Back into my pre-pregnancy pants!

[JoCha]

I did it.  I am back into my pre-pregnancy pants!  That was my main motivator in doing this 30 day challenge.  My friend told me about how her and her boyfriend did it and they felt great.  I wanted to feel great again.  Not the bloated, tired mom of 2 with no energy to play with my kids.  I’d been trying for months to lose even a pound.  I even talked to my doctor and she said I still had pregnancy hormones and that’s why I could not lose weight.  Something had to change.  I’ll be forever grateful to my friend for telling me about this new way of eating.  I even got my husband to do it.  He made it about 23 days but he calls the challenge life changing. 

The good NSVs:

• Less bloated.  
• My old pants fit!
• Skin feels less dry and itchy
• Regular, not constipated
• Lighter period
• Rings fit better
• Allergies are not as bad this spring
• Have not eaten cheese in 30 days
• Have more energy to play with the kids
• Made some very delicious food from the book, including bbq sauce and cauliflower rice.
• Got good at prep time and meal planning
• Using kitchen tools that I have not been using in a long while
• My grocery cart is filled with healthy fruits, veggies, and meat
• When I did get hungry, it didn’t get “hangry” 
• A splash of olive oil and vinegar is just enough on a salad
• Home made mayo is easy to make

The bad:

• Having to read labels.  Although I tried to think of this as part of the game
• Had bad joint pain the first 2 weeks but went away
• My skin and hair got really oily the first 2 weeks but cleared up too
• Still had some bad PMS but not as bad as before
• Never really felt like I got “tiger blood” although Shannon helped me increase my energy in a post on the Troubleshooting forum area
• Lots of chopping and food prep
• Was scared to go out to restaurants to eat because I didn’t want to accidentally fail the challenge or have a bad reaction as I’ve been reading people having

Conclusion:

I will totally do this again.  I’d done the south beach diet, which was great but I always felt like I was missing out on things.  With the Whole30, I didn’t feel like I was on a diet.  I did miss our Friday pizza night that we’d have as a family but we had some good Friday dinners of compliant sausage and peppers.  I missed a cookie here or there but now I have some sliced strawberries and they are a good substitute.  I could eat as much as I wanted during the 3 meals.  Sometimes I would not eat enough at a mean and I would snack on roasted nuts which was bad for me.  My next 30 day challenge will be to get back down to my college weight and include working out.  I’m feeling like I can actually do that now!

 

Some tips that are in the book but I just want to say them again:

• Have some emergency food, like hard boiled eggs, handy. 
• Do some prep on the weekends so your weeknights are not spent chopping and cooking.
• Watch out for eating too many nuts as an emergency food
• Try not to snack.  Eat enough during your 3 meals to keep you going
• Use salt
• If you’re tired, add a starchy veggie and enough healthy fat to each meal
• Drink enough water