After the Whole30…Now What?

As this is also a lifestyle blog as much as an avenue for showing off my culinary skills, I thought I would share my experience with the whole30 and how it has changed my life.

So it officially ends today…what next?  Before I get to that, let me tell you how I feel after 30 days of NO Sugar, Grains, Dairy, Legumes and Alcohol.  In one word - FANTASTIC!

Here is the low-down of how "fannytastic" I feel…

1. My energy level is through the roof!  These days, I find myself awake till about 11 ish - whereas prior, I would be in bed by 9:30 pm.  My hubby would say " pretty soon we will be that couple that went to bed at 8".  Mind you, I get up at 5:30 to workout every morning and despite the late night, I no longer get the "mid afternoon slump"I used to get all the time usually around 2 pm, before this experiment.  Sleeping early would be nice, but hey, I will take having energy over being so doggone tired when I get home from work after at least an hour's commute.

2. My skin feels healthier, brighter and tighter.  Here I am with my beautiful 19 year old daughter, with minimal make up, on our way to dinner.

I am 46 years old so I am all about fighting the inevitable aging process - naturally!

3. What do I do now with the multiple bottles of excedrine I keep everywhere - my office, my purse, the bathroom and my bedside…?  I have not had a migraine or a headache in 30 days and I would like to keep it that way.

4. This is HUGE!!!!  I am beyond thrilled to not have to use my nasal spray or take a claritin every morning from March - October to relieve my allergy symptoms. This happened around week 2

5. I no longer wake up in pain every morning!  I suffer from a degenerative disk in my lower left back that flares up often because of my intense workouts at Foundry Fitness( a little plug for Foundry) I would ice my back every night while watching TV- no more icing beginning mid-week 2.

6.  Now this is pure gravy as losing weight was never a priority for doing this, but I can't say I am not thrilled about it.  I have lost 7 lbs in 30 days without counting calories or food portioning.  I ate when hungry till I felt satiated.  How liberating is that!  I normally wear a size 2-4 but on a recent shopping trip, had to go down to a size zero on a pair of linen pants and a linen blazer - WOOHOO!!!  I have noticed my body getting leaner and more toned in areas that weren't so prior to my whole30.  I may just have to post a picture of my mid section sometime:-)

So there you have it…now what?

I will be doing a mini experiment of incorporating sugar, dairy, grains, legumes and alcohol back into my diet while away on vacation for 10 days.  Perfect timing no?  The Hartwig's, authors of It Starts With Food and proponents of the whole30 program, suggests doing it in stages and not incorporating all at once - say in one meal - which would probably make me ill.  So, I think I will start with the alcohol, after all, we are going to be visiting Belgium and Dublin and nothing beats an ice cold glass of Belgian ale while noshing on moule et frites.

I will be keeping notes on how I feel and will share this on the blog.  I am looking forward to starting round 2 of another whole30 on July 14 with a great group of people for morale and support.  I can't wait, as I am sure I will need another body reset post vacation.  After that, it will be living a Paleo lifestyle all the way with whole30's or whole 7's sprinkled in between, for I can't imagine feeling less than GREAT on any given day...