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.  

Whole 30 Update

In the past 12 days I have learned a lot. The main one is that 12 days can feel like 45 days, especially when you are doing the Whole 30 and trying to memorize all the things for Anatomy. 

As mentioned in the below post, Jake and I are doing the Whole 30.  We started on January 4 and it's been a roller coaster.  I read an article today that pretty much summed up our experience.  You see, doing the Whole 30 is like death. Okay, not really, but it sure feels like it. 

(side note. last time I did this I posted a quote from the people who started the whole thing about how it's not hard and they said birthing a baby is hard and I believed them but now I think they are crazy because this is way harder than they make it seem and I've never had a baby, but I'm sure they are comparable. #runonsentencesftw #probablynotcomparable) 

Anyway. That article. It was about the 5 stages of grief.  And I'm pretty sure Jake and I went through every. single. stage. in one day. And then we went through it again the next day.  Since then we've settled comfortably in the acceptance phase. The folks at the Whole 30 provided us with this timeline, which is pretty accurate but they forgot the grief. What are the 5 stages of grief?  Well lucky you I have a psychology class this semester and can tell you all about it! (Half lie. I got this from Wikipedia. Although I am taking that class.) 

1. Denial. "The person is trying to shut out the reality or magnitude of his/her situation, and begins to develop a false, preferable reality." This stage happened the first day but it started prematurely when we were talking ourselves into this crazy thing. Our false, preferable reality was that it'd be easy, especially since we are back in school and that means we have a routine, and that the 30 days would whiz right by and we'd be able to eat our homemade chocolate chip cookies before we knew it. Just read my previous post!! I sounded like a sales person because I was so pumped. 

2. Anger.  "Why me? It's not fair!"; "How can this happen to me?"; '"Who is to blame?" A few days into it, I was pissed.  I was mad that I couldn't eat what I wanted and that some people I didn't even know were telling me what I could and couldn't eat! I was so angry I was brought to tears on the chair. Jake was in the other room and sent articles to my phone about people who had done the program before and their feelings and results. It made me even more upset! Why do we have to do this while everyone else is enjoying their free PB&J from institute?!

3. Bargaining. "The third stage involves the hope that the individual can somehow undo or avoid a cause of grief".  This happened multiple times over a few days. One time in particular we were sitting outside Costco and we were both irritable and grumpy. Then, slowly, my brain got me thinking. "You can still get benefits from doing this 6 out of the 7 days." "Remember that study that you read that said you have to eat chocolate to help your heart?" "What about that study where eating an unhealthy meal actually helps your body?"  I vocalized some of my bargaining, trying to convince Jake that it was totally fine to get pizza that night since a cheat meal is always a good idea. He said let's at least finish this week up and then we'll decided.  Another night he was behind the bargaining.  "Ike (our econ professor with biceps bigger than my head) eats doughnuts once a week and he's huge!" "I just want to eat ice cream while we watch a movie, it can't be that bad?" "Even cocaine addicts can't come right off, they need a lower dose.  Why can't we do that?" I suggested we used the cantaloupe as our lower dose drug and if we still wanted ice cream, we could go get it.  Well the cantaloupe worked and we didn't get ice cream.  As you can tell, this was the longest and HARDEST to get through. Holy cow. It took so much self control.  

4. Depression. "It is natural to feel sadness, regret, fear, and uncertainty when going through this stage. Feeling those emotions shows that the person has begun to accept the situation." After showing our great self control, you better believe I fell into the 4 stage of grief.  I knew we were in it for real since none of our bargaining worked, plus we seemed to have our weak moments and different times and we are both stubborn in not letting the other person quit, I knew I was going to do this for the 30 days. I cried over my spaghetti squash and gross chicken breast. Jake had a moment too but he's much less dramatic than I am. 

5. Acceptance. "This typically comes with a calm, retrospective view for the individual, and a stable mindset." After the night of the ice cream vs. cantaloupe showdown, I woke up without thinking much about those foods I couldn't eat. Jake seemed to be better as well.  It seemed that the crazy had settled down and we definitely more stable.  Since then it has been easier. Not easy, but easier. I haven't had any huge cravings and every time I do I realize it doesn't sound good, it's just what has always been expected.  Hello movie theater popcorn. I sure hope the next 18 days aren't as hard as the first week. Also, Jake did a great job grocery shopping while I was studying! Remember that picture of the Chick-Fil-A? Well here is his latest picture and this is a pretty accurate description of the past 12 days: 

The first week made me realize how much our bodies (and our minds) love and expect certain types of food. It also made me realize that I do have willpower and I can tell my mind to shut up and do what I tell it to.  It's refreshing to realize how powerful your body is and you aren't forced to eat anything. You can tell it no. It's hard. It's not fun. But the outcome always seems to be worth it.  On my day of depressions and bargaining I posted on a Facebook support group about my woes.  Someone posted a quote that made me stop trying to think of excuses to quit. 

Life begins at the end of your comfort zone

I hope you are all having a lovely time with your resolutions and may I say that I really believe in that quote. When we step outside our comfort zone, we'll be surprised by what awaits us.