Yesterday was an amazing day. Not only was it Day 30 of our adventure on the Whole30 eating plan, but we also drove to our coastal property and took a good long look at the floor of our flourishing beach house, in 70 degree weather, the second week of February!!! There were families on the beach running and playing in shorts and t-shirts (see photo above). Unbelievable! A little scary all at the same time, could it be global warming?
Now that the massive foundation of our house, being built smack in a tsunami zone, is nearly complete, the fun really begins. Framing is next, people! Yahoo!!!
Back to the Whole30. In trying to gauge how effective the Whole30 eating plan was for me, and Blue Eyes, all I really had was the scale, and my blood glucose monitor, and my ever present allergy symptoms. I will admit that even though the plan is about the foods we put in our mouth, I did add exercise goals for the past 30 days. I started out like a house on fire, and then fizzled a bit towards the end. Not sure why, but the last week of the Whole30 was tough. I kept to the rules of the plan, but lost some momentum on my self imposed exercise component, only exercising three of the last seven days, one day of the elliptical, and two long walks. Starting today I will be kicking the exercise back up with more walking, more elliptical, and more yoga. I am still trying to figure out what the next 30 days of food will look like, and I definitely don’t want to leave it hanging and go back to old bad habits.
First on the menu is adding back in beans & legumes (and cutting back a little on animal proteins) and seeing where that leaves my blood sugars. It will definitely be an experiment as I have read some Paleo websites that absolutely blast legumes. I happen to love them and they provide some interesting non animal proteins and added fiber. During the Whole30, my fasting blood sugars fairly well plummeted from the low 200’s at the outset, to the very low 100’s about two weeks in. I called the doc and she recommended cutting out one of my diabetes medication doses completely. She said it would take a week or two for the sugars to regulate (keeping all else the same, i.e., diet and exercise). My fasting blood sugars are now hovering in the mid 150’s range, which is still a little high for a diagnosed diabetic, but moving back in the right direction. I have a blood draw and follow up doc appointment scheduled for mid March and that will be the real test of where my blood sugars have been since January. Bottom line, the Whole30 had a significantly positive effect on my blood sugar, i.e., diabetes.
Regarding my allergies, apparently they are not at all food related. I know I am severely allergic to dust and mold, and being that it is winter in our wet climate, the allergies were in high gear all month. The Whole30 did not help. For the first half of the month, all my stomach ailments were gone. However, about 2 1/2 weeks in, some stomach cramping returned and I daresay it is most likely stress and natural hormone related and will not be helped much by my diet. Bugger.
Although we both did generally feel much better on the Whole30, not consuming most of the foods that make us feel bloated and blah, weighing ourselves was a real mental gauge of how well the whole thing “worked” for us. The Whole30 team does not want people weighing themselves at all. In fact, they just want us all to go about eating based on how we feel. That is great, really great, but I have been “programmed” since I was 14 years old, to attach success or failure to what I eat and how my body reacts to it, on the scale. So on the scale we both jumped this morning. Blue Eyes lost 12 pounds. I lost 10. I can definitely see the 12 pound loss on Blue Eyes. I can see it in his face, and in his waist. He only has 10 pounds to go to his ultimate weight loss goal. He has never been very overweight, and in fact when he was young, he was very much underweight. His goal weight is very attainable and healthy. I can feel the 10 pound weight loss on me. The good thing about feeling the effect, is that the Whole30 is at its core an elimination diet. As I add back in foods that I have not been consuming, I will be able to feel how they affect me, or not. I do not want to eat regularly those foods that add weight back on, or make me feel bloated or lethargic. I know how that feels now, with and without those foods. As I add back in the legumes, and then a little bit of dairy, and eventually a small amount of grains, I will be able to feel whether they work or don’t work for my body.
