This January 1st, I decided to take a different approach to my annual post holiday, clean living, weight loss mission. I decided to instead make a new-year-get-healthy foodstyle commitment by doing my first Whole30®. No doubt you’ve read about the Whole30®, but in case you’ve missed the hype, the Whole30® is a a month long clean-eating, food elimination program designed to reset your metabolism, eliminate potentially inflammatory items, and reshape your relationship with food. You can google to read all about it, and pretty much every blog and magazine worth its uniodized pink himalayan salt has written about it. The Whole30® is HUGE click-bait.
I decided to give it a try because I’m having issues with rising blood sugar levels, even though I have kept a fairly consistent low-carb diet for over a decade. Something isn’t right, and before I go to the next level, I want to determine if a change in eating habits might fix the issue. Breaking down insulin resistance and combatting insulin sensitivity is a touted benefit of the Whole30® and its subsequent whole foods, no sugar, no processed foods lifestyle. Because the Whole24/7/365 is what they really should call it. Yes, the extreme eliminations last for 30 LONG days. But the tenets of the program and the elimination of “hormone-unbalancing, gut-disrupting”, inflammatory food additives and foods are designed to be a long term commitment. You learn what you can live without over the 30 day program, and you see how much better you feel, and you stick with at least some of the regime for a healthier foodstyle.
To really understand the Whole30, instead of reading the blogs, you should read It Starts With Food. I promise, you will learn more about the impact and risks of consuming sugar, dairy, certain carbs, alcohol and processed foods, and how, when and what you eat may be impacting your health. Since I am already basically low sugar, low dairy, low gluten, low “simple” carbs, but apparently at least insulin sensitive, the Hartwig’s book and the Whole30 really intrigued me. I am now looking past the nutritional labels and going through the complete ingredients list. And I’ve had to totally change how and when I eat. Starting with breakfast. Which gets us to this post. The Whole30 is my #EGGmagaddon.
First off, I learned from It Starts With Food that I have breakfast ALL wrong:
- I have to eat breakfast every day, despite that fact that I hate hate hate breakfast.
- My happy place of no food til 1 pm and then eating on & off non-stop until 10 pm is a recipe for diabetes.
- The organic protein powder breakfast smoothie I have relied on for years may be contributing to my problems.
- I have to eat my breakfast BEFORE I drink my cup of black coffee every day. My habit of coffee first, then breakfast 1-2 hours later is a no-no.
So now, I wake up and eat breakfast first. A Whole30 breakfast, which is no sugar, no dairy (no yogurt), no powders, no gluten, no grains, no peanut butter….what’s left you ask? Whole fruit, vegetables, meats, eggs. The first 3 days I literally understood what “gag me with a spoon” meant. I started a mad search for Whole30 approved breakfasts after I choked down my day 3 breakfast bowl of sweet potato, spinach and chicken breast. The only protein I can seem to stomach first thing is eggs. So. Many. Eggs.
Breakfast is definitely the cruelest meal on the Whole30. People all over the web are coming up with recipes, some of which are Whole30 compliant and some of which are not. (smoothies and sausages with any added sugar or cane syrup are NOT, which is sadly most sausages). Here are several Whole30 breakfasts I found that are mostly compliant and fairly tasty. Not awesome, but survivable. Unfortunately, because I think mine is a glucose issue, I am avoiding those options that rely heavily on bananas and other highly glycemic fruits. I am hoping over time my breakfast tastebuds will evolve and I will enjoy salad, vegetables and meats immediately upon awaking. We shall see.
http://thealmondeater.com/2015/11/zucchini-noodle-breakfast-bowl/
Cinnamon Apple Grain-Free Breakfast Porridge (Dairy-Free too!)
NOTE: You are supposed to exclude alcohol and all forms of sugar from your Whole30, so using vanilla extract in this recipe non-compliant. (If you see vanilla extract listed as an ingredient, you can count that product out for your Whole30, too.) However, you can use 100% vanilla bean powder in place of vanilla extract.
Paleo Oatless Oatmeal With Zucchini
NOTE: It’s hard to find compliant almond milk, check ingredients VERY carefully.
Whole30 Breakfast Bowl
NOTE: The Whole30 wants you to eat vegetable(s) at each of your 3 meals. Even breakfast. I have found that spinach and shredded zucchini can be snuck into almost anything with little or no taste change.
And off the Whole30 blog, several which look good to me that I plan to try over the next couple of weeks cuz I am about egg’d out.
http://whole30.com/2016/01/best-of-whole30-recipes-egg-less-breakfasts/
Stay tuned, I’ll be posting more about what I’m learning and how I’m feeling with my Whole30 over the next couple of weeks. Comment below if you are doing it too, and/or if you have any great compliant breakfast recipes or sources.
