Yesterday I began the Whole30 program. Why? Over the past few years I have had some food issues that I have been neglecting to deal with and I know that certain foods negatively impact my health in noticeable ways . On my own, I have not had the willpower to be purely paleo/primal and abstain from little cheats here and there, which usually involve cheesy goodness or dairy in all forms (grilled cheese, pizza, mac & cheese, a bowl of cereal, etc). I recently began going to Orangetheory classes regularly and although I have noticed a difference in my performance, there is no noticeable differences in my appearance as I still do not fit into what was once my “normal” size and I feel like my face is still much rounder than it needs to be.
Last week on Friday I ran into a friend in a grocery store parking lot and I told her that I had just recently purchased the Whole30 book and started to read it and she excitedly was all like, “I’m starting it on Monday, you should do it with me!” and proceeded to convince me that it’ll be better to do with friends. I think she is right about that, because I probably wouldn’t get far without any sort of accountability. Turns out that her mom, her boss and another friend have joined in on this.
She and I were texting on Sunday and sharing our reasons with each other for putting ourselves through a restrictive diet. My reasons are as follows:
- I want to fit in all my cute clothes again. I feel like I have nothing to wear but I actually have a lot of clothes. But I only fit into like 1/4 of them…the ones that do fit me are leggings and loose tank tops (cue the clip from Mean Girls where Regina George says, “These sweatpants are all that fits me right now.”).
- This kind of goes along with the previous reason, but it’s a bit more involved. I want to look good in my bathing suits. I’ve been working my tail off at OTF and I want to see those results. I don’t just want to be skinny and back to my normal size, but I also want to look like I’m in shape!
- I want to balance my hormones in the most natural way possible. My post-pill body has yet to get back to how it was before I was on the pill (I stopped taking hormonal BC about 4 years ago due to undesired side effects). I have noticed a difference in my body while being strictly paleo (hardly noticeable PMS symptoms) so I guess I just need to get back to that.
- I have noticed that my skin isn’t as radiant as it was a few years ago. I want my glow back!
- I don’t sleep as well as I used to. Lately it has become normal for me to wake up between 2-4 and stay awake for 30 minutes to an hour. I would love to get quality sleep on a regular basis again.
- When I was strictly paleo/primal I didn’t have sugar cravings! I want those GONE again.
All those reasons are my motivators. I am looking forward to accomplishing all these things, though a few of them will take more than 30 days. My friend plans on doing it for 3 months!!
After 30 days I will reintroduce dairy and gluten free grains (rice and oats). And hopefully going forward I will no longer have emotional attachment to food and therefore will make good choices 90% of the time (gotta leave room for booze, burgers, and french fries!!!).
Sunday was my last hoorah before Whole30 so I savored my coffee with heavy cream. At church I ate a slice of key lime pie (sans crust). I was tired from being up late Friday and Saturday nights so I didn’t feel like having lunch. For dinner I had LaPasta’s cheese ravioli with a sauce that consisted of Marzano tomatoes and ricotta cheese!!!
I had some spinach with my ravioli out of guilt for not having any other greens that day. Dinner was delightful.
Monday morning I felt bloated, but no surprise there. Over the course of the next month, I look forward to never feeling that way again =)
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