Whole30...I did it!

It’s OVER. My first ever round of the Whole30 is done.

 

I can’t even believe I did it. I really think the game changer was that I announced to the world that I was doing the whole30 through my blog.  I hate public failure, so I could either finish out the 30 days, or fall off the wagon and then lie to people and say I didn’t.  Finishing seemed like the better option.

 

I’ve had lots of people ask how/why/what are the hacks.

 

• The WHY:

• I was waking up with daily pain in my ankle.  Both of my knees were starting to hurt. I started referring to myself as an old lady.  I had begun having problems with eczema again that I initially developed after my 3rd pregnancy.  I was tired, forgetful, grouchy, depressed, anxious, overwhelmed, and feeling like I was out of control with my eating habits.  I didn’t know it, but I was hooked on sugar.
• I have learned that I’m somewhat of an extremist. Someone I know says “Oh you just have to eat a little less and exercise a little more, you don’t have to cut out everything you like, just have less of it”. That’s a nice idea in theory, but if you give me an inch I will take a marathon.  I was just past the point of having good self-control, so I needed to do a “hard reset”.  Sometimes I need to do something with all the rules.  I need to do it in order to get me back to a place where I don’t need all the rules again for awhile, and I can self-manage in a way that is slightly above the level of a college student who has just discovered the freedom of ordering in pizza for the first time.
• The Whole30 seemed like the right fit to break my sugar addiction, and hopefully alleviate some of the physical symptoms I was having. Not to mention I hoped my clothes would fit better, because my fat pants were getting tight.

 

• The HOW:

Well, you basically give up everything you like to eat and drink.  I mean really, the first week feels a little scary.  No dairy. No grains of any kind (that includes quinioa, oats, brown rice, you’ll be having none of it).  No corn. No legumes (soy, peanuts, beans other than green beans). No SUGAR or any subsitutes. Not even paleo sugar subs like honey, maple syrup or coconut sugar.  Just…nothing.  No chemical laden coffee-mate creamer…this was actually my biggest concern that I thought would put me at the highest risk of failure. No alcohol, not even for cooking.

What this does is a few things:

• It forces you to go grocery shopping often because you’ll be eating all the food you buy because you aren’t swinging through wendy’s to grab dinner leaving all your groceries to sit in your fridge and go to waste.
• It creates a bit of a conundrum with restaurants.  I went out a few times, and the first time I just ate before I went because ordering something that didn’t have butter secretly cooked in, or canola or soybean oil used in the prep process just seemed like a far-fetched idea that was only accessible to normal people who were actually still enjoying their lives and not planning their every bite round the clock (Okay. I was a little stressed and hangry that first week.)
• It causes you to always have a few tricks up your sleeve.  You’ve gotta have something with you in case you are out and about longer than you planned and you can’t find something Whole30 compliant.  The day that I had to be the most creative was the day my sister had her baby. I was gone from my house from 7:30 am until 9 pm, and I packed lightly because I found out she had gone to the hospital and was in a mad dash to get the kids ready for school and get Leah to a babysitter.  I threw a bottle of Tessemae’s ranch dressing in my lunch bag, along with a couple of bananas, a couple of Lara bars, a Nutpod coffee creamer, and hoped for the best.  I was able to find veggie cups for sale at the hospital, along with hard boiled eggs, so I ate that for lunch and dinner with a hefty dose of the dressing I brought from home.
• It forces you to embrace what Melissa Hartwig (w30 founder) calls NSVs or “Non-scale victories”. Weighing yourself throughout the 30 days is not allowed.  In hind-sight, I’m so glad.  I psych myself out with the scale.  It was such a breath of fresh air to just focus on making good choices, working out hard, and paying attention to how my body felt for 30 days instead of worrying about a number on the scale.  I did lose weight at the end, but I’m glad that wasn’t my focus.  

 

• The HACKS:

• If you love coffee like I do, especially if you like it anything but black, then Whole30 might freak you out. I experimented and found a coffee creamer I really like:

Cinnamon Coconut-Cashew Milk Creamer:

1 can full fat (don’t mess around) Coconut Milk (Thai brand is compliant)

An equal part Silk brand Cashew milk 

1/2 a teaspoon of Frontier Organics Cinnamon flavoring

Shake it all together vigorously in a pourable container and continue enjoying your caffeinated life.

• Another coffee cream option is Nutpods, which I bought a 4 pack of for on-the-go.  If I get a kid free block of time, I love to go write or read at a coffee shop, so I would throw this in my bag and add it to my black coffee.
• Hardboiled Eggs.  Always these.  Top them with some Cholula Hot Sauce, and you are good to go for another 2 hours.
• Lara Bars.  To be used sparingly and as more of an “in a pinch” food because they are packed with dates which are pretty high in sugar, but still they saved the day very often when I was in town grocery shopping or whatever and realized I was running on fumes and had poorly planned.
• Food prep.  One of those things that takes planning and forethought and actual effort, all of which I excel at (not so much), but there’s just no getting around it here. Costco can be your friend with this. I love the container of already diced, ready to roast butternut squash, or the bags of cauliflower or broccoli florets.  They even have riced cauliflower now! But seriously, you have to get your food ready or you’re setting yourself up for failure.
• Read labels.  So many things seem like they would be Whole30 compliant, and then they are not because they have added sugar, or soy products, or canola oil.  You really have to pay attention.  Find a good variety of things that you like and that are compliant, and just stick with those things if you need to.  Don’t overcomplicate it, especially in the first two weeks.
• Get some Whole30 Mayo or make your own. Sounds intimidating but it's really not hard.  You can do so much with that stuff.
• Don't treat this like a "diet". If you try to scrimp on your fats you will fail. You will run out of energy and hate everything.  Eat avocados and mayo and coconut or olive oil with your veggies.  

Overall, I’m so glad I did this. I’m fairly confident that I have NEVER IN MY LIFE managed to stay the course on a healthy eating plan for 30 days without going off the rails at some point. It feels good to have some good boundaries with regard to food. I love that I don’t have heartburn several days a week. My skin is the clearest it’s been in years. It feels good to not be waking up with a sore ankle and sore back every day, and to notice that my knees are not aching from going up and down the stairs or squatting down on the floor to get my 2 year old daughter dressed. I feel great for my workouts, well as good as I can for doing Crossfit for 6 weeks after a good stretch of slothfulness (If you’ve never done Crossfit you should try it; those people don’t play) 

The other major selling point that’s really making me want to be careful about what kinds of foods I reintroduce, is the fact that my moods have been so much more stable.  I’ve had more patience.  I’ve long struggled with being an irritable mom, prone to anger and anxiety. That has dialed WAY down over the past 30 days.  It could also be from the workouts I’m doing, I’m not entirely sure. But if it’s even fractionally related to the fact that I’m not riding the sugar roller-coaster, then I’ve gotta figure out a way to keep going with this because I love my relationships with my kids more than I love sugar. 

If any of this is striking a chord with you, I’d urge you to consider doing it for 30 days! As I’ve just found out, you really can do anything for 30 days.  It’s so worth it.  You might be really surprised at how good you feel.  Or maybe you’ll hate me for recommending it and write me off as a crazy person, that’s fine too. I used to be that person. I thought only crazy people did the Whole30, so now I guess I’m even crazier than I used to be. I’m good with that.