I am so proud and happy to say that I completed my first Whole 30 challenge and can’t wait to share with you my experience.

If you missed my first post on why I decided to take on this challenge, you can read about it in detail here. I will just say that I was looking to try a new way of eating, make new healthy habits and see how I would feel with more protein, yes animal protein.

WHAT REALLY WORKED

The challenge is really simple, eat whole foods, avoid alcohol, sugar (in all forms), beans, legumes, grains, soy, dairy, corn, nasty oils, sulphites and desserts. This means you can’t eat anything processed, you can’t indulge in sweets and you need to get creative with your fruits and veggies to avoid food boredom! 

I really loved the concept of including a source of healthy fats, protein and carbs at every meal. It made me plan ahead and learn new combos like yam toasts with tahini, avocado, greens and ground turkey crumble. I felt amazing eating such balanced meals and learned new ways to include starchy veggies in the place of grains (hello cauliflower rice).

And the fruit! You are allowed and encouraged to eat fruit as fruit is life:) I enjoyed adding mangos to my salads, banana to my yam toasts, and ate so many berries:) I feel really good when I eat a lot of fruit and are glad that I got that clarity on this challenge. Fruit does not make you fat ladies, processed sugars, added sugars and over eating does.

And talking about weight loss, I wasn’t doing this challenge to lose weight but I did! I lost 5 lbs without ever feeling hungry. I love the way my body looks and feels. My husband noticed my glowing skin and I noticed my clothes all fit better.

Which brings me to my next point… my athletic performance! Man did I notice an improvement in the way I felt when I was working out, lifting weights and pushing myself. I gained more energy almost immediately, I would say 5 days into the challenge I started noticing I could ride up the mountain faster, I could lift more weight, I could withstand my intervals without feeling as breathless and I wasn’t getting as sore or fatigued afterwards. I was shocked as I though my energy would dip due to the lack of carbs from oats, quinoa and beans but not the case. I think the way I can best describe this is that I felt more like a 20 year old working out than I did a 35 year old:)

And lastly my mood and mental clarity, you guys know that I am aware of my energy, my vibration as they say… well I really felt my mood was stable, uplifted and in general, I was as happy as can be all month. Now I don’t want to say that this was all due to the challenge, it’s also Spring, the sun is out, the weather is warm and the days are long and bright. I know this also plays a part in my super happy mood but I do think the clean eating, the lack of grains and sugar and the introduction of protein played a part.

WHAT WAS HARD

So after reading all of my cheery notes on what I loved, you might be buying the book on amazon already. But hear out my struggles and other revelations that I had this month.

First of all, it was hard to get my head around eating meat. After being a vegetarian/pescetarian for 13 years, buying ground turkey felt alien and really eeked me out. But I wanted to own my decision and know where my meat came from and be the one to prepare it. On this challenge I ended up having chicken or turkey about 4 times a week in various ways. I found out that chicken breast is so boring and I really don’t like it! I prefer roasting a whole chicken or making turkey burgers. At least with the whole chicken you can respect the animal and use it’s bones for a nourishing bone broth. At first my body responded so so well to the extra animal protein, I felt like I was replenishing a deficiency (or a few) that I may have had from being vegetarian for so long. But honestly by the end of the challenge, I felt like it was a bit much. Plus, I really care about the environment, animals and staying in my highest vibration and I really think that’s hard when you eat a lot of animal protein. I will just say that it was a struggle of values, and listening to my body. I knew that it was only 1 month and I wanted to see it through, but did struggle with having that much meat. 

Since I work out for a living, I need to eat a lot of food. And normally, I tend to graze all afternoon after being so active in the mornings. I did make whole 30 compliant bliss balls using dried apricots for snacks when I felt my blood sugar dip or when I felt truly hungry. I definitely snacked WAY LESS, but did listen to my body and made sure I wasn’t calorie restricting (my anxiety kicks in as soon as I do that). I know that program encourages you to eat a well balanced meal for breakfast, lunch and dinner but I struggled with my breakfasts. You see, they highly discourage smoothies as you aren’t really eating your food and they can been seen as a treat (and there are NO treats on the Whole 30!) but after a few days of trying different things, I found the only thing that worked for me was having a smoothie or smoothie bowl (recipe shared at the bottom of this post). I made sure to load up my smoothie and even chewed it to activate proper digestion:)

Another thing I struggled with was food boredom with my protein choices. You see, I can’t have eggs (severe allergy) and chicken got boring so fast! I couldn’t bring myself around to have red meat and tuna has to many heavy metals in it (which also raises my anxiety) so I was left with turkey, bone broth, salmon and white fish. I love all those foods, but I really had to get create and try new recipes. 

