It was early 2020 and I had decided to finally try the eating plan I had been hearing about for years – the Whole30 program. I loved the idea of it. But I also loved sugar. And wheat. And cheese. Mmm, cheese.

My nightly routine of eating a bowl of either sugar cereal or ice cream had been going on since I was a kid. I literally felt like I could not go to bed without it. Could I really break the habit? I decided I could. You can do anything for just a month, right?

I knew the first thing I needed to do was make sure I had alternative foods ready to be eaten at all times. I know myself well enough to know that in those evening hours when I want a sweet treat, nothing can stand in my way! So my plan for staying strong was to keep Whole30 sweet treats available at all times.

I started collecting recipes for desserts and snacks made with honey or maple syrup and alternative flours like almond and coconut flour.

I quickly found that although there are many ready-to-buy options for gluten-free eating, there is extremely little available for refined sugar free foods. So the bulk of my energy went into finding and preparing those.

I experimented with different natural sweeteners like Stevia, Monk Fruit, honey and maple syrup. I found that I can’t stand the taste of Stevia or Monk Fruit, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that honey and maple syrup make a great tasting substitute and I have been able to make one of the two of those work for most recipes.

At first, I only created sweets from recipes I found on Pinterest, like these Paleo Almond Butter cups that truly got me through that first month. Well those and these Keto Ice cream bars. But I eventually started experimenting with other non-Whole30 recipes I loved and figuring out how to make them work with substitutions.

Some of these have worked out quite well and I will be sharing them with you in future posts, like my GF/RSF chocolate mug cake. Some of them, like my chocolate chip cookie recipe, well…..are still being figured out.

So, I made it through that first month with out eating Gluten, Refined Sugar, or Dairy. It wasn’t pretty. I wanted my sugar and I was grumpy. But because I had prepared sweet treats and snacks ahead of time, I was able to grab those in my desperate moments and not succumb to my cravings.

By the end of that month, I noticed a huge difference in my physical and emotional well being. My mind felt clearer and able to focus for longer periods of time.

I wasn’t so tired. I remember how I used to always fall asleep (or at least wanted to) while helping my daughter with her homework every afternoon. It made me so mad, but I just couldn’t keep my eyes open.

After doing the Whole30, I stopped getting sleepy in the afternoon. My energy level was stable all day long.

I noticed less aches and pains. I haven’t had any major chronic pain in my life, but even so, I noticed a considerable amount of less pain and swelling when waking up in the morning.

I made it to day 30 and was so happy about the way I was feeling, I almost didn’t want to take the next step, which is adding ingredients back in to your diet one by one and paying attention to how you feel.

I decided that the thing I just HAD to bring back first was dairy. I needed my milk. My cheese. My butter. I was SOO happy to find that adding dairy back in to my diet caused no issues at all. Phew. That was a close one.

I wish I could say that I followed the plan and one by one added in different foods. Unfortunately I lost patience and added Gluten and Refined Sugar back in at about the same time.

I do not recommend that. After a couple days I felt so horrible. I was so tired and had no energy. My brain could not concentrate. And my body hurt all over in places I have never had pain before. And I was extra grumpy.

I could not believe how eating these foods that I had been eating my whole life caused me to feel so horrible!

It didn’t take long for me to decide that I wanted to eliminate these ingredients from my diet permanently. The amount of energy and clarity of mind were the biggest reason.

I have so many things I want to do in life, and I need all the energy and focus of mind that I can get!

And so started the beginning of my journey with honey.