Today is day 36 of my Whole90.
First of all, I love celebrating the fact that I haven’t eaten sugar for over 30 days. The mental battle is by far harder than anything else. But I know that this is getting one step closer ( or maybe more steps) to understanding my body and what causes my chronic pain.
But I want to remember where I am physically and mentally after doing the Whole30 so far. I also want to make some new goals for my next 30 days.
Physically
Physically, I did’t change that much with my weight. I’ve never been overweight, and my goals are not related to weight at all. But I did lose a few pounds. Maybe five? We don’t have a scale that works, and I’ve never been a girl that is constantly getting on the scale. But my clothes fit a little looser. My fat pants are feeling like fat pants again. Ha. As far as my chronic pain and flare ups, I’ve only experienced one. I’m actually in the middle of it right now. The whole family went to church today, but I decided to stay home and rest. I’ve learned my body and know when it’s time to say no and focus on my health. Today is that kind of day.
My flare up
Flare ups are hard. I’m taking precautions to make sure that it doesn’t get worse. Surprisingly, I think the flare up was triggered by a Whole30 product. I’m sure a lot of you are familiar with Nut Pods-it’s a Whole30 creamer. I love the taste, and my favorite thing about it is it’s portable. You can buy those tiny cartons that will fit in your purse and you can use it anywhere. Well, on day 30 of my Whole30, I was planning on going to a friend’s house for coffee and grabbed some nutpods for convenience.
I noticed symptoms within an hour or two of drinking my coffee. It wasn’t extreme pain like I’ve had in the past, but it was enough to make me hesitate. I wanted to know for sure if it was the nutpods, so I decided to drink it for a few days. But I only made it to a full 24 hours. The pain got worse and made me nervous, and I didn’t want to risk a full blown flare up of pain. It usually takes about 4 to 5 days for a possible flare up to fade. But this shows me that not every diet or food will work for everyone. While I wish that those Nutpods worked for me, they didn’t. Just because something says Whole30 on the package doesn’t mean you should eat it. Listen to your body-it doesn’t lie.
Mentally
Mentally, I feel stronger. Sugar doesn’t tempt me like it used to. The simple fruits and veggies that use to be dull are now sweet to me. In fact, I think that if I did have something sugary like a donut, it may be a bit overwhelming to me. I’ve learned to appreciate the banana and the sweet potato. Before I did Whole30, fruits and veggies didn’t satisfy me. But the longer I went without processed food, the more I came to love REAL FOOD. It’s hard at first, but it gets better.
Now I’m not saying I never want sugar because that just isn’t true. I love something sweet especially after dinner. But overall, the battle to say no is much easier than it was when I first started. Ice cream and donuts are not as tempting as they used to be.
New Goals
As I do Whole30 for the next 30 days my goal is to feed my gut good things-to heal my body from the inside out. From the time I was a kid, I’ve been on many antibiotics. Last year I was also diagnosed with an overgrowth of candida. In order to heal my gut and kill candida, there are a few supplements that I’m going to take for the next 30-ish days. I decided on a probiotic, Vitamin D, and a fermented multi vitamin. I won’t go into all the details as to why I chose these supplements; but my main reason is to heal my gut. All the supplements I’m taking are made by Ancient Nutrition, which is owned by Dr. Axe. When I first started having health problems four years ago many of his videos helped me to understand what was causing my pain and how to get better.
I’m excited to see where I land at the end of the next 30 days. My flare up seems to be under control. As soon as I’m sure, I will start the supplements one at time to make sure I have no reactions. This month marks 4 years of my health issues. Four years. What I’m learning is that sometimes I have to wait. I can’t know all the answers right away-and that can be scary-but the wait will be worth it. Just because we can’t see results in seconds doesn’t mean the results won’t come.