Why Whole30 Was Good For My Marriage

As many of you know my husband and I completed our first Whole30 on Monday.
There were many good changes that happened because of sticking with the Whole30 plan.
You can read it all including meal plans if you click Whole30.
In summary we lost weight, didn't feel as tired or sick, and just felt better.
Want to know the biggest change for me though? My mood changed!
That's why Whole30 was such a big deal to me and why it was good for my marriage.

I'm going to be as honest as I can in the post. 

I don't write a ton about marriage on here because it's something that is pretty private,

but I want to share my experience and maybe in doing that it will help someone else. 

In order to explain how and why Whole30 was good for my marriage 

and how it changed my mood, I really have to express how things were. 

Marriage isn't easy. Anyone who tells you different, well they aren't being honest.

It takes work. It takes communicating. It takes kindness, grace, forgiveness. 

I struggled with these things and had no idea why. I was moody pretty much 24/7. 

I would blow up and get pretty darn angry, without really knowing why or how to stop it.

I threw things (not at people) and wanted to punch things. 

I yelled a lot and often wanted to run away. 

I didn't want to be touched or even talked to sometimes. 

I was irritable constantly and sometimes I'd start to cry and hyperventilate because of it. 

I would get upset with my husband for little things 

and they'd end up turning into something bigger.

When we fought I'd feel waves of depression hit me,

 thinking, "we aren't going to survive this!" 

I was a mess and it all was feeling pretty dang miserable! 

Flash forward to doing the Whole30 challenge! 

The first week I was cranky because taking away food that you're used to and love, is hard! 

My husband even told me I wasn't being nice. 

However, as the weeks wore on my mood changed. 

It's like I did a complete 180 when it came to my moodiness and irritability. 

I didn't find myself getting as angry or blowing up. 

Instead I was much better at talking to my husband about things that were upsetting me. 

I yelled a lot less and my desire to run away lessened 

(Hello, 3 kids 3 and under! sometimes I still wanna run ;)!

I didn't push my husband away or not want anyone talking to me. 

We rarely fought and I rarely cried. 

The thought that we weren't going to survive was completely gone 

and depression wasn't really sticking around!

I felt no desire to fight with my husband, whereas before I didn't feel like I could help it.

I honestly didn't feel like I could help any of how I was feeling before the Whole30. 

Needless to say my husband and I were both very surprised about this. 

It was the biggest change for us and made our marriage so much better! 

We laughed and joked around more. 

We enjoyed each other more. 

I felt more in love with him and he felt like I loved him more.

I felt like it was how marriage was supposed to feel. 

It was just such a good thing for us! 

We both knew that this was something we wanted to continue. 

We wanted my mood to always be more pleasant. =)

We wanted marriage to feel this way more so than miserable. 

Of course, we know that sometimes it will be hard. 

Marriage comes with ups and downs, 

but because of my mood it had been more down than anything! 

Neither of us realized that food was a big problem for me. 

I mean, we knew that I was an emotional eater, but didn't realize what it did to my mood! 

I was so shocked that the food I was eating could cause so much moodiness and anger! 

Because of this we've decided that eating the Whole30 way is super important to us. 

It's how we will eat a majority of the time.

However, I have wanted to see what food was causing me to be so unhappy. 

As part of the Whole30 you're suppose to reintroduce food to see how it affects you.

Well, the past two days I've tried a few things. 

I tried some milk and it just made me not feel great. 

Then I also had some sugar. 

Yesterday I had three chocolate chip cookies (that contained soy) 

and I have to tell you I was not the nicest person! 

I was moody, irritable, and cranky. 

I couldn't help it and went to bed in a bad mood, 

feeling horrible for how I was treating my husband. 

Needless to say husband said, "No more sugar for you!" Ha ha. 

I was really surprised that sugar affected me this way.

(Hey, it might even be the soy that was affecting me - need to check this out).

Now, will I never ever not have sugar again? No!

I like sugar and it's in everything, but it will be very, very limited. 

