Whole 30 – Thoughts

by ambermae

My husband and I finished our first Whole 30 yesterday. I can’t speak for him, but I will share our scale results before telling you some of my thoughts from the experience.

He lost 10 pounds!
I lost 22 pounds!

Of course, I gained 10 pounds the week before I started so I’m pretty sure the first 10 were water, but they still count! I wish I had taken measurements before we started because my body shape changed pretty dramatically. Our scale measures body fat percentage and both of ours stayed about the same.

Now, the thoughts. I enjoyed my Whole 30 very much. The first week I was hungry. The second week I was full and feeling kind of sick. By the third week I just felt awesome. I rarely had cravings or felt like I was being deprived except in social situations, and even then I’m sure it was mostly a mental thing. I can see why some people would choose to eat this way all the time. I may choose to do so after we return from our big vacation weekend.

My relationship with food feels different now. I feel like I am actually in control of food instead of it being in control of me. We stuck very closely to our weekly menus during the last 30 days, which certainly has not always been true. Usually it wasn’t too difficult to convince ourselves to eat out if we were tired, or cranky, or just didn’t feel like eating what I had planned. For the past 30 days I cooked everything I intended to cook. We wasted a lot less food than usual. We also spent a lot more on groceries than usual, but I think we made up for it by not popping out for fast food, or snacks, or dinner all week long.

One result of eating at home was that my husband and I needed to find other things to do with each other out of the house besides eat. I think we had just begun to think about this by the time our 30 days were over, so we have more work to do there. We have long talked about finding some active thing that we can do together.

Going to a party without grazing at the buffet table was an interesting experience for me. I know that social pressure (rather, pressure I invent in social situations) contributes significantly to my bad food habits. I felt really uncomfortable in that room full of people who I know and love without a plate full of food. That was weird and requires more thought.

It was a new and strange experience to feel energized after a meal instead of sleepy. I can’t say that I felt great bursts of energy all the time, but it was effortless to do things like run around with the kids or get a quick workout done. Before the Whole 30 those things seemed kind of impossible.

This is probably the single greatest thing I have ever done for myself. I didn’t realize the extent to which I had been hiding before. Losing 30 pounds since February doesn’t hurt, but feeling the confidence that comes from knowing that I am doing good things for my body is really what feels the best. I need to keep this up.

Before (July 2010):

I made a point of hiding from cameras after seeing this photo. I also gained another 15 pounds in the time since it was taken.

After the Whole 30:

Not a dramatic change, but I couldn’t get that shirt on before the Whole 30! I also dragged my husband out with the camera so we could find that same tree and take a picture.

I still have a long way to go, but now I feel like change is possible. Yay!