When I completed Whole30, I had about three and a half weeks before we left for our yoga retreat/vacation to Zoetry Agua Punta Cana and AlSol Tiara Cap Cana. My goal was to have most foods re-introduced by the time we left so that I didn’t have to deal with it on the trip.

Before we left I was comfortably eating non-gluten grains like rice and quinoa and also some added sugars but not dessert-type stuff. I did a couple very small gluten and dairy tests but was for the most part still avoiding them, primarily because I experienced such a massive clearing of acne from my face AFTER Whole30. I had been in bad flair for 3-4 months where I was never without some sort of cystic breakout somewhere on my cheeks or chin. I heard from many of you that dairy and gluten are breakout triggers so I have been cautious about adding them back in.

I have received many questions about how and what I ate on vacation “after the Whole30” so today’s recent eats is going to show examples of what I ate for breakfast, lunch and dinner while I was away. I didn’t go into the trip with the mindset that I “couldn’t” have certain foods but I tried to lean the way of moderation.

Just like my previous Whole30 “recent eats” recaps, I’ll share a lot of final thoughts with you at the end of the post.

BREAKFAST

Fruit plates and coffee every day.

Along with eggs! I ate eggs for breakfast every day of this trip. It helped because we usually didn’t eat until around 9:30 or 10 so by then I was in the mood for eggs. Every morning we were at Zoetry I did scrambled eggs with herbs. They served egg whites but I asked for the whole egg. I skipped the hashbrown and sausage but ate most of the bacon.

I never got tired of the abundance of fresh fruit.

Once we switched over the AlSol Tiara, I became good friends with the omelet man. Two eggs, jalepenos, spinach and mushrooms was my order of choice along with fresh fruit and smoked salmon. On this day he mistakenly put cheese in my omelet and rather than freak about about it and make him re-cook it, I rolled with it. (By this point in the vacation, it didn’t even matter.)

Two egg omelet, a poached egg, smoked salmon, plantains and fruit.

LUNCH

We ordered lunch on the beach most days at Zoetry. This is a shrimp ceviche.

Fried sweet potatoes and plantains, tuna and avocado salad with chicken and fish ceviche served in a coconut.

Shrimp caesar salad.

Tuna tartar.

Seared tuna and a salad with tomatoes and avocado. I asked for the tuna on top of a salad but instead they gave me the tuna entree with a side salad. You just can’t complain though when you’re eating said tuna from a beach chair and looking at the ocean.

For the first day’s lunch at AlSol, we split a big plate of stuff from the beach grill they had set up. Chicken, ribs and fish and veggie kebabs and went back for doubles on that.

And the last day of the trip I said “screw it” and ordered a grilled mahi sandwich at the cutest little beachside restaurant that we visited (more on that later!). By this point I had already fallen pretty far off the wagon and fish sandwiches while I’m in tropical places are my favorite.

DINNER

Octopus carppacio at Zoetry. This was phenomenal and we ordered it two different nights.

Beef carpaccio.

Filet of beef with mushrooms and asparagus.

Duck breast with mashed potatoes and veggies.

Roasted red pepper and mushroom risotto (to die for) and lamb chops for our last dinner at Zoetry.

Chicken and beef fajitas at AlSol Tiara.

Chips and guacamole.

Stir fry with rice.

Sushi and edamame apps.

We were treated to an amazing chef’s tasting dinner at AlSol Tiara on our second night there (I will do a separate post showcasing that dinner) and when they brought dessert, it was pistachio ice cream with tropical fruits and chocolate sauce. How could I not? It was my first ice cream in 2+ months and so, so good!

Naturally, I had to do it again the last night. 🙂

GOING HOME

On the way to Punta Cana, I packed tons of snacks and a lunch for us with leftovers from the night before. On the way back to Charlotte, we were out of snacks save this last pack of cashew butter and the options at the airport were Wendy’s, Nathan’s Hot Dogs and a pizza place. I just can’t do it with fast food so I made do with an apple and cashew butter. I was starving when we got back to Charlotte.

FINAL THOUGHTS 

• Breakfast was the easiest meal of the day to stick to a clean, healthy diet. It got progressively harder as the day went on. Dinner was really tough because of all the sauces and garnishes that you don’t know about until you receive the plate.
• The language barrier was REALLY tough. Most of the time when I asked for certain things to be left off, substituted or put on the side, they were not. It was also hard to order food in ways any different than listed on the menu.
• Both resorts listed gluten-free selections on their menus but I’m not 100% sold that all of them were actually gluten-free. For example, those fajitas were listed as gluten-free but served with flour tortillas (yes, you could not eat the tortillas but you get my point.)
• I tried to go the route of splurges here and there and not go completely crazy. For the first 5 days of the trip I did a good job and felt really great. For the last three days I got a little lax and felt the side effects of that (but the ice cream and sandwich was still worth it). 🙂
• Zoetry is a wellness-focused resort so I felt it was easier there to make healthy (and still really delicious) choices.
• It was just a week of my life and I tried NOT to focus on food but instead on soaking up the incredible experience. We’re doing a “mini Whole30” now that we’re home. One of the things I love about the program is that they say you can do a quick reset at any time for any amount of time you want to do it, whether that’s 3 days or the full 30 days.

Let me know if you have any questions!

Do you have any favorite vacation foods? 

Fellow Whole30ers…do you ever do mini resets? (I need my sugar dragon to stay tame…haha)