I may enjoy some ice cream every once in a while because I love it, 

but eating sugar and being a jerk to my husband is not worth it whatsoever! 

Do you struggle with moodiness and irritability? 

Do you feel depressed and like you have no control over your emotions?

Are you feeling miserable in your relationship or in relationships in general?

Maybe it has more to do with what you are eating, than anything else! 

I encourage you to try out this Whole30 thing. 

It can change your life in so many ways and 

maybe it's just what you need in order to do so! 

I am so glad that I did this challenge, not only because of losing weight,

but mostly because it helped my marriage so much! 

Please let me know if I can help you in any way. 

Feel free to reach out to me. I'll help in anyway I can or just lend an ear! 

Whole30: Week 4 plus results

^^^Cold brew + homemade almond milk. I do suggest this!^^^

Yesterday was my last day on the whole30! 

I cannot believe how quickly the month flew by. 

It went much faster than I expected and I'm actually kind of sad it's over! 

Before I get to my results I want to share with you what I ate this last week.

If you're so over that and just want to see my results then scroll down. =)

Breakfast: 

Pretty certain I don't have one single picture of what I had for breakfast. 

It was the same thing it has been for the past month. Eggs + sweet potatoes + fruit. 

By now, you get the picture! 

Lunch:

Salads and chicken. Salads and chicken. Salads and chicken. 

In the first picture the green stuff is homemade italian dressing,
which I found here on the whole30 recipe IG feed.
It tasted great the first two days, but after that it settled weird.
Maybe I did something wrong. I'm unsure, but it was good while it lasted!

The second picture is chicken with whole30 approved mustard.
The mustard gave it more a kick!
Plus veggies and unsweetened apple sauce with cinnamon.
Delicious and made me feel like I was having a bit of a treat!

The last picture was possibly one of the best salads ever!
Spinach + chicken + carrots + tomatoes +
tangy ranch dressing + crumbled up plantain chips.
I think it was all the chips. They are SO good!

Dinner:

We may have gotten a bit lazy with ideas when it came to dinner this past week.
Chicken + sweet potatoes + mustard.
May sound gross, but it was good and my husband and I both gobbled it down!

Snacks:

Seriously, I cannot rave about plantain chips enough. 

If you have a Trader Joes go get some NOW. 

I was surprised at how much I loved them! 

I thought maybe they'd be okay, but the minute I popped one in my mouth I thought, 

"Who the heck needs chips? Not me!" So so so good! 

We've had this with guac and salsa (both were whole30 approved) 

and we just love them with salsa! 

It's definitely my favorite snack and we may have eaten way too many bags already! 

I've also had apples + almond butter, bananas, Lara Bars, almonds, fruits strips that were whole30 approved and this passion tea unsweetened. All things that are delicious! 

I would definitely recommend the plantain chips and passion tea! 

Now onto my....Results!!!

^^^Left:The night before starting Whole30. Stuffing my face with ice cream and filling ill!

Right: Me today! =)^^^

Yes, I took lot's of selfies while doing the whole30. 

It helped me to stay motivated when I saw change in my face + body. 

I see no harm in that! Do what you gotta do to stay motivated! 

^^^Left: Before starting Whole30. Right: Today!^^^

When I first started Whole30 I weight 153.4 pounds.

Currently I weight 146.4.

That's 7 pounds lost!

I only have 1.4 pounds to go until I'm back 

to my pre-pregnancy weight before I had Maeva and Sutton! 

Then, I only have 16.4 pounds to lose until I'm back to where I think I want to be. 

It may not seem like I lost a ton of weight, but 7 pounds is amazing to me.

Plus I know I lost inches all over my body! I can just see it. 

It's more than just about the weightless though, it's about the non-scale victories.

The weightless helps me to feel better because I know I can do it. 

It's nice to have to pull my shorts up multiple times a day. 

It's nice to feel some confidence coming back and feeling more like myself. 

It's amazing to feel good about what I'm putting in my body. 

