Well, I did it! I am officially done with my first attempt at Whole30. And I think I am forever changed.
A month ago, a friend posted on Facebook that she was doing her second
Whole 30 Challenge and wanted others to join her. I was coming off a weekend where I'd over-eaten, over-drank, over-baked, and I felt horribly guilty about my lack of self control. I agreed to take the challenge and join her Facebook "support group", then I immediately panicked.
What did I get myself into???
I didn't read
It Starts With Food, but quickly figured out the condensed version of the program: Take out the allergens (grains, dairy, soy, and corn) and things that bloat (sugar, alcohol, and legumes) and basically eat things that you can grow or kill. That's it. Whole foods for 30 days. If you can't pronounce the ingredients on the package, it's likely off limits.
One caveat that I had to wrap my brain around was that you can't recreate baked goods with approved ingredients, if you want to be truly Whole30 compliant. No grain-free muffins, no banana and egg pancakes, no Paleo brownies, nothing.
No baking. At all??? Yikes. "Why," you ask? It's about retraining the brain and not having
SWYPO. Read about it. A hilarious analogy that explains why going gluten free last year didn't do a darn thing for my waistline.
To be clear, I don't "diet". The word itself is so misused that hearing others use it out of context is like hearing nails on a chalkboard. I hate counting calories, I'm inconsistent with tracking my food, I am an admitted sugar addict, and I've accepted the fact that I will never be a size 6. I try to eat healthy with a fair amount of occasional indulgences, and I intentionally workout to burn off the guilt of splurging. This has only worked for me to a certain extent and, as I get older and older, this plan works for me less and less. After seeing this chart above, it makes perfect sense that you can't exercise away a poor diet.
Wondering about my results? I'll admit, it wasn't easy, but I refuse to say that it was "hard". As they say on their website: "It is not hard. Don't you dare tell us this is hard. Beating cancer is hard. Birthing a baby is hard. Losing a parent is hard. Drinking your coffee black. Is. Not. Hard. You've done harder things than this, and you have no excuse not to complete the program as written. It's only thirty days, and it's for the most important health cause on earth - the only physical body you will every have in this lifetime."
The first week was tough, the second week was better, but still difficult, then it was all downhill from there. By day 12-14, I wasn't really tempted by much. All in all, here are my results...
FOOD
Because I didn't read the book, I didn't realize during my first week (see my menu
here) that I wasn't supposed to snack. I have to say that I can't (or won't) eat just 3 big meals a day. I hate feeling full and I like a little fruit or some nuts mid-morning and mid-afternoon. I see nothing wrong with that!
I overate early on in my 30 days because I read, "Don't count calories" and I heard, "Eat all you want, as long as it's approved! WEEE!" I went a little overboard. Yet, I still lost pounds and inches, so I can't complain!
I ate a lot of the same things every day, for example…
Breakfast: Either a veggie omelet with 1/2 an avocado or a banana with almond butter
Snacks: Fresh fruit, apples and almond butter, apple chips, nuts, a blueberry or cashew Larabar if I was on the run, and I love plantain chips from Trader Joe's when I want something crunchy and salty.
Dinner: I made spaghetti squash weekly, chicken stir fry with coconut aminos weekly,
beanless chili a few times, apple sausage or chicken or salmon or steak with broccoli or green beans or cauli-rice or a baked potato (which was approved halfway through my 30 days), I attempted
shrimp and mango lettuce wraps and
chicken zucchini poppers and I tried a few other new recipes that were all delicious.
As an aside, my
Tastefully Simple seasonings SAVED ME during this challenge. A sprinkle of Seasoned Salt, Ultimate Steak Seasoning, Dried Tomato and Garlic Pesto, or Onion Onion added tons of flavor to any meat or even veggies, not to mention that a little bit of Onion Onion and Garlic Garlic made my cauli-rice absolutely delicious.
CRAVINGS
Sugar: I crave it after lunch and dinner, I crave it mid-afternoon, I have no self control around baked goods. My biggest success through this experience is that sugar is no longer a temptation for me. What's more is that my body now rejects it! A few times in the past 30 days, I've had a taste of someone's dessert and within minutes, my stomach began to cramp. I love that my body has completely detoxed from sugar, here's hoping I keep away from my old habits.
Dairy: I have always been suspicious that I am lactose intolerant. I don't drink milk, but I learned very quickly that I add cheese and butter to everything. It was easy to replace butter with olive oil or coconut oil in most recipes, and I discovered the wonderment of ghee, but cheese. Oh cheese! It was hard to learn to live without cheese on my omelets, salads, and Italian or Mexican dishes. I purposefully didn't ask a waiter to omit the goat cheese on a salad halfway through the 30 days and my body didn't respond at all, so I'm wondering if dairy doesn't have the effect on me that I thought it did?
Soy: Knowing that Jason is allergic to soy, I already knew that soy and soybean oil is everywhere. This is my biggest annoyance at restaurants…making sure my chicken or salmon is cooked in olive oil, not soybean oil. It's a sneaky little substance these days!
Corn: Taking corn out of my diet didn't bother me at all. When we stopped eating gluten last summer, we upped our corn tortillas and tortillas chip consumption, but these past 30 days, I didn't miss it. I will say that when we went to one of our favorite restaurants downtown a few weeks ago, I guiltlessly ordered the chicken street tacos on corn tortillas and, to my surprise, my body didn't react at all. So corn might not be an issue for me. We'll see when I add it back in over the next week.
