Whole30 Results and Throwing Out the Scale

First, scales aren't totally meaningless, but the number they shoot back at you is. I'm not talking about people with real health problems who might have perfectly good and necessary reasons for having a scale or needing to know how much they weigh. I'm talking about people like me. People who step on a scale at least every other day to see what the number will say. People who step on a scale for vanity, assigning power to the loss of pounds. But here's the thing.. how much you weigh doesn't even come close to defining what you look like, what your body shape is, or how healthy you are. 

One of the Whole30 rules was that you couldn't weigh yourself for the entire 30 days of the program. So after I weighed myself on Day 0 I took the scale and put it at the top of my linen closet. Out of sight out of mind. I'm sure there are lots of reasons why this is a rule, but in my life it helped me to focus on how things were changing without getting hung up on a number. 

If this picture was a feeling.. I have felt it.

I'll come back around to the numbers later, but here are some of the things I loved about the Whole30:

• Portion Sizes
  
  If there is one thing that will make me fail on an eating program, it's limiting my food. I need a program that says "here are the right foods, and fill up your plate." That's what this did. Eventually you get less ravenous and things even out, but I am still in shock that I didn't go up a size in clothes with all of the food I was eating. Especially all of the homemade mayo. I am officially a mayo person.
• It's Challenging
  
  This seems like a weird thing to love, but it's empowering because it is a challenge. I know I have issues with some foods. It's hard to get over emotional ties or longstanding history. Just so we are clear, I am still talking about food. Doing this for 30 days showed me that I can be more powerful than a craving. Discovering that power gave me power in other things. It's like a self esteem up-cycle.
  
  
• FREE Resources for DAYSSS
  
  You don't have to buy the books. You can do this entire thing very easily with the power of the internet. The Whole30 website has every tool that you can get in the book except the recipes. But all you have to do is google "Whole30 recipes" and there are TONS of things right at your fingertips. Want to know if something is compliant? Google it. Because this program has been around for a few years, someone, somewhere has asked your question. And someone answered it. Google can find it all for you. Can't tell you how many times I used my phone to check for compliant ingredients. One of my best days was when I found out San Daniele Prosciutto was compliant. And melons are in season.

• The Whole30 Community
  
  There are TONS of strangers on the internet who REALLY want to help you make it through your Whole30. They want you to succeed. Strangers who taught me why my first attempt at homemade mayo failed. Strangers who suggested I eat more sweet potatoes (that's a good stranger) and strangers that told me to drink even more water. Strangers who cook things that you see and then you are like "shit I forgot about monkey salad!" and your life changes for the better. 

Now the results. At the end of my 30 days (before I step on a scale) here is where I am:

• A Better Me
  
  I'm happier. I can say that without a doubt. It's nothing to do with "I'm happier with my physical appearance," I'm just happier. I feel more optimistic. I don't get anxious about things, and that's coming from someone who at one time in her life got anxious about everything. I am more fun to be around and that makes me a better wife and a better mom. The ripple effect means that my relationships are working, my kids are happy, my marriage is strong. Because when you work on yourself, things around you kind of magically become better, too.
• Solid Sleep
  One night over this 30 day period, I swear I woke up in the exact same position I went to sleep in. It's the same amount of sleep, but the quality is so high. It makes a huge difference in my mornings and my days.
• Clearer Skin
  
  I was hoping the Whole30 would completely clear up some random eczema problem areas I have, and while it did improve them, I would probably have to live a very clean long term life to get rid of them. My skin in general though was much clearer and the areas I usually put concealer on weren't red anymore. Since I don't wear makeup every day, that was an easy one to tell. So dark circles and red t-zone became even toned and non greasy.
• Energy on Retainer
  
  It's not energizer bunny energy, it's energy that is there when I need to use it. When I do use it it's consistent and not up and down. I don't have an afternoon crash anymore, and that is huge with the kids. They want to go everywhere and do everything, and they should. Now I can better facilitate our adventures.
• Speaking of the Kids
  
  The Whole30 rules asked me to sit down to a meal 3 times a day. I found myself often sitting at the table with my kids eating. They want to try what I have (if it's not what they have) and this opened me up to a whole lot of foods that they love, but have never been exposed to. Plus my daughter very much wants to do what "grown ups do" right now. When I eat junk, they want junk. When I eat healthy, whole foods, they want healthy whole foods. The snacks that they ask for have changed over the last 30 days. That is just INSANE to me how much of an impact what I eat has on what they want. When you clean out all of the cheddar bunnies they will eventually start asking for fruit instead. But let's be realistic, there will still be cheddar bunnies and pirate's booty, and popcorn on movie night.
  