I don't feel sick all the time (if ever) and my mood has improved so much! 

I'm going to do a post about my mood 

and why whole30 was good for my marriage later this week! 

That in itself deserves a post all by itself! 

Because of all these things I won't go back to how I was eating.

Will I not ever have sugar, dairy, grains ever again? 

No because I am human and I do enjoy those things,

but they will be limited because I want to live my life feeling good + confident & healthy! 

I look forward to living a life that is healthier and happier. 

Currently I am starting the process of reintroducing food just to see how it affects me. 

I know it won't be fun, but I'm curious to know. 

It will help me to make good choices and know what affects my body and how! 

I'll share more on reintroducing foods at a later date! 

I also will be adding in workouts, which didn't happen this month at all. 

I blame the fact that my elliptical is broken, but that's a sad excuse! 

I will get back on track with that! If I can do Whole30, I can do workouts! 

I'm so glad I took this journey. 

I thought it'd be hard, but it really wasn't.

I thought I wouldn't see results, but I saw so many! 

It was all totally and completely worth it!

What do you think? Have I convinced you to do the Whole30 yet? ;)

Whole30: Week 3

I cannot believe that I completed my third week of the whole30 on Sunday. 

Guys, I'm currently on day 24 of this challenge and it's going so quickly! 

Today I want to not only share my meals, 

but share encouragement with those of you who are thinking about doing whole30. 

Some of you on instagram have mentioned that you want to do this challenge for yourself,

but that you are nervous and scared to do so! 

Please don't be. I promise you, if I can do this, you can do this! 

Honestly, I thought I was going to fail the first week. 

I was a huge Starbucks addict. Like everyday I went through the drive-thru. 

Sometimes more than once a day. Yeah, it was that bad!

Not only that, but at night I practically shoved Oreos down my throat 

because I was a huge emotional eater. 

The kids cried and screamed all day? Let me eat a sleeve of cookies! 

I was depressed because of the baby weight? Oh, give me some ice cream! 

I was stressed because that's life sometimes? I'll just eat cookies and ice cream!

Seriously, that was me and guess what? 

Every morning I woke up I felt bad about the night before! 

Not to mention I felt so sick. 

I was having stomach aches every single day! 

This motivated me! 

So, I encourage you to give this a try. 

Believe in yourself! And find something that motivates you! 

For me, the baby weight motivated me. 

I was also tired of being sick and spending far too much on Starbucks. 

I wanted to feel good about myself. I wanted to save money. 

I wanted to be healthier! 

Let me tell you, it's been worth it for so many reasons! 

I'm going to write up a post about the biggest change of all 

and it actually has nothing to do with my body! 

Any guesses? That post will come next week or the week after.

To tell you the truth, if you want to take part in the whole30, 

you need to throw out all of your excuses! 

Don't think you can do it because you love sugar, grains, or dairy? 

Don't think you can make it 30 days without those things? 

First of all, stop telling yourself you can't! 

That's a huge part of it! 

Tell yourself you can and try! 

Do what it takes to make it happen! 

That's my two cense! I'll be cheering you on if you take part in this! 

Now, onto my meals from last week!

Breakfast: 

Same as last week. 

Every single morning we had eggs, sweet potatoes, fruit and coffee! 

One thing I want to tell you is it's okay to eat the same things. 

You don't have to have a ton of variety! It's just 30 days!

So pick some meals you like, get creative with those ingredients 

and be okay with eating the same things!

Lunch:

This is pretty much the extent of my lunches from last week.

I mostly ate salads because you can change them up if you want! 

I may have already mentioned tessemae salad dressing, but it's so good! 

You can purchase it from whole foods or you could make your own dressing, 

which I'll be sharing next week because it's made but I haven't had any yet! 

I had dates with my lunches are well. 

I thought I would hate them, but I actually really like them!

They are good with almond butter too! 

Dinner:

This salad was amazing! I call it orange avocado chicken salad. 

I just threw it together and put tessemae's cracked pepper salad dressing over it.