I am pretty proud of us for trying the Whole30 again and sticking with it. I am happy with the results, but I need to keep going. Thirty days from now, I want to be able to say I learned even more about my body and how it reacts to foods, and I want to say I am even further towards my weight goal and my goal of eliminating all diabetes related medications from my regimen (one more to go). I have 30 more pounds of fat to lose to reach my ultimate weight goal. I have nothing negative to say about the Whole30. I think it makes sense. I’ll keep moving forward. One pound at a time!
try not to cry on my rainbow 
Bravo Kat 30 days is LOOOONG!!! well done for sticking it out, and well done for using it as a catalyst. x
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Enough time to build some new healthy habits it seems… still haven’t strayed from the path two days later, but planning some split pea soup today, one of my all time favorites. We’ll see how I do with the legumes! ❤
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I think it is amazing that you did that diet for as long as you did. Good for you! Changing eating habits is so hard but you are doing it.
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Thank you for the encouragement, it really helps! xxx
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Those are incredible results Kat and great job sticking with it for the full 30 days! Thinking about and preparing meals ahead of time is no small feat – especially when dealing with stomach cramps, stress, business and of course our own personal hell of affair recovery.
I know your health will flourish with all the good you’re doing for your body and your mind too- I love how often you are a voice of reason and encouragement for me!
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Thank you for encouraging my craziness. I do my best and sometimes I fall flat on my face, but I am usually proud of myself. My weight has been an issue for a very long time… but it never affected my health until a few years ago. Now is the time. I feel very good right now. I hope your day is improving. I know how shitty all those feelings are and sometimes it just feels impossible to dig out of that depressed place. Hugs to you. xxx
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It is better now that I got it all out. Thank you! Just have to take it moment by moment and hopefully we all will be able to look back at it all one day and say it was a crappy time but the whole of my life was good!
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I’m counting on it! Looking back. I am already there in some ways. I do honestly have whole days where nothing triggers me and I don’t even think about the mess my husband created. Yesterday and today, both very very good days. I love it when they grow together into a whole week, etc… Keep talking it out. It just doesn’t help at all to keep it inside. My husband reads my blog, so even though I don’t say it all directly to him, he knows how I feel and he metabolizes it however he can. xxx
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Did you quit eggs? My stomach pain and nasal congestion goes up in spades when I eat eggs.
I’m so happy this has been effective for you!
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No, I actually didn’t quit eggs, but there were many many days where I didn’t eat any eggs at all. Ironically, I am allergic to beaten egg whites, but there is some chemical reaction there. I’m very strange. I have had extensive allergy testing and I know it is the dust and mold unfortunately as those are so difficult to manage in the environment we live in. I am happy I am moving in the right direction. 🙂
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I didn’t show as allergic to eggs until after I eliminated wheat and a bunch of other things and what started as stomach pain is now bear anaphylactic… Just be careful. Or try to see if your aches coincide with any ingredient. My allergist said it was symptomatic of a worsening allergy…
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Since I am completely wheat free right now, it is a good time to test these things. I haven’t had eggs for days either and no stomach problems… I suppose I should go eat an egg and see what happens…
The diet eliminated all grains, beans, legumes, dairy, added sugars, preservatives, etc… they suggest once the 30 days are up that different foods be added slowly over a few days to see how the body reacts.
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😮 I have no guarantees but I found tracking my food and stomach pain far more helpful than testing for a long time. If it’s not eggs- tomatoes? Other nightshade? Peanuts? Soy… It’s in everything
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The diet eliminates all soy and peanuts, all legumes. No raw tomatoes out of season for us. I am in the middle of menopause, so that definitely throws in a curveball. Also, depending on my sugar levels, the Metformin can give me cramping. I had about a week of stomach cramping and there was no one particular food that I was eating during that time. My guess is it is hormonal, but I will keep trying other alternatives. Thanks for the ideas.
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My own food journey has been a pile of errors and weirdness so I am always open to ideas!
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ugh. Pre-pregnancy weight would be awesome. My little one is almost 6 months old and I’m still working on my motivation to get back to exercise and eating better. I saw a Whole30 cookbook at the store and thought of you. Congrats on the weight loss, but more importantly on getting healthier!
