Whole30: 20 Days In!

20 days in to Whole30 and I gotta say...I'm still LOVING it!  Yesterday, day 19, was my first struggle day where I was craving some good ole carb-beans-cheese Mexican food, but I stayed strong with a little help from my friends and am feeling much better today!

How did I stay strong?  I focused on all the GOOD that has come from these last 20 days.

• Down 6 pounds total
• No more bloating
• More energy than the first 10 days
• Easier to fall asleep
• Healthier skin (no more breakouts!)
• Feeling stronger overall
• Even more new foods I'm loving
• Cooking is getting faster and easier
• Our grocery bill has been just around $100 a week

All the good FAR outweighs the one night of cravings, and is so worth it to finish these last 10 days strong!!

So what's been on the meal plan?

Breakfast is still my favorite meal of the day!  Whether I'm in a hurry and quickly throw together some hashbrowns and eggs or I've got a bit more time to try something fancy, I'm definitely at my most creative in the morning.  A few days a week I do a "kitchen sink scramble", grabbing whatever I've got leftover in my fridge and making it in to a yummy omelette.  One morning when I knew I had more time I broke out my cast iron skillet and made my first ever (and SUPER delicious) egg, pesto, red pepper and squash frittata!  LOTS of variety, and LOTS of balance!

To save on time (and keep the budget low) lunches have consisted of lots of leftovers and salads.  I pick one dressing a week to make (last week was the raspberry vinaigrette) and add whatever fruits/veggies I feel like that day on top.  I'm still wanting a small snack between meals, so I grab fresh fruit, veggie sticks and dip or a Larabar when I'm on the go.

Dinner has continued to be a family affair!  My hubby and I sit down together to meal plan for the week and we've been trying to really mix it up and keep it fun.  Different proteins each night (above: chicken nuggets, bison burgers, pecan crusted salmon and curry turkey meatballs) and different veggies and sauces to play around with.

Side note - we've decided we are NOT bison people!  Too dry for us!  Those turkey curry meatballs though...amazing!

One of the most EXCITING realizations since starting Whole30 has been our LOW GROCERY BUDGET!

We honestly expected to spend more.  The plan is all fresh, quality meats, veggies and fruit...typically expensive compared to their processed food counterparts.  BUT...we eat LESS of the quality ingredients to be full and satisfied!  SO, instead of buying a frozen pizza for dinner and still being hungry an hour later and snacking on something else, we have one filling meal and are done!

Plus, because we're nervous to try and eat out and stay Whole30 compliant, we've had fun at-home date nights trying new, more time intensive meals instead of going out to dinner.  Talk about saving money (and growing our list of recipes we love in the process!!)

Our haul for 5 days of food was less than $90 one week (15 meals total) and 5 1/2 days of food (17 meals) for just $110!

My tips for staying on budget:

• PLAN AHEAD - Write out a meal plan and grocery shopping list before you go.  This has taken me about 30 minutes of planning the meals and an hour of shopping.  Then, plan things you can use for more than one meal...so if you're using pesto as a sauce for dinner one night, double the batch, buy in bulk and use the extra sauce for a meal the next day.
• MAKE IT AND FREEZE IT - I make bulk batches of sausage, sweet potatoes and chicken salad so I'll have meals for a few weeks at a time...just pull out and defrost the night before!
• SHOP THE SALES - get the fruit and veggies that are on sale that week and see what proteins you can get cheap and buy a lot and freeze it for future use
• BE WILLING TO TRY NEW THINGS - get out of that food comfort zone and try new recipes and ingredients.  For example, last night we made turkey curry meat balls with lemongrass and arrowroot...two ingredients we'd NEVER used before!

Last but not least...my workouts!  Going strong with yoga and I gotta say, this has been the BEST decision I made for my Whole30 journey.  It's keeping me centered, relieving my stress and I am feeling so STRONG.  Between the healthy foods and the challenging poses, my body is feeling longer, more flexible and leaner than ever!

10 days to go and can't wait to share my final "report"!   Have questions or interested in joining one of my upcoming groups for support on your own health and fitness journey?  Email me at shanahowellfitness@gmail.com and we'll talk!

xoxo