It’s been a while! Like many things, I fell off the wagon of blogging but I’m hoping to write more going forward.
Today is February 21st, which means I’m 21 days into my first(and hopefully last) Whole30. And I have some opinions.
When looking into a way to overhaul and re-examine our eating habits, I had tons of options. Many people I know are on the keto diet, some are vegan or vegetarian, and every health magazine has some kind of different diet that’s “guaranteed to make you lose 2 pants sizes in 2 weeks!!” Uh huh.
But I HATE “diets” in the sense of “do this for 3 months, lose weight, but never think about it again once you’re finished” diets. This is a recipe for disaster, yo-yo weight loss/gain, and just an in-general headache.
I chose Whole30 because it seemed like much more of a learning experience-turning a new corner to be lea don a new path after day 30. We already ate pretty well, but needed to calm my food demons, especially for sugar, and wanted to remove the crutch of carbs from my meals (let’s face it, spaghetti or pizza delivery are the easiest ways to feed yourself on those especially busy nights.)
Days 1-3: I felt pretty good! My body didn’t quite realize what we happening at first, I think.
Days 4-7: I became an insatiable hunger demon from the depth of hell. No matter how much I would eat, I was still hungry. For carbs, no doubt. My fiance asked me to make him a big match of mashed potatoes in hopes of keeping full, and admittedly I was eating more than I should have been.
Days 7-14: These were the easiest day so far. Lots of food prep still lasting, trying new recipes, and having more energy than before. My skin is clearing up and I’m noticing my neck looks slightly slimmer. We went to a Valentine’s party and were so highly tempted by all the candy and sweets, but we drank our La Croix and were okay.
Days 15-21: My motivation has nearly hit zero. We went to both the Renaissance Fair and Universal Studios, and temptation was everywhere! It was making me miserable. I’m tired so I don’t want to prep any more food, and I’m literally dreaming about doughnuts, pizza, and chocolate.
*One positive thing that did happen at Universal is that I fit more comfortably in the ride restraints and had the confidence to wear high-waist athletic pants with a sports bra(Harry Potter print, of course)- so much win! *
Days 21-30: coming soon!
This was not an easy task and I honestly wouldn’t recommend it to many. It took 2 weeks of prepping (buying compliant foods and researching what we can/can’t eat and finding recipes) and additional hours of food and meal prepping along the way. Cutting lettuce, mass batching mashed potatoes(my fiance needed lots of carbs to stay full, he’s a bottomless pit), making almond butter and sriracha, breakfast frittatas, on top of just making dinner each night started to get exhausting around day 16. Because there’s no room for processed food (except marinara sauce and the occasional container of pineapple guacamole) you have to cook and prep a lot. I couldn’t imagine doing this while having a demanding job or with kids!
I also wouldn’t recommend it to many people because it IS so highly restrictive. My poor fiance, he’s been hungry and grumpy nearly every day for 3 weeks. It’s hard for him to stay full even with eating beans and bread, without it I fear he’ll wither away. He’s been eating a big helping of potatoes with both breakfast and lunch and is still seriously hungry for dinner each night. I’ve been faring better, but I definitely spent the first chunk feeling especially ravenous myself (my carb-craving monster eventually settled down).
I highly recommend this program if you are actually looking to make a life change.
Yeah it’s fun to challenge yourself to try new recipes and see if you can go 30 days without sugar, alcohol, grains, and legumes, but if you’re going to fall right back to eating processed foods and drinking soda after day 30, Whole30 won’t do a bit of good for you.
The easiest way to summarize my feelings toward Whole30 is that it takes mental toughness. It’s not just about eating healthy food, it’s about consciously making better choices, understanding your cravings, being able to say no, and putting in the work to make it to day 30.
Melissa Pegley 