My final Whole30 review
- becca
- Jan 30, 2020
- 5 min read
While I am going to try my best to do the reintroduction phase in hopes that I find what was causing my digestive concerns, we are DONE with Whole30 (as of tomorrow morning)!!!! What?! I'm not sure I've ever been this excited in my entire life. ;).
Throughout this process I have gone through many phases, from thinking, "oh, this isn't too bad. I can do this FOREVER" to "what the hell did I get myself into?"/"give me a damn cookie". It's been a roller coaster, but I'm definitely glad I did it. I'm also pretty impressed with myself, and Clint, that we actually did it! I mean...to go from what we were eating before (aka a TON of processed crap) to (for the most part) completely whole, unprocessed foods...that causes a MAJOR shift in your body. Something you can't quite describe; you just have to go through it yourself. And we stuck through it!
Remember my post from a couple weeks ago, Tips for resisting the urge - sweets and alcohol edition? If you haven't had the chance to check it out, you should do that now. :). But in this post I mentioned the steps or phases that one goes through when on Whole30 and I wanted to follow up on that...let you know if my experience was the same as this particular article put it.
In some aspects it was, but I don't think I had as dramatic of transitions from day-to-day as the article describes. And I found myself going back and forth, as I described previously. One day I'd be feeling great, the next terrible, and then I'd feel good again. I definitely went through the, "So what's the big deal?" phase. I thought I had this shit handled. LOL. WRONG. After this initial phase I quickly went into a combination of "The hangover" and "I just want a nap". I was extremely sleepy, even if I had a good nights sleep the night before, and no amount of caffeine helped. Same with the headaches...no amount of coffee was going to pull me out of that hole.
I went through some back-and-forth of "Kill all the things". Again, one day my mood would be great, and the next terrible...but that probably isn't a whole lot different from how I am off Whole30 (hahaha). I never went through the "my pants are tighter" phase, thank goodness. I probably would've lost my mind.
The whole "boundless energy" and "tiger blood" thing...I'm kinda calling BS. Over the last two weeks I HAVE felt like my energy is much greater in the morning, but then I'll hit a lull in the afternoon. I'll feel like I either need a snack or some coffee ASAP or I'm not going to make it through the day (so dramatic). I never had the feeling that I can conquer anything or that my workouts are so much better because I'm bouncing off the walls with energy...nah. Didn't happen for me.
As I'm approaching the end of this, I am feeling pretty good about myself, though. That I've actually made it this far. I actually just put the bottle of champagne in the fridge so I can pop it open Friday night. :). And I am SO beyond excited to be able to reward myself with some champagne/wine and a piece of chocolate once this is over. BUT, I'm worried about my ability to keep the processed foods/snacks/sweets to a minimum after all of this. I don't think I've built up any sort of resistance or "lack of desire" that Whole30 can sometimes help with. I keep staring at the Ghiradelli Chocolates bag on the countertop and saliva pretty much immediately starts building up in my mouth.
I think that's my fear...that after this month I'll simply go back to what I was doing before and end up with the same issues I was having before. That I won't be strong enough...have enough willpower...to actually shift to an entirely new/healthier lifestyle. It's not like we were HORRIBLE, eating McDonald's every night before, but it definitely wasn't good. And it's clear that it had an impact on my physical health.
My ultimate hope is that, through the reintroduction phase, I'll be able to pinpoint exactly what it was causing my concerns before. And then I'll be able to avoid that food entirely. I'm concerned, though, that it may be just a combination of all the things...all the terrible foods for me and not one specific type of food.
I want...need...to do the reintroduction phase right, though. They say it's the most important part of Whole30. If you go the entire month of eating Whole30 and then don't do the reintroduction phase, you've wasted your time. Now, for people like Clint who had no concerns before, then feel free to do whatever you want. But if you were worried about a specific food group possibly being the source of any inflammation, digestive issues, acne, etc. then you HAVE to go through the reintroduction process. Otherwise you're going to find yourself doing Whole30 again 30 days from now.
My plan is to start with the reintroduction of gluten on Friday (tomorrow), then move on to dairy, then non-gluten grains, then legumes, then added sugar, then other alcohol I haven't added back in (like beer and liquor). That isn't exactly the Whole30 recommended order of reintroduction (especially because I'm going to be drinking wine and eating some chocolates this weekend), but I think it'll get me close. After each reintroduction, you go back to Whole30 for at least two days. That way your body has time to reset and you can actually get a good feel for what may be making you feel a certain way.
Wish me luck!
If I had to do Whole30 all over again, I would. It's really not HORRIBLE and you CAN make it through, I promise. I'm going to do my best to continue a modified version of it after the reintroduction phase...just trying to live a healthier lifestyle in general. You can't just do one...workout or eat healthy. You have to do both in order to really get the results that you want.
As I continue on my health journey, I'll share any updates with you. If I come across any yummy recipes worth sharing, I will certainly do so! And if you have any suggestions, send them my way...we're always looking for new things to try.
If you've done or are currently doing Whole30 (or any other meal plan), let me know how it's working for you! I'd love to hear any special tricks or reviews you may have.
Thanks for following along on my #healthyliving January!
A place to be #unapologeticallyme
Comments