Joining!
I've been looking into doing the whole30 for a while and have finally settled on my time frame. Planning on starting the week after Christmas. (I need the time to get rid of all the cheese in my fridge.)
I have two issues I'm hoping to find causes for... consistent indigestion and fibro-like aches and pains (never actually diagnosed, but all signs point to).
Biggest challenges... eating out, which a good mustachian shouldn't be doing as much as I do anyway. My accountability friend and I have been talking about a no or limited restaurant thing as our next challenge. We're currently doing no soda until year's end. Hopefully, he'll do the no restaurant thing while I'm doing the whole 30. It's incredibly helpful to have someone around who's trying to make the same changes you are. There's no way I'd get him to do whole 30, but the restaurant thing is a possibility.
Also, grains. Currently I like to cook up a pot of mixed rices and barley at the beginning of the week and use it for meals all week. I suppose that will have to change to roasted veggies, or cauli-rice.
And finally, chai. A good mug of hot, creamy, spicy, chai is my weakness. I'm so close to perfecting my chai syrup recipe, and that will have to be shelved for a while so I can finish up the syrups that I have. I may start working on a version with an alternative sweetener after the whole 30. Date syrup maybe...
I've got a hold on one of the books at the library. I've read most of this thread and scoured the website. Feeling pretty good about it, and I've got some time to prep.
I'm working on a list of foods I want to have made and ready to grab when my start day rolls around...
*Canned soups (I have a ton, but a lot are bean based, and my tomato soup has sugar added to it.)
*Larabars (homemade are fantastic)
*Precut, frozen veggies in various combinations (I just dug 15 gallons of carrots from my garden, along with a ton of rutabegas, onions, potatoes, winter squashes and parsnips. I want to have bags of parcooked veggies, ready to roast or throw in stews or whatever.)
*Nuts portioned out into serving size bags.
*Frozen quiches for quick breakfasts.
*Salad toppers portioned out in small containers (nuts/seeds, some dried fruit, chicken chunks, etc) so I can stuff a bowl with greens, grab a topper container and go. Planning on keeping homemade dressing at work.
I'll be swapping off plan foods out of my pantry with on plan foods from my canning storage. I've got lots of jars of tomatoes, chicken, pork, unsweetened apple/pear sauce and assorted veggies that I'll get into heavy meal rotation while the rice, pasta, sugars, beans, and whatnot will go out sight and hopefully out of mind.