Back in March, I decided to do a little spring cleaning. Not on my house of course, but on my body. I decided to cut out just about all junk using the Whole 30 plan which is kind of like a “Paleo-gone-wild.” I cut dairy, sugar, grains and (sniff) booze. I thought it would be really hard. The reviews that I read said it was hard and some people weren't sure if they would be able to stick with it. If I were still working or if I actually had a social life to talk about, then maybe I would feel differently, but I didn't find it that hard. Eating meats, potatoes and vegetables is not rocket science. I did not get as creative as I could have with the recipes. I kept it simple. There are plenty of resources on-line for good recipes, but I couldn't be bothered. I ate a lot of eggs and I always had a sweet potato cooked in advance to reheat if I wasn't prepared for a meal.
Even if I didn't find the meal planning to be difficult, the hard part was the complete lack of energy that I felt for pretty much the first 20 days or so. I kept googling “Still tired day 12,” “Wicked emotional day 15,” “Want to strangle everyone day 19” just to see if I was the only one. I mean after just a few days, I was sleeping much better, I felt like the fat rolls were a bit smaller and I apparently lost weight in weird places like my wrists and collar bone. I mean, everyone dreams of a skinny collar bone, right?
I kept saying to myself, “tomorrow I will get running again,” only to sit on the couch as pass out for a whole day. Seriously, I thought I had mono or something. I never had the “tigerblood” that the creators of the plan and other people who have followed the program go on about. Needless to say that I gave up on starting a new sport program while I felt like a sloth.
Did sugar and processed foods really have so much of a hold on me that it took me 3 weeks to flush out all the junk?
I tried to get the hubster on board because misery loves company. I was surprised when he actually said yes. I was less surprised when he only followed the program for about 2 hours. I was a little wary of changing the kids' food on them, but since I was eating decent whole meals, and there was no diet food involved, it wasn't too difficult for dinner. The hard part is separating them from their Nesquick and toast in the morning. I didn't even bother. I am usually satisfied just getting them to eat anything in the morning. Only one kid is ok with eating eggs in the morning. The others prefer the typical French sweet breakfast. Plus I have no control over the school lunches unless I want to bring them home for lunch and that is not happening!
I managed to stick to the program pretty well. I thought it would be hard especially with the school holidays, but since we don't take our monsters out to restaurants unless we are begging for headaches, it worked out ok. Only once did I want cheese so badly that I was tempted to bite off my daughter's hand just to eat the brie that she was holding.
If you are still reading to the end, it means that you are looking for the magic number. So did I lose any weight? I mean the program claims that weight loss is not the ultimate goal, but it is more of a detox to get us feeling our best. That is true, but of course everyone wants to lose weight. I mean who deprives themselves of wine and cheese for 30 days just to have nice skin? I lost 18 lbs in all. Being very overweight, it is not all that noticeable. I can button my jeans, so that's a plus. I have since been eating mostly the same way through the month of May while allowing some other meals and occasional wine and cheese. I will be doing it again in June to get ready for all the junk I will probably be eating during my 6 week stay on Cape Cod. I mean a summer without beer and fried clams is just evil. We need to keep living, don't we?
Even if I didn't find the meal planning to be difficult, the hard part was the complete lack of energy that I felt for pretty much the first 20 days or so. I kept googling “Still tired day 12,” “Wicked emotional day 15,” “Want to strangle everyone day 19” just to see if I was the only one. I mean after just a few days, I was sleeping much better, I felt like the fat rolls were a bit smaller and I apparently lost weight in weird places like my wrists and collar bone. I mean, everyone dreams of a skinny collar bone, right?
I kept saying to myself, “tomorrow I will get running again,” only to sit on the couch as pass out for a whole day. Seriously, I thought I had mono or something. I never had the “tigerblood” that the creators of the plan and other people who have followed the program go on about. Needless to say that I gave up on starting a new sport program while I felt like a sloth.
Did sugar and processed foods really have so much of a hold on me that it took me 3 weeks to flush out all the junk?
I tried to get the hubster on board because misery loves company. I was surprised when he actually said yes. I was less surprised when he only followed the program for about 2 hours. I was a little wary of changing the kids' food on them, but since I was eating decent whole meals, and there was no diet food involved, it wasn't too difficult for dinner. The hard part is separating them from their Nesquick and toast in the morning. I didn't even bother. I am usually satisfied just getting them to eat anything in the morning. Only one kid is ok with eating eggs in the morning. The others prefer the typical French sweet breakfast. Plus I have no control over the school lunches unless I want to bring them home for lunch and that is not happening!
I managed to stick to the program pretty well. I thought it would be hard especially with the school holidays, but since we don't take our monsters out to restaurants unless we are begging for headaches, it worked out ok. Only once did I want cheese so badly that I was tempted to bite off my daughter's hand just to eat the brie that she was holding.
If you are still reading to the end, it means that you are looking for the magic number. So did I lose any weight? I mean the program claims that weight loss is not the ultimate goal, but it is more of a detox to get us feeling our best. That is true, but of course everyone wants to lose weight. I mean who deprives themselves of wine and cheese for 30 days just to have nice skin? I lost 18 lbs in all. Being very overweight, it is not all that noticeable. I can button my jeans, so that's a plus. I have since been eating mostly the same way through the month of May while allowing some other meals and occasional wine and cheese. I will be doing it again in June to get ready for all the junk I will probably be eating during my 6 week stay on Cape Cod. I mean a summer without beer and fried clams is just evil. We need to keep living, don't we?