As you may know, Keith and I have been doing the Whole30 for the month of April. After having Edith, I just thought that my pregnancy weight would fall right off (hah! right?!). I casually exercised but never really committed to making any big changes. Finally last month, I was feeling so unhealthy that I knew it was time. I had heard of the Whole30 through friends doing it on instagram and finally said to Keith, we’re doing it! We threw out all of the pasta, sugary treats, and gave away our beer (read: tears).

What is the Whole30 you ask? Its a cleanse diet where you only eat fruits, veggies, meat, eggs and certain nuts. So no dairy, sugar, carbs, corn, beans, or alcohol. Yup, its difficult!!

Why I’m happy we did it:

1. Keith and I both lost around 10 pounds and have so much more energy!

2. Keith also found out that his liver levels were high pre Whole30 and just got retested today and is TOTALLY FINE! Thank you Lord!

3. MY CLOTHES FIT!

4. I realized that when I’m upset or having a bad day, I always turn to food. I say “oh I’ll just treat myself to this iced coffee” which I don’t think is always a bad thing but good to learn about myself.

Here are my tips:

1. Buy almond or coconut milk for your coffee if you are a creamer addict like me.

2. Plan plan plan your meals. Helpful site: http://www.thefoodee.com/ When all else fails, roast a chicken with sweet potatoes.

3. Snack and snack some more. Especially the first week, apples and almond butter were our go to!

4. Allow yourself to have a smoothie on the weekends or during your at home date night to spice things up! We bought a ton of frozen fruit from TJ’s and loved discovering new favorite combinations. (blueberry+frozen banana+coconut milk=YUM!)

5. Have a buddy! I could not have done this without Keith’s support. Thank you babe!

6. Buy a lot of food. Then eat some more.

Also, a lot of people asked what we are going to do now post Whole30. We really loved the Whole30 but one of the hardest things was it felt boring. Keith and I love eating and drinking socially so that was especially hard. Our tentative plan is to follow whole30 principles during the week and then let ourselves be more relaxed on the weekends.

Are you thinking about doing it? Jump right in! There is no time like the present to change your life!

(And yes, we totally cheated a couple times. Just don’t give up if that happens!)

After having Edith, I did not want to be in front of the camera. Even being a photographer, I knew how precious those moments were but I felt so unattractive and lets be honest, fat. So when the opportunity to go to Hawaii came up and be photographed by Jonathan Canlas, I said to myself “ok great, I’ll lose all the baby weight”. I’m not a dieter so I started running. But lets just say, it didn’t happen. I was so discouraged and then I read this post. Boom. It convicted me and I realized that besides our gorgeous Christmas session, I didn’t have many real photos of myself since pregnancy. A whole year of my life! So friends and especially mamas, I’m here to say, do it anyway. Buy a new outfit and get the photos taken. Life goes by way too fast. When was the last time YOU were in front of the camera?

Here’s our session from Jonathan Canlas. I’m so grateful to have these photos and to show them to Edith when she’s older– I’ll tell her about how her crazy Mom and Dad left for ten whole days when she was 9 months old (thanks grandparents ).

Thank you Jon!