Whole30: Part III
Final installment. Part III. In Part I, I explained what the Whole30 is and why I did it. Part II addressed what the 30 days looked like for me. Here, I'll share my results and what I learned (and some extra credit if you read all the way through).
The Numbers
This is the good stuff, right? Well. It is for me. I like numbers and stats and quantifiable things. So here they are. I lost 15 pounds during the Whole30. The program strongly advises against weighing yourself during the program. I broke this rule. I weighed myself every day because I wanted to see how my body was responding. It was especially interesting to see the role my hormones played in my weight loss. And they definitely played a role!
I lost 15 pounds when all is said and done. My weight fluctuated day-to-day, but I consistently lost about 4 pounds each week.
Inches. I dropped one pant size. I lost about 2 inches off my hips, 4 inches off my waist, 2 inches off each thigh, 1 inch off each calf, 2 inches off my neck.
Disclaimer: These numbers are as of day 30. I ended the program the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. Yes. One day after I finished, I indulged on carbs, cheese and even a little pie. My body freaked out. I'm giving myself some time to reenter a normal eating routine to see how much of the weight/inches stay off. So far (a little more than one week out), my inches have remained the same. My weight went up 5 pounds in one day - my first day off the program! No doubt my body was reorienting itself. I'm currently about 3 pounds up from when I ended the program, and I think my body is still adjusting to "new" foods.
What I Learned
The Whole30 is supposed to change your relationship with food. It did. During the last week of the program, I was so excited for it to be over. I was going to eat pizza and chex mix and chocolate! The reality: my first day off I ate a veggie sushi roll and half a pint of beer for non-compliant foods (which is really just a little rice and beer). That filled me up. I went to a movie intending to get a "bad" snack or a coke, and I had zero interest. The thought of consuming those things turned my stomach.
The chex mix? Yeah. I had some. My taste buds still liked it but my body was not happy. I realized my body was starting to beat my taste buds - huge victory!
I am still mostly sugar-free. I'm not monitoring salad dressings at restaurants. But I don't really crave chocolate or sweets. I've got 4 dozen Christmas cookies sitting in my freezer, and they aren't even slightly tempting. It doesn't feel like deprivation or a sacrifice. I genuinely don't want it. I'm paying closer attention to labels in the grocery store and trying to buy as many products sans sugar as possible. I had a few bites of almond ice cream the other night while out with friends. It was good, but just those few bites was plenty of sugar! I think this is what they mean when they talk about breaking the addiction to sugar - once it is out of your diet, you stop craving it.
Perhaps most surprising to me was how I felt after the Whole30. I didn't feel that different while on it, which was a little disappointing. I just felt normal. Once I started eating more carbs and dairy, I realized that I felt bloated and just...not great. I didn't feel awful. But I realized that I often felt "not great" before the Whole30. So feeling normal was an improvement. And I think the key, for me, to feeling "normal" is to eat less dairy and few refined carbs.
Hey - it worked. I wanted to change my relationship with food. I wanted to crave things that were healthy. I wanted to be repulsed by unhealthy things. And so far, that's where I'm at. I went out for dinner with a friend the other night and willingly chose salad. The fried food had lost it's luster. My body wanted the spinach.
Let's not get too crazy. I'm not saying I will never eat unhealthy things again. I've indulged on a few things this past week. But I am much more aware of what I am putting in my body, and I am noticing how those foods make me feel. The reentry advice from the Whole30 folks is to consider 2 questions when making food choices:
1. Is this good for my body?
2. If not, then is this special? Meaning Thanksgiving or my birthday or a meal Mom makes once a year. If it's special, then indulge and don't feel guilty about it. If it's not special (like donuts in the kitchen at work), then say no.
They also say that indulging those "special" things is totally fine. Don't call it cheating. You made a decision. Enjoy the food. Own your decision and move on. My "no" muscle got a great workout in the Whole30. It's much easier to walk past the donuts and cookies in the office. I'm thankful.
