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First W30 complete - including 10 day reintroduction!


PaisleyPumpkin

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I chose to start off 2016 with Whole30 for a few reasons. Mainly because my new (AWESOME) doctor suggested it. I have PCOS, I was diagnosed 26 years ago and this doctor that I lucked into is the first in all those years to actually try to help me overcome and manage it, vs putting me on medications for diabetics that "oh by the way" will help with this symptom or that one - and don't forget to schedule your quarterly blood tests to make sure they're not damaging your liver" <_<  I gave myself the last 2 weeks of December to mentally prepare for the drastic changes that were coming. I hinted day and night hoping that my husband would join me for support, to make my life easier, to feel my pain so to speak and frankly, it wasn't going to hurt him to drop a few pounds and quit eating crap. On December 30 I said "So are you doing this with me or what?" and I got a heartfelt "I guess". :rolleyes:

 

I've been addicted to Diet Coke since high school. I don't drink coffee so it has always been my morning 'jolt'. I drained a 12 pack of Diet Coke right up until midnight. I celebrated the grand entrance of 2016 by dumping what was left into the sink and spending the next 3 hours wondering how long it was going to take to wear off so I could go to bed. :huh:

 

Not once have a craved that Diet Coke. In fact, I haven't craved anything. The first 3 days were pretty crappy, not because of cravings or anything like that, but because I spent 2 weeks mentally preparing and did very little physical prep. As in I didn't clean out the fridge and pantry. I didn't do a big shopping trip. Hindsight - not the best way to keep the hubs happy about joining in. Day 4 I did everything I should have done beforehand and it was pretty smooth sailing from there on out.

 

We both have eggs and sandwich steak for breakfast most days. It's quick and easy. Sometimes I make a frittata and just reheat a slice...or two.

 

I didn't tell anyone at work what I was doing. I just informed them that I would not be going out to lunch in January. They didn't ask. I didn't tell. My husband on the other hand, took every opportunity to b*tch about 'the diet' at work :P  On day 5 one of my co-workers asked me what I was doing. I looked at her like she was stupid and said "working?" She rolled her eyes and said "No - what are you doing? Your face looks different." So I told her. FIVE DAYS! I was sold. By the end of the first week I was sleeping like a rock (which hasn't happened in years) and the afternoon slump where I could barely keep my eyes open at work was gone. I don't know about this "tigerblood" thing, I can't say that I have had a huge surge of boundless energy, but I am not dragging, I don't hit the snooze button in the morning and I am getting more stuff done around the house.  Week 3 I did end up going to lunch with the same co-worker. She said "wherever you can eat!" so we went to Outback where I ordered plain seared steak, plain steamed veggies and a plain sweet potato - and i pulled out my trusty jar of clarified butter and my travel shaker of cinnamon. Honestly, minus "plain" it's what I always order - except when it's unlimited shrimp time. Typically I let them butter my steak, veggies and potato. Not a big deal for me to do it myself with my own supplies.
My co-worker said to me "How do you feel? Seriously - you look different every single day".

 

I chose to reintroduce following the 10 day schedule as it was suggested. Everything was fine up until gluten grain day. I now know that I will be able to enjoy a burger at Steak n Shake - complete with a bun, but that I will need to avoid any other grains the same day. After the terrible pasta dinner we had that night, I don't really know how much pasta we will be eating in our house now. I would honestly rather pour a good sauce over zoodles than eat spaghetti or rigatoni. I guess I should add that I was eating Low Carb High Fat for a good 6 months before starting Whole30 so pasta was out a long time ago.  Legume day was kind of hard - I realized that we don't really eat much in that department. If I make chili I add beans and if we go to Texas de Brazil I always get a scoop of rice with their black beans - they are the best as far as I'm concerned....but that's like 3 or 4 times a year, not once or twice a week. We also aren't big on peanut butter. It's always been one of those foods that I had to have a craving for and even then I'd eventually throw out a partial jar due to age.

 

Sugar? I guess that remains to be seen. I love ice cream, but I can make it myself without added sugar. I've never had a love affair with cookies/cake/pie - ice cream was my dessert of choice. I'll still be reading labels and avoiding added sugar where I have control over it.

 

I perfected my homemade mayo and will never buy store bought again.

 

At the end of it all I have:

  • Cleared up my skin
  • Lost 17 pounds (the hubs lost 15 - I don't think he knows that I know he bought and ate a box of girl scout cookies...)
  • Lost interest in dining out
  • Learned that I really hate doing the dishes (boy does eating like this generate dirty dishes)
  • Stopped struggling with my seat belt
  • Learned to read the labels. On everything. Every.Single.Time. (you never know when they're going to change something)
  • Seen the last of heartburn
  • Saved a ton of money by increasing my grocery budget and decreasing my entertainment (ie dining out) budget
  • Learned that gluten is no good for me
  • Easily gave up a 20+ year Diet Coke (and other diet sodas) habit
  • Realized that it's much more time consuming to eat this way - but to know that your food came from a farm and was not made in a factory (i'm talking to you Velveeta and you too Captain Crunch) makes it totally worth the effort.

This is a way of eating that I can easily continue with, that will continue to improve my health, that will allow me to celebrate special occasions with a splurge, and that will continue to clear clutter from my life - clutter in my body, clutter in my kitchen, clutter in my budget...

 

In 2 weeks I get my follow-up blood work done. I'm quite anxious to see what 2 months of eating this way has changed. I fall into the morbidly obese category, but have been lucky to not have high blood pressure or high cholesterol (much to my skinny mother's dismay as she has both) and have always been at least somewhat active despite being fat (thank you PCOS).

 

I wish I had taken photos. That's really my only regret.

 

2016 is going to be the year of me.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Wow. If you had no other success than giving up the diet coke, that would still be a great success. I could only give it up by going to real coke (when I started getting headaches from the aspertame). That's been, oh, ten years ago. Then I've been doing coffee for the last few months (who has their first coffee when they are 60? Ha, ha.) to give up the coke My teeth thank me. Well worth the trade, I think. When I do my reintroduction; I plan on adding back my beloved fruit smoothies (in smaller quantities than I was doing before) with green tea some of the days instead of coffee. These tradeoff's are interesting.

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  • 4 weeks later...
  • 3 weeks later...

Firstly, I LOVE your forum name, PaisleyPumpkin. That's adorable and what got me to read this post. Secondly, I'm SUPER glad I read your post!! I have PCOs too, and I was put on metformin a year ago and only lasted a month on it because I thought it was horrible. Anyways, I have questions for you about your results with PCOs now post-Whole30....

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