The Havlirs are Going Whole 30: Thoughts Before We Start.

We have decided to jump on the band wagon and try the Whole 30 program. For those of you who are unfamiliar, it is basically a clean-eating program designed to improve your health and change your eating habits by eliminating certain foods:dairy, sugar, grains, legumes, and alcohol.

I'm more interested in the changing your health because with the exception of Hailey, who is still a toddler, we have a pretty healthy relationship with food. (At least I think we do, I may think differently in 30 days). I had a group of friends who went through this program a few years ago, but at that time, I figured that any discomfort that we've been putting up with was not worth sacrificing being able to enjoy carbs and sugar.

But things have changed. At my last check-up, I've developed pre-diabetes, my cholesterol was on the high side and my hemoglobin was also on the high side. Hailey's eczema has started to flare up pretty badly and is showing up in more spots. Nathan's allergies are still a constant thing and I want to see if we can make your immune system less sensitive by reducing the inflammation that may be present.

So, tomorrow we start. Tonight, I went through my pantry and I cleared out all the food items not allowed for 30 days and I either packed them away, or put them on a high shelf where I couldn't reach.

I didn't realize we had so many non-compliant foods in the house, and we eat fairly healthily!


This clearing left the rest of my pantry very sparse. I was even able to move some small appliances, and other things that I commonly use to fill the space.

I've been clearing things for the past 2 weeks, trying to use up all the non-compliant foods, especially those in the fridge. And then this week, I started to ease you guys into this idea of eliminating some of our favorite food items. 

The most important thing that I needed to do was to make sure Hailey would accept a compliant version of ketchup (chup chup). So, I solicited her help in making "Hailey's chup chup" and even let her sample it on the spot. 

Success! And then to test it out, we had corn dogs for lunch that day and I served the "ketchup" with it and she gobbled it up. Whew, I'm glad she likes it. Nathan, on the other hand, hates it and Hannah is "ok with it." 

I then cooked all the kids' favorite meals, but made them 80% compliant and would say things like, "except for the rice and corn, everything on this plate is OK for Whole 30! "

"Everything in this bulgogi is compliant except for the white rice"

Everything on this plate is Whole 30 except for the wheat crackers on your plate. 

And with that, I think I slowly won them over. Now, with Hailey, who is 3, when I plop down a sweet potato "toast" tomorrow with avocado and egg, she might freak out because she already complains how she doesn't like lunch and dinner and only wants to eat breakfast and chup chup all day long. The kids are so used to eating pancakes, waffles, cereal or oatmeal that to have something savory for breakfast might cause them to throw a coup. And to have you guys drink water instead of juice or milk? Treason! And don't even get me started on snacks! 

We are going to need lots of prayer.  

I'll probably check in every few days during this process and maybe even post some yummy meals that I come up with that are whole 30 compliant.