https://www.instagram.com/p/BUdlgClA3kr/?taken-by=sherlonya
A little while ago, I decided that I was going to do a Whole 30.
You know the one. The plan where you eliminate a bunch of different things from your diet. By a bunch of things, I mean added sugar, grains, legumes, ALCOHOL (moment of silence, please), and dairy. The idea is that you pare down your diet, get used to eating that way, feel great and have more energy. There is also a phase where you slowly and deliberately re-introduce the foods that you’ve eliminated and see how your body responds to them. I’ve seen Whole 30 described as elimination diet meets paleo diet.
Despite not being religious, I gave up alcohol for Lent. I like to abstain from alcohol that from time-to-time, but hadn’t done so in a long while and the Lenten season seemed to be as good a time as any. When I did that, though, I noticed that a couple other habits shifted with this change. For example, I found myself eating less bread since I would often pick up bread when I hit the Whole Foods happy hour after work. Same goes for cheese. I ate out less, too.
I had flirted with the idea of doing a Whole 30 in the past, but not long after abstaining from alcohol for a while seemed like a good time to try it. I mean, what’s another 30 days? However, I had a road trip planned, and knew that I didn’t want to be on this plan during that trip as food-oriented as I am. So, I decided to start the day I came back. (Which also meant that I was determined to enjoy the whisky I bought in Kentucky the night I got back from my trip since it’d be another 30 days before I’d sip again).
There are some things that I imagine will make this challenge easier for me than it might otherwise be.
- I have recently started drinking my coffee black.
- Beforehand, I made a point to look around for Whole 30 recipes that look good to me
- I know my way around the kitchen .
- I identified a few prepared foods that are Whole 30 compliant.
- I’ve already been eating a salad a day for the year of 2017, which means that pretty much every day, one of my meals is a salad, and a Whole 30-compliant salad is no biggie.
- I have a very strong aversion to milk itself, so the dairy thing isn’t as big a challenge for me as it might be the next person.
- I broke up with a colleague’s candy bowl, stocking my office, instead, with apples and almond butter.
I also did grocery shopping before I took my weekend road trip in order to be ready to go, knowing that I had a full day in front of me.
Also, Whole 30 is intended as a reset, not an ongoing diet.
I’d be lying if I said that I weren’t trying to lose a little weight. However, I did not do a “before” weigh in. For the last several weeks, I set up a rule for myself that I’m not allowed to weigh myself more than once every two weeks. This is pretty important because my relationship to my scale is fraught at best.
I’m ready to see what the Whole 30 brings!