I ! Did ! IT !! Woohooo! Without even 1 accident or cheat... well ok, there was one teeny tiny accident one evening when I tasted a itty bitty bite of Kate's oatmeal to make sure it wasn't too hot - but I spit it out the moment I realized what I'd done - I promise.
But anyway, I'm sure you all are at the edge of your seats wondering how I did! No??? You're not??? Well guess what, I'm going to pretend you are & share anyway because I'm feeling awesome (as I already mentioned here) & am pretty gosh darn proud of myself for making it through AND holding myself accountable for one of my 2013 goals.
So... drumroll please... by following the Whole 30, drinking tons of water (still breastfeeding) & NOT even exercising once (unless you count carrying around a 23lb baby & that 10 minute ab workout I attempted that then left me sore for 2 days) I lost 14.3lbs & a total of 6.5 inches! Note, the inches lost is combined from very non-official measurements I took around my stomach, arm, & thigh before & after I started. Next time I'm going to do photos, I promise. Obviously I'm THRILLED! But more than that, I feel awesome. This is a great kick-start to my 30lb goal by July 27th & I just feel so much healthier & better about myself. It's almost as though the inside of my body feels squeaky-clean & happy & energetic - like a new car going through a carwash. (weird analogy, I know).
Now I'm beginning to wade back out into the waters of "regular" eating through a pretty specific re-introduction phase. 3 days of introducing back dairy, then 3 day of gluten-grains, then 3 days of legumes, then 3 days of non-gluten grains... of course this was slightly de-railed by Valentine's Day, but that's ok. I'll be honest that I'm a little bit nervous about this. Part of me is worried that I may completely fall off the healthy-feeling/eating wagon after one too many tastes of a previously "forbidden" treat, however I think that more than help me physically, this diet has really helped me isolate my emotional attachment to eating. For example, not once in the past 30 days did I really Crave a carb/sugar/dairy item because my body needed it. The only times I craved them were because 1) I was stressed/upset & looking to them for comfort 2) they were there & I was bored - not even hungry. It did happen to me a handful of times, but each time I took a deep breathe, glass of water, & forced myself to think about why I wanted to eat it. & each time, I was able to realize that it was a completely emotionally driven "craving" & I was able to overcome it. I am going to try my absolute hardest to use this practice in everyday life now moving forward.
I know that I will eat cookies again. (truthfully I already had one, which tasted delicious but so sweet, last night when Dan brought me home a special one from a local bakery for Valentine's Day) BUT I guarantee you that I'll eat a lot less cookies than I did before. Same goes for pasta. Breads. Cheese. Ice Cream. hmmm.. ok well, maybe not cutting out cheese, quite as much as the others. I do have a major weakness for a good cheese. Speaking of... I know I have a brie in the back corner of the fridge since just before starting the whole 30... it may be time to open that beauty up this weekend. If I do, I'll try to take photos to share with you my easy-as-anything baked brie recipe. File that one under how to gain back some of the 14.3lbs. but I digress...
I do know that a big part of how my eating habits will be permanently changed will come after my full reintroduction phase is over. Then I will really be able to pinpoint what kind of effects specific foods have one me. So there will probably be another post to follow on that & there certainly will be another post at some point because I definitely will be doing another Whole 30 later this year! If anyone's inspired & would like to try along with me let me know so I can be sure to post on it again & we can do it together! Or, if you're already on-board & ready to start right now, here are a few little pieces of advice based on my first Whole 30 experience!
- Be prepared. Mentally & Physically. Mentally you have to be in the 100% committed, right set of mind to take on this challenge as it will (most likely) be a big departure from your usual eating habits. & by physically I mean do your grocery shopping, veggie chopping & meal prepping. Having a whole head of cauliflower chopped up, ready to microwave or saute into cauliflower "rice" to accompany any meal within 3 minutes was a lifesaver for me. Not to mention snack baggies of pre-cut fruits & veggies. & on this diet you NEED to plan your meals.
