My Whole30 Results

[MichelleR]

After observing my husband complete the W30 challenge last summer and my own meager results at losing some weight using methods that worked well in my younger years, I decided to give my own W30 challenge a go.  Today is day 34.  My goals were to lose at least 10 lbs, see how I do without any caffeine, kick my insomnia and other sleep issues, and hopefully lower my cholesterol.  After my farewell tour through cookies and other junk the week before I began, my starting weight was 161-162 (a tad higher than usual) and my last cholesterol test 6 months ago came in at 250 total cholesterol.  I’ve floated around 220-240 for more than a decade.  I take no meds and have no chronic conditions other than the cholesterol battle.  I just turned age 50.  

My Results:   Won back my sleep. I started sleeping without interruption on day 6.  I lost 10 lbs and my cholesterol labs on day 29 came in at 210.  I am off caffeine about 98% of the time - more on that below.  I am extremely pleased and motivated to continue on.

My Experience during the 30 days did not track too close to the typical W30 calendar.  I did think about food I was missing, but otherwise, no rage, only minor lethargy a couple days, and no tiger blood.  I also experienced a lot of gut discomfort the entire time for which I finally started probiotic pills on day 27 and all is well again in that dept.  Before W30, my morning caffeine choice was a Coke Zero.  One per week day, sometimes 2 on the weekends.  For W30 I tried to switch to unsweetened tea, but could not handle the bitter taste.  So I ditched the caffeine.  And it really was not that hard to do.  My relationship with food improved as well.  I realized that I eat out of boredom and habit/ritual, ie popcorn every night in front of the TV whether I’m actually hungry or not.  Those habits are broken now and that feels great.  I’m in control of the food.  

Reintro phase:  Its 4th of July weekend so I have tried a few things nonW30.  I had a small portion of rice which ended up feeling like I had swallowed a tennis ball.  The next day, I had cookies and ice cream and a couple hours later, literally lost my cookies.  One second I felt normal, the next I was in the bathroom on my knees.  And then I felt fine again.  I’ve tried drinking a couple Cokes (not diet), as well as a Sonic frozen cherry lime aid, and none of it is really good anymore.  It doesn’t quench my thirst and leaves my mouth coated in a gloppy, syrupy sweet taste.  I think I’m done with those.  

Continuing W30:  I’ve had to find products that are compliant and help me stay on track.  Shout outs go to Lara bars, the compliant ones, Tessie Mae salad dressings — and I’ve got their ketchup and bbq sauce to try as well, and Barney Butter bare smooth almond butter.  Also, Snap Kitchen has W30 prepared meals which helped when we went to my inlaws over Father’s Day weekend.  For water options, just found the Crisp flavored bottled waters and like those a lot.  

Good luck on your own path.  It’s totally worth the effort.  

[Mandy612]

Congratulations on completing the Whole 30, this story is really inspiring!

[Mark Ryan]

So here are my results. I'm the type of person that sticks to a diet 100% and will not deviate from the rules. I lost a lot of weight during the 30 days. 19 pounds to be exact. 174 pounds down to 155 pounds. But I felt horrible every day. I missed food too much. I missed dairy, sugar (grains not so much). I never got the "tiger blood" and now that I finished (today is my first day of reintroduction - starting with dairy), I do not think i will ever do this again. It was brutal and made me feel depressed. 

[SugarcubeOD]

16 minutes ago, Mark Ryan said:

So here are my results. I'm the type of person that sticks to a diet 100% and will not deviate from the rules. I lost a lot of weight during the 30 days. 19 pounds to be exact. 174 pounds down to 155 pounds. But I felt horrible every day. I missed food too much. I missed dairy, sugar (grains not so much). I never got the "tiger blood" and now that I finished (today is my first day of reintroduction - starting with dairy), I do not think i will ever do this again. It was brutal and made me feel depressed. 

I'm so sorry you didn't have a great experience on the program.  Feeling horrible every day is definitely not the intent and usually when people feel this way, they're not eating enough.  We're here to help and through the reintroduction period we want you eating based on the Whole30 and meal template for everything except the one item you're reintroducing at the time so maybe we can help you with your meal composition through these last few days if you want.  If so, maybe list out what you've been eating and in portion sizes and we can see if something stands out.