ereiam Posted August 31, 2012 Share Posted August 31, 2012 I started my path toward health in May of 2011. I started eating low carb and dropped weight quickly at first. In January of 2012 I was down 75 pounds but really floundering with my food choices. A friend introduced me to paleo and it was like a lightbulb went on. It brought together everything I had learned about food thus far and then some. But I started to make a lot of exceptions and found that one compromise led to another and so on. I read Mark's Daily Apple and he listed Whole9 as a paleo blog to read. I decided to do the Whole30 on July 31st and started the next morning. I must have been eating more carbs than I realized because I definitely had a hangover those first couple of days. Then I started feeling good after the first week. But I was still really struggling mentally with wanting the temptation foods. I felt panicked about what I would do when the Whole30 was over because I didn't want to go back to my cheating ways. I have to say that those feelings have passed. These last 30 days I have lost my obsession with food. Even while eating paleo, I was eating a lot of nuts and some plain Greek yogurt. Every afternoon I would have a cup of plain yogurt, some strawberries and a (large) handful of almonds. And I wondered why I wasn't losing weight… Now that I've cut out almonds (and all nuts) and of course the yogurt and limited fruit to twice a week, my cravings are gone. I can see now that I was eating that yogurt/strawberry/almond combo every day, not because I was hungry, but because I craved it. Now my hunger has to pass the steamed broccoli test and even then sometimes I am willing to wait if what I really want is not readily available. But here's a really cool thing… I love to eat out. I have a family of six with 3 teenagers and eating out, even at a moderately priced restaurant, is around $100. It costs us $40 to eat at McDonald's. But this last month, I haven't eaten out because no restaurant in town (small town in Colorado with about 15-20 restaurants) can make food as good as I can now make it at home. It used to be that if had a late appointment I would just grab McD's on the way home. Now it's just not worth it to me because there isn't anything I can eat there and I have the ingredients for a lovely frittata waiting for me at home. I have saved so much money in the last 30 days. With four kids we are usually strapped in August with back to school expenses. But this year we have had enough money. I keep looking at my checkbook balance wanting to see if it's for real. I never imagined that I would break my eating out habit that was breaking us by doing the Whole30. Now I see eating out as a splurge, not as a twice a week deal. I don't have any urge to eat out anymore. Of course, I'll have to sometimes, but my addiction to eating out is gone. I weighed in this morning and I lost 6.5 pounds. Woo hoo! I'm going to continue on with a Whole45 because I am not ready for reintroduction. I don't know if I ever will be, because I never want to go back to my food-obsessive days! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bridget Posted August 31, 2012 Share Posted August 31, 2012 Awesome news on all sides-great job ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Tom Denham Posted August 31, 2012 Moderators Share Posted August 31, 2012 I love your story! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derval Posted August 31, 2012 Share Posted August 31, 2012 Great stuff! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kcrady57 Posted August 31, 2012 Share Posted August 31, 2012 I, too, have noticed the difference in the bank balance as a result of the Whole 30; we used to order out or carry in at least once or twice a week - it's amazing how quickly that adds up. Congratulations on your Whole 30 journey! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LisaE Posted August 31, 2012 Share Posted August 31, 2012 This is such an inspiring story! Congratulations on your successes! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ereiam Posted August 31, 2012 Author Share Posted August 31, 2012 I forgot to post this. I have bipolar disorder and take three meds to control my moods. I also take a homeopathic lithium that was prescribed by a homeopathic doctor some years ago. My moods have been so stable since about Day 14. I ran out of the homeopathic lithium and just didn't get around to picking it up. At $50 a month, I don't miss it at all. I am NOT planning to go off my meds without my doctor's direction, but if anyone else is dealing with mood disorers, the Whole30 sure helped me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sara-Marie Posted August 31, 2012 Share Posted August 31, 2012 wow! great story! congratulations. I just finished up as well! Good luck on the rest of your journey! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daisydaisy Posted September 1, 2012 Share Posted September 1, 2012 Congratulations, what a great story! I know a big 'issue' some people have with paleo is the additional expense for eating better reared meat, decent oils and fats, etc - but if you do tend to splurge on the extras like eating out then it can actually end up being a reduction in cost. I found that pre-whole30 despite trying to eat better meat and veg I was still buying the expensive treats (organic icecream etc... it's still icecream!), but also by cutting out drinking on nights out with friends has drastically cut my costs - no taxi home required (I drive into town) and soda water is free! Never thought in a million years eating whole30-style could actually be cheaper!! Good luck for the future! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaleoTori Posted September 24, 2012 Share Posted September 24, 2012 I forgot to post this. I have bipolar disorder and take three meds to control my moods. I also take a homeopathic lithium that was prescribed by a homeopathic doctor some years ago. My moods have been so stable since about Day 14. I ran out of the homeopathic lithium and just didn't get around to picking it up. At $50 a month, I don't miss it at all. I am NOT planning to go off my meds without my doctor's direction, but if anyone else is dealing with mood disorers, the Whole30 sure helped me! I have bipolar disorder too and I'm in the middle of a mania right now (have been for 9 months now). Thanks for sharing your story. I think I might go longer than 30 days, as I'm not feeling mentally well yet. I remember a long time ago (10 years) I went on a "diet" to lose weight, and I thought I should cut sugar and dairy to lose it fast, so I did. This was the last time I was going through a mania too. Wow, 10 years apart. Anyway, after a few months I felt very stable and happy and better about life than I had ever felt in my whole life. I was hoping it might happen again by following this program, and the anxiety I usually have seems to be better, but I'm still suffering every day. I am thinking of doing a Whole90 to see if it was the 3 months that was the key for me. Anyhow, sorry to go off on a tangent. Great story and I'm curious about the homeopathic lithium now. What's the difference? I'm on lithium but haven't heard of a homeopathic version before. Not sure if you'll even see this as I just realized it's been 3 weeks, but if you do, will you let us know how you're feeling now? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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