Whole 30 Day 30 - The End of the Beginning

So, today was the final day of my Whole 30.

Here are my meals.

Breakfast: Left over turkey mince and sweet potato,
with courgette pasta

Lunch: Swordfish steak carrots and beans

Dinner: Chicken, oven cooked in coconut milk and mustard,
with roasted cauliflower and green beans

Perhaps technically I should have waited until tomorrow to do the measurements, but I couldn't help myself!

Here are the results.

	Before	After	Difference
Weight	83kg	78.5 kg	-4.5kg
Neck	36cm	35.5cm	-0.5cm
Bust	114cm	111cm	-3cm
Bottom of ribs	100cm	94.5 cm	-5.5cm
Waist	100cm	93 cm	-7cm
Hips	112cm	107cm	-5cm
Bum	115cm	107.5cm	-7.5cm
Thigh (r)	64cm	61cm	-3cm
Calf (r)	40cm	40cm	no change
Arm (r - top)	32cm	31cm	-1cm

Other changes

• I have so much more energy
• I can kneel (I couldn't before due to my legs just not folding like that)
• My joint pain has gone
• My back is better
• My shoulder where the nerve was trapped is much much better - no problems with it at all since I began the whole 30 - Drs., physios and osteopaths actually all agree that the cause was inflammation, so I am guessing this must mean inflammation has decreased
• My skin is clearer
• My sleep is better - I wake up less in the night
• I feel inspired to exercise and have recently created an exercise schedule which I am sticking too. In fact, having so much energy I actually feel like I NEED to exercise every day.
• My thinking is clearer
• My balance and coordination is better (measured by Wii Fit Plus)
• I am a better playmate for BB
• I am happier and more positive
• The way I think about food has changed
• Meal planning is much easier
• BB is eating better too

There is a negative though - it costs more! Our grocery bills have been higher. There are two reasons for that. One, I have eaten much more meat that I used to (I was vegetarian for 27 years!), and two, the meat I have eaten on the Whole 30 is organic and grass fed, free range etc. I think once I have completely finished I will be able to reduce those costs a bit. I can just buy grass fed instead of organic, and if I can eat legumes sometimes that will bring the cost back down too. I have also found it hard to eat three meals sometimes. In fact, on many days at lunch time it has been hard to motivate myself to make Whole 30 meal - I would have been happy with a bowl of soup, or a salad. or even just a couple of pieces of fruit.

Reintroduction of grains, dairy and legumes

I am planning on reintroducing grains, dairy and legumes gradually, one at a time, whilst sticking to the Whole 30 with the rest of my diet. I have made my own plan for this based on ideas from both It Starts with Food, the elimination diet in Six Secrets for Successful Weight Loss, and my own thoughts. It Starts with Food, suggest introducing a whole food group in one day, and then waiting two days before introducing another whole group. Six Secrets has you introduce them separately, two foods a day, with a 7 day gap between foods in the same group. My schedule is going to be one food at a time, every 2 days, (due to the fact that I know with wheat, when I eat it I feel great, it's the next day that I suffer), with at least 6 days between foods in the same group.

Here is my planned reintroduction schedule.

Day	Food
31	Rice
33	Chick Peas
35	Oats
37	Milk
39	Corn
41	Rye
43	Cheese
45	Lentils
47	Gluten Free Bread
49	Yoghurt
51	Kidney Beans

Beyond the Whole 30

The biggest difference the Whole 30 has had on the way I think about food and meal planning is the starting point of a meal idea. Although since being diagnosed with PCOS and making massive changes in my diet to reduce carbs and increase protein, I have been conscious about having protein in my meals for a long time - this is what has gradually brought me out of vegetarianism as I needed more protein sources. However, I always started thinking about a meal with the carbs. I made sure I varied the carbs on our plates, rice one day, pasta another, potatoes the next etc. Now when I think about food I start with the protein. This might not be a new idea to most, but trust me, as a vegetarian it is radical! 

I am going to continue to plan meals that way. The meat and two veg idea makes it easy. I will continue to rotate my pork, fish, chicken and turkey, all on their various forms, and maybe even add in a few more meats as time goes on.

I am going to try keeping up with the Whole 30 style breakfast for most days of the week as I think it is great to start the day with a pile of nutrients rather than pile of carbs that leave me hungry for more 2 hours later. Having said that, I would love to have porridge and berries some days, or maybe banana and yoghurt.

I think a minimum of two protein, fat and 2 x veg style meals a day is good, but if I fancy soup or a light salad some lunchtimes I'll go with that.

Eating out, I will make the best choices I can, but not beat myself up about it. 

I am going to exercise every day, where possible.

I am still really curious to try The Fast Diet too. That's not an option while I am breastfeeding or trying to get pregnant (or if I do manage to get pregnant), but once my body is my own again I think a combination of that with some good healthy meals that I have learned from the whole 30 would be a really good way to get  back down to my pre pregnancy weight (which was 68kg).

I will do the Whole 30 (strictly) again sometime. Several people I have found do it annually. In January seems like a good time, but I guess whenever I feel the need to get back to being more mindful about what and how I am eating is the important thing for me. 

Thanks

Finally I want to say thanks to lots of people. 

Firstly thanks to all the people that encouraged me to blog about it and post a photo of everything I ate. It did really help - having to put an image up meant I had to cook a proper meal and eat it, so it helped me stay on track. I also think it will be great resource should I ever fall back into less healthy eating - I can just come here and look at photos of some great looking easy to prepare meals and remember how good they made me feel.

Thanks also to all the other people out there blogging about the Whole 30, or the Paleo Diet, or weight loss particularly Kristen at A Change of Pace, and Tiffany at Skinny Jeans and a Healthy Me, both of whom are ahead of me on this journey and very inspiring! 

Thanks also to my regular readers who have put up with endless photos of food. Thanks for sticking with me.