The Clark Clean-Up!

Starting on January 1st, I decided to do a Whole30. Whole30 you ask? In a nutshell, I strictly follow a Paleo diet for 30 days. No Grains, No Dairy, No Sugar, No Alcohol. There is a ton of science behind this kind of elimination diet. A lot has to do with eliminating foods that cause inflammation in your gut and other parts of the body-which most diseases start from. The Paleo Solution is a good book about it and there are a ton of podcasts and blogs that I found helpful too (Balanced Bites and The Paleo View). I had a few reasons for trying to do a Whole30-since college my stomach goes through phases where it is knotted up, cramped, and bloated! Yuck! It hurts and it's hard to keep up with two little girls when my stomach is in knots. The other reason is I need to get into my old jeans-plain and simple. 

I've done a pretty good job, but I've had some cheats for sure. I noticed when I got less sleep, I cheated more. And really, I've just decided alcohol isn't a cheat. A girl's gotta have a glass of wine with some friends now and then. But I've drastically cleaned up my eating, my fridge, and I've figured out (I think!) what triggers the bloated, cramping tummy. All good things. 

Check out our "clean" food fridge (we still do full fat dairy). I've noticed since starting the Whole30 that I grocery shop so much MORE! I go to the farmer's market or Imwalle's Garden a couple times a week and honestly I love it. We eat everything in our fridge without wasting much anymore. This is probably because I am cooking more whole foods and we eat out pretty much never (maybe that makes up for all the grocery shopping I'm doing?!?). I'm trying new veggies and new recipes and besides a homemade mayo mishap, it's all going well. I'm still working on the mayo recipe:).

Side note: All those jars on the left are all my experimental nut butters, ha! My favorite is still just plain ol' almond butter. 

I'm nervous about how this will all continue when I go back to work. But I'm excited for the challenge of feeding myself and my family well even when I don't have all the extra time on my hands. 

This new challenge of cleaning up my eating and my fridge inspired me to do some more cleaning. The house! We are not a cluttered family to be certain, but we do have a lot of stuff that we don't use. So, my new "Whole30" is to get rid of one thing in our house everyday of February (I guess technically it's a Whole28).  I will collect all the items and then give them to Goodwill, or to someone we know who can use them. I've already started actually. I've got a bread machine I don't need (not because of paleo dieting, just because I don't use it). If you want it, let me know. 

I have been looking around our house thinking of all the things we can get rid of; shoes, bags, blankets, appliances, the list goes on and on. I have a feeling I will have way more than 28 items to give away at the end of February. Can't wait to see what our house will look like when we finish this challenge! This week I will take some before photos of the cluttered spots in our house to see the difference.

Till next time.