and mango, or apples and strawberries - yet they taste great and are satisfying! What are y'all making for dinner tonight?

I’ve also chosen 1/2/20 as my start date as we have family coming over for one last hurrah tomorrow with the Badgers in the Rose Bowl! ;) Good luck to you and here’s hoping we are both transformed by this experience on 1/31!!