Recently my husband and I decided to do the Whole30 challenge. We did this with much apprehension as we have heard stories of it's difficulty from those who finished it. What is the Whole30 you ask? Basically it's a 30 day cleanse to help get rid of unhealthy cravings, get your metabolism on track and heal any digestive issues you may have. It primarily focuses on giving up sugar (say what?), grains, dairy and processed foods. We try to eat a mostly grain free lifestyle (learn more about grain free here) so I didn't think it would be that much different to take on the Whole30. Well, I was just a smidge wrong. After starting, we quickly realized just how much sugar was in our daily diet! From sauces and dressings to coffee creamer and desserts, we gave it all up (even the grain free approved versions like honey and agave). I decided to make my own salad dressings, marinades and mayo and skip every little thing that had any amount of sugar in it except whole fruit.
In the beginning I was all motivation...let's do this! After all, we were counting down to our tropical vacation in Cancun, Mexico and very motivated to be bathing suit ready. After the first week, which wasn't bad (just a lot of time spent looking at food labels), my energy level started to crash. I felt sluggish, exhausted and generally unmotivated to do much. We call this the withdrawal stage. I continued with the program and kept up my normal workout routine and pushed onward. By the end of that week, I started to feel my energy coming back. My head felt clear and my digestive system felt great! I was starting to see inches come off my waist and thighs and a few pounds as well! I still had some serious longings for certain foods, namely popcorn (my favorite snack!), but overall was motivated by how good I felt.
The hardest part of this challenge for me was all the cooking I had to do. Since most convenient food items are filled with ingredients that aren't Whole30 friendly, I had to continue making things from scratch. I was not only spending a lot more time making fresh sauces and dressings but I was also running out of steam with meal options. Let's just say we ate a lot of burgers the last week or so! I would recommend creating a meal plan ahead of time and make sure you have some key ingredients on hand to avoid the making dinner blues.
At last we hit the 31st day! Celebration time! I promised myself a celebratory meal on this day as something to look forward to. I had gluten-free coffee cake in the morning with a vanilla americano and popcorn after dinner. It was delicious! But the challenge didn't end there...call us crazy but we decided that since there were 18 days left until our vacation, we would just continue the Whole30 up til the day we left. These 18 days were the absolute hardest for me. My energy and performance at the gym started to go downhill and I was generally cranky at how much time I was spending in the kitchen. I wouldn't (and neither would the creators of this cleanse) recommend eating this way for more than 30 days...for your sanity if nothing else!
All in all, I am so glad we did this challenge and felt so great about how my body was working (and looking) at the end of it. I no longer looked or felt bloated after meals. Now I am very sensitive to sugar now and have decided to permanently limit it in my daily diet. I lost a total of 5 pounds and a lot of inches and feel like I've finally crossed over the plateau I was stuck on at the gym. If you decide to give the Whole30 a go, let me know how you like it!
~T
