It’s OCTOBER!!!! And October just totally rocks my socks off, for all the reasons y’all already know…but one major one this year – our Whole30 challenge is OVER. And we SURVIVED! We’re recapping the goods and the bads below, and if you joined us, we hope your month of clean/healthy eating was as successful as ours!
Sarah…
Oh, hello. Whole30 ahhhhhhhhhh. Y’all it was a tough gig in my house, I won’t lie. I work a lot, my husband works and goes to grad school at night, we have two kids under 3. Normalcy in my house is just always being tight on time – why did I sign up for an eating challenge that required me to cook everything from scratch? Right, I love living on the crazy train. By the end of the month I was eating packs of salami for lunch, and I made Brussels and Bacon every other day. The challenge for me, just like expected, wasn’t the actual food – it was the planning and preparation.
Now don’t get me wrong, I feel great after having completed the 30 days, my body feels energized and healthy. I’ve been falling asleep easier and waking up rested. I did lose 5 pounds, and while not an earth shattering amount, I’ll gladly take it. The biggest change for me is any and all types of stomach bloat are gone, and I don’t have that full/tired feeling at 2pm. I also feel like Whole30 has helped change my relationship and thoughts about food. While not diagnosed, I’m sure I’m “addicted” to food and have been for years and years. In 30 days I found myself treating food as an energy source instead of as my next delicious exciting meal. I liked that feeling! Please don’t get me wrong – I’m never going to not enjoy food and look forward to it, but to move my radar a little more to moderation feels good, and I’m counting that as an accomplishment.
Moving forward I’m going to stick to the basic Whole30 plan, everything might not be perfectly compliant, I’m going to put some creamer in my coffee, and I’ll use some shortcuts that weren’t allowed in the past 30 days, but I like the way this type of eating makes me feel, and I can’t wait to see where this brings me!
Jessica…
Hi all!!! Ohhhhhhhhh Whole30! I can’t believe it’s already come and gone so quickly. Never have I ever been so prepared for weekly meals and never, never, never have I ever used my dishes, pots and pans, utensils, tools that I didn’t know I even had, and my DISHWASHER so often than I have over these last 30 days.
At the end of it all, I have some thoughts to share ::
The first one simply being I am for sure a fan. While the stipulations {no sugar, no grains, no dairy, no legumes} sound insane, in reality, it’s not that difficult to live this life. I like the food I’ve been eating, and I like the way it makes me feel. Chicken apple sausage with a green almond milk smoothie for breakfast, a fun plate of nuts, dried fruit, sliced up apple, hard boiled eggs, olives, and maybe even some prosciutto for lunch, and yummy fish or chicken with veggies for dinner was not hard to achieve everyday. The recipes I found will be ones that stay permanently in our rotation even when we aren’t being 100% compliant.
My second thought is that you will lose weight. I’m 6 lbs down and Josh is 15 lbs down. Wooohoooo! We’re feeling good about ourselves ,and the weightloss is enough to keep us going. We’ve agreed to about 80/20. 80% Whole30 rules / 20% real life rules.
My third thought is that you don’t know how well your body is doing until you deviate from the plan. Over the past weekend, I “accidentally” indulged in brownies, cookies, sweetbread, and some dairy…wowzaaaaaaaaa…I was sooooooooo wrong for the next day and a half. Stomach cramps, fatique, and general grossness. It was enough of a reminder for Josh and I both to get back on the saddle.
Has anyone else out there completed a Whole30?? We want to know what you thought when it was all said and done! Looking forward to hearing from you in the comments below!
To see where we began, click here.
For a mid-month update, click here.
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