Once upon a time there was a girl who ate semi healthy, worked out a little, but was never satisfied with her body.
That girl was me. I knew that I should eat mostly healthy foods, work out a little, but never really did it for the right reason or felt comfortable in my body.
I wanted to improve my health. Feel better in my own skin. Know what I am eating. And to be cautious of the toxins I was putting in the body that God created.
So, that is why I decided to begin this oh so populated and all over the internet diet called the Whole30.
Whole30 means no gluten, dairy, grains, sugar, legumes, and alcohol for thirty days.
My motivation and reason to do W30 was to prove to MYSELF that I had the self-determination and the will power to eat RIGHT for 30 days to improve my overall health and body.
So here are the truths to how Whole30 benefited me:
1. I lost weight. No, I did not step on a scale once, so I cannot tell you how many lbs. I lost, but I FEEL so much better. I can tell in my clothes that I have lost weight. It doesn’t matter to me how many pounds I dropped. For me, all that matters is how I feel under my skin.
2. No more heartburn. Seriously, heartburn was killer for me prior to starting the W30. Doctors told me time and time again to remove dairy from my diet and the heartburn would subside, but of course I never listened. But seriously, during W30 I took NO heartburn medicine and NEVER had heartburn.
3. I slept better, and my energy was much steadier. I woke up easily and felt good all day long.
4. The victory of making a healthy decision based on self-discipline and seeing it through. Y’all, this is a big one!! With W30 there are NO cheat days. And this is HARD. But I am so proud of myself that I DID IT!! I stuck through it and had self-discipline to finish.
5. I felt good. I wasn’t hungry, I wasn’t overly full. I just simply felt good after a meal.
6. The quality of my workouts improved and so did my mindset.
7. I feel reconnected to my body.
The W30 required lots of planning and lots of researching on what is in the food you eat, but my overall experience was wonderful. I found so many great recipes on Pinterest and never really ate the same thing twice. There are so many great ideas out there!
So, what is next after completing W30 for me? Some people slowly re-introduce food groups back into their diet (which is what the Whole30 researches suggest). However, for me, I am going to try to continue to keep certain food groups out, but every once in a while, I will allow myself to have a “cheat meal.” I will eat "right" and healthy 24/6. The main food groups that I want to mainly stay away from are processed food, fried food, sweets, and dairy. It really makes me feel SO much better knowing that I am putting only GOOD food into my body.
Did I love W30?! YES!! It isn’t a diet that restricts yourself or makes yourself miserable. Rather, it is an amazing way to take better care of yourself. Personally, W30 allowed me to improve my health, think about things before I ate them, feel better in my own skin, and to realize that God wants us to care about our body.
I am happy to answer any questions about Whole30 or give advice. And I would love to hear experiences from fellow Whole30 program graduates.
