Weighty Wednesday: Whole30 Trader Joe's Haul

Woohoo! Today is the day I have been waiting for. That's right.....I have officially lost each and every last pound of baby weight! 43 pounds this pregnancy to be exact. I am back at my pre-pregnancy weight. It's the weight that my body naturally seems to settle at. All of my clothes fit again, and a few items are even starting to look loose and baggy on me. If I keep losing weight I'll have to buy new clothes! Not sure if that's good or bad. Ha. I still have 10 days left of the Whole30, so I may end up losing a few more pounds. But in terms of my Weighty Wednesday updates, I am done!

So how did I lose the last 3 pounds this week? By sticking with the strict rules of the Whole30 plan. No sugar, no alcohol, no dairy, no grains, and no legumes. That also means no weird preservatives or anything else you can't pronounce on a food label. Just clean, whole, healthy foods. I went grocery shopping at Trader Joe's this week and took pictures of all the Whole30 compliant food I bought. Sure, there are a lot of foods you can't eat on the Whole30....but there are also a lot of delicious foods you CAN eat! Here is what I got.

PRODUCE

Eating a lot of produce is healthy no matter what type of eating plan you are following, am I right? I loaded up on lots of goodies at Trader Joe's, with an emphasis on the veggies. Eating them with every meal means I go through a lot of the green stuff! Some of my faves are broccoli, brussels sprouts, green beans, and lots of raw veggies for salads. I also picked up lemons to flavor my water or squeeze over fish and chicken. Pre-sliced pineapple was a splurge I don't normally buy, but we grilled some last night with dinner and it was delicious!

HEALTHY FATS

Fat does not make you fat! Your body needs plenty of fats....at least the healthy kinds! Foods like avocados, coconut milk, and nuts are encouraged on the Whole30. I've never been much of a nut girl. For the longest time I only liked salty peanuts and sometimes salted cashews. But I've really been trying to expand my nut list lately. On this trip I bought almonds and hazelnuts! The hazelnuts are so unique. Kind of soft and chewy with a faint Nutella flavor. I also love Trader Joe's peanut butter (not allowed on Whole30) so my recent addiction is their crunchy salted almond butter. Also, I picked up a container of ghee, which is just clarified butter. Butter is not allowed on the Whole30, but ghee is fine because the milk fats have been removed from the butter. I've been cooking with ghee for about a year now and sometimes I use it instead of butter when I'm cooking at high temps.

PROTEIN

I generally keep our freezer stocked with protein options such as ground beef, chicken breast, salmon, white fish, ground turkey, and the occasional beef roast. I buy most of these at Costco. So during this Trader Joe's trip I was looking for a few quick and convenient forms of protein for lunches. I picked up hot dogs to share with Ryan, prosciutto, turkey lunchmeat, and these new-to-me snacks called Chomps. I think they are like a healthier form of jerkey but in a stick. Of course I bought eggs because I eat eggs almost every day. I also got some extra ground meats. I don't normally buy ground pork, but I'm making a meatball soup later this week. 

FROZEN

It was so hard to skip over all the yummy frozen convenience foods at Trader Joe's! (I did bring home a few items for Adam and the kids). For me, I headed to the frozen produce section and grabbed 3 bags of cauliflower rice. This is great to use in any recipe that would normally call for rice. Last week I used some to make "Spanish rice". I'm looking forward to making fried rice later this week with one of these bags. I also grabbed the frozen sliced leeks to use in my meatball soup, and underneath are diced bell peppers that I will throw in with my scrambled eggs in the morning. Finally, I bought a box of their Chili Lime Chicken Burgers. These are a very tasty and convenient option for lunch.

FUN EXTRAS

Because I can't have yogurt right now, I picked up a couple items to get some probiotics in my tummy. First up is this Cayennade Kombucha. I've never had this flavor but I'm excited to try it! I also tried their sauerkraut for the first time and I really like it! I love the cucumber slices that are mixed in. The Just Mango Slices are a long time favorite of mine. Dried fruit is allowed in moderation on the Whole30, as long as the only ingredient is the fruit itself. No added sugar! Finally, I picked up 3 bars to try. Again, these should be eaten in moderation and not relied upon for a quick sugar fix. I already ate the Apple Cinnamon RX Bar and it was pretty yummy.

I will do a big recap of my Whole30 experience in 10 days once I am done.