Day 6

It’s the weekend. Scary!!!

We woke up and did crossfit. This is the first real hard workout I have done since I have been doing my whole30. I was worried that I wouldn’t have the energy to do it. I was fine though surprisingly enough.

I am obsessed with  A Game of Thrones both the books and the TV show. So I walked about to work out not expecting anyone to be there and there was Jon Snow. Ok not the real Jon Snow but he looked so much like him! Usually Ben (my brother in law/trainer) is hard on us, telling us to “keep going” “push harder”. But Ben was nothing compared to Jon Snow, he made us work so hard! He kept yelling “30 more seconds, don’t stop now” “get to your new position, hurry, hurry, hurry”. He was Jon Snow in looks and in intensity.

After working out I made eggs with mushrooms, spinach and avocado. I drank my strawberry kombucha and ate my breakfast outside on the patio and enjoyed the beautiful day while I watched my sexy husband mow the lawn. It was a perfect morning.

I headed out to my parents’ house, it was such a pretty day! The sun was shining, it was wonderful! And what does a sunny Saturday mean? Diet coke. But I didn’t cave. I was strong. I got to my parents’ house and had a water balloon fight with my little brother. Then I microwaved a sweet potato and ate that for lunch. My dad and I then went mother’s day shopping. We went to Costco and I was SO strong! There were so many good samples out there. Sandwiches, licorice, and cheese. My dad got a hot turkey sandwich after we checked out. Usually I can be ok with people eating around me but I was hungry and having him eat that in front of me killed me. I tried to stay strong but my resolve was slowly eating away.

We still had a few more errands to run so I stayed strong as best I could. We went to big 5 and I lost it. I called my mom and my husband saying I couldn’t do this for one more second. I was hungry, I was tired, and I wanted to just eat something easy and filling. I want sugar, I want candy. Both of them were my cheerleaders and told me that I could do it. They told me not to give up. I would be so bummed if I did and that it’s only one more day. I only need to make it through today. We hurried home and when I got back to my parents my mom had made me 3 hardboiled eggs, and a sliced tomato. She had it all ready when I got home. It was so thoughtful and I was so grateful! I have such supportive family! I honestly feel like that is the number one thing while doing this. Find a support group. People who you can cry to, and complain to. People who will cheer you on and make you hard boiled eggs when you can’t make it one more day.

Not eating protein with my lunch of a sweet potato was a bad idea. It made me almost quit. Lesson learned there!

After I ate that I was still hungry. That sounds like the hungry caterpillar. We had planned to go to Chipotle for dinner because you can have a carnitas salad with pico, salsa and guac on it. Well Jeremy and my dad wouldn’t go there. Jer said he didn’t want Mexican and my dad wont support them because they pulled their funding from the boyscouts. So I had a yelling moment. Told them all that we needed to decide right away before I ripped someone’s head off. I am definitely in the “kill all the things” stage. And we decided to go to In-N-Out.

You can have their hamburger protein style with pickles, mustard, tomatoes and onions.

 I ordered two……

It was so yummy! Exactly what I needed. Then I felt nice again.

I have still been SO tired since doing this. I passed out after dinner as if I was drugged.

Today’s challenges:

·         I wanted to quit

·         Not eating sugar, candy, cake, ice-cream

·         Going to Costco and not eating samples

·         Being tired of eggs, protein and veggies

·         Being tired in general

Things I learned today:

·         I need to eat protein with every meal!!

·         Having a strong support system could make or break this

·         Chipotle has a meal you can eat

·         This is harder than I thought

Whole30 fact of the day: I have been asked this, an you might too. “how do you get enough calcium?” they have it broken down in an easy to read page

http://whole9life.com/2012/02/what-about-calcium/

Day 5

I woke up this morning feeling much better than yesterday. I didn’t feel like my body was going to shatter into a million pieces. I had more energy, I was happy; this program doesn’t seem so bad after all. Everything was working out.

