The Whole30 Second Week

The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. I must confess that the second week on the Whole 30 did not go as well as the first week. I still avoided dairy and sugar (except for the one teeny serving of froyo, which was a "no sugar added" variety), and grains, but I did fall down and had some wine (twice). I'm finding it's not so hard to resist the sugar temptation when you cut out the bad carbs. But I'm a social wine drinker, and it's tough to be the party pooper who doesn't partake. Oh well, I'm still feeling lighter, and seem to have more energy, so the journey continues in a very positive frame of mind. The next few weeks will be tough and full of temptations with many birthday celebrations, culminating in the candy bonanza of Halloween. I will give myself a permission to eat cake and candy on these occasions, but the test will be to cut the sugar off once it's over. In order to do that, I plan to return to the Whole30 type eating for a week or so, to make it easier to avoid sugar. Another good thing has happened during these two weeks - I've minimized the mindless night snacking in front of the TV. I will continue to soldier on for the next two weeks, and not judge myself too harshly.  All in all, the experiment so far has a lot more positives than negatives.

The Whole30

I've been in an eating slump for pretty much the whole year since last Christmas. I eat healthy foods, but I've had the worst sugar and carb cravings, and been snacking almost every night on chocolate and crackers and peanut butter, and this and that. Needless to say, I've put on weight, and haven't felt very good about myself. So I decided that now is the time that I have to get back to super healthy eating, and find a way to kick the sugar habit. While I've done the South Beach diet before, it just didn't appeal to me this time. But then I heard about the Whole30 and it just clicked. It's a tough love approach; an elimination diet that requires no calorie counting. You eat real foods, BUT you cut out all dairy, sugar, grains, legumes and alcohol. You can eat meat, chicken, fish, veggies and fruit. Even potatoes are allowed, as long as they are not fried or chips. You can drink coffee, but no milk in it.

The Whole30 promises lots of good things: increased energy, reduced inflammation in the body, lower blood sugar, huge reduction in cravings, weight loss, better mood, glowing skin, better sleep. Today is my third day, and so far so good. The only tough part really is the morning, coffee with coconut milk is definitely not as good as coffee with my favorite vanilla cream... but it's a small price to pay if I can feel much healthier and more energetic.

I ordered the Whole30 book and the recipes look really good. Haven't tried any yet, but I'm sure I will. 

Since milk is not allowed, I substituted with coconut milk coffee creamer. Doesn't quite cut it, but I guess it's better than drinking black coffee...

I've inspired my family to join me in this diet. My 13-year old and my husband are doing it with me, and for practical reasons, even the little girls are doing a modified version so that we don't have to cook too many different meals (I'm not eliminating dairy or grains from their diet, however). I'm sure this will benefit everyone's health.

What I like about this approach is that even though it eliminates a lot of things, it's not a crash diet. There are no shakes, protein bars or pills, just real, healthy food. You don't have to limit the amount of food you eat. I'm hoping that this will give me more awareness of how what I eat affects my body and health, and when I slowly add dairy and grains back to my diet, I can eat them in moderation. And mostly, I'm hoping this will cut the sugar cycle.