I also want to share my own personal experience with this program. Everyone is different and has a different lifestyle. Parts of the Whole30 program were easier for me to "get through" and that probably ties into the huge success I've had. I didn't have to go work or homeschool or even leave the house for more than a few hours at a time. I could really just focus on the basics around here plus eating. For thirty days, I said no to grains, cereals, seeds, legumes, sugars, oils (with exceptions), and some other stuff that I can't remember now. I ate eggs, vegetables, some fruit, a few cashews or almonds, and meat that looked like meat (like not lunch meat or cured meat). I didn't worry about whether or not my meat was grass-fed or organic, but I did have to worry if it was cured or prepared with sugar.
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| Does it look appetizing? Ummmmm.... the jury is still out on that! Satisfying? YES. I was full after eating only half. |
The habit changing part is what blew me away... I stopped eating mindlessly in front of the computer. The rule about sitting down in a chair and looking at your food while you eat it was a real eye opener. I found that I stopped eating earlier when I could see my food instead of a screen. I always ate my breakfast and lunch in front of the computer. Now I don't. The other bad eating habits I had seems to slip away as I started eating food that left me satiated. The snacking stopped when I realized it was okay to be hungry between meals. And then I stopped being hungry between meals.
The thought that I didn't have time to chop vegetables went away when I realized that I actually have more time in a day now that I'm not peaking and crashing on sugar all day. I'm not eating for as long during the day; it really only takes me about 15 minutes to eat, so my meals take less than an hour for the entire day. I wake up with more energy so I don't have to linger in front of two 16 ounce cups of coffee each morning. It really did take me one whole hour just to wake up each morning before I changed my habits and started chopping vegetables for breakfast! And now I'm good on 8 ounces of coffee with none in the afternoon.
I no longer get immediately crazily hungry. Now I feel a subtle signal that tells me I will be hungry in about an hour and it is time to start prepping. I've never ever felt that signal in my life. It was almost as awesome as when I first felt the urge to push when Fiona was born. It was a sign that my body was working the way it was created to...wow!
I used to gag when Mark and his dad ate something weird for breakfast. Tamales, chili, leftover spaghetti... what the heck? Normal people eat eggs, oatmeal, pancakes, and muffins for breakfast! This morning I had leftovers for breakfast. And it was leftover lunch from yesterday mixed with leftover dinner from last night. And it was gooooood! Imagine starting your day with tomatoes, red peppers, onions, mushrooms, green zucchini, yellow squash, eggs and ground beef.
I have no immediate plans to return to easy eating. I'm not quite sure that I would just slip right back into my old habits. Sure, beans can't be too bad for you and I love chili. But I don't like chili unless I add some grated cheese, a dollop of sour cream, and dip it all out with chips. So I'll just not eat beans. It would be easy for me to say, "Oh a little sugar in my teriyaki can't be too bad..." and then find little excuses here or there to keep slipping sugar into my meals. I'm just like that. I'm good at bending rules. That is why Weight Watchers never worked for me; there were too many ways to break rules and cheat/reward yourself for your good eating by getting to eat badly. I'm not going to be "Paleo" because there are way too many dessert recipes with Paleo-friendly ingredients that are still not good for me or my eating habits. So for now, it'll be just meat that looks like meat, veggies, and fruit.