I made egg scramble with mushrooms and spinach for breakfast. I really tried to like the sausage I bought but I just don’t. The flavor is SO over powering it makes everything else taste like it, which isn’t bad because it’s not a horrible flavor. The texture however is a little rough. It’s a smoked sausage in a casing and it’s pretty chewy. Think old hot dog chewy. Not the best. But I did like the scramble much more without the sausage in it. I put avocado on top with salt and pepper. Yum.

Today my sugar demon Sugar-saurus-rex was especially rowdy. I have officially been without sugar for 5 days now and my body is really feeling it. I never thought my body relied so much on sugar until I wasn’t giving it any. Now I realize how much I really consumed. I know 5 days doesn’t sound like a lot but trust me on this one, it is!

For lunch I had left over spaghetti squash with the homemade marinara sauce. I honestly wasn’t very hungry when lunch came around so I hate what I needed to get me through the rest of the day but I didn’t eat much. I got my hair cut and colored after work so I knew that if I didn’t eat lunch I would be starving.

There is a whole foods right by the place I was getting my hair done so I was going to stop by and get some kombucha before. I always stop and get treats before getting my hair done. Its tradition. It was hard to think that I wouldn’t be getting one before. Well work got crazy and I didn’t leave early enough to make it to whole foods so I showed up to my hair appointment with only my water and my wow drops.

My wow drops! I tried them for the first time today, they are awesome. Not what I was expecting at first. I was expecting a sweet little drop that made your mouth all minty and fresh. Kinda like Ice drops. Do you remember these? I LOVED the cinnamon when I was younger.

 Well the wow drops don’t taste these. There is no sweetness to the drops at all. In fact there really isn’t much taste at all, maybe a slight mint taste, but not the mint you are used to. You lick the drop, and wait. Then all of the sudden it’s like a punch in the face of fresh air. They are called Wow for a reason. It makes you say “WOW”. I shared them with some co-workers today and all 3 said wow after the initial hit. They are awesome. I am really starting to love these!

 After my hair I walked out and there was an epic thunder storm rolling in. It was SO cool! As I watched the super black clouds roll in over the mountains you could feel the humidity getting higher and higher. The thunder was rolling long and low and you could feel the electricity in the air. I LOVE summer thunder storms. It was so amazing to watch it roll in.

I went to whole foods and got 2 bottles of kombucha! Strawberry and mango. I learned today that the mango has 10g of sugar per serving. That is a lot when you are watching your sugar, so I need to find a new favorite. The strawberry exploded everywhere when I tried to open it but it still tasted good.

Then I went to winco to get the last few things I needed for our pizza night. Friday night we usually order pizza, (Jer really loves it) but tonight I made meatza. I used the directions found in the well fed cook book. They were a little smaller than I thought but I made sweet potato fries with them and it was perfect. Just enough food and it was super tasty! I even made my own Italian sausage and that was good too! It’s amazing that you can make things that taste almost as good as the real thing with super nutritious food! The only thing that sucked is by the time I got home it was already 7:30 so by the time I made everything and we ate it was 8:30. Gone are the days of just getting something quick to eat.

All in all today was a really good day. I was dying for something sweet and the sweet potatoes hit the spot perfectly.

Today’s challenges:

·         Not getting a treat before my hair

·         Not eating something sweet. It really getting to me

·         Having to cook even when I didn’t want to

Things I learned today:

·         I love thunderstorms (that’s not new knowledge but I do love them)

·         WOW drops are awesome and make you say WOW

·         The meatza that I made was easy and tasty

·         I really really love sweet potatoes

Whole30 fact of the day: They believe food either makes you healthier or less healthy. There is no in between. In the whole30 you learn how to choose food that makes you healthier.

Day 4

For the love of everything holy and lovely in this world…….

Why did I choose to do this program?

I don’t think I have felt this tired in, well…… probably ever.

On the whole9 website there is a time line that goes over how you will feel while doing this program.

http://whole9life.com/2013/01/whole30-timeline/

Now this isn’t how everyone is going to feel, but it’s funny to read and to see where you are in line with most others. I am only on day 4 and hit the tired stage already but my goodness. I am tired! It’s nice to know that it’s totally normal to feel like this.

