Whole30 - again.

I didn't think I'd try Whole30 again.  After doing it once, I felt that it was successful but extreme.  It took too much preparation and work.

But I've been on and off thinking about how to lose 25 lbs, and in a conversation with my sister she mentioned she was doing it again in June.  I had no reason not to join her, so I started a couple of days later.  Once the thought entered my mind that I could do it, I was pretty on board and started several days earlier than planned.  That gave me no time to binge eat all my favorite treats, and unfortunately it didn't give me time to eat all the non-compliant foods in my fridge.

My Whole30 shelf after grocery shopping.

The first three weeks I felt like I was on a roll.  I lost as much weight as I did total last time around-- but unfortunately have only lost a pound in the last week.  I wish I'd kept up the same momentum!

I cheated 1.5 times.  The first time was because a new friend invited us over to dinner.  We don't have many friends, so we try not to reject people.  I was super happy because she asked if I'd bring a dessert... so I was sure to make something I loved, which was this.  Brownie, PB, and chocolate is always a win.  Plus the meal involved tortillas and beans and rice... so it was worth the break.

The second time I cheated was because Hyrum had a dinner work event I had to go to, and I'm pretty sure the mayo in the potato salad probably had sugar in it.  But no carbs or dairy, so I only consider it a minor cheat.

I saw similar results as last time: I don't physically feel much different, but I crave sugar less and have gotten into a better habit of eating veggies and not eating to entertain myself.

So what do I eat?  Surprisingly, not what I expected.  When I did Whole30 in January, I remember eating so many sweet potatoes and so much Kale.  In the last 30 days I've had two sweet potatoes and no kale.  I guess living in a new area just brings new shopping habits; plus, now I have a Costco membership.

For lunch, unless I eat leftovers, I eat tuna salad.  Costco sells tuna without any additives (sugar). I chop up an apple, add lemon juice, salt, pepper, and no-sugar-added-Mayo.  It's delicious.  Sometimes it goes in romaine leaves, but usually I'm so eager to eat it I just dig in with a fork.

I've used many more recipes this time around.  This green chile chicken is delicious, and my kids even eat it.  I made pulled pork with peach barbecue sauce.  That was delicious.  I made a breakfast casserole with leaks and eggs.  It was disgusting.  I ate some, and tried feeding it to Hyrum.  We decided it was better to just throw it all away. But for breakfast, to change it up from eating plan eggs, this breakfast hash was awesome.

My favorite meal was pork tenderloin with dijon sauce, with mashed potatoes mixed with coconut cream.

Costco sells this Edamame spaghetti... Hyrum didn't realize what he was eating until I told him.  It's easier than creating your own noodles out of vegetables like zucchini. 

My attempt at a cobb salad

Potato wedges, fruit salad, and Hogao-- a Colombian tomato based sauce we eat regularly anyway

 I found that by putting in few hours of prep up front, I had a lot of food in my freezer I could pull out throughout the 30 days.  It felt like a lot less cooking this time around.

Also, Hyrum did it with me, for the most part.  He had a 3 day trip in the middle, and then left around day 24, but when he was here, he joined me.  That meant probably more money (slightly) on groceries, but more simplicity in what we ate.  He lost some weight, which was funny, because he was pretty skinny to start with.  I think he surprised himself, and kept saying it was going to disappear. (He's reassured me that he's already gained back a few pounds since he's been gone.)

I have two more days, and then I'm eating the rest of my brownie cookies, and might take Tiago to get Donuts.  I decided that for me, one of the things I miss the most is social eating.  I miss being able to make cookies with Tiago, or run to the store and grab a donut because we're bored in the afternoon, or meet friends at Chick-fil-a for lunch.  Long term, I could never give that up.  But it's been a good challenge for my self-control, and I can do anything for 30 days.  

[When I lose 15 lbs more I might do a before/after picture.  Some day it will happen.  Right now I sadly look the same as 10 lbs ago.]

Whole30 Adventure

I'm in the last week of my Whole30 adventure... and while I'm glad I did it, I'll also be very glad when it's over.

