I miss gum: A Whole30 Story

For 23 days now I have been on my Whole30. I have not cheated, not once. I have not made an exception, not once. I have not had any issues, except one. 

I

Miss

GUM

I miss it so much I have contemplated re-piercing my tongue. I have always had an oral fixation. For as long as I can remember I would chew on everything...paperclips, pen tops, erasers, pieces of plastic. You name it, I've chewed it. Years ago I tried to give up gum and ultimately got my tongue pierced in order to succeed. It worked while I had it, but as I got older the stigma of it got to me and I decided it was time to take it out.

Back to gum it was. We were happily in a relationship again until 23 days ago. I didn't know until I had already committed to the 30 days that gum was part of the equation. It never occurred to me.

What you want to read is that these 23 days have taught me that I don't want it anymore. You want to hear that I'm reformed and will swear off gum forever.

This isn't that blogpost. 7 days. One day at a time. I can do this.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah.

The secret inside Whole30

Being at the middle point of my 30 days, I was re-reading a few things in the book and something donned on me. Whenever I mention to people what I'm doing, the reaction is the same: "But I love bread and sugar!" Love? Really?

It occurred to me that this would be the reaction a drunk would have if a friend was giving up drinking and said they could too. Can't you hear it? "But I love drinking!" OR as a close friend of mine likes to say, "If I wasn't an alcoholic I'd be drunk all the time."

Knowing and admitting you have a problem is the first step to recovery. And that's true no matter what the addiction. Ask yourself this: SHOULD you need bread and sugar? Should you actually feel sad about not getting to eat a food? Should you utter the world love about food?

Foods purpose is to properly harness the energy of the sun and make it something that our bodies can digest in order to sustain us. Nowhere in that sentence does it say that we should feel emotionally satisfied by food. Like an alcoholic relies on liquor to bring them comfort, a sugar-holic relies on sugar and bread to bring them comfort. Don't believe me? Then stop having them. See how you feel.

My guess is you're now going to come up with justifications. "But I can stop whenever I want" "But I have control over it because I only have it in moderation" "It's not effecting my life negatively, not like an alcoholic." Sound familiar? I have several friends in recovery and my guess is the first time someone suggested that they quit drinking or getting high they had something similar to say.

In my article in Examiner.com I touch on the medical reasons for giving up sugar. Mainly heart disease. Heart disease is the number one killer of men and women in the United States. And what is a proven cause of heart disease? You guessed it: sugar.

"But what about holidays and birthdays and office parties and happy hour and romantic evenings with my partner??"

Believe me I get it and I'm not saying never. You're a grown up, that's going to be up to you. For me, in my life, it's almost never. I don't live in a strict world. I'm a grown up too and if I want to go to happy hour, I'm going to strategically plan for happy hour (after my 30 days, of course). If somebody's birthday is coming up and I know we're going somewhere awesome I'm going to prepare for that and I will make an educated choice as to what I want to eat or drink. The important part in this is knowledge. It's impossible to control an addiction you aren't aware you have.

I'm simply asking this: Are you addicted to sugar? No? Prove it.

Once you realize that yes, you are; try out any of the sugar detox diets out there. Whole30 has worked for me, but there are others. Once you're off sugar and can think clearly, you will likely discover that you no longer feel the need to "love" a food. Instead, when you eat, you'll love the way you actually feel. Physically. Not emotionally.

Whole30 Week 1 Complete

Week 1 is DONE!!

It's a great feeling to be in control of one's environment. After just a few days on Whole30, I was hungry less, easily making good choices and feeling myself shrink. After my first week, I'm down 14 pounds (GASP) and feeling awesome. My joints are happier, my digestive tract is happier and my clothes...don't fit.

Thanks to an awesome coworker, this isn't an issue. She literally asked me last week out of the clear blue if I'd want her "inbetween" clothes as she too is shedding weight and is about 25 pounds ahead of me. Um, YES. She also happens to have an amazing fashion sense, so I feel cute for FREE. Bonus.

