So we’ve started Whole30. Now, here we are coming to the end of the 30 days, drooling at the thought of eating our favorite food. Now what? Where do we go from here? Have we accomplished something by sticking with the Whole30 plan for THIRTY DAYS or have we just proved to ourselves and others that we can do it? If that is the case, BIG DEAL! As they say, anyone can do anything for 30 days.
The fact is, if we intent to go back to eating the same food we were eating before Whole30 we have accomplished nothing but proving we can stick to it for 30 days. No different than an alcoholic going to rehab and looking forward to getting out to get that drink of choice he missed so much, thinking I can keep it in control now. If we say, no, alcohol is different than food, I beg to differ. If we can’t resist what we know is not healthy on so many levels and we continue to keep the excess weight and pack on more pounds, then we must admit we are no less addicted to food than the alcoholic to alcohol. Yes, we have to eat and thus have food in our house, but we know that we can fill our frig and pantry with good choices, so it is a cop out to say we have to have food around us. Believe me, I’m talking to me here.
If I look a week or month ahead and think I’ll still be denying myself of food like stuff that I enjoy eating cause it is fun food, I will fail. I look at today. I look at what I can eat to feed my body in a way that promotes health and that can be just as enjoyable as the junk food options. The addiction is in my brain. When my brain wins the argument for traditional pizza over, say, chicken nuggets (not fried), seasoned with our favorite seasoning with a sprinkle of our favorite cheese, tomato, jalapeno, onion, mushrooms, olives, etc. and a salad with tasty greens, tomato, avocado, green onions & other favorite salad veggies, it will continue to win the battle. We all know how it goes. We give in little by little and a year or two has past and we are back to where we were or worse. With every year we continue our bad habits, consequences of our bad habits will show their ugly heads and may be irreversible.
So, we must admit that we have addictions and we can not go back to those things that make us sick, tired, and fat. We must come to the end of the Whole30 experience with plans for more of the same adding only what we know is not a big hunk of crack for us. Like a bad relationship with someone that enables you to stay in a destructive lifestyle. If you are craving something that is just bad for you, do not give into it. Add something that you took away just to be Whole30 compliant but is a healthy food. Add one thing. Add another but leave the one you added out. Listen to your body. Pay attention to how you feel and continue to improve your health and lose the weight. Remember, how much better you have felt while doing Whole30, once passed the first week. Why would we want to go back?
Oh, and by the way 241Journey followers, it would help a lot if the followers of this blog would get involved with some comments. Post what you think and feel. If you disagree with the author of this blog, tell her what your feelings are. Most bloggers are bloggers because they want interaction from others. It doesn’t have to be post that are in agreement. Many times those who disagree with our thinking are the ones who help us to see things more clearly. So get busy and take a few minutes to get in here and be a part of this conversation. You never know who you may help. It may be you.
Debbie – I agree with you:-) I consider the whole 30/paleo concept not a diet but rather a lifestyle change. I have now been eating this way for over 1 year and I will not go back. As you know I travel a lot so sometimes it is easier to stray than stay on it but here is why I am committed. I feel great, I sleep better and have more energy. I have lost over 25 pounds during the past year.
After my yearly physical in June, my blood work came back the best it has been in years and the doctor encouraged me to continue doing what I was doing. I am also hopeful that we may have found a potential cure for my terrible sun allergy which I have had for more than 20 years. In recent years, I couldn’t even go for a 10 minute walk without getting hives and while I can’t say definitely that the allergy is completely gone, I have not had one reaction so far this summer. (Knock on wood).
I would encourage everyone to not look at it like a diet but a way of life. Also, now that your 30 days is up, remember that you can always “cheat” 15% of the time without having an serious set backs. I have eaten dessert only 2 or 3 times in the last year and every time I have felt light headed and sick so it was enough of a signal for me to not want to do that again.
Susan, it is incredible how food can contribute to something such as your response to the sun. I’m glad you’ve received good numbers back. I am expecting my numbers to go down as well. I can’t wait to get some numbers back. I had blood work done on day one, and tomorrow we have blood work done for our insurance company. I am looking forward to seeing how almost 30 days impacted everything. Fortunately, I only had a couple of numbers that were slightly off. Nothing was a critical status except my weight. This time next year, I plan to totally blow my doctor away when they weigh me in!
Susan, this sounds great! It is encouraging to here that food, in fact, can cause problems with our bodies. It is encouraging because it means there is hope for aliments that can be relieved by what I but in my mouth. What you did with the desserts is what I mean by adding something and then give your body time to react or not. I’m on my third week. I started on a Saturday. I do feel better and I’m waiting to see how it impacts my energy level. I do feel more energetic, but need to add some activity to help with that, I think. Thanks for the encouragement. We all need it every now and then. Please share with me, whether personally on Facebook or here any thing that could be helpful.I like your post. 🙂
Yes, I am approaching the end of my 30 days, and I am looking forward to it coming to an end, but not because I want to add junk. No way! Fortunately, I don’t miss the junk. I want to continue eating as close to Whole30 as possible, but I do want to add back some foods that are not Whole30 compliant, but still healthy.
I agree with you. There would be no point to going through such a journey if all you planned to do is line up at the fast food counter when you’re finished. My battle with food isn’t over. For that reason, I will use great caution with continuing.
Another thing is digging into my new cookbook “Well Fed 2” which is a Whole30/Paleo cookbook. I am looking forward to learning more about this way of eating. Whole30 isn’t intended to be Whole365. I have learned a lot about food and my relationship with it during this 30 days. I am looking forward to taking my first baby steps into the big, bad world of healthier eating without the training wheels.
Thank you so much for posting and encouraging others to do the same.
