Today I start the Whole 30 for the second time. I successfully completed a round last month and had such a good experience that ending the round didn’t sound at all appealing. After completing the thirty days, I spent the next two weeks eating about eighty percent Whole 30 and two weeks after that eating what I wanted. It was sort of a casual experiment to see which new habits stuck, how my taste buds had changed and how I would react when living a life with no rules.
Turns out, I respond well to rules and struggle a bit when there are too many choices. I almost exclusively stayed compliant with my meals at home and when I packed lunches. The problems developed when I ate out or when I snacked.
It turns out that my Sugar Dragon is alive and well.
That’s ok.
You can’t expect to change lifelong habits in a month or two and it’s unreasonable to think that you can. That’s why I’m doing another round and why I’m thinking about extending this one to a full 45 days. I suspect this could be the new normal for me: a month on and then a few weeks off before starting over again. It isn’t reasonable to live Whole 30 all the time. If you have to eat out or go to a business function with food, it’s basically impossible to eat and stay within the rules. But, the truth is, I really like the Whole 30 way of eating and I love the way it makes me feel.
The Whole 30 is not a weight loss diet. It’s about eliminating foods that commonly cause allergies, inflammation, digestive issues and other health problems. Ultimately, you reintroduce foods one at a time to identify the culprit that’s causing your problems. It’s also about changing your relationship with food and that’s why I wanted to try it. With that said, I did lose weight on my first round. More importantly, I celebrated several Non Scale Victories or NSV’s as the Whole 30’iers say.
It’s this list of victories that I count on to keep me going through this round. Here are a few:
1. I sleep better. I wake up before the alarm and get up on time. At bedtime, I fall asleep quickly and stay asleep through the night.
2. My stamina is better and I no longer experience the 3 p.m. slump. I used to go scavenging for a snack or sugary drink in the mid afternoon and could almost set a clock by these cravings. This hasn’t happened in two months.
3. I’m calmer.
4. My focus is better at work and I can walk into a room and remember why I’m there.
5. I’m off my cholesterol meds!
6. My cooking skills are evolving and improving.
7. My tastes are changing and, while I may sometimes crave pancakes or candy, these things no longer taste so good when I do eat them.
8. Instead of automatically saying ‘yes’ to dessert, I now stop and think about whether I’m hungry and how a sugary treat will make me feel. I used to just eat dessert because it was there.
9. My tolerance to heat has improved. I’m guessing this is because I have lost weight.
10. Fresh produce tastes amazing! There is nothing more delicious than a fresh peach or watermelon. Fresh asparagus and sweet potatoes are pretty amazing too.
The list could actually become quite long. For example, my skin is clearer, I never feel bloated, I’m more excited to try new foods and am physically stronger. Another victory is that I’m never hungry and I don’t feel deprived just because I’m not eating treats. Instead, I feel fortunate that I can afford to buy and prepare fresh fish, vegetables and fruit. People the world over would do anything for fresh food and water and I choose to feel fortunate that these things are within my reach.
I have read that each Whole 30 round is more challenging than the one before so I’m a little nervous this may not go well or that those NSV’s may seem less plentiful. Here’s hoping round two is as good for my mind and body as the first!
Make the Journey Fun 