I don’t want to be a whiney-pachiney, I know I chose to do this but today was really hard! I woke up feeling like I had just run my half marathon again. My legs ached, my head was pounding, I had the chills and sweats, and I felt like I could have slept for another 100 hours.

For breakfast I had an egg scramble with sausage, spinach and mushrooms. I did 3 eggs this morning instead of 2. I was feeling like I needed the extra oomph.

Around 9 I busted out the Kombucha and guzzled some of that down. It was such a nice treat! It gave me a little energy to make it to lunch.

I had left over pork chop, salad and green beans for lunch.

My brain has been really fuzzy the past few days. I feel like I can’t concentrate. I fumbled my way through the rest of the day and then got a call that my sister and her family were in a bad car accident. It was SO scary! After making sure there weren’t any life threatening injuries, my first thought was I need food. I don’t deal with stress very well and my first reaction is to go to food. It helps me, it comforts me, and I needed a cheeseburger! I was sitting in the ER room thinking “I am going to get Smashburger tonight; I don’t even care about this diet anymore”. Most people get the flight or fight response; I get the flight or feast response. When something happens I bolt to the nearest food place. Thursday is the day we go to my parents and we always get tasty food on Thursday nights. I was worried about going there in the first place but then when all of the other stuff happened it shot that worry through the roof!

When we finally finished at the ER I went to my parents’ house and my mom and I went up to Smith’s to get food for dinner. I begged her to get me something I could eat. I know I shouldn’t snack but at this point as long as it was a good snack I felt it was ok. I got coconut water and macadamia nuts. It was just what I needed! I felt a lot better after eating my lovely little treats.

For dinner my mom made homemade spaghetti sauce with fresh tomatoes and Italian seasoned turkey burger. It was SO tasty! My mom is a fantastic cook! Then we made spaghetti squash and I had a huge heaping plate full. I love spaghetti squash as noodles much more than regular noodles. The only thing that sucked is that my mom made a lovely salad, with cucumbers, tomatoes, carrots, and avocados and as a finishing touch she put grated parmesan cheese on top. I didn’t see until after but it was already on. I almost cried. The pieces were so small that I couldn’t possibly have picked them out. I was so sad. But the spaghetti squash and sauce filled me up. Then I ate some grapes and my life was good!

It’s totally crazy to me how much I used to rely on food to help my moods. If I am sad, I eat. If I am bored, I eat. If I am mad, I eat. Yesterday I had to deal with all my emotions all by myself. Without anything else to sooth me. I did it. I didn’t die, I didn’t fall apart. I was able to make it through.

I am worried for the weekend. Being home with all the unhealthy food around me makes me worried. This will be my will-power super test. But I know I will be ok. I finished 4 days, so I am already doing it. What’s another 26?

On a good note I am continuing to feel lighter and lighter each day. My belly chub and muffin top haven’t shrunk at all. My mind isn’t feeling as clear as I want but I feel lighter! Hooray for lighter!

Today’s challenges:

·         Dealing with my emotions on my own

·         Feeling so tired I could have fallen asleep standing up

·         That little devil Sugar-sauras-rex beat up hard on me after lunch

Things I learned today:

·         Tuna fish has soy in it. I will have to find a brand that doesn’t

·         I can make it through this

·         I don’t need food to comfort me

·         I kinda feel  like a food snob, and I like it

Whole30 fact of the day: whole30 has a facebook and instagram account. Follow them if you start the program, they have good little motivators.

Oh! And I got my Wow drops tonight in the mail. I can’t wait to try them tomorrow.

Day 3

I had an epiphany today.

All my life I have defined myself by the number on the scale. I knew that if I weighed 125 lbs. my life would be perfect. Suddenly at that magic number I would like myself. I would like my body. It would function perfectly. I could run for mile without tiring, lift 200 lbs over my head with ease. The grass would be greener, the sky bluer, blah blah blah. The world would just be better. I have dieted, starved myself, and used other very unhealthy ways to get this “perfect number”. The Magic weight. Even my positive affirmations have a specific number that I have to be.

