Okay so you all probably remember back when I told you that Brandon and I were going to do Whole30 again for the month of April. Basically we decided to go all-in this time instead of doing a modified version that we did last summer. And today is May 1st aka the day that technically I’m “allowed” to break Whole30 and either do the bit by bit re-introduction of different foods or just say f*ck it and eat whatever I want. Except…I did that on April 19th.
Yep, I did not make it for 30 days doing this elimination diet. Do I think that I could have? Yes, I probably could have stuck it out and finished the month but I realized on day 19 that I just didn’t want to anymore. I was starting a new job and was looking at my week and realizing that I had events every day after work. In addition to going back to work! So I decided I didn’t want to add in any more stress than I was already facing. I know that Whole30 isn’t supposed to be stressful, but for me thinking about every little thing that I put into my body is stressful. Funnily enough, however, when I went to meal prep my lunches and (some) dinners for the week, I ended up making Whole30 compliant meals. So I kind of accidentally kept parts of the program alive.
And as much as I complain about Whole30 during Whole30, there are parts of it that I like. I covered most of them in my Whole30 update (since I was trying to keep it positive), but I think this time around I’m most excited about the recipes that I discovered (or re-discovered) that I want to keep in my meal rotation when I’m eating my regular diet. Like those marinated onions are so so easy and so so delicious I was literally putting them on everything after I made them. And I never would have thought to broil portobello mushrooms and top them with eggs if I hadn’t done Whole30 again.
What I won’t miss, however, is reading every single label that the grocery store when I go grocery shopping. Is it a good thing to read the labels on your foods to make sure they’re not overly processed or overly sugared? Undoubtedly. Does this mean I shouldn’t buy the bacon because it’s been cured in sugar? Absolutely not. Buy the bacon. Buy the ghost pepper chips. Buy the wine (please buy me some too).
I think it’s good to reset every now and then and really think about what I’m putting into my body, but I’m also thinking that maybe going all-in on Whole30 just isn’t for me. I know Brandon really enjoys it, but it’s difficult for me to focus on what I’m gaining over what I’m giving up. Normally I don’t crave cheese every single day–I absolutely love cheese and would even choose it over chocolate so this is saying something–but when I do Whole30 all I can think about is cheese when I’m trying to decide what to eat. (I’m not a huge sugar person, so the cheese is really where it hits me.)
Moving forward, I think I’m going to try to find other, smaller and more accessible ways for me to think about what all I’m putting in my body instead of doing Whole30 again. If anyone has suggestions that they’ve found helpful I’m all ears!
xoxo,
J
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