A second Whole 30 this year – not planned but definitely needed

I wanted to take a few minutes to explain my why for a second whole 30 in 2020. I am starting on September 1st and I have created a facebook group for support, gripes, and discussions. If you have never done a whole 30, its basically a way to reset your health systems and hopefully continue with whole real foods and good habits afterward as your lifestyle. The best place to start is by reading the book “It starts with food”. It explains the details of the whole 30 along with the numerous health issues that go away from reducing the systemic inflammation caused by processed food and preservatives. I have even mailed the book to strangers who said they were tired of medicine after medicine being prescribed and their blood pressure kept going up. To me, even if a person only commits to one meal a day being whole 30 for the next 6 months – its a huge difference in improving their health and quality of life.

My journey to whole 30 and eating whole foods as my primary nutrition

It started probably around ten years ago. I was training to run 5Ks and I would be so tired and exhausted in the morning before running. At the time I ate a typical american breakfast (poptarts, bagels, or waffles with the occasional eggs and bacon). I grew up in the age where “breakfast is the most important meal of the day” was drilled into our brains. So I knew I had to start there. I searched for the most convenient options that had eggs and some meat. That ended up being the Jimmy Dean egg and bacon sandwiches from Sams Club. This made quite a difference, and it led to a mid-morning snack of fruit or veg. Eventually lunch switched from grabbing something fast from a restaurant to packing left overs or a sandwich, vegetables, and chips. I was still hungry all the time, but I felt more awake, more focused, and my running was so much easier. This was the status quo for a number of years.
Around 6 years ago I went to my first crossfit class at Steadfast and my nutrition journey kicked back up again. The crossfit community is very functional medicine and nutrition based. Doing things the most healthy way is applauded while taking shortcuts that are not healthy are frowned upon. The goal is for you to have a life full of feeling great, looking great, and having a great quality of life – long term. So when you are elderly you can still live on your own and do all the things. This is where I was first introduced to whole 30, many of the ladies around my age had done whole 30 and many did it regularly every year. Seeing how and what they ate I began researching. I was hesitant to go without dairy, so I started with breakfast again. I got rid of the creamer and the fancy pants Starbucks drinks that are loaded with syrups and sugars. My preservative laden breakfast sandwiches were switched to breakfast hash or frittatas with eggs, meat, and vegetables. I slowly progressed again for a few years, then Dawn Cameron came along. She owns Eat Thrive Move and has certificates and such, plus she constantly studies nutrition and tests different nutrition theories. Basically a library of info. I attended her workshops at crossfit and asked tons of questions. The sentence that finally opened my mind was about how our bodies do not need any added sugars. I was taught the opposite for years. So many issues I had and issues I had seen friends suffer with, could be sugar related. The constant daily sodas, sports drinks, and juices were killing us very slowly.
I have to say at first it did cost more to stock my home with only whole foods initially, but after months my cells realized I was feeding them so I became way less hungry. The health industry that is powered by big sugar figured out years ago that it could fill your stomach with fake ingredients and you would deem yourself “full” sooner so you could lose some weight initially with their “diet” products. However over time those fillers wreck your insides and you start to gain weight back plus now need meds to function. I drank only diet soda for years, I even tried some of the special K protein water for a while, among other quick fixes. Just because your stomach is full, it does not mean any nutrients are getting to your cells. Much of America is starving at the cellular level. So once my cells recovered from decades of starving – my grocery bill is now less than when I started.
At this point I read the book and felt much more confident going in. My first whole 30 went great. I did not have any withdrawals from my pre-whole 30 nutrition and I felt amazing (some call it tiger blood). I also learned how some foods affect me as I went through the re-introduction phase. I now understood why people would do it every year or when they felt off.

