Today marks the halfway mark of my Whole30. I have people asking me what I am doing to lose weight, because they want to do it too. I have people telling me I look great and that they can tell I am doing something different. I feel great. And I am happy to pass the word along to others as to what I am doing differently. I feel healthier than I have in a long time. Even when I feel like I might be coming down with a bit of a cold, I am still feeling amazingly well. And I am learning things about myself I hadn’t really thought about before.
I have been so much fun creating new dishes in my kitchen. I forget how much I love to cook, and how much I love to create things that taste amazing. I sometimes will go with the same old, same old just because it’s easier. The Whole30 has definitely reignited the love of cooking for me. I have made a few dishes that I may even have to write up, just so I can made sure and do it again. Last night we had mango curry chicken, and it was sooo good. I had the leftovers for breakfast this morning since we were out of eggs, and it’s just as good leftover as it was fresh last night. I am learning that I don’t need to follow a recipe. I can intuitively figure out (most of the time) what flavors go well. I have had one dinner fall flat on it’s face, but only because it was too bland. I ended up taking the chicken from it and created several new meals out of it instead. So all was not lost. I am pretty certain my husband is enjoying have home cooked meals again. We had been surviving on fast food or meals out for far too long now. The kids miss the fast food though, which makes me kind of sad. On the plus side though, they are trying new things. Every new veggie they see me try, they try it too. They may not always like it, but they are trying it without hesitating as much as they would have before. They are asking for fruits and veggies for snacks as opposed to sugary things. I feel like we are definitely on the right track. Figuring out what to make that the kids will eat is actually my biggest challenge.
I’m learning that I really don’t need sweets. When I saw things on the website about not trying to recreate paleo desserts just to be able to have something sweet, I could totally understand it. This is a detox, designed to retrain your body how to function properly. Going without dessert is not new to me. I have done sugar free before. I have done Atkins before. I don’t mind not having sweets. At this point, I think I have maybe 1 serving of fruit a day, sometimes 2, but that’s pretty rare. I am finding that my “sweet” tooth isn’t really a tooth. It was an addiction. And now I can taste the natural sweetness of my butternut squash and sweet potatoes. I can taste the flavor of my food. For so long, everything needed to be either overly sweet or overly salty. Now I can taste the natural flavor of the food I am eating. Food is becoming so much more than something I shove in my face because I am bored or emotional. It is something I am learning to savor, to allow to heal me (not emotionally of course). By providing my body with healthy food it is healing, and I can tell. No amount of desserts or salty snacks will bring this much health to my life. I refuse to go back.
So here I am, at the halfway mark. I know I will keep going past 30 days. I may try reintroducing dairy, but other than that, I do not really plan on making too many changes to how I am eating. I prefer this. Yesterday was the first day I craved something off plan. I really wanted crackers, or bread, or something. But I knew it was only because my body was exhausted. My daughter had surgery yesterday morning and I haven’t been sleeping well. And when your body is tired it needs energy. My brain still thinks that the carbs will provide that energy. Well, it would provide a temporary solution to a problem that needs a permanent solution. So I ate a healthy meal and took a nap. I choice not to run yesterday as my body was too exhausted. I finally slept well last night, but I am still tired today. Again, I know this has nothing to do with the food and everything to do with the stress of my little girl having surgery. I was able to work through those silly cravings knowing that it was merely because I was tired. I knew that sugar really wouldn’t help, so why bother.
I feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders. I am no longer consumed with food. I think about it a lot less than I used to. I will mentally plan out my day and there are times I spend too much time trying to figure out what to eat (that means I need to go grocery shopping) but for the most part I am able to focus on other things in my life. I am enjoying playing with my children in the morning, doing puzzles, playing hide and go seek. I have energy to get off the couch and be active with them. And I love it. I am so loving all the changes that are taking place. I feel a bit freer today than I have in a long while.
