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jarrett4

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My wife and I decided to do the Whole30 5 days prior to Jan 1. Part of our deicsion was do we include our 4 year old son and 5 year old daughter. Long story short, we decided to go with the "All or Nothing" method here: http://whole9life.com/2012/11/whole9-let-us-change-your-kids/

 

Ok, just some background info:

 

I am 5'9" and was 169.0 on January 1st. My wife is 4'11" and was 148.0 on January 1st. Our kids are both not overweight at all. We had concerns that they would not be able to thrive on the Whole30, but we decided to give it a shot anyway. Prior to Whole30 we ate 'healthy' according to what we used to know. Here WAS our typical day:

 

Breakfast - Cereal (organic and usually gluten free with 1% milk)

Snacks - Plain yogurt w/ honey

Lunch - Sandwich with whole wheat bread and deli turkey

Snack - Cheese stick

Dinner - Spaghetti / Fish sticks / Homemade chicken nuggets / whole wheat rolls / corn / green beans

My other snacks - I would constantly snack on Goldfish crackers, cereal, or anything else that I craved.

 

On January 1st we cleared out ALL non compliant foods and shopped based on the shopping list here: http://whole9life.com/book/ISWF-Shopping-List.pdf

 

At first our fridge was very bare and for the first few days I was so worried me and the kids would starve!! I want to cut out most of our experience during the 30 days to keep this short. However I do want to go over some basic achievements from the Whole30 (some expected and some not excpected):

 

1. I lost 11.6 pounds (over 6% of my body weight)

2. She lost 10.4 pound (over 7% of her body weight)

3. Kids did not gain or lose significant weight (maybe 1/2 pound at most lost) My son is a wrestler so he is weighed in often and I never saw a huge difference.

4. I can now breathe through my nose when I sleep - Ok, about day 15-20 I told my wife that I noticed I could breathe through my nose consistently. She replied with, yeah I know I can't even hear you! I have been a mouth sleeper as long as I can remember. I seriously did not expect this to happen. And I am still breathing and sleeping peacefully through my nose. I don't exactly know why this happened, but if I had to guess it's due to the systematic inflammation that the 'other food' was causing.

5. My wife and I both never get too hungry or too full. Seriously, I used to come home from work starving pretty much no matter what I had for lunch. Now, I could honestly go all day and yeah I would be hungry but not the belly growling craving hunger that I used to feel. AND I am never too full. I used to get so bloated after meals and snacks. Well that is no more.

6. My kids behavior has improved. Ok, this is apparent by not only our observation, but at school as well. Just last week my son's Pre-K teacher said "He has had an excellent week". Umm, are you sure this is my son! And, my very very talkative daughter has for 2 weeks in a row been allowed to go to the office and pick out a prize for her lunchroom behavior. Only 2 kids in her class of 20 have been chosen both weeks. So, yeah we have noticed and so have their teachers.

7. My son used to complain of belly pain throughout the day. We not once heard him complain during the 30 days. Throughout the past 1-2 years we have listened to him complain on and off of belly pain. We have had him on Miralax and even visited the doctor. However, since the Whole30, nothing, no belly pain complaints.

8. We are not picky eaters anymore. My kids cheer for breakfast, lunch, and dinner now. They love the real food they now get. One example, before the Whole30 my kids liked eggs a little bit, only when we had them for dinner with toast and bacon. Now, in the morning they cheer for scrambled eggs (that I cook in Ghee). Then put out a platter of blackberries, raspberries, blueberries, pineapple, and strawberries and they think they are in heaven. Before the Whole30, my son wasn't snacking on cucumbers and guacamole. My daughter wouldn't think about eating raw carrots. We have had a variety of brussel sprouts, spinach, mushrooms, cucumbers, squash, zuccini, spaghetti squash, carrots, onions, etc and our kids know they have not choice and they actually look forward to dinner. One of their favorites is sweet potatoes sliced and cooked in EVOO. Yeah, I have always been picky and have always looked forward to whatever BREAD was cooked for dinner. But now, I love my veggies. My wife has cooked some amazing dinners with REAL FOOD. My daughter used to only eat Mac'N'Cheese for lunch. My son would always want the bread for dinner and nothing else. This has caused them to eat more protein and eat more veggies and they actually like them.

9. We didn't step on the scale for the entire 30 days. I totally did not expect to lose 11 pound. I have not been in the 150's since my early college days and I am a runner. I feel stronger now and much leaner. My wife has been on SlimFast and other 1200 calorie plans and this was a total shock to her. How in the world can we just eat whatever is on this list and still LOSE WEIGHT? How? Well, we were both shocked.

 

We are still going forward with Whole30 lessons learned. 3 of our family members have birthdays in Feb, so yeah we will have some cake. We are more flexible with our kids when they are out, but at home we still eat REAL FOOD. Thanks for reading. I have before and after photos and other details. I totally support the Whole30 and cannot say enough about it.

 

Jarrett Family 2014

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  • 1 month later...

Wow, amazing!! Good job to your whole family!!

I am currently on day 7 of my first whole 30, and have a super picky toddler and a 9 yo who eats well. Both are gf and younger one is lactose free.

I would love to try this with them and have the kind of success you had with your kids!

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