With January comes getting my life back on track including my diet and exercise regime (mama needs to work off all those christmas cookies and champagne). As many of you know every January I try to do whole30 – 30 days of no sugar, no dairy, no grains, no legumes, no soy, and no alcohol. I’ve only ever done the entire 30 days successfully once, that was when I did it in 2017 – it was a long month and it was difficult, especially because my birthday is in January (lol that dinner was FUN, I was literally miserable, poor Danny). This year I’m going to go easy on myself and bend the rules a bit. I don’t eat as much meat anymore so I’ve allowed soy (in moderation) and things like chickpeas and black beans. When I’ve done it in the past I’d have grilled chicken with veggies a lot or add chicken to salads so in lieu of that would be the chickpeas or black beans etc. I’m also going to take a couple day break for my birthday because I’m never not drinking or eating cake on my birthday AGAIN!! With all that said, this is what I bought this year:

VEGGIES:
spaghetti squash (self explanatory)
cherry tomatoes (salads, snack, in sautéed veggies)
zucchini (roasted as a side, spiralled as “pasta”)
garlic
onions
yams (add them to sautéed veggies each morning, or make into “hash brown” with an avo and poached egg, or roasted as side)
jicama (raw with hot sauce, salt and lime as snack)
iceberg lettuce
mini cucumbers
celery (for soups)
carrots
red and yellow peppers
cauliflower (great to make cauli rice or use in “butter chicken”)
mushrooms
canned diced tomatoes

FRUIT:
apple pears
pineapple (great with the coconut yogurt because it’s very sweet)
strawberries
avocado
bananas
mango (for poké bowls or salads)

PROTEIN:
organic eggs
canned chunk tuna
frozen or fresh tuna
frozen or fresh salmon
canned chick peas (technically not allowed)
canned black beans (technically not allowed)

“DAIRY”:
almond milk
coconut yogurt

MISC.:
coconut aminos (soy sauce substitute)
no sugar added pasta sauce
cashews (great as snack, on fruit and yogurt, used to make sauces or breading)
franks hot sauce (insert slogan)
balsamic vinegar (boil down and drizzle on veggies, use in salad dressings)
dijon mustard (as dip or in salad dressings)
RX bars (just not the peanut ones)
tea (helps with cravings)
shredded unsweetened coconut
almond butter (amazing snack with apples or banana)

I think this is everything! Obviously if you want to make a specific recipe you may need to pick up any extra spices etc.

BREAKFAST:
When I’ve done it in the past I basically had sautéed veggies with avocado and an egg almost every day for breakfast. If I ever wanted a sweet breakfast I would either have coconut yogurt with fruit and cashews, or make the dreaded banana egg scramble (lol Danny thinks this is disgusting but I LOVE it). It’s basically one egg scrambled with mushed up banana, topped with chopped apple, almond butter, shredded coconut and almond milk – SO GOOD.

LUNCH:
Lunch for me has always been the most difficult. Usually I’m so busy and dread having to get creative and make something. In a perfect world I would just have leftovers from dinner the night before but if there are none I would usually do a quick chopped salad (used to add sliced turkey meat but may sub for sautéed chick peas instead), also greek salad is quick and easy. Basically I’m banking on having leftovers (soups etc.)

DINNER:
Dinner for me is my favourite, I have time to put effort into it. My absolute favourite is Danny and I’s whole30 poké bowls – seriously TO DIE FOR, tastes better than any bowl from a sushi place. If I do feel like having chicken my absolute favourite is coconut chicken with a side of yam fries – ugh so good, it was always our weekend meal. You can also make delish “butter chicken” with zero butter, kale and italian sausage soup, spaghetti squash with meatballs and cashew parmesan, seriously so many options!! I’m going to post on IG stories what I have each night because I honestly can’t think go them/type them all.

BENEFITS:
Aside from shedding a couple holiday lbs, whole30 really helps me mentally. I believe the main culprits of me having ‘down’ days are alcohol (fml) and sugar so I do think if I were to just cut those out I may get the same mental result. I just find throughout the 30 days I’m happier, sleep better, am more focused, have more energy and just generally live a better life.

Whole30 sounds a lot more difficult than it actually is. It’s really all in your mind and as soon as you get into a groove you’ll be killing it. I would definitely try to do it with a friend so you can be accountable to each other. Also pick up some yummy flavoured tea to sip throughout the day and help curb cravings. If you guys have any questions leave me a comment and I’ll be happy to help! I should also say that I’m not a doctor or nutritionist, I just know a lot of you are interested whenever I do this and I love to share all the info I can with you guys.

xx
Tessa