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Sunday, September 8, 2013

Whole 30 Phase 1 - Done

How Hollywood defines success.
How I define it...

At the end of the day today, I will have completed my first Whole 30 with only the following "cheats".


  • Goat cheese on my daily lunch salad.
  • Non-dairy coffee creamer in my coffee.
  • Diet sodas.
  • 1 Uber brownie
  • Gum


Overall?  I kicked some Whole 30 ass.  What's more, I feel fantastic.  No more sugar cravings and if I do have one, I know what triggered it and can eliminate that from my diet (gum...kicks my but and makes me want more, more, more...it's gone).  No more feeling bloated.  No more constipation (that's HUGE).  I've lost 8 pounds as of yesterday (I just couldn't wait one minute longer to get on the scale!)  I'll check again tomorrow morning but I couldn't be any more pleased.  Why?  Well I'm glad you asked!  Read on my friends.

I did this without having to think about, count, weigh or measure one damn thing.  I have done every diet ever on the market.  Because of that, food and the management of it has become a way of life for me.  An obsession.  My own personal prison.  Because it's always been this way, it's all I ever knew.  Gain some weight?  Go on Scarsdale for a couple of weeks.  Looking pudgy?  Enroll in Jenny Craig (or Nutrisystem). Weight out of control?  Weight Watchers...it's works for everyone right?  Yes - but not in the long term for me.

Why?  Because I wanted something I could do forever.  I wanted a way of life.  I wanted to make peace with food.  I wanted peace of mind.

I found it.  Thank you God for answering my prayers and giving me the courage to jump into my "science experiment".  Thank you for not letting me quit in the first two weeks when I thought I might kill someone. Thank you for making me stubborn.

Now my head is quiet.  No only is the beast still sleeping, but I'm not obsessing about food.  How much, what type, when and how much fat, carbs and calories are in each bite.  AND I'm not obsessing about how much I'll have to work out in order to burn the calories, fat and carbs.  Which brings me to my second point which is even more important.

I didn't work out once during this entire thirty days.  As I've mentioned before, this is our busy season at work which leaves absolutely no time for exercise.  Additionally, it's been so freaking hot and even more humid that this 50+, post menopausal woman has not left the house most of the summer.  I've missed moving my body but I have not obsessed about it.  Before, the guilt of not working out would have overwhelmed me and been a constant reminder of what a failure I am.  Not now.  Now I can move for pleasure and health and not calorie burn. (Imagine that!)  So if I decide to take up running, or Zumba, or become a yoga instructor, it will be because I WANT to and not because I have to do something to burn the calories I eat.

Wait.  What?

I'm telling you, without a shadow of a doubt, this is a miracle.  Someone call the Pope, this is a bona fide miracle and should be documented.

I don't think about what I need to or should or want to eat.  I eat because I'm hungry and that's all.  I enjoy my food and I make sure it's tasty but I'm not using food to fill a void.  Just like when I stopped drinking, I'm figuring out how to deal with those feelings head on and not trying to go around them.  I'm eating to live and not living to eat.

Unbelievable.

So I'm taking a break for a week while I go to my nephew's wedding and I'm not worried one single bit about what or how I'll cope.  I'm not worried about it the same way I'm not worried about the booze that will be at the wedding.  I'll just deal.  If it gets too much I'll step out.  I'll meditate.  I'll go back to the hotel and do some yoga.  I'll grab my granddaughter and play with her.  Not a problem.  At all.

When I return I'll embark on Phase II of my Whole 30 journey.  September 18th.  My newsletter will begin to arrive from the website (see my last post for details) which I wish I had done the first time around.  I've decided that I'm giving up the goat cheese and the diet soda and the gum but the jury is out on the creamer.  We'll see.  The reason I've added the goat cheese is that I'm still very congested at night.  When I was a child I was "allergic" to milk.  Every time I drank it, I got congested and developed pneumonia.  I'm no doctor but I can follow that protocol.  I'll take it out and see if it helps.  If not, I can always add it back in.

Science right?

Miracle?  Yes.

So how about you?  Here's where we are with our Challenge...

Mrs. D - 9/18
Annette - 8/26
Carrie - 8/29
Jessie - 9/8 (Good luck!)
Penelope - 9/18
Connie - 9/18
Dawn - 918
Amy - 9/18 (Amy...would you share the meditations you mentioned?)

If I've missed you, please chime in!  I haven't been very good about recording who's in and who isn't but I'm doing better now.  I have a little book that I'm using to record names and dates so we can check in with each other from time to time.