I am still figuring out what to do going forward. The book compares it to taking the training wheels off, and that's accurate. I feel wobbly. My brain and body are trying to meet in the middle again. I am introducing quinoa back in this weekend and had rice this past week. I had no bad reaction to the rice, but there's still this part of me that's screaming "No rice! It's not compliant!" The program suggests that doing the Whole30 is the easy part, it's figuring out what your diet will be after that is difficult. That's where I'm at - discerning what non-compliant foods are good for my body, and which are not.
Unexpected Lessons
Food is such a part of our culture and it's so relational. This is no surprise, I realize. But I was keenly aware of this reality during my Whole30. Friends were gracious and let me choose the restaurant based on where I could eat. I baked Christmas cookies with my family and couldn't lick any spoons or have any cookies fresh from the oven. I made mac & cheese for my niece and couldn't try the pasta to see if it was cooked.
I'm thankful that I have a very supportive network of family and friends. They didn't tease me or tempt me. They encouraged me and said how proud they were. It made it much easier to stick with it.
Perhaps most unexpectedly, the order the Whole30 created bled into other parts of my life. I prepped all my meals on Sunday, so there was very little cooking to do when I got home from work. I found myself sorting through my mail, hanging clothes up in my closet and keeping my house much more orderly. Yes, these are normal adult responsibilities. But they are disciplines I've always had to fight myself to do. All of the sudden, I was just doing these things. The Whole30 brought order to my entire life, and that was incredibly unexpected.
Best of all, the intentionality and order has continued. I'm still thoughtful about what I eat and prep my meals on Sundays - though I give myself a little more flexibility. I'm still find a strong sense of order in discipline in this part of my life and others as well. Bonus! I hope this continues.
That's all, folks! Anything else you wanted to know? Some extra credit for you who made it to the end - these are some things that inspired me along the way:
In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan - “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.”
The Omnivore's Dilemma, also by Michael Pollan
Food, Inc. (streaming on Netflix)
Hungry for Change (streaming on Netflix)
Jamie Oliver's TED Talk
What else should I be reading/watching?
The Numbers
This is the good stuff, right? Well. It is for me. I like numbers and stats and quantifiable things. So here they are. I lost 15 pounds during the Whole30. The program strongly advises against weighing yourself during the program. I broke this rule. I weighed myself every day because I wanted to see how my body was responding. It was especially interesting to see the role my hormones played in my weight loss. And they definitely played a role!
I lost 15 pounds when all is said and done. My weight fluctuated day-to-day, but I consistently lost about 4 pounds each week.
Inches. I dropped one pant size. I lost about 2 inches off my hips, 4 inches off my waist, 2 inches off each thigh, 1 inch off each calf, 2 inches off my neck.
Disclaimer: These numbers are as of day 30. I ended the program the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. Yes. One day after I finished, I indulged on carbs, cheese and even a little pie. My body freaked out. I'm giving myself some time to reenter a normal eating routine to see how much of the weight/inches stay off. So far (a little more than one week out), my inches have remained the same. My weight went up 5 pounds in one day - my first day off the program! No doubt my body was reorienting itself. I'm currently about 3 pounds up from when I ended the program, and I think my body is still adjusting to "new" foods.
What I Learned
The Whole30 is supposed to change your relationship with food. It did. During the last week of the program, I was so excited for it to be over. I was going to eat pizza and chex mix and chocolate! The reality: my first day off I ate a veggie sushi roll and half a pint of beer for non-compliant foods (which is really just a little rice and beer). That filled me up. I went to a movie intending to get a "bad" snack or a coke, and I had zero interest. The thought of consuming those things turned my stomach.
The chex mix? Yeah. I had some. My taste buds still liked it but my body was not happy. I realized my body was starting to beat my taste buds - huge victory!
