Day 24 to the End!

I did it! I finished the Whole30 without cheating! Yay me! It feels great to have finished this!

While I don't want to bore you with my actual weights and measurements, I will give you some stats from my Whole30 journey. Keep in mind, too, that I was also doing some heavy CrossFitting during this time, so my loss in inches is more dramatic than my loss in weight which I think if I were not actively building muscle during this time (light weights, more running), I think the results would be inverted--more pounds lost, fewer inches lost.

I lost 5 pounds this month. Given that I had been only averaging .42 pounds a week loss between January and June (not even a half pound a week average, but I guess steady progress), that jumped to an average of 1.25 pounds per week on the Whole30. I also lost 8 inches! Yes my friends, 8 freaking inches total from my body. The only place I didn't lose inches was my upper arms--they stayed the same. That didn't surprise me really. But they are getting more toned. And I lost a whole dress size. And I did this all without counting calories, measuring food, worrying about fat. Although at first I was bummed that it was only five pounds, my husband correctly pointed out that I "lost five pounds eating bacon." All those clothes that I've been whining about for years about not being able to wear--yes my friends, I have a whole "new" wardrobe of clothes that I've had that have either never been worn (clothes I bought for school for example that didn't fit by the time school started or clothes that should have fit given the rate of past weight loss but by the time they arrived I had started on the regain) or clothes that I've not been able to wear since 2004 but are still in excellent condition. Now, I still have a ways to go, but for the first time since February, I feel like I have made some real progress.

58% of my total inches lost since January happened during this month of the Whole30.
39% of my total weight loss since January happened during this month of the Whole30.

Some other surprising things:
I finished the Whole 30 while Aunt Flo was in town. This I think was the real test here. Um did I have any sugar cravings or was I dying to get my hands on some chocolate and pizza? NO! Holy craziness Batman! Right now, the thought of chocolate makes me physically sick to my stomach. Seriously. I can't imagine eating it. If I do have a hankering, what do I want? Paleo ice cream with honey. That's right--ice cream made with coconut milk and eggs (no sugar!) mixed with some berries and honey. That's about as sweet as I get now. And do you know how good that feels? Do you know how liberating it is to find even the thought of Ben & Jerry's repulsive? And do you know that it didn't even involve any willpower at all during Aunt Flo's stay not to have sugar, salt, or any of the other "normal" cravings? None.

This is also the first time ever that Aunt Flo has visited that I didn't have one debilitating cramp. Up to this point in my Paleo journey, there would be one day were I'd just be in pain (which was down from the three or four) among other things, and this time, just a slight twinge twice and maybe some lower back stiffness, but nothing debilitating or messy at all! So yes, even GF grains hurt my body in this way because clearly eliminating them makes my life so much more comfortable.

When the house is too hot, I can't always say that I get great sleep, but on the average, when the house is comfortable, I sleep a good 7-8 hours and wake up most mornings before my alarm goes off feeling rested and ready to go. Because I'm much more rested, I don't drink as much coffee now (except Saturdays and Sundays when I like to enjoy my coffee and lollygag around). And while I'm in a steady state of soreness and tiredness (but the good kind; not the painful or exhausted kind), I am able to wake before my alarm and go to my CrossFit class every morning, six days a week for the last month. And do you know how long it's been my friends since I was working out six days a week, consistently? Not since High School. So that feels pretty amazing, too.

Since yesterday was Day 31, and since Boudreaux had drill, when he came home, he didn't feel like grilling out like we had planned (plus it was still about 100 degrees outside). So here's another amazing thing. We ordered pizza. I got the GF crust (I'm not going to go crazy here!), and I did get cheese (I wanted a Hawaiian pizza), and I really thought I would relish the taste of this glorious goodness of cheese, ham, pineapple, bacon, peppers, and onions, that it would taste the way I remembered it tasting and that I would bask in this forbidden goodness. No. Not at all. Compared to the foods I had been making all month, this was bland. (Have any of you made the Meatzza from Well Fed? That's a pizza!) I was surprised at how much I did not enjoy it, surprised at how much I didn't care for the cheese at all, surprised at how disappointed I was. The good thing is that I know we won't revert back to our old habits of ordering pizza once a week.

And the wine was good. I don't normally drink white wine, but it's so damn hot here, I had bought a nice sort of sweet white blend for Day 31. And I had some cider while I chopped veggies and cleaned the kitchen. The wine was good. It was nice to have wine with dinner again, I'll say that much. I was surprised that it didn't hit me hard at first. I thought after 30 days of no alcohol when I was used to 2-3 glasses of wine with dinner a night that the cider would lay me out. And I thought for sure that the first glass of wine would be more than enough. But it didn't hit me right away. However, when it did, I was out for the count. I passed out, yes passed out--not fell asleep, not went to bed, but full on passed out, at 8:30. I am not hungover this morning from either the food or the wine, thankfully, but I do feel slow. And I can't imagine having had that meal and that wine last night and having to work out this morning. I think if I had to work out with that on my stomach, I'd puke.

Saturday will be my "treat" days. I don't want to be so super strict about my Paleo eating that I feel guilt about non-Paleo foods (that defeats the purpose), and I do like some chips and salsa every once in a while and I do like to veg out on Saturdays with the Boudreaux and watch some monster movie marathons. And since Sundays are my work out rest days, then Saturdays are the days for chips and wine. Because truth be told, I don't want to go back to a non-Paleo way of eating. I have more great days and good days than I have crappy days. Even my days when I feel like I have a crappy workout are better than good days before the Whole30.

Trust me my friends, those first two rough weeks of crappyness, sluggishness, and withdrawal are 100 million % worth it to get here. So thank you Melissa and Dallas.