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On my last weekend of Whole30, I thought I would share some reflections.
For those of you who don't know, Whole30 is an elimination diet, in which you eliminate sugar (and sugar substitutes), dairy, grains, legumes, and alcohol for 30 days. The idea is that by getting these common food irritants out of your system, you can decrease inflammation in your body and then add them back in slowly to find out how different foods affect your body.
We did this mainly for the health benefits and curiosity. We eat pretty healthy (few processed foods, eat out rarely, and eat lots of fruits and veggies) but thought it might help kickstart some healthier habits.
Here are some of my reflections as we finish up this program:
- The eating part was not difficult - you can have potatoes, so it's simple to have a meat, vegetable, and potato for dinner. There is a lot more prep in cooking because there are very few shortcuts that you can take if you aren't eating any processed foods. I am lucky enough that my husband does the cooking, so the bulk of this work was on him. (Love you, honey!)
- Breakfast gets boring. Pretty much you can have eggs. So you will find yourself eating leftovers for breakfast sometimes. I even ate chicken salad quite a bit for breakfast!
- Even after almost 30 days, I do not like black coffee. I have tolerated it to avoid a caffeine-withdrawal headache, but I am ready for a cappuccino again! I am hoping that I will be able to get by with far less sweetener now that have gone without it for a month, but I love my rich, sweet coffee in the morning and that is not something I am willing to give up for good!
- I have not been hungry between meals at all - I'm pretty sure I'm eating far more protein than I was. I will continue to try to eat more protein throughout the day.
- Eating out is nearly impossible. There is one item you can have at Chipotle and it is delicious (picture below), and we were able to eat at a steakhouse by getting the gluten-free menu and asking for unseasoned meats and oil/vinegar for salad dressings. But other than that, there is no eating quickly on the go.
- I can tell that my taste buds have changed. "Real" food tastes much better - like a sweet potato (even with no butter, cinnamon, or sugar) is SO GOOD!
- We have definitely broken out of some food ruts, which has been good, but I'm ready for tacos and some rice and beans! :)
- Overall, I'm glad we did this, but I am SO READY for my coffee on Monday morning! (And the Cadbury mini eggs in the freezer are calling my name!!)
Salad, Avocado, Vegetable Soup
Chicken, Vegetables, Avocado, Fruit
Pastelon de platanos maduros (Puerto Rican style), Salad
(My husband can cook!)
Pork Salad from Chipotle
Dry burger, Sweet potato, Fruit
(from Steakhouse)
Cilantro Lime Chicken with homemade pico de gallo
Pastelón de papas (Puerto Rican style)
(So yum! - I ate these leftovers for breakfast for a week!)
Chicken salad on lettuce, carrots, apples, grapes
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