Whole30: Days 25-30 A long overdue update and recap

So this is it. Day 30.. I’ve survived (assuming that I don’t get some crazy urge to eat anything before midnight), and I’ve returned from my short-term blog hiatus.

I want to thank all of you for being so awesome and giving such great comments on my last post. I was stuck in a rut and the support was just what I needed to help push me through these last few days. I didn’t post at all this week (other than my “Lady Lifter Spotlight on Mindi“- Mindi has an awesome story to share if you missed it!) And honestly, it’s because there has been nothing good to post. This week has been extremely tough on me mentally, emotionally, physically. I love posting positive updates and sharing my health and fitness journey, but I’ve been so negative lately it has been best to just keep it off of the blog. There are not any bad things going on in my life, but between the stress of the Whole30 and “that time of the month,” my mood has just not been in a place that I want to share with you all!

I want to preface the following with saying that my results on the Whole30 are not typical. TONS of people will tell you that by doing it as written, “It will change your life.” For me, there are things that I could have done better that perhaps could have changed how my experience turned out. I will repeatedly say that I think everyone should at least try a Whole30 for the benefits, but please do so with caution and great preparedness and you will likely have much better results than I did.

When I decided to do the Whole30, there was not much background as to why I chose to do so. From the FAQ on their site, you should do a Whole30,

“Because, as the program says, it will change your life. It will change the way you think about food, it will change your tastes, it will change your habits and your cravings. It could, quite possibly, change the emotional relationship you have with food, and with your body. It has the potential to change the way you eat for the rest of your life. We know this because we did it, and thousands of people have since done it, and it changed our lives (and their lives) in a very permanent fashion.
The Whole30 program has quietly led tens of thousands of people to improved quality of life and a healthier relationship with food – accompanied by stunning improvements in sleep, energy levels, attention span, mood and self-esteem. More significantly, many people have reported the “magical” elimination of a variety of symptoms, diseases and conditions – in just 30 days.”

For me, I did not have many cravings beforehand. I’ve never had an emotional relationship with food, nor any weight or body image issues. Further reading on the FAQ lists even more reasons on why you should complete it, such as relieving symptoms of ailments. In response to what symptoms could be relieved from this process, they say:

The list is exhaustive, and seemingly endless. We’ve got success stories related to diabetes, asthma, allergies, migraines, high cholesterol, arthritis, fibromyalgia, Lyme disease and more. Visit our Whole30 A-Z page for testimonials classified by symptom, condition or disease.

I also did not have any such disease, ailment, discomfort, or anything prior to this that I was looking to fix. I’ve had people ask me why I am doing this program, and I explain the benefits and all of the good that can come from it. “But why are you doing it?” I don’t have much of an answer other than to see if I can. That, and the whole, why wouldn’t you want to only eat real foods and not eat processed garbage..? I’m not saying I didn’t learn anything or take anything away from this experience, but like I said before, there were things that I did or did not do that could have made this a completely different experience for me, and can be completely different for you as well.

Let me start with what I did do:

• I eliminated all: grains (including oats, wheat, rice, corn), dairy (including whey), sugar (including honey), artificial sugar, chocolate, alcohol, soy (and all of the 1000 products that contain some variant of soy). Not one food cheat.
• I meal planned for the week for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and kept the fridge pretty stocked (I’ll show you mine if you show me yours!);
• I did not go out to eat at all during the process (except for one emergency lunch where I was able to find a salad in a pinch);
• I did not weigh myself at all (in 21 days, Jared lost 9lbs; I will report on my physical progress tomorrow!);
• I stopped taking my multi-vitamin and my Krill oil, as well as removed any protein shakes, as all of those contained ingredients that were not Whole30 approved.

I am sure you can start to see a problem towards the end there. While it is important to follow the eating plan as to what you can or cannot eat, it is equally important to make sure that you are getting the nutrients that your body needs. For me, I definitely was not. While the Whole30 suggests removing vitamins and supplements in favor of real food, the real food that I was eating was not enough to make up for what I was lacking. I put a higher priority on making sure not one ingredient touched my mouth that was not allowed, rather than focusing on the premise of the program to maintain a healthy relationship with food. I also let the program consume me; the Whole30 had a part in nearly every decision I made throughout my day.

The Whole30 program is simple. Eat three meals, each with a palm size of protein, a thumb-size amount of fat, and fill the rest of your plate with vegetables. On workout days, also add two mini-meals (each with half a serving of protein), one about an hour before a workout; the other immediately following. I pretty much give myself  an epic #FAIL on following the workout meals. So, not enough protein on workout days = not enough fuel for my muscles = crummy workouts. Check. Not eating a full plate of veggies every meal = not enough nutrients previously supplemented by vitamins = poor mood, irritability, irrational cravings. Check. I think it also helped to drain my immune system, as at the present moment, I cannot breathe out of the right side of my nose, and my sinuses are all sorts of angry.

If I ever were to do such a self-experiment again, I will at least have a baseline experience to know where my faults lie and how to improve them. As a basic recap, outside of my issues referenced above, here are my pros and cons of the experience:

Good:

• All of our dinners were homemade, sit-down meals, which is just how it used to be when I was growing up;
• Tried new foods and added new staples to our typical meals, such as tilapia and zucchini;
• Discovered Larabars and Kombucha. YUM;
• Became in tune with our bodies and can pinpoint if reactions were from food or external sources.

Mixed:

• You learn to read every label on any product that does come in a package, can, bag, or box. This awareness can be extremely helpful in knowing where your food comes from and what unnecessary ingredients are added to all-natural foods, such as corn syrup, dextrose, and maltodextrin.
• No eating out; while this saved money, it was also hard to have to decline any invitations to hang out or go out and do something where food was a primary focus.

Bad

• Meal prepping and planning is time-consuming.
• Buying fresh produce and meat can be expensive. We did not choose to buy all organic, grass-fed meats, but did choose organic beef, and free-range chicken.
• I had no preexisting conditions to compare my results to, so progress was difficult to track
• Dishwasher had to be run EVERY DAY.
• I scoff at anyone that is eating anything not Whole30 approved, and it somewhat turns into, “My way is the only right way of eating..”
• Improper nourishment and fueling did bad things to me..

So.. That’s about it.. I did it. I suffered through it. I learned a lot in the process, and now I will work this week to regain my life back, and figure out what to do next!

Do you have any questions about the Whole30 or what I did right/wrong? Have you done a Whole30 yourself? Did I completely deter you from wanting to try this on your own?

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