I only had one weak moment this week (which I did NOT give in to). I was at a friends house and in her kitchen was a pan of brownies. Brownies are my favorite food. If I was deserted on an island and could have only one thing for the rest of my life, it'd be brownies. I love them. I heart them. And I did NOT have them. After my third time having to pass them and saying no, I decided I needed to leave and eat some real food so that my hunger wouldn't outweigh my will. It worked :)

I'm eating a LOT of fruit. Perhaps more than one is supposed to...but obviously this isn't negatively affecting my efforts. I'm also eating a lot of protein and veggies, so I must be doing something right. 

If you're at it too, keep up the good work!! If you're weighing your thoughts on whether or not to try the Whole30 consider this...it's 30 days...aren't you worth that?

Whole30 Day 4

I've always had a knack for ordering. Very often whomever I'm with will just wait till I order and say, "oh ya, that!" Even if they had something else in mind.

This is not different for packed lunches. And it isn't different while on Whole30. Today I'm traveling. Knowing I am usually hungrier when I travel, I thought ahead. Here's what I brought:

3 clementines

1 orange

strawberries

cashews

spinach*

grape tomatoes*

peperonchinis*

avocado with lemon*

frozen thoroughly cooked and seasoned chicken strips*

As you'll notice, a very nice combination of protein, fat and fruit/veg. Yes a lot of citrus...my CSA order came in and I figured I could bring them all to eat over the weekend.

I brought it all in baggies for easy combination when I was ready to eat. As I started to combine the salad items (those with an *), my fellow passengers began looking at their food and back at mine. I knew what they were thinking..."man that looks good!" Many watched me eat it.

Eating healthy doesn't have to be boring. It doesn't have to be bland. It's okay to make people jealous!

What are your travel food whole30 ideas?

Whole30 Day 3

Today I did something I'm not supposed to do. I stepped on the scale. I couldn't help it...I was releasing a LOT of water and was feeling so clean I had to know what it was doing. I'm down 7 pounds since a couple of days ago. Clearly it's ALL water, but it feels amazing to be un-bloated.

Part of this is that I'm off all starches...but the other is that last night I had "lemonade" - The quotes are because for me, lemonade is literally lemons with sparkling water. No sugar or sweetener - I've never liked my lemonade to be sweet. Lemons are a natural diuretic, so it's not surprising that this happened, but it feels awesome!

I didn't sleep great, but I know this will pass. I'm waking up slightly hungry, which means my metabolism is working properly and I'm able to easily say no to the two boxes of cookies and chocolate cake that is currently sitting in my work break room. I feel my energy climbing, so I'm excited to have this increase!

What I eat

Within 1 hour of waking (170 calories):

• Chocolate GNC Total Lean Shake
• Coffee with just a splash of half&half

3-4 hours later, lunch (400-600 calories):

• Hale and Hearty salad with chicken, spinach, goat cheese, strawberries, cucumbers and onions. Chili-Lime vinaigrette with french bread on the side and 2 pats of butter

or

• Panera Bread pick two deal with greek salad (no olives) and black bean soup (or chicken noodle), a side of french bread and 3 pats of butter

or

• Beans and rice with cheese and LOTS of hot sauce

or

• Subway sandwich

3-4 hours later, snack (100-300 calories):

• Greek yogurt

or

• frozen yogurt with white chocolate chips and raspberries

or

• White cheddar popcorn

or

• Hummus and pita

or

• GNC Total Lean Vanilla Shake with a splash of coffee

3-4 hours later, dinner (200-600 calories):

• Wahoos #1 with blackened chicken taco, white rice, white beans and a grip of limes

or

• Spicy tuna roll and 2 pieces of salmon nigiri

or

• Salad with tuna, crushed lime tostidos, tomato, onion, red leaf lettuce and lemon juice

or

• Cream cheese, salsa and lime tostidos

or

• Pineapple chicken with white rice

or

• GNC Total Lean Shake

Snacks at night, if I need more calories or want dessert:

• Sugar free chocolate/vanilla swirl pudding

or

• Brookside dark chocolate covered pomegranate seeds

or

• Frozen yogurt with mini m&ms and mini marshmallows

I use the My Fitness Pal app daily!!