My First Week on Whole30
This past Monday was my first day of Whole30. Some of you may know what that is, others may not, so let me give a very basic description. Whole30 is a 30 day program designed to essentially reset your relationship with food. No dairy, grains, legumes, and most importantly no sugar. Those are just the basics, there are other rules in the program, but I will let you explore those on your own if you are interested. Today is day 7 for me, and figured why not share my thoughts and experiences for the first full week on the program.
The most shocking part of this week to me has been how much I have already learned about food. One major rule on this program is no added sugar or sweeteners of any kind. Really the only source of sugar you are allowed is anything that is naturally sweet. Let me tell you this makes grocery shopping incredibly difficult and time consuming. There is added sugar in so many things! I honestly thought this would be a fairly easy rule to follow. I was completely wrong. Chicken sausage, pasta sauce, salsa, even bacon all have added sugars in them! I could honestly dedicate an entire post writing out a list of items I found with added sugars. I spent twice as long as normal grocery shopping on this program from checking all the labels. Sure I used to check the calorie content and such on labels before, but the ingredient list didn't really concern me that much. Lesson learned.
I want to spend some time talking about how I felt this week as well. The first few days I honestly felt fine. I was eating fairly healthy before I started this, so it wasn't a huge shock to my system... then Wednesday hit. On Wednesday I started feeling tired, a bit achy, and honestly just all around crabby. We all have off days so I didn't think too much about it. The aches I figured were just sore muscles from my weight training the day before. Thursday rolled around and I felt the same way. Aches, fatigue, and I was irritable once again. I went to my personal training session and let him know that I was feeling off. Although it was still a good workout, it wasn't quite as intense as I am used to. I was suppose to have a second session on Friday, but we decided to cancel as we both figured it would be better to not push it. Friday was much better, but I still felt tired and I had a slight headache. Then midday Saturday came and it was like an internal switch was flipped. Suddenly I felt way better and had my energy back. As soon as that happened I knew I was experiencing sugar withdrawal type symptoms. I was completely unaware of how much added sugar was in the food I ate, so my body more or less had a constant supply of sugar. I suddenly did a full turnaround cutting it completely and my body was angry with me. I have watched plenty of videos and read many blogs on Whole30, and it seems this is fairly common in the first week. It is honestly pretty scary to think how dependent my body was on that constant stream of sugar.
One other major thing I noticed about myself starting this program is my willpower. It is a lot stronger than I thought. My boss's wife stopped into the office this week and surprised me with coffee and a cookie. I passed on the cookie (although I told her how thankful I was of course) and although she brought me sugar for the coffee, I drank it black. I never would have dreamed of drinking black coffee before this and I honestly didn't hate it! To know there was a tasty chocolate chip cookie all for me and not eat it was a big step as well. Sweets are my downfall (clearly from the symptoms I was having). I learned that when I put my mind to it, I can stick to what I want. Big positive there!
I only provided a very basic summary of the program, there are a lot more rules that I didn't mention. I personally decided to skip the no weighing yourself rule as I like to be able to report to my trainer weekly. I did, however, take all my measurements the day before I started. This way the end result with be a non scale victory as well. They also ask that you try not to snack too often. The eating schedule I am on now, including snacks between meals, is working for me. I did not want to change the schedule I have in place. I am following most of the rules, but bending a few as well. This is only to mention a few.
My biggest piece of advice if you are interested in Whole30 is to do your research. Make sure you know of all the rules not just the ones I mentioned. There are a ton of resources online, just google it! Make sure you have plenty of tools to reference along the way as well. I bought myself a cookbook (review in the future?) and a day by day handbook to guide me in this process. I also made sure I had plenty of meal ideas and recipes on top of the cookbook on hand. Trust me your food choices are limited on this plan, but there are so many recipes and ideas out there to prevent you from getting bored. Ask around and see if you know anyone on or who has done the program as well. The more information and resources you have going into this the better! Make sure you do your prep as well! If you are someone who is not a planner and a grab and go type, do not do this program. Meal prep is essential to be successful.
I want to spend some time talking about how I felt this week as well. The first few days I honestly felt fine. I was eating fairly healthy before I started this, so it wasn't a huge shock to my system... then Wednesday hit. On Wednesday I started feeling tired, a bit achy, and honestly just all around crabby. We all have off days so I didn't think too much about it. The aches I figured were just sore muscles from my weight training the day before. Thursday rolled around and I felt the same way. Aches, fatigue, and I was irritable once again. I went to my personal training session and let him know that I was feeling off. Although it was still a good workout, it wasn't quite as intense as I am used to. I was suppose to have a second session on Friday, but we decided to cancel as we both figured it would be better to not push it. Friday was much better, but I still felt tired and I had a slight headache. Then midday Saturday came and it was like an internal switch was flipped. Suddenly I felt way better and had my energy back. As soon as that happened I knew I was experiencing sugar withdrawal type symptoms. I was completely unaware of how much added sugar was in the food I ate, so my body more or less had a constant supply of sugar. I suddenly did a full turnaround cutting it completely and my body was angry with me. I have watched plenty of videos and read many blogs on Whole30, and it seems this is fairly common in the first week. It is honestly pretty scary to think how dependent my body was on that constant stream of sugar.
One other major thing I noticed about myself starting this program is my willpower. It is a lot stronger than I thought. My boss's wife stopped into the office this week and surprised me with coffee and a cookie. I passed on the cookie (although I told her how thankful I was of course) and although she brought me sugar for the coffee, I drank it black. I never would have dreamed of drinking black coffee before this and I honestly didn't hate it! To know there was a tasty chocolate chip cookie all for me and not eat it was a big step as well. Sweets are my downfall (clearly from the symptoms I was having). I learned that when I put my mind to it, I can stick to what I want. Big positive there!
I only provided a very basic summary of the program, there are a lot more rules that I didn't mention. I personally decided to skip the no weighing yourself rule as I like to be able to report to my trainer weekly. I did, however, take all my measurements the day before I started. This way the end result with be a non scale victory as well. They also ask that you try not to snack too often. The eating schedule I am on now, including snacks between meals, is working for me. I did not want to change the schedule I have in place. I am following most of the rules, but bending a few as well. This is only to mention a few.
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Day one's breakfast of eggs, sweet potatoes, spinach, and
chicken sausage. Whole30 Day by Day by Melissa
Hartwig, a daily guide.
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I do not plan to post about this weekly, but I will be sure to share my overall thoughts when I have completed it. I am taking things one day at a time and listening to my body closely along the way as well. 7 days are down... here is to 23 more!
2 comments
Looks like we started at the same time! I have done strict low carb befire so the added sugars are no surprise. I'm enjoying eating potatoes on this plan, though. Hardest things for me so far are cream in my coffee, Splenda in my tea and no wine, especially after my cooking marathon on Saturday. Have a great second week!
ReplyDeleteHi Wendy! Thank you for your comment! I am sorry I am just getting back to you now! I agree the potatoes are definitely making this a lot easier for me as well. And the coffee thing was a huge step for me as well. I always but sugar in my coffee but I have been okay with just the nutpods creamer. I hope you are still going strong just like me!
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