Even though New Year’s Day was last Thursday, I feel like it was kind of hard to start making changes in the middle of the week. I decided to take the last few days of the holiday break to enjoy myself and start things fresh on Monday. I try not to go into “self-sabotage mode”before I make a shift back to my healthier ways but sometimes it’s nice to just enjoy things that you won’t have for while. We also had to get rid rid of all the junk we had in our apartment. (I’m being a little dramatic when I say “all the junk”- it was really like 2 brownies that my mom sent home with us last week and a few of the paleo treats that I had left over). We also drank wine all weekend, because why not?
Today is day 1 that we are doing the Whole30. I have never done this before although I have come close to eating almost completely paleo for about 6 months now. Rob is coming along for the ride because he typically eats what I make- plus I convinced him that there would be a ton of benefits! I think the hardest part will be not being able to have a glass of wine when we want, but its only for 30 days. It will also be good to go back to avoiding processed food and sugar, which we have gradually slipped away from over the holidays.
I’m planning to share some updates about how it’s going, and then if I make it until the end I’ll post a review. (I’m not saying I don’t think I can make it, I just may realize that I don’t need to go 100% and can just stick with my standard paleo lifestyle which has been working well for me). I think this will be a good challenge to force me to find ways to eat whole foods without baking paleo treats. It sounds like the people who have tried the whole30 experience a lot of benefits so I am excited to see how I feel at the end of it!
So this weekend as I said, there was a lot of wine. I also had to get another Starbucks because of all the gift cards I have there. (I’m happy drinking black coffee at home and typically just go to Starbucks for treats). We also made some pizza, and said goodbye to cheese for awhile. We don’t even eat cheese very often, but something about knowing you won’t have it again for a bit makes you want to enjoy it one last time!
Other than savoring the food and drinks that I’ll be giving up for 30 days, I also tried to get super organized this weekend to prepare for going back to work. I have only worked one day since December 17th and that was at my office (not at school). Its going to be intense getting back into the swing of things! I am planning a lower mileage week of running while adding in a workout or two, so hopefully the lower mileage will help me feel like I have a little more time in the mornings as I adjust both to going back to work and trying to figure out whole30 friendly breakfasts. (I’m trying to not do smoothies since whole30 wants you to eat your meals rather than drink them). This may be tricky for me as I usually eat two breakfasts when I workout in the morning.
I have no idea how I fell so behind with blogging this week since I expected to be so caught up after all that time off from work. But like I said I kept very busy when I was off. I don’t even know what I did the whole time but I was not bored at all, that’s for sure! Sunday was spent meal prepping, getting my nails done, getting a haircut (its been like 9 months…), and blogging. Oh and making pizza and drinking wine.
Fresh starts are nice. I am sort of starting my half-marathon training this week (more like a base-building phase of training) plus starting the whole30. And it will be my first day tracking everything in my Believe journal. The holidays were great, but I think I am ready to focus on my health and get my life back to normal! I appreciate having a regular schedule and somehow I think all the holidays have just really thrown me off.
After all the talk of 2015 goals, its time to get started on them! So far I have planked every day since New Years, but I haven’t started reading any books yet.
Have you already started working towards your New Years resolutions/goals or are you starting today?
If you were off from work over the holidays how do you feel about going back?
Do you typically go into “self-sabatoge mode” in the days leading up to a new diet/health plan/etc?
Thanks Katie for hosting the #MIMM link-up!
Since you do a lot of food prep already the whole30 will seem really manageable, as the prep is one of the toughest things about it I think! I’m curious to see how Rob takes to it too 🙂
That is what I hope- but I think the hardest area will be snacks…or really just eating enough at meals so that I don’t need snacks!
My son does not want to go back to school! He got so used to the two weeks off plus being away that he has been complaining all weekend about having to get up and go this morning! I don’t blame him , I remember the back to school feeling as well. I thrive from routine so I am up and good to go.
Last night I totally had the back to school blues. And now we are expecting bad weather this week which will make it even harder to get back into the swing of things!
I’ve thought about doing the Whole 30 before. I’m interested to read how it goes. Good luck! Also, love the nail polish color you chose. Have a great Monday!
