This will be my 2nd time attempting the Whole30. I only made it 15 days last year, and I may have indulged in dark chocolate from time to time when the cravings were out of control! Oops. But this time, I plan to succeed! I know what I’m getting into now and my brain is definitely in a better place. January is the perfect month for a cleanse!

After Christmas, I was feeling absolutely awful! I’d spent 8 days in North Carolina with my family eating and drinking everything I wanted. Even more than that, I’d already gained weight and engaged in awful habits during the entire month of December. When I fall off the wagon, I fall hard! But the holidays are the perfect time to indulge! And ignore the pain because January is right around the corner!

On December 27th, I began shopping for and cooking Whole30 meals. I bought the Whole30 book and Whole30 Day by Day journal, read both and bookmarked the recipes I wanted to try. The larger book is extremely detailed and great for people who don’t usually cook. I did not have these books last time and I highly recommend using them. My girlfriend said the journal really helped her stay focused when she was having bad cravings. There is a lot of tough love in there and great advice!

With that said, I started with a few chicken recipes and ended up baking a whole chicken and making my own chicken bone broth. Breakfast egg alternatives were really important to me last time, so I revisited this delicious recipe for grain-free granola as well as this sweet potato breakfast bowl that includes an egg for added protein! I recommend modifying any of these recipes to your liking, but they are super delicious, and I’m very grateful for their help! Also, read the online recipes carefully if they aren’t “Whole30 approved.” I leave ingredients out or substitute all the time if not.

One important way that my 15ish days of Whole30 changed me was that I eventually adapted to eating an egg breakfast. But now I like to keep it simple with scrambled eggs instead of complicated frittatas, etc. I was really turned off by the baked egg dishes I made, and found it hard to motivate myself to eat them.

Now it has been almost a year since my last Whole30 attempt and 2018 was a rollercoaster of a year! I’m excited to see what these 30 days bring and I’ll be sharing my favorite meals, successes, and struggles along the way!