30…well as of today, 31…days ago, I made the decision to embark on a Whole 30 journey. One day, I was in Target & found a book titled Whole 30: Friends & Family by Melissa Hartwig. It seemed interesting enough, so I bought it. At the time I had no idea what I was getting myself into. Well okay, I had a very slight, minute idea because my homegirl Jen Hatmaker has done W30 a few times, and I have read her posts – but I mean beyond that, I didn’t really know what was up.
I read some of that book & it referenced the original W30 book by Melissa Hartwig: The Whole30: The 30-Day Guide to Total Health and Food Freedom. That is like the bible of the W30 world, so I bought that. And since I had totally made up my mind that this was going down, I also bought the Whole 30 Day by Day book. That book is basically like a journal with daily prompts and space to write how you’re feeling, what you ate, your energy levels, etc. I mean at this point, I was about $50 in, so I figured I might as well use the books I bought. I started reading the OG W30 book & thought, “what the hell have I gotten myself in to?!” It seemed much more overwhelming than I originally thought, but I was committed – so I set our start date for April 19 and began planning. I was nervous about doing it during quarantine but it was probably the best time to do it since we couldn’t go anywhere.
We planned all of our meals for an entire week. We got rid of all the stuff that wasn’t “allowed”. I mean we must have thrown away about $200 of shit. The first week we spent over $300 on groceries because of all the crap we eliminated. If you are unfamiliar with W30, here is the lowdown:
– no sugar (not even artificial)!
– no soy!
– no grains!
– no legumes!
– no dairy!
– no alcohol!
– no weighing yourself or measuring!
Truth be told: it felt like there was more not allowed stuff than there was allowed stuff. Really on Whole 30, you can only eat whole, natural stuff – fruits/vegetables/meats/eggs. Luckily, there are a ton of options out there that are Whole 30 compliant. Examples include Primale Kitchen for condiments, Applegate Farms for bacon & other types of meat. The most important thing about Whole 30 is knowing how to read labels. Anything that ends in -rose isn’t allowed. Think sucralose, dextrose, and the like.
The first week was the most difficult, for me. I started off really good – motivated & excited for a new journey. I was cooking a lot & had a lot of dishes. I swear it seemed like I was running my dishwasher twice a day at the beginning. I had virtually no energy this week; it was exhausting and I had horrid headaches. That should have been enough for me to quit but I refused. I was also pretty disappointed about giving up my favorite creamer, but found a really good substitute: Nutpods. That was my saving grace, and definitely something I will continue using.
After the first week, the days & weeks flew by. I felt confident in what I was doing. I was used to my new way of eating. I felt better. Before W30, I had some gut sensitivities (probably due to too much dairy & too much bread – what can I say? I am a glutton for bread & cheese). Almost immediately my gut stopped bothering me. I stopped feeling bloated. I mean I was feeling really good!
There were a few days right at the beginning where I felt like I didn’t want to do it anymore. The headaches were bad. I was tired. I had no energy. My running was suffering. It just sucked.
But then around day 14, something flipped. My runs got better. I felt rejuvenated. Bill said he noticed a mood change in me. I felt less irritable. Maybe this journey was worth it after all! My cravings went down significantly. I was no longer dreaming about bread (yes, the first couple of days I actually dreamed about bread!).
Bill & I have had a lot of discussions about whether or not this is something we could (or would) sustain, and we have decided that we will. We won’t follow a strict Whole 30 diet, but we are going to stick to eating whole, nutritious, real foods. We aren’t going to go back to buying a lot of dairy or bread. I won’t change back to my old creamer. Over the last 30 days, I think I have had Starbucks maybe two or three times, which is amazing compared to the previous every other day. I didn’t love it though because I couldn’t have sweetener or milk so it was just coffee with almond milk & that sucks. I will just stick to my coffee at home with Nutpods.
In all: I am really happy I did Whole 30. At the very least it showed me how much I relied on food to make me happy. When really – food is meant to sustain us. Food shouldn’t be used as a crutch or a treat. My relationship with food changed. My emotions towards food changed.
Towards the beginning, I really wanted a treat, so I treated myself to new kitchen gadgets. It was right in that moment that I realized my relationship with food changed – I no longer felt the need to treat myself with food for a job well-done.
P.S. If you’re looking for sugar-free substitutes, check out Primal Kitchen. They have the best condiments. I will never be able to go back to regular ketchup, mayo, or salad dressing.
Vagabond Texan 