My Whole30 Experience

I write this on my 30th day of this program.
You see that?  NO ALCOHOL!!
For those of you that know us, that's the biggest challenge on this thing.
Matthew & I do enjoy our beer & shots & gettin' loud and rowdy.
It took going through the first week before I stopped listening for the sound of the shot glasses clinging together from the cabinet to the counter followed by the freezer door opening whenever Matthew got home.
That was our routine....from Thursday (the new Friday) night and we'd finish the bottle on Sunday.
Along with the beer or whatever we'd be drinkin' when we go out on weekends.  And Weds nights were usually spent at the Enzian with beer & a couple shots (y'know, to help with digestion).
At the very least, 5 days of professional drinking.

On behalf of my liver, I needed a break.
So, when Martha posted this link for Whole30 on facebook, I was saw it as a sign & perfect timing.
In this, I also needed Matt's help & knew both of us would benefit from it.
We'd both set and completely failed to meet a goal for March 2nd, so, like I said, the timing was perfect.

Matthew was not a fan of this Whole30 thing.  We actually got into a disagreement about it when I first pitched it - his knee-jerk reaction was to call it a Nazi Diet and he'd said how "not fun" it looked.
Mainly because of the No Alcohol thing.
Matthew's also a huge fan of chips and breads & peanut m&m's.
But since I gave going paleo a whirl almost a year ago, we'd already been cooking/eating well at home and really only needed to make & stick to a few adjustments.
1. No alcohol.
2. Going out to eat less.
3. Less snackin' on sugar & starchy carbs
Matthew finally warmed up to the idea of going through this and then...about a week into it, had to leave on a work trip to South by Southwest.
I knew that was going to be tough for him.  His favorite travel snack is, of course, peanut m&ms and there are such great bars and he'd be with colleagues, etc.
But we packed him up with a buncha cashews & pistachios and he loaded up on some Whole Foods once he got there and stayed strong when going out with the fellas.
Incredibly proud of him since he didn't really wanna do it to begin with.

Also, about a week in, he started thanking me for getting us to change things up.

The first thing I noticed right off the bat was that sleeping was AWESOME!!
I sleep so freakin' good now, it's insane.
The only time I do wake up is to pee because of the water I drink during the day.
Before, I'd wake up at least once and not be able to go back to sleep for 30mins to an hour.
After only a few days, I was sleeping through the whole night and so deeply, I wouldn't hear Matt get up for the gym at all.  And getting out of bed was way easier because I was actually well rested.

My head started to clear, too....which was one of the reasons for how poorly I'd been sleeping before.
I'd start thinkin' about shit and my head just wouldn't shut up.
Or I'd get overwhelmed by my thoughts throughout the day, have too much going on at once, totally disheveled and disorganized.
It was kinda funny to notice that the more my head started to clear, the more I also started to unclutter my surroundings.
My Lair is cleaned up and more organized.
The kitchen, too.
Next to tackle...the closets.
I attribute some of these feelings to Spring as well, since it is spring cleaning season.

I must confess I broke the last rule and weighed myself periodically.  Matt, too.
He said he's lost about 25lbs since we started.
I've lost about 16lbs.
Matt's still hitting the gym.
I haven't at all.  Maybe a walk in the neighborhood here and there, but no new routine at all.
I wanted to focus solely on the food changes before tackling the physical exertion that can mess with what you consume (duh, working out makes you eat more, let me find my base again first).

With that, we both also noticed that our stinky b.o. had changed.  It was far less funky when Matthew came home from the gym.  He doesn't smell like the varsity football locker room anymore & doesn't bitch about how all of his gym clothes stink as soon as he puts'em on after they've been through the laundry.
And my pits don't smell like onions anymore if I miss a day of deodorant (don't judge me, I work from home).

OH!! One thing I feel the need to mention, for you ladies (good for you guys to pay attention to, too, if you know what's good for ya)....I had no cramps at all this month.  Mood swings were minimal (Matt wasn't around either, so that might've had somethin' to do with it - HA!!) and I didn't break out as much or feel like I needed to wear sweat pants for a week.  It came and went with no fanfare or smashing of things.  Was great!!

I didn't have any cravings at all, until this past weekend.  The weather was nice and we were at an old Mt. Dora joint where eating a sammich and drinkin' a beer woulda been heavenly.  And then afterwards, we walked through a Fresh Market and the smells in there were driving me batty.
I even went by the bakery just to fuck with myself.  But I stayed strong and the feelings subsided as soon as we got home.  We'd even put down some shredded coconut & skipped the coffee because there were artificial things in each.
I see it as an accomplishment - to not be tempted or have cravings until day 26?  That's pretty good.

And speakin' of coconut...I have seen heaven and it is made of coconut oil.
Anyone who doesn't like coconuts....I feel kinda bad for you because you really are missing out.
Maybe we can talk about coconut oil later.  It deserves its own blog.

We'll still continue to eat Whole30 at home and will make better choices when we're out, but we do have plans to go to Enzian tomorrow night and I would like a large Left Hand Milk Stout, please & thank you.
I'll give you a review on how I feel the following day because I'm sure I'll feel like shit & that'll be an interesting experiment in and of itself.
But I'd really like a stout.