2nd Day 2: Oops, I am doing it again!

I took a 4 day break from the Whole30 when I hit day 30 on my first round.  I indulged in what I wanted to eat and thought I had been missing...cheese fries, pasta salad, doughnuts, cream in my coffee, it is all such a blur I don't even remember what else...there may have been some peanut butter sandwich crackers in there too...it is all a little hazy.  I was even going to have a cupcake.  But you know what?  I was SICK for 4 days.  My heartburn returned with a vengeance.  I was nauseous the entire time...and even threw up...twice.  Now I know why they recommend a 10 day reintroduction plan in the book It Starts With Food.  It is really important not to skip that step.  Learn from my mistake.  That doughnut I dreamed about was NOT worth it.  It only made me sick.  It just put me into sugar shock.

This break from the Whole30 Part 1 coincided with my daughter's tube/adenoid surgery.  You know, the times in the past where I would have eaten away my stress and felt that I was completely justified.  But instead I just felt like I was cheating or something.  I felt like it was wrong to eat those foods.  Knowing what I know about what carbohydrate, sugar laden, chemically rich foods does to my body after cleansing it for 30 days helped me to realize something...and it is something BIG.

My body is made to be fed by real food.  Real meat, real vegetables, and real fruit.  I can not live on sugar and processed foods.  They may taste good in the moment, but the "reward" that I used to get from them wasn't at all the same after getting rid of them for so long.  I didn't feel good, satisfied, or fulfilled.  I felt sick.

I think the biggest thing that I learned from the Whole30 was that I had a very unhealthy relationship with food--it didn't take the Whole30 for me to know that, but it did take the Whole30 to give me to courage to break-up with those abusive foods.  But when I took out that unhealthy food that I ran to in order to feed my emotions, it helped me to see the unhealthy cycle my life had been in for so long.  Have a bad day, eat a brownie fudge sundae.  Feeling emotional, those chips and queso will make it all better.  Had a hard time getting the kids down to sleep, sure honey, run to the gas station and buy me a pint of ice cream to eat in one sitting.  Wouldn't the world look very different if everyone who had a bad day ran to their fridge and pulled out a giant bowl of roasted broccoli to ease their pain and heartache.  When those crutches were gone, I turned to something else.  I started reading my Bible plans again.  I started spending more time praying...and I am perfectly comfortable admitting that some of my prayers were, "Dear God, don't let me eat that cupcake or those tasty looking Cheese Its."  This helped me run to God instead of running to food.  Now, don't get me wrong, I am not saying that I didn't think about those things first at times, but I realized that food wasn't going to fill that emotional or spiritual void that I had been trying to fill.

The better my diet improved, the better my body felt.  I started working out again...been doing the 30 day Shred as I mentioned before, and I was able to get up in the morning and work out--and if I mentioned it before it is worth mentioning again.  That is an absolutely shocking thing if you really know me.  The only time I would be up at 6 am is if the smoke alarm was going off in the house...not because I felt the sudden urge to get up and sweat and breathe hard and burn calories.

Another reason why this plan really worked for me is because I like to cook.  Now don't get me wrong, I am no Gordon Ramsey...although he and I do share some serious personality traits.   But I like to make new recipes that I have never tried before.  I like trying new foods.  And I like sharing them with my family...even if they take one bite and spit it out.  Which happened tonight when K. ate a roasted brussels sprout.  She spit it out and said "that not taste good."  

So naturally after my 4 day food binder, I went right back to what I know works, and what I know makes me feel good.  So I am going for another 30 days--and my little sister is too. And guess what?  We have spread the Whole30 love.  Since we have talked about it so much, and told everyone we know about the benefits, we have enlisted others to ride this crazy train with us.  I know that they are going to see the benefits and they are going to be just as successful as we have been.

Oh, and I lost back some of the weight I had regained and I am down 13 lbs in 36 days.  I am glad I didn't gain from my cheating, which I totally expected.  This is a good feeling.  Knowing that I am finally making some progress in getting my life back on track is helping me mentally and physically.  It has been a good thing.

Day 30: I give up!

Don't worry, I am not talking about giving up on the Whole30...I am just giving up on trying to to this post...seriously, I have started and stopped writing it about 10 times...and then I had finalized my day 18-29 post or something, and published it, but it was somehow over-ridden when I logged into Blogger from my phone...ZOINKS!

