I lost 11.4 pounds on the Whole30. My friends, my coworkers, and my family who watched me go through this are impressed by the weight loss. They could see that I was losing weight and that I was eating good food every day for every meal, and I ate plenty of it. My family witnessed me coming home from work and cooking dinner. But not grazing from the minute I walked in the door until bedtime.
But it wasn’t about the weight loss, although that was a nice bonus. It was about changing my relationship with food, becoming better nourished. I learned a lot about added sugar in processed convenience foods. I had to add salt to my food because whole foods have a lot less salt. I cooked with good oils. It was not a low fat diet. I had to eat a teaspoon of oil with every meal. I was rarely hungry, free from cravings, well fed.
I learned by reading labels how much sugar, industrial seed oils, and soy are in the processed foods I ate every day.
I learned that eating fruits, vegetables, animal protein (including eggs), and good oils was satisfying.
I learned some new recipes.
I learned to roast vegetables. Yum.
I learned I enjoyed cooking once I got started. And after a week on the plan, I found that I had the energy to cook. Before Whole30, I would come home from work too tired to cook. So I would eat something, and throw some chicken strips and tater tots in the oven. Or I would eat something and my husband would cook dinner.
I experienced only very mild cravings at most. My friends said, “I wish I had your willpower.” My daughter said, “It didn’t take much willpower, did it?” She was right. For me, this was easy compared to Weight Watchers, Tops, or any other diet I have tried. I have been overweight for 20 years. (I am 56 now.) This plan did not require counting calories, writing in a food journal, or weighing myself in front of other people (even though only the person weighing me at Weight Watchers or TOPS knew how much I weighed, I felt humiliated when I failed) The only important thing here is eating good food and eating enough of it.
I learned it is a lot easier to say no when I was well fed and nourished.
I learned that I don’t deserve a cookie, a muffin, a candy bar. I also found that the cookies, muffins, and candy bars never satisfied me. I always wanted more. Then I would chastise myself for being “bad.” Not good.
I learned that most fast food and restaurant food isn’t good for me. The money I would spend on McDonald’s could go toward buying better food. Why did I eat a breakfast burrito? It only cost a dollar? Because I was starving and had not taken the time to make breakfast. A dollar could buy a half dozen regular eggs.
The next step is reintroducing some of the foods I have eliminated from my diet. Yesterday I ate what I thought would be good food as a reward (that is messed up thinking.) – Bob Evans “natural” sausage. It had pork, salt, and a little sugar. Ugh. It was way too salty and hard to get the bad taste out of my mouth. I had natural Koeze peanut butter with my apple at lunch – along with a sweet potato, chicken, and roasted broccoli. At supper time, I ate my husband’s chili which has kidney beans in it. This morning I have a headache for the first time in weeks. Maybe it’s the kidney beans or peanut butter. Or maybe that awful sausage. Anyway, back on the Whole30 for two days. This morning I am making chicken for breakfast.
I’m looking forward to seeing how the other foods I have eliminated affect me. I’ll try legumes again without the awful sausage patties in a few weeks. Peanut butter is one of my favorite foods. I can give up beans easily. I’ll have to see if Peanut butter is okay. I might switch to one of the other butters.
Next:
Non-gluten grains
Dairy
gluten grains.
The Whole30 book has an alcohol reintroduction on the first day. The website doesn’t include it at all. But that’s okay for me. I already know what alcohol does to me. Diarrhea every time. That’s one of the reasons I gave it up after college.
I noticed there is no reintroduction for sugar filled treats. 🙂
My last meal on the Whole30 – turmeric baked chicken, roasted broccoli, and a sweet potato.
annkilter2 