A Thanksgiving Miracle

About a month ago, I took a picture at a party with an old friend and colleague. When I saw the photo I had taken, I was mortified. I knew I had gained some weight, and truth be told, I hadn't been fully happy with the way I looked and felt for a while now. But jesus, when the hell did i grow another chin?

Seeing that photo was a huge bummer, but it was just the kick in the pants I needed to make a change. I had done short diets and cleanses in the past, but had often given up before completion or gone right back to my old, unhealthy habits once I was finished. This time, I needed something that would stick. A slew of health problems had also plagued me for several months prior, from a rare viral rash to increased allergy symptoms. So I knew my body was majorly in need of some TLC.

I knew several people who had completed the Whole 30 program, and had reported losing weight and feeling amazing as a result. I'll admit, the thought of doing an "elimination diet" for 30 whole days was absolutely petrifying. I had failed at a 7-day reset... how could I possibly commit to 30 days?

Except this one was different. Like, way different. I didn't have to starve myself. I didnt have to limit the amount of food I was putting in my body, or replace meals with juice, or take pills, or drink a tea every night that made me shit my brains out (yes, I've done that). Instead, I just had to eat clean for 30 days. 

Yes, really.

For 30 days, I didn't consume any added sugar, grains, legumes, dairy, alcohol, baked goods or sweet treats, or specific additives. Does that sound hard? It was. It was hard not to grab a pastry at my favorite coffee shop, to eat my curry without rice, not to have a piece of chocolate at the end of a long day or a glass of wine with friends at dinner. It was hard to deal with one week of straight migraines while my body detoxed from sugar, to feel like I was annoying the waiter by asking 21 questions about every menu item before ordering, and to stay strong that last week when all I wanted was some lentils in my soup!

But it was so, so worth it. Here's what happened:

1) I lost 10 pounds. The number on the scale isn't always significant, but because my appearance was what made me start Whole 30 in the first place, it felt really, really good to see that number go so far down for the first time in a long time. More exciting than that, I saw a significant difference in the way I look and how my clothing fits.

2) My allergies vastly improved. I suffer from seasonal and pet allergies pretty badly. So much so, in fact, that I've been getting allergy shots for over a year now. Prior to starting the Whole 30, I developed this crazy rash and was taking allergy meds every day, still unable to breathe through my nose. After the first week I had completely stopped taking those meds.

3) I slept so much better. Before I started my program, I was having a terrible time sleeping. Taking hours to fall asleep and tossing and turning/waking up throughout the night. I've never been a morning person, but by the end of my reset I was waking up earlier without feeling like I wanted anted to crawl in a hole and die.

4) I didn't feel awful after every meal. This is a tough one to explain to someone who hasn't done Whole 30 yet, because well, you don't know what you don't know (yet). My sister started Whole 30 around the same time as me, and after a couple weeks I asked her, "Did we always feel awful after we ate? Or were we just used to it?" After a little while of eating clean, I started to notice how, well, not bad I felt after eating a meal. I wasn't bloated, I still had energy after eating, and I didn't feel heavy or overly stuffed. The thing is, I had no idea that I had been experiencing those things prior to Whole 30. It took me not experiencing that for a while to notice the difference. 

5) I stopped having migraines. For many years now, I've had a big problem with migraines. Sometimes they happen several days in a row, sometimes I can go a couple weeks without one. But inevitably they always return, and despite years of doctor visits and alternative medicine, I've never been able to fully pinpoint the cause. For the first week of Whole 30, I got a migraine every. single. day. It was awful. My sister did too, and having done a similar cleanse prior to this, I knew that it was my body detoxing / going through withdrawal from all the crap I'd been feeding it for so long, namely sugar. But once that was over and done with, no more migraines!

6) I learned SO much about food. I could make this into at least 10 separate bullets, but since this list is already so long, I'll spare you. Here is my biggest takeaway: there is sugar in literally everything. It is nearly impossible to avoid it unless you're really conscious and thoughtful about reading labels, planning meals and eating out. And speaking of reading labels, I got really, really good at it. By the end of my reset, I was able to scan a long list of ingredients and almost immediately know if a food was Whole 30 approved (hint: if the ingredient list is long, it is probably not Whole 30 friendly. 

So there it is. I'm not going to say it was easy, because it wasn't. But Whole 30 has definitively changed my life, and I'm so very thankful for that. So much so, in fact, that halfway through my reset, I committed to doing another one. I know, I can't believe it either, and yet here we are. Originally I was just going to do it with a couple girlfriends of mine -- but then I mentioned it to a few people, and a few more commented on how I had leaned out a little, and before I knew it there was a pretty large group of us. 

Why am I telling you this? Well, because I want you to join us. When, you ask? Oh yeah, we start tomorrow. If you're reading this on the day it was posted, you've likely just stuffed your face with turkey, potatoes, stuffing, cranberry sauce, pie and other delicious goodies. And now you're laying on your couch trying to digest it all, and some crazy lady from the internet is telling you to not eat all those things for a month. 

Do it. Seriously, you will thank me later. The holidays are the perfect time to try Whole 30... you know all those treats will be calling your name at the office party, and it'll be really hard not to order your annual cranberry bliss bar and peppermint mocha from Starbucks (I feel you, girl). But here's the thing: you won't miss those extra ten pounds you put on every year, and you might even be pleasantly surprised when you step on the scale on December 23rd to see that the number has gone down. Merry Christmas to you! 

If you'd like to join our little group of Whole 30-ers, let me know! I'm so excited for everyone to experience some of the same "victories" that I did, and I'd love for you to be a part of it :)