Whole30 is a program where you only eat "compliant" foods for 30 days.  It's easier to understand what you can eat by understanding what you can't eat.

Can't eat:
Sugar, in any form (and almost everything has added sugar!), no fake sugar, no honey
Grains- bread, pasta, rice, quinoa, pizza crust
Legumes, so no beans, and no peanut butter
Dairy
Carrageenan, MSG, or Sulfites (and recommended to avoid other ingredients you can't pronounce)

I've known about the program for a while, and it basically sounds like my form of torture.  I think my favorite foods are sugar, cheese, and bread.

But I had three reasons for wanting to try it.

1) Self Control: At some point last year I started to feel out of control with my choices. Starting in the Fall I began eating sweets only once a week, which helped, but I wanted to exercise even greater self-mastery.  It's kind of messed up to think your body is dictating your choices more than your brain.

2) Let's be real: I need to lose weight.  Quite a bit of it, actually.  Even with regular exercise and pretty conscientious eating in the fall, I only lost a few pounds over 4 months.  I was ready to try something new in the hopes of jump starting more weight loss.

3) I was curious to see what the connection was between what I eat and how I feel.  People talk about so many side affects (moods, energy, complexion, joint pain, etc) of certain foods, but having never cut foods out completely I've never seen if that's true in my own body.  I was curious.

You can do anything for 30 days, so I talked my sister into doing it with me, bought all the necessary groceries, and got started.

It hasn't been that bad overall.  Breakfast is by far the most painful meal, because making eggs every single day gets boring. Not to mention, washing the pan after making eggs everyday is boring.  There are a few items that have completely saved me: guacamole, more guacamole, salsa, lemon juice, and garlic.  It's tricky to find brands without added sugar, but they're out there.  (Trader Joe's!)  Also, potatoes for volume and ghee (clarified butter, which is compliant).

My favorite meal is a take on taco salad.  Lettuce, sliced sweet potatoes, meat (shredded chicken, hamburger, or lime chicken burgers from Trader Joe's), guac, and salsa.  I also sometimes add home made mayo.  Lemon/garlic green beans with a can of sugar-free tuna are another meal in high rotation.  They make a couple of cook books with compliant recipes, but I have mostly been winging it.

Results:
I still have a week left, but the most surprising result from Whole30 is 'slaying the sugar dragon', as I've hear other people call it.  My body doesn't crave sweets anymore, which is a huge accomplishment.  Previously, usually after dinner I felt like I needed something sweet, even if I made the choice not to eat anything.  Now it's the opposite.  My body never craves something sweet.  That's not to say that when I look at a picture of brownies I don't think they look AMAZING (they do) I just don't feel that rush through my body that says "must neat now!"  I have a list of things I want to eat next month (like brownies) but for these 30 days, I'm not missing them.

I've also gotten into a better habit of including more vegetables in a meal, which was not normal for me before.  I hope I carry that habit on into future eating.  I'll serve food on top of a bed of kale or add lettuce to whatever we're eating.

I've lost some weight, which I'm happy about, but it's not surprising.  When you cut out sugar and bread from your diet, you're bound to lose something.  But my wedding ring doesn't fit yet, so there's a long way to go.

I haven't seen a lot of other miraculous results.  After some thinking, I realized I was in a pretty good place before starting Whole30.  I was eating dessert only once a week and drank very little soda and no alcohol. So besides my strong desire for sugar, I didn't have a lot of other dependencies to break.

Eating this way is more expensive.  For example, my no-sugar-added lemon juice is probably twice as much as regular lemon juice.  And obviously pasta-based meals are always more economic, so cutting them out entirely is going to up the grocery bill.

Overall, I'm glad I did it.  It's a nice feeling to attempt something difficult and succeed.  I'm curious to weigh in on my last day and see what the total loss was, but I don't think much else will change in the next week.  And 7 days from now we'll be at Disney World, where I'll be eating chocolate mickey ears and Dole whip to my heart's content.