Dr. Angie’s Whole30

By: Dr. Angela Graper, CACCP

I did it. Finally. I committed to doing the Whole30, which includes eating nutrient-dense foods, stabilizing blood sugar and removing common inflammatory foods. 

Why? I was 3 months postpartum and feeling miserable. On top of it, the little one was fussy, irritable and spitting up more than what I would deem “normal” for his age. So I had slowly been prepping but couldn’t decide on a start date. I woke up one day and knew it was time.

How does one accomplish this when they have little ones, work and barely time to shower? Lots of planning! And quick food options on hand.

I meal planned twice per week as that was enough at one time. Then I went grocery shopping off of my meal list. How I found recipes is mostly going to the deep freezer and checking what cuts of meat we had and searched “paleo (insert cut of meat) recipe” and checked to see if it was Whole30 compliant. I do have a few cookbooks that I also pulled from including 21 Day Sugar Detox, Whole30 and Practical Paleo (pictured above).

Quick Proteins:

• Wild Planet Tuna (Eden Prairie Costco)
• Grass Run Farms Beef Sticks (Lake Winds)
• Applegate Hotdogs (Target)

Quick Tips:

• Rustic Roots Frozen Veggie bag (Costco) to throw in with roasts
• Roasts: meat, onions, rustic roots veggies and broth. Voila!
• Immersion blender for homemade mayo. Trust me. Search our Instagram Page (@familyfocuschiro).
• Sugar-free bacon (Lake Winds – “Paleo” stamp)
• Grate by hand or in a food processor a sweet potato and fry up with eggs for breakfast.

Drinks:

• LaCroix water (I thought Izze was too sweet)
• Kombucha

Favorite Recipes:

• Crockpot Paleo Thai Stew by Against All Grain blog (use Red Boat fish sauce)
• Chicken Pesto with Zoodles by Practical Paleo cookbook/Balanced Bites blog
• Savory Chicken Casserole by He and She Eats Clean Blog
• Egg Drop Soup by Food Renegade blog
• Almost 5 Ingredient Spaghetti Pizza Pie by PaleOMG blog
• Buffalo Chicken Casserole by PaleOMG blog
• Southwest Breakfast Skilled with Avocado Crema by 21 Day Sugar Detox cookbook- this is a MUST fancy breakfast weekend meal!!

Additional:

On top of eating this way, I also implemented a digestive repair protocol, which is good for dampening overall inflammation!! If nursing or pregnant, we modify slightly for our patients.

Ok, there’s the quick version. I didn’t want to overwhelm all at once since it’s 30 days but these are the biggest things that came to mind as I went through the process. Next time, I plan on keeping a journal.

Benefits:

By the second week, the constant thinking about sugar left my brain. The biggest win was with the 3 month old, which included: less blowouts (nobody likes to do laundry), less fussiness, gas and irritability and much less spit up. The amount of spit up now is what I would consider “normal” for his age since the esophageal sphincter isn’t fully mature yet. So if you’re nervous about doing it during pregnancy or nursing like I did – my recommendation would be DON’T WAIT but make sure you have enough sweet potatoes on hand. 🙂