Moving Forward after the Whole30

Nervous, scared, fantastic, apprehensive, excited…a few things I have been feeling since completing the Whole30. And a big question that keeps popping up in my head, where do I go from here? My answer…to continue to move forward with what I have been doing the past 30 days, with a few things added in here and there. As I have said throughout, I really truly feel too amazing not to. 🙂

Now when I say with a few things added in, let me explain…

My husband and I went on a date night Friday night (MUCH needed as we had not gone on one in months 😦 ) and I was honestly a bit nervous about going to a place that possibly didn’t offer ‘paleo’ approved meals as I absolutely do not like to be a bother or ask people to change things. When we had decided on a restaurant, I looked them up online and decided to call to ask if their chef would be willing to make my meal paleo compliant. The hostess asked the chef and told me it would be no problem and to just let my server know when we sat down. I did as such and the waitress was nice but didn’t really seem to quite understand and told me she would have to charge me a couple extra bucks for the additional veggies instead of mashed potatoes. Found it a little odd but we had a great meal none-the-less and spent the quality time together that we needed to. I decided that after 30 days without wine (which I thoroughly enjoy every now and again) that I was going to enjoy a glass and I DID! 😀 Savored every last drop until the moment we got up to leave. I will continue to enjoy my wine but not as an everyday occurrence, of course.

After dinner, for some out-left-field reason, fro-yo just sounded delicious. Found it odd as I really hadn’t had any cravings in the last few weeks and was a bit nervous about trying this now ‘foreign’ food that I had gone without for 30 days (a.k.a dairy). The hubs and I talked about it for a bit and decided to give it a whirl because how was I ever going to know if my body can digest dairy if I don’t try it again.

When we pulled up to the fro-yo shop, it took me a minute to get out of the car. Seriously, I was SO nervous. Reason being that I kind of already knew in the back of my mind that my body wasn’t going to tolerate it but I decided to try it anyways and I am glad I did. I found that I really don’t enjoy fro-yo like I used to and my body CANNOT digest dairy! Oh my word. What a horrible way to end our date night. 😦 I was bummed and felt bad for my hubby that he had to spend the rest of the night with me with an awful stomach ache but he was proud of me. Proud that I actually decided to just experiment with it to find that it does not agree with me.

Now, I know that I will probably not go throughout my life without having dairy again. But, if and when I decide to indulge in food that has dairy in it, I will need to determine if it is worth it due to the repercussions I will experience after. (TMI…I know, I know 😉 ) I actually read a blog post the other day that mentioned doing exactly what I stated above…that we have to decide for ourselves if an indulgence is truly worth it and determine if it is going to wreck our path or not. I absolutely agree with this and do not think it is necessary to indulge on things that just aren’t worth it. I want to truly enjoy the treat I decide to indulge on, not just have something because it is there. And, off the top of my head, the only things I can honestly think of that are worth the indulgence are few of my family and friends homemade goodies for celebrations/holidays. Those have true meaning and significance for me as they put the time and the effort into them and they are deliciously WORTH it. 😀

I was telling my husband the next morning that I feel like I have really found a greater balance with food and treats. I used to crave sweets ALL the time and now I truly don’t. Of course, I know that sugar dragon will rear its ugly head every now and again but I know what to do to tame him. And life is too dang short to not give in from time to time. As I have said numerous times before, it’s not about perfection but balance.

I absolutely adore this quote by Walt Disney;

Around here, however, we don’t look backwards for very long. We keep moving forward, opening up new doors and doing new things…and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.

It totally fits with how I have been feeling. I do not want to ever look or go back to having a poor relationship with food. This new lifestyle will forever be a journey and an adventure for me. I plan to continue moving forward and continue learning about the paleo way of living knowing that there will be twists and turns and things thrown my way that my take me off course and may even lead me down a different path. With completing the Whole30, I really feel I have gained the knowledge to listen more to my body about what it truly needs along with gaining the tools and a better understanding about how to get myself back on track if need be. Through perseverance, I CAN do anything I set my mind and my heart to.

XO,

Val

P/S A little video to make your day bright. “Happy” by Pharrell Willams. It made me smile and just couldn’t help but get up and dance (hubby joined me too)!!!!

Whole30 – Results

17lbs…lost

2.5 inches around my waist…gone

Feeling the best I have ever felt…priceless.

(Yes, I used what all the MasterCard commercials use. Kind of just fit perfect.)

The numbers are how much my body has changed in 30 days. But I am honestly not focused on that. I mean, I am shocked, elated, and jumping for joy over these results but what I am more in ‘awe’ over is how my mind, body, and soul all feel. I literally feel the best I have felt in as long as I can remember and it is such an incredible feeling.

Here are my before and after photos…hard to post to the world but here they are…

I still have work to do (would like to lose 6 more lbs and continue to gain back my muscle) but I am on the right path to get myself there again and dang does it feel sublime!

Thinking back to Day 1, I remember how I was feeling the morning I took my before photos; I was miserable. Before I had even started the Whole30, I was covering myself in baggy clothes and wouldn’t look at myself in the mirror. I did not feel good and was disgusted, unhappy, cranky, weak, and tired. I wasn’t me and I did not like who I was turning into which, in my eyes, was a lazy slob. After receiving my medical news in November of 2013 and being put on zombie drugs for my anxiety (revert back to my first blog), I slipped into a bit of a depressive state and I just didn’t care. Didn’t care what I was eating or drinking, if I was working out, and was constantly making excuses. I decided to stop taking the meds for my anxiety and woke up one morning and was done with it all. I was ready to change my life, to get back to feeling like me again, and wanting to be happy in my skin.

After a heart-to-heart with my trainer and wondering how to get myself jump-started, I came across the Whole30 program in an email from PopSugarFitness, “Try the Whole30 For Just One Day“. I had no idea what it was all about but was intrigued just from reading the first paragraph. Went to the Whole30 webpage, read the rules and thought to myself, “this is the exact jumpstart you need”, and I committed to start the program the next week. I bought their book, It Starts With Food, and convinced my mom and best friend to do it all with me.

30…well, now 32…days later and I honestly feel the best I have EVER felt since I started my weight-loss journey in August of 2011. When I weighed in on day 31, I was completely shocked when my trainer told me how much I had lost as I did not know what my starting weight was. And to be 100% honest, I was a bit disappointed with the fact that I had put some weight back on, but still extremely pumped none-the-less as I decided to do something about it rather than sit back and just throw away 2.5 years of hard work.

I am back on track, back to feeling like myself, and starting to be comfortable in my skin again. I have truly missed feeling all these amazing, wonderful, incredible things. I am sad that I lost it all for a while but so over-the-moon that I am gaining it all back. I am gaining VAL back. 😀 And I want to do everything in my power to make sure not to lose her again.

My overall goal for this was to not only help myself get back on track but have hoped that sharing these last 30 days have helped inspire someone to want to do something to better themselves, whatever that may be; starting a fitness regimen, eating better, getting a promotion at work, or setting and exceeding a personal goal. Start small, take baby-steps, and know that you may fall down a couple of times but make sure to pick yourself right back up and keeping moving forward! I am here to support you and I thank you for supporting me. As always, through perseverance, we can do anything we set our minds and our hearts to.

XO,

Val