Well guess what I realized today. The number doesn’t matter. I want to be healthy, lean, strong and fit. I don’t care what a stupid scale says. I care about how I feel, and how I look. People have tried to tell me this for years. They have said “you don’t want to be skinny fat”. I thought that was so stupid. I would rather be thin without muscle or strength than large and fit and strong. Well not anymore. I want to be healthy. Period. If healthy for me is 175lbs then that is exactly what I will be.

So I am changing my affirmation today.

“I weight the perfect weight. I am lean, strong, fit and healthy”

I have to be honest, this challenge for me started out as a weight loss plan. On my first post I know I said that if I changed my opinion of my body and nothing else it would be worth it. That was a lie. I was saying that because in my mind I thought “I will lose weight doing this, so therefore I will like my body better”. I knew I would lose weight and that was all that mattered. I could eat nothing but mean and veggies for 30 days, in order to lose the weight I needed to lose.

I got the whole30 book yesterday “It starts with food” yesterday and after reading only the first 3 chapters (along with other factors) I had my cosmic shift. Because of this I have a whole new goal for my whole30 journey.

I want to change the relationship with food. I want to change my relationship with my body (for real). I want to give my body the proper nutrition it needs to excel in every aspect.  I want to be healthy.

That being said. Here was my food journey today.

For breakfast I had an omelet with smoked Andouille sausage, spinach and mushrooms inside.

Lunch- left over BLTA without bread and sweet potato fries.

Dinner- I originally was going to do Kathy’s famous pork chops, that has Worcestershire sauce in it. I looked high and low and there is no Worcestershire sauce that doesn’t have sugar. So change of plans. I went through my pantry and fridge to find something I could use as a sauce/marinade for my boneless pork chops. I decided Dijon mustard would be tasty. I used that, olive oil, paprika, coriander, garlic powder and dried onions. It made a pretty thick spread. I slathered it all over the pork chops then grilled them. Very tasty! We had green beans with ghee, salad with TessieMae’s Lemon Chesapeake dressing (super tasty! I actually dipped my pork in it. It would be an amazing marinade) and 2 strawberries sliced for dessert.

I have to be careful with my sweets. I don’t want to give Sugar-sauras-rex any more fuel than he already has. I know fruit is ok to eat in moderation. Moderation to me means maybe one serving a day. Maybe.

Happy news though. I didn’t snack at all today! Not even one little thing. I had my meals and that was it. Not an easy thing to do. When I got home from work I was so “hungry” I thought I was going to die. I reevaluated my hunger. Was I really hungry? Was I bored? Was it just the time I usually snack so it’s just a habit thing? I sat down, read my “It starts with food” and “well fed” books and drank my Kombucha. And guess what? I wasn’t really hungry. My mind just thought I needed something to eat because I always have an “after school snack”. Not anymore. I was completely content reading and drinking my Kombucha. Huge milestone for me.

Even with my cosmic shift today it wasn’t easy. I lay in bed feeling cold and achy, thinking about all the goodies I wanted to eat. It was like a horrible slide show of treats and fatty foods. My body was feigning for sugar hard core! It didn’t help that a few hours before at scouts the boys were eating Mike and Ike’s. Just the smell of the sugar made my mouth water. For a moment I was mad. I was mad at myself for doing this. I thought to myself “this isn’t worth it”, “I don’t want to and can’t do this anymore”. When I got home I was discouraged. I didn’t want to eat like this anymore. (It’s only been 3 days) Then my lovely mantra came to my head “I am the perfect weight. I am lean, strong, fit and healthy”. My anger went away. The slideshow and thoughts of food I wanted didn’t, but I was ok. I made it through another day.

Today’s challenges:

·        Sugar-sauras-rex is still my biggest enemy

·         Not snacking

Things I learned today:

·         I can survive without “an after school snack”

·         Well fed by Melissa Joulwan has some killer recipes in it

·         I am in charge of this journey, my weight does not define me

·         I can make homemade ranch dressing that is whole30 approved!

·         Coconut aminos taste like soy sauce. Chinese food, here I come!

