As I type this, I have four more days left in this journey. As you read this, I will be a week past the Whole 30. I am writing it in advance because I will be in Australia and not sure of my schedule then.
I spent the last month eating no sugar, no legumes, no dairy, no grains, and a few other nos. I also quit caffeine just to see what the impact would be. This was not about losing weight. It was about resetting after the holidays and getting back into a better cycle. It was also about seeing if I feel better without these foods in my system. And to see if I would have any of the non-scale victories.
Here’s the thing: Net-net, I don’t think I had huge tangible benefits from cutting out these foods. I was more regular and I fell asleep easily both of which were true when I was doing the Body Love book a while back. I haven’t been able to stay asleep this whole month. Hard to tell what that’s due to. My skin was better until I got my period so I am guessing that’s more hormonal. I haven’t gotten a surge of energy but I also started exercising every single day and that might be making me more tired. Not to mention the fact that I quit caffeine. So who knows what’s impacting my energy and my sleep. I have no idea on the weight changes because I didn’t weigh myself at the start and there’s no weighing during the elimination. But nothing was amazingly looser. (Though I wear stretchy clothes so who knows :))
Now, there are a few things I am glad about. Because I tried harder to drink more water, I experimented and really found one i liked finally. I don’t like anything fizzy (except Diet Coke) so I’ve been delighted to find I love the Hint Waters. I’ve now has Watermelon, Pineapple, Peach, Blackberry, Mango/Grapefruit and Blood Orange. My favorite is Pineapple but I also like Watermelon and Blackberry. I like them all actually. They are hard to find but I am lucky to have them at work.
Another win has been thinking about Worth-it and not-worth-it mentality. I like that and plan to experiment with it.
The weeks after Whole30 are supposed to be reintroduction period but I am getting on an airplane on January 31 so I am not going to do that this time. If it turns out I still want to do that, I am okay doing another Whole30 at that point. Considering I saw no positives, I don’t expect to be really impacted by a particular food group in an obvious way. But if I feel much worse in Sydney, I don’t mind trying it.
I plan to continue to eat my meals Fat-Fiber-Protein. I plan to eat as many veggies as possible and the veggies first. I also plan to go back to drinking lattes though I might stay caffeine free, that’s still in the air. What I miss most is the ritual of the coffee still. I don’t have many sugar cravings at the moment and I will keep an eye on them because I don’t want to get them back.
I’m glad I did it, it was a good way to show myself how strong I can be but in the end I am also glad it’s over.
Stories from 2018 is a year-long project for 2018. You can read more about my projects for 2018here.
Leave a Reply