So instead of re-writing what I have already written, I will just move forward.  That is the name of the game right now.  Just keep moving, just keep moving.  Which I have been doing.

It took me a little while to get my workout regimen started, but I am doing it now.  My precious friends at work and I are doing The 30 Day Shred with Jillian Michaels.  Are you noticing a theme here?

We were supposed to start on Monday, but I wasn't feeling well, so I started yesterday (Tuesday).  I worked out last night while my sweet husband tried to get our kiddos to sleep, and then I did something I don't think I have ever done before...okay, maybe one time...in college...but I didn't inhale...j/k I got up this morning at 6:15 and I worked out!  So my workout for today is already in the books!!!  What was that?  Did I just hear something about a rockstar?    I seriously feel so good.  I didn't think I would be able to do it, but when I went to bed last night I told my husband...no more excuses, when my alarm goes off in the morning I am getting my butt out of bed and doing it.  And I did.  I mean seriously, if I can go 30 days with no sugar, bread, pop, candy, cake, rice, white potatoes, then I can definitely get up an hour early and get a work out in.  It is all about MIND over MATTER...and I am sick of all my MATTER bossing my MIND around.

Also, part of my new-found enthusiasm is coming from another book I am reading.  A precious friend of mine, who is a multiple Whole30 graduate, suggested I read Every Body Matters by Gary Thomas.  And let me just tell you...it is a good thing I bought the e-book because I would have already spent a fortune on high-lighters if I had the paper book.  I have high-lighted something on nearly every page so far.  And the best part about it, it isn't just affecting my work-out life...it is making a difference in my spiritual life.

Don't worry, now that the Whole30 is over, I have another 30 days to discuss what I am doing with my workouts, and what I am learning from Every Body Matters.

Oh, and in case you were wondering about my weight loss...this morning when I stepped on the scale it said 199.  For all you who aren't math-majors out there, that is 11 lbs.  I had lost down to 196...but gained a little bit back.  I am not getting hung up on that...I am rejoicing at the 11 lbs that will never be on my body again!!!   Seriously, in 30 days that is almost 3 lbs a week.  Nothing to sneeze at my friend.  I am proud of myself...but most of all I am proud of the encouragement and motivation that my story has had on others.  People are seeing a difference and asking me what I am doing.  And since I am not a shy person I don't mind telling them...but inside I *might be* thinking...hey, you just told me that I used to be fat...

Day 15-17: If I haven't convinced you to try the Whole30 yet...

I seriously crack myself up sometimes  {{nod to pic on the left}}....if you don't know my name is Jessica...so that is why this is so funny.  If you do know me, then you will forgive me, HA HA...I don't have Photoshop, but I do have PowerPoint, and it is kind of the same thing, right?

But this headline is totally true for ME!  I lost 10 lbs in my first 16 days on the Whole30!!!!  I stepped on my scale this morning and it showed a glorious 200.  I actually never thought I would be happy to weigh 200 lbs...hahaha.  I know, I know...those rule followers out there will say, "But the Whole30 handbook It Starts with Food says not to weigh during your 30 days...because it isn't about weight loss."  

But seriously, I am not eating bread or cheese or sugar, so let me just freaking step on a scale and see what this change is doing for me.  Not that I needed extra motivation to stay on plan...don't get me wrong, it doesn't hurt...but I just needed to know that me feeling "skinnier" wasn't just in my head.

So here we are.  Over the half-way point.  And let me just tell you this has been a pretty easy journey for me.  Don't be jealous.  I am really grateful that I haven't had serious struggles with temptation.  I think my sister doing it with me, and now my best friend, and knowing that someone from town or work will see me eating that cupcake from the new cupcake shop...those are the things that keep me on the wagon.  Well, that and the fact that the food I am eating is really helping me feel good and it tastes good too.

So now I just need to get my butt in gear and start working out.  I shudder to think how much more I could have lost if I had been working out during this time.  Don't get me wrong--I needed to do one thing at a time, so I am not too sad.  I don't loathe working out like so many people do.  I have even been called a workout nazi.  I have a philosophy...go hard or go home.  That is really my general personality about everything, but I certainly feel that way on the treadmill or at the gym or run/walking the 5k around our local lake.  

