Mich and Potatoes

As you have probably seen in a couple of my previous posts, I have been much more proactive in taking control of my personal health and well being for the last year or so. About a year ago, I heard about this "diet" from a couple of friends and started doing some research. I bought the book Whole 30: The 30 Day Guide to Total Health and Food Freedom and read about all of the tremendous benefits that people have experienced while on this "diet." I also had been curious for years if I had food intolerances as I often experienced migraines, lethargy, depression, anxiety, increasingly severe PMS symptoms, occasional abdominal discomfort and cramps, trouble sleeping through the night, and waking up feeling exhausted just to name a few. Not to mention I had let my weight grow to an embarrassingly high number that I am still embarrassed to share (although I am sure one day I will get there). I decided to give this Whole 30 thing a try last August and I can honestly say that my life will NEVER be the same again.

During my first round of Whole 30, I definitely experienced some pretty tough detox. For those of you thinking of trying W30, just warning you, detoxing from sugar is actually pretty rough! But once I got past the detox, and started building good eating habits and correcting my relationship with food, the detox became just a small sacrifice for the benefits that I already saw coming. While you cannot weight yourself during the 30 days of your reset, I did notice that things were fitting looser and noticed changes in my skin. I wasn't tired in the early afternoon like I normally was and I actually was sleeping soundly through the night for the first time in years! After the first week of detox, I didn't have another headache for the remainder of the 30 days. I was happier and had more energy and way less anxiety. I started my period towards the end of my 30 days and actually was surprised by it because I had ZERO symptoms leading up to that day (usually I would have a night of really bad insomnia and a day or two of cramps, back aches, and headaches). By the end of my Whole 30, I had lost almost 10 pounds and many of my clothes were fitting looser than they had in a long time. I felt comfortable in my own body and happy and excited about my new relationship with food and new found food freedom.

After my 30 days were over, I slowly started reintroducing specific foods back into my diet and found things that my body just doesn't tolerate as well as other things. Too much gluten for example seems to be what triggers my migraines which is why I have gone gluten free for the year. When I'm not on Whole 30, I try to keep up my food freedom ways. There are definitely days and even weeks where that is not the case. I have definitely used cookies as a spoon in my ice cream. But I can usually sense when too much is too much and quickly go back to another short W30 reset (a few days) or another round of W30.

In the last 2 years I have lost over 50 lbs and I know that well over half of that was from this last year due to W30. I have much more to lose but I'm finally encouraged that it is possible even if the process is slow going at times. This W30 thing really is more than just a diet, it is a lifestyle change and one that I highly recommend. I recently started a new instagram account in which I will be posting recipes (many/all of which I have beg, borrowed, and stolen from other bloggers and foodies... which it's not stealing if it's free right??? Thank you Pinterest!), tips, advice, and updates on my own journey in hopes of encouraging and supporting others on their own journey. We each are walking our own journey in our own way and if I can be of any help or encouragement to others along the way, then my journey will be worth it. If you are interested in following or learning more, go follow @MichandPotatoes on instagram. Next round of Whole 30 starts on August 1st and I already have a few people committed to giving it a try. If you are interested or want to know more, comment or send me a message.

This Is My Food Freedom

Today I am on day 17 of my third round of Whole 30. This third round is flying by but I am realizing so many things as I go along through this round that I wanted to share with all of you. If you remember from my last post about Whole 30, it is more than a diet, it is a lifestyle. For 30 days there is no:

• Dairy or Dairy Products
• Legumes (beans, peanuts, etc.)
• Grains (no bread, no recreating bread or baked good products with W30 approved materials, no oats, no granola...)
• Sugar or any kind (no honey, no agave, no stevia, no fake sugar...)
• Alcohol

Recently Melissa (W30 founder/cofounder/fitness nut/Major B-word/knows her stuff) changed up some of the W30 rules. They added to the list of no-no's chips of any kind and W30 approved ingredient protein and meal bars. As annoying as it is to have some new rules, I actually completely understand the reason. I cracked out a few too many times on my plantain chips (Def'n: "Cracked Out" - eating an entire bag of chips because they are salty and crunchy and delicious and you aren't actually thinking about why you are eating them... but you are probably eating them because you think you need them but you really don't). And then with the protein, fruit, and meal bars (RxBars, Larabars, etc.) other people tend to eat them like a candy bar or a treat rather than using them as fuel. While I never struggled with this, I can see how that can happen and am happy to give them up for 30 days (unless its an emergency which Melissa said is allowed so you don't break). 

As I go through round three now, I have really stepped up my meal prep game. I am spending a good 3 or so hours each Sunday prepping veggies and some sort of protein to have throughout the week. I have somehow found a good balance of not prepping too much since I will be cooking some during the week and will have leftovers from that. So far I haven't had to throw too much food away which is amazing in an of itself. I've been trying out some new recipes and experimenting with new foods. I started eating beets and added a Gut Shot (probiotic drink) to my morning breakfasts.

