And I LOVED it.
Here's a recap of my 30 days, the good, the bad and the Ugly... Oh yeah.
A little bit about my history.....
Those of you who do not know me, please be aware that I have been diagnosed with a very serious very painful autoimmune disorder that is of the Lady Persuasion. It affects my life very deeply and very significantly. If you do not want to read about this, this blog post is not for you.
However, I'm not going to apologize for having it.
I mean, I kinda have to deal with it, not you, and aren't you blessed:) I have been a lot better about talking about it and just not being embarrassed about it anymore. I have suspected that I have a autoimmune disorder called 'endometriosis' since I was 14 years old. My normal doctor mentioned it after I told him how sick I was during my cycle but then never said or did anything about it and I suffered for 14 more years. In April of 2014 I began seeking out answers after my husband and I had still not conceived a child after not preventing and trying for 4 years. That's when after MRI's and Ultrasounds, an office worker called me on the phone (I was in the car transporting a teenage foster child to her foster home so I couldn't ask questions).
She said "You have adenomyosis; it's something having to do with your uterus".
Literally. That's what she said. And nothing else. I'll keep the anger part to myself.
So I officially have a diagnosis of Adenomyosis. To be officially diagnosed with Endometriosis, you have to undergo surgery called a Laparoscopy. I was supposed to get one in January 2015 and I decided not to at this point but I may decide to in the future. So if you want to learn more about all that it entails, I really like this post from Yellow Paper Dress and The Pink Hair Girl. I literally fell into the deepest depression I think my body is capable of experiencing. I remember freezing up that next day and I couldn't move out of my chair after crying all day and feeling sick. I called my sister and asked her to help me out of my chair because I was scared that I couldn't move. I look back on that now and realize that wasn't just a physical reaction, it was an emotional, mental and spiritual one. There aren't words to describe what this past year has felt like for me. I researched and realized that my prospects of becoming a mom were bleak. That just almost destroyed me. Beyond that, my husband started a new business and we weren't getting any income on his part but he was working harder than ever, I worked at a job that dealt with less than stellar parents (and sometimes removing children from their care) and on top of that, the pain of adenomyosis was flaring like none other (stress anyone?). In January of 2015 I sat and cried to my doctor about EVERYTHING. She diagnosed me with Chronic Stress Disorder.
That being said...
My co-worker and I had talked a lot over this past year about the research we have individually done on the the effect of food on our bodies. She had a very serious condition and her doctor had recommended The Paleo Diet. She loves sugar and had found it hard to stick to anything like that. We would get coffee in the morning at the office, talk about interesting articles we had read about how food can heal, and then said, maybe someday we can follow through on a diet like that! We both work in a very stressful field (Child Welfare) and she is actually in the legal field (very stressful). We just didn't think we could realistically do it, but we knew we COULD. Seriously, months we talked about it people. MONTHS!
Enter the Whole30!
Day One was the first day of Lent. The co-worker who encouraged me to do it had found a support group online and they had all decided that the first day of Lent was a perfect day to start. For me, I wanted the support of someone I knew that was doing it, so I decided to also start on February 18th with her. I had never observed Lent even though I am a Christian and I thought this would be a nice way to prepare myself for Easter. In addition to doing the Whole30, I decided to make a concerted effort to do my devotionals each day and to also Journal. I really have always loved journaling and during significant parts of my life, I have been drawn to journaling out my life. I also love the art of cursive and like to keep my handwriting up to par. (Hey, it's about to become a lost art and I feel a responsibility to keep it alive! You write FASTER people!)
Day One also happened to be........
The first day of my monthly cycle.
If you read the above links, you get a little picture of what this means for me. It usually means missed work and being generally out of commission. I stay in my bed or chair wrapped up in blankets with my heating pad, take 800 mg of Ibuprofen every four hours (3 1.2 hours if I just can't make it to 4. My doctor freaked the freak out when he learned about this and told me to take a drug so my liver wouldn't give out because I told him I wasn't taking Narcotics and I wasn't living with the pain) and pray that I would either die or feel better. It's a very helpless/depressing/horrible place to be. And I get this way every 26 days of my life for 4 days at a time. It doesn't care about special occasions or plans either.
On top of this, I had the flu and after meal prepping all evening, was up all night getting sick.
But I was NOT deterred.
I had spend WEEKS preparing for this mentally and had already meal prepped. (Thank you thank you thank you Melissa Joulwan for this meal plan.) I wasn't hungry but I had to eat sometime, and why not eat the meals I had already prepared? I eased into the eating part with no problem due to the prep.
I also have never really liked sugar. Honestly. It makes me a little sick. I never like pop or carbonated drinks. I had a really huge advantage here, I realize. I have always liked savory flavors, or what is called Umami. This diet was playing into all those tastes and flavors. I was able to put Himalayan Pink Sea Salt and Garlic Powder on my sweet potatoes, steamed veggies and chicken and pretty much anything I cooked. I added avocado and a little sauce (Sunshine, Morrocan, or Whole30 Mayo)I kept my little sautee pan on the stove, heated up coconut oil, and made my little hot plates each day. I cleaned out my sautee pan every day or two and besides the meal prep dishes, didn't really feel that overwhelmed with dishes or clean up. I was living the dream. Once I started the Whole30, my body felt very different in many good and some bad ways. Here's my list:
The 'side effects'.
1:. There's Exhuasted, then there's this....
