How I prepped...

One thing I learned really quickly is that as much as I was ready for this thing to just start already, I definitely needed the week of preparation. 

Step 1 - get the junk out of the house. Pretty good excuse to finally get rid of that leftover Halloween candy, treats still lying around from Christmas, and random half empty bottles of condiments taking up all the space in the fridge (we are a family of dippers - that might be tough to overcome in the next 30 days). Also turned out to be a good time to clean my refrigerator - now that it was pretty empty! :)

Step 2 - organized the pantry & spice cabinet. Wow we had a lot of half full boxes of pasta, rice in all different colors and sizes, un-opened bottles of condiments (like I said, family of dippers with random dips always on reserve!), boxes of crackers and bags of chips. I gave quite a bit to my sister then boxed up the rest, knowing that eventually we'll re-introduce (in moderation of course) some of these things back into our lives. 

Step 3 - re-stock the empty fridge and pantry. Several trips to Trader Joes, Wegmans and Whole Foods and before I knew it we had real food, fresh produce, and the staples needed to get us through the next few weeks. I decided to put some of the produce on display - with the Christmas decorations down the colorful fruits and veggies seemed like a nice way to add some decoration to the house - and of course a good way to keep the healthy stuff front and center! 

Step 4 - saying farewell. Knowing I had one week before the challenge began, my husband and I picked a few things we knew we wanted before we couldn't have it any longer. For him it was one last gin martini, for me it was sushi and Sweet Frog, and of course I had to finish off some wine that was still in the house. 

Step 5 - educate. I have been reading all kinds of information on www.whole30.com, the info packet our challenge leader sent, and scouring the internet for compliant recipes, blogs, Pinterest boards, etc. My iPad is chock full of info, meal plan suggestions, and motivational images and quotes to keep us going. Not to mention a very active Facebook group of my fellow challengers who already are starting to feel like friends. 

Step 6 - Read. Set. Go!