Namaste guys, I wish you Shanti...peace.

17 comments:

  1. That is fantastic! I hope the whole 30 works a miracle in me. I am planning on getting the newsletter also. I need lots of help getting rid of my sweet tooth.

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  2. Love the update. Start me over for tomorrow's date, please. My kids were all here this weekend, we had a wedding to go to, and I am just finishing up 3 days of cheating. Big time cheating. Like chocolate mousse cake at the wedding cheating.

    So my new start date is Sept. 8.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ahhhhh....chocolate mousse....yum.

      If you want to start over you can. I wouldn't. I'd just pick up where I left off.

      You make the call. What's a little mousse between friends? This is your journey - you get to decide how you travel it.

      Sherry

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  3. I'm late to this party but I want in! I need this miracle. I related to every word you said. I've gained about 20 lbs this summer (to the 50 I already had to lose) and am embarrassed every time I leave the house. I to to work, Trader Joe's and yoga. That's about it. I'm not exactly sure what your 30 day thing is about, but I've been wanting to cut gluten and sugar and processed junk out of my diet and I think that's kind of what you are doing???? My start day will be Sept, 9 :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Barbara -

      Welcome!!!! Just go out to www.whole30.com and start reading. Everything you need is there. It's so easy! And if you already shop at Trader Joe's then you're half way there.

      Sherry

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    2. Hi there Bar - today (9/9) is my start day as well - perhaps we can kind of buddy up and make sure that we are on track? Good luck to you!

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  4. PS...Shanti.....my fave yoga instructor chants the most awesome chant after shavasana at the end of each class and "shanti" is a big part of it.

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  5. Can I just say how to attractive that photo is? Now she is a pretty woman but that dress doesn't work and she needs "a decent meat pudding" as my mum would have said!

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    Replies
    1. I actually love Keira Knight's work. She's just too dang thin! Maybe it's genetics for her but the fact that Hollywood presents this as the way a young woman should look is just appalling.

      In the south we say, "give that girl a biscuit".

      Sherry

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  6. Hey see there is an anonymous person on that old post of yours asking what the challenge is all about...might also be keen to join! Mr D says he's going to give it a go as well.. but only when he's at home (oh well I suppose that's better than nothing... he can cheat when he's at work or travelling, that's fine). He doesn't reckon I'm going to be able to do it, I say 'watch me buddy!'...
    I want what you've got...

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  7. Will you remind me where I said that so I can remember which one I was thinking of? LOL. :)

    I'm really looking forward to having some friends along. :) 9 more days!

    I love that you feel sooooo good. We have so much to talk about!!! Come on Oct. 12th! xoxoxoxo

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    Replies
    1. Um....I can't remember! Oh well. Next time you find a good one let us know.

      Can't wait for October 12th. My husband tried to schedule something last week for that date and I said...NOPE!

      Sherry

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  8. You girls are amazing. I'm feeling the self-love and loving how you're taking care of you. Having fun following the blog too! xxo lisa

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  9. Hey girl! I'm SO excited about this challenge, especially hearing all about how you've done! What excellent results. I have loosely followed a Paleo diet on and off for about two years, but since I stopped drinking, I'm a sugar fiend. I'm so excited that this might possibly do the trick and break my dependence on sugar.

    I started today (9/9), not yesterday, as I said I would. Unfortunately, the chocolate chip brioche was calling me, and it's that time of the month (which for me means I eat everything not nailed down). SO, I started today, and aside from a couple of mints, I made it through day one.

    Thank you for doing this - and for sharing your story. I hope to have similar results in 29 days:)

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  10. Well done Sherry. That's a wonderful and inspiring account! I am so pleased for you and you should be super proud for being able to stick to something so disciplined for 30 days, it's not easy and you deserve those results!!! Awesome...it is truly liberating to finally find the food path that works for you so I hear you and am hoping it clicks as much for me.
    Two weeks now...so far so good. Am a teeny bit (ok, hugely) sick of preparing and eating eggs first thing...but I have a ham omelette down to a two minute fine art so will soldier on. That's the only bit that really bothers me.
    Refused choc bday cake, cookies, cupcakes...haven't been tempted.
    Only had one major "must have chocolate now" moment and I rode it out. getting good at that, had my share of that with booze cravings.
    Thanks for being such a cheerleader...enjoy your wedding and few days off!!
    Have some cake for me ;-)

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