Whole 30 for 70: What I've learned
I've done the Whole 30 diet since the beginning of April. Minus a trip to DC, a couple bachelorette weekends and a wedding I have stuck with it everyday with no cheats for almost three months. To be honest, my main reason for starting it in the first place was that I wanted to lose weight. (Being in four weddings in one year is some real motivation) But after I began the process of the first month I began to realize so many other changes to my body than just its size. (Plus I learned how to meal prep cheaply and how to make all kinds of good, yummy recipes. #domestic) I highly recommend the book by Melissa Hartwig and Dallas Hartwig, It Starts with Food. It is full of so many interesting facts about the food we put in our body and how it not only affects our weight, but our brain, gut, hormones, energy and so much more. Everything I read in their book backed up what I was noticing in my own body.
- The first thing I realized was which foods kept me full and satisfied. The nutrition found in natural foods are much more filling. It makes sense, processed food manufacturers would want to make their product something people crave and one we have to eat more of to feel full which in turn causes us to buy more. Think if it this way, you wouldn't find yourself eating steak after steak late at night like you would a bag of Oreos. That's because the nutrients in a steak tell your brain your body is getting what it needs and that you can eat less and less bites, versus Oreos, that have empty calories spiking your blood sugar. This not only causes you to feel the need to eat more to fill you up, but leaves you with a major sugar crash later.
- I learned which foods cause bloating and other stomach issues. Even natural foods such as fruit and vegetables can cause results that we can control as long as we are aware of the reason. For example, while on Whole 30 I would have sugar cravings and go crazy on fruit and anything sweet. Dried fruits, sweet potato chips, smoothies, and even plantain chips. Eating too much of even these natural sugars caused bloating that made me feel bigger than I was and spend far too much time in the bathroom. (Sorry for the TMI)
- I also learned how food affects hormones... yeah surprised me too. One of those hormones is cortisol aka, the stress hormone. Theres a lot of science behind it that is over my head but I do know that there can develop a cycle of high cortisol levels due to stress and other things that leads to late night cravings. Eating later at night not only messes with your cortisol levels and blood sugar, but affects your sleep and how you wake up feeling, not to mention... WEIGHT GAIN. This is another reason why some mornings you wake up before your alarm and why others you hit snooze 10 times. It's healthy for your cortisol levels to be high in the mornings, telling your body it has a full day ahead of it. But at night those high levels affect your sleep and eating certain foods at certain times (and bright lights from example, your phone) affects this too. Eating natural foods, specifically ones that don't spike your blood sugar, but also at the right times determines your level of energy throughout the day and promote a good night's rest at night.
- What you eat can either help or cause chronic inflammation. A lot of people asked me why I couldn't eat beans on Whole 30 since they are natural and commonly seen as healthy. Legumes and grains can cause inflammation and not eating those foods improved my exercise and the swelling of my feet- something I have struggled with for a long time. If you have arthritis, or any other joint pain I would definitely cut these two foods out of your diet.
- Even more importantly than my first point and more personal-conviction than what I read in the book, I learned how as a society we always crave more. More flavor and more food. We would rather eat french fries, pizza, and fried chicken because of the over stimulating flavors than how food was created in the first place. Natural foods are not supposed to be bland or flavorless. They are how God created them to give us energy and allow us to serve Him and enjoy our lives like He created us to live. He wants us to enjoy food, yes, but isn't it just like the devil to twist something good and make constant over-consumption a normal day in society. What God created to give us joy and energy, the devil tries to convince us we need more to ever be satisfied. More sugar, more flavor, more food. But it isn't just food that he uses, but entertainment, sex, popularity, and all things self-focused. Whole 30 wasn't just a diet for me but a change in how I view food as a whole and seeing it as one more thing Satan uses to make us crave anything but Jesus.