Day 1 in New Zealand

[Nicole]

Today is the first day of my first Whole 30 program! I am very excited! I only decided yesterday that I was going to do it, after some synchronicity pointed me right at it; even landed the book It Starts with Food right in my lap, so I decided I was in!

I have been on the paleo diet for 1 1/2 years and it has (of course) changed my life. But I have never quite given up cheese, wine, or dark chocolate. And if I'm going to be totally honest: that dark chocolate is not always dark and sometimes has other naughty things in it. And sometimes I find myself eating pizza, beer, and other things. Although, if you were to ask if I ever cheat I would say not really. I feel like I am 80% compliant with my diet usually, but lately have been about 45%...

You see, I got married a few months ago and was very good with my diet and exercise up until the day after the wedding. I even made sure I had paleo food throughout my wedding day so that I wouldn't feel bloated and sick! But since I was technically on vacation in another country for my own celebration I had told myself I would be ok to have whatever cheat food I want from the day after my wedding until we left America. So for 3 weeks post wedding I had pasta, I had beer, I had whatever I wanted; but I was still mostly paleo... Until I got back to New Zealand and suddenly I was really struggling with my diet. I kept finding myself in compromising situations and just going for it. After 1 1/2 years paleo I know how to handle those situations, but it's like the wedding come down influenced my desire to just do whatever I wanted... And there is really a "wedding come down."

But I am passionate about paleo, so I plan to stick with it. I hope that the Whole 30 program will help me realign my already good habits, and to improve the areas I had been slacking off in for the last 1 1/2 years (ie: chocolate, wine, and cheese!!).

I seems as though I am not feeling 100% like I should on the paleo diet, and had considered doing an auto immune protocol, but decide I'll just do the normal Whole 30 this time. The problem could easily be one of my naughty habits.

Also, I have recently come off of birth control, which is something I have wanted to do for years. Sometimes your body can have some adverse reactions to coming off of the daily dose of hormones, and so I hope that my Whole 30 program will help me transition while my body starts depending on it's own hormones again. Because birth control strips you of vitamins and nutrients, your body tends to flail for a period after you stop and many people (even paleo people) recommend taking vitamins as you transition, so that's what I'm doing. I've made sure that my vitamins don't have any junk in them like soy or other nasty stuff.

Another goal that I have during my Whole 30 program is to stress less, go to bed earlier, and play more. Planning the wedding really put me in a permanent work mode, which was hard to get out of post wedding. Even when I'm having fun I have a hard time not being a workaholic about it. So I will focus on just relaxing! And of course going to bed early to allow my body to get it's sleep, which is something I struggle with.

[Derval]

Enjoy the freedom from all that planning & breathe

Have a great W30.