Friday is here! Mike and I both have the day off work and I’m so looking forward to some quality time with him before this evening when we host our mission trip team for dinner.
This whole being busy with a new job thing is great and hard all at once. I am learning so much and my brain really needs this day to just relax. We’re also planning on having a fire tonight (weather pending) which is one of my favorite things – mostly because it involves s’mores which is number one on my list of desserts. It’s gonna be good.
Anyways… This week my five things will be a little different. I’ve mentioned in my monthly goals posts (April & May) a 30 day reset. Today I am going to recap 5 things that we’ve learned and things that have changed since we dramatically changed our diets on April 1st.
1. Terms of the diet
We went Paleo (mostly). The guidelines came from Chris Kresser’s book The Paleo Cure. We could eat lots of fruits, vegetables, and meats. We were avoiding all dairy (even butter), all grains, and all processed sugars. So essentially we were eating ONLY fresh food and nothing that came out of a box. There were also strict guidelines on which oils we could cook with. We cooked with coconut oil, pork lard, and extra virgin olive oil. Period. It made eating out essentially impossible and it really challenged us in the kitchen.
2. Bone Broth
Have you heard of bone broth? I had heard of it – but knew nothing about it. And we started making our own bone broth during the 30 days! Bone broth is great for gut and digestion, muscle repair and growth, joint pain, boosting the immune system, healthy skin and hair, and so much more. We’ve made a couple batches so far and I think we will continue. Mike has been drinking a cup or more of bone broth a day to help with his joint pain and gut health. So far so good. Our freezer is filled with bones from previous meals to make our next batch of broth. Using our own bones saves us money, but we’ve also bought pork bones at Whole Foods just to try it out.
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3. Trips to the Grocery Store
Trips to the store tripled or quadrupled. Before the 30 days I would attempt and fail to meal plan and go to the store once every week (maybe) and then occasional bonus trips for things we forgot or decided we needed last minute. We did a lot of eating out though which forced our fresh foods to go bad. The 30 days forced us to be at the store almost every other day. I don’t love grocery shopping so this definitely pushed me out of my comfort zone. We also really took advantage of the new Whole Foods in Wichita. Yes, it’s a little more pricey but worth it for the quality. Mike actually did a lot of the shopping too which was awesome.
More trips to the grocery store meant spending more money, but we’ve decided that spending more money on a healthy lifestyle is absolutely worth it. We’ve made cuts in other areas of our budget to make it work for now.
4. Our Favorite Meals
I’m not a cook. Mike is not a cook. We are both learning… slowly. But we’ve tried a few new things this last month. Most of our meals consist of some sort of cooked meat and a veggie or fruit on the side. It’s typically pretty boring but we’ve learned how to make it delicious.
We have mastered sweet potato fries and we make them at least twice a week. We’ve also mastered the chicken wing and chicken quarter. Oh and ribs – we love ribs.
Popcorn made with coconut oil and seasoned with spices is one of our favorite snacks. So good. We’ve added grass-fed butter into our diet since the 30 days ended and mixed that with organic honey last week. I could eat that every single day.
I guess we don’t have any specific meals that are our favorites. We do a lot of mixing a matching. Last night we had chicken quarters with sweet potato fries with honey butter popcorn for dessert. Mike made all of it and it was so good.
5. The Results
For the most part we are feeling really good. The focus of this “diet” was more for internal health. Neither of us really wanted to lose weight or make any dramatic changes to our bodies (even though we’ve both seen healthy progress). This was about gut health and digestion. I’m not going to get into the nitty gritty of our results, but we’ve seen results and we feel good.
So we’re still going. This has definitely been a lifestyle change for us. It wasn’t just a temporary diet as much as I’d like for it to be – it’s a lifestyle and we’re sticking to it as best as we can.
Any questions? Comment below!
Happy Day!
Two jobs | Each using different aspects of my gifts | Children and administrative work
Fresh mango in bed with onlooking pups | and the constant reminder of our 
35% of the year complete and 35% of the bible read | This has been such a good, life-giving challenge.
Weekends full of adventure | and being open to spontaneity.
Afternoons with this sister | She makes my heart sing
Pizza from outdoor pizza ovens | and for the 80/20 rule when it comes to healthy eating
Mission team BBQs | Rained out bonfires | and students willing to serve wherever the Lord takes us this summer
And for these mothers in my life | The one that raised me and the one that raised my husband | You both have set forth a great example for me when my role changes to mom someday. So so grateful for both of you.