First Whole30 results and beyond

[neb2886]

I started my first Whole30 around Christmas and ended this weekend (just in time for an anniversary trip with my wife with too many cheat meals + too much booze).

 

Before starting Whole30 I'd dabbled in Paleo before but it never quite stuck. This past summer/fall my job had me traveling a lot and after all that time on the road coupled with beer, and poor food choices, I ended up about 30 lbs over the weight I feel comfortable with. By December my sleep was terrible, I was eating pizza a few nights a week, noticing zero gains from a pretty intense training regimen. I had developed severe heartburn that I could not shake, allergies that I had never had and was constantly tired during the work day which led to extremely excessive coffee intake.

 

I decided to make some changes, read It Starts with Food and went cold turkey. For the first week I was off coffee and booze and eating 100% clean. After the first week work took over again and I went back to the coffee.

 

I kept it simple, my staples were grass fed beef, eggs, chicken, tuna, flounder, bananas, apples, oranges, grapefruit, kale, spinach, mushrooms, red cabbage, sweet potatoes, onions, garlic and a slew of spices. Also threw in almonds and cashews here and there. I found I was able to create plenty of interesting combinations with those ingredients and spices but also quickly realized that for time and $ sake, at least for me, it was better to keep things simple in terms of meal preparation.

 

The first 10 days were difficult, constant headaches and I felt weak and my stomach did not seem to like the changes.  After 10 days something suddenly clicked in my body and I was noticing zero stomach problems, close to no allergies, amazing sleep, no heartburn and I picked up swimming. I did not cheat with food the entire time but did drink bourbon a few times.

 

At the end of the 30 days I was down 17 pounds and felt and looked better than I had in years. I know these losses are not the same for everything, I need up my training regimen (alternating between 1 week 3 days heavy weights/3 days swimming and 1 week of 3 Crossfit type workouts/3 days swimming).

 

I learned a lot about my body and making good food choices during this month.

 

I am starting another Whole30 tomorrow but am striving to fully incorporate this way of eating into my life so that I am no longer going from 30 day to 30 day challenge and actually living out the lifestyle. This time with zero booze and less coffee. I will post again in 6 months to see where I am at.

 

For anyone that is on the fence about trying Whole30, or has done one and was discouraged with the results, don't give up. Re-asses where you may have went wrong and you will see results.

 

Good luck!

[neb2886]

Forgot to post some stats for perspective on my personal results. I played rugby in highschool and college (played 8man and flanker so I was always generally pretty fit/quick). Graduated college around 190 lbs. 6'1". That was 6 years ago. Before Whole30 I was 6'1" 222 lbs. Now back down to 205.