It's been almost a month since my Whole30 challenge ended. No grains, no dairy, no legumes, no sugar (of ANY kind) for 30 days.
Have I reverted back to my old {bad} eating habits since then?
No, not really. Although I've added dairy back into my diet I haven't noticed any severe adverse effects from doing so. I allow some sweeteners such as honey or maple syrup or agave, but I've been pretty good at keeping white sugar out of my diet.
This has been a long, cumulative process for me to get to this point of healthier eating. For the most part, I have eliminated wheat and processed sugar from my diet. My 30 days without garbage food left an indelible impression on me, namely, that I felt better overall and had tons more energy from eating the right things. I started sleeping so much better also. Sleeplessness seems to be a thing of the past now.
Some of my old snack staples are now snacks of the past -- Pringles, Butterfingers (and these are still in the house because hubby likes 'em!), pastries from Panera -- nada since early September. The upside? I have NO desire to eat any of my old snacks.
For the sake of the hubby, I have eaten some restaurant food items in the last month. A chicken flatbread pizza at Buffalo Wild Wings, a coney dog with cheese covered french fries at Freddy's Steakburgers, a chicken wrap with fries at Red Robin..... honestly, the worst was the coney dog. I felt horrible afterwards, SOOOOO bloated and yucky feeling. I only ate half of the wrap at Red Robin, with some of the fries, not all of them, so I didn't feel so awful afterwards.
I'm good with occasional cheats. And I do mean occasional. I feel so much more alive and vibrant when I eat the right things, and that's worth a lot to me.
I'll admit I'm still not the best veggie eater, and I will always be a work-in-progress where vegetables are concerned.
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| Fresh salsa from our garden veggies |
I use so many food items from our kitchen pantry now, more than ever, and I have new favorite kitchen tools. I bought this little mini spatula/spoonula set from Target last year, and now I use it AllTheTime!! I wish I could provide you a link, but I can't find this little gem anywhere nowadays. If I remember right, it was less than $10 for the set. I love the molded all-in-one-piece design (no food gunk gets into hidden places) which makes for easy clean-up. I'm glad I bought a set for my son and daughter-in-law before they disappeared!
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| Can't live without. |
My new favorite snacks are minimally processed nuts from area health food stores (Yum Nuts cashews is my #1 fav), Fage brand plain yogurt, an occasional Noosa honey flavor yogurt, and occasional Bare Fruits apple chips. I eat way more fresh fruit these days -- apples, bananas, pears -- and I keep oranges and limes on hand to slice up for my water.
Speaking of water, I bought a
Pur water pitcher from Amazon so my water is a bit cleaner than it might be if I were drinking it straight from the tap. I have never been fond of water, but this experience has taught me the importance of drinking more water and keeping myself hydrated.
I try to go for a walk with Trixie and Ringo almost every morning. They both look forward to our walks, esp Trixie. Ringo has always gone outside with me to do farm chores. He's the best off-leash dog in the world. Trixie, not so much. So these walks are pretty exciting for her, since she's typically accustomed to the large penned area we have for the dogs.
Sometimes I leave the dogs in the house and go for a run. Trixie & Ringo are both around 10 years old, and Ringo's hips have started bothering him the last few years (I give him Cosequin DS everyday, which does help a lot). They both tend to slow me down when I run.
I still have more to do -- more exercise, a few more pounds to lose. I've lost in the vicinity of 10-12 lbs but would like to lose at least 5 more pounds. It's not imperative, just a minor goal at this point. The major goal was to FEEL better, and I've accomplished that.
Bottom line?
This is what's right for me, at this point in my life. I'm not saying it's right for everyone out there. In the first place, you need to reach that point in your life where you just can't stand the crappy way you feel most days. You have to reach that point where you say "enough is enough". That's when you'll find the motivation and chutzpah to make the necessary changes, no matter how drastic they may seem.
I'm getting older and quite frankly, I don't want to coast into old age on the couch. I want to live life large and do as much as I can do before something happens to render me incapable. I'm 52 and soon to be 53. This does not even seem possible, and yet the calendar says it is so, much to my chagrin. My body also reminds me of this fact the last few years, with more aches and pains, and less endurance. I really hate that.
Would I recommend the Whole30 challenge to others? You betcha! Is it hard? Only the first few days. And they ARE hard. There's no soft-pedaling that one. But so worth it.
In fact, I'm sure I will do it again, as needed, to remind myself of what's best for my physical body.
So my final takeaway is that I've finally cleared most processed food out of my diet, and I've stuck to it this time, and I don't miss it one iota. Not only do I have no desires to eat Taco Bell or McDonald's or Sonic, quite frankly, I don't want to put that kind of nasty food into my better-for-me "new" body. My slimmer, new me along with more energy and endurance and overall positivity are not worth sacrificing for fast food or Pringles or Ho-Ho's!
Note: If you're interested in trying the Whole30 challenge, read my prior blog posts regarding my experience. There are many links to other websites, with several recipes, in those older posts.