Thanks! Let me know if you have any questions about the whole30. I dont think it will be too hard but I also dont think I will want to do it for more than 30 days:)
Did you update your site?! It looks great!
I want to hear all about the Whole30. I am cutting out unnatural sugars from my diet starting today but am not following a program, just doing it on my own. I would be curious to see if Whole 30 would work for my lifestyle. Cheese would be hard to give-up.
Have a great day back at work….I feel like I need a vacation after a vacation.
Yes, I changed the theme last night! Thanks!
Cutting sugar is a great start. Really, for me the whole30 is just basically cutting sugar and alcohol. Might as well go all out and call it a whole30 to hold me accountable for 30 days!
I know what you mean about needing a vacation after a vacation!
I have semi started but like you we finished off our really good wine and the last of our treats last night, so today we start for real. I did Whole 30 right before Christmas I made it twenty days in and then the treats started rolling in. I did notice a huge difference though, good luck!
Thanks! Hopefully I will make it the whole way though to get the full benefit. It should be a little easier this month without holiday treats everywhere!
It is going to be rough going back, to an extent, but only because we are changing up some things at work, not because I wasn’t there over the holidays. And yeah, having them in the middle of the week was not the best. I have a feeling that Whole 30 would be hard for me from the no sweets angle…. they are kinda my jam!
Yea Im not looking forward to not having any sweets for 30 days! I dont even eat sugar every day but most nights I have some kind of baked treat…and its gonna be weird to break out of that habit.
I could never do Whole 30. No sweets, cheese, or wine those are basically my main food groups haha not mention I’m a vegetarian. More power to you! I can’t wait to hear about your experience. Today is my first day back at work and I am not excited about it at all!
Yea it doesnt sound like the whole30 would be for you at all! Since I eat alot of meat and vegetables already it shouldnt be too hard of a transition. But Im not excited to give up wine for 30 days!
First, the site looks great! Good luck with Whole30 – I’ll be interested to follow along! Last year this time I did a sugar detox… And while I think it was overall a good experience, at the end of the day I learned that how I ate suited me just fine for what I needed to do! Experimentation is the best way to figure out what works!
Thanks! I have a feeling I will find something similar…I know that what I have been doing works pretty well for me, but I do need to cut out all the junk and I figured this would be a good jumpstart!
Your site looks great–love the look!
Hats off to you for giving this a go. I know I am not willing to give up dairy or wine, so I won’t even contemplate something like this. But I’m anxious to see how it goes for you–I’m sure you’ll have some great recipes to try.
Sidenote–we drink Hands all the time!
Thank you! I don’t do dairy nearly as much as I used to…its really the wine that I will miss. And baked treats on occasion. But Im sure the 30 days will go by quickly!
I totally hear you! It’s taking me a little time to get back into the swing of things and my workouts have been super light. I thought it would be back to normal after the New Year’s celebrations, but so not the case. Today is the day though!
Yes, today is the day! Hopefully our routines will get back to normal now!
I think the Whole30 is great, good luck with it! I have already started on my 2015 goals by pushing myself out of my comfort zone and doing things I wouldn’t normally do. It’s refreshing for sure!
That’s awesome- Good for you!
Goodluck reaching your 30 day challenge. I don’t know if I could go without wine. And I love cheese. It’s the perfect combination:)
Yes it really is! But I think I went a little overboard on both other the holidays and can use a break from it:)
I hadn’t started working towards my goals until today. I felt like you, start fresh on Monday. My vacation is over and it’s back to my normal schedule. Since I don’t feel like it’s the holidays anymore, I can get back on track.
Its much easier to work towards goals when back in a regular routine I think. I hope this week goes well for you!
Good luck with the Whole30!! I give you a lot of credit. I have done paleo on and off, but when I tried to stick to it long term I craved oats, yogurt, cheese. I am curious to read your review at the end! I am sure having your husband along for the ride will be so helpful 🙂
Thanks! Honestly I don’t know if my husband will be a help at all or even stick with it the whole time:)
Based on how organized your food prep is, you’re going to knock whole30 outta the park!
