Last month, Ryan and I were driving home from Central IL, and I was reviewing the weekend in my head. Two things stuck out to me: my pants felt tight, and I was consistently falling captive to my addiction to sugar. This reminded me that the previous Fall, I had sent Ryan some information on Whole30, and he had sounded interested at the time. However, we both knew it was really unrealistic to do during our wedding showers, wedding planning, actual wedding, and honeymoon, so we shelved the idea for the Spring months.

I remembered this in my head, but kept avoiding the topic because my iced mochas, chocolatey desserts, and nightly bowls of popcorn were just too tempting to give up. I knew Whole30 would mean a lot of sacrifice, and I just didn't care enough to give it the attention it needed.

However, something about being home with family and friends... and just feeling "ugh," made me rethink my decision. Additionally, a friend texted me about Whole30, which put it on my mind even more. I initially brushed the idea aside, but then reluctantly revisited the program rules online.

"OK," I thought. "I'll bring it up to Ryan, and if he's into it, I'll consider it."

After all, we still had 2 hours left of our drive, so it would give us something to talk about.

Ryan was totally on board. This was bittersweet for me... I was excited he was willing to commit to this and do it with me, but already having a panic attack about the foods I would have to start giving up.

We planned to start it on Wednesday of that week. That would give me enough time to become familiar with the program, go shopping for what we needed, and get some meals planned for the rest of the week.

I also planned to gorge myself with all of my favorite foods over the next couple days-- Starbucks, ice cream, popcorn, desserts, the works.

However, my plans were quickly thwarted when I woke up 6 hours later with the stomach flu. I basically survived on Sprite, applesauce and soup on Monday, and by Tuesday, I was feeling better, but not good enough to overdose on a bunch of junk food. Honestly, it was likely a blessing in disguise.

The rest of this post will be a topical review of certain parts of my Whole30, and at the end, I'll share my results & day-to-day journal. Yes, I kept a daily journal of how I felt, what I ate, etc. I don't expect everyone to read it, because it's pretty boring, but I wanted to include it because I know during my Whole30, it was always comforting to read about other people's experiences, what worked for them, what didn't, how they felt, etc.

What is Whole30?
I'm not going to give you the long version-- if you would like that, you can visit whole30.com and browse. I'll try my best to summarize it. It is a program designed with rules stating that you must eat nothing but whole foods for 30 days straight. This includes all meats, most vegetables, and fruits. It also includes nuts and seeds (minus peanuts). It excludes dairy, gluten, and added sugar of any kind. 

The premise is this-- by removing all of the inflammatory-causing, gut-disrupting foods from your diet, you can see if you feel better by eating this way and eventually eliminate the culprit. More than that, it teaches you to have a better relationship with food. By removing things like added sugar, you learn to regain control over your eating choices and eat only when you're hungry, not craving. It helps to stabilize your blood sugar levels and "resets" your body to a healthy baseline. Furthermore, because you are likely switching from a high carb diet to a low carb, high protein one with lots of healthy fats, your body goes through a natural detox period and then has to learn how to get its energy from protein and fat rather than fast burning carbs. 

Why did I do it?
I had two main reasons for doing the Whole30. The first and main reason was to get my sugar cravings under control. The second reason would probably be frowned upon by the program, because it is reiterated again and again that it's not a weight loss program-- but more than that, I was hoping to at least lose some inches. I wanted to get back on the track of healthy eating and retrain my body to run as efficiently as possible. 

The First Days: Detoxing and Craving
The first days were very hard. First of all, if it's your first Whole30, you're literally learning as you go. You have to become an expert label-reader so you know what is acceptable and what is not. Since you are allowed no added sugar, soy, or gluten, that pretty much eliminates the entire middle section of the grocery store. And you had to become privy to the little tricks-- for example, just because a label reads that it has 0g of sugar doesn't mean it's not still lurking in the ingredients. Food manufacturers can claim 0g if there is less than 1g, so sugar could still be in the ingredient listing as itself or disguised under one of its thousands of other names (maltodextrin, honey, agave nectar, high fructose corn syrup, etc.) 

