Boom! I Finished The #Whole30!

Why would someone want to go to the extreme of removing so many things from their diet (all sugars (even honey and syrup), dairy, grains, legumes, soy and alcohol!)? At first, that list was hard for me to swallow. I’m not one for fad diets due to the inconsistent yo-yo pattern many of them can create with an individual’s diet. I believe in finding a plan that works for each individual long term. Once I read more about the Whole30 plan and learned that it was meant to help people figure out which foods could be causing health issues such as diabetes, high cholesterol, inflammation, unexplained tiredness, joint pain, allergies, brain fog, headaches etc. – the list goes on, but you get the idea, I was intrigued. These are all conditions that most Americans deal with in some form or another whether they realize it or not, myself included. I was experiencing unexplained crashes and tiredness at random times in my day as well as joint pain, and a lack of motivation. That’s not typically like me. I blamed my joint pain on being a runner most of my life and the tiredness from my active job and early morning start to my days.

The Whole30 isn’t necessarily a weight loss plan, but one will lose weight if they have weight to lose. The idea of it is to remove all high-risk foods from your diet for 30 days, then slowly introduce them again one at a time to see which foods aren’t benefiting your overall well-being.

Starting off you should know that I personally ate a clean and healthy diet 80% of the time with a few treats here and there. My usual diet consisted largely of veggies, protein, whole grains, some dairy, a whole lot of peanut butter and a couple different supplements. One supplement was used as a pre-workout, the other was a nutritional supplement. Taking both supplements out of my diet was kind of a big deal to me, I’ve been using them for over 3 years. The pre workout gave me the boost I needed to lift heavier and the nutritional supplement was a ‘treat’ that I looked forward to daily that was a protein and overall nutritional replacement that kept me away from garbage food.

To give you an idea of how my lifestyle changed when going 100% Whole30 for 30 days here what my typical day looked like. I would start my day with a big breakfast that consisted of eggs, vegetables, avocado and a banana. After my workout, I ate a serving of sweet potatoes with a lean meat (usually chicken). A few hours later it was time for lunch. Lunch was usually leftovers from the night before, but always included a lot of veggies, a serving of meat, a handful of cashews and another serving of fruit. I typically would make myself wait until dinner to eat again, but if my active hyper self couldn’t wait until then I would eat a serving of fruit with another handful of nuts; I ate a lot of nuts! Dinner was typically eaten around 6:30 PM and was my last meal of the day. Again it included veggies, meat, and a healthy fat. My goal here was not to lose weight since I’m already pretty lean with an ectomorph body type. I was an eating machine, I wasn’t overly concerned with portion sizes!

Just a few days into my new routine I felt like this plan was a life changer. I was free of supplements and already feeling like a rock star. I did not experience the typical headaches like one is expected to during the first few days. I did, however, feel energized, clear headed and in an extremely good mood just after 2-3 days of being on the plan. In the first week, my workouts did suffer slightly. I felt slightly weaker than normal and didn’t feel like I could push hard like I typically would. My body was getting used to using fat as its primary source of energy rather than carbohydrates. By week two I felt unstoppable. Workouts felt energized, I was able to push a little harder and my moods were still up. Week three is when I really started to feel the tiger blood; a feeling that you’re on top of the world and can conquer anything. By week four, I was getting tired of telling my friends how lame I am on the weekends, but I was determined to finish due to how good I was feeling. I was addicted. Not only because of how I felt but also because my skin was clearer, I was sleeping well and accomplishing more than usual!

Now a month after completing the 30 days on the Whole30 I’m still going strong on following the Whole30 lifestyle 85% of the time. I don’t feel the need to go back to eating a lot of the foods that I was consuming before such as legumes, whole grains, dairy or soy. Now sugar, oh sweet, sweet chocolate; that’s a different story for me. That’s my weakness and where the 15% of non Whole30 comes in. I can definitely tell a difference in my mood when I eat sugar compared to when I take it out. I’m supplement free as well and do not feel the need to go back to them. I did not feel like I lost any muscle mass during the time of being on Whole30 and I am actually feeling strength gains. I’m getting all of my nutritional needs through whole natural foods rather than processed supplements that very well could have been part of my mid-day crashes and mood swings.

All in all, I went into this in the hopes to feel better and to perform better. After 30 days of this I’m proud to say my energy, moods and overall well-being have improved tremendously. It’s a feeling that is hard to explain, but it’s feeling like you’re on cloud 9 continuously. The best part was that at no point did I feel like I was starving (which is what I can’t stand about fad diets these days). In fact I most likely ate over my recommended calories/day. I was surprised to see that I still lost 8lbs and 5inches all over. More surprised to see that I lost 1.5inches in each thigh! I never lose inches in my thighs even when I’m strictly eating ‘clean!’ This is a lifestyle that I will continue with and look forward to the lifelong benefits.

#Whole30