- Stir fries are your friend. I think I'm genetically predisposed to loving stir-fries (thanks Daddy) but these were lifesavers for me too. Working & coming home to have to make dinner was not always fun & it's sooooo much easier to just pick up pizza. But throwing some pre-cut veggies & meat into a pan was super simple - & healthier.
- Stock up on:
Eggs, avocados, bananas, apples, ground turkey, veggies you like (for me, it was always having peppers, broccoli, carrots, celery, cucumbers, acorn squash & brussel sprouts in the house) & coconut milk. Eggs are a quick & easy meal that you can make at anytime - & especially come in handy on those nights you get home from work STARVING. Akin to my stir-fry idea above, throw in some veggies (& meat if you like) & make yourself an omelet or scramble in minutes. You'll throw avocado on anything/everything. It will melt down to give you a creamy consistency or make yourself some guacamole to dip veggies in. I think I ate almost 1 avocado a day. Oven roasted squash is a Whole 30er's candy. Sweet but full of vitamins & fiber, I literally was roasting myself some squash to eat plain, puree into soup, or cut up into cubes as a side-dish every other day. & trust me - you will learn to really enjoy drinking coconut milk in your coffee/tea.
- Use spices! & not just the ones you're used to. Cumin, paprika, & cinnamon are some of my favorites. (of course dill, cilantro & garlic are old stand-bys too) But also, & I cannot stress this enough, go buy some coconut aminos. Especially for the above mentioned stir-fries. It takes just like - no, better than - forbidden soy sauce. (& I now officially think coconut it a wonder fruit) Buy coconut milk too. Trust me, you'll get used to it in your coffee.
- Recipe search online! There are millions of healthy & whole 30 recipes online on blogs. Use pinterest to find recipes that don't involve some kind of pillsbury dough product, cream cheese, or crazy amounts of sugar - they are out there! & once you're comfortable with your approved ingredients, play around with them yourself. You'll be amazed at what mixes well together. When I was building my own meals I often thought of what our pediatrician recently told me about starting Kate on solid foods - that she doesn't know how things are "supposed to taste" because everything is new to her palette. So be adventurous in mixing things - but DON'T add any sugar or salt, because we don't want to dilute real flavors with these artificial enhancers. (spices are ok though). There's some food for thought for you, huh?
- If you're breastfeeding (like I was) don't panic when your milk supply dips. I can almost assure you it will. Add a snack or 4th meal in to your day. I actually found that snacking almost the entire morning helped me most - NOT continual snacking, but milking my snack-bag of almonds & cucumbers eating a few every hour between meal 1 and meal 2 (aka breakfast & lunch)
Hmmmm... now that I'm writing this it makes me wish I had taken more photos of all of the foods I'd made to share. I cannot stress enough that this diet really was not hard once you get into the cooking/prep mode of healthy meal making. Maybe I'll do another post with what one of my typical shopping lists was & what meals I'd make the items into?
So that's about that (for now). If you have ANY questions please feel free to ask! I had such a positive experience on this diet I'd love to chat more about it!
xo
p.s. I should mention, for those of you with skeptical spouses/significant others, Dan did not partake in the Whole 30 with me - so we did still have all of those forbidden items in the house. I even made him meals that included things I wouldn't eat. Just wanted to share that tidbit to let you know that it is doable!!!
p.p.s. They say that nuts should be eaten "sparingly" so I may have overdone this, but I blame it on the need for more calories to make milk, but I also thought I'd share that in addition to eating an avocado a day, I also consumed this entire 3lb bag of almonds from Costo. All.By.Myself. Not sure if I'm proud or ashamed...
But anyway, I'm sure you all are at the edge of your seats wondering how I did! No??? You're not??? Well guess what, I'm going to pretend you are & share anyway because I'm feeling awesome (as I already mentioned here) & am pretty gosh darn proud of myself for making it through AND holding myself accountable for one of my 2013 goals.
