Whole 30 Completed

[Jahx]

This post is coming a little late, as I completed my Whole 30 on June 30th, however work has been very busy.

I made it. An entire month on the Whole 30 diet.

Here is how it started on June 1st :

I am 34 years old. Not young, old.

/waves cane

//my lawn

///off it.

I am 6'3" and *hopefully* under 300lbs (I don't weigh myself). I am a large man,

I grew up on a farm, and as a result of the chores required of me, I was in reasonable shape, but I never really enjoyed sports - I preferred a good book or a PC.

As an adult I chose a career in the IT industry, which lends itself to a sedentary life style. I left the industry briefly at 24 and started driving a forklift for a living, working in a warehouse. Excellent exercise, but after having my ankle crushed by a forklift, leaving me with a permanent injury (lost 30% of the mobility in my ankle), and then catching a bucket of acid to the face (cost me 80% of my vision in one eye, and 20% in another, as well as making me a little less pretty), I decided that the work was just to dangerous. So I went back into the IT industry. At this point I discovered the joys of telecommuting. I have now been a work from home man for almost 4 years.

I have never been one to watch what I eat - I have always been a big guy, and I carry it well enough. I own a treadmill (a truly infernal device - it knows my heart rate, and it isn't fast enough, it makes me walk up hill), which I use each day. Sadly I am just not losing weight, and I could stand to lose 75-90lbs.

Fast forward to today, July 5th.

I weighed myself on June 1st. I weighed 297lbs. I also took a variety of measurements.

After my Whole 30, I weighed myself, 289lbs. I lost 9lbs, 1" off my belly, 1/2" off my waist and 1/2" off my chest.

More importantly, I feel much better. After the first week, I found my energy levels holding steady through out the day. Previously, I was spending my breaks and lunch hour napping. I also found my daily hour on the treadmill left me a little less tired.

Added bonuses included - sleeping better. I slept as soundly as a man with 4 cats can sleep.

On the TMI side - after just a few days, I stopped having hemorrhoid flare ups. This is awesome, as I have suffered from them for better than a decade.

It was actually less expensive to eat this way.

I can honestly say the last week was the hardest - I was, and still am, pulling overtime - 14-15 hour shifts with a single lunch break. With so little time between shifts, I was basically only eating one meal, and without my normal influx of junk food, I was definitely not eating enough.

However, the life changes I am taking away from the Whole 30 are as follows:

Eat breakfast. No excuses.

Eat Veggies. Heaping helpings of them, with every meal.

Grains are bad. Once my Whole 30 ended, I celebrated with some milk. I felt great. I added cheese back into my diet at the same time. Two days later, I ate pizza. I felt terrible, and had a hemorrhoid flare up. (To be fair, I had also skipped out on breakfast that day, so I was severely lacking in the veg department as well).

My body likes dairy. Ergo I will feed it dairy, albeit I will go light on the milk, not so light on cheese.

I didn't have to drastically change my kitchen.

For anyone who thinks they can't do this diet - you are wrong. I followed the diet using only the following equipment :

A George Foreman Grill (I <3 my foreman)

A small - medium size skillet

2 x glass plates

2 x glass bowls

2 x Forks

2 x Steak Knives

A spatula

A microwave

A basic stove

A basic fridge.

Most folks have far more in their kitchens than I do.

I also shopped exclusively at Wal-Mart. I spent, on average, $65 a week on groceries, including my distilled water (I don't drink anything but water and milk. Oh how I missed milk). And I ate well. Chicken/pork/steak/eggs. Honestly if I had more kitchen equipment, or alternatively, if the thought of spending more than 15 or 20 minutes preparing my meals didn't infuriate me, I probably could have planned my meals more effectively and spent less.

Thats all folks, I doubt I will go Whole 30 again. If I do, it will be my own Whole 30, which includes sweet, delicious, full of fat, cheese.

[Tom Denham]

Good for you!

[Robin Strathdee]

Nice job! Congratulations!

[bodygeek]

Woohoo Twin!!!!! I'm so proud of you for this. You are an inspiration to *me* in that your willpower and dedication did not once waver. It was me calling you for support, not the other way around. I love you.

Thanks for posting your last results, I know overtime is killing you lately.

Call mom and dad and tell them your results - that'll get them to reconsider dad's diet!

For everyone else, having a support person that you can talk to nearly every day was what helped me. Even though we live thousands of miles apart, we could still be honest and offer support. When twin and I started this, we thought it would be a piece of cake for me, as I do mostly paleo already, but I'm the one who needed twin to tell me to walk away from the cookies.