Success story?

[DP8301]

Well. My Whole30 journey finished on Thursday and I have mixed feelings!

 

I'd read so many stories on the forum where people's lives have been transformed and I really wanted to finish my whole30 and feel amazing.

 

Before whole30 I had an upset stomach frequently but irregularly and I did the whole30 partly to lose 10lbs (I hasten to add I don't need to lose 10lbs it's just that I'm a girl so I continually feel pressure to lose 10lbs!), partly to try to figure out what is causing me trouble. My meals in themselves were healthy and for the mostpart, homemade, but I was a snacker. I'd snack on junk food every day, sometimes a few times a day and I was tired of my upset stomach and tired of feeling guilty and tired of worrying that I'd be one of those people that gradually gains 5lbs a year and I'd wake up age 50, wider than I am tall.

 

I also have asthma and eczema sometimes.

 

Full disclosure: I cheated. On 3 occasions I ate something I shouldn't have. And not just "oops, I put butter on my sweet potato instead of ghee", full-on cake and chocolate. So I didn't do a whole30. And I can hear you thinking "well no wonder you don't feel amazing, you didn't do a whole 30!" And no doubt I am disappointed in myself.

 

BUT!

 

I learned so much! 

 

When I make breakfast (sorry, meal 1!) now, I can feel my body getting excited like 'YES! Vegetables!! Bring them on!" Vegetables are delicious! I ate a lot of vegetables before whole30 but it was kind of a chore. I LOVE them now, they just taste so good! And I want to eat a proper meal, for every meal, not just a lazy snack when I can't be bothered.

 

I used to get quite stressed about the time it would take before I could eat. I'd snack while I waited for something proper to cook. Now, the voice in my head that used to shout "FOOD FOOD FOOD" like an alarm is silent. I know I can wait for that proper meal.

 

And I haven't had an upset stomach for 2 weeks!

 

And when I cheated, I felt horrible. Not just guilty horrible, but physically sick, harder to breathe, 2 small eczema patches got bigger and angrier. So I'm not sure why I did it 3 times, but even though it was 3 times, at the next meal I just went right back to eating compliant meals which felt so much better.

 

These changes are significant to me and I might try to do a proper whole30 in April, but I want to eat like this forever because I feel better.

[ShannonM816]

This sounds like success to me, even it it wasn't a true Whole30. I do hope you come back and do a full one, 30 straight days, no chocolate or cake or whatever, to prove to yourself that you can, and so that you can do real reintroductions and figure out what foods you'll feel best avoiding going forward. Before you do, though, I'd encourage you to think about why you had those three moments -- were you stressed? Out at a social thing and felt pressured or obligated? Figure out why it happened, and how you're going to deal with it next time so that you don't give in -- if you've figured out the why but aren't sure about how to deal with it differently, post here in the forum, I can almost guarantee you someone else will have been in a similar situation and will be able to help you find a solution. Having a plan in place for situations where it would be easy to go off plan is the best way to have success in this.

[Mistyfire]

Amazing, absolutely amazing what you've learned. This is a journey and you've taken the important steps. Keep on keeping on - what a great foundation you've laid!

[Marjanill]

Big learning experience I would say. Do you have any idea WHICH type of foods caused the bad symptoms, or did you already know that before you started? I would guess just resolving the stomach issues was worth it!

[DP8301]

Thanks for the encouragement, folks :-).

Having had a think about why I fell off the wagon it's so hard to say. I had a stressful month, more so than usual but I don't recall feeling extra stressed on the days I cheated. I think it was just that bad food was there and no one was watching and I didn't manage to silence that voice in my head like I did the rest of the time. On one day where I cheated I suspect I hadn't eaten enough- maybe that was true of all 3 days. The voice that tells you to give up is easy to ignore when you're full! In terms of what to do about it, I think I need a reminder to stick to the meal template and to do some re-reading of 'ISWF' during the programme to keep the science at the forefront of my mind.

Dairy is definitely a bad food for me but there must be something else too as I consume dairy very rarely yet still get ill. It will be interesting to find out. I feel like I'm only now starting to properly understand that eating whole30 is a lifestyle and that 30 days doesn't 'fix' you. It does set you on the right path though.

:-)