My husband and I decided to do another round of Whole30 on Halloween. We would have started earlier, but were in Canada for 10 days and didn’t want to start until we got home. This is his second round and my third (plus 10 days I did in the summer, and 2 weeks the beginning of Sept). Some people think, “Wow, AGAIN?” But it’s not a crazy diet — it’s basically how we eat all the time anyway. We both wanted to go into the Christmas Holidays feeling great and didn’t want to get sucked into candy we don’t want, or over eating just because it’s in front of us during parties.

My cousin is almost finished with her first round of Whole30 and she texted me to ask, “Is it okay to do another 30 days? Or do they recommend taking a long break in between? I kind of want to keep going. It’s way too easy now!” YES, it’s okay! You aren’t depriving yourself of any nutrients (quite the opposite is true), and could not be eating more healthy. Why not keep going? Especially if you feel that you haven’t quite made the progress you were hoping for (your body might take a little longer to heal or show the results others have right away). It’s not really something that you would do for the rest of your life, and I don’t think you should. But to give yourself a few months of eating that way to really jump start you into a new way of life? I say go for it! Especially if you are beginning whole30 from a place of a lot of processed foods and dining out — because it will take longer than 30 days to really cement new habits of cooking all the time. I think it would be easier to continue eating more healthy if you give yourself some extra time. Once you start eating lots of grains or sugars again . . . you just crave more and more and start to feel that downward shift in energy, skin breakouts, trouble sleeping, etc.

I am at a place in my diet where I am eating paleo/traditional food preparation 95% of the time (yes, sometimes I really do eat donuts – gluten and all – but it has to be a good one). This means I eat a lot of protein/fat/veggies, and some fruit. I eat a lot of superfoods whenever I can and try to keep things nutrient dense. I don’t like to snack and eat all the time, so I make my meals COUNT. I wrote a bit more about the Paleo way of eating and my first experience with it, here, and here. Doing a whole30 for me now isn’t that difficult, it’s just cutting out sugar and sourdough bread (which I eat a serving of each day, usually).

My skin loves whole30. I have never had terrible skin, but it really improves for me when I cut out that sugar/dairy! Now when I start a new round, the results show up much faster, which is awesome. I don’t go through the awful detoxing and headaches like I did that first time either. It’s a nice challenge for me to stick to 3 meals a day and not to snack a lot. I drink a lot more water when doing whole30 too, which is an added bonus.

This won’t be my last time. But I won’t always announce or talk about it, because it isn’t that far from my every day life. I will always love to bake and will continue to do so. I can’t wait to make sugar cookies and gingerbread houses with my kids this holiday season. Not to mention the homemade chocolates that have become my signature (thanks for that, mom!). But I feel confident that I won’t go crazy with the treats this year — because I have such a boost of feeling good and eating well right beforehand. I can almost guarantee you will see tons of people starting whole30 on January 1. But I would rather not binge like crazy over the holidays just to eat well in January. This is life now for me, it’s year-round, holidays and all!

This round will end on November 30, which puts us through Thanksgiving. As it’s soooo close to the end, and I have done this before and feel confident, I’m not going to stress the small things (what was the turkey brined in?) I am going to eat things I know are good for me, and stay away from those that aren’t. Extra turkey, hold the rolls, please! I am even going to try out a new dairy free/grain free/refined sugar free pie recipe I found that looks scrumptious — to celebrate!

Do you have any methods for surviving the Holiday junk food onslaught?!?! Share in the comments!