Day 30 & Life after Whole30

I made it! Today is Day 30, the last day of my challenge. Overall, it went very well. I spent a lot of time looking up recipes, prepping food, cooking, and doing DISHES! Cooking at home for so many meals definitely added up to many more dishwasher loads than we usually have.

Here are my takeaways:

• It was a great way to get my bad eating habits in check, which was particularly useful after the holiday season. I got in the habit of eating 3 meals a day, with little to no snacking between meals. 
• Although I didn't really FEEL different, I could tell I started to look different. My skin was clearer, my body was less bloated, and I'm sure I've lost a few pounds. 
• The composition of my diet changed from mostly carbs, to mostly protein & fat. Although tracking food/calories is discouraged on the Whole30, I (mostly) still continued to track my food at MyFitnessPal, just because it's habit for me. It was interesting to watch the change in nutrients. 
• I learned to recognize my Sugar Dragon! I have always had a sweet tooth, but cutting all sugar out for 30 days made me realize how loud it usually roars! I knew sugar is a pervasive part of the Standard American Diet (also known as SAD, haha), but reading labels really opens your eyes. I found ONE type of sugar-free bacon, and had to make my own ketchup!
• Overall, I think it is a well-designed program, with lots of information and resources. I signed up for the daily emails, which I think was a worthwhile $15 investment. I would recommend it to anyone looking to improve their diet. I will likely do another one in the future! 

What I Ate

I tried to focus on the suggest meal template of a protein, fat, and vegetables. I usually added a piece of fruit to my lunch as well. 

Breakfasts: At-work breakfasts were usually a casserole or frittata. When I started to get sick of them (after 5 days in a row!), adding the homemade balsamic ketchup made it more interesting. At home, i usually made omelettes. I ate So. Many. Eggs! This coming from a girl who used to HATE them. I did find a local vendor who make chicken sausage, many without sugar. I picked up some Chicken & Sage patties, which were delicious. 

Lunches: I've always enjoyed a nice salad at lunch. For the Whole30, I did tuna salad, spinach salad with grilled chicken, a Greek chicken salad, a buffalo chicken salad, a BLT + Avocado salad, and a salsa chicken salad. At home, my go-to meal was Applegate organic turkey hot dogs + balsamic ketchup, with homemade sweet potato chips. 

Dinners: We tried many different recipes for dinner. I used my new spiralizer to make zoodles (zucchini noodles), which we had with meatballs and shrimp scampi. We made three kinds of no-beans chili, including a white chicken chili. We did Thai red curry stir-fries, and chicken tikka masala with cauliflower. We tried a pizza spaghetti pie with spaghetti squash. We made beef stew, and chicken fajitas over cauliflower Mexican rice. I made a batch of (amazing!) salmon cakes and froze them for a quick easy option. 

Favorite Recipes

Here are some of my favorite recipes, that I plan on keeping in the rotation! I've linked back to the original source. Some of them had to be revised in order to be Whole30 compliant. 

No Bean Turkey and Sweet Potato Chili

Chocolate Chili

PaleOMG Pizza Spaghetti Pie

Shrimp Scampi

Oven Chicken Fajitas

Mexican "Rice"

Buffalo Chicken Chopped Salad

Salmon Cakes

Paleo Chicken Strips & Sweet Potato Fries

Balsamic Ketchup

Overall, it was a success! I don't plan on doing the formal reintroduction, but just seeing how I feel overall, and trying to keep eating as clean as possible. It's been a worthwhile challenge, but I'm glad it's done for now!