·         I have a new motto: “I am the perfect weight. I am lean, strong, fit and healthy”

Whole30 fact of the day: the original whole30 was called “change your life in 30 days” and was written on the founders’ fitness blog. Within weeks hundreds of people doing it.

Day 2

Today was a big day of learning for me.

I made the same breakfast as yesterday (since I STILL haven’t gone to the grocery store) it was tasty but it would be better with mushrooms in it.

Had left over taco salad for lunch. Same as yesterday.

In between meals I would eat a stick of trident gum. Well I got thinking “I wonder if gum is approved, I mean how much of what is in the gum really gets in your system. It should be fine right?” Wrong. I researched, using the ever so helpful whole30 forum. No gum. The moderator said “Nope. We don't want you chewing unless you are eating real food. Chewing gum fakes out your digestive system.” They also talked about the oral fixation. Something I had never heard of before. Apparently I have it. My mouth needs to have something in it at all times. Hence the snacking problem I have. Brilliant! Why had I never thought of that before? I mean come on, I sucked a pluggy (binky) until I was 6. Oral fixation much? My snacking was never about being hungry; my body doesn’t need the food, it’s all about the oral fixation. Well that and the fact that I am nervous about having bad breath. That is the worst! So as I researched further I found these drops called Wow Wow drops. They are sold at iHerb.com. It is peppermint oil and Chlorophyll and you just do a drop and breathe in, it freshens your breath and according to others leaves your mouth so fresh you don’t want to eat. Done! I went on the website right away. The cost? $5.18 but you get a $5.00 discount if you are a first time customer. The drops cost me a total of .18. I will let you know how well they work when I get them.

I had Zumba class to go to tonight (my first time but that is a WHOLE different story). So I wanted something quick and easy for dinner. I thought BLTA’s minus the bread and mayo and sweet potato fries. Easy, quick and delicious. I checked the forum to make sure bacon was ok, fully expecting not to have any problems. Well I wish I hadn’t opened that can of worms. This is a link to the bacon manifesto put out by whole30 http://whole9life.com/2012/03/bacon/

In a nutshell bacon isn’t horrible for you; granted its good quality, sugar free bacon. Good luck finding sugar free bacon. I went to 3 stores yesterday and searched high and low on the internet for it. FINALLY I found what I was looking for Gwaltney hickory smoked and hard wood smoked bacon are sugar free! As guess what? They sell them at Wal-Mart. After going to Whole foods, Winco then finally Wal-Mart I was able to buy some sugar free bacon.

After zumba I cut up the sweet potato fries, drizzled olive oil, salt, pepper, and paprika on them and put them in the oven.  Cooked the bacon, cut up the veggies and ate my delicious meal.

After dinner I finally read the bacon manifesto.  After reading it, I have decided that while I don’t feel guilty about eating it, I most likely won’t be eating it again during my whole30. Yes it is tasty, no its not awful but there are so many other delightful meats I could eat. I want to get the full effect from this. Which means making better choices. It’s not a bad choice it’s just not the best choice. I want to make the best choices. So it was  a wonderful dinner, very tasty but won’t happen again.

One of my other weaknesses that I have recognized so far is that sometimes I just want to drink something other than water.  But I thought on the whole30 there wasn’t any other options. Of course I went to the whole9 website and found this lovely article.

