It's better the 2nd time around

[Real Food Y'all]

Yesterday was the final day of my 2nd Whole30. My first one took place in September of 2012. Between the 2 W30s was a over a year of mostly SAD-eating, with a few paleo recipes here and there. Every now and then, I would get super motivated and try to eat right, but it never lasted more than a few days before I fell off the wagon. It seems the only way I could ever reach a healthy eating goal was if I put that goal within the confines of a Whole30.

 

My first W30 was so different. I enjoyed the food I was eating, but my family was eating "normal" food around me, and I felt left out. I knew I was supposed to reintroduce foods slowly when it was over, but I really just wanted it to ALL be over so I could eat what the rest of my family ate again. The closer I got to day 30, the more frustrated I got, and around 10PM the night of day 30, I caved and ate a bowl of ice cream. The next day, I tried to forget that happened and follow the reintro protocol, but by the NEXT day I was back to joining in on my mom's casserole like a W30 never happened.

 

This time was different. I now live with my boyfriend, who's also a SAD eater, but was more supportive of my choice to W30. I do spend a couple nights a week with my parents, due to their home's proximity to where I work to save on gas, but I always just brought all the meals I'd need for that stay in a cooler. For some reason, it just wasn't as big a deal this time to be eating differently than those around me.

 

I never had any sensation of OMG-when-is-this-gonna-be-over. I struggled with fewer temptations and cravings. (Don't get me wrong, I HAVE been fantasizing about sinking my teeth into a cheesy piece of takeout pizza, and I WILL, but I don't mind getting through the reintro phase first.) I had to force myself to eat some rice today just to get this reintro thing started.

 

One of my biggest reasons for Whole30ing, both times, was my ridiculous sugar dragons. I could eat a couple pints of ice cream or half a can of Nutella in one seating, EASILY. With my first Whole30, I allowed myself as much fruit as I wanted, but this time I limited it to one serving a day, often none. I'm not having sweets cravings very much at the moment (mostly just that pizza!), but I do fear what will happen whenever I do decide to let myself taste something sweet. I REALLY don't want to go the rest of my life without a sweet treat, but I fear that one piece of birthday cake on my daughter's birthday (coming up in a couple weeks) could lead to me sitting in the fetal position on the kitchen floor with a jar of Nutella and glazed eyes.

 

Anyway, I really want to plan to keep up the paleo style of eating, but just to let myself have a break from it once or twice a week. I work full time, have a side freelance business, and a small child, and during the W30, I felt like I was literally cooking all weekend to prep to get through the week. Now that the W30's over, I need to take some time to focus on other parts of my life that need attention. Hopefully I can still keep up a MOSTLY good diet for a long time, instead of the MOSTLY bad diet with a few paleo recipes here and there, like I was. Wish me luck.

[Tj V]

Congrats and good luck in the future! I could see myself in many of the things you wrote and it is encouraging to hear about others and their struggles and successes. I'm only on Day 5 of my first W30, but I'm sticking with it! Thanks for sharing.