Sunday, October 23, 2016

Whole30...The night before I begin


I'm about to do something crazy...well crazy for me. I'm going to start a program called Whole30. In a nutshell, it is a program where you eliminate sugar, dairy, artificial sweeteners, beans and more from your diet for 30 days. It is a way to reset your body with real food. It's a reset if you will. It's a way for me to break my horrible sugar addiction, and it's a way to be more in tune with foods that don't treat me well.

It's not a fad diet. It's not designed to last forever. It's not a carb free diet. You are encouraged to eat healthy fats, natural carbs and lots of protein. It's also not a weight loss program.

I want to do this for many reasons. 

1. To break my sugar addiction.
2. To reset my body.
3. To train my taste buds to adapt to new tastes. 
4. To prove to myself I can do something for 30 days.
5. To learn which foods don't agree with my body.
*It's not a weight loss program, but I will not be unhappy if I lose pounds or inches in the process.

My fears:
1. Giving in to temptation 
2. Not planning enough in advance to have on-plan food accessible to me
3. Food boredom
4. Not seeing real results

The reasons to do this far outweigh my fears. I start tomorrow.

And in true "addict" fashion, I had a "last supper" of Cherry Vanilla Pepsi and Chewy SweetTarts.


And guess what? It didn't make me feel great.  It didn't even satisfy some internal craving.  The only reason I chose those items is because I knew they'd be off limits for the next 30 days.  I didn't choose them because I was having a sugar craving.  It's like I was trying to get ahead of the craving.  So dumb.

I felt bloated, fuzzy and ridiculous for eating that junk.

I'd like to keep track of how I'm feeling each day and the progress that I am making.  I'll still be weighing in at Weight Watchers...I rejoined about five weeks ago and have been having good success.  However, when they weigh me in, I plan to tell step on and close my eyes and have them not tell me my weight.  I don't want the number to influence how I feel internally about the better food choices.

I also plan to point out my food to make sure I am getting my 30 points.  That is not something you are supposed to do on this plan, but I'm deciding to do this for myself.  On the off chance that I gain weight, I at least want to make sure that I am getting enough food.

You are supposed to eat enough at meal 1, 2, and 3 to be able to avoid snacking.  I like that idea for a few reasons.  The snacks are where I often fall apart.  I also like the idea of my body knowing that it will get fed again in a few hours and not need to constantly graze. It's also easier in terms of planning.  I'm planning three meals, not three meals and three snacks.  And I would always gravitate towards fruit for the sweetness element.

I've been thinking about doing this since summer.  Finally taking the plunge.  My last day will be Nov. 21 which is just before Eric's birthday and Thanksgiving.  No one wants to eat fake butter on Thanksgiving!  Another good reason for doing this now is to avoid the temptation of Halloween candy and the endless snacking that we tend to do during parent teacher conferences.

There you have it.  My reasons for embarking on this crazy-for-me food plan.  I am hoping to feel great, have energy, bust the sugar habit, jump start a bit of weight loss, and learn to like new foods.

*I took my measurements and did a last weigh in that I'll see, but I'm not sharing those specific numbers.  As open of a book as I can be, I do draw a line at body numbers!

Hudson is skeptical!  Ha!  He doesn't even know what's going on.  I am not forcing my family into this new plan.  If I think they'll like a certain food or recipe, I'll make it for all of us.  If I know it will not fly, it will just be for me.  

Wish me luck!




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