http://whole9life.com/2012/10/quench-your-thirst-whole9-style/

One of the options is kombucha.  My mom drinks kombucha and I tried it once. The worst most disgusting thing in the whole world! When I saw that was an option I wanted to cry. I would rather drink nothing but water. Then I kind researched it a little more. It has such good health properties. According to foodrenegade.com “kombucha gives your body what it needs to heal itself by 1)aiding your liver in removing harmful substances, 2)promoting balance in your digestive system, and 3)being rich in health-promoting vitamins, enzymes, and acids.” Among many other things.
While I was at whole foods I saw the kombucha case. I hesitantly went up to it. Looked at the disgusting bottles of gunk. Saw one that was mango, looked at the ingredients. No added sugar. Took I to the register and purchased it. It sat in my drink holder the whole way home. I was scared. I didn’t want to open it only to realize I just wasted $4.00 on something completely inedible. I took a deep breath, open the jar and took a big gulp. AMBROSIA! Just kidding.  I was however completely taken back. It wasn’t the horrible swamp juice I remembered. The mango made it taste good actually. While it still smells a big funky it was very refreshing and actually delightful. I drank half the bottle then thought I better save some for another day.
Other goodies I got at whole foods are Ghee the only approved dairy on the whole30. TessieMae salad dressing, check them out. All their hot sauces, and salad dressings are whole30 approved. They have all sorts of tasty dressings. And sugar free pizza sauce for our Meatza party this weekend. We love meatza!
My last insight today was that this whole30 thing makes my brain feel awesome. I finally feel like I have some control in my life. I control my thoughts, I control what I eat, I control the food, it does not control me. It’s so freeing to be able to not have to worry about calories, and fat and dieting. I just have to wake up, know I will be eating wholesome food and that is all. I feel light. I know its only been 2 days, and I am sure the weight and inches wont validate what I feel but I just feel light. I don’t feel bogged down by the stress or the food. Today I decided that the whole 30 days I am going to do positive affirmations. Since this is my honestly blog I will share mine.
 “I weight 130 lbs. I am lean, strong and healthy”
You can bet this is going through my head 1000 times a day.
Today’s challenges:

·         no gum!

·         Sugar-sauras-rex is still roaring as loud as ever.

·         Finding sugar free bacon.

·         Going to the grocery store and seeing all the bad for you (but oh so tasty) foods that my body is addicted to.

Things I learned today:

·         bacon, while not being against the rules is something I wont be indulging in again L.

·         But if needs be, Gwaltney hickory smoked is a sugar free bacon.

·         Kombucha is tasty and something I like to drink.

·         I have an Oral fixation. Something I can totally get over

·         iHerb.com has great deals on lots of healthy options

·         sweet potatoes taste like candy, yum!

·         Gum is of limits

·         The whole30 is more than just healing your body, it heals your mind.

·         I weight 130 lbs. I am lean, strong, and healthy J

Whole30 fact of the day: did you know that the whole30 has been shown to heal a ton of physical ailments? Including infertility!

Day 1

My train of thought this morning:

“I have no groceries. I didn’t make it to the grocery store this weekend and I have nothing to eat. We have plenty of food, just nothing whole30 approved. A left over chicken wrap from dinner on Saturday. I could bring that for lunch. I have granola bars in the pantry I could take for breakfast. Maybe I will just start the whole30 next week, when I have time to prepare. No! today is the day, now is the time. I will make it work.

I quickly scanned the fridge. I have eggs and a little bit of spinach. Great I will make an omelet. Breakfast done.

I have a container of cut up lettuce. I will eat a salad for lunch. I need some protein though, what can I eat for protein. Scanned the fridge again, taco meat from dinner a few nights ago. Perfect. Taco salad.  I grab the salsa also bought for dinner a few nights ago but remember I need to read the label. Wheat flour, and sugar. Crap I can’t eat this. I guess I will have to stop at the store on my way into work. I am going to make this work!”

I stopped at the store and got an avocado, and apple and salsa with no flour, sugar or any other unnatural additives. I thought I had day one in the bag.

I ate the omelet and a few hours later I was hungry. I am a huge snacker. I love to snack. That is one thing on this diet you cannot do. It made me realize how much food I really eat. I will eat a meal and a few hours later snack and snack. Totally unnecessary.

By the time lunch came around I was super read to eat. I ate my taco salad and it was delightful. I love avocado. I was satisfied. For a few hours

Then came my sweet craving. My crazy sugar addiction reared its ugly head and made me miserable for the next hour. It was an all-out war. Sugar-saruas-rex was roaring at me to eat something sweet, because “you have to eat sweet after a savory meal” but the mighty whole30 warrior was telling me it would be ok. I could survive without a treat. And guess what? I did! I made it through the rest of work and went home.

