Whole30 Week 3 Update + Week 4 Whole30 Meal Plan

** See my full recap post with all meal plans, shopping lists, supplies and Whole30 results HERE**

Hi Friends!! I CANNOT believe that I just typed “WEEK 4” into that title! WOOHOOO….we are almost there! During Week 1, I doubted many many times that I would make it this far and now that there’s a light at the end of the tunnel, I am becoming increasingly proud of this journey! Today I’m giving a full Whole30 Meal Plan and Week 3 update. Sharing how the week went, what I ate, how I’m feeling and what’s on the menu for next week.

If you’re playing catch up, here’s the entire journey:

Week 1 Meal Plans+ My Why 

Week 1 Update + Week 2 Meal Plans

Week 2 Update + Week 3 Meal Plans

So if you’ve been following along these past few weeks, I’ve always shared a pretty graphic of every single meal that I’ve eaten and this week will be the first week that I don’t do that. Mainly because this way of eating is becoming more and more “normal” to me and I’m less conscious about documenting it….which I think is a good thing. Breakfasts are pretty standard (listing them below), but honestly I cannot complain because they were pretty standard before. If I’m in a rush or want a break from eggs, I opt for a smoothie and RXBAR. My smoothie is normally (1 banana + 6 frozen strawberries + 1 tsp cashew butter + 3/4 cup cashew milk + handful of walnuts).

Whole30 Meal Plan

I always have 1 of these 4 breakfast options:

“Pancakes” 2 eggs + 1 banana mashed + 2 tsp almond flour + cinnamon. Cook in ghee and top with reduced fruit.

Sausage + Egg Scramble + Fresh Salsa + Fruit

Scramble 2 eggs + 1 banana + cinnamon in ghee. Top with apples, strawberries, blueberries, nuts and almost butter (SOOOO many of you have messaged me about how much you like this, which is awesome. Texture is different at first, but resembles porridge and is so yum!)

Bacon + Scrambled Eggs + Sausage + Fruit

…like I mentioned above, yes sometimes it feels boring, but that’s standard of breakfast to me. Before I always had oatmeal or whole grain waffles and never over-analyzed how boring it was because technically I wasn’t “restricted”…but this is really no different. 

I swore that I would be overly prepared and meal-prep lunches this past week and that didn’t happen. We have already discussed my lack of planning ability and I kinda used this week as another opportunity to “swim not sink” and understand that if I wasn’t going to meal prep that I would have to be okay with throwing things together last minute that were still compliant. I’m happy to report that I passed with flying colors and was very satisfied with all of my lunches.

Go-to Lunches:

Baked potatoes topped with ground meat (or TJ’s jalepeno sausage), salsa, and homemade ranch sauce. I take the easy route and buy smaller baking potatoes and they only take 8-9 minutes to cook in the microwave.

Salads. I’ve always loved salads for lunch, so this works great. I alternate between sweet (fruit toppings), salty only and a sweet + salty combo. I usually top with one slice of bacon for some added protein regardless and have been loving using TJ’s plantain chips as a nice “crunch” option on top.

Favorite Dinners: 

Shame on me, but the only dinner that I actually cooked this week was:

Asian Broth Bowl with Zucchini Zoodles

…and we really really liked it. It lasted for 3 nights, which was wonderful. I ended up buying a pack of ramen to serve it with for Landry and she LOVED it too. My husband had 3 work events this week, so (in my defense) it wasn’t really necessary to cook as much.

I also had dinner with a friend planned for Tuesday night and I decided to be brave and try out Mexican (Cantina, for you locals). I got there a little early and knew that I would have to bring my own chips (plantains). The tableside guac was an amazing fresh option that I could have..it was SO good and even better with my chips. I knew that fajitas were the safest option, but I still had some very specific questions for the waitress that she was super attentive to and very helpful with. I asked:

–Q: Is the meat marinated ahead of time? Answer: Yes. Solution: Please ask the chef to grab fresh meat and veggies to throw on a non-coated grill. Salt and pepper is still fine to use.  No problem!

I also asked that they not bring out any tortillas, but instead just a bed of shredded lettuce. Also hold the cheese and sour cream toppings and double up on the guac and fresh salsa sides. I ate it as more of a salad and it was SO SO good. I actually might order it this way from now on because I wasn’t overly full and didn’t feel totally gross afterwards. I brought Landry back on Friday night for a girls date while Daddy was working because I was already craving it again…ha!

As far as a weekly update, I feel great but there were no real changes from Week 2. I feel like once I was past Day 7, everything became worlds easier. Yes, I still crave sweets, but not NEARLY how I used to. I’m loving how freeing that feeling is and how well my body has responded. I still feel less bloated, I do have substantially more energy and feel less like I’m on an emotional roller coaster all day that is dictated by what I eat. The baby had a huge growth spurt this week, so it feels a little strange to keep growing so much while I am eating so much better…but it’s also super re-assuring that I’m eating healthy and nutritious foods that create a wonderful environment for her growth! My skin took a little dip and I did have a few breakouts this week, but it’s likely from the baby’s growth spurt and a surge of hormones…which I also felt emotionally by having a few “off” days where I couldn’t really get my happy on. I go to the doctor tomorrow and will not be given a choice but to weigh in, so I’ll have more of a read on it then.

My mom and hubby both continue to report feeling lighter and less bloated, with more energy.

With only 9 days left, I’m really trying to come up with a game plan about how this will become more of a lifestyle for us and how I plan to transition back into the real world a bit, according to how my body reacts. I will write more about that next week, but NO I won’t be a Whole30 for lifer (the founder doesn’t even stick to it 24-7), and YES, I do have some life-changing take-aways.

Here’s what my Whole30 meal plan looks like for Week 4:

Breakfasts:  SEE ABOVE

Lunches |

New Recipes:

Jalepeno Turkey Guacumole Burgers 

Avocado Dill Tuna Salad 

Dinners | 

Plantain Nachos (we’ve had these every single week because they are so dang good!)

Slow Cooker White Chicken Chili

Spaghetti Pie

Non-Dairy Potato Soup

Another little tid bit…I have my glucose test for the pregnancy today and since I haven’t had ANY sugar in 3 weeks, I’m so super curious to see what my levels are. My new doctor’s office is being SO accommodating  and not forcing me to drink the sugar drink (I would probably go into shock with how much sugar’s in those things). Instead I’ll be doing a fasting test and just not eating tomorrow am before my appt. I’ll update you guys on Instagram stories!

Thanks again for following along on this journey. I’m having tons of fun interacting with you guys, hearing what recipes you’ve tried and how your Whole30 is going. Thanks again for continuing to share these posts with your friends and on Pinterest, it’s so encouraging to see the community behind this lifestyle. -xoxo