Whole30 is over and I’m left with a whole new outlook on life and food, specifically. For the first time in my life, food is not a controlling factor in my life. I’m not making decisions based on where I want to eat. Not sneaking around because I’m having a treat and trying not to feel guilty. My date nights are not ruined by eating too much or feeling “food drunk”.
Why would I want to go back? Short answer: Whole30 isn’t feasible 100% of the time if I still want to have a life. And I do want to have a life! What I have learned is that I can go out to eat over lunch with my coworkers and, if I simply make a few different choices. Then, I won’t want to take a nap all afternoon or feel like I’m in a food coma! Parties and get-togethers don’t mean that I have to eat all the free food insight — I can sample a few things and leave the rest. Just because I’m driving out-of-town, doesn’t constitute a snack for the road! And when I do something well or complete something, I don’t need to reward myself with a treat!
Outlook on Rewards
For those of you who read about my first Whole30 experience, you remember that finding a “reward” for completing a day, a week, 2 weeks of Whole30 was tough for me. I honestly don’t know how to reward myself if it can’t be with food! What else is there? So that first round challenged me to be creative and to really think about how I’m best motivated. I was able to find other ways to say “good job Jessi!”, but many of them included spending money, which also isn’t a great option.
What I’ve learned through this round of Whole30 Is that I don’t necessarily need a “reward” in the sense I’ve always thought about it. Isn’t it enough to accomplish a goal? Honestly, today, I can say yes. It feels good to know I did something. I’m quite sure it would not have been possible for me to get over my previous mindset of rewards without Whole30.
Food Freedom
Have you heard about Melissa’s new book? I’m excited to get my copy. During my first Whole30, I started seeing social posts about it coming out. Once I completed my first round, the title definitely spoke to me. “Food Freedom Forever” — YES! That’s what Whole30 has given me. Freedom from food.
I don’t know that I’ve always had the problem with food that I’ve been struggling with for the last 4-5 years. But it’s very clear that I’ve somewhat replaced my addiction to alcohol with food, specifically “sweet treats”. The dependency on this has made me sick, and on the other side of things, the problem seemed to be completely unmanageable. So, I’d continually give in to my brain’s desires for a snack, a bad dish, carbs, sweets, all in extreme.
“What’s moderation?” “When the spoon hits the bottom of the carton!” A joke between and my husband. God definitely put two like-minded people together here. A blessing and curse. When one or the other of us wants a “treat” — we aren’t always good at saying no. And then the binges start. We both feel awful, but have the hardest time regrouping. Until Whole30! We both love it and neither of encourage the other to “cheat”. Our outlook on moderation has changed as well — we have a better understanding of what it means. And when you feel good moderating, it’s just positive reinforcement for your mind and body! What a huge blessing of this program for Team Huenink!
Final Thoughts…
This is NOT my last round of Whole30. I’ll be back. But when? Well, that’s going to depend on how long I can stay close to the philosophies. Today, we are feeling loyal, but I don’t know what tomorrow will bring. I’ll make sure to keep you all posted! Thanks for reading the series 🙂