Why I need a second whole 30 in 2020

Aging sucks. My uterus revolted against me in 2020. I had surgery during the start of the pandemic which meant no full workouts until May. I was back at work a week after surgery, well it had become work from home. My wounds healed up nicely but the scar tissue and damage in my core is still getting back to normal ( fibroids coming back and endometriosis flaring). I am slowly seeing the patterns of flares and can plan the types of workouts I do, but I am nowhere near doing two-a-days. I miss being in class for workouts and I miss the people.
Work began ramping up and the stress level skyrocketed in July. I was working many extra hours and the pressure meant I couldn’t eat 3 meals. This caused my body to respond by packing on 20+ pounds in 3 to 4 days. That is with eating eating whole foods – if I were eating a regular american diet that number would be higher and I would probably have a BP that requires meds and be entering kidney failure. I gave my body a few weeks to calm down, but work is ramping up again and now my lower gut is angry (grumbling and breakouts). So basically I am eating the fewest calories a day that I have in all of my adult life but I am at my heaviest and feel tired way too easy. So it is time to reset and clear out any gunk with a whole 30. It’s all 2020’s fault!

Cheers to 5 years

This month I celebrated my “Steadfast-versary”. It is hard to believe that it has only been 5 years, it feels like I have been a part of my gym family for much longer. I walked into those bay doors as a woman looking for things to help climb out of a dark hole. I found a family away from home and so much knowledge on becoming a healthier human over all (spiritually, mentally, and physically). I will never fully heal from a lifelong friend being murdered, but on those hard days I can walk into that gym, do the wod, and walk out feeling like I can handle the darkness of the day and wake up lighter tomorrow.

5 yr difference – June 2014 – 2019
5 year difference – Jume 2014 – 2019

Both pics are at the same weight. That’s right, I significantly changed my nutrition and saw zero results on the scale or overall body size. However there are many differences between the woman on the left and the woman on the right.

The woman on the left ate a preservative laden breakfast sandwich for breakfast, a sandwich on white bread with ketchup and uncooked veg for lunch, drank lattes from syrups at starbucks, a snack of bananas, string cheese, or crackers, drank diet soda or zunzis african tea, and ate a dinner with usually some form of pasta/rice some veg and meat (alot of weeks it was stouffers lasagna or the chicken fried rice frozen meal). She was tired most of the time and fairly moody. She could run a few miles and would do a half marathon once a year. She would not journey out alone because she did not want to interact with strangers. She could do maybe 2 sets of 10 pushups and could no longer do pullups or many of the gymnastics moves she loved. She never even dreamed of doing multiple workouts in a day. Her skin was often riddled with allergy rashes and she had bowel movements that were higher on the bristol chart – leading to a few days a week of immodium usage.

The woman on the right eats a balanced diet of mostly whole real foods made without vegetable or canola oils. Breakfast is usually an egg with sausage, starchy veg, a non starchy veg, and some fruit. Lunch and dinner are a palm sized meat portion, handful of veg, and a handful of fruit (usually cherry tomatoes). She drinks her first coffee with collagen and unsweetened coconut milk, and her second is a plain cold brew (well sometimes whiskey gets in there on the weekends). Her snacks are fruits, larabars, or rx bars. The habit she needs to slowly phase out are the baked items. She can’t say no to the coconut bread. She doesn’t drink soda or sweetened tea at all. She has tons of energy all day and sleeps quite easily. Her mood is much more easy going, happier, and she smiles often. She can run a few miles (when not injured) but no longer takes the time to train for half marathons. She competes at crossfit competitions (and sometimes ends up on the podium). She has no problem going out alone and making new friends out of strangers. She can do many sets of 10 pushups, she can do chest to bar pullups, and has gotten back many gymnastic skills. She does multiple workouts in one day sometimes, and then goes back to workout the next day. Her recovery has reached amazing levels. Her skin is much clearer and looks way healthier – color and texture-wise. Her bowel movements are where they should be on the bristol chart and she rarely uses immodium (maybe once every few months).

The woman on the left is going to continue to strive to make changes for the better. I am proud of how far I have come and excited to see where my journey leads. I have found that I am very community based. I love being a masters athlete and being a gym auntie. As I continue to age I hope I continue to be someone others look to for information and guidance. I hope to continue to inspire others to try new things and to dedicate some of their time to grow their community.