The Post-Whole30

Wow! It's been a whole week since I last updated! It's been a busy post Whole30 week here at Chez Cavegirl.

There are things that I continue to notice about how much my body has changed on several levels since starting and finishing the Whole30.

First of all, thanks to Melissa and Dallas Hartwig for linking my blog on their FB! What an honor!

I believe that I reported last week that on Day 31 I had some GF pizza with cheese. Oy. This jacked up my system. Totally. Granted I also had some wine. But I don't think the effects of that lasted longer than Sunday. I was really sort of low grade sick all week. Perhaps a bit TMI, but my belly just hurt for about four days after that pizza, even thought it was GF. Since the Boudreaux is a medic and had told us that there was a nasty stomach thing going around his unit, I thought that maybe I had a either a low grade version of this or that it was low grade because of my stellar eating the month before. He said it was more likely the the dairy and the grains. In any case *I* think it was a combo of both--I've been a little sluggish in the afternoons, feeling wiped out with belly aches in the morning. So if I am fighting something, there's a testament to eating Paleo--I fight it better with better results.

The parents were in, and I introduced them to a strict Paleo household. And I'm glad that Boudreaux is on board with this--Paleo house, but when we eat out, we don't have to stick to strict Paleo. (It's better for me though if I do). However, they were impressed at how wonderful veggies can taste. My dad is less than adventurous, so this was a big week for him--CrossFit AND zucchini noodles (see Well Fed) and spaghetti squash! We introduced the 'rents to Paleo ice cream and Steve's Crunch Bacon "Granola." So it's been a little hectic here this past week.

But there are some other things that I've noticed. One, as I mentioned, if I'm fighting some kind of bug, getting laid out by a bug clearly isn't as devastating as pre-Paleo. (I didn't miss a single day of class). Another thing that I've noticed has been my skin! Significantly fewer breakouts this month! I mean, seriously, I'm too old for zits anyway, but my arms, chest, and face--significantly better! (okay, minus the after effects of the chemical peel).

Granted I still have a loooooooooooooooong way to go here, but it's so nice that my stomach is significantly flatter than it was a month ago.  Also, one thing that has surprised me in this past week, too, is that all those things that I thought I was going to miss right, all those things that I thought I was going to want to have, like how I was just DYING for some chips and salsa? I still haven't sought them out. If I never see pizza again, I'll be totally fine actually. Just the memory of how bad I've felt this week post pizza is enough.

So how do I want to maintain this? I am tempted when I get back from vacay, perhaps after Labor Day (since I know there will be a family visit that weekend) to do another Whole30--no cheating, no alcohol, limiting the going out to eat, and making a better effort to meal prep and plan. It's an excuse to get another cookbook. :) Perhaps I'll concurrently try to cook my way through Well Fed, too. Really doing it again would be all about vanity--I'm happy that I lost five pounds and all those inches. But I'm not there yet. I am starting to question if with the CrossFit and as I build muscle, if losing another 15 pounds is feasible let alone reasonable. I may have to settle for dropping only another 5-8 pounds.

Look, I know the focus here of the Whole 30 and CrossFit too is on how one feels and performance improvement--not weight loss (unless one is overweight or obese). This is why I think that perhaps another Whole30 would be beneficial for me--it keeps the focus on how I FEEL rather than how I LOOK or what the scale says. Aside from all the "health" benefits here, the Whole30 and CrossFit are teaching me patience, as painful as that is.

And maybe what it might come down to is that I don't actually need to do the whole Whole30 again right now. Perhaps I need to take elements of it--put the scale away for a month at a time and do measurements once a month. Let Saturday night be the "treat/cheat" night with a glass or two of wine. And then reevaluate in a month to see what the what-what is. And it's not that I want to be a Paleo fascist here about this, but I don't even think it's worth "cheating/treating" once a week for me (Boudreaux needs it though--he needs to know that he can have a sandwich once a week or something of the like to keep him sane--the man loves his sandwiches!) because I just cannot emphasize HOW MUCH BETTER I FEEL! It's so not worth it to me anymore to feel like crap, even once a week. Like I said in one of my first posts--I gots $hit to do, yo!

For those who are still out there reading, I'll do a better job with the updates, too. Next up, eating Paleo on vacay.