A couple of months ago I was on Pinterest (Yes, I'm one of those slightly addicted people!) and came across a pin for something called The Whole30 program. It was a food program that followed a very strict paleo style diet that claimed to get rid of sugar cravings, give you more energy, kick start your metabolism, help with skin and digestion. I am always skeptical of "diets" and weird cleanses where all I can consume for a week is wheat grass juice or bananas. But this seemed pretty normal. You cut out dairy, soy, grains, alcohol, legumes, sugars (including artificial and natural, IE aspartame, stevia, honey) and a few additives: carrageenan, MSG and sulfites. The surprising thing to me was you still get to eat REAL food! Lean meats, fresh vegetables and fruit, healthy fats and nuts.
So after reading and researching for several weeks I decided I wanted to give this a try. I had several things I wanted this program to address. The main two being my digestion and sugar cravings. I also wanted to see how it helped some inflammation in my back and knees. The program also claimed to increase and stabilize energy levels and who doesn't want that.
In all honesty I thought the program would be a lot easier for me than it was. The first few days were fine, good even. I felt like I was doing some thing good for my body. The food was tasty, this was going to be a breeze! The first week was ok, took a little bit of adjusting to eating eggs every morning (I really don't care for eggs) but I noticed by the end of the first week my blood sugar levels had stabilized! I was no longer getting shaky and grumpy every few hours! I was certain I had this under control.
Then by week 2 I was tired of eating the same foods. I felt like I didn't have any variety (I really wanted some milk in my coffee and yogurt and granola). I really don't like vegetables, I eat them because they are good for me and I'm an adult, but I really don't like them. So I found that I wasn't eating a lot at all. I would have coffee for breakfast and then not eat anything until 1 or 2 in the afternoon. What I did eat was watermelon and chicken......and that was about it. I started to feel lethargic and down.
By week 3 my energy levels did start to stabilize and my sugar cravings had greatly decreased! At this point though I really just wanted to eat comfort food and for me this was chicken and dumplings and lima beans and rice! I would have to say week three was the best week for me. My cravings were minimal, energy levels were balanced. I was feeling pretty good.
Days 25-28 were by far the worst days for me of the entire program. I was grumpy, hungry, frustrated and just wanted to EAT! I'm pretty sure this was my fault though because at this point I really wasn't eating anything, let alone the healthy meats and veggies I should have been. But by day 29 I was feeling much better, mainly because I had almost made it!
Day 31! The day I had been waiting for the last month had finally arrived! And all of my hard work went down the drain. See you are supposed to slowly incorporate food groups back in. Well.....I didn't do that. I had cereal and milk for breakfast, cheesy pizza and cinnamon sugar pretzels for lunch, beans and rice for dinner and chocolate chip cookies for dessert. Needless to say I had a HUGE bellyache that night.
It has been 2 weeks since the end of my Whole30 journey. I will say that I have eaten worse after than I did before. I think I lost sight of why I was doing this and toward to end started to focus on the things that I couldn't have instead of the healthy food I could have. I also learned that some of those things that I love and crave are not necessarily the best things to put into my body. I've learned that gluten is not my friend. I believe it is the main cause of my digestive upset.
All in all I believe the Whole30 program has been beneficial. I'm glad I did it and I'm thankful for the knowledge I gained from it. I plan on doing it again....someday :)