It makes me laugh when I am sweating my butt off and breathing hard and trying to keep my heart-rate under 200 to avoid a heart attack, and some skinny girl (or guy) will come in the gym and get on the elliptical next to me, spin it around for about 6 mins, pick up their towel for which they have no need because they didn't even break a sweat and leave.  Why would you even drive to the gym to work out for less time than you would even be in the car to get there and get home--I ask myself?  And there I was with my 200 lb self, sweating, red faced, and looking as if I need to be heading to the ER...but at least I was moving my body.  Probably just the jealousy talking...they could be skinny and spin for 6 mins, and I was hitting it HARD for 60 and still staying fat.

I am not saying that if you are just starting working out 6 mins isn't good.  It is great, if it is 6 mins that you would normally be sitting on the couch...I feel as if I have put my foot in my mouth somewhere...  {{Changing the subject}}

I think that go hard or go home mentality is what has been keeping me on the couch for all of these weeks following the 1/2 marathon in April.  I had gone hard and my mind said go home.  And that is where I have been all of these weeks.  With really no excuses.  SO, now I need to put that all behind me and start fresh.  

Food change...CHECK

Sleep change...in progress-ish

Fitness change...my new challenge

So now I am getting my butt in gear.  30 mins a day of moving.  Either a HIIT video (the recommended type of workout for the Paleo diet), a run/walk with the family, getting on the treadmill at home, or going to the gym  (for which I have a membership but I haven't shown my face there for about 18 months.) 

Two weeks of working out and we will see what happens.  

Days 11-14: You didn't think I quit did ya???

Wondering why I haven't been updating on my progress?  Well, don't you worry your pretty little head...I haven't quit.  In fact this weekend was amazing on the plan!  But it was a super full weekend of family/girl time, an emotional and wonderful benefit trail run for the Warrior Princess Foundation, and my first time to visit Sprouts...freeze dried okra may have changed my life, just sayin'.

I got to spend time with my sisters and my Mom this weekend...with NO KIDS, and almost no husbands...Brooke's was there, but only because we were staying at their house. We tried to kick him out...but he wouldn't leave- c'est la vie.  Being kid-less and out of town overnight is a VERY rare event for my older sister Amy and I.  Big thanks to our stellar husbands for taking care of our kiddos so that we could have a great time and to Mom and Brooke letting both Amy and I take a much needed and deserved nap Saturday afternoon.

The main reason we all got together was because my older sister Amy was volunteering at her best friend's trail run.  I wanted to go with to help, visit her friend, and see what a trail run was all about.  I got to assist with the timing and even got a break to be able to do one loop (1.03 miles) of the trail.  And I am HOOKED.  Can't wait to do the run with my husband next year.  Gotta start training!

The scenery was the most beautiful part.  I haven't seen anything like it before here in Oklahoma.  I live where there is flat land, wheat fields, and cow pastures.  I never expected to see enormous rock walls and knotted trees and a such gorgeous display of God's craftsmanship.    I would really love to take my husband and my kids back there so that they can see what an amazing place it was.

This weekend was full of good times and too full to spend with a laptop writing my little heart away.  Glad to reflect on this journey during that little bit of a break.  It is almost half way through the Whole30 and I can totally see this being a lifestyle.

Then on Sunday we went to church and wouldn't you know, God smacked me again with a message that was just for me.  Sorry for those of you who had to sit through it and listen too...hopefully it benefited you as well.  Ha ha.  What does our pastor talk about?  We started a new series called Stand. The main message:  "If you aren't standing out, then you are fitting in".  And what does he talk about?  Oh you know, Daniel, and his fast.  Jigga-what???  Yep...you got that right.  He talks about food.  And then when I open up my YouVersion Bible App to my Bible Reading Plan for the 21 day fast (started it when there was 21 days left of the Whole 30, but missed reading it this weekend) I start reading day 2 and guess what verses are there for me to read?  You guessed it.   The story of Daniel and the fast.  I just love when God gets to me.  Not only does it reinforce what I am learning, but it helps reconfirm that I am doing just what I am supposed to be doing RIGHT NOW!

Talk about a perfect ending to a perfect weekend!

I must confess...I did inadvertently drink some Gatorade at the race...wasn't even thinking about the sugar, was just thinking about needing something cold and hydrating.