Fighting FAT 
So we’ve started Whole30. Now, here we are coming to the end of the 30 days, drooling at the thought of eating our favorite food. Now what? Where do we go from here? Have we accomplished something by sticking with the Whole30 plan for THIRTY DAYS or have we just proved to ourselves and others that we can do it? If that is the case, BIG DEAL! As they say, anyone can do anything for 30 days.
The fact is, if we intent to go back to eating the same food we were eating before Whole30 we have accomplished nothing but proving we can stick to it for 30 days. No different than an alcoholic going to rehab and looking forward to getting out to get that drink of choice he missed so much, thinking I can keep it in control now. If we say, no, alcohol is different than food, I beg to differ. If we can’t resist what we know is not healthy on so many levels and we continue to keep the excess weight and pack on more pounds, then we must admit we are no less addicted to food than the alcoholic to alcohol. Yes, we have to eat and thus have food in our house, but we know that we can fill our frig and pantry with good choices, so it is a cop out to say we have to have food around us. Believe me, I’m talking to me here.
If I look a week or month ahead and think I’ll still be denying myself of food like stuff that I enjoy eating cause it is fun food, I will fail. I look at today. I look at what I can eat to feed my body in a way that promotes health and that can be just as enjoyable as the junk food options. The addiction is in my brain. When my brain wins the argument for traditional pizza over, say, chicken nuggets (not fried), seasoned with our favorite seasoning with a sprinkle of our favorite cheese, tomato, jalapeno, onion, mushrooms, olives, etc. and a salad with tasty greens, tomato, avocado, green onions & other favorite salad veggies, it will continue to win the battle. We all know how it goes. We give in little by little and a year or two has past and we are back to where we were or worse. With every year we continue our bad habits, consequences of our bad habits will show their ugly heads and may be irreversible.
So, we must admit that we have addictions and we can not go back to those things that make us sick, tired, and fat. We must come to the end of the Whole30 experience with plans for more of the same adding only what we know is not a big hunk of crack for us. Like a bad relationship with someone that enables you to stay in a destructive lifestyle. If you are craving something that is just bad for you, do not give into it. Add something that you took away just to be Whole30 compliant but is a healthy food. Add one thing. Add another but leave the one you added out. Listen to your body. Pay attention to how you feel and continue to improve your health and lose the weight. Remember, how much better you have felt while doing Whole30, once passed the first week. Why would we want to go back?
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Oh, and by the way 241Journey followers, it would help a lot if the followers of this blog would get involved with some comments. Post what you think and feel. If you disagree with the author of this blog, tell her what your feelings are. Most bloggers are bloggers because they want interaction from others. It doesn’t have to be post that are in agreement. Many times those who disagree with our thinking are the ones who help us to see things more clearly. So get busy and take a few minutes to get in here and be a part of this conversation. You never know who you may help. It may be you.
LikeLike
Debbie – I agree with you:-) I consider the whole 30/paleo concept not a diet but rather a lifestyle change. I have now been eating this way for over 1 year and I will not go back. As you know I travel a lot so sometimes it is easier to stray than stay on it but here is why I am committed. I feel great, I sleep better and have more energy. I have lost over 25 pounds during the past year.
After my yearly physical in June, my blood work came back the best it has been in years and the doctor encouraged me to continue doing what I was doing. I am also hopeful that we may have found a potential cure for my terrible sun allergy which I have had for more than 20 years. In recent years, I couldn’t even go for a 10 minute walk without getting hives and while I can’t say definitely that the allergy is completely gone, I have not had one reaction so far this summer. (Knock on wood).
I would encourage everyone to not look at it like a diet but a way of life. Also, now that your 30 days is up, remember that you can always “cheat” 15% of the time without having an serious set backs. I have eaten dessert only 2 or 3 times in the last year and every time I have felt light headed and sick so it was enough of a signal for me to not want to do that again.
Keep up the great work and you won’t regret it…
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Susan, it is incredible how food can contribute to something such as your response to the sun. I’m glad you’ve received good numbers back. I am expecting my numbers to go down as well. I can’t wait to get some numbers back. I had blood work done on day one, and tomorrow we have blood work done for our insurance company. I am looking forward to seeing how almost 30 days impacted everything. Fortunately, I only had a couple of numbers that were slightly off. Nothing was a critical status except my weight. This time next year, I plan to totally blow my doctor away when they weigh me in!
LikeLike
Susan, this sounds great! It is encouraging to here that food, in fact, can cause problems with our bodies. It is encouraging because it means there is hope for aliments that can be relieved by what I but in my mouth. What you did with the desserts is what I mean by adding something and then give your body time to react or not. I’m on my third week. I started on a Saturday. I do feel better and I’m waiting to see how it impacts my energy level. I do feel more energetic, but need to add some activity to help with that, I think. Thanks for the encouragement. We all need it every now and then. Please share with me, whether personally on Facebook or here any thing that could be helpful.I like your post. 🙂
LikeLike
Yes, I am approaching the end of my 30 days, and I am looking forward to it coming to an end, but not because I want to add junk. No way! Fortunately, I don’t miss the junk. I want to continue eating as close to Whole30 as possible, but I do want to add back some foods that are not Whole30 compliant, but still healthy.
I agree with you. There would be no point to going through such a journey if all you planned to do is line up at the fast food counter when you’re finished. My battle with food isn’t over. For that reason, I will use great caution with continuing.
Another thing is digging into my new cookbook “Well Fed 2” which is a Whole30/Paleo cookbook. I am looking forward to learning more about this way of eating. Whole30 isn’t intended to be Whole365. I have learned a lot about food and my relationship with it during this 30 days. I am looking forward to taking my first baby steps into the big, bad world of healthier eating without the training wheels.
Thank you so much for posting and encouraging others to do the same.
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