Disclaimer: It's safe to say that I am not a Whole30 expert. We are doing Whole30 for very specific reasons and we may or may not be doing it 100% accurate to what some call "Whole30 Approved."
Some people wonder why we are doing it at all, because our diet already is closely aligned to what Whole30 is. While this is true -- and this is also what makes it pretty easy for us to do a Whole30 -- we are still giving up some specific foods.
My husband and my daughter are doing the Whole30, because I already eat a certain way since I have been treating SIBO (small intestinal bacterial overgrowth).
My daughter has asthma and lately it has been really chronic. Since cold and flu season is fast approaching, we decided it was a great time to do the Whole30 to boost her immune system and hopefully break the inflammatory cycle.
Sugar depletes the immune system and is inflammatory to the body, so we feel really good about completely avoiding processed sugars for a month.
But.. you won't find me constantly googling to see if something is Whole30 safe, which is why I can't guarantee that all the foods I post about are "Whole30 approved." More than likely, they probably are.
To stock up and get ready for the Whole30 we bought...
- 2.5 pounds of Organic Dates (from Costco)
- Organic Coconut Oil (from Costco)
- Avocado oil (From Costco)
- Organic Pumpkin Seed Butter (from here)
- Organic Hemp Seeds (from here)
- Huge tub of Organic Spinach
- Coconut Water (our favorite is C20)
- Organic Nori Sheets (found here)
- Organic SeaSnax (found here)
- Organic Pumpkin seeds (found here)
- Organic Fruits & Veggies, in season (hello Peaches!)
- 2 dozen Organic Eggs
- Organic meats
- Coyo coconut yogurt
[ To save money I order a lot of things from Thrive Market. ]
It's really easy to get locked into the idea that if something is labeled Organic or Non-GMO, it means it is healthy to eat. Unfortunately, there are a lot of "natural" products out there that still aren't that healthy to consume, especially ongoing. Whole30 is a great way to hit the reset button and consume more fresh foods.
A lot of people do the Whole30 to help them figure out what foods are bothering them. For example, eliminating common trigger foods like soy, dairy and wheat and then adding them back to your diet after a month can help you pin point foods that may be causing digestive upset, brain fog or skin rashes (to name a few)...
So to summarize since we are already don't eat gluten and dairy, our main focus in doing the Whole30 is to eliminate:
- processed sugars
- processed foods
- legumes
- grains
We are also focusing eating a lot of anti-inflammatory foods plus foods that increase L-Glutathione in the body (for my daughter's asthma).
So for her lunch today, my daughter had:
plantains (sautéed in coconut oil), herbed turkey, nori sheets, cucumber slices, cherry tomatoes. For something sweet: dates with hemp seeds and grapes.
These are all foods she is used eating, BUT often for a treat she would have organic gummies (while organic, it is is processed and also contains sugar). To replace that, she had dates with hemp seeds.
And in the crock pot for dinner....
pork roast with potatoes, onions, garlic, peppers and carrots.
So this is how are doing the Whole30. Is it completely accurate? Not sure, but we also don't care. We are Whole30 inspired and we are using it to benefit specific health conditions...... and that's good enough for us.
Have you done the Whole30? let us know how you did it and what you thought!
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