So... drumroll please... by following the Whole 30, drinking tons of water (still breastfeeding) & NOT even exercising once (unless you count carrying around a 23lb baby & that 10 minute ab workout I attempted that then left me sore for 2 days) I lost 14.3lbs & a total of 6.5 inches! Note, the inches lost is combined from very non-official measurements I took around my stomach, arm, & thigh before & after I started. Next time I'm going to do photos, I promise. Obviously I'm THRILLED! But more than that, I feel awesome. This is a great kick-start to my 30lb goal by July 27th & I just feel so much healthier & better about myself. It's almost as though the inside of my body feels squeaky-clean & happy & energetic - like a new car going through a carwash. (weird analogy, I know).
Now I'm beginning to wade back out into the waters of "regular" eating through a pretty specific re-introduction phase. 3 days of introducing back dairy, then 3 day of gluten-grains, then 3 days of legumes, then 3 days of non-gluten grains... of course this was slightly de-railed by Valentine's Day, but that's ok. I'll be honest that I'm a little bit nervous about this. Part of me is worried that I may completely fall off the healthy-feeling/eating wagon after one too many tastes of a previously "forbidden" treat, however I think that more than help me physically, this diet has really helped me isolate my emotional attachment to eating. For example, not once in the past 30 days did I really Crave a carb/sugar/dairy item because my body needed it. The only times I craved them were because 1) I was stressed/upset & looking to them for comfort 2) they were there & I was bored - not even hungry. It did happen to me a handful of times, but each time I took a deep breathe, glass of water, & forced myself to think about why I wanted to eat it. & each time, I was able to realize that it was a completely emotionally driven "craving" & I was able to overcome it. I am going to try my absolute hardest to use this practice in everyday life now moving forward.
I know that I will eat cookies again. (truthfully I already had one, which tasted delicious but so sweet, last night when Dan brought me home a special one from a local bakery for Valentine's Day) BUT I guarantee you that I'll eat a lot less cookies than I did before. Same goes for pasta. Breads. Cheese. Ice Cream. hmmm.. ok well, maybe not cutting out cheese, quite as much as the others. I do have a major weakness for a good cheese. Speaking of... I know I have a brie in the back corner of the fridge since just before starting the whole 30... it may be time to open that beauty up this weekend. If I do, I'll try to take photos to share with you my easy-as-anything baked brie recipe. File that one under how to gain back some of the 14.3lbs. but I digress...
I do know that a big part of how my eating habits will be permanently changed will come after my full reintroduction phase is over. Then I will really be able to pinpoint what kind of effects specific foods have one me. So there will probably be another post to follow on that & there certainly will be another post at some point because I definitely will be doing another Whole 30 later this year! If anyone's inspired & would like to try along with me let me know so I can be sure to post on it again & we can do it together! Or, if you're already on-board & ready to start right now, here are a few little pieces of advice based on my first Whole 30 experience!
- Be prepared. Mentally & Physically. Mentally you have to be in the 100% committed, right set of mind to take on this challenge as it will (most likely) be a big departure from your usual eating habits. & by physically I mean do your grocery shopping, veggie chopping & meal prepping. Having a whole head of cauliflower chopped up, ready to microwave or saute into cauliflower "rice" to accompany any meal within 3 minutes was a lifesaver for me. Not to mention snack baggies of pre-cut fruits & veggies. & on this diet you NEED to plan your meals.
- Stir fries are your friend. I think I'm genetically predisposed to loving stir-fries (thanks Daddy) but these were lifesavers for me too. Working & coming home to have to make dinner was not always fun & it's sooooo much easier to just pick up pizza. But throwing some pre-cut veggies & meat into a pan was super simple - & healthier.