So delicious! Will definitely be enjoying it again! 

Nothing new here: Sweet potatoes, chicken from the grill, peppers, and an apple. 

Simple, easy, and delicious! 

I LOVED these sweet potato chicken slides! 

Slice the sweet potato, cook with olive oil and ghee, 

chop up chicken and place it on top, and then add avocado on top. 

These are probably a favorite of mine and I wish I had made more! 

Snacks:

Last week I had a few smoothies because of dentists appointments. 

This one of banana, blueberry, strawberry, mango with orange juice. 

I just love smoothies, but am trying to not have them all the time! 

Again, it's best not to snack if you can help it, but me, I usually can't! 

I also had izzie's, Lara bars, apples with almond butter, passion tea at home, 

and then also iced passion tea at Starbucks with no sweetener. It was so good! 

I didn't take pictures of all my meals because I did repeats. 

I hope these ideas are helping everyone out. 

Do you have any questions about whole30? Anything you'd like to know?

I'm here to help you! 

Whole30: Week Two

Well, Sunday completed our second week of the whole30. 

It's going surprisingly fast, especially considering I thought I'd fail the first week! 

I'm glad I've made it this far 

and I definitely feel like this is going to be a life change for me. 

So, what did I eat this week? 

Well, I was horrible at taking pictures of my food, so I only have a few pictures. 

That means this post won't be as long as last weeks post! 

Breakfast

This picture sums up what my husband and I ate for breakfast every single day. 

Eggs, sweet potatoes in rosemary and some fruit. 

I know some people might hate eating the same thing for breakfast everyday, but not us! 

It's simple. It's easy. It's yummy! 

Lunch & Dinner

Chicken, chicken, and more chicken. 

We ate a lot of chicken salads and again, I'm okay with that because well, I like it! 

That middle picture is chicken + peppers + chia seeds over cali cilantro lime rice. 

If you read the book it says that chia seeds aren't whole30 approved, but I googled it and one of the founders of whole30 (Melissa) said that they aren't something to always eat, but that you can! 

Snacks

I only took a few photos of my snacks. I promise, I'll do better this week with pictures! 

Apples + almond butter 

Bananas + almond butter + whole30 approved shredded coconut

Smoothies

Fruit

Lara bars + Izzies

Smoothies aren't something that is recommended on the whole30. 

They rather you just eat the fruit, but it's not something you can't do. 

Smoothies are delicious, healthy, and I felt like I was having a bit of a treat when I had one.

I don't think that's bad! 

Tips & Tricks 

Prepare, prepare, prepare. 

Seriously, if you don't, you will more than likely fail. 

For me, planning looked like browsing the internet for recipes and ideas. 

You can check out my whole30 pinterest board for some ideas if you'd like. 

It also meant making a list of meals for the week + a grocery list! 

Lastly, it including prepping meals. 

At night before I go to bed I peal + chop the sweet potatoes. 

This makes getting up early to make my husband 

and I breakfast before he goes to work easier. 

I also make his lunch the night before. 

Another thing we do is cook our chicken in huge batches. 

My husband cooked two things of chicken from SAMS in one day. 

This helps out a lot and will last us the week. 

I can't say it enough! Prepare so you will succeed! 

Don't leave the house without food. 

You never know when huger will strike 

and you don't want to end up messing up because you went through the drive-thru. 

We have left the house without food and where did we end up?

Whole Foods because we were starving! 

Take a banana, apple, Lara bar, salad, whatever you need, with you! 

Shop for the best deal. 

Meat isn't cheap, but you can get it cheaper if you look around. 

At first we were buying chicken from Target. 

Way too expensive for not that much! 

So then we decided to check out SAMS and we get so much more! 

If this is an option for you then take a look at the deals. 

We've also gotten good deals on bottled water, dates, spinach, and some fruit. 

Cook in batches. 

Like I mentioned my husband cooked two huge things of chicken over the weekend.

It's a time saver and the foods there when you're hungry! 

I also made the cali rice, put it in plastic bags, and threw it in the freezer. 

