Last year was a hard for me personally. I lost someone so
very important to me that it wrecked my world. I had never lost someone close
to me before and so it was all new experience for me. I started going to
therapy on a bi-weekly basis (and still do) to help me crawl out of the
depression hole that I was in. When I get depressed, I don’t want to do
anything—I want to lie on my couch, eat cookies, and watch grey’s anatomy on
repeat on Netflix. Seriously. I’ve seen every episode at least 15 times. As
soon as it ends on Netflix with the last available episode, I start all over
again. More importantly, the reason why is because my person and I used to
watch it together when she lived here in Flagstaff. And it was her mom that
died, my second mom—it was a way for me to feel connected with her when she
wasn’t here.
Because I was in a depressive state and was having a hard
time coping, my weight ballooned, and I got to be the heaviest I had been in
two or three years. Starting in 2011, I made a drastic shift in my eating
habits to break away from my weight. When I graduated from Grad School in May
2011, I weighed close to 200 pounds. I’ve always been a bigger girl—I have
these amazing German hips that I do love, but when all your friends are a size
of a pencil, it’s sometimes really hard to not get upset about how big you are
(especially in high school and college when you’re so incredibly insecure).
Anyway, at the end of 2011, I started paying closer attention with what I was
eating and putting in my mouth. I wasn’t necessarily eliminating anything, but
I was making a conscious ever to not eat so much, not eat so much crap, and try
and eat organic 90% of the time. Once I started doing this in the summer after
I graduated, the weight started coming off. I got down to about 165, which is
the smallest I’ve ever been probably since grade or middle school. I maintained
that weight pretty regularly and of course fluctuated here are there, but I
never got above 170 or below 157. When Nan died in March, in April I was 185. I
was a bridesmaid in one of my best friend’s wedding, and I couldn’t fit into my
bridesmaid dress. Or any of my clothes comfortably anymore.
A co-worker came into my office in May of last year (2014)
and told me she was doing this thing called “The Whole30.” It was her third
week and she was feeling great and free from the sugar demons or needing to
stuff her face with food at every meal. I looked into it and wasn’t really sure
if I could do it (I have one of the biggest sweet tooth’s) so I pushed it off
for a few weeks.
The week after my birthday, I decided I was going to take on
this program. I was only going to do 18 or 19 days, because we were going to be
traveling to a wedding and I just wanted/needed to lose some of the weight to
fit into my bridesmaid dress. The first week I started was hard. I work in an
office, and it’s so easy to just mindlessly nibble on food throughout the whole
day without paying much attention to it. So, I made a very hard and challenging
transition to only eating meal 1, meal 2, and meal 3 within 5-6 hours of each other.
Within the first 7 days, I noticed a dramatic shift in my weight—my pants were surprisingly
looser, it was easier to ride my bike, and my stomach bloat went away almost
immediately.
You’re not supposed to weight yourself or take measurements
throughout your Whole30, because the scale doesn’t really matter when it comes
to fitness. And they want to break you from making what the number on the scale
effect your day (cause you know it does). I did weight myself before we left
for Boston, about 15 days into the Whole30, since I knew I was most likely
gonna stray from the program while I was there (my friend married into a Greek
family and they made baklava, which is one of my biggest weaknesses). I had
lost 17 pounds in a little over two weeks!
When we were in Boston and since that May, I’ve pretty much
kept to some of the rules of Whole30. For example, I don’t eat beans anymore
because they wreak havoc on my system, which is huge because I love me some
bean tostadas, but they hurt my stomach so bad and cause so much bloat that I
don’t want to experience that again. But, I did incorporate sweets back in, my
gluten-free goodies on this site, and the like.
I did gain some of the weight back, but have been a steady
170-175. So, 23 days ago, I started to do the entire Whole30 program! It’s
amazing that I only have 7 more days to go! I can tell this time around that I
am losing weight and inches around my body. My waist hasn’t been tinier and my
stomach is incredible flat. But not only that, I feel AMAZING. I am happy and
cheery and laughing; I am getting some great sleep; and I feel totally satisfied
with what I am eating I don’t have the need to go and snack on anything. I do have
to admit though, I miss my oatmeal and raisins in the morning. And the occasional
sweet treat, but I know that as soon as I start incorporating sweets back into
my diet, I won’t be able to stop. So, I am going to extend my Whole30 for an extra
ten days. And if I still feel the sugar demon inside me, I’ll do it for another
10 days. The Whole30 isn’t a diet, it’s a lifestyle change—it changes how you
think of food, what food you eat to nourish your body to its fullest potential,
and makes you really pay attention with what you’re putting in your body.
Let me tell you, sugar is in EVERYTHING. It’s hard to find
ketchup, or chicken broth, or tomato puree that doesn’t have sugar in it.
My Whole30 ends on the 21st, and I will be out of
town for a meeting. So Sunday I plan on cooking breakfast, lunches, and dinners
for me to pack with me to take out of town. I leave the 20th and
come back the evening of the 22nd, and since I’ll already been at
day 31 by the time I get back, might as well keep going, right?
The thing I like about the program is that the first week or
two sucks hard as your body is getting rid of all the shit you’ve put into it.
Sugar withdrawals are serious and can be so overwhelming. I was a cranky
you-know-what that first week. But as soon as you pass that hurdle, it’s easy,
it’s fun, and it’s exciting. My partner and I rode our bikes this weekend for
13 miles! And it was easy! I haven’t ridden my bike in about 10 months, so I
was expecting it to be hard, but it wasn’t! And I was smiling the entire time
while riding my bike. It’s like an instant smile has been plastered on my face.
Thankfully, I am not alone in the Whole30 world, and the
internet is here because there are so many ways to connect with people who are
also doing the program. Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook, and general Google
searches bring up loads of information. Especially recipes, because it can be
hard to eat the same thing over and over again for 30 days. There’s a
supportive community as we help each other push through the process and give
our understanding and encouragement for people. It really is amazing.
I highly encourage this program. It isn’t a diet, it isn’t a
“fad.” The creators are nutritional scientists and have a book called “It Starts With Food” that breaks down how your body processes the foods you put
into it. It’s an amazing book and all the people I’ve given it to have
understood it completely and can relate to what’s being discussed.
I went on this tangent because I am going to start
contributing to the Whole30 recipe world. You may be eliminating certain foods,
but the whole foods that are out there are even more amazing than the
pre-packaged foods or sweets or crisps. And I hope my recipes show just how
delicious things are when you’re on the Whole30.
I may occasionally splurge and make a sweet treat, as my partner has been asking for cookies for the past... 23 days, so I may make some. We'll see. I am not very good with looking at sweets and refraining from eating them, but who knows. Maybe as I get stronger in my Whole30 it will become easier.
