Our family of 6 – kids age 8, 10, 12, 14 – just completed 30 days of “clean eating” through a program called The Whole30. Basically no sugar, no gluten, no dairy, and no processed foods for 30 days! We ate a lot of meat, potatoes, fruits and veggies.
Many people commented, “I can’t believe your whole family is doing this!” Honestly, I think it was easier because we all ate the same food. We removed everything from our panty and refrigerator that wasn’t Whole30 compliant so we really had no other options!
An unexpected benefit of doing this was the “shared experience” we had as a family. It became quite a bonding opportunity as we grocery shopped, read labels, chopped veggies and cooked, cooked and cooked together!
The biggest challenges to the program were the expense of all the fresh, healthy foods, and the time involved with so much shopping and cooking. We could eat very little prepared foods and there weren’t many restaurant options. Again, that forced us to spend more time together in the kitchen and around the table.
We intentionally picked January because it is a slower month for our family as far as kid’s sports and activities. I needed the extra time for meal planning and preparing. 🙂
Here are some shopping lists, meal ideas and a sample menu I put together that I thought I would share in case it might be helpful to someone else!
No one in our family had any dramatic results, but we do all feel good and have learned a lot about healthy eating. While there are plenty of foods we are eager to enjoy again, there are some new patterns of healthy eating we plan to maintain.
Bon Apetite!