Special occasions… my daughter celebrated her 8th birthday and I hated being on what she claimed was the “party pooper” diet. I explained to my kids my why for this challenge and they were supportive, but man on her birthday I had FOMO. It was also hard to find anything while travelling or if you got stuck out of the house for long periods of time! There was one day (like day 3) where my daughter got really sick and we ended up in the hospital for 12 hours. I had only packed a Lara Bar, an apple and a smoothie. But I did manage to make it through it day (let’s call it a fasting day) and just made up my calories the next day.

And lastly, I didn’t do this challenge “perfectly”. I did have Yoso, a coconut yogurt a few times (it has corn starch in it so is technically not allowed), I accidentally put vanilla in my bliss balls and ate them anyways and there was a few times where I enjoyed a non alcoholic drink with stevia in it. Other than that, I was so good at reading my labels, and prepping my own food.

OVERALL CONCLUSIONS

I loved this challenge! It really works. I thought the book was easy to comprehend, the challenge is laid out in simple “rules” or terms, there is a huge community of people who have gone through Whole 30 on social media who support you. If you have any questions, you can email them and they respond within hours! I learned that a Paleo diet is based on WHOLEFOODS and will continue to create my own plant-based diet without the dogma of being vegan or having rules and enjoy meat if I feel like thats what my body needs. I have learned so much about what works for me, how I feel about my food choices, how to gain more energy, increase my athletic performance and look my best. Yes, I will still enjoy beans, grains and not be afraid of enjoying pancakes with my family, but I will do so much more mindfully! In my day to day life, I will stick to my balanced meals of protein, carbs, and healthy fats, still enjoy turkey once and awhile and continue to try new recipes and ways to prepare the foods I love.

This post isn’t sponsored but I wanted to share a few products and foods that really made my Whole 30 a whole lot easier:)

• Pranin Smoothie Boosters! I actually had one almost everyday in my morning smoothie. It really helped energized me, ensured I was starting my day off on the healthiest foot possible, and they taste amazing.
• Organika Enhanced Collagen Powder. For so many reasons, first of all, there aren’t many protein powders that you can have on Whole 30 as pea protein is a grain, and whey is dairy. Plus, collagen is amazing for my joints, skin, hair and nails. People have been asking me what’s my secret and I swear it’s all the collagen I have been having wth bone broth and this powder. It’s so easy to add to your smoothie and doesn’t have any taste yet it seems to make the smoothie so much creamier. Oh, it also have 10 grams of protein in it:)
• Nutiva MCT oil. We know now that starting you day off with healthy fats is the best way to come off your fast (not eating all night) and to ensure regulated hormones throughout the day. I add this MCT oil to my matcha lattes in the morning to give my brain and body that healthy fat and to provide me with energy. 
• Botanica Bone broth. The easiest quick snack when you want something but aren’t overly hungry. Plus it has 13 grams of protein per cup!!!! Really helpful when I felt low on protein some days.
• And other foods that I depended on were: avocados, yams, nut butters, bananas, berries, leafy greens, and my medicinal mushroom elixirs. 

MY BREAKFAST SMOOTHIE RECIPE

WHAT YOU NEED

• 1 cup rasberries
• 1/2 banana
• 1/2 yam (I cook mine in big batches and store for salads, smoothies and snacks)
• 1 tbsp of nut butter
• 1 package of Pranin Smoothie Booster (use BENATURALLYFIT to get 20% off)
• 1 heaping tbsp of Organika collagen
• 1 handful of leafy greens
• 1 -2 cups of coconut water
• (optional to add fresh turmeric or ginger)

Blend until smooth! Honestly this smoothie is pure rocket fuel for your morning activities. It’s easy to digest, has warming properties so it doesn’t dampen your digestive fire and is really well balanced with lots of protein, healthy fats and complex carbs. 

I would absolutely recommend the Whole30 to anyone who is looking for a reset and are interested in doing a elimination diet that has clear rules, is easy to follow, and delivers REAL results. I will definitely do it again when I feel the need for a diet clean up. 

If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask:)

Rebecca