What happened to us!? We're. . . Healthy. . .

I ate a lemon blackberry donut this morning, and instantly wished I hadn't. It tore me up. Jacob ate his on the way to work, and texted me to ask if he should just give the rest away. I said that was probably the best idea. Then he texted me and said, "mine tore me up too. What happened to us?" I said, "We're... Healthy..."

The Whole30 challenge is officially over, and I am totally in love with the results we have gotten. I didn't post last week with an update partly because of being busy, but mostly because our meals and lifestyle felt too normal to write a whole post about. That may be my favorite result of all. Clean eating no longer feels like a special or foreign concept. It feels normal. I never thought I would say that...

Here are some of the results that made the Whole30 challenge worth every slice of pizza not eaten and every pie we walked away from at the grocery store:

1. Jacob and I lot 15 pounds each! That is completely crazy to me, and I feel like I have lost even more than that. I have not lost any significant weight since I started gaining wait in the middle of college (2011), so this is huge!

2. We both lost inches from our waists, and I lost two inches from each thigh. Our clothes fit better. We feel more confident, and we are reenergized to keep this program going (with a few tweaks of course).

3. Jacob has completely stopped snoring. I used to have to wake him up a couple times while I was trying to fall asleep, but for the last several weeks, he hasn't snored at all.

4. Our pearly whites are actually pearly white. We haven't changed our coffee intake, but our teeth are significantly whiter than they were before. I believe it is because of all the calcium we have gotten from green vegetables we never used to eat.

5. We both have clearer skin. My cheeks are rosy again, and I haven't had any breakouts since the first week or so of the program.

6. Thinking of healthy meals is easy. This was never true for me before, which is why we resorted to take out or frozen pizza so often. After 30 days of practice, Jacob and I can whip up a compliant meal in under 20 minutes.

7. Increased appreciation for healthy foods: I appreciate now the taste of different foods in their natural state without needing to douse everything with stir fry sauce or cheese.

8. Reduced portions: With the introduction of healthy foods, we have reduced the volume of food we eat every day. In the past, Jacob and I could both eat quite a bit in a day, but now we just don't want to. One thing we love about the Whole30 is that you can eat as much as you want of the compliant foods. We didn't have to feel hungry like we have on diets in the past.

9. Reduced bloating: Jacob and I used to get very bloated some days, and we weren't sure why. Our clothes that fit ok in the morning were seriously tight by evening time. We still aren't completely sure what was causing it, but whatever it was, we haven't been eating it on the Whole30. As we add in new foods (if we add in new foods), we will be on the look out for the culprit.

10. Reduced spending: Jacob and I have not gone out to eat a single time this entire month. We used to buy groceries and then spend a ridiculous amount of money eating out when were too tired or too lazy to make meals. The food we bought would just sit in the fridge going bad while we went out. We have noticed a big change in our finances since we stopped eating out.

11. Sense of Pride and Accomplishment: One of the most enjoyable parts of doing this program has been talking to people about it and hearing other people's success stories. I have shared updates with many of my co-workers, family members, and friends, and read blogs about others who have completed the program. The sense of pride and accomplishment that Jacob and I both feel about completing this difficult challenge is something I haven't felt about my eating or health for a long, long time.

With the conclusion of the official Whole30, our plan is to relax a little on the guidelines this weekend (thus the donut this morning), and then pick back up on Tuesday. We both feel empowered to continue, and we are encouraging each other every day.

We also have a challenge we have designed for ourselves that we are starting in the beginning of July. More info on that to come!

If you are interested in trying the Whole30 challenge, I wholeheartedly encourage you to try. I never thought I could do it, but I did. You absolutely can too, and I would love to help in any way I can!

Prying Sugar from Stress

Today I officially slammed into a wall and reached the point of never wanting to eat another leaf of kale in my life, the stage in this Whole30 shenanigan where I want meat, only meat, and possibly potatoes. Luckily I can have both of those, but this Whole30 is hard.

Jacob and I are half-way through the program, and after two weeks of eating such a clean diet, I thought I would miss cheese, but it really hasn't even crossed my mind. The two foods I actually do miss are regular salad dressing and peanut sauce. Weird foods to miss, I know, but they would make meal planning so much easier!

To be perfectly honest, I have not struggled too much with following the rules and embracing compliant foods until just recently, but now I am definitely there. I have surprised myself in this challenge countless times by being open-minded and actually liking foods that would have been completely off-the-table before, but I have found myself the last couple days feeling stressed and overwhelmed at work and my stress-eating tendencies are emerging again. I have fought them valiantly (and with some frustration) and settled with apple slices sautéed in ghee and cinnamon (an excellent combination if you've never tried it) as a little taste of warm sweetness in a world of green veggies.

If there's anything I have become acutely aware of on this program its my psychological relationship and reliance on food, most of which is unhealthy. I want salty and sweet foods when I'm stressed, and I often can't get my mind off the craving for long enough to let them pass. While I've known about this tendency for a while, it has never been so glaring as it has this week. My ultimate goal by the end of this program is to break this habit of allowing my emotions to dictate my eating habit and cravings.   I am definitely not there yet, but I'm stubborn. It will happen.

