Whole30 Week 3 Review

Another week down. Here are the details…

Overall review

To be COMPLETELY honest with you, this week was hard for me. Not because I didn’t like the food I was eating or meals I had prepared, but because life just felt kind of stressful this week. Our little girl is teething so sleep is rough and all I crave is a stinkin’ donut. Why? I don’t even really like donuts! I’ve never really been a donut girl but…who knows. Maybe I can just blame it on the pregnancy??? For Logan however, he’s feeling GREAT!

How is our energy?

Logan: He reports still having great energy levels both at work and at home. He says he has loved seeing the non-scale victory of more energy with the good foods we are eating. He can tell his body is adjusting and it’s for the better.

Shanell: For me, my energy level hasn’t really improved. In fact I’ve been feeling exhausted. I overworked my legs at the gym the other day so I think I was a little pooped from trying to “rest and heal”. I’m not really that great at just “resting”. My rest day consisted of cleaning the whole house and making a huge “give to the thrift store” pile. It felt great to purge. So..I guess I DID have some energy after all. BUT when it came night-time…yeah, I was a goner.

Have we been bored with the food options?

Logan: No, not really. In fact the other day he said, “You know, I don’t really miss eating dairy as much as I thought I would. I actually don’t miss it that much at all.” Nice. Loved hearing that. He’s loving all the different meals and enjoys trying new things.

Shanell: No. I’m not bored at all. Oh wait…DONUTS. Yeah, that’s all. It’s not that I don’t love the food I’m eating, like I said before, it’s just that I want a super sugary chocolate covered donut. The end. We have YET to have the same dinner meal twice. So I’d say we’re doing pretty darn good at having a variety of different food options. 🙂

Here’s a small sample of some of the yummy things we’ve eaten this week.

How has it affected our mood?

Logan: He is feeling GREAT. He even told me that he’s not really looking forward to going back to “normal food” because he just feels so good. I quickly reminded him that we don’t HAVE to go back to eating the way we did, in fact it’s encouraged to KEEP eating the way we’re eating. He’s seriously rocking this challenge I’d have to say. I’m so proud of him.

Shanell: This was me last week.

I’ve actually seen a big improvement in my mood in comparison to last week. I’m not as impatient, irritable or grumpy. I’m able to calmly explain answers for all of the “why” questions I constantly get from my 3 year old, and with my 1 year old, I just let her throw her tantrum and be done with it. It’s kind of refreshing. I feel like a nice mom. Ha. I’ve also been able to accomplish my long lists of “to-do’s” during the day, which always makes me happy.

Yeah…last Monday was great. Tuesday…I think after so many tantrums, toilet happenings, and bulk bags of Almonds spilling all over the floor I just lost it. My mood…it wasn’t so good this week. I think honestly it was because I was so tired, and my knee hurt, and I, well I just kept thinking about the donut. Ha. After I took a nap on Thursday I was SOOO much better. Thank goodness. Poor kids, they took one for the team.

Do we still crave certain foods?

Logan: He is doing amazing. We’ve made a couple of yummy frozen treats to satisfy our sweet tooth, but other then that Logan says he just “loves that he doesn’t have to feel guilty about eating as much as he wants” (of the approved things of course).

Shanell: How many times do I need to say it? Donut.

How’s the budget going?

Logan: The only extra thing he had to buy this week was a green salad from work to go with his lunch. That’s it. So good.

Shanell: We have done great at sticking to the budget. Yes, it’s more expensive, but it’s so worth it. We stayed under this month in our “Grocery” budget and stayed WAY under in our “Restaurant” budget. I think that’s a success!

Has the meal prepping and planning been overwhelming?

Logan: He keeps my head on straight, I’ll just say that. He’s been so good at just going with the flow of what I’ve decided to make for dinner. He’s always grateful and usually very pleased. It helps me not feel so stressed out about making “amazing meals”.

Shanell: I still have to say that meal planning is the key when it comes to clean eating! I know I’ve said it before but it makes SUCH a difference. I strayed a little from the plan this week but felt totally good about it and still ate completely clean. Meal prepping makes dinner time so much less stressful, plus it quickens things up a bit so you don’t have to spend all night in the kitchen getting dinner ready while your 1 year old clings to your legs begging and crying for attention. No fun. No fun at all. The less time in the kitchen the better. Meal prep saved me over and over again.

So far…do we think it’s worth it?

Logan: Yep. He says that we might need to just up our grocery budget a bit so we can keep eating the way we have been eating. I’m down with that. He loves it and has been feeling great. His pants are super loose around the waist and he’s able to easily buckle his belt on the smallest hole. Lucky duck…my belly just keeps growing. But I guess that’s a good thing when you’re growing a baby.

Shanell: Also yes. I still think it’s worth it. Like I said this week was a little more rough for me but that’s ok. I still believe that it is helping. I’ve seen GREAT improvement in my skin/acne, as well as my ability to come up with ways to make old recipes “clean”. That in itself has made it worth it for me. My way of thinking about food is changing. Which…is the whole purpose of the Whole30 Program. So yes, it’s worth it.

Hopefully this week I stay sane and healthy. Until next time! 🙂

XOXO-Shanell

See our week 1 review HERE.

See our week 2 review HERE.