I have found that when Brandon and I start talking Whole30, “lifestyle change”, Paleo, or anything of the “crazy-health-kick” nature, people quickly turn to Brandon with the question: “How do you do this?” I think it seems easier for a stay-at-home, homeschool mom with a bunch of time on my hands (not really, but okay) to have time to cook, blog, research, plan meals, school my 3 kids and do a Whole30 with no problem.

For a working man who is on the clock 9 to 5 without a lot of free time (like a lot of men), and is someone who on his own wouldn’t normally be the most healthiest of eaters, it is a very valid question to wonder how he does it.

Remember, this was Brandon a few months before our first Whole30:

……….

Brandon eats out every lunch. He either eats alone while out visiting clients, or he eats with a client. Either way, he eats out…every day.

Obviously we could answer with a SIMPLE answer by saying, “My wife makes me lunch”, but that just isn’t the case. Brandon has to make wise, healthy, Whole30 decisions about his food choices on a day to day basis. And he’s doing pretty darn good.

I asked Brandon on Day 4 to take a picture of his lunch. Here it is:

Brandon ordered a grilled chicken salad, minus the cheese, croutons, and dressing. On this particular day he wasn’t really feeling the grilled chicken so he asked for a hamburger patty instead. He made sure to ask the waitress if they added anything to the hamburgers and they assured him that they are 100% beef. He asked them to not season the patty with anything but salt and pepper, and they happily obliged. He declined the normal creamy and sugary dressing but asked for balsamic vinegar and olive oil instead. As you can see, he is slowly even getting over the sometimes uncomfortableness of having to ask a lot of questions about what exactly is in the food and the changes that he needs made. By the end of these small changes Brandon’s grilled chicken salad ended up containing: avocado, grape tomatoes, apples, carrots, lettuce, and a hamburger patty with balsamic vinegar and olive oil.

Brandon said it was a great salad that definitely hit the spot and kept him full until dinner. I must say, you did a pretty darn good job hubby.

So, how does he do it? He makes healthy, wise, frequent decisions to stay on track. He plans where to eat and knows the basics of a salad if there aren’t any other options. He’s even learning to go without if there just isn’t anything good available.

Now, Brandon will be the first to tell you that it is NO walk in the park. By making these good decisions he is missing out on what he grew up on. The “good” stuff. He’s missing out on his favorite blue cheese dressing, his ice cream, his ginormous cinnamon rolls. He’ll even tell you that when he gets a sugar craving it makes him want to punch someone in the teeth. He’ll be real with you. He’ll also say that it’s worth it.

Brandon has a personal conviction about this Whole30. He had lost 15 pounds on our previous Whole30 but didn’t make the strides post-Whole30 to keep it off. He gained back a few pounds, his clothes got tight, and he started slowing down. He’s not going to let that happen again. He is full on Whole30 this time. He wants to lose at least 15 pounds this go-around and he’s definitely on track. Just this morning (Day 6) he wore his size 32 pants to work. Hasn’t been able to do that in a good month!

Brandon knows the importance of being healthy, he knows how good he feels when he is healthy, and he wants to set up camp and live there. He wants to sleep soundly at night without any medical aid, he wants to play with his kids until he tires them out, he even wants to run with his super hot and super fast wife. (kidding!)

Brandon knows that to reach these goals he has to stay on track. You don’t get anywhere from hoping or wishing for better, you get there by making one good, healthy decision after another. And that’s what we’re doing. That’s what Brandon is doing. And that’s how he does it.

And our “Whole Family” is thankful.