Whole30 Week 4 Recap

A recap of our last week of Whole30- 30 days of eating meat, seafood, eggs, fruits, vegetables, and healthy fats. 

We’re done, y’all!

My husband and I completed 30 days of eating only meat and seafood, eggs, fruits, vegetables, and healthy fats. We completely avoided grains, legumes, dairy, and sugar. It was difficult at times, but I honestly loved the food. I mean, how colorful are all the images of my food in the graphic above?

We both kicked sugar cravings to the curb and lost pounds and inches in the process. If you’re interested, you can read about my reasons behind doing it (even though I was already a healthy eater) here, and you can read our recaps of Weeks 1-3 (with favorite recipes each week as well as tips and tricks) here:

• Week 1
• Week 2
• Week 3

It’s Day 30! Now What?

Waking up on Day 30 felt like Christmas morning to me, but for my husband, not so much.

After you finish your 30 day reset, you have what’s called the “reintroduction phase”, where you systematically add back in the food groups you avoided during the last 30 days. For example, on Day 31, we added back in non-gluten grains (brown rice with lunch and homemade corn tortillas with dinner- tutorial coming soon on the tortillas!). Then, we go back to Whole30 eating for two days and evaluate if we felt any negative effects from adding back in non-gluten grains.

Symptoms to look for include headaches, feeling tired, gas, bloating, etc.

It’s so important not to skip reintroduction. After all- when are you going to have a clean slate like this again? All in all, Whole30 isn’t really over on Day 30, hence my husband’s unhappiness (teehee).

Before I write a post about our Whole30 in it’s entirety, let’s talk Week 4.

Week 4 Recap

The last week of Whole30 was the hardest for me to get through, in my opinion. We were just so. over. it. To combat this, I made sure we tried new recipes and switched up things where we could.

What Went Well

• The third and fourth week, I really was able to get back at it at the gym. I (finally) felt great during my workouts, was able to lift heavier weights, and hit a personal best in a spin class at CycleBar.
• I finally figured out the right portions to keep me full but not leave me feeling stuffed, and reaching for an emergency snack because lunch wasn’t big enough happened way less.
• Society imprints “Fat=bad” on us daily, and I’m happy to say that I’m no longer afraid of adding healthy fats to all my meals. In fact, I need it! Fat is what contributes to helping you feel satiated, and if you skimp (or skip) it, you won’t feel as satisfied. Avocado, nuts and seeds are my go-tos.
• I continued my lesson from Week 3 about post-workout nutrition and ate something after every workout. Goodbye, mid-morning hunger.

What Went Not So Well

• A few afternoons during the fourth week I had energy crashes in the afternoon. I’m not quite sure the reasoning behind this, but I think it’s related to reverting back to old habits with smaller lunches.
• Like I mentioned earlier, by the fourth week, we were so over it. A few stressful days made me crave comfort food. Another day where we wanted to celebrate a special occasion made me really want a glass of wine. And I really wanted to order my dinner with butter, dang it. Learning alternative ways of relieving stress and separating celebrations from food has been a big change for me.

Favorite Whole30 Recipes This Week

• Chicken, Zucchini and Basil Skillet from Whole30 Fast & Easy. Add chopped walnuts in towards the end!
• This week I had some extra spaghetti squash and threw it into a scramble with kale and onion. It was so good- and a different way to use up squash since you’re always left with TONS when you cook a spaghetti squash.
• I made a simple grass fed beef roast with carrots and onion paired with cauliflower mash and my husband stated it was the best meal we had all month. Season your roast with salt and pepper before searing on all sides and then throw it into the multicooker or crockpot with your veggies and 2 cups of water for 8 hours on low!
• Lastly, on Day 29 we made this Sweet Potato Pad Thai with shrimp instead of chicken and it was one of my top 5 favorite dinners all month. Just please use a blender to make the sauce and not a food processor. Speaking from experience and a kitchen with some pad thai sauce on the walls…

I’m keeping this recap short as I’m planning a long post about doing a Whole30 with your significant other! I’ll discuss both our struggles, NSVs (that’s Non Scale Victories), favorite recipes that pleased both of us, and more!

We did it!