This past March I turned 40. I am not bothered by this at all, because I'm very happy with the life I've created for myself. However, my eating felt out of control. Not 198 lbs out of control, but not anywhere near where I wanted, and needed, it to be. One night, right before I went up to bed, I was browsing through Pinterest, and saw a pin titled something like, "What I learned during my Whole30." I had never heard of Whole30 before, and have no idea why I clicked on the link, but I did. After staying up way past my bedtime reading, I decided to give the Whole30 a try. I was curious to see if I'd feel as wonderful as people claimed they felt. I had tried being vegan a few years before, but couldn't stick with it long enough to feel any differently. I was vegetarian for about a year, but just ended up eating lots of pizza, and my cholesterol went up. Not the goal, and it was hard for me to maintain. The appealing thing about the Whole30 was that it was only 30 days...I figured I could do ANYTHING for a month! I ordered the book, "It Starts With Food" (which isn't necessary, but I highly recommend it) and committed to starting on April 1st. Conveniently, this was the day after Easter, a Monday, and the 1st day of a 30 day month...I love stuff like that! Here is the link to the website where you can learn exactly what the Whole30 is.
Other than having a headache on Day 2, I found the plan surprisingly easy to follow, however, pre-planning is KEY! For someone who does not really enjoy cooking, and who's not great at it, this way of eating was somewhat challenging at first. It is NOT a fast-food-friendly plan! It is time and labor-intensive and, if you buy mainly organic like I chose to, it is not cheap. However, I cannot put a price tag on how amazing I felt while eating this way! Basically it's no grains of any kind, no white potatoes, no alcohol, no sweeteners of any kind (not even honey), no legumes and no dairy. The hardest for me by far was the sugar and grains. I also missed my ice cream, but not the way I miss it when I am not doing a Whole30, but forbid myself from having it. That's what I loved about the Whole30. There was no decision-making. Many things were not "allowed" and if I'm anything, it's a rule-follower!
In 30 days I lost 14.7 lbs, my body looked dramatically different, my mood was stable, things didn't set me off the way they had, if I got annoyed about something at work, I didn't dwell on it. I was just HAPPY :) I didn't exercise much, which I'd like to change the next time, but I realized that often I go to the gym to try and work off things I've eaten which I feel I shouldn't have. Since I was eating well, that guilt wasn't there.
I will talk more about the specifics of the plan, and what I ate/eat, in future posts. Once I finished my Whole30, I quickly fell back into my old habits, despite swearing that I never would. I decided to start another Whole 30 on July 1st, but I've been so out of control lately, that I decided not to wait. Today I started a Whole26-ish. In a few weeks I am having a colonoscopy (my dad had colon cancer at the age of about 40, so I've gone every few years since the age of 30.) Obviously prepping for that will take precedence over the Whole30. On June 22nd I have my niece's HS graduation party, and I want to be able to "off-road" a bit. I will be Whole30 compliant other than the prep and end the day of the party. Then I will take some time off, and start again on July 1st. My dogs got me up at 5:15 for breakfast this morning and, while feeding them, I realized that I was starting today. I was so excited! I want those feelings of happiness, control, energy and health back...I've missed them more than I ever could've imagined I would.
Happy, in control, energetic and healthy perfectly describe how you feel during a whole 30! And relieved- I feel relieved to know how to take charge of my health and my choices and proud that I have decided to do it. There's a reason people keep paying this forward.
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