Happy 2022! ‘Tis the season for resolutions, which usually just means new diets and new promises to hit the gym more. It’s always interesting to me that everyone decides to get fit right at the beginning of the New Year, when it’s cold and we should all be putting on a nice layer of fat to get us through the rest of the winter. Fitness and wellness resolutions rarely last longer than a few weeks, and then you’re right back where you started. I’ve never been good at making or keeping resolutions; maybe it’s a lack of actual motivation or a lack of caring about changing anything. This year my Christmas gifts included a handful of vacations, including a trip to Tulum, Mexico at the end of February, which has given me the motivation I guess I always needed.
To get my eating habits back on track, I decided to go for it and try the Whole30 Program. The focus of Whole30 is to eat real, whole foods and to avoid anything processed or unnatural for just 30 days. It’s basically a diet full of meats, eggs, vegetables, fruits, and healthy fats. No grains, rice, oats, wheat, soy or corn; no sugars; no alcohol; no dairy; no legumes. (For more information on the Whole30 Program, click here)
No doubt it’s a tough program, but as someone studying to be a registered dietician, I really appreciate the emphasis on actual health and not just weight loss. The Whole30 Program encourages you to really focus on what you’re putting in your body, to focus on eating only when you’re hungry and not when you’re bored, and to really make an effort to eat healthier meals. It aims to change your eating patterns and create more mindfulness when it comes to nourishing your body. I also really appreciate that it’s only supposed to be done for 30 days at a time, to give your body the “reset” it needs to get back on track. Many diets are unrealistic because they expect you to follow the strict guidelines for an indefinite amount of time; with Whole30, I have an end-date in site.
One of the other rules of the program is that you aren’t supposed to measure yourself for the entire 30 days. While restrictive diets are not for everyone and can usually lead to more bad than good, what I admire about Whole30 is that the food items that are prohibited are actually some of the most common allergens. At the end of the 30 days you can slowly reintroduce the foods to see if you have any sensitivities to those items that you didn't know about before. So while it does seem very restrictive, the program also puts an emphasis on filling up with approved items, and not worrying about meticulously counting calories.
The first day we started the program, we realized just how hard it is to plan meals without a grain of some sort. Sweet potatoes are a great replacement because they’re a complex carbohydrate that will actually help you stay full for longer, so it’s not a bad trade-off. The easiest thing for us to do is cook a bunch of potatoes and sweet potatoes at once, so that we can have them in the fridge and eat them with tons of meals quickly.
I’ve found that an easy way to make following Whole30 more fun is to find some compliant recipes and get fancy with your cooking! It doesn’t have to be the same boring combinations of veggies and protein every night, and there are tons of Whole30-approved recipes floating around on the internet. If you’re gonna be on a diet for a month, at least try to enjoy yourself a little bit, right?
When I studied abroad in Rome, I attended a cooking class and learned how to make a few things, one of them being Amatriciana sauce. I make this sauce regularly, usually with my own twists and substitutions, so I thought it would be perfect to pair with some zucchini noodles and meatballs.
Another recipe I made came straight from the Whole30 website: Smoky Beef and Brussels Sprouts Kebabs with Sweet Potato Hash Browns. (The recipe calls for a Whole30 branded dressing, but I opted to just use balsamic vinegar, a little bit of olive oil, and salt & pepper. I also added some garlic powder and red pepper flakes because why not?)
The recipes we tried this week were pretty good, and not too difficult, but it’s still a lot of work to cook every single night! I used to cook a lot when I was living at home in Jersey, but since moving to the city I guess I haven’t really made too many fully homemade meals in a long time. And let me tell you, it’s exhausting. Not only thinking of recipes, but actually prepping, cooking, and then doing all the cleanup by hand (because in NYC a dishwasher is a luxury that few have) is probably enough to burn off all the calories you just ate for dinner! Not actually, but it can feel that way. I’m someone who loves to cook, but making enough veggies to feel full is much more labor-intensive than putting on a pot of rice.
Overall, I’d call the first week a success. It took a few days for my body to adjust to the lack of sugar and refined carbohydrates, but I have definitely been more conscious of focusing on when I’m actually hungry and then finding a nice healthy item to satisfy that hunger. It’s been a little tricky with the freezing weather we’ve been having because all I want to do is stay inside and cozy up while ordering a pizza, but I’ve stayed strong so far! This coming week, we decided to try a meal kit delivery service for the first time so that we won’t have to worry about all of the menu planning. I'll be sure to update with our experience with Blue Apron after we try it. Here’s to hoping that we can keep this success going until the end of the month!
Recipe for my Zoodles with (Modified) Amatriciana Sauce & Meatballs:
Ingredients for Zoodles & Sauce:
1-2 medium zucchini, spiralized
1 can crushed tomatoes
1 medium yellow or white onion
A few pieces of prosciutto or pancetta
1 tsp paprika
A small dash of dried oregano
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar (or red wine if you aren’t doing Whole30)
Salt & pepper to taste
To make the sauce, first finely chop the onion and saute in olive oil in a pot over medium heat until they are translucent. Chop the prosciutto or the pancetta and set aside. Add paprika to the onions, followed by the vinegar, and let it cook for a minute or so. Add the prosciutto and let it get crispy. Add the can of crushed tomatoes and stir, adding the salt, pepper, and oregano. Let the sauce simmer, covered, while you make the meatballs.
Ingredients for Meatballs:
1 pound of ground meat of your choice (I used a combination of beef, pork & veal, and combined it with a package of ground bison)
1 egg
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp oregano
½ tsp dried basil
½ tsp onion powder
1 tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
(disclaimer: my measurements on spices are never really exact and you can honestly experiment with the spices in your meatballs with whatever you think would make it taste yummy)
Heat a large pan with oil over medium heat. Mix all the ingredients together with your hands and then roll into uniformly-sized meatballs. Sear the meatballs in the oil, about 5 minutes each side, and then submerge in the tomato sauce. Let the meatballs simmer in the sauce for 30 minutes or so, until they are cooked all the way through. Serve meatballs and sauce over zucchini noodles and enjoy!
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