The Whole30 book explains that a major component of the challenge is to break not only addictions to certain foods and ingredients (sugar mostly), but also to deconstruct psychological connections to certain foods, textures, and emotional eating tendencies. This aspect is absolutely the hardest. In fact, it takes a ridiculous amount of motivation and will power, and encouragement from Jacob doesn't hurt either.

Word to the wise: never try this program alone. I know for sure I never would have made it this far without a serious support network.

Changes we have noticed this week:
--Clearer skin
--Whiter teeth (like seriously whiter)
--Maybe some weight loss in the waist and leg areas?
--Feeling more flexible/less bloated (except for Wednesday when both of us were bloated and felt like balloons)
--Mental awareness of good food choices (no more eating hot wings and then regretting it the moment they are gone)

Aside from the trouble I have run into recently, the past week has been one of finding ways to make meals in reasonable amounts of time, and we have made some fabulous ones! Here is a look at what we have been eating.

Taco Salad with ground turkey, cauliflower rice, tomato, avocado, and lemon garlic sauce

Lettuce-wrapped turkey burgers with avocado, onion, and grilled jalapeños (on Jacob's) and grilled asparagus 

(or grapes since I still can't do asparagus)

This week, we're focusing on getting more creative with our dishes and finding more recipes that we love so we can add more variety to our diet and dig ourselves out of this rut. To do this, we're treating ourselves to buying a garlic press and a slicing mandolin for making zucchini chips. We also picked up this cookbook that I am really excited about. Although paleo is not exactly Whole30, they are very similar, and we can't wait to try some of the recipes!

Our outlook for moving forward is positive. We know this slump is only temporary even though it feels like an eternity, and we still plan to continue a Whole30-like diet that includes salad dressing and peanut sauce after the challenge is over. 

A Week on Whole30 Can Feel Like a Lifetime

Today I have officially been on the Whole30 for a week and kind of feels like a lifetime. I have made to much progress in figuring out what I can have and what is non-compliant as well as how to make a delicious meal out of ingredients I never would have chosen myself. I have never tried snow peas, but this week I bought snow peas, ate them, and loved them. I will absolutely buy them again. I discovered cauliflower rice and fell in love. I made the best salmon of my life. Nothing in my refrigerator went bad. I ate leftover stir-fry, and that alone is a groundbreaking event.

Each day has brought a unique challenge, which has also made this week feel like a lifetime kind of an iffy way.

Day1 (Tuesday): Terrible. The food we spent so long preparing was inedible, and I was in a "what-on-God's-green-earth-did-we-agree-to" panic. I thought to myself that I would not make it, and I was terrified that I would fail at this challenge. By the end of the night, I started feeling motivated again because of the newness of the program, but that fear of failure and panic were definitely present.

Day 2 (Wednesday): We went crazy at Whole Foods. Jacob and I both felt desperate to both complete the program and not be miserable eating disgusting food the whole time, so we did some research on brands of different foods, particularly sauces, that are compliant. We found very few, but they do exist! We closed our eyes to prices and called it an investment in our health and confidence. We came home feeling a little poorer but quite a bit more jazzed for what the month had to offer. We decided to abandon the recipes in the Whole30 book and think of compliant recipes that are more suited to our tastes. Jacob did experience his "Whole30 Hangover" on this day, but it was fairly minor. 

Day 3 (Thursday): A normal feeling day without a food-related crisis. We made our meals and ate them and were happy about it. We were excited and found ourselves talking about how good we felt about making the decision to start this crazy challenge and how excited we are to be in control of what we are eating, instead of our sugar-addicted brains. 

Day 4 (Friday): I thought I would die on Friday. My "Whole30 Hangover" hit me like a sledge hammer. I was in bed almost all day with insane sweats, headache, back and shoulder pain, nausea, and (ahem...) digestive issues. I have never experienced symptoms so severe without having a serious illness or stomach bug, but I believe now it was a symptom of sugar withdrawal. It's kind of sick how reliant on sugar my body was. 

Day 5 (Saturday): Saturday is when we fell into a groove, and we haven't stopped. It is easier now than ever to envision compliant meals out of a pile of ingredients. I was excited to think about combining flavors and make every one of our own meals from scratch. 

Day 6 (Sunday): Sunday felt normal too. I hadn't noticed a lot of change in body or mind, except for a strong metallic taste in my mouth. After doing some research, I believe this was a signal that my body has gone into Ketosis. This sounds absolutely horrible, but it is actually just a state where the body begins using fat for fuel instead of sugar. That means fat is burning!

Day 7 (Monday): Today I thought a lot about cake, cookies, and brownies. For some reason, my brain just goes there. I did find out today that I am allergic to bell peppers. This was somewhat of a surprise and also somewhat expected. I have always hated the smell of bell peppers, and I have never really wanted to eat them. I have always wanted to want to eat them, so in recent years I have started just going for it. Finding out now that they don't agree with my body solidifies the need for me to listen to my body and trust my instincts. 

I am thrilled to see where this challenge will take Jacob and I, and we are taking one day at a time. So far, so good! The next hurdle I plan to tackle is maintaining the program while spending less time. We have been spending a ridiculous and unsustainable amount of time prepping food and planning meals. But, right now, at this moment, I truly feel I could continue this plan well past 30 days.