It was also hard because your body will likely be going through detox at some point. As your body transitions from high carb to low carb, you can have flu-like symptoms-- they call this the "carb flu." And yes-- I felt like this for about a day or so. Extremely exhausted, irritable, sick to my stomach, and nothing sounded good to eat. Luckily, this phase doesn't last too long, and once your body learns that it can start trusting this new income of protein and fats, it starts to work its magic.

And then there are the cravings. This is the worst part. For the first week (at least), I craved sugar in any form. ESPECIALLY breads... I just wanted a muffin or a cupcake or scone or anything that would convert itself into sugar inside my body. Every meal felt like it was missing the most important part-- the cornbread muffin with my chili, or the poppy seed muffin with my salad.

Fortunately, this is also something that eventually fades away, and it is like magic when it does. Your body learns to live without it and stops craving it once it figures out that the new food you're feeding it is so much more nutrient dense and filling.

Energy Levels
The main thing most people notice with Whole30 is an eventual increase in energy. I will say that I noticed this mostly toward the end. I typically hit an afternoon slump during most of my days, but during Whole30, I've noticed that I am more easily able to get up in the mornings, and I have great sustained energy all day long. I'm never really tired. 

Blood Sugar
I have always had blood sugar issues. I am a textbook case of someone who has to eat every 2-3 hours, or else I WILL become hangry. My body is very good at burning through carbs in record speed and demanding more food. When I don't feed my body, it pouts, makes me weak in the knees, gives me the shakes, and makes me irritable and unreasonable and ravenous until I eat again.

One difference I noticed on Whole30 is that those feelings went away. But instead, I exchanged them for a feeling of complete and utter exhaustion whenever my tank was running low. I can't say that one is better than the other-- because I would literally become debilitated in these moments from my lack of energy-- but I noticed it only happened when I failed to incorporate enough fat and/or carbs into my meals. If I ate really protein-heavy, my body didn't respond well. So I learned early on to add carb-dense foods (like potatoes) into my meals and make sure I was getting enough fat. 

Towards the end of Whole30, I noticed that my blood sugar seemed to stabilize further by allowing me to go between meals without snacks. I literally could just eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner in a day and be completely fine (however, I almost always had a bedtime snack :) This is seriously VERY foreign to me! I am used to eating much more frequently than that, and not getting those ravenous episodes every day is a big change.

Did I Cheat?
To my knowledge-- no. I did make one exception for communion, in which I accepted a gluten-free cracker, but otherwise, I tried very hard to stick to Whole30 compliant ingredients the entire time. Was it hard? YES. It was one of the biggest challenges regarding food/diet I have ever had to go through. It definitely required self-control and self-discipline every single day. However, I am really proud to have accomplished this program and to be able to say I did NOT cheat!

SWYPO
This is a part of the program I didn't necessarily agree with, but tried to respect as much as I could. SWYPO stands for "Sex with Your Pants On" and is basically a very dramatic way of saying not to try to "cheat" by making tasty treats with Whole30 compliant ingredients. Example: Don't be making pancakes, iced mochas, and muffins with almond flour, bananas, date paste, and 100% cocoa, because then you aren't really learning to say "no" to what they would like to call the "Sugar Dragon" (< and he is very real). I get it, because the most important part of the program teaches you to make better choices in food, and learn to become satiated with real, whole foods versus giving into every craving you may have. Their general rule to tell the difference was, "Are you hungry enough to eat steamed fish and broccoli? Then go ahead and eat. If not, but you could chow down a Larabar right now, then it's probably a craving." I did use this measurement quite a bit, and it is pretty legit.

Anyway, I understand the spirit of SWYPO and not making exceptions like this, because then you have to ask yourself why you are really doing this program in the first place. For me, I knew it was to quit the sugar cravings, so I wanted to be sensitive to this.

However, I feel Whole30 is pretty strict with this rule, and I realize they have to make it fit within the mold of thousands of people who will be participating who come from different backgrounds and varying relationships with food, and rules are rules. But for me personally, I also knew that mixing 100% cocoa and coconut milk into my coffee and pouring it over ice wasn't going to ruin my Whole30, nor was eating some almond-banana pancakes for breakfast (which were delicious, BTW, and the only thing that were successfully able to make me feel full for breakfast!) So from time to time, I made these exceptions. I also had a few smoothies, which is also strongly discouraged. But to my knowledge, I ALWAYS used Whole30 compliant ingredients (my #1 goal) and wanted to also foster the idea in my mind that eating "treat-like" foods can also be healthy (rather than harmful) if you use good-for-you ingredients!

