Yesterday was my last day of Whole 30 and I am so excited, but maybe not for the reasons you’re thinking. Am I excited to have a glass of whiskey this weekend? Yes. Am I going to face plant into a bowl of spaghetti or a cheese tray tonight? Nope.
For those of you who don’t know, Whole 30 is a 30 day elimination program during which you “eliminate the most common craving-inducing, blood sugar disrupting, gut-damaging, inflammatory food groups for a full 30 days.” This means no sugar, real or artificial, grains, legumes, dairy, carrageenan, MSG or sulfites, baked goods or junk foods with “approved” ingredients, or alcohol. It’s a great way to reset and figure out what, if any, food groups are negatively impacting your body, and break those bad food habits, like reaching for a sugary treat at 3:00 at the office because you’re crashing, or mindlessly snacking after dinner while you’re watching TV. Oh, you’re also supposed to stay off the scale and resist the urge to take any progress pictures throughout the program, instead focusing on non-scale victories, or NSV’s.
I’ve tried it twice, gotten completely overwhelmed and quit, but as part of my goals for 2018 I knew I needed to make some major changes with my eating habits and food choices, so I was determined to get through the 30 days. Here we are on day 31, I’ve successfully finished and thought I’d share my experience with you!
In attempt to organize my thoughts instead of just rambling about all the things I’ve broken it down into three sections for you, what I learned, my key to success, and what’s next.
What I Learned
Today will be the first day of reintroduction so I don’t have a full picture of which food groups impact me the most, but I do know that this month I had more energy than I have in years, my skin cleared up, I slept better, and my focus improved tenfold. Since I didn’t make any other changes in my lifestyle during the 30 day’s I have to attribute these benefits from cutting out all the crap in my diet. Whole 30 isn’t something I can maintain 100% for more than 30 days at a time, but I definitely plan to implement some aspects of it beyond the 30 days. Below are a few other things I learned
- I love cooking // This wasn’t really a lesson learned so much as something I remembered. I have always loved cooking but for some reason I got away from it over the past few years. It was really nice to get back in the kitchen and remember how much I love cooking, it’s such a great stress reliever! Speaking of which, can we talk about how adorable this kitchen at Common Room Studio is?! I wish my kitchen looked like this!
- You have to commit // Once you decide to do it, go all in and take a page from Nike’s book and just do it. No excuses, no putting it off, just make it happen, it really isn’t as hard as you think and all the hype in your head is making it seem so much worse than it actually is!
- It’s really not hard // I spent weeks leading up to it stressing about how hard it was going to be to make it through the 30 days, but when it came down to it, it wasn’t nearly as difficult as I had made it out to be!
- Sweet potatoes can be made roughly a million different ways // Roast them, mash them, bake them, use them as a base for breakfast or stuff them full of deliciousness for dinner. Whenever you get bored, try and figure out a way to reinvent your sweet potato, my favorite way to eat them? Mashed with some chili, a fried egg and sliced avocado on top for breakfast!
- My relationship with food really wan’t all that healthy // Bad day? Treat myself to takeout or a cupcake or some other treat. Exciting news? Same thing. Stressed, tired, cranky, you name it I was the queen of coming up with an excuse to order out or “treat myself,” Whole 30 allowed me to really break that cycle and change my habits surrounding food. Now when I “treat myself” not only do I reach for a much healthier option, but it really is a treat!
- The last week was the hardest for me // I think it was because the end was within reach, but I made it through the first 3 weeks no problem, then all of a sudden on day 22 all I could think about was pasta and cheese and all the things I couldn’t have. I’m proud to report I didn’t cheat, but I definitely thought about it.
- Giving up alcohol was the easiest // I honestly thought this would be the hardest part, D.C. is a very social place and most of the events revolve around alcohol, surprisingly I had no problem at all giving this up. I’m going to do a full post about dry January and how I’ve carried this past January soon!
- Real, clean food can be just as good as our favorites that are a little less clean // When I was first starting, and part of the reason I failed during my last two attempts, I was convinced that I was going to be bored eating nothing but roasted veggies and lean protein. Boy was I wrong. I didn’t have a single meal on Whole 30 that I didn’t love, yes, I missed my takeout and some of my favorite comfort foods, but I also found a few new, super good-for-me recipes that have become comfort foods.
My Keys To Success
- Having a meal plan and grocery list // This might be the single most important part of the entire thing. If you don’t have a plan, you will likely fail, at least I know I would have. I used to hate meal planning because it felt so weird trying to figure out what I was going to eat on Thursday on a Sunday morning, I quickly realized that the plan was really more of a guide, if I felt like having Friday’s dinner on Wednesday at least I already had all of the stuff I needed so I would just shift things around! Which leads me to the grocery list, I used to go to the grocery store and kind of wing it, which usually left me totally overwhelmed and I never had any of the things I needed by the time I got home. Now, I make my grocery list at the same time I make the meal plan that way I know I always have everything I need! Feeling a little overwhelmed by this step? Download my free meal plan and grocery list to get you started!
- Meal prepping // Spend a Sunday afternoon making all the things you need to make basic meals so all you really have to do is assemble them. Roasted veggies, pulled pork, chicken, whatever you need to assemble some pretty kickass buddha bowls and salads to get you through the week! That way if you get home late for work you’ll already have stuff to throw together for a quick dinner.
- Accountability // Do it with a buddy, make sure people around you know you’re doing it, it’s annoying to talk about but helpful to have someone question you when you’re about to cheat and reach for that cookie in the office.
- Out of sight, out of mind // Throw out or hide the things you can’t eat, we did a total kitchen clean out and got rid of all the cheese and goldfish and other things I knew I wouldn’t be able to resist eating.
- Swap your favorites with something new // I know a big thing about Whole 30 is avoiding the SWYPOs (sex with your pants on) so no “Whole 30” approved muffins or desserts etc. but I don’t think there’s anything wrong with finding something you love just as much as those not so healthy options. I love a good fountain soda but I figured out that I love La Croix just as much, so I just swapped out my afternoon soda for a much healthier option, if I was feeling like I wanted a dessert I’d have an apple with almond butter or a dried mango! Figure out what works for you, just like any diet if you completely restrict yourself you’ll probably fail so this way you are still following the rules and getting all the benefits while making sure you’re still enjoying your food!
What’s Next
While adjusting my lifestyle to maintain Whole 30 all the time isn’t realistic, I do plan to carry over some of the things I learned beyond Whole 30. For starters, I’m cutting way back on drinking alcohol and sugary drinks. Instead of my afternoon coke, I’ll reach for a La Croix instead and I’m trying to only drink alcohol on the weekends or in very limited quantities during the week. I’m also doing my best not to snack which was quite possibly the best takeaway I got from Whole 30!
Was it worth it? Absolutely. And I plan to do it again, maybe once a quarter. Since I plan to stick with a lot of the principles I learned I think it should be relatively easy to do another one in a few months, or a mini one in between if I feel like I need to do a reset!
Have you done Whole 30? What was your experience like?
