I am three weeks into the Whole 30. Basically, that means I'm eating meat, vegetables, fruits and healthy fats (nuts, olive oil, avocado, etc.). I haven't eaten anything I'm not supposed to eat, even though this weekend I was at a conference and confronted with a university cafeteria. (Solution: salad bar . . . and the second day, an omelette bar!)
I'm doing my best to just focus on what I can eat, not what I cannot eat. Because, really, when you think about cheese . . . or muffins, it could make you cry.
Except for the fact that I really feel pretty great. I'm waking up so much easier than usual.
So, the big question is what to do after the Whole 30? I am thinking about what I really miss, what I don't want to live without. I will quite likely transition to a low-glycemic index diet (likeI did before) and add back into my diet whole grains (oatmeal and brown rice and popcorn!) and dairy (Greek yogurt). But I am really going to pay attention to how I feel when I eat those foods.
The truth is that a lot of diets are effective. You could count calories or points or just quit processed food. You could track your food in a dozen different ways and read a hundred different books. What works for me might not work for anyone else. You just have to keep trying.
I really like your focus on how things feel in your body. I find this emphasis the most important in my eating. I can't sustain eating things because I "should" or not eating them because they are "bad." However, eating them (or not) because of how they feel in my body is a whole different experience. Sometimes it's still hard to connect the fact that a giant piece of chocolate cake won't feel good in my body in 30 minutes+ to the desire for it now, but at least this way I'm trading one form of desire for another...much more possible!
Posted by: Kristen | February 25, 2013 at 10:42 AM
I always saw losing weight as a bizarre biological experiment, reversing what is really a well-functioning system of energy storing and release. We just live in a bad world for that kind of natural eating.
So I never approached it as a lifestyle change (although I could hope); I thought of it as a specific and very strange attempt to manipulate an organic system by an act of free will. Cheese remains in your future, absolutely. Just not for the time being, while you work on getting a little better in terms of size and energy. Good work so far. It's fun to see your progress.
Posted by: Chuck Sigars | February 26, 2013 at 12:17 PM
So true - that you have to keep trying and find out what works for you.
I'm really glad you're enjoying the Whole 30 and you're doing such a great job on it!
Posted by: Deborah | February 26, 2013 at 03:40 PM
Glad to hear you are doing well on the program. I bought the 'It Starts with Food' book the other night and have only started reading it. I'm thinking about starting the Whole30 this Saturday, March 2nd. To say that I am nervous about it, is an understatement. I am a 380+ lb woman who is addicted to junk/fast food, sugar and diet soda. Plus on top of that, I don't cook. I can cook, I just don't. So many changes, but I am tired of feeling gross, bloated, tired, etc. This will be a challenge of a lifetime for me (no dairy, no sugar, no grains, oh my). Still, it sounds like exactly what I need. My diabetes and blood pressure are out of control, even with very high does of medication.
Congratulations on the six pounds so far, but even more so for eating so healthy and learning how your body handles food. Changing relationship with food can only be a good thing.
Posted by: Tammy | February 28, 2013 at 09:29 PM
I can not understand that whole 30 is for what? is it for weight loss?
Posted by: Anna Woodford | March 12, 2013 at 04:10 AM
Found this little quote. It is quite inspirational I think.
Nothing is impossible, the word itself says 'I'm possible'!
Audrey Hepburn
Posted by: Rebecca King | March 16, 2013 at 05:00 AM