Day 30 - Great Success!

[donnagem]

This is actually my first Whole 30 post. I am currently day 32 but this is what I wrote on Day 30 on Facebook for my friends. I had updated every day for 30 days and had intended to share here too but was so busy with it and life I never got around to it.

Whole 30 - Day 30: Today is that day! I made it Still a journey ahead of me, but the hardest part, starting, has been achieved.

Some of my goals and achievements for the Whole 30:

* Remove all the foods which could potentially be causing havoc for my digestive system. It took a while longer than suggested as an average but I am so impressed with how my digestive system is functioning compared to 30+ days ago. IBS was affecting my daily life and this has become almost irrelevant. It was my biggest hope and definitely the biggest success.

* Improve my quality of sleep. Not only is the quality of my sleep improved ten fold, I'm sleeping longer, falling asleep easier, waking feeling very rested. I've learned to ignore stress and pressures and listen to my body; when I'm tired, I now go to bed. It has become a priority, instead of something I tried to fit into my hectic schedule.

* Increase my vegetable intake. I'm now eating about 3 times as many different vegetables as I've previously eaten on regular basis - 3 meals a day most days.

* Understand nutrition better. This has been a huge area of growth for me and it is a continuing journey. I am thankful for the Whole 30 seminar and their book, I'm thankful for friends who've answered questions and made suggestions. this will be a big part of my continued success with nutrition.

* Eliminate addictions to foods I was eating compulsively. (** I was diagnosed with compulsive eating disorder triggered by post traumatic stress disorder following a very horrible pregnancy where I suffered 9 months of severe vomiting and almost died with kidney failure near the end - so yeh, rather traumatic whilst also totally messing up my metabolism and digestion).

I have been one whole month without eating and drinking things that before I struggled to go without daily (chocolate, Coke Zero, bread, pastries, lollies, chips, just really bad stuff!). It has been the most hopeful goal of mine but the one I feared would not take place. Instead of my days being ruled by compulsion and fear of food, I am only focusing on what my body needs to function. While I still think of some old habit foods, I've resisted and I can confidently say I have kicked the compulsions to the curb. I no longer fear being hungry - in fact, I am enjoying this new sensation my body is experiencing to let me know when I'm hungry or sated.

Bonus rewards:

* Improved recovery from workouts. Prior to the Whole 30 I would be sore for days following a workout, and now I'm feeling fantastic within 24 hours.

* My persistently sore foot (for two years it's been uncomfortable) has all but disappeared. I don't even notice it anymore and I now know that because my body is not spending all of its time fighting inflammation in my gut, it has time to look after my foot instead.

*Weight loss wasn't something I did the Whole 30 for, but I'd hoped that my weight (which has remained fairly stable for a long time regardless of what I'd eaten and work outs) might finally start to shift once I could get my metabolism working again. My weight loss results have blown me away.

In 30 days I have lost 7.5kgs (well 29 days technically).

My body measurements losses from Day 2 to today are:

Neck: -2cm

Upper Arm: -1.5cm

Chest: -5cm

Waist: -6cm

Hips: -7.5cm

Bum: -6cm

R Thigh: -4cm

R Calf: -1.5cm

Day 1

Weight: 103.5kgs

Fat Percentage - 53.8%

Water - 39.6%

Muscle mass - 28.1%

BMI - 38.5

Day 30

95.6kgs

Fat Percentage - 48.7%

Water - 41.2%

Muscle mass - 29.2%

BMI - 35.7

Very happy. This whole process has been very tough for me - lots to overcome, but I'm so very glad I've pushed myself through.

[kew]

Congratulations! That's a fabulous success story for your brain/mind even more than your body! Great work.

[kaiser179]

Amazing!!! Thank you so much for sharing your story! My favorite part of this forum is reading success stories - it is so motivational! It helps me invision my own "after" pictures

I am sorry to hear about some of the traumatic events that you went through. Congratulations on working through those difficult issues and recognizing that now was the time to make changes. It is great to hear about how many things improved for you!