Whole30 - (or rather 19)
I failed. I made it 19 days into Whole30 and then I quit.
My boyfriend asked me about a month ago to try the Whole30 with him. One of his friends had tried it and LOVED the results she saw. I can eat clean, I've done it before, and I wanted to support my boyfriend, so I said yes.
Whole 30 goes beyond eating clean, at least the kind I'm used to. Here is what you can't have:
added sugar, alcohol, grains, gluten, dairy, legumes, carrageenan (causes inflammation), MSG, sulfites, baked goods, and junk food. Oh, and you're not supposed to find substitutes for your sweet treats. Oh, you found a "brownie bite" that contains only Whole30 compliant ingredients? Too bad. Put it down. Its a bad habit. All of these things make sense for the purpose of Whole30 and good health. Without these foods and ingredients, I noticed a BIG difference in how much less sleep I needed - seriously, like 2 hours less. But what else did I notice? I felt heavier, I knew I was gaining weight. You're not supposed to weigh yourself on the Whole30. But I did. Shame. In one week, I had gained 3 pounds. My weight is generally stable so this perturbed me; I could have been drinking my mocha lattes and not seen weight gain. I told my boyfriend that while some things are compliant, they were too high in fat and we needed to cut back on those things (the macro-tracker in me). Even though he was seeing and feeling the results he wanted as things were, he agreed to this and we kept truckin'. We made some great meals. I learned he's a grill master with chicken and that there is a science to spaghetti squash. It was a fun challenge to do together and we spent more time together in the kitchen.
As the first line of this post says, I quit. Here are the rules I broke:
1) I weighed myself.
2) We made "raw brownie bites" on Day 15 and they were DELICIOUS.
3) I weighed myself again.
4) The day we decided to quit, we had funnel cake. According to the rules, we're supposed to start back at Day One.
The idea to quit was actually my boyfriend's. It wasn't because he couldn't make it the thirty days. His willpower was impressive. He had seen the results he wanted and gained an understanding of how certain foods can affect the body. He got what he wanted from the program and is going to put that knowledge to use moving forward. The Whole30 approach is not sustainable long term, nor is it meant to be, hence the "30." But what it does do, is give you hands-on knowledge of how "you are what you eat."
Here are the pros and cons I observed:
Pro/Con - depending on your normal diet and body composition, the Whole30 can make you gain or lose weight. Good luck.
Pro - Much more energy, seriously.
Con turned Pro - I was grumpy the first 3-4 days, then my average mood improved.
Con - You have to tell yourself "NO" a lot.
Pro - If you do the program with someone, it can be fun to get creative with meals together.
So now that I've quit, I've failed, I've given up, what's my next plan of action? Macro tracking and (mostly) clean eating. It's what works for me. If you've read my previous posts, you know my online coach Melanie. I've messaged with her and will be starting a new cutting program with her in early July. I don't know what it is, but something about her program and her personality keeps me accountable and focused on my goals. I think it's seeing her hustle and having to answer to someone besides myself at the end of the day that really pushes me. I know I've been absent from my blog for awhile, but follow along to see what's next. Have a Whole30 success story or horror story you'd like to share? Or maybe a Whole30 compliant recipe? Shoot me an email at agirlandagym@gmail.com (or go to my contact section) and let me know if I can share your message in a future blog post.
Now here's some of the Whole30 compliant food we enjoyed
