Welp, our official Whole 30 month ended on Tuesday so I thought I’d present some final thoughts and talk about of few of my favorite products that I haven’t mentioned.
Also, I will list the rest of our dinners here so you can have ALL the recipes.
Dinners
This first one is not W30 approved (but it’s really close) and it was hella pretty so I’m posting it anyway.
2. Whole 30 Chili: This one was pretty good. The carrots and sweet potatoes added a good texture variation. And TBH, I like a very lightly beany chili anyway so no beans was fine. I did shred some cheese on it b/c it was Wednesday’s dinner but IMO, it didn’t add much.
3. Walnut-crusted Chicken Piccata on Zoodles: This recipe was so stinkin’ good, we made it twice within a week. (And it’s one of the only ones I’ve taken a picture of lately). The walnuts need no binder to stick to the chicken since their natural oils do the work! Pro tip: don’t overcook/burn the walnuts though or it’s not good. Also, saute the zoodles just a couple minutes, they are easy to overcook. Then they just get mushy.
4. Turkey Sloppy Joe Stuffed Sweet Potatoes: This was good BUT it wasn’t as sloppy Joe-esque as I had been hoping. I think this may be because traditional Sloppy Joes really do rely on the sweetness. That being said, it was still an enjoyable filling (though the sweet potato could have had some butter before the meat was added).
5. Caramelized Onion Stuffed Burgers: The patties themselves were really good. The caramelized onion adds a nice tangy sweetness to the meat. But here’s my main takeaway —
Lettuce wrap burgers just don’t work. The same problem that makes a messy burger on a bun occurs on a lettuce wrap. IT’S MESSY AF. That bein said, I am really so ambivalent about hamburger buns (except pretzel buns) that I just generally am not interested in burgers.
That being said, I do fine cutting them with a knife and fork, but to really get the “burger experience” from a bunless burger, you almost need to chop the burger up and put it on a salad. I have an intention to try these “burger bowls” sometime soon.
Some Whole 30 Month Takeaways
In no particular order, here are some things I’ve learned during this month
- I don’t miss/crave cheese as a food group nearly as much as I thought I would. Though, if I find myself thinking about something like Mac’n’cheese, I def get a longing. But it goes away quickly.
- I don’t miss booze, though I miss social drinking A LOT.
- Some fresh squeezed juice, seltzer or Hints now feel like “Treats” and I drink a lot more plain water.
- The higher proportion of veggies has done great things for my digestive system.
- We may have killed Eric by feeding him more veggies –okay not really but when we took out things he knew he was allergic to & his stomach still hurt, he decided to finally got to the doctor to address the underlying problem. Yay! (for the addressing, not for the problem…duh).
- I miss the flavor of butter more than I thought I would. Can’t wait to slather veggies or potatoes in it again.
- I don’t actually like steamed broccoli unless it’s covered in the aforementioned butter (or cheese).
- I am DEFINITELY looking forward to A New Yorker everything bagel (lox, cream cheese, tomato, onion, capers).
- Other stuff we cut like grains, beans, & sugar, I hardly miss at all…except maybe quinoa and a tofu dish once in a while.
- I find I am eating a lot less, just b/c it takes less for me to feel full.
- And I give Jonathan 100 points because when I get hungry it’s like “oh hey, you should probably refuel” not “If you don’t put food in me this instant I’m going to kill everyone in the room and then kill myself!” as he said it would be. Also, I haven’t gotten light-headed or the shakes from not eating often enough this entire time (and seriously, I could get that only a few hours after food if my food was wrong).
- I like W30 condiments better.
- Mayo isn’t that hard to make. My 3rd time came out perfect with NO drama or excessive splashing. The tip is drizzling the oil SLOWLLLLLY.
- You. Can. Find. Food. Joy. On. This. Diet. Trust me. We didn’t suffer. We didn’t die. And best of all, we weren’t miserable for a month!
Ok. I think that’s all my insights for now. Oh and also, I lost at least 8lbs, probably more like 10. Which, ya know, doesn’t hurt.
Fave Whole 30 Products
Next, I’m going to list some of my fave products during this time. Most of the snacky things we got at Costco of all places…frickin’ love Costco.
- Cauliflower Bites – Whole 30 acceptable (Like 3 ingredients) and they are the shit. They should be way unhealthier for how freaking good they are.
2. Waterloo Seltzer – the most “Whole 30” approved seltzer. They also have a slightly more “real” flavor of the fruit than some others though TBH we drank a lot of La Croix and generic as well.
3. Larabars – I had forgotten how good these bars are. Not all of them are W30 approved (if they have chocolate or peanuts/peanut butter they are right out). But they have a ton of great w30 flavors (Lemon, Cinnamon Raisin, Coconut Cream/Blueberry/Cherry Pie/Pecan Pie/Apple pie). Most of the mass is dates and almonds.
They work as a sweet dessert after dinner or a between meal snack (or sometimes for me, a whole meal…oops). I am a self professed “hater of bars” but, I’ll make an exception for these. You know what they have that no other bar I’ve ever tried does? They are not dry, sweetened cardboard. Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk!
Though….I still haven’t found the carrot cake ones yet in stores but I want to try them real bad. So if you see them…lemme know!
4. Pure Layered Fruit Bars (Or any fruit leather). Talk about hitting that craving for sweet without over doing it. I forgot to note the calories here, but essentially these are just pressed fruit pulp. No added sugar or any of that crap.
5. Thai Kitchen Organic Coconut Milk Unsweetened – Yeah…this stuff calls itself “coconut milk” but it is straight up coconut cream. It has the consistency of yogurt and a delightfully mild coconut flavor. It works great in sauces/dishes, as creamer coffee or black tea, or on top of berries for a parfait. Someone even suggested freezing the berries to mash them up with this and make “Ice cream”. Maybe when it’s warmer! We got these at Costco but I’m sure you can find them elsewhere.
6. No-grain granola: Putting this one last because it’s not “technically” 100% whole 30 approved since it uses Monkfruit or Coconut sugar as a sweetener. (Can’t remember which, we 2 no-grain granolas and each had one of the above).
However, this stuff made of mostly almonds and coconut flakes adds a really nice crunch to parfaits or tastes great with Almond or coconut milk. Some days, a berry parfait with this stuff was my whole breakfast. It seemed to give me enough energy and fill me up until lunch (though I don’t move either so…take this with a grain of salt).
So, that’s basically all I’ve got for you today. On the whole (har har har), I’d say this Whole 30 month was a pretty big success. We learned some stuff about ourselves and how to eat healthier in general. We found some new favorite products and realized which of our old ones were particularly important.
Hopefully, we have established some new habits that are better than our old ones (Like not ordering takeout/door dash for lunch every day –Eric! 😉 ). I probably won’t be blogging as frequently, but I may check back in a month or so to see if any of these changes have stuck.
And, to all of you who are thinking of trying it, I’d say–just do it! Don’t be afraid, I believe in you. It’s only a month, right?