I have also branched out and am more comfortable eating out if necessary. I went to a girl's night dinner at BJ's and called ahead to ask about the ingredients in one of their menu items. It was just a salad, but I wanted to know if their Herb chicken was made from their own seasoning or a premixed rub. After being on hold for nearly 20 mins, they connected me with the kitchen and they informed me that sugar was not added to their seasoning. And while I thanked them for that, I asked if they make their own seasoning or if it is packaged as many pre-packaged seasonings have sugar as one of their ingredients. She was surprised to hear this and quickly went to go check the label. Sure enough the seasoning that they use includes sugar. She had no idea. I thanked her and when I went to dinner I asked for the chicken without the seasoning just with simple salt and pepper. One thing about eating out on Whole30 is you just have to know that you are going to be that annoying person with the extra special order. You also have to really trust the people who are making your food because you have no control over that really. And finally, be prepared. Do your research. Maybe bring your own dressing from home. And tip them really well because they had to listen to you order a Cobb Salad with no blue cheese, no jack cheese, no cheddar cheese, no dressing, no bacon, and chicken with no herb seasoning just salt and pepper...

Being over halfway done with round 3 of Whole 30 I am confident that I can't, won't, and don't want to go back to my pre-whole30 habits. Do I miss donuts? Yeah. Of course. But I picked up two dozen for my students today and was only a little sad that I couldn't eat one (the sadness passed very quickly... don't worry). Is it hard to go out to eat sometimes? Yeah, but it just takes a little research and extra kindness towards your server (which they probably need anyway). Is it hard when you are constantly being invited to parties, or goodies are brought to work, or it's someones birthday or... fill in the blank? Yes. There will always be something. But that's what Food Freedom is. It's not saying you can never have these treats and fancy things. It's choosing if that thing is really worth what it's going to do to your body internally, externally, physically, mentally, emotionally (yes... what you eat effects your emotions too... it's crazy!). Sometimes it's worth it. Sometimes you just want it. And that's ok. This is Food Freedom.

I put my jean shorts on the other day for the first time since last summer and they are significantly looser than they were last year (I had to squeeze into them and really suck it in to get them to fit right away). This time I put them on with ease and found that they were way too loose in certain areas and that it might be time for some new shorts. I'm lifting more than I ever have in my life (and at a lower weight). I'm feeling confident and happy and content with things in life. My face is clearer and I sleep better than I ever have before.

It's hard.

But it's worth it.

I am Whole 30. 

Whole 30 Life

Last August I embarked on one of the most terrifying challenges I have ever tried, the Whole 30 diet. Ok fine... too dramatic... It's really not that bad and it honestly has changed my life. But when you have never been successful at losing weight or maintaining a healthy relationship with food, dramatically changing the way you eat for 30 days can be a little intimidating. Especially being a teacher whose student constantly bring in treats and snacks (Did I mention that I love donuts? Bagels too!). Not to mention, 'Diet' might as well be a bad word (it is 4 letters...). 

But despite my skepticism,  I went ahead with the Whole 30 diet starting on the first day of school. For those of you who are not familiar with Whole 30, let me lay it out for you.

30 Days: 

• No Dairy or Dairy Products
• No legumes (beans, peanuts, etc.)
• No grains (no bread, no recreating bread products with W30 approved materials, no oats, no granola...)
• No Sugar of any kind (no honey, no agave, no stevia, no fake sugars...)
• No alcohol

No big deal right? HA! And all of this I decided to take on on my first day of the new school year. What was I thinking? But I did my research. I bought the book. I spoke with friends who had done Whole 30 in the past. I found a support system. I even had someone who was going to try it with me for a few days. I did my meal prepping and planning and I was off to the races.

The book tells you what you can sort of expect each day of the 30 days and it was all really accurate. The first day was no problem. It was fun trying something new. But the next 9 days are pretty brutal, which I can't even sugar coat for you because no sugar on Whole 30. If you have never detoxed from sugar before, let me tell you... it's pretty awful. Now I have never detoxed from like drugs and stuff before so I don't want to minimize that but some days during the first 10 of Whole 30, it really can feel like you are detoxing from something serious. After the first ten days, you get into a groove, but sometimes find yourself dreaming about non Whole 30 foods. I remember a dream I had where I ordered a bean, rice, cheese, and sour cream burrito and when they brought me my food, I realized that I literally could not eat any part of it (all Whole 30 no no's). After the dreams end, however, about midway through, you hit your stride. They call this stage Tiger's Blood. You feel like you could conquer the world. It was during this stage that I had zero head aches. I was sleeping better than I had every slept in my life. My clothes were fitting better. And my gym workouts were filled with energy. 

One of the goals of Whole 30 is to help you isolate things that may have been in your diet for years that you have an intolerance to. The things that you are not allowed to eat are things that people traditionally have intolerances to. As you come off of Whole 30, the idea is to slowly start reintroducing those things back into your diet so that you can determine if you have any intolerances so that you can avoid them. I determined that certain beans make me feel nauseous and excessive amounts of gluten gives me headaches. I also lost 8 pounds in the 30 days and several inches off of my waist.

Since Whole 30, I have kept a fairly Paleo diet (very similar to Whole 30 just with less restrictions). I make my own food way more than I eat out. I have made my lunch everyday for school this year. Overall, since August I have lost around 20 pounds and have gone down one jean size. I am now on my second round of Whole 30 to kick off my year without gluten (see my last post). I am learning more about my relationship with food and focusing on what I put into my body. I'm realizing that I enjoy creating and playing with new recipes and am often excited about what I am going to eat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Even when I am not on Whole 30, I find myself reading labels constantly and choosing to buy products with natural ingredients rather than fake stuff. 

I can honestly say that Whole 30 has changed my life and I am excited about the prospect of more cycles of Whole 30 to come.