Why I’m Not Doing Whole 30 & What I Learned Last Week

I was going to do Whole 30.

I researched and pinned recipes. I started a grocery list. And then I changed my mind. I’m not starting this year by doing Whole 30. Someone needs to keep the bakery in business. 🙂

I know Whole 30 is a great way to eat.  I know myself, though. It promotes an “all or nothing” approach that kills me every time. I reserve the right to change my mind later, but for now I’m working on “healthier” not “perfect”.

I’m swapping my habits for healthier ones in a way I can sustain. I’m taking one week at a time and asking myself what that looks like in regard to our menu.

For the first week of January, it looked like this:

Instead of cereal for the kids, I made a double batch of this:

(image credit)

Most days last week, that’s what we had for breakfast. It didn’t require a big cooking mess every morning since I made them ahead of time. The other days, we had breakfast burritos (low-carb tortillas).

For supper, that meant trying some new recipes or re-trying old ones:

Black beans and riced cauliflower.

Eggroll in a bowl.

I took the same approach with my other goals. I looked at the first week of January and made a plan. So much white space because it was not a typical week and I don’t write every last thing I do on my planner.

I’ve learned that I can’t do detailed planning too far out and I can’t expect the exact same schedule/routine to work every single week. This week Ethan is back at school and I resume our homeschool schedule with the other two. Last week’s menus and routine were great for last week. Now I need a plan that works with this new schedule.

It’s a challenge to allow for flexibility while still being diligent, but it’s a necessary skill of motherhood.

I learned one other important thing this week. If I plan to block off time in my schedule and don’t want to be interrupted, I need to give my family some advance notice. I can’t just slip away into my corner and hope to be left alone.

51 weeks to go! 😉

How about you? Is your 2018 off to a great start?

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