Happy New Year/ Whole 30 Eve

Well, I have to say, it's been a tough year. Whether it's the acrid nature of everything you see on TV, the horrible Midwest weather, or being in a job/position that is not what I want, I am ready for 2018 to be over. All cards on the table. I have really not been a good steward of myself this year. I have drank too much, eaten too much, not always been as active as I wanted... And so I start the new year in a physical and metaphysical deficit. My whole being could use a much needed break. And so it is with that intention in mind, that I have decided to start the year doing the Whole 30 program in January, which will actually make it the Whole 31 for me. Since I had not knowledge of the "program" until last week, I thought I would share how I have prepared for it. I started by searching the internet for information, which there is no shortage of. I found some very helpful sites that I believe will make this month easier than if I went into it winging it. First I started with a couple of blogs that offered "30 slow cooker Whole 30 compliant freezer meals".  I found them by searching Pinterest for "Whole 30". I decided to go through the ones I had found (Family Freezer and New Leaf Wellness were two) and chose 14 that I though best suited our tastes and needs. There is no point in making something I know we won't like. I then made a shopping list, and looked through my local circulars to find the best(cheapest) places to fill it.

  Even though I had not intention of buying the book with all of the information online, I was at Costco, and decided that having a reference, as well as some additional recipes couldn't hurt.

  It took me about 6 hours of meal prepping to do all 14 freezer/crock-pot meals. When you think about it, that is a very small investment to have meals ready to go on the days I may not feel like cooking and would otherwise, possibly, make bad decisions that would derail the program. I numbered each bag, along with the recipe name, to make it easier to find the corresponding recipe. I then put all of the recipes I planned to use in a binder, making it effortless for me or my boyfriend to have the information we needed at hand. I then made a calendar to hang on the fridge, so there was no reason to ask "What's for dinner?".

The last thing I did was make the homemade spice blends and sauces (mayo, ketchup, Sunshine sauce) to be ready to go tomorrow morning. I will be keeping myself accountable by blogging how each day went, along with what I ate and how I feel. I hope if you have questions or are on the same journey this month, you will contact me and we can help support each other through our healthy goals.