This is a huge thing to me because if we didn't do this, we would spend all day in the kitchen! 

Use google or the whole30 forums.

Don't know if a certain item is whole30 approved? Or if you can eat it?

Google and the whole30 forums are your best friend! 

Usually I just go to google and type "Can I eat ______ on whole30?" 

and I will get the answer that I need. 

Eat a snack. 

During the whole30 you're suppose to try and not snack in-between meals. 

You're suppose to eat three solid meals a day and be good, 

but I'm thinking for most people that rarely happens! 

Now, I"m not saying snack just to snack. That's silly ;)

However, if you're hungry two hours after you have lunch, then eat something! 

This isn't about starving yourself. It's about having a good relationship with food! 

I prefer apples + almond butter and Lara bars the most! 

Any questions? Ask and I'll try to answer! 

My Whole30: Week One

I just completed my first week of whole30 on Sunday. 

I know you're like, "wait! wait! wait! what the heck is whole30?" 

I'll try to explain it the best I can, but this site + this book will explain it way better 

and go into way more detail then I am able to. 

In short whole30 is a way of eating healthier for 30 days. 

It's not a diet even though I've called it that, but more so a challenge.

A challenge to cut out added sugars, dairy, and grains. 

There's a lot that goes into that. So, if this is something you're interested in,

I highly suggest reading the book or hoping on the website to read more 

+ looking at the public forms as well. 

So, why am I taking part in whole30?

I'll be honest here (like I always aim to be) and say at first it was all about losing weight.

I've had three babies and gained more weight than I care to admit. 

I've been eating healthier before now and have lost some weight.

But I do want to lose more and get down to my goal weight. 

However, since starting the whole30 it's become more than that. 

I have an emotional eating problem. 

If I'm angry or sad or stressed or feeling any negative feelings whatsoever I eat! 

I'm not talking about fruit or veggies either! 

Usually it's a bowl full of ice cream or ten Oreos in one sitting. 

This is not good! Eating things to satisfy negative emotions is not good!

It simply only satisfies for a time being + does not help me to lose the weight.

Part of whole30 is learning how to have a different relationship with food. 

It's also about kicking your cravings 

and seeing the affect certain foods may have on your body. 

Really, I could go on and on about it all. 

So if I haven't addressed something or you have a question,

 ask and I'll do my best to answer. 

Now, you're probably wondering, 

"What in the world do you eat? I love sugar! I love dairy! I love grains!" 

Me too, me too, but I wanted to give this a try and see how my body responds. 

For the whole30 you pretty much eat five things:

Meat/Seafood/Eggs + Veggies + Fruit. 

It's really not that hard, but I'll share what I ate last week

because I know it seems daunting to have to figure it out and plan. 

I hate meal planning, but am feeling so much better about this! 

For breakfasts my meals are super easy. 

They do not need to be complicated nor do I want them to be first thing in the A.M.

I usually have two different meals in mind for breakfast. 

Eggs (about 3) with a veggie or two and a little bit of fruit, like the first photo. 

I used coconut to cook the eggs and sweet potato hash because that is a healthy fat

and that is another thing you need while on this challenge 

(seriously, read the book...I cannot tell you everything you need to know)! 

The second meal is something I think is absolutely delicious. 

It's called morning mix and is actually a recipe from the book. 

Another reason to check out the book: recipes in the back! So easy! 

Recipe for Sweet Potato Hash:

Chop of however many sweet potatoes you think you'll eat. 

(I chop up about four for my husband and I)

Put on stove, cooking with coconut oil. 

Add in 1/2 tbsp paprika (LOVE this stuff!), 1 tsp oregano,

1/2 tbsp cinnamon,  salt + pepper to taste. 

Cook a bit, then cover, and cook until soft.
Ten or so minutes. 

Another great way to cook sweet potato hash is with coconut oil + olive oil + rosemary. 

I actually like that way better! 

Recipe for Morning Mix

Brown ground beef or turkey (we eat turkey here!) 

