Rediscovering Myself on Whole30

Before we go any further...What is Whole30?

Essentially, it's an elimination diet that only allows you to eat "real" food: fruit, veggies, meat, and a few other odds and ends. You can have things like salt and oil to cook with, which helps a lot, too. The point is that you're avoiding added sugar, carbs and dairy (and, yes, alcohol too), completely getting them out of your system. 

It's called Whole30 because you eliminate all of those "fake foods" for 30 days, but it's really like Whole50 if you do it right. That's because after the first 30 days, you're supposed to gradually add back in the foods you've been avoiding. If you really want to see how your body reacts to sugar (does it make you tired? overly emotional?), dairy (are there digestive problems? does your skin change?), and carbs (do you feel bloated? are you more or less full through the day?), you have to add them back in one at a time. For instance, you add dairy back into your diet - cheese, please! - for two or three days, keeping the carbs and sugars out of the picture. Then you can see what changes between day 30 and day 33, etc.

If you're all about loving your body the way it is, why are you dieting?

The previous Self Love series posts have all centered on accepting yourself. So that's a fair point, but that doesn't even come close to encompassing my Whole30 story.

I started this journey for several reasons.

1. A friend had completed the program and raved about how good it made her feel.
2. I've had seemingly random digestive problems in the past, so I wanted to see if they came from a particular kind of food. In general, I wanted to be more aware of how my body reacts to different foods.
3. I know that I put a lot of garbage into my body, so I wanted to reset myself, physically and mentally, in relation to food.

I recently finished the whole process, and, on the whole, I'm incredibly pleased with the results. So let's talk about it!

I'm interested, but I need my glass of red, & other excuses

No, you really don't, and you know it. I'm not saying you have to do Whole30, but I am saying that you need to reconsider what constitutes a need in your life. As the Whole30 website says, 

This is not hard. Don’t you dare tell us this is hard. Fighting cancer is hard. Birthing a baby is hard. Losing a parent is hard. Drinking your coffee black. Is. Not. Hard.

Personally, I know that I've never been the healthiest eater. I've done various diets and exercise programs since college, but nothing has ever worked. Sometimes I've seen results and sometimes I haven't. But, honestly, none of the things I've done has ever felt as easily natural as this. And, reminder: I didn't do it as a weight loss strategy. I chose to do Whole30 because I wanted to be more intune with my body's reactions. I also wanted to feel in control of my eating habits. If you want control and awareness, this is the type of program you should be aiming for. 

But isn't it expensive to buy so much produce?

A friend posted this on Facebook the other day, and you know it's true. 

Over the course of Whole30, I actually ate all the fresh fruits and veggies I bought. The only thing that got left behind was a bag of frozen peaches (which I'd heard are a heavenly "dessert" on Whole30), but I didn't even need them. And they were in the freezer anyway, so they're still perfectly fine to use in the future. 

On top of that, we only went out to eat once (to Outback Steakhouse, where I had a steak, broccoli and a plain sweet potato), so we saved a ton of money in a bunch of different ways. If you can handle buying your regular groceries, you can handle this. 

Moreover, there are lots of cookbooks and such that you can buy, but you don't have to. All the information you need can be found online. It is FREE to do Whole30. I looked up a few recipes here and there (all from various cooking websites), and, other than the initial investigation into what the rules were, I didn't use the Whole30 website for the rest of the month. You can absolutely do this on your own without paying for anything other than your food at the grocery store.

Okay, okay. So what was it like?

I knew I wanted to do Whole30 in 2019, but I also knew it would make socializing more difficult. For that reason, I waited until January 21st to start, after all my planned social events were over. A friend (see #1 above) joined me for the Whole30 challenge, and we updated and encouraged each other throughout the process. 

I was weirdly busy at the beginning of the week, so I didn't do my inaugural grocery run until Tuesday afternoon. That meant a lot of scavenging in the fridge those first two days, so scrambled eggs with onions became my best friend - and it stayed that way every day of the program.

The first day was totally fine, but days two and three brought on the dreaded sugar headaches. They weren't terrible, but they lasted from when I woke up to when I went to bed. I tend to avoid taking medication unless it's absolutely necessary, but I did end up taking pain meds for my headache on the second day of it. By day four, it was smooth sailing in that regard.