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Yes! Health is what it is about for me right now. I don’t hate my body. I can find and fit into clothes that I like most days… but that health factor, there is nothing that beats that for motivation. I wish I could hold that little 6 month old right now, snuggle up, breathe in that baby smell. With everything going on, cut yourself a little slack… and enjoy this time! I cut myself a couple decades of slack, that was not good, ha. I never did buy the Whole30 books. In that respect, the internet is an amazing thing. My Whole30 Pinterest board is quite popular. Give that baby a sweet kiss and a cuddle from me. ❤
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This little boy is so precious. He is the happiest thing alive. He just smiles- and laughs- ALL THE TIME. Apparently I was the same way as a child. I was sick alot, but my mom says I would still smile and laugh. Nothing got me down. Far cry from that these days!
As far as the weight, I actually think something is wrong. I lost almost all the weight within a few weeks but my uterus still looks and FEELS pregnant. I’ve had a few friends feel it and they freaked out. They were expecting a baby to kick. When I lay on my side it feels the same as when I was pregnant. And when I lean back it juts out like when pregnant. I’ve been having alot of back pain and shooting pains down my right leg. I also get pain around my right hip, especially on my period. I have an appt with my ob/gyn in April so hopefully I’ll get some answers then. I have very good video of my son’s birth (c-section). They had an extremely difficult time getting my uterus back in after delivery. I had too much amniotic fluid and my uterus was enormous. I have video of them squeezing my uterus like a ball, trying to get it to contract and shrink. I told them to just take the stupid thing since I’m done having kids.
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Oh my, that does not sound good. You can’t get in any earlier? My second son sound sounds like your little guy. So happy. He was 9 lbs. 1 ounce and I was HUGE… C-Section, but everything was fine post. I actually walked out of the hospital with him weighing less than when I got pregnant, and then I lost some more weight while nursing, but somehow over the years of raising those boys, and running around like a crazy person, I put on about 20 pounds and I was already about 20-30 overweight. I’m still working all that off, little by little. Yeah, it sounds like something is not quite right and that pain is not good. I hope you can get that sorted out soon. You don’t need those health issues on top of everything else. I wish there was a switch… okay, I’m not having any more kids, can we just turn off all the pregnancy/childbirth stuff already. At my age it actually becomes scary thinking about still being fertile. xxx
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I’m pulling for you! You can do it!
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Thank you, thank you!!! I do need cheerleaders. 🙂
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Well, I’ll be your head cheerleader then!
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Yay!!! I bet if I lived near you, we could balance each other out… I could get you to eat a little more, you to get me to eat a little less… ❤
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LOL. That would be fun!
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Ten pounds in 30 days is awesome, better than anything I’ve ever accomplished. You will find that keeping weight off can be just as difficult as loosing it. That being said, 10 pounds must make u feel pretty motivated. Buy yourself something pretty to show it off with 😃 that’s what I like to do. ❤️
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Yes, keeping it off is a bear. When I was first diagnosed as diabetic, I lost about 15 pounds and have kept it off for about five years. I need to get another 10 off in weight loss mode before I even think about maintenance. Ten pounds takes 30 days to take off, but about 5 days to put back on. Ten more pounds and I will weigh what I did before pregnancy… 25 years ago. That is my next goal!!! 🙂 ❤
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You can do it, it’s hard, but imagine what you’ve been through the last two years, in comparison, this is simple 💋
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Yeah, simple, ha. I do love food and it does provide me with some weird sense of comfort sometimes. I need to break away from those feelings. Sometimes I still think about hypnosis as an option. I need to retrain my brain almost as much as BE does!!! xoxo
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Oh I know lol… Who am I to talk? I go to NYC just to pig out 🐷
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Yeah, but we talk about you all the time (maybe your ears are burning) because you control it in between the splurges. You have a system that works. I need a system, that works! So girl, are we going to New Orleans, or what??? 😉 xoxo
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I do. I have 2 systems. One is called the 5:2 diet (google it). The other may or may not work for u… It’s a little unusual. I’ll explain that one to u via email.
And yes!!!!! Hell yes!!!! May. I would not let anything keep me from that! We need to solidify our plans.
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