So we survived. Barely. After 30 days it just confirmed I heart wine and I heart chocolate. That is all. I thought I would miss my beloved cheese but to be honest after day 3 I didn't think about it. My craving for chocolate though….man its strong. The 30 day no chocolate definitely didn't cure me of my love. But we survived. I'm not gonna lie there were days I felt physically ill and days where I was exceptionally moody….mostly towards the hubs. I wasn't really ever hungry but I was definitely hangry for some chocolate and wine. We had several friends embark on the endeavor before us which helped us tons..my friend Jaimee wrote a great post here on her experience. She is a fellow (though much better than I) practicing Paleo queen. The hubs and I have done Paleo off and on through the last several years, I follow pretty closely but did allow myself to have cheese. Oh and the occasional chocolate and wine obvs.

• Plan ahead….Costco was our favorite…we stocked up on organic grassfed chicken and ground beef, fruits, veggies, guacamole, Larabars, you name it we got it!

• Start Pinning recipes, following blogs and gathering recipes weeks before...link to my Pinterest Whole 30||Paleo board here. I also loved following Whole30 recipes on IG. Not all Paleo recipes are Whole30 compliant but are almost always adaptable..

• Larabars, Larabars, Larabars…I can't say enough about these. I had at least one every day usually for my mid morning snack…I have eaten Larabars for years because they don't have any additives and are soy free but of course liked the ones with chocolate;) On Whole30 my favorites were Coconut cream pie (SO good if you like coconut), Apple pie, and Lemon. Costco has a box with the Cashew cookie and Apple pie that we grabbed:) Complete list of approved bars here

• Tessemae's starter pack….must have, you can use this to dip, marinate, sauté, etc. Finding sugar free condiments are a must. Annie's makes a great mustard and spicy mustard, find a sugar free salsa you love as well. Also, this primal mayonnaise is the hubs favorite. I'm not a huge fan of mayonnaise but this was delish in chicken salad.

• Guacamole, Guacamole, Guacamole…I mean we put this on everything salads, chicken, hamburgers, etc. Just make sure you buy or make your own without sugar. 

• Plantain chips…I mean we are officially obsessed and addicted. We never really bought chips before but now that we have discovered these we are hooked. Even our kids devour them. We use them with sugar free salsa, guac, plain, you name it we love it. I also loved Trader Joe's banana chips as a substitute. You have to find ones that don't have added sugar, that is the secret.

• Zoodle….buy a Zoodler for sure. We had this easy simple one that we've been using for almost a year and love it. I have several friends that loved this one as well. We would Zoodle zucchini and make spaghetti or just use it as a side. Spagetti squash is also another of one of our favorite pasta stand ins. I have been doing very low, almost gluten free since I was diagnosed with a Gluten sensitivity over 5 years ago so we Zoodle or use spagetti squash a lot.

• Cauliflower….roast it, mash it, make it into rice. You may not love cauliflower but I promise if you experiment with it you won't mind it. It takes on the flavor of whatever you mix with it. I loved to make ours into rice with a little cilantro and lime.

• Black coffee…find a black coffee you can stand (if you are addicted to caffeine like me)..you can add a teaspoon of canned coconut milk to it but I honestly found it better without it. Also, black coffee is better served cold in my opinion. When I was in a crunch I loved this iced coffee you can find at Target... 

• La Croix-if you love carbonated water like me you must stock up on La Croix. My husband drank them like they were going out of style. PS this salad was on repeat for me…lettuce, tomato, cucumber, spinach, turkey, and dash of balsamic vinegar. Find a good sugar free deli turkey….this was a staple for us.

• Breakfast foods…this frittata, highly recommend, it lasted us almost a week. We made ours minus the basil. Hard boiled eggs and sugar free sausage or these Applegate hot dogs were my jam!

• Cook ahead…on Sundays we would grill a bunch of chicken or hamburger patties to easily grab for lunches during the week. The hubs also threw together a delicious chicken salad using rotisserie chicken, this mayonnaise, walnuts, black olives, and grapes-it lasted us a week and was perfect to grab for lunch or quick snack.
• Get creative…if making kabobs make you happy, by golly make kabobs! PS we didn't eat the corn-it is not Whole30;)