Raise your hand if something relating to improved health was part of your New Year’s Resolution. We didn’t intentionally start 2018 with this in mind. Although, there was talk of being more healthy and losing weight before our Disney Cruise this summer (Alaska, baby!). Then, I stumbled upon the Nom Nom Paleo Site and decided to read up on what exactly it means to be Paleo. And now we’re going Whole30.
I have seen the term Paleo tossed around a lot on Pinterest, but I wasn’t exactly sure what it meant. Apparently, it is sometimes called “the caveman diet” but really, it’s about returning to our hunter-gather roots. Michele Tam, the author of Nom Nom Paleo is going Whole30 for the month of January, so I started to reading more. And, I realized this is exactly what we need to do to re-ground our eating habits.
Going Whole30: the Decision
I spent several hours reading up on what going Whole30 means. All of the rules are posted right on their website. It’s an elimination diet with a fair amount of science to back it up. I began by reading the Whole30 website and buying their book, It Starts with Food. Then I started to talk it over with my husband who is type 2 diabetic and “off the wagon.” I printed the 4 pages of “rules” and handed it to him with the caveat, “We can still drink coffee” (both of us already drink it black). He read the rules and said, “Okay.”
“When are we doing it?” he asked.
“Umm… February?”
“I don’t want to spend the next two weeks talking about it. Let’s just start today.”
“We’re not ready. Besides, we have a party tomorrow.”
After a little more discussion, we decided to begin Monday. Monday was Martin Luther King Day, so I would be able to go grocery shopping to get some things we would need to begin.
Going Whole30 with Kids
Our kids are kind of picky eaters. They like “kid food.” Probably their favorite food is my Homemade “Instant” Mac and Cheese. But, we decided that this was something that they needed to participate in as well.
We broke it to Sunshine as soon as we decided to start Monday. “But that means I won’t be able to have peanut butter sandwiches.” “Right.” “No milk? No yogurt? No granola bars? No toast!” “Right.” “Why are we doing this?!”
I explained that we all needed a sort of food reset. She didn’t seem convinced, but eventually we just had to put the parent stamp on it: you don’t really have a choice because this is what we are doing. I also told her that she could go grocery shopping with me and pick out foods for lunches and snacks that would be Whole30 compliant. She’s settling in to the idea.
We did allow as the kids could finish up the things we already have. We are not going to waste food like milk, cheese and yogurt. They could finish the open peanut butter (it was pretty nearly gone anyway) and the bread that I just purchased on Thursday. But, when it’s gone, we are not going to open anything new or buy replacements.
Rethinking What We Put in Our Mouths
So, for the next month, we are going Whole30. We are going to choose to eat only whole, unprocessed food without grains, legumes and dairy. I’m going to make my own mayo. I’m going to experiment with new Paleo-Whole30 recipes. Fortunately, smoking foods is still on the menu, so that recipe for Smoked Tri tip is still a go for Friday. And, we have had some success with Whole30 Chicken Nuggets.
And, we’ll give weekly updates along with our discoveries. Let us know if you are going Whole30 or tips you might have for doing it with kids. We would love to hear about your experiences too.
PS. This post may contain affiliate links. When you click the link and make a purchase through the link, we make a little money, this helps to keep The Semiconservative Granola Girl going. Thank you for your support.
