I looked, felt and performed better after I did the (almost) Whole30:
- I have more energy. I wake up most mornings at 6 AM or before and am able to be pretty lucid almost immediately and start writing or doing chores. I poop out pretty hard at 10 PM but I figure that is reasonable. I was still pretty tired about half way through, sometimes almost dragging myself out of bed. This is why I say wait at least 3 weeks for a noticeable change. I have been dealing with a back issue so I have been able to a benchmark WOD but I feel pretty strong still and have decent cardio considering my lack of training.
- I lost about 5 pounds of belly fat. I didn’t think I drank that much but Susan reminded me that I was drinking one or two drinks every other day (I am grateful for Susan’s grasp of reality, I suspect this is the true benefit of marriage, reality/humility :-). I still like beer but after drinking a couple of beers, I felt bloated the next day. In addition, I think that alcohol was the biggest source of sugar for me (alcohol doesn’t contain sugar but metabolizes as sugar), cutting out alcohol allowed me to lose the belly fat and, hopefully, adjust some insulin derangement I was having (blood test results to come). I will probably have the occasional beer or tequila but “the cost” has become much higher.
- I “remembered” some good habits that allowed me to live, as Susan says so gracefully says “in line with my values and beliefs and to move closer and closer each day to who I really am.” Along these lines, I am going to post a little more touchy-feely discussion about the experience that I think are important to get out there. As I work with fat-loss and nutrition more, and actually do the diet that I think will work, it is becoming obvious that food and/or drink is not just fuel to a majority of people (shocker!). I’ll leave it at that for now.
- Undecided on coffee. I don’t need the “energy” anymore. However, it is fun to hang out on a weekend morning and chat with Sweetie Pie over a hot cup of something and sometimes herbal tea just doesn’t cut it and decaf sucks.
Please post the changes you have seen after your Whole30 experience.
Well, all that Saul says is true.. The real reason that I cut out coffee (and thank you, Saul, for cutting it out with me) was that coffee is a vehicle for sugar for me. As well as for cream. So, when faced with really, truly, going without sugar, it means cutting out the coffee. I’d tried cutting out sugar from my coffee in the past and it wasn’t successful.
Starting each day with a dose of sugar and caffeine just seems like a bad way to start the day if you’re trying to NOT have sugar. And you know, I’d rationalized that bit of sugar very well: it’s only 60 (um, or more) calories. What’s a little bit of sugar, anyway? But I think that little bit of sugar every morning set me up to want more, more, more of the same throughout the day.
Mostly, I didn’t really crave much. I went for over two weeks without having any chocolate before I realized I hadn’t had it – and only then did I remember about chocolate because I overheard someone talking about it.
One thing I did notice was that my taste for ‘sweet’ was really changed; an apple tastes incredibly sweet now. Almost too sweet. Really! And I had strawberries one night and woke up with a migraine — hm.
Sleep: I’m at a time in my life where I have trouble sleeping. Just about every woman my age has this issue and I think eating paleo is worth a try to mitigate the sleep issue. I’ve slept better in the last month and I’m convinced it’s the diet.
Weight: I lost a few pounds.. maybe 3 or 4.
What am I doing now? I’m going another Whole30. I like the way I feel. I want to continue the experiment.
So true, fruits have acquired a whole new dimension of flavor for me too. I never knew them to be so sweet! And yes, I sleep like a log now…that’s my favorite part of Whole 30.