Victory is Mine - That's a Wrap!

  

• No more sugar spikes and crashes - just consistent energy all day most days
• No cravings for sugar and processed food
• Less tummy aches 
• No full bloated feeling after eating
• Less moody
• Less irritated and annoyed with little things
• Less headaches
• Slightly better knee pain but only slightly
• Feeling more in control and able to make sensible choices without the pressure of emotions and cravings

This program is not a diet, and it's not meant for weight loss as the primary target. The good news is though that with healthy eating and high restriction comes high reward.  I'm extremely happy with my total weight loss of 21 pounds in 30 days! 

So was it worth it? Yes, I'd say it was. It was difficult and challenging at times, but just the fact that I completed it in the face of stress and emotions where I would have quit in the past was a great lesson for me. I can do whatever I want to with my eating. I don't have to be governed by my emotions and can make good decisions even when I would normally turn to food. Even if that was the only benefit I got from the 30 days it would have been worth it. 

Would I do it again? Not any time soon! Lots of people go on to do a Whole45, 60 or 90. That's just not for me. I can see using this type of eating though when I need a boost or to get my cravings back under control. 

I would like to say a HUGE thank you to my wonderful friends who have followed along my journey, checked in at random times, sent notes of encouragement and have been there for me all the way through. I could not have done it without you.  I'm happy that I made some great new friends who took this journey with me or who have been on their own journey for some time but took the time to help me out. I'm glad we could be there for each other through this. Of course I could never have done this without the support of my hubby who had to talk me down numerous times throughout this 30 days. His patience with me and the willingness to try new foods just to support me was so awesome. 

So what's next for me? I'm going to move over to my new blog which will just be a place I can share what's happening, how things are going, etc. It won't be daily or maybe even weekly but I have found that the accountability of writing this and having people ask when the next post is going up has helped me along the way.  You can find that blog by following the link to the right or by clicking here.

Thank you all again in being part of why I can say "I DID IT"!!!!

Until next time...

T

Day 29 - Planning for the future...

Well here we are...one day to go! I can't believe it's July 6th tomorrow AKA day 30! I thought that day would never get here at times and other times it's gone so fast. Particularly this past stressful week.

My Mom is still in the hospital and starting to move around more which is good. I will speak with the transition support people tomorrow hopefully to find out what is next for her. I'll be relieved when we get a plan figured out.

Now, for my reintroduction plan...

I've decided on the "slow roll" reintroduction which is described in more detail here but essentially, you follow the guidelines below:

1. Relax the sugar rule - don't worry as much about sugar (or types of sugar) as an ingredient. I'll be keeping my sugars at under 25g per day (recommended amount for women) as a general guideline. This will be for the foods I'm not already eating, I won't be including the fruit or natural sugars I'm already eating on Whole30.
2. Follow the plan for reintroducing only one type of food that I eliminated at a time. For me, this week I will be trying out some types of dairy on day 31 (cheese, yogurt, cream) and grains (whole wheat grain) on day 4.  
3. Always give 2-3 days between reintroduction and go back to full Whole30 on the in-between days. 
4. Pay attention to my symptoms and see how these foods individually affect me. Watch out for physical symptoms but also for things that could be waking up my "sugar dragon". If I have too much sweet (i.e. yogurt, smoothie, etc.) does that make my cravings come back? 
5. Reintroduce other things as I feel I want to have them. Following the guideline of only 1 thing at a time and 2-3 days between.

That's about it. I hope that by the end of July I have figured out what food makes me feel good, and what makes me feel bad. What keeps me craving free an able to make good choices without the "hard rules" of the Whole30?  To be completely honest, it's a little scary. The last 29 days have been easy to navigate within the confines of the very strict rules - pick up something at the store, read the label, does it have sugar? yes? back on the shelf....easy. Now it's going to be a lot more judgement and decision making on my part.

It was very exciting for me today selecting a yogurt to have next week...it was shocking though to see that most of the flavoured yogurt has between 17-23g of sugar per serving! Seriously!?!? I'm not spending my entire sugar budget on one little bit of yogurt!

Overall, I'm feeling good. I really notice now when something bothers my tummy (too much salt in a day, not enough water, too much oil, etc.)

I'll do a full post on Tuesday morning with my results for the month and my thoughts going forward.

Until then...

T

Day 27 - Into the weekend and the last 3 days...

Today was the most stressful and worst day so far of this Whole30. Things have escalated with my Mom and we found out she will likely have to go to a rehabilitation facility and then likely into long term care. We were led to believe that the place she lives now could provide the care she needed, but it seems that as her confusion, agitation, unwillingness / inability to follow instructions or help herself much at all combined with her mobility challenges she may have will mean a higher level of care.

This was not good news and it was hot out today and I'm just exhausted. I still have my cold in full swing and it was almost all too much for me today.

I only ate breakfast and not lunch or anything between except a light snack near 3pm. When faced with the thought of continuing this for another 3 days is feeling like complete torture.  While it feels exciting on one hand because it's only 3 days, it's also feeling like it will be the longest 3 days of my life....and I don't feel like I can cope right now.

I also feel disappointed that this life challenge that cropped up this week has totally shaken my focus, blasting me off my path which was highly focused and committed and immersed.  So now I'm just vamping, not able to really think about planning or trying new things.  You know what though? Maybe that's just fine.  This is going to happen all the time in life. You're cruising along just fine and then WHAM here's a life moment and good luck. I can't turn to food every time that happens. I can't derail my plans or decide that my priorities don't matter. Jeff reminded me last night that this is a big one that's happened and guess what? I'm still eating compliant. I'm still doing my plan. I haven't given up, where the old me would have and so maybe I need to just realize that I'm rocking it and pat myself on the back (his words).

He's right. In fact, this part of my Whole30 will end up being the most successful of my entire 30 days.

So onward - only 3 days to go. I'm excited to share my "Victory" post and to get on to the next stage of my journey - re-introduction and building my "normal" eating plan.

Next post will be Sunday to share with you my reintroduction plan and what's next for me!

Until then...

T

Day 24 - 26 - Stress, stress and more stress

Well, it's been a rough few days. My Mom fell and broke her hip on Monday night (day 23) and was taken by paramedics to hospital. Lack of sleep and a completely thrown off routine has added a level of stress that's been a big challenge in this, my last week of my program. 

On top of that, I caught a cold and sore throat on Monday and have been sleeping poorly and feeling like crap! 

The good news is, despite these challenges, I have not abandoned my program. I have managed to get my meals in (even if it was just an egg) and I'm still on track to finish on Monday! That's 4 days more after today....4 days people!!!!

Tuesday night, I tried making cauliflower rice for the very first time. I did it "fried rice" style and served it with garlic prawns. I liked it. Don't kid yourself, it's still cauliflower - it's not rice. Anyone who says "oh you can't tell the difference between it and rice" must have very different tastebuds than I do.

Last night we had the most amazing steak from a local butcher shop. I've been to several high end steakhouses in my time, and this was the best steak I can recall having. 

Today I will be making "bone broth" and seeing how that turns out. It's recommended to help with digestion and support of your immune system so why not? 

Hopefully my Mom will continue to get better and the rest of the week will go smoothly. I'd like to finish this strong and be in a good place to start my reintroduction on Tuesday. 

Until next time,

T