Grains: This was fairly difficult. Maybe not as difficult as for those who were used to eating bread and pasta, but we eat oatmeal for breakfast at least 5 days a week and I really missed it. For me, it's a bit of a comfort food. Eliminating brown rice as a side dish was also a little annoying until I discovered
cauli-rice. The first time I made it, I ate almost the whole pan!
Legumes: Switching from peanut butter to almond butter was a breeze - they're pretty interchangeable in our house. But I love adding black beans to soups and Mexican dishes, plus beanless chili wasn't a huge hit in my house. I'm hoping to add these back in without consequence.
Alcohol: I've never been a big drinker, until the last couple of years when I discovered the wonderful world of Cosmopolitans. I love me a fancy little Cosmo! I spent most of the first 30 years of my life stone, cold sober, so not drinking around friends, even at my high school reunion, wasn't a huge deal.
Non-alcoholic beverages: I love water and green tea and don't drink much else, so this wasn't an issue. I don't drink soda or coffee, my weekly protein shakes were easy to omit, and I only drink fruit juices when my husband makes me a foofy cocktail on the weekends, so this rule was also easy to follow.
"CHEATING"
Considering the fact that I had TWO vacations within my 30 day challenge, one of which was my 20 year reunion, I am extremely proud of myself. The number of times I politely declined greasy, cheesy, sugar-laden foods was ridiculous. I was tempted, teased, and tormented by some of my favorite foods and I can confidently say that, 99.9% of the time, I stayed strong.
I indulged and had a few bites of no-no's during the 30 days, but I immediately paid for it. My body completely rejected sugar and soy. Yet, it didn't react at all to the corn tortillas or goat cheese. As I reintroduce each allergen back into my diet over the next few weeks, I'm very curious which ones my body will respond to in a negative way. That will be a whole 'nother blog post, I'm sure.
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| This is everything I brought for 4th of July weekend at my in laws' cabin. A little bit of prep time beforehand meant I had plenty of options to choose from! |
SLEEP
I love sleep, maybe a little too much. I don't function well on less than 8 hours of shuteye. I was hoping that this challenge would turn me into a morning person, but so far, it hasn't.
One thing that I'm ashamed to admit is that I had gotten into the habit of taking daily naps. Never longer than 20 minutes, but seriously, we're talking 6 days a week, people. The exhaustion of being endlessly patient with my spirited 4 year old is more than I can take most days and a 20 minute power nap makes me a nicer mom during the 2nd half of each day.
But by week 2 of this challenge, I realized that I wasn't that tired. I might lay on my bed and watch a Food Network show or get caught up on emails, but I very quickly realized that I don't need these daily naps anymore. For me, this is a huge victory!
One other thing I must mention is that I dream more now than ever before. Possibly because I'm getting better REM cycles? Who knows. I thought it was only me, until someone else commented on it in the Facebook group. Interesting.
CHANGES IN MY BODY
I only lost 6 lbs, but I can see big changes in myself, physically. Shorts that haven't fit in more than a year fit very comfortably and everything on my body just seems…leaner. The muffin top is gone, my sides feel tighter, there's less jiggle when I wiggle, it's great. I still need to measure myself to see how many inches I lost, but regardless of the number, I feel so much healthier and I'm no longer a slave to the scale.
Another odd problem that was fixed is my bum knee. I have developed a pretty annoying pain in my right knee that is exasperated by squats and lunges at the gym. But in the last few weeks, my knee hasn't bothered me at all. Not even once. It's fantastic.
EXERCISE/ENERGY
All of these physical changes have happened while working out LESS this past month. I was in the habit of going to the gym 5 times/week before and, partially because of schedule conflicts and starting our homeschool routine in July, I have barely been able to make it 2-3 times/week. My energy level is higher and apparently I don't have to workout as much because my diet isn't filled with garbage. I'm sure if I went back to working out 5 days/week, I would start dropping weight more quickly, but for now, I'm appreciating the break from my daily routine.
MY MOOD
Being a stay-at-home mom is trying in and of itself, but the fact that I also work my Tastefully Simple business and have a full party schedule, plus throw homeschooling into the mix, let's just say that my fuse tends to be shorter than I'd like.
This past month, I suddenly have a new dose of patience and my mood has been less erratic. The sugar crashes have definitely disappeared and, possibly because I'm well rested, I'm able to pause before reacting negatively to Mike and the kids.
WHAT NEXT?
My next step is to keep going. Today, I ate popcorn at the movies (I brought plain popcorn from home for me and Jason, because the theater cooks it in soybean oil) - there was no reaction at all. No bloating, no cramping, no signs that I ate anything different than yesterday. Next, I'm going to introduce legumes back into my diet, making our regular chili recipe. From there, I'll try oats and other grains, then dairy, and I'm very curious to see if yellow cheeses affect me differently than varieties like goat cheese and feta.
After all of these items are reintroduced, I plan to stay on a modified Paleo lifestyle. I can't see myself ever going back to anything-goes. I've made mostly healthy choices for years (for the most part) with lots and lots of wiggle room. Too much wiggle room, apparently. I feel so good right now and I don't want to go back to the way I felt a month ago, that's for sure.
Are you intrigued yet? Have you struggled with your weight, your diet, self confidence, low energy, disturbed sleep, cravings, food addictions, aches and pains, seasonal allergies, or other physical ailments? I strongly recommend reading more about
Step 1 of Whole30. I haven't talked to anyone who says this hasn't changed their life. It most definitely changed the way I think about eating and I hope this will permanently transform my relationship with food.
There's no need to turn my Whole 30 experience into a Whole 365 lifestyle - I don't think that's the intention behind the challenge at all. But I'm certainly curious to see where this next phase takes me!
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