Alternatively, this post could have been titled “Of All the Decisions I’ve Ever Made in My Life More Than Once, I Question This the Most” or “Why I Clearly Still Hate Myself and Everything I Stand For.”
Some of you may remember that, two years ago, I decided to join in with some friends who were trying out the Whole30 for the month of February. Plus the first two days of March. I still maintain that I was convinced to do it through some kind of hypnotic suggestion.
I think part of the reason I went along with it was because of the challenge. I wanted to see if I could do it. It was touch and go a week in (in fact, I was one emotional outburst from calling it quits), but I got through the entire 30 days. I didn’t cheat. And I survived.
When I got to the end of that 30 days, I’d noticed that I was more energetic, I was sleeping better at night, and I’d lost 15 pounds. But when it was over, I just moved right back into the same dietary habits I had before getting roped into that little adventure.
And I swore I’d never do it again. Well, I never swore I wouldn’t do it again… but I said it was extremely unlikely.
Now here we are. I’ve decided to put myself through the Whole30 all over again. But this time, it’s not about the challenge. It’s not about finding out if I have what it takes to get through it. I’m not doing this because a group of people I know are doing it to. I’m doing it on my own because I need to change something.
Like I said, I easily fell back into my usual eating habits. I stayed off sodas for another month after Whole30, but now I’m just as addicted to Mountain Dew as ever. Now, I’m a week and a half away from turning 39. I weigh more than I ever have. And all the exercise in the world isn’t going to make a difference if my diet doesn’t change.
So this time, I want to come away from Whole30 with a different mindset. This time, since it’s not just about proving I can do it, I plan to make more serious, more permanent changes. Look, I won’t say that I’ll never eat processed foods again. I’m certainly not going to stretch Whole30 into WholeForever… Nor am I planning to transition from Whole30 into something like Keto, which I’m not sure I get anyway.
Wish me luck. I’ll be kicking it off this Friday once I’m sure I’ve eaten all the food incompatible with Whole30 that I still have in the kitchen. Starting on March 1 will make it easy to count. This means I’ll be on Whole30 for my birthday. I guess that’s okay, though. I’m not the biggest fan of birthday cake, anyway.
The Confusing Middle 
I’ve heard of other people doing this but never looked into it. Give me the elevator pitch for it? What is it? Yes I know I could google but it’s sunday and I don’t think for myself on Sunday lol
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The elevator pitch is this… For 30 days you give up everything that brings you joy in life. Maybe that’s an exaggeration… No sugar. No sugar substitutes. No dairy. No grains. No legumes. No processed foods. So there’s a lot of reading labels (because sugar is in EVERYTHING). Meats are allowed, but you have to be aware of what goes into it. Beef, chicken, fish… they’re all good. Bacon is a no no… Fresh produce is all good… Eggs are okay (and they kind of saved me toward the end of last time I did this thing)… Potatoes and sweet potatoes are good, too. I think I’ll do better with it this time because I know what to expect and will be better prepared with what kinds of foods I know I can eat.
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Sounds horrible. I’ve resolved never to look into it further.
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Yeah, that’s probably for the best 🙂
I linked back to a few posts I wrote about it last time in this post. The one I wrote at the seven day mark made it sound like I was at death’s door. That’s the closest I came to quitting. By the time I got to the end of it, it really wasn’t so bad. And I really did feel better overall. The way I see it, this is kind of like hitting reboot on the way my body takes in food. The biggest thing is cutting out all the different types of sugars that I’m constantly ingesting. It’s like coming off a drug, so I’m told. Because the addiction to sugar isn’t just physical, it’s mental, too. This week I’ll still be okay, since I’m not starting just yet. But two weeks from now, I’m probably not going to be so pleasant to be around. But in a month, that’ll be a different story.
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Well best of luck to you! Hope to see you chronicaling it this time around as well! Lol
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Good luck!! I eat this way for the most part minus eliminating wine. Sorry. Not giving that up.
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You brave, brave soul.
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Best of luck to you!
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It’s so easy to fall back into old habits. Drive through any town and temptation is all around us. A person has to work hard to create a healthy life style. Junk food is everywhere. A nice comfy chair. Endless movies and so on. But if you want to exercise, eat right and avoid all that garbage you have to put on the blinders and get to work.
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OMG, This reminds me of a show I used to watch titled, ’30 Days’ with Morgan Freeman. He tried living as a homeless person, and on $5 a day, among other things.
While it’s good to be healthy, please be careful. Sometimes caffeine withdrawal symptoms can be detrimental.
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Good luck!
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