- Stock up on:
Eggs, avocados, bananas, apples, ground turkey, veggies you like (for me, it was always having peppers, broccoli, carrots, celery, cucumbers, acorn squash & brussel sprouts in the house) & coconut milk. Eggs are a quick & easy meal that you can make at anytime - & especially come in handy on those nights you get home from work STARVING. Akin to my stir-fry idea above, throw in some veggies (& meat if you like) & make yourself an omelet or scramble in minutes. You'll throw avocado on anything/everything. It will melt down to give you a creamy consistency or make yourself some guacamole to dip veggies in. I think I ate almost 1 avocado a day. Oven roasted squash is a Whole 30er's candy. Sweet but full of vitamins & fiber, I literally was roasting myself some squash to eat plain, puree into soup, or cut up into cubes as a side-dish every other day. & trust me - you will learn to really enjoy drinking coconut milk in your coffee/tea.
- Use spices! & not just the ones you're used to. Cumin, paprika, & cinnamon are some of my favorites. (of course dill, cilantro & garlic are old stand-bys too) But also, & I cannot stress this enough, go buy some coconut aminos. Especially for the above mentioned stir-fries. It takes just like - no, better than - forbidden soy sauce. (& I now officially think coconut it a wonder fruit) Buy coconut milk too. Trust me, you'll get used to it in your coffee.
- Recipe search online! There are millions of healthy & whole 30 recipes online on blogs. Use pinterest to find recipes that don't involve some kind of pillsbury dough product, cream cheese, or crazy amounts of sugar - they are out there! & once you're comfortable with your approved ingredients, play around with them yourself. You'll be amazed at what mixes well together. When I was building my own meals I often thought of what our pediatrician recently told me about starting Kate on solid foods - that she doesn't know how things are "supposed to taste" because everything is new to her palette. So be adventurous in mixing things - but DON'T add any sugar or salt, because we don't want to dilute real flavors with these artificial enhancers. (spices are ok though). There's some food for thought for you, huh?
- If you're breastfeeding (like I was) don't panic when your milk supply dips. I can almost assure you it will. Add a snack or 4th meal in to your day. I actually found that snacking almost the entire morning helped me most - NOT continual snacking, but milking my snack-bag of almonds & cucumbers eating a few every hour between meal 1 and meal 2 (aka breakfast & lunch)
Hmmmm... now that I'm writing this it makes me wish I had taken more photos of all of the foods I'd made to share. I cannot stress enough that this diet really was not hard once you get into the cooking/prep mode of healthy meal making. Maybe I'll do another post with what one of my typical shopping lists was & what meals I'd make the items into?
So that's about that (for now). If you have ANY questions please feel free to ask! I had such a positive experience on this diet I'd love to chat more about it!
xo
p.s. I should mention, for those of you with skeptical spouses/significant others, Dan did not partake in the Whole 30 with me - so we did still have all of those forbidden items in the house. I even made him meals that included things I wouldn't eat. Just wanted to share that tidbit to let you know that it is doable!!!
p.p.s. They say that nuts should be eaten "sparingly" so I may have overdone this, but I blame it on the need for more calories to make milk, but I also thought I'd share that in addition to eating an avocado a day, I also consumed this entire 3lb bag of almonds from Costo. All.By.Myself. Not sure if I'm proud or ashamed...
Congratulations to you!!
ReplyDeleteI'm on Day 5 so still in my angry phase... ;)
Good for you!!! Keep going - the next "I feel AWESOME" stage is so, so worth it!!! :)
DeleteI love this and I am so impressed by you! I am going to do it, there is no reason not it!
ReplyDeleteAnna, I really want to do this too, let me know if you are going to and we can make a Whole Foods or Trader Joe's run to stock up?
DeleteYour results are soo awesome!! Congrats lady!!
ReplyDeleteI am so impressed at your self control with having Dan's treats in the house and not cheating!! Holy miracle! :)
I'm so impressed with you! I've been paleo for a few years, but can't seem to muster up the desire to do a Whole 30...but now you're making me think I can!
ReplyDeleteWow, this is great. I just finished my first Whole30 last week too. I loved it! Very cool to hear you did it while breast feeding, too. I have definitely enjoyed bringing foods back into my diet but looking forward to sticking with this way of life!
ReplyDelete