Thanks! I hope so!
I have never done the Whole 30 but definitely intrigued. To be honest, I’m not sure I could do it :/ Good luck!
Im sure you could if you really wanted to! I havent had the motivation to try it until now. Plus it helps that I dont have any traveling or events this month.
I completely agree that the Holiday season throws us off a little bit. I was still working, but having days off in the middle of the week made what day of the week it was confusing! It is a bit of a relief to have things return to normal.
I am excited to follow your Whole30 journey!
Thanks! It really feels weird to have a holiday in the middle of the week. Monday seemed like a more natural start for me!
I usually sabotage and get rid of all the holiday treats by eating way too many – but this year we were good and just tossed them! Excited to hear about your Whole30 experience, I’m working on phasing out processed foods in favor of real meals.
Good for you! We had some that we threw out, but we also allowed ourselves to eat whatever of it we wanted:) And good luck with phasing out processed foods!
Hear, hear! Thank goodness for fresh starts. They feel good. I’m sad for you about the no wine thing, though. That would be the toughest for me as I have umm… six kids. He he.
Oh wow that would be really tough! I know I will miss the wine but I also know its just 30 days.
I’m definitely starting my new year’s goals today as well. It just didn’t seem right to start something new mid-week and while we were both still on vacation. I’m not doing any specific nutrition plan this month, but my partner is (starting today), so of course we made blue cheese burgers last night 🙂
Your nails look nice! Good luck back at work today!
p.s. I really like the new streamlined layout.
Thank you!
Thanks! I feel like it makes sense to have one last “cheat” before getting on a health plan. Now I feel like I had my fix for awhile and hopefully I can make it a month without wine, cheese, or sweets!
Going back to work was tough today, but it felt good to be back in a routine. It is also nice to feel more like myself now that I am back to my normal eating. I can’t wait to hear about your 30 days!
While I am excited to be back in a routine, we are expecting snow tonight and if there is a delay/school closing tomorrow it will throw everything off again!
I hear you on the holidays throwing you off! While I’m not thrilled to return to the 5 day workweek, I thrive off of a routine, so it’s kind of nice 🙂
I absolutely used to go into self-sabotage mode before starting a new diet! I think starting something in the middle of the week is much harder as well. Guess we figured out what Mondays are good for 😉 I’m interested to see how your Whole 30 goes!
Its always nice to get back to a routine, plus I feel like its easier to implement a new plan when you’re following a regular schedule!
Yay for Whole30! You’ll do great! One of my favorite post workout meals are roasted sweet potatoes and apples topped with cinnamon and sunbutter so good and a great source of carbs to refuel!
Oh wow that sounds really good! I will definitely need to give that a try!
I’m definitely ready to get back to a routine, even though that means lots of work hours and potential stress. I’m hoping the stress isn’t too bad though since the holidays are over! I’m sure you’ll feel great after the Whole30 challenge; my husband and I basically ate like that for six months a couple years ago and I’ve never felt better! My skin was never clearer either…
Im really hoping I notice a lot of benefits from the whole30! Im also hoping this ends up being a low-stress week:)
I’m with you, I ate a lot of dessert and drank a lot of wine over the holidays! I decided that I’m taking a couple of weeks off from drinking. Even though I never really overdid it in one day in particular with alcohol, I just feel like I drank way to many days in a row haha. I always feel so great when I get back to super clean eating – it’s almost instantaneous!
I also feel like my time off was really busy! Between traveling to the east coast to be with family, then my family coming out to Cali over New Year’s week, I was entertaining and being hosted a whole lot. On Sunday night I was all, “Wow, I can’t believe that 2 weeks off is already over!!” Crazy how that happens right? 🙂
That’s exactly how I felt about the drinking- too many days in a row! And it can definitely be exhausting to do alot of traveling and have visitors- even though its fun sometimes I feel like I need a vacation after my vacation!
I’ve been thinking about looking into the Whole30. I’m wanting to eat ‘cleaner’ and I keep seeing more and more about this. I look forward to following you on your journey!
You should definitely read “It starts with food”! It has a lot of great info to get you started and explains the reasoning behind it really well.