Read our Whole30 series:
Week One | Week Two | Week Three | Week Four | 10 things we learned
Another week of Whole30, and we’ve had … varying success. Two weeks without basically all of our favorite foods, and, spoiler alert: one of us fell off the wagon.
|
|
|
How our week went
Kaci Yoder, staff writer: Guys. I SURVIVED. I made it through a long weekend of three different crawfish boils, four kinds of Easter cakes and one huge Reese’s peanut butter bunny that’s currently detained in my mother’s freezer until May. It wasn’t easy. Whole30 purists, please avert your eyes: I didn’t consume any foods or ingredients that were off-plan, but I did prepare some in ways that are technically forbidden. The Whole30 rulebook lays down a strict no pancakes of any kind policy, but I definitely cooked banana pancakes made with bananas, eggs, cinnamon and baking soda a couple of times. I also had a handful of kettle cooked potato chips (gasp!). Both of these things adhere to the hard food rules of Whole30 but deviate from the “spirit” of Whole30. Look, y’all, it was banana pancakes or four kinds of Easter cake. I’m not sorry.
Physically, I’m still feeling good. I don’t own a scale or weigh myself because I turn into a crazy person when I do, so I’m just going by how my clothes fit and how I feel. I can tell you that I’m back in my favorite summer shorts that I bought when I was 21, my jeggings no longer require an act of God to squeeze into and my button-downs are getting a little roomier. Also, I’m not saying that Whole30 has made my skin more glow-y and my hair grow faster, but I’ve gotten more compliments on my complexion and my hair in the past week than I have in months, so I’m not saying it hasn’t, either. My nutso anxiety dreams have waned (though I still dream about chocolate), my digestive system is less irritable and I’ve been surprised at how quickly my tastebuds got used to less sweetness in things that I usually load up with sugar.
Jenn Tormo, editor: So … I cheated. I went on vacation on day 10, so it was pretty much inevitable. And now I have to start all over again. It taught me an important lesson: Take Whole30 seriously and really plan it out before you start. I decided to do it on kind of a whim, thinking that I could do it for 10 days, take a break for my trip and then finish out the last 20 days when I got home. Uh, nope. Whole30 is so intense that if you accidentally eat vanilla extract on day 26, you have to start over. Too bad I figured this out once my fridge was already stocked with coconut milk and sugar-free bacon.
The worst part: By day 10, I think my body was actually starting to change. I felt horrible on days eight and nine: exhausted, headachey. It was probably my body healing/resetting itself. I wish I could’ve seen what was on the other side of day 11, but that will have to wait.
Once I cheated, I couldn’t stop. It started with crappy airport food I ate out of desperation and morphed into ice cream, rice, chocolate, pizza, bacon, cheese … everything under the Coachella sun. And my stomach hated me for it! I felt so nauseated the first two days off Whole30. It’s another important lesson I learned: Ten days is not long enough to be habit forming. People praise Whole30 for changing their cravings and encouraging them to make a lifestyle change. But once I got off the diet, I probably ate worse than I did before I even went on it. It’s almost like I’ve been binge eating everything that is not Whole30-approved during this interim period. While everyone else with me is like, “I need a Coachella detox” and ordering salads, I am consistently looking for the WORST things on the menu. Chocolate cake French toast? GIMME THAT. Unicorn milk shake? OMG, yes please; I’ll take two. Yikes.
How we’re approaching the next week
Kaci: Guys, I’m so tired of dishes. I’m so tired of cleaning my kitchen. I long for a take-out order. So my philosophy for the next week is keeping things as simple as possible. That means a lot of raw veggies (I got this compliant ranch dressing for dipping in), smoothies, hot dogs and mass-prepping my own food so I only have to clean up once. I thought I was a prolific cook before, but Whole30 is a whole (no pun intended) other beast. I have my cravings more or less in check, so now I’m focusing on keeping it simple and being flexible so I don’t burn out.
|
|
|
Jenn: I’m not looking forward to weening myself off crappy food again. But I am looking forward to seeing this thing through.
My plan: I return from my trip late tonight. So, I will start over Thursday as soon as I’ve had a chance to grocery shop.
I’m looking at the first 10 days as a practice run. Now, I know what I’m doing. Well, sort of. I at least feel confident enough that I can go to Whole Foods now without feeling like crying, anyway.