So I started Whole 30 on Wednesday. I had to get through Micah's birthday on Saturday and be able to go to Costco on Monday to stuff our fridge with all the things, both normal (lots of fruit and vegetables) and not (almond flour, avocado oil). The idea of Whole 30 is to eat lots of whole, unprocessed food--meat, vegetables, fruit, and healthy fats--for 30 days, with no dairy, grains, legumes, or sugar.
This past year has been a hard one for me, weight-wise. Usually after I have a baby, it takes awhile to lose the last 10 pounds, but eventually most of them go away. Over the course of 17 years (until I got pregnant with Verity), I had gained a little more than 20 cummulative pounds. I wasn't happy with that, especially since it was all in my tummy, but whatever. After I had Verity, those last 10 pounds from her pregnancy never went away though. I thought I'd lose weight after she stopped nursing in August, but ha! Not only did I not lose weight, I gained 10 more pounds over the course of the past 8 months!
I did try several different things. I started taking a probiotic in October. That made me feel a lot less hungry, and I never got sick over the winter . . . but I never lost a pound. After New Year's, I tried a few different things, like having a shorter window of eating during the day (gained 2 pounds), and eating like I was on my gestational diabetes diet (also gained 2 pounds). Gaining weight while being unhappy and trying to lose was about the most discouraging thing I could think of, and definitely not a motivator to keep doing what I was doing! It really seemed like my body was holding desperately onto my stores of fat. I could practically hear my body talking, "Any day now you'll be pregnant, and how will you possibly grow a baby if you are WITHERING AWAY?!?" Somehow it did not get the message that we are done, LOL.
So I decided to try Whole 30. I even got the book and read it (It Starts With Food). Their whole section on the hormonal interplay really resonated with me. We had just covered the endocrine section a few weeks ago in AP biology, so it was all very fresh, and everything they said made sense. This entire past year I've felt like my body was sending out different signals than I wanted it to, and I really feel like I need a restart for my metabolism, hypothalamus, everything.
I told the kids my big plan, and they were aghast. Luke pointed out that it was the worst possible timing for him to change his diet, since he is 2 weeks from the start of AP exams, and 3 weeks away from mock trial nationals, plus he is in the middle of rugby season. Fortunately, I had not planned on having the kids participate. I mean, it's always good to eat more fruit and vegetables, but no way am I cooking for everyone with these random weird things, like mayo made of avocado oil, or this soy sauce substitute made from coconut tree sap called "coconut aminos". We would go broke! They don't need to cut out all carbs, and I'm not going to spend time looking at every label to avoid soybean oil or whatever. Anna planned out a 30 day menu for everyone else that she will help with, and I printed out a ton of recipes for Bob and me. My plan (and how it's worked out these first 3 evenings) is for them to have a normal main dish, Bob and I have something like chicken or whatever, and I have a normal vegetable, like steamed broccoli or some roasted vegetable, as well as a new preparation of some different vegetable. I've been having a salad for lunch, and I've done different things with eggs and vegetables each morning for breakfast. I do miss my bran flakes and hard boiled egg!
I'll keep updating with how I'm doing. The book is all about not checking the scale, just focusing on how good you feel, how much better you're sleeping, how your face has cleared up, etc. I'll be honest though--I don't have any other real issues with skin, inflammation, or sleeping. I want to lose weight, and if it takes 6 months or whatever to see change, I will be totally demoralized, and there is no way I'll be able to give up milk, grains, and beans for that long with no positive reinforcement!
3 comments:
We did a modified paleo diet in the fall (no grains - kept dairy). I lost nothing. I've gained weight this year too, especially the last 2 months. Driving me crazy. I think I need to start lifting weights! Eric got me a Fitbit for my birthday in November. I average between 11,000 and 12,000 steps a day, which should be enough to keep me from gaining weight! Ack. Being over 40 stinks. - Tonya D
Oh, and we had the entire family on the diet! CRAZY time consuming and expensive! After a month, we went to eating "normally" at lunchtime and the modified paleo the rest of the time. - Tonya D
I did SO great while we were actually ON the Whole 30. I lost probably 15 pounds and 2 inches around my waist. I did not do the re-entry diet, though, and one week later I had "gained" an inch. It wasn't poundage, though...definitely bloat. :-( I've discovered I do/feel better if I'm more or less "on" the Whole 30, but while I don't have to follow it completely, if I stray too far, I bloat out again. I probably should do it again with a strict reentry to see what exactly causes the poofing out of my belly again...but it's hard to be completely committed when it's just me! Having Ted do it with me the first time was very helpful. He's not too excited about doing it as a lifestyle, lol. I'm such an all or nothing person that to try to "mostly" follow it is not really doing it for me physically, sigh. This being over 40 thing really does stink...I'm with Tonya on that.
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