All Things End

30 days.

1/3 of a school semester.

It flies by but feels like forever.

And it’s enough time to change how you see so many things.

Our Temple Square picture before Christmas and before the Whole30

Was it worth it? 

Yes.  Even though I complained a lot and it was hard at times, I am so grateful we did it. Our bodies are such an amazing gift from our Heavenly Father and when you treat it as such, it gives you amazing things back. With the craziness of this semester, I’m so grateful for my energy and focus that have both been heightened. Jake and I were sick a lot before, just small things, but haven’t had a sign of any sickness at all since we started.

What is your best piece of advice? 

Stick with it. Make a commitment to yourself. Talk about it. Have a buddy.
I realized that accountability is hard when you are only being accountable to yourself.  Maybe internal accountability is hard for only me, but it is now something I hope to master in the future. But for now, where I’m at, it was critical for me to have talked about it and be accountable to Jake, my blog readers, and every other human I told (which was basically everyone). Having Jake was also a huge blessing. He is so supportive and was my voice of reason when I just wanted a greasy piece of pizza just for the fact it was Friday.

Did you get anything out of it? 

I got more out of it than I expected—and I had done this (sorta) before. My skin has been clearer, my focus and energy are through the roof, no more sugar cravings or afternoon slumps, my monthly cramps were much less noticeable, I now consider myself a great cook, and I lost 14 pounds. So that’s pretty cool. The most important thing I got out of it was not one of the physical benefits, but rather a mental one. I showed myself that I can reach goals I set. This has never happened. It is empowering to know that I’m not immune to the statement, “if you can believe it, you can achieve it”. This new empowerment has been priceless through this semester of school. With something so challenging, it’s nice to know that I can do anything I put my mind to—even getting an A in anatomy.

Was it expensive? 

Yes it was. Our grocery bill went up a lot. On the flip side we didn’t spend anything on eating out, our entertainment budget was hardly used, and with the low gas prices, we had over budgeted for that. With all those considerations, we didn’t go over our outlined budget at all. Sure the categories were off, but the same amount of money was spent. My goal is to learn how to eat healthy while staying frugal. Coupon party anyone?

Did it take a lot of time? 

It felt like all we did was school, work, and something Whole30 related—grocery shopping, cooking, washing the endless piles of dishes, eating, or complaining. So yes, it took a lot of time. But again, we just allocated our time and prioritized. Sure we have piles and piles of laundry, but at least we are eating healthy!

What now? 

Now we reintroduce foods. We won’t be getting a pizza with extra cheese and ice cream on the side. We put in a lot of time and effort into this that we want to do it right. The point of this part it to help us find the foods that bring the inflammation back so we can eliminate them from our diet and move forward. The last 30 days we have been on training wheels and relied on what we were told to eat and what not to eat. This part we become our own experiments. Today, day 31, we reintroduce dairy. So we had cheese in our eggs, will have some cheese with lunch, and a bowl of ice cream after dinner. You are to eat something from that food group with every meal. I didn’t try yogurt or milk because I already know my body isn’t a big fan of dairy. Jake is trying both since he loves milk. Then for the next two days we go back to eating the Whole30 way. This is to allow our body to react to dairy without other factors at play. Based on how we feel we decide what’s worth keeping in our daily diet, what should be an occasional guest, and what will be avoided completely. We do gluten Saturday, legumes Tuesday, and non-gluten grains Friday.

bright and early before work on our day 31! 

Let me know if you guys have any questions or need a support buddy! I’d love to help you or put burning questions to rest. Now that I’ve Whole30-ed you out, I’ll move on to other things in future posts.