Lucky 66!

[AmyS]

I just finished 66 days of Whole30! Get your kicks on Route 66! Manhattan Transfer version here:

On January 31 I started my third Whole30. I did my first starting Sept. 23 and my second between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Then I started on January 31, aiming for a Whole100. Recently I've been feeling like my Whole XX journey is ending for the time being. I expect to come back to a fourth go-round (wow!) in the summertime. In the meantime, I expect to be here on the forums (fora?) at large, continuing to get inspiration for cooking and eating healthy. Yeah! (Jazz hands go with that "Yeah!" but since you can't see me you have to trust me on that one. )

Results of my third WholeThing:

Weight seems to have stabilized. I'm not sure, since I'm not really a scale hound, but I know I'm at what tends to be in the neighborhood of my usual adult weight, and I seem to be staying there. I forgot what I weighed before Jan. 31, so I don't have any idea if I gained, lost, or stayed the same in the last 66 days. I guess I didn't need to spend the money on the scale I bought a few months ago.

Body shape continues to shift. I'm wearing a size down from my usual adult sizes, especially in pants. One of the things I'm going to do in order to celebrate this most recent milestone is buy myself some new pants. I've lost so much fat from my belly and back that all of my pants (including the ones I had in my closet from my usual adult weight, which I had, err, exceeded, before my first Whole30), are falling off of me. And the pants I had before that I thought were a wishful dream are now the ones that fit. Who knew THAT would happen?!

Cooking continues to improve and become more varied. In fact, as I move to the next leg of my journey, I'm feeling very inspired to branch out into a wide array of paleo cooking (starting with Well Fed and Everyday Paleo for Families). The biggest revelation of my Whole66 came in the area of cooking. I FIIIIINALLY realized that I'm a good cook, as long as I'm working with real, simple, whole ingredients. I used to think I couldn't make a decent beef stew without a packaged flavoring mix. Now I realize that I can make a completely world-shaking beef stew with beef, homemade chicken stock, onions, and garlic. Brown beef in cast iron skillet, insert ingredients into crock pot, return 8 hours later, add salt to taste, and collapse in ecstasy.

I've also realized that some things I will continue to crave. It may be a vestige of alcoholism in my extended family (I don't drink at all, nor do any of my family of origin, but there is a strong history of alcoholism for any family in my family tree that starts drinking at all) - some sort of addictive personality. Or it may just be that there are some things I really really like, and that aren't so very good for me. Either way, it's something I will be living with.

My children's health has improved, though I have done nothing consciously to turn them into Whole30ers with me. Simply cooking without preservative-laden mixes, offering vegetables regularly, and cutting back almost entirely on junk food, have helped us ride out a wave of huge winter illness in my part of the world with only minor difficulties.

My singing is out of sight, if I do say so myself. I'm not a performance athlete, but singing is my performance sport - and Whole30 times 3 with that 36 day extension have helped my singing immeasurably. Folks who have heard me sing for years and always liked how I sang are commenting that I sound hugely better than I ever have before. This is not dissing how I sang before, understand - it's a direct reflection of how much improvement there has been in my tone quality, control of my voice, and range.

My blood pressure dropped and stabilized during my first Whole30, proving that this way of eating does work to address serious health issues. I'm so immensely grateful for that, and I continue to feel thankful every day that there is something I can do other than just popping pills (though I continue to take blood pressure medicine, now it actually works!).

More on medication: I was on a low dose of anti-anxiety medication. This Whole66 has helped me stop taking that, and successfully use other coping mechanisms to deal with anxiety. I know that's not everyone's story, but for me it started out that the medication finally worked, after a few years of taking; and later, that it didn't seem to be adding much to what I was already doing through diet and lifestyle. It was a type of medication that I could drop on my own, and so I tried it and I intend to continue without it for now. Feels good.

Finally, the Route 66 song and analogy are very apt. I've learned that slowing down mentally through healthy eating helps me focus on the beauty of my life. I've been able to make difficult decisions without struggling nearly as much as usual. I've been able to face situations in my life that feel as if they are in limbo without trying to force them along. I've become significantly happier in all of my key relationships, including the one with myself. The best thing this morning was piling in my bed with the children and the dog, yammering about life in general before getting up to get ready for school and work. So awesome.

What's next? More cooking, more life, more singing, and, in the summer, more Whole30ing. For now, I'm happy to feel healthy, and I'm happy to take off on the next stage of my own personal Route 66.

[Moluv]

Yay for you Amy S!!!!

[AmyS]

Thanks everyone!

[Kirsteen]

Amy, I am so absolutely pleased for you I am doing the wriggly happy dance (not a sight anyone wants to see ) I am delighted things have gone so well for you and of course you'll still be here on the forum - you don't escape that easily girl Really look forward to seeing how things go for you from here on. all the very best