Veronica's Whole30

[voverman002]

Hi everyone!

 

So I'm on day 4 of the Whole30 and other than the pure mental knowledge that I'm not "allowed" to have certain foods I have found that the first 4 days really aren't bad for me at all! I didn't "pig out" before I started and I kept waffling back and forth on my start date when one night I thought "This is ridiculous; get going Veronica! There will never be a "good time" to start this and there will always be something coming up in your life that will keep you from feeling like you can commit." That was the absolute BEST decision I made. I realized that the more and more I pushed off starting that I was feeling less committed.

 

The crazy thing is, I chose to start this after just being sick for a week with a cold/flu and not being fully recovered. Not only that, I embarked on this journey just 7 days before my Company's Fiscal year-end, which is laced with extremely late nights (last 2 days of the quarter/year-end are working til 10 pm and midnight, respectively), they bring in lunch/dinner and sweets/refined snacks abound! Oh, AND I started my "time of the month" 2 days ago. I think all of this would make it seem absolutely insane that I chose to start with and stick with the Whole30, but I cannot express how absolutely, undeniably happy I am that I made the choice to do it! I think for me, it's a lot easier to just avoid the "bad stuff" than it is to have one or 2, so foregoing all of the year-end snacks, etc has been surprisingly easy!

 

I did have a bit of a headache yesterday, but other than that I'm feeling quite great! I have absolutely no bloating and just feel awesome. I would say that I have completely understood what the plan talks about rethinking food - most every meal I eat is super satisfying but do I "look forward" to eating like I used to? No. it's more of a fact that I know I need to eat so I don't end up hungry and craving something. The best move I made this week was that early on I made a LOT of roasted veg and have used it numerous different ways throughout the week (throw it in with some eggs for a quick breakfast, made a curry dish with it last night for dinner, etc).

 

Can't express how happy I am! I know it's only Day 4 and eventually things may feel mundane and depriving, but I feel really encouraged about how I'm mentally approaching this. It's one of those things that no one can make you be ready/excited/willing to do this, but once you make that choice for yourself it's life changing!

 

Until next time.....

[Loverly]

Good luck...I'm starting TOMORROW!

[voverman002]

On day 6 and feeling good. I have to admit that the weekend was a bit of a struggle and I wasn't really faced with anything too unusual. It's more that I've "trained" myself over the recent past to really look forward to a scrumptious brunch over the weekend with some sort of gluten as the start (think french toast, waffles, etc) so it's not that I was even really craving those foods, it's just that it's my "norm" and therefore was hard to not focus on it. I know the biggest part of the Whole30 is retraining the way we think about food and this weekend showed me how true that is! I went grocery shopping Saturday morning and ate breakfast out so was great to have someone else prep my food instead of me, albeit sans gluten as the star. Honestly shopping Saturday morning wasn't the problem. I noticed that I intentionally completely bypass the baked goods and wine area because there's just no need to touture myself like that....but otherwise was a success. I have to say, checking out of the grocery store (now for the 2nd time) with a basket full of nothing but whole/real foods feels PRETTY FREAKING AWESOME!

 

Fast forward to the rest of the day. Did some shopping about town and again ate lunch out. I went to a salad shop and it was surprisingly hard to find any of the side salad dishes that didn't have added sugars or mayo. Thankfully I was finally able to find some things that suited and navigated another successful meal out. However, I have to say, the headache I feel like I cause by asking "does this have added sugar? does this have dairy?" is enough to make me more excited about cooking at home for myself. Dinner was DELISIOUS chili. All in all, Saturday was a success.

 

Sunday now, was a different story. Slept in late because I couldn't seem to fall asleep and found myself waking up thinking "I thought they said I'd sleep like a baby?" I chalked it up to watching a movie in bed so maybe that stimulated my brain? Moral of the story? No more movies before bed! Got up, had a fab breakfast at home and then met a girlfriend out for coffee and have to admit, today is the one day that I just want a biscuit (European term, not a southern buttermilk biscuit), a piece of cake, SOMETHING, and again, it's not because I was really craving it, it was more the expectation that normally on the weekends this is when I'd let myself splurge and get some sort of dessert. Again, still in process of changing those prior ways of thinking.

 

All-in-all I find myself sometimes being tempted by off plan foods, but really it's easy to overcome (just have to redirect my focus) and even when it IS hard during the moment, I find that the after-the-fact satisfaction is so worth it!

 

We'll see what this week brings.....

