September Whole30 Meal Plan // Week 1

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Husband and I are starting another Whole30 on Monday, and I am honestly pretty excited. I am spending the long weekend looking at some new recipes, making meal plans and shopping lists (for you!), and drinking heavenly coffee with grass-fed heavy cream. Ha! 

A few changes from last time...

--> No more smoothies in the plan or during my Whole30. After reading this article and doing some research that sent me into a pretty substantial rabbit hole, I've broken up with my blender and removed smoothies from my diet. The bottom line from my research is this: no matter what you put in your smoothie or how green it may be, it's a direct sugar surge to your body. And sending a mainline of sugar to my liver first thing in the morning is most definitely not how I want to start my day. I still have the occasional post-workout smoothie (clean protein powder, almond milk, cocoa powder, avocado, ice cubes) and very  very seldom will use a smoothie as a meal replacement. (If you're interested, you can find some of my research on the subject here.)

--> I've long since changed my thinking regarding 'breakfast, lunch and dinner' and am completely on board with eating soup, chicken salad, or leftovers first thing in the morning and calling it breakfast. However, I think for people transitioning from a SAD or for those new to paleo, it is helpful to think of food in the terms of 'first, second and third meal' of the day.

--> We are tinkering with the ideas of cyclic low-carb diet and carb back-loading in hopes of improving athletic performance (especially me -- my cardiovascular endurance is pretty shot after having a babe). That being said, if that isn't your goal you can add in some fruits with your meals -- an apple with breakfast, refrigerated canned coconut milk + half a banana + a sprinkle of cinnamon. Just be sure you aren't using fruit as a substitute for dessert or to satisfy a craving for sweets.

 So... here is the meal plan for week one and the shopping list. I don't stick to this completely, meaning that I might eat leftover stew for breakfast and eggs for dinner, but this is the gist of what we are eating this week. If you want to prep on the weekends like we do, put the stew in the slow cooker, bake chicken in the oven for salads, make the coconut soup, and brown the ground meat for spaghetti. While that is cooking, chop up all your veggies for snacks and salads. We store veggie sticks in mason jars in the fridge and prepare our lunch salads in individual containers with the exception of the protein and dressing.

Happy Whole 30!

xoxo

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