  
• This Way of Eating is now EASY
  
  Which is an insane thing to say considering I spent the first 10 days of the Whole30 walking around with the cookbook like it was my phone and having mini panic attacks when I would lose it. Even though this 30 days has something to do with the myth that it takes 21 days to form a new habit, I did form some new habits. Of course I still have a lot of my deep rooted old ones, so maybe it's just that I formed a back bone or the ability to overcome my old habits. Whatever happened, it made this way of eating pretty straightforward and simple for my continuing days thus far. 

So here is why I am giving my scale the side eye, if not a kick out of the door. In 30 days of hard core commitment, but no official working out, kitchen slave level cooking, marathon grocery shopping, not drinking, bloated belly, energy DRAIN, physical withdrawal, BOTH kids having ear infections (on separate occasions), two 2 year molars breaking through, memorial day weekend, a 100 year flood, 4 children's birthday parties, 1 wedding, and low lows followed by high highs.... well I took a look at the noticeable changes in my body and I expected that I had lost somewhere around 7-10lbs. But I lost 4. And I'm not unhappy about that, because I am happy with my physical results, I'm just stunned at the power I used to give the number on the scale. I'm REALLY glad I didn't get on a scale for 30 days. Because when the days were hard (and some really were) if I would have gotten on a scale and seen that I hadn't lost any weight or had lost 1 pound, I might have gotten into the "it's not working for me" mind game instead of embracing all of the changes that were happening beyond the scale. 

 I didn't do this to lose weight. If I lost weight I wasn't going to complain, but I am not overweight. I wanted to get rid of belly bloat (which I did) and just kind of see where this would take me. I am probably an 80/20 healthy real food eater, but when I do one of these things I realize how much mindless eating I do. This is especially true when it comes to my kid's food. There are all kinds of new things that you learn about your eating habits when you take on something like this.

I took before and after pictures and I wasn't going to post them. First, because it's not really my thing, and second because these pics are literally rolled out of bed selfies in the bathroom mirror. If I planned to share them I would have put some more thought into them. But with the 4lb loss I feel like the photos better illustrate the body changes. I also measured before and after and will give those stats as well. So here we go:

L: The Day Before my Whole30 (Day 0)  R: The Day After my Whole30 (Day 31)

I did also take a picture of myself blowing my stomach out as far as it would go and then sucking my stomach in with protruding ribs. Both of these photos are relaxed body. I lost 1.5 inches in my waist, 1 inch in my hips, .5 inch on each thigh and 1 inch in my bust. Arms stayed the same. And yes, I do think that 2 of those 4 lbs came out of my bra. And I'm not complaining.

So there it all is. Lots of words that I can sum up like this: I learned a lot over those 30 days. About my relationship with food, but also about myself. I like the me on the other side of the Whole30 better. I think my results would have been more drastic if I hadn't have already tamed my sugar dragon last year, but the results were still amazing from an emotional standpoint. I didn't realize I was feeling bad until I got back to feeling good again. 

If you think a Whole30 is too much for you to take on, then pick some smaller goals and work your way up. That is essentially what I did. My journey started a year ago when I gave up refined sugar for a month. My food choices only improved from there and then out of the blue I wanted to take on the Whole30. If someone was on the fence I would say absolutely do it. But it's not something that is for everyone and I respect that as well. The really insane thing I didn't see coming until I was done: I know now that this will not be my last Whole30. But I promise to officially stop talking about it (unless asked) until it's time for the next one. 

Seriously --thanks everyone for the support. Y'all have been lifesavers and completely amazing. Now here's to summer cocktails with zoodles, steak and eggs. 

The daily journey continues at www.instagram.com/raisingtexas.

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