[voverman002]

Hi again everyone (not that I have any followers! ha!)! It's day 13 of my Whole30 journey and I'm just so excited! Honestly, it's not like anything in my life has drastically changed, BUT i just feel so different about things - my perspective has truly changed. I am a Christian and although I would not ever try to say that this journey for me has been a "religious experience," but instead it's really allowed me to understand what taking care of my body/temple is really supposed to be all about! I don't feel chained to food like I used to be. Of course I see a dessert/sweet/carb, etc and think "yummo, that'd be great!" but I bypass it and the joy of knowing that I didn't eat something that I'm just later going to regret is SO WORTH IT!

 

I even successfully navigated my first night out this past Friday night! After coming home from work I reheated some of my yummo veggie and beef chili for dinner and then met some friends out while they ate/drank at a nearby pub before our night of fun commenced. I would be completely ridiculous and not honest with you or myself if I said that it would have been nice to have some pizza or fries with them, but I was completely satisfied from the chili and it was great to be there for the conversation, etc and not to eat the foods that aren't good for me in the long run. I have to say though, as I've read somewhere previously, and I did this Friday night so I can attest to it, it's SO MUCH EASIER to eat before you go out and just say "oh, thanks, but I was starving and ate before we met up!" Then it's not a "oh, I can't, I'm on this challenge/diet/protocal thing...blah blah blah." I find that if you don't draw attention to it, no one else will.

 

Drinking on the other hand is a little more cumbersome to navigate, especially being an early-30's woman..."oh, she's not drinking she must be pregnant!" Ha, no! So to stop those rumors dead in their tracks I did bring up the Whole30 concept and it's fun (for me) to say it's an experiment about what negatively affects me,etc. That seems to keep the questions at bay, except for those that are interested in the Whole30 concepts, and then I'm totally willing to gush about it and talk about it to inspire others! Oh, and the fact that I didn't spend ANY money on food or drinks while out...I still had a blast (but I've never been one that has to have alcohol to have fun) and didn't spend probably $30-$50 just to "be one of the crowd."

 

The hardest part of Friday night, honestly, was after going out. I LOVE me a cheeseburger, pizza, whatever just as a "nightcap" after a night of dancing out (and hey, you burn off all the calories from dancing, right?!?). That was honestly, by far, the hardest part, not to stop somewhere and pick something up late-night. However, I didn't feel any guilt AT ALL about coming home, frying up 2 eggs and some compliant ham and calling it a night.

 

That's what I absolutely LOVE about this journey. I haven't really worked out much (even though I have the energy levels to where I could) and I don't feel guilt about the fact that I haven't worked out nor do I ever feel guilty about what I eat. I've begun to realize during this journey that, for me, working out has always been about retribution of how I eat. Meaning, "oh, I ate horrible this week, I need to go bust my booty in the gym to make up for it!" However, over the past 13 days I haven't feel the negative pressure to go work out to make up for a bad day/week/etc of eating. Instead, I've found myself doing a lot more yoga instead of feeling like I need to go pump iron or run miles. Again, this is just my experience, which isn't a one-size-fits-all, but I just find that I'm eating what I want, I never leave a meal hungry, and I don't feel guilty about anything I'm eating. I will admit that am excited to reintroduce beans and non-gluten grains after this journey is over because I would like to reduce my consumption of meat (not completely, but just focus more on plant-matter as my main food source) but regardless, I've never found myself feeling deprived or had a negative view of self in the past 13 days. It's so freeing!

 

I recently told one of my girlfriends about this and here's an excerpt from one of my emails to her about it that I feel further captures my take on this journey for me:

For me, this journey has been 100% about love for self (and obviously not in a conceited way, but more so a "I want to be good to myself and be happy from within" so that's (for me) what this journey is all about. It's not about rules/restriction/etc. Instead, for me, it's a: I want to feel amazing, be happy, not rely on food to make me happy/less stressed/able to enjoy a situation, etc. I have to realize that not all my meals are going to be the most tasty/life altering thing I've ever eaten. Instead, each meal I've had to date has allowed me to feel full and content and nourished. Sometimes I seriously even feel like a rabbit (when I munch on raw sugar snap peas b/c I need a snack) but I find it comical and feel awesome that I'm not relying on a processed snack to fill me up.
 

The big thing to understand is that the Whole30 is NOT a diet. It is for people who really want to get in tune with the foods that negatively affect them and really just break the hold that food has on our psyche (i.e. I'm stressed so I want to eat a cake!). The creators even realize that living by this mantra is not 100% sustainable in that at some point we'll go on a bender, etc and THAT'S OKAY, but it's about getting ourselves back in check and just not living off of processed foods and added sugar that have absolutely no value to us other than convenience. So, enjoy your journey! I'm here for you!