Whole30 results-Day 31

Thursday, February 9th, 2017
Well, my Whole30 is over.  This is what my kitchen looks like many nights after preparing dinner!

There's no just open a can or box of something or order out.  We haven't even tried eating at a restaurant since starting the Whole30.  Paul decided to give the diet a try to see if he can find out what his acid reflux triggers are and started about a week after I did.  So he still has a week to go.   I will still be following the diet until he's done and I decide whether to go directly into the Auto Immune diet now or wait.

Paul's throat clearing has gotten a lot less frequent.  He hasn't had any heartburn since starting the diet.  He was concerned after having a salad dressing that just listed "spices" as an ingredient. He did have some discomfort but no heartburn.  I haven't had any bad skin flare-ups. However, it's not completely gone yet. I'm not sure if I need more time on this diet or need to eliminate more foods.  My blood sugar was 91 this morning.  I've lost 6 lbs since starting the Whole30.  But I had started eating mostly Whole30ish for several weeks before officially starting and had already lost some weight.  On 12/3 I weighed myself and measured my waist for a saliva sample to send in for testing.  Since then I've lost 15 lbs and 2.5 inches around my waist.  I've dropped a pants size!

Since I wasn't able to get on the scale until today I wasn't sure if I was losing weight or not and was getting discouraged since I didn't feel like my pants were getting loose enough.  So, on Saturday, I decided to pull out some clothes I'd put in a yard sale box last spring because they were too tight. Almost all of them fit!  Then I pulled out the dress pants I'd worn to my sister-in-law's wedding 14 years ago--a size 6 (stretch)--and they fit!  I tried on the dress I'd worn to my cousin's wedding 16 years ago (a size 8) and it fit.  It was so exciting.  So I went to a clothing store and tried on some clothes to get a better idea what size I am now.  All the size 8's fit.  I still have a way to go to fit into a 6, though.  That would be the smallest size I've been since getting married. Maybe since middle school!

I wish I'd had Paul take a before picture.  I went looking for pictures but it's rare for me to be in a picture because I'm usually the one behind the camera.  Here are some from last summer:

 And here I am today, wearing that same outfit.  

The shirt is no longer tight around the arms and those capris are so loose!

While I'd be thrilled to be a size 6 again, I'm happy with where I am now.  I want to get in better shape and firm up.  I'm planning to power-walk in a 5K in May (I can't run because of my knee issues I've had since a kid). I am training for that and also starting to do some hand weight workouts.

The main reasons I started this diet were to find healing for my blood sugar and auto-immune disease.  It's still to be determined whether I've found that yet or not.

I would encourage everyone to give the Whole30 a try.  It really will help you to have a healthier relationship with food and see clearly how unhealthy most of the foods we, as Americans, eat on a regular basis.  I'd also encourage you to find others to do it with for support.  After starting it, my sister-in-law decided to do it, too. I also discovered that another couple at church is doing it. Our next door neighbors were planning to start it soon.  It's been good to have people to talk to about our victories and frustrations.

I still need to do receipts to find out how much we've spent on eating this way for the past month.  I think that once I get the hang of it, I can probably find ways to make it a little less expensive.  Our options are limited as far as what's available that is compliant.  Once we do reintroduction and find out what foods we can add back into our diets,  It may be a little easier and less expensive.  If I go on to do the Auto Immune diet, it's likely to get more expensive for a while.  I won't be able to even eat eggs!  We've been eating a ton of eggs on the Whole30.