I am still mostly sugar-free. I'm not monitoring salad dressings at restaurants. But I don't really crave chocolate or sweets. I've got 4 dozen Christmas cookies sitting in my freezer, and they aren't even slightly tempting. It doesn't feel like deprivation or a sacrifice. I genuinely don't want it. I'm paying closer attention to labels in the grocery store and trying to buy as many products sans sugar as possible. I had a few bites of almond ice cream the other night while out with friends. It was good, but just those few bites was plenty of sugar! I think this is what they mean when they talk about breaking the addiction to sugar - once it is out of your diet, you stop craving it.
Perhaps most surprising to me was how I felt after the Whole30. I didn't feel that different while on it, which was a little disappointing. I just felt normal. Once I started eating more carbs and dairy, I realized that I felt bloated and just...not great. I didn't feel awful. But I realized that I often felt "not great" before the Whole30. So feeling normal was an improvement. And I think the key, for me, to feeling "normal" is to eat less dairy and few refined carbs.
Hey - it worked. I wanted to change my relationship with food. I wanted to crave things that were healthy. I wanted to be repulsed by unhealthy things. And so far, that's where I'm at. I went out for dinner with a friend the other night and willingly chose salad. The fried food had lost it's luster. My body wanted the spinach.
Let's not get too crazy. I'm not saying I will never eat unhealthy things again. I've indulged on a few things this past week. But I am much more aware of what I am putting in my body, and I am noticing how those foods make me feel. The reentry advice from the Whole30 folks is to consider 2 questions when making food choices:
1. Is this good for my body?
2. If not, then is this special? Meaning Thanksgiving or my birthday or a meal Mom makes once a year. If it's special, then indulge and don't feel guilty about it. If it's not special (like donuts in the kitchen at work), then say no.
They also say that indulging those "special" things is totally fine. Don't call it cheating. You made a decision. Enjoy the food. Own your decision and move on. My "no" muscle got a great workout in the Whole30. It's much easier to walk past the donuts and cookies in the office. I'm thankful.
I am still figuring out what to do going forward. The book compares it to taking the training wheels off, and that's accurate. I feel wobbly. My brain and body are trying to meet in the middle again. I am introducing quinoa back in this weekend and had rice this past week. I had no bad reaction to the rice, but there's still this part of me that's screaming "No rice! It's not compliant!" The program suggests that doing the Whole30 is the easy part, it's figuring out what your diet will be after that is difficult. That's where I'm at - discerning what non-compliant foods are good for my body, and which are not.
Unexpected Lessons
Food is such a part of our culture and it's so relational. This is no surprise, I realize. But I was keenly aware of this reality during my Whole30. Friends were gracious and let me choose the restaurant based on where I could eat. I baked Christmas cookies with my family and couldn't lick any spoons or have any cookies fresh from the oven. I made mac & cheese for my niece and couldn't try the pasta to see if it was cooked.
I'm thankful that I have a very supportive network of family and friends. They didn't tease me or tempt me. They encouraged me and said how proud they were. It made it much easier to stick with it.
Perhaps most unexpectedly, the order the Whole30 created bled into other parts of my life. I prepped all my meals on Sunday, so there was very little cooking to do when I got home from work. I found myself sorting through my mail, hanging clothes up in my closet and keeping my house much more orderly. Yes, these are normal adult responsibilities. But they are disciplines I've always had to fight myself to do. All of the sudden, I was just doing these things. The Whole30 brought order to my entire life, and that was incredibly unexpected.
Best of all, the intentionality and order has continued. I'm still thoughtful about what I eat and prep my meals on Sundays - though I give myself a little more flexibility. I'm still find a strong sense of order in discipline in this part of my life and others as well. Bonus! I hope this continues.
That's all, folks! Anything else you wanted to know? Some extra credit for you who made it to the end - these are some things that inspired me along the way:
In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan - “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.”
The Omnivore's Dilemma, also by Michael Pollan
Food, Inc. (streaming on Netflix)
Hungry for Change (streaming on Netflix)
Jamie Oliver's TED Talk
What else should I be reading/watching?
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