Would I Do It Again?
This question will be answered in parts. First, I believe Whole30 is an excellent program for those who have any sort of health issues. It is known for helping those who often feel exhausted, yucky, and ill to suddenly gain back energy for life and start feeling great again. I think that's awesome. For a lot of people, it has to do with an intolerance to a particular food or food group.

Fortunately, I have never had an issue like that. I have generally always felt "great," usually have decent energy levels, sleep like a baby at night, and can pretty much eat whatever I want without any consequences. This is a tremendous blessing!

So for me, Whole30 wasn't so much about "feeling better" as it was to manage my cravings and get into a healthier step again. And I think the program is designed for both-- it's open to all kinds of people with all kinds of goals.

But with that said, that is what made Whole30 really challenging for me, too! It was very hard to cut out good-for-me foods that I already knew didn't affect me-- such as peanut butter, peas, and whole grains. However, the rules are the rules and are there for a reason, and need to eliminate every potential issue. And honestly, it didn't kill me to give those things up for a month.

This is the long way of saying that if I do it again, I will likely do a shortened version, which the program actually embraces as long as you have successfully complete an entire Whole30. I'm thinking a well-timed Whole15 would be a great way to jump start healthy choices during the holiday season, or useful after having babies and needing to lose a little extra weight.

I feel that 15 days is short enough to realistically fit into my schedule while also being long enough to kick the cravings and get my body back on track.

Tips?
If you are considering a Whole30, my #1 piece of advice is to plan it strategically. I realize most everyone is very busy, and there is no way to plan around certain events or social engagements. However, the most challenging times for me was having to be around other people who were eating really good food, and not being able to join in. Sure, you can nibble on a piece of fruit or eat a salad, but how fun is that really, when they have the works in front of them?

Ryan and I planned ours for the month of April, which was perfect for us. We had no family events or celebrations to attend, very little on the social calendar, and little to no traveling. It also began to get warm enough outside that we could grill out, ride bikes, and get some fresh air.

Another thing I would suggest is to find someone to do it with you, or at least be accountable to you. If you are married, see if your spouse is willing to eat this way with you. Or ask a friend who has been wanting to start eating healthier. It is SO much easier when you have a close person nearby to offer support and share your experiences with! Having my husband in this with me was invaluable, and honestly, there were a few times I would have jumped off the ledge if it were not for him!

You will also want to make sure you have the TIME to commit to proper research, meal planning, and food prep. I am fortunate enough to work from home, so always had access to the kitchen and fresh food. It takes a tremendous amount of prep for each meal, and you are limited as to what you can actually use (i.e. coconut oil, olive oil or ghee for cooking fats-- NO butter). Even breakfast takes quite a bit of prep and planning ahead. So make sure you are up to the challenge!

If you are a mother of 3 young busy children, just went through something emotionally trying, or are working 2 jobs with a crazy schedule, now may not be the time. It's way too easy to fail on Whole30, so set yourself up for success. Make sure you are mentally and emotionally ready for it, and then commit. It won't work if you are constantly cheating or making exceptions-- you will only get the best results by following the program and trying your best to stay within the spirit of its concept.

Results
Here are my results... I am happy with them. I wasn't sure what to expect with my weight loss. I tried a program a couple years ago where I lost no weight but lost inches. My exercise tends to be a lot of weight training, so I know that building up your muscle while burning fat is a recipe for maintaining your weight. This time, I did weight training in the beginning of the program and then focused on aerobic exercise in the latter part. I did see a small drop in weight, which was encouraging to me.

I also lost inches! This was the most important thing for me, and the most telling. This means my body composition actually changed. And I can tell! My clothes fit again!!

My Starting Stats (3/29/16)
Weight: 130 lbs.
Thighs: 22"
Waist: 30"
Hips: 36"
Arms: 12" 

My Ending Stats (4/29/16)
Weight: 124 lbs.
Thighs: 20" (-2")
Waist: 28" (-2")
Hips: 35" (-1")
Arms: 11" (-1")


Total: -6 lbs, and -9" !!! I'll take it!

 Before & After Shot-- the difference is very slight, but I do feel like I tightened up and look more fit.