Dice an apple. Throw it in with meat.

Add 1/8 tsp each of cinnamon + nutmeg. 

Stir and then put a lid of it and let it simmer a bit until apples are a bit soft. 

You could also make it for dinner. 

Next up our my lunches + dinner ideas. 

Top Left: Deconstructed pizza

Ground beef with 1/2 tsp each of rosemary and oregano. 

Top with tomatoes, zucchini, mushrooms. 

Stir in some baby spinach. 

For dressing I believe I used a little of olive oil. 

Top Right: Chicken with salsa (in the crockpot!!!)

Chicken cooked with a can of compliant whole30 salsa. 

Cooked for about 3-4 hours, I believe.

Put it over a bed of baby spinach with a side of carrots.

Second Row, Left: Chicken wraps.

Leftover chicken and salsa in lettuce wraps with avocado + baby tomatoes. 

Side of carrots + mushrooms. 

Second Row, Right: Lemon Chicken cooked on the grill (thanks hubby!)

A side of sweet potatoes, cooked with rosemary. 

Red pepper + broccoli. 

Third Row, Left: Turkey and Broccoli. 

Ground turkey with coconut oil and 1/8 tsp of cinnamon. 

Add in red bell pepper, carrots, and broccoli. 

Serve on a bed of baby spinach.
Sprinkle with sesame seeds. 

Add orange slices on top. 

Third Row, Right: Cashew Chicken. 

You can find the recipe here on the Whole30recipes Instagram. 

It was delicious, but took some work! 

Bottom, Left: Turkey burger grilled up by husband.

Topped with some veggies, compliant mustard and wrapped in lettuce. 

Also more veggies on the side.

Bottom, Right: Mahi Mahi grilled by my husband (he's been good to me! ;)

Sweet potatoes cooked with rosemary.
Homemade guac + homemade salsa. 

He made this whole meal and I was very happy to gobble it up! 

Also, juice in the wine glasses because alcohol is a no-no during the whole30 as well. 

Lastly, here are some of the snacks I ate. 

You're suppose to try and not snack in between meals,

but the first week is all about figuring out how much food your body really needs. 

Also, sometimes you just have to snack and as breastfeeding mama I'm gonna eat when I'm hungry. 

Mostly, no explanation needed, but if you're looking for good snacks for the whole30,
I completely recommend Izzie sparkling waters (apple is my favorite)
and Lara bars (banana bread is like eating actually banana bread)!
Also, since whole30 is a no sugar, no dairy challenge,
there's nothing in the Starbucks cup but coffee.
We mostly cold brew ours at home using the pioneer woman's cold brew recipe,
without adding the sweet stuff, of course!

So, there you have it, my first week of the whole30 challenge. 

I ate variations of these meals throughout the week. 

So, now you may be wondering how much first week went. 

Or maybe you're ready for me to shut up, but if it's the former, then read on! 

I expected the first week to suck. I expected to give up. 

I expected to give in to Starbucks and stuff my face with chocolate and ice cream. 

But I didn't and it was partly because I felt very motivated, 

a lot because I had support from my husband, 

and more so because it just wasn't that difficult for me! 

As the days passed I didn't want Starbucks, or chocolate, or ice cream. 

I still don't and that makes me pretty dang happy! 

It also makes me happy that I didn't feel like I needed coffee everyday, 

that I wasn't as tired and that my mood has been way better!
Funny how food can affect such things! 

For me the hard part was drinking my coffee black. 

Not my favorite, but worth it and I don't feel sick after having my coffee, 

like I ALWAYS did after Starbucks. 

Meal planning was a bit hard at first, but quickly that became easy. 

Going to the store every single day last week + meal prepping took a lot of time. 

Still worth it and I know we've gotten the hang of that this week! 

That's all I really have to say about the whole30 right now. 

I could go and on, but this is already a book in itself. 

Thinking about doing the whole30? Have questions? 

Go ahead and ask! I'll try to answer to the best that I can.