Well, I did it! I successfully completed my first round of Whole30, and I am so proud of myself! While I’m still in the middle of the reintroduction phase, I wanted to post an update of my initial thoughts after finishing the initial Whole30 and a little bit into the reintroduction so far.
I want to jump into a Q&A style similar to what I posted before I started Whole30, but I do want to preface it with a few disclaimers of sort. I 100% recognize how doing a reset like this is difficult AF. I fully admit that I was lucky to be able to try and do this under the most ideal circumstances – I didn’t have to navigate working and trying to keep to the program, I wasn’t tempted by going out with friends or having FOMO because I was missing out on anything – thanks again, Covid! I also had someone to do it with to keep me accountable and help take on the load of meal planning. That being said, I hope that sharing a small part of my experience might help you feel empowered to try it!
Was doing Whole30 worth it?
For sure! But I didn’t really know it until we started the reintroduction phase. In the midst of the initial Whole30, it definitely felt great to be eating so clean and I felt like I was doing some good for my body by eating more veggies than I had in like, forever, but I didn’t have like the renewed sense of energy or clarity that some people doing Whole30 feel. My first real sense of feeling like I had done something good for myself came about a week into reintroduction when I had a sandwich on bread for the first time. I treated myself to one of my favorite sandwiches in Brooklyn (oh hey, Mekelburg’s), and I was so horrified to find that after I ate it, it was… so totally not worth it! The bread made me so sleepy and I felt like I could literally feel it weighing me down. And it really made me think – how long had bread been making me feel like this, but I was unable to recognize it? I was pretty happy to have experienced that so early in the reintroduction phase. It’s made every choice since then exactly that, a choice. Is this going to be worth it? Am I going to feel better if we just have a salad instead? Am I absolutely going to put a little bit of cheese on this salad because I actually want it and not just because it’s there? Definitely.
What ended up being the hardest part?
I truly thought I was going to have significant sugar withdrawal issues, but I really didn’t react to that elimination as much as I thought I would. The only place I struggled with the loss of sugar was with my coffee. I posted about my coffee woes pretty regularly throughout the month over on my Insta-stories, and while everyone who gave me the advice that I’d be over the taste issues of sugar-less coffee in a few days was absolutely correct, I was not a happy camper. My morning coffee had lost every ounce of joy that it had once brought me! I tried every Whole30 approved creamer I could get my hands on to try and recreate the magic, and I actually got my best recommendation from the @whole30 account on Instagram replying to one of my sad Insta-stories! They recommended Nutpods (available on Amazon here!), and they were definitely the closest I got to a happy latte. ♥ They frothed up the best for maximum fluffiness and actually had flavors to play around with as opposed to just plain almond or coconut creamers I found at my local grocery stores. But I never truly got over how unbalanced the coffee felt – even though it was flavorful enough from the coffee itself and the creamer, it was so thin tasting… and years of critiquing cocktails as part of my job had me practically shrieking every morning that it just needed some damn sugar!
I made the choice to reintroduce sugar in the second week post-Whole30 because honestly? I wanted to enjoy my coffee again. I wanted to have my happy, frothy, fluffy little quasi-latte in the morning again, and I’m not sorry about it. I spoke about choices before and this choice was absolutely, 100% worth it to me. But I still don’t regret going cold turkey on no sugar for the entire Whole30 + the first week of reintroduction because now I don’t need anywhere near the amount of sugar I was used to before Whole30! It really is the tiniest amount that rounds out the cup for me and makes me a very happy girl. I actually had to add more coffee to the first one I made for myself because the sugar was too much!
Would you do it again?
Yes! We started like mid-January, and I really like the idea of doing the strict Whole30 every January as kind of a reset going into the new year. However, I’ve learned so much about how different foods are making me feel in the reintroduction phase that I don’t see myself going that far off it throughout the rest of the year. Which for me, is great. I didn’t go into it trying to use it as a crash diet – in fact, I purposefully didn’t weigh myself before and haven’t since, because that wasn’t the objective for me. I genuinely wanted to acknowledge my issues and make lifestyle changes with my eating habits, and doing Whole30 accomplished that. I previously was totally content with a bowl of creamy, delicious pasta for dinner, and now I feel incomplete without a veggie taking up most of my plate. Am I still absolutely going to devour macaroni and cheese every once in awhile? Yeah, of course. Am I going to have pasta 2-3 times a week anymore? Probably not. Again, that question of ‘Is it worth it?’ is my new mindset. Is an In-N-Out burger (animal style, animal style fries, and a neopolitan shake!) going to be worth it the minute I’m able to get one? Uh, duh. Is Shake Shack going to be worth it even if I’m desperately craving a nice, juicy cheeseburger just because it’s supposedly the east coast equivalent? Not so much. The Shake Shack burger isn’t going to satisfy the craving and I’m just going to feel tired and gross after, so why bother? Yes, I went there and will fight you if you think Shake Shack is better than In-N-Out. (:
Overall, I’m really happy that I did Whole30 – I think it was a much needed reset after years of eating the absurd way that restaurant and bar employees end up having to eat – iykyk – and after almost a year of quarantine eating whatever the f*ck I wanted, whenever I wanted. It was surprisingly nice to have to get out of my own food ruts – my “go-to” snacks and meals, if you will, and either find something new entirely or reimagine them in a new, compatible way. It’s a 10/10, Y/Y, would recommend to a friend for me! ♡
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