By the time I got home I was starving. I had to eat something good or else I was afraid I would crack and cheat. I decided to eat a can of tuna fish and some nuts. I know snacking isn’t allowed but I feel it was ok. I had read on the whole30 forum that a lot of people struggle with snacking. It’s something they had to wean themselves off of. My snack was healthy and protein rich. I will wean myself off of snacks just like they did.

Dinner was Mexican chicken soup.  Tomatoes, chicken, peppers, and chilies. Sour cream and tortilla chips would have made it better but I made it through. Filled my belly with soup and called it a day.

Today’s challenges: not snacking. No sugar. Feeling starving. Drinking only water.

Things I learned today: I used to snack and eat WAY too much. I need to make bigger breakfast so that I don’t get the urge to snack. I survived without a treat! Sugar-saraus-rex’s got nothing on this!

Whole30 fact of the day: Most “fad diets” make you pay for the diet information, pay for the food, pay for the supplements, pay for everything. This is 100% free, because it’s not a fad diet. It is an amazing tool to heal your body. It teaches you to eat wholesome nutrient rich foods. Foods that taste good, and feel good. It retrains your mind, your metabolism and your body to function properly. Of course they have products you can buy. Books, cookbooks, whole30 approved foods. All of which are optional and not necessary to having a successful whole30

Whole30

For the next 30 days this blog will be dedicated to my whole30 journey. I will post my meals, my thoughts, the things I have learned along the way. Ultimately I would like everyone to be able to heal their life and break the addiction we all have to unhealthy foods.  This is my no judgment zone. This is not to pressure anyone to doing the whole30 program. This is simply my honest journey and my hard learned lessons.

 I had heard about the whole30 program before (things like this are frequently talked about in the crossfit community) but I hadn’t ever wanted to try it. I knew it meant cutting out sugar and there was NO way I could do that. It never even tempted me. I am a sugar addict through and through. Plus I didn’t have even close to the self-discipline it would take to complete this.  Therefore not a second thought was given.

Then came my weight struggle.

I have been packing on the lbs. for some time now. I officially weigh 30lbs over what I weighed when Jer and I got married. Sad.. I have known that I need to lose weight and have made feeble attempts at it the past 2.5 years. For our insurance at work this year we have to do a biometric screening, measuring our cholesterol, weight, waist circumference, etc. I went in with all the confidence in the world. My cholesterol hasn’t ever been bad, my waist is the smallest part on my body. I had it in the bag. NOT! My triglycerides were high, my good cholesterol was low and I was 1 inch away from being beyond the healthy measurements for my waist.  What!? I knew I was over-weight but I never even thought it was affecting my health. After talking to my Dr. I knew, I HAD to lose weight.

Then I had a divine intervention.

 One if the girls I follow on instagram posted she was starting the whole30. I was desperate to try anything so googled Whole30. And this is what I found. Whole30 version 4.0 http://whole9life.com/2011/06/whole-30-v4/

I read through the dos and don’ts of the diet. The promises about health associated with this program. But what really got me were these 2 sentences “We cannot possibly put enough emphasis on this simple fact – the next 30 days will change your life.” “It could, quite possibly, change the emotional relationship you have with food, and with your body.” It is no secret that the relationship I have with my body isn’t a pleasant one. I have never loved or appreciated it. I have never accepted it the way it is. I have never liked it. If nothing else happened in the entire 30 days besides me learning to love my body, it would make it worth it. But as I continued reading I knew that would not be the only change. This was for me. I was going to do it!

I decided I would start Monday (this was on Thursday). Well the weekend came and went as busy as usual and by Sunday night I realized I hadn’t gone to the grocery store, I had very little whole food in my fridge and I was not prepared at all. But I couldn’t shake the saying from the whole30 website “ It’s simple, actually.  Start now. Today. This minute. Even if you don’t believe this will actually change your life, if you’re willing to give it 30 short days, do it.  It is that important. We believe in it that much. It changed our lives, and we want it to change yours too.”

I wasn’t going to give myself the opportunity to make excuses. I had committed 100%. I was starting the whole30. Today. This minute. And the next 30 days to come might possibly be the craziest/hardest/best/most rewarding/amazing ride of my life so far.