Have you ever done a Whole30?
If you do not know what a Whole30 is, let me lay it out for you quickly. The summary is that you cut out ALL Dairy, Soy, Grains (including rice, oats, wheat, etc), Legumes (including peanuts), Sugar (even natural sugar) and Alcohol from your diet for 30 days. Your diet basically consists of lean meats, fresh veggies and fruit. If you want to know more about Whole30, check out their official page.
Once the 30 days are up, you slowly introduce the different foods back into your diet. This helps you to be able to see how your body reacts to them. This 2nd process can take another 10-15 days.
Why would I do this to myself??
Well, I have many thoughts on this, but I will stick to my top two.
- I have a HUGE problem with not focusing on my own health when my husband is gone. I usually I end up late night snacking and eating convenient crap. Neither of which is good.
- I felt I needed to reset my mentality and challenge myself.
Deployments are an opportunity. I have chosen to use that opportunity to do things that make me a better mom, wife and overall person. However, this doesn’t mean I didn’t struggle with this Whole30 challenge! Trust me, this has been an eye-opener. But I started out so strong!
This wasn’t my first rodeo.
I was positive I would rock this Whole30. I have done four Whole30 challenges in total. The first lasted 2 weeks. My milk supply dropped, I was nursing my first child and I panicked. So I quit. I was so down on myself. So, once I was able to, I tried again.
It didn’t last long. Day 20 came and then quit again. I wasn’t fully committed, was pregnant with my second and I was STARVING all the time. So I quit again. I ate pretty clean overall (more Paleo), but not a true Whole30.
Then my third attempt came. I realized that to help me complete it, I needed to invite others to join. So I created a facebook group specific for my friends who wanted to join and I decided to complete it right after my husband left . He was gone for months and I had an opportunity to use my time alone wisely.
It was a success! I lost 10 lbs, was FINALLY able to fit into my pre-3rd-baby jeans again and I felt amazing.
Then, all the stress of the PCS hit me like a ton of bricks. Why does that have to happen?!?!
Basically all my hard work was erased. At the time, I didn’t really care. I mean, really, I had a lot of other things on my mind. Once of which was moving with all three kids on my own. I tried to eat clean, but it did not really happen. I tried not to be stressed about it, but it was sad because I had worked so hard and it didn’t seem to matter anymore.
My husband came home from training for about 3 weeks, and then he was set to deploy again. So I made a plan. I would complete another Whole 30 in Sept. I would create another support group on facebook and I would not give in to temptations.
This was my most difficult Whole30 yet.
Crazy schedules, cranky kids, starting work for the school year and starting this deployment all were against my success. There were so many times I was tempted to quit. Picking up McDonalds for the kids because swim lessons ran over? Yep! Ordering pizza when we had company over? Why not! I even had a lovely friend who dropped off an apple crisp and quart of ice cream as a surprise (I froze that for later!). These were all major temptations. But I FINISHED! And it feels SO great to know that I finished.
My results were different than I thought they would be.
I figured I would lose some weight and maybe my sweet tooth would be tamed. The results were actually surprising!
- My weight loss was not what I expected. This may seem like it shouldn’t be a big deal. However, I was hoping to lose more since I am still dealing with stubborn baby weight from three babies back-to-back.
- My sweet tooth is STILL here – however, I have found better ways to manage it other than ice cream and cookies.
- I have more energy and I am sleeping better at night.
- I have less bloat (even with the lack of weight loss)
Things I have learned this time
- I confirmed the importance of SELF-CARE. Guys….I cannot emphasize this enough. SELF CARE IS SO IMPORTANT! You CANNOT pour from an empty cup. I had a lot of people wonder why I was completing this challenge. Although there are many ways to do self-care, this was the way I chose and it was exactly what I needed.
- I learned the importance of meal planning/prepping. Meal PLANNING has always been my jam, but PREPPING has never really been something I have not really done. I think that was my downfall this Whole30 because I would not have easy options already prepped for me regularly. This would cause me to either skip a meal or grab a RX BAR which has a lot of protein but doesn’t provide me with veggies (which is what I needed more).
- I realized how much we ate out before Whole30. I try to pack lunches and to cook dinner, but between the move, our busy schedule and my lack of prep, we were eating out a LOT. Convenience wins usually. This made me sad, and embarrassed honestly, to realize and I made a point to change that asap.
What you should take away from this.
If I could leave you with any insight from my experience, it would be this: Whole30 is not easy, but TOTALLY worth it. Did I lose a lot of weight? No. Do I still struggle with my sweet tooth? Yes. But do I have a different relationship with food, my body and the importance of self-care? yes, Yes, YES!
No matter where you are on the Whole30 journey (never heard of it, novice or pro), I hope that you will do your research and consider completing one. Not interested in completing it right now? Need time to prep? Well, I am completing ANOTHER Whole30 in Jan to kickstart the new year in a good direction.
For anyone who wants to join me, make sure to sign up below to receive all the information! I will be posting even more tips and tricks, as well as meal plans, recipes and another support group on facebook.
You ready for some SELF-CARE? Have you ever completed a Whole30??
