2nd Whole30 Done!

[AmyS]

I posted this in the thread for folks who started the day after Thanksgiving, and am re-posting it here as its own thread too, with some added background. I'm very happy.

I did a Whole30 from Sept. 23-Oct.23, and had amazing results - I went from pretty much a total junk food diet to Whole30, so the results were nothing short of dramatic. Then I took off until the day after Thanksgiving and did a second Whole30, so today is my day 31, so to speak. I've done two Whole30s! When I started I was living on stress and junk food, trying to figure out what to do about my life and my body, and really floundering. I actually started the Whole30 (the first one) because a friend did it and told me it improved her ability to focus. I had no clue it would have such dramatic and far-reaching effects on my whole life - but it certainly did help me focus, and it has continued to help me keep going even though during this second Whole30 I have faced some of the kind of stress that, in the past, led me to respond by eating very poorly and further damaging my body. This time it's been the opposite. I'm so amazed.

From my second Whole30, here are the results, as many as I can detail right now off the top of my head:

1. Continuing improvement in mental clarity

2. Continuing improvement in emotional stability

3. I faced down two stressful situations that would have sent me heading for caffeine and then laid me flat, and I'm still healthy and still functioning and I am able to think, feel, and move without complete paralysis.

4. I started my first Whole30 back at the end of Sept. weighing 127.4 lbs. (I'm 5'2 1/2" and quite small framed, and most of my adult life I've been about 113-115, so this was more extra weight for me to carry than felt at all good) After the first Whole30 I was down to 121.6. This morning I was down to 115.6. I had no idea that much more had come off.

5. I know that it's not just weight, it's years and years of damage coming undone and literally dissolving from my body. I know this sounds crazy, but I really think that I'm feeling this to be true at the cellular level. I know that it is not just weight, too, because though I haven't been back to the doc to confirm this, I'm pretty sure my blood pressure is stable (one of the problems I was having, other than high BP - which almost totally resolved during my first Whole30 - was blood pressure spikes at random times).

6. No heartburn at all except for a couple of days during the most intense part of the stress.

7. I can sing like nobody's business. It's insane what my voice can do when I feed it well.

I'm off to the store to get supplies to bake some cakes - which I will deliver to friends this afternoon. I look forward to diving into some sugar and butter and flour, but without feeling the need to eat it all (or any, really, myself - though I may sneak a taste of the cream cheese frosting!).

I'm happy and smiling as I wake up, rested, knowing that in particular I've weathered some extreme stress in my life and actually improved my health and my mental outlook in the process. It's amazing.

Dang, I just read over this before posting and now I'm crying. This Whole30 has been so far beyond what I could have hoped. I'm so grateful.

[kb0426]

Congrats Amy and Happy Holidays!

[Derval]

Wonderful, I'm happy for you.

[AmyS]

Thanks, folks!

[SarahEmily]

So great to see so many good results. It never fails to amaze me what problems can be solved with a good diet!!!!

[AmyS]

So great to see so many good results. It never fails to amaze me what problems can be solved with a good diet!!!!

I know, I've been truly astonished.

[Rebecca30]

So nice, I read it twice!

[AmyS]

So nice, I read it twice!

Oh, sweet! Heehee

[bonnynancy]

Oh, my... if I could get my voice back, that alone would be worth anything else I had to give up for it. I can't wait to see what happens when I complete my first Whole30 after the new year. Thank you for such an inspirating post!