Officially, we have completed the Whole30, and what a wonderful experience it was (is!) Like I wrote earlier, we'll add about 2 more days, and will strive for a 90% whole30 compliant lifestyle 100% of the time :-) Below I've summarized my own personal experience/accomplishments during the last 30 days:- more energy
- better mood
- better sports performance
- waking up better, sleeping better
- more connected to food
- even more enjoyment out of cooking
- experimenting with ingredients & new foods
- leaner look
- great support community
- self-confidence improved
Of course people participate for various reasons, and I decided to take a look from a couple of angles:
You want to lose weight - It's not particularly designed as a weight loss program, but a lot of people do experience weight loss. Personally, I did lose weight, some 2-3 lbs only though, but I'm pretty sure I've gained some muscle mass too, see next.
You're want to get leaner - When I started, I was already very lean, somewhere between 12-15%, but this has definitely dropped to around 9-10%. That last little bit of "retention" under the skin is completely gone.
You're an athlete - Whole30 has helped me a lot with my crossfit results. Around day 10, I started noticing a big increase in strength and endurance. After checking the forum, I found out I wasn't alone.
You have allergies / vague symptoms - Some allergies are known to us, since your body reacts to it straight away, but there a LOT of people out there that just have a general feeling of "blah" or feel like that already for such a long time, they had no idea of "blah" until it went away. A lot of the foods that cause allergic reactions are cut out of the program, as well as some food additives. But you don't necessarily have to be allergic. For example, I've done a gluten test that concluded that I'm not gluten intolerant, but yet when I eat wheat, it does leave me bloated and uncomfortable. If vague symptoms have disappeared after the whole30, a way to find out what food caused it, is by following the reintroduction steps described in "It starts with Food" or check the forum. Apparently, dairy is also a hot topic.
You have a sugar dragon - IMHO: eating sweet translates into wanting more sweet. Cutting out added sugars & (artificially) sweetened foods and limiting your fruit intake (and adding it TO a meal, not make it a meal) really does wonders. You really don't have a sweet tooth, believe me. You just need to turn off the supply.
You are an emotional eater, snacker, grazer - This will reset your relationship with food (in a good way) I don't how to call it, but something happened, where food was not on my mind the same way anymore. It will be a bit hard at first perhaps, but it worked for me.
You are looking for a "detox"- The reason why I put it between "" is that the word detox usually brings up images of drinking weird juices for days and shit like that. Here, you will be putting whole foods into your body for 30 days without any added crap. Even though I've been on paleo for over a year and technically should be eating clean already, I had collected enough crap still, to go through an emotional roller-coaster in the first week, have a some skin break-outs and a very (ahem) active bowel situation (sorry for TMI)
Again, these are my personal findings, and with different people come different results. If you have any medical condition, check with your doctor, but if your doctor is against a wholesome diet of meats, fish, vegetables, fruits, nuts and seeds, you might want to consider seeing another doctor. I'm just sayin'.
So, day 31! My favorite part of the day is our morning meal (ok, the evening meal too) It makes such a difference to take time in the morning to have breakfast together, even if it's 10 minutes sitting down and enjoying the food.
Today was egg-free, I realized later that the faux-lafel from yesterday had egg in it and that I was going to have it for lunch too, so my experiment failed a bit, but I'm eating less eggs, so it's a start. I call it the Hunter-Gatherer Plate: cinnamon-bacon (yes!) avocado, kiwi, blueberries, nuts, sweet potato & coconut chips. Party-on-a-Plate!
Next meal was a mix of 2 faux-lafel patties, sausages, broccoli, sweet potato & salad.
That kept me full till the end of the day, pre-workout I then had a banana, a few almonds and some coconut chips.
The evening meal was a recipe from Civilized Caveman, this guy has some amazing stuff on his website, you should check it out! This time I made the spicy pineapple chili, had to play around the amounts a bit, since the original recipe feeds 8 people.
In this case, I used the following:
 |
| Lunch |
125 gr. of lardons
500 gr. ground beef
1 yellow bell pepper, chopped
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 can of peeled tomatoes
4 slices of pineapple
1 tsp of ground cumin
1 tbsp of paprika powder
1/2 tsp spicy chili powder
10 slices of pickled jalapenos
It was very tasty, the sweet and spicy flavors really complement each other! Served with steamed Brussel sprouts and a salad.
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