Whole30 Recap

by regandholly

Well, the second half of this Whole30 flew by! I set a few goals and mentioned my concerns at the beginning, so figure they are the best means to draw conclusions from:

What I want to get out of it:
– to overcome sugar cravings – Not quite acheived. I didn’t eat heaps of fruit, but some days ate more than 2 serves which I feel is too much. And I think because of the fruit factor, I continued to get the sugar cravings. Next time – no fruit?? eek… that’s a tough call, or maybe I just need to be replacing my sugar cravings with fat like coconut oil as Sarah Wilson suggests in IQS.

– to change snack habits – failed. In the beginning I did quite well with not snacking, but was finding myself getting too hungry between meals. Second half of the month I went to the other end of the scale and was far too liberal with my snacks, but I think I know how to find a happy medium.

– to reduce my treat intake (even/ especially Paleo treats) – did this, but kind saw my snacking as treats which isn’t the point.

– to become intuitive with my eating/to learn to listen to my body – I learnt heaps about listening to my body and decerning what it actually needs, not just necessarily wants.. just need to improve on the follow through

– to reduce body fat – Not sure. I didn’t do measurements (fail), to me, my before and after pics look similar, but Sir also took the first on on a random angle (I don’t feel to share these!). I did loose 3kgs (and that was weighing myself after breakfast) and although I don’t like measuring by the scale, I think I lost the right stuff (refer to my muscle mass concern below).

Other bonuses!
– On average I slept HEAPS better
– My energy levels, moods and hormones were much more stable

My concerns:

– not being disciplined enough to stick with it like last time – I DID IT! 30 days! and the next time I do it, I will do it even better!

– I really don’t want massive restrictions on me, there should be freedom in our eating, I don’t want to be obsessing about every little thing I put into my mouth – I actually didn’t find it that restricting, and I think that was because I made really good, tasty food most of the time. I think I actually found freedom in my food by eating this way.

– missing my smoothies – meh. I look forward to having them again, but I survived without any big deal.

– losing muscle mass and therefore strength – I actually increased my strength during this period (hence why I think I lost fat and not muscle).. I even got some new PR’s in my lifts! Looking forward to retesting my 1RM’s later this week.

Next Whole30:
– Eat fat when craving sugar
– Take measurements before and after
– Snack less, but when snacking use healthy gut foods such as broth & fermented veggies
– Deal with the emotional stuff that the snacking/desire to EAT EVERYTHING in sight is coming from

So where from here?

What comes out of my kitchen won’t be changing much. I ate a normal veg & egg breakfast this morning. I do however want to do the testing as others have suggested (from experience of not doing it). Today I had a little whey protein power in with my bullet proof coffee and I will have some more dairy over the next couple of days to see how my tummy/skin reacts. I am going to continue to steer clear of grains becuase I still have skin issues (Psoriasis) and think that could be the source. And I have no desire to eat legumes or processed stuff.

I will be introducing some more fermented foods into my diet to help with gut health. I’m looking forward to experienting with these in my kitchen soon!

And I will be doing another strict Whole30 again soon. I will keep you posted on that!

Anyone encouraged/inspired to try the Whole30 out after following my journey? It really isn’t THAT HARD to do like some would assume. You can actually live without bread and pasta and milk!