Well, Old Army, I made it! This is the last day of my Whole 30.
It's odd, because it's Ash Wednesday, and tomorrow I'll be coming off of a fairly radical food plan. I didn't plan it this way...it just happened.
I seem to be unlike many folks who have done Whole 30 in that I don't have glowing results to share about Tiger Blood (feeling great!) or lessened inflammation (my knees are still mad at me). I have actually been pretty depressed for much of this time (partly situational, certainly). Note that many adherents of this food plan would say that I should do a Whole 45 or Whole 60 - that is, stick with it till things get better. Maybe...but not now. Not for me.
But I didn't start this because I felt BAD. I wasn't having ongoing problems with sinus, insomnia, etc. I started this because I wanted to reset my system away from additives, preservatives, added sugar, and to see what effects other foods might have on me.
The Take-Aways:
Things I won't miss:
- I didn't like eating so much meat, and I am very much looking forward to going back to beans, especially my friends the black beans; and also brown rice and quinoa. I have also missed plain Greek yogurt (I will, of course, add all of these back in a measured way, to see whether there is some type of reaction.)
- Whole 30 is EXPENSIVE. Jeebers.
Things I liked, and will maintain:
- Staying away from processed foods, and trying to eat as much whole food as possible. The graphic above is amazingly accurate.
- Eating breakfast EVERY day, even when I don't feel like it. I feel MUCH better with some protein in the morning (I am a lifelong breakfast skipper). I loved not getting hungry from meal to meal.
- Staying away from sweetener in my tea and coffee. I never drink soda, so that was already gone.
- I lost 8 lbs.
- Spending mindful time planning and cooking. It's virtualy impossible to do Whole 30 without that. I want to keep on doing it, for our health and for our budget.
I am grateful for the weight loss, and for knowing that I could complete this large challenge. I'm committed to continuing to work on the weight. I just saw a lot of photos of myself from the RevGals cruise, and I was horrified at how this extra weight looks on me. :( I'm very good at not seeing it most of the time. But I know many friends who feel the same way about themselves, and when I see them, in pictures or in person, I see no such thing: because I am looking with eyes of love.
While continuing to work to make my body healthier, I want to work on looking at my own image with the same sort of love, because God made me in God's image. And that is why this is a good thing for Ash Wednesday, and why I chose this poem for the Ash Wednesday prayer today.
ps: Grateful to Wil Gafney, whose cranky Lent blogpost reminded me of these words:
Almighty and everlasting God, you hate nothing you have made…
I'm off to Ash Wednesday service to hear them in person.
