All About My Whole 30 Experience

It’s no shock to those who know me or even kinda know me that I started Whole 30 at the beginning of January. Which was super impulsive. Literally. Look at this text I sent my roommate.

We didn’t actually start that day, but on the 12th of January we took the plunge. My main goal with taking on this challenge was curbing my sugar addiction and my admiration for taking any opportunity to “treat myself”. If you read my workout post you might know that I started taking my health more seriously this time last year. To be totally real I didn’t lose much weight and I really didn’t expect to with this cleanse either which is why I hesitate to call it a diet. Anyway, here’s a quick recap of how I felt week-by-week.

Week 1(Day 1-7)

Felt pretty good the first few days. Then began to be VERY tired at the end of the day. I went for my normal Wednesday Core Power class and couldn’t make it through and sat most of it – a blow to my ego. I really hit a wall on Friday because we had my work New Years party and I couldn’t eat or drink anything and went home before the night even got started because I was SO tired. The night ended with me crying into a banana over wanting a cookie…did I mention I was on my period?

Week 2 (Day 8-14)

Started to feel better after the minor melt down of last week. Things were starting to look up. I finally felt like I understood what I needed to feed myself and how to do it. My roommate and I got our meals figured out and felt more hopeful after a few Whole 30 meals that worked out. My workouts felt amazing and I could actually make it through.

Week 3 (Day 15-21)

The “Tiger Blood” they talk about in the books hit me early I feel. Starting near the end of week 2 and continuing into week 3 I felt that amazing energy that I couldn’t help but tell people about. My skin looked AH-MA-ZING. I was feelin’ myself. I didn’t need chips or cookies.

Week 4 (Day 22-28)

This week was…lazy. I started to eat out for lunch again becoming more full of myself by eating Salad and Go with my approved dressing and Chipotle. Overall I was tired of this diet. The end was so easily in my grasp that I kinda just wanted to say fuck it and eat a granola bar. My energy was still consistent but I didn’t see the delight in it as much. 

Home Stretch (Day 29-30)

(These last two days didn’t need their own category but I was trying to stay even with my weeks.) The last two days felt like the mellow final weeks leading up to the end; only I was less empowered by the diet and more ready to be done.

Reintroduction

This was the part of the challenge that I was pretty positive I was going to fail. According to the Whole 30 rules you add in 1 thing every 3 days back. Sugar and soy additions are optional to be days or can be sprinkled in with the main food-group add ins. So you add something in 1 day, eat totally Whole 30 for 2 days, then add something else back in and repeat. With this method you are pretty much extending through another 2 weeks. Here is the schedule I intended to follow:

Day 1: Legumes, Day 4: Grains, Day 7: Dairy, Day 10: Gluten

This whole ordeal, I felt, was actually much more difficult than the challenge itself. You had to keep track of what day you were on and how you were meant to eat that day. And really once I got a taste for something I didn’t want to not have it the next day. Also, by the end of the 30 days I was plan out over it. I ended up throwing reintroduction out the window and ate Shake Shack with a co-working after a taxing day. Oops.

After Thoughts

There were a few things that really shocked me over this diet and here they are in order of least impressed to most:

5. I DID continue to crave something “sweet” as dessert after dinner. This is something that a lot of people say they are able to curb with Whole 30 but I still found myself eating an apple after dinner most days.

4. I started to enjoy cooking. It’s not like I ever hated it but it started to seem like less of an inconvenience, but I think that’s because we got really good at planning.

3. My skin started to look SO good that I basically don’t need to wear face make-up. I started wearing minimal concealer and am loving it.

2. I started to enjoy coffee without sugar.

1. I had the most consistent energy of my life. Never felt super tired or super high-strung. I was never overly hungry or overly full. Everything was just in order and balanced.

 WHOLE 30 TIPS

-RESEARCH before you start!

-Find sauce alternatives.

-Keep to your normal schedule as closely as possible.

-Leave your house.

-Try “being brave” once a week and eat out.

-Don’t be afraid of food.

-At least plan your dinners.

-Have an accountability partner (hi katelyn)

-A tip from Sarah: Download the Whole 30 app to scan your foods for quick approvals

-A tip from Jordan: Don’t worry about portion sizes in the first week

FAV THINGS ON WHOLE 30

–The Whole30 Planner

-Trader Joe’s Breakfast Sausage

-Trader Joe’s Spicy Italian Sausage

-Cashew Cookie Lara Bars

–Primal Kitchen Mayo

–Primal Kitchen Ranch

–Hazelnut Nut Pods

–Sloppy Joe Baked Potatoes

–Spaghetti Squash & “Chicken Parm”

I had the intention of inserting my before and after pictures but looking them over I CANNOT tell a difference. Not sure if my lighting was better the first time but I honestly feel like my “before” pictures looked better. Either way here are the only two measurements that really had any change:

Weight: -3lbs

Waist: -1 inch

I measured other body parts but they barely changed if at all! Incase you were curious I did this challenge with my roommate, Katelyn, and she had far more drastic results than I did so head over to her Instagram to see her recap!

Let me know if you try the Whole30! Follow me on Instagram and shoot me a message if you have any questions! 🙂