I have never been so tired in my entire life! At first I was really careful to separate my adenomyosis symptoms that I regularly have from Whole30 withdrawals. For the first 2 weeks solid, I was exhausted. I was still drinking coffee (now black) and was needing it in the afternoons as well. Now I realize that this was a never ending cycle of exhaustion so I drink caffeine, then I can't sleep, then the day starts all over again. I was exhausting my adrenals. My next goal will probably be less coffee. I read Melissa Hartwig's article on quitting Coffee and it really spoke to me! Word for word. I am pretty emotionally attached to my coffee so I'm going to stop talking about this for a while before I cry.
2:. Is My Stomach... Eating itself?!?
The other side effect I experienced was a pretty significant "stomach ache" but a better way of describing it was a "stomach pain beyond words" almost like my stomach lining was being ate away. I don't know how else to describe it. It was defiantly my stomach and it was right under/below my lungs. It was after I ate or when I was hungry. My husband thinks that my body was overproducing stomach acid to help with all the new whole foods I was eating and I tend to agree with him. It was pretty bad though. I was feeling so great in so many other areas of my life, but after I ate I would have such intense pains. I never got bloated, I never had stomach "issues" and I was completely perfectly regular in that area. But the stomach pains were very significant.
3:. Slight boredom
Honestly, I almost wouldn't list this. I was really enjoying the foods I was preparing. I enjoyed feeling full until the next meal and I didn't really have strong cravings. There was a time about 3 weeks in though that I got slightly bored. I wanted to eat something off plan just to eat something different, but I didn't really crave it or need it. I know I didn't want to feel sick again and it was easy to talk myself out of it. So really this was a non-issue but it did happen a few times.
The 'Benefits'
1:. Improved mood but more importantly, PEACE
Everything seemed more stable. I wasn't irritated as easily, I felt more optimistic, and I definitely wasn't depressed anymore. I had recently been diagnosed with Chronic Stress Disorder and was having a hard time dealing with my stressful job. I also had a second job due to our current finances and having three day weekends from my other job, it just made sense. I really like my second job but it was a lot on my plate. On the Whole30, it became infinitely easier to deal with life's day to day stresses. It wasn't the end of the world when something stressful happened and I had peace and the ability to work through it. The biggest thing that meant the most to me was that when I fell asleep at night, I was happy and content. I used to fall asleep crying a little while praying to God that he would help me ... feel better I guess. But it just kept coming out, Help Me. I was so uncomfortable falling asleep that all I could do was a very childish,very hopeless prayer of "Please God, just help me. Just do something" The first week on Whole30, I was falling asleep praying "Thank you, Lord, for showing me the Whole30. Thank you God." I felt that much better already and my hope was growing.
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| Feeling Free |
2:. My clothes look GOOD on me
I noticed instantly that my clothes were getting looser. They started to actually look good on me. I didn't have that uncomfortable feeling each day getting dressed. I was so excited that my dress pants weren't so tight and knew that soon I could start fitting into my old pairs. I knew that I was going to lose weight on this plan pretty early on. I tend to believe that a lot of this was due to the dairy I had been consuming and the inflammatory effect it was having on my body. I did end up losing 9 lbs.
3:. No more perma-cold
Pre-Whole30 I was constantly feeling like I was sniffling/sneezing and waking up stuffy. I think once again my culprit here is dairy because of the inflammatory effect. I did get a head cold during my whole 30 but was able to kick it quickly. I started waking up and noticing less of that yucky stuffy feeling and clearer breathing.
4:. I got the Tiger Blood!!!!!!!!!!!
On Day 26, it happened to me. I was starting to wonder where it was but when it came, it was soooo exciting! I had a busy night on my feet at my second job the night before, had to be up super early for Church Worship team that day, and then went straight back to work that evening. But I felt full of energy! I was happy! My clothes looked good! My skin looked good! I worked all day and still had energy to spare. I knew it right away, this was Tiger Blood. I promise you it made everything else in my journey worth it.
5:. My skin is Glowing... and it's not hurting!
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| Before Whole 30, acne everywhere and redness |
I have always struggled with acne. My face would get inflamed and yet very easily as well. I'm red head so I have fair skin but this was beyond that. I've long suspected dairy.. again. I just never could give it up. But sometimes my acne was painful too. I started adding coconut oil religiously to my skin routine morning and night once I started the Whole30 and my skin began to kinda glow. I already did it a little before but Whole30 just made me wanna really commit. I still got some pimples, but not anything compared to what I had. I count this area a big non-scale victory for me. I stopped wearing makeup almost entirely and not felt very self conscious. I had very little redness and irritation and my makeup went on smoother.
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| After Whole30-No makeup; No problem! |
So, I got my monthly visitor twice in my Whole30. This is because day 1 was...day 1 also and my cycles are only 26-28 days apart. The first time was the beginning of the Whole30 so it was..bad. The second time was day 27 of my Whole30. I had just gotten Tiger Blood the day before and it was a whole other ball game. I went to work ALL day, did not use my heating pad, did NOT use Ibuprofen at all and I cleaned the house when I came home! This is so significant I could cry. This is so much more than a "diet". This is a healing plan. I feel like a human being for the first time and that I am not a slave to my disease.
Overall... I cannot say enough good about this program. My husband is intrigued and he may join me soon, once he is done traveling for work. Meanwhile, I am onto Round 2 today and excited for more Non Scale Victories and a more happy and manageable life!
Preach, Jamie Oliver.
Bethany
@whole30_chronicles
