I am currently on day 20 of Whole Day 30. For those who
don’t know anything about it, it’s very similar to Paleo but a bit more strict
and for 30 days. In a nutshell no dairy (except eggs), grains, alcohol, added sugar,
legumes, soy and …. no peanut butter. Really only that last one was very
upsetting to me. Before I started this I was already trying to reduce a lot of
those things anyway so it seemed like a good idea to go the whole way. I have
an easier time sticking to something when it’s very clear yes and no’s for a
set timeframe vs me trying to stop eating peanut butter and granola for a few
days at a time.
Before I started this I talked to Katie who has done Whole30 before and she has helped me out a decent amount. We agreed I should take a few exceptions to the plan for training purposes. So yes I’m not doing it 100%. I KNOW! Full disclosure… I’m not following the rules 100% so therefore it’s not “technically” Whole30. It’s Whole30 with important exceptions. I’m not willing to sacrifice my training for this so the exceptions include drinking OSMO during certain longer training, drinking a recovery drink after certain training and eating bars/chews only on long rides or runs so 2-3 times a week.
Before this I had several sessions of eating mass quantities of my homemade granola straight out of the container with a spoon. This was mostly because I made a big batch the weekend before and wanted to lower my supply. I also ate whatever other perishable foods that would be off limits because I hate throwing perfectly good food out. However, I didn’t do the whole “eat everything I won’t be able to!” panic binge going into it. In fact I hadn’t had chocolate or peanut butter or any sweets since the weekend before I started. I don’t see the Whole30 as a “diet”. It’s about hitting the restart button on my body and what I eat and my relationship to food. Do I hope to drop a few pounds during it? Sure. But that’s not the main reason I’m doing it. I decided now was the best time to do it for two reasons: It’s the lowest training volume I’ll probably have all year and I am still in the middle of the weight loss bet against my husband. So yes, I was hoping for the extra benefit of a little weight loss.
Before I started this I talked to Katie who has done Whole30 before and she has helped me out a decent amount. We agreed I should take a few exceptions to the plan for training purposes. So yes I’m not doing it 100%. I KNOW! Full disclosure… I’m not following the rules 100% so therefore it’s not “technically” Whole30. It’s Whole30 with important exceptions. I’m not willing to sacrifice my training for this so the exceptions include drinking OSMO during certain longer training, drinking a recovery drink after certain training and eating bars/chews only on long rides or runs so 2-3 times a week.
Before this I had several sessions of eating mass quantities of my homemade granola straight out of the container with a spoon. This was mostly because I made a big batch the weekend before and wanted to lower my supply. I also ate whatever other perishable foods that would be off limits because I hate throwing perfectly good food out. However, I didn’t do the whole “eat everything I won’t be able to!” panic binge going into it. In fact I hadn’t had chocolate or peanut butter or any sweets since the weekend before I started. I don’t see the Whole30 as a “diet”. It’s about hitting the restart button on my body and what I eat and my relationship to food. Do I hope to drop a few pounds during it? Sure. But that’s not the main reason I’m doing it. I decided now was the best time to do it for two reasons: It’s the lowest training volume I’ll probably have all year and I am still in the middle of the weight loss bet against my husband. So yes, I was hoping for the extra benefit of a little weight loss.
At this point I’m not sure a whole lot will change
between now and day 30 but I could be wrong. Doing this wasn’t a drastic change
for me. I had to completely change my breakfast as it included Greek yogurt and
my homemade granola. Lunch I had to change the salad dressing. Dinner was
changes like no BBQ sauce on the chicken. Snacking included no more spoonfuls
of peanut butter. Because my diet wasn’t a complete overhaul, my body didn’t
freak out when I started this. I had some cravings the first week. Everyone
says the first week is the worst before you start feeling really good. I honestly
couldn’t tell if I felt like crap from going through the initial changes
because I got sick a few days in.
Overall, I’ve felt really good from this whole
experience. Physically and mentally. I don’t have many cravings anymore. I’m
learning that I often want to eat just for the sake of eating, not because I’m
hungry (although I’m still giving into this with snacking). I’m learning to
cook more, plan meals ahead of time, prepare food on weekends for the week and experiment
with foods. I eat SO MANY VEGGIES! I’ll have a fully stocked fridge and a few
days later it looks empty. I pretty much only open the pantry for spices, oils
and nuts. I can see some changes I’ve had to make that I hope I will continue
after this.
They are right… this really isn’t THAT hard. It does
involve planning. Since I train a lot I have to be careful about getting the
right macronutrients. I’ve spent time looking at the amount of carbs, fats and
protein in various meats, veggies, fruits and nuts and played around with what
I need to eat to make sure I’m getting enough carbs in my diet. That might
sound tedious to some people but I actually enjoy it because I’m weird. It’s
like a math problem I get to play with using spreadsheets (I’m such a nerd I
know). I’ve always had a concern I wasn’t getting enough protein especially
when I was a vegetarian and now it’s weird to worry about eating enough carbs.
This whole thing sure has been an interesting experiment. Less than two weeks
left and then we’ll see what happens from there.
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