Whole30 Recap

So...I did it. I finished the Whole 30 days of whole 30. I don't think I messed up either. One day I was with Mom all day at the ER and on the way home we had to stop for food since we hadn't eaten all day. She wanted a fish sandwich from McDonald's so that was where we went but even that night all I ate was a plain piece of grilled chicken. Now I am sure it wasn't organic or maybe even real chicken but...it was the best I could do that particular day. Oh and also it occurred to me about 1/2 way through that I was still chewing sugar free gum which had fake sugar which we weren't supposed to use but...I never gave that up. So I suppose those 2 things could be counted as "messing up" but other than that I was very strict about following all the rules.

It wasn't as hard as I expected..

There were days I hated it - don't get me wrong. But overall it wasn't that bad.

The good -

• I haven't had very many headaches. And I am pretty sure the ones I did have were from sinuses - and they went away quickly when I took sinus medicine.
• I lost 12 pounds. In 30 days. Not bad.
• My face is clearer -  not totally but looks better than it did for sure
• I just feel better

The bad-

• It is expensive to eat healthy!!
• There aren't as many choices b/c I am a picky eater and don't like a lot of veggies
• Healthy food goes bad quick so you have to shop often and I don't have a lot of time right now

My thoughts now?

Well this weekend when I was done I went with some family for a graduation celebration lunch to Olive Garden and I was very excited to eat bread sticks! I only had 2....and I ordered a chicken meal which I basically ate the chicken and veggies out of and left the pasta on the plate (I did eat probably 4 bites of pasta) but it was of course covered in some sort of sauce, and the salad had a Cesar dressing as well (NO dressings or sauces on Whole30) So I didn't really follow the suggested way of introducing ONE new thing to your body at a time and see how it handles it. I tried to do as best I could but....my body freaked out! It was not impressed with what I ate for sure. I felt sick all day. And honestly...none of it even tasted that good!! (ummm....sad). Then the next day, sure enough I woke up with a headache! So....I tried drinking a diet dr. pepper that day - one b/c that was my favorite drink before Whole30 and two b/c usually caffeine helps a headache. I couldn't even finish it. It tasted HORRIBLE to me! So syruppy and thick and gross! Ugh.

So basically...Whole30 has totally changed my taste buds. Which is sad in a way but actually really good. I prefer the taste of clean "real" food now and not processed sugary stuff. So basically I intend to stick with it. I won't be as strict as I was during those 30 days. For instance, when I have hot tea - I WILL be using sweetener in it (I never got used to plain tea) but probably less than I used to. And I won't say I will never eat dessert, but just that it will be a special occasion instead of a way to deal with a bad day. That is the plan. I think this was exactly what I needed to really help jump start me to eating better and changing the way I think about food. I am really pleased with the results.

I do intend to try after a few days to introduce some things - like whole wheat bread - all by itself and see how that affects my body. Possibly some other things as well. Just so I have a better idea of what I can eat and still feel well. But overall I like the results of this way of eating. So...simple it is for me! Now I just have to find a way to pay for it.....ha!