It Starts with Food - Our Whole 30 Journey

I have spent the last year or so exploring several natural or alternative treatments that God put on this wonderful planet to heal our bodies. My family has several issues that we've been dealing with. One of the things I have found that has helped us immensely is Young Living Essential Oils, but I'll save that for another post. 

Two hours into reading this and I was already sharing it. 

Several weeks ago I bought a book, It Starts With Food, and set it on the book shelf, where it sat for a while. But then I picked it up last week after being totally inspired by a friend from church who just completed her own Whole 30 journey. She also shared her journey here, which motivated me to finally pick up the book. 

It was revolutionary. Sometimes the same information presented in a new way can illuminate everything. 

"Everything you eat is either making you more healthy or less healthy." Did I know this before reading the book? Well yes, if I had really thought about it, but the way the body and all of its wonderful functions were explained left me feeling two things: amazed at complexity of God's creation and convicted about what I was eating and feeding my family. 

I have lost 22 pounds this summer. Which is fabulous. But I'm not only interested in losing weight. I'm interested in healing my body, and my family. All four of us have things that have gone awry in our bodies and I'm hoping that this journey can help us understand how food relates to those things. (I'll share more in a later post about what's been ailing us.)

So today, we are starting a 30 day nutritional reset called the Whole 30. If you have never heard of it I encourage you to research it. Get the book, and follow along as I go through this journey with my handsome husband my two wild little men. 

There's not a lot of information out there about doing the Whole 30 with kids, so I'm going to try my best to not only share what I'm eating but also what my boys are chowing down on. And because I have one kid that is a little foodie and one kid that be perfectly content not to eat, ever, this should be interesting. 

Snacks for the boys. 

Let me start with what I did this weekend: PREP WORK. Holy guacamole (which is Whole 30 approved!) this takes a lot of prep work. I spent all day Saturday shopping. We started our Saturday morning at the Farmer's Market. We got some great veggies and some organic bacon but really this was about getting the boys excited about trying new things. I told them any new vegetable that they would try, I would buy. We also went to the bookstore where Mama got a new cookbook, Well Fed 2. I then headed to Central Market, and Sprouts. I am a label reader anyways but Whole 30 is strict, I probably read the labels on 15 jars of salsa alone. 

Check out the mini frittatas on the top shelf!  

Then Sunday rolls around. I had 174842 things to do, plus church, and a birthday party that was an hour away to attend. But I cranked it out, did a ridiculous amount of prep work and finally sat down at midnight to drink my last diet coke ever. (I have a problem, don't judge me.)

I made taco meat, grilled chicken, chopped fruit and veggies, and a few other things to help start this off right, but I think two of the more crucial things I made were mini frittatas and a snack bucket. Whole 30 recommends three meals a day and only snacking if you must, but with kids, snacks are essential. Brandon and I may be able to make it five or six hours between lunch and dinner, but not the boys. Having snacks, pre-portioned out, and all Whole 30 approved is going to make my life easier. 

Because I was up way later than I should have been last night this morning was a little rough, but by this afternoon I finally feel like we are off to a good start.

I'll check back in a few days with what we've been eating, a meal plan, and how everything is going. Until then, buy the book and read. I promise it will be worth if!