Throughout Whole30, I had a banana every day at breakfast, and then, honestly, I'd usually get sidetracked into other things, so I'd have my scrambled eggs as an early lunch. In the afternoon, I'd have a snack of nuts with raisins or dried mangoes. I like to be fairly consistent with my food choices; knowing that I'll have the same food at the same time every day helps me to avoid the extra time of decision making, both at home and at the grocery store. It also prevents food from going bad if you know what you need and in what quantity. That being said, if you did want more variety in your meals, there are plenty of choices!

Dinner was where we really got creative. My husband wasn't doing the program with me, but he would help me cook approved meals at dinner time. We made vegetable soups, turkey meatballs in a DIY program-friendly BBQ sauce, cauliflower rice (my favorite!) with onions and carrots, sweet potato fries (which are totally fine as long as you're not actually frying them - bake instead!), salmon with pesto (minus the parm), spiced chicken with broccoli, stir fry with another DIY sauce...all of it was delicious - and really healthy!

During the course of the program, I did have a few social events: two dinners that we hosted at home, one day at a friend's house, and a baby shower. The home visits were great. We informed everyone in advance that I was doing Whole30, and they were happy to eat some good, healthy, home-cooked meals. I was lucky to visit a friend who tries to eat mostly Whole30 meals all the time with her family, so we had some delicious soup! The baby shower was quite a bit tougher. It was at the end of week three, so I was pretty deep into Whole30 mode by then, which was a big help. I was prepared with snacks waiting in the car for me when I drove home, but the delicious looking food was painful to say to no. I was surprisingly not tempted to really eat it, but I did wish that I could. Especially that brownie cake at the end!

On the whole, though, I'm very good at following rules. Because Whole30 has very clear, strict guidelines for what you can and can't eat, I wasn't really tempted to break away from it at all...until day 28. The Whole30 website even has a timeline of what to expect, and that day 28 feeling that "28 is just as good as 30" is real. I didn't break it - I stuck with the program right up until the end, but I was seriously tempted in those last two days.

The timeline also has a bit about "tiger blood" - a feeling that you're incredibly strong and energized all day long. I never got that, but I did feel like my cravings were completely under control by week two or three. Like I said, I'm a rule-follower. Another part of "tiger blood" is the strength of your self-efficacy, and I definitely had that. I felt strong in my convictions and purpose. I didn't have to avoid temptation - I simply wasn't tempted by anything. So, while I didn't turn into a workout machine, I did definitely feel mental strength in the "tiger blood" phase.

On a not so pleasant note, lots of fruits and veggies means lots of fiber...just keep that in mind...

What were the final results?

I began Whole30 weighing 252.2 pounds. By the end of the program, I'd lost 14.8 pounds! I was incredibly proud of that number on the scale, but, again, I didn't do it for the weight loss. More important than the numbers were the changes I saw in my body and what I learned about myself. Most of it was in relation to sugar and my emotions. Here's what happened, and what I learned from it:

1. Those sugar headaches were real. That pain of withdrawal shows that sugar addictions are real. Because of that, I don't really want to put sugar back into my body afterwards. 
2. Before Whole30, I wouldn't get hungry; I would get hardcore hangry. That. Didn't. Happen. For. A. Whole. Month. I couldn't believe it! On Whole30, there were plenty of times when I was hungry, especially before dinner (since it often took longer to cook new, sometimes complex recipes), but I didn't get hangry even once. Amazing. 
3. I usually have incredible mood swings for about three days before my period starts. I had zero PMS emotional swings this month. NONE. That was a real eye-opener for me. 
4. During my period, I usually crave sugar and eat any chocolate I can get my hands on. My mom had send some chocolates for Valentine's Day, so I knew where it was, but I wasn't tempted to have any (again, I'm a rule follower)...and I survived anyway. Note: Periods may crave sugar, but they don't need it.
5. My skin has been far less oily, and not just because it's winter. Winter began way before Whole30, so the change in food has to be the reason. 

Aside from all of that, though, I learned to love healthy food. What a concept! Raisins became tender and juicy, cashews tasted sweeter with almost a milky texture, pesto became my new best friend, and the texture of a well cooked chicken became more important than its toppings. My main goal with Whole30 was to reset how I saw and reacted to food, and I would call that a major victory here. Healthy food is delicious! So why not eat it all the time?!