Wooohoooo! I completed my Whole30 Round 2 this week and the results are in! If you haven’t been following along or don’t know what Whole30 is, start here and here. I wanted to squeeze in a round before Thanksgiving so that I could jump into the holidays with my game face on and y’all, it worked! I haven’t done a round since my first one, last April but I have stuck *pretty close to Whole30 ever since. I no longer eat gluten (for my autoimmune diseases and inflammation) so I stick to the occasional popcorn or rice for carbs and I eat very little dairy or sugar. I can’t give that up completely because hello, queso and margaritas, you understand.
I knew I wouldn’t lose as much weight as I did on my first round because last April I had no diet restrictions before I started so I literally had to cut out everything that Whole30 restricts. This round, I already eat very little of what is on the Whole30 restrictions so I knew it wouldn’t be as drastic of a change for my body.
But I still lost 10 pounds this round which is great because I am still working on the steroid weight I gained. But I was shocked to still see so many changes in my body this time around. It was a reminder of how off track I can get when a little time goes by. When you are not focused on what you should be eating, you can slip without even realizing it. This round was an excellent refresher for me to refocus on what I should be eating to feel my best, but I did have some new benefits.
Last time I had some headaches the first week and I was exhausted, probably from the sugar withdraws. This round, I had no headaches and wasn’t tired. Last time the second week I was super bloated as my body flushed out the toxins and by the end of week two, all of my abdominal bloat was gone. I had that again this time.
My sleep improved both rounds, however this time I noticed something else, I EASILY wake up at 5:30 am every morning now. I have been trying to get up early and do my little version of Miracle Morning and write and I just couldn’t make myself get up, no matter what I did. Getting my eating back on track made all the difference in how I am waking up in the morning and now 5:30 is a breeze for me and I no longer hit the snooze button on four alarms!! The Water Man is a particularly grateful for my breakup with the snooze button!
Besides feeling great again, especially week three and four, I noticed my skin improved this round. My face has been more clear and my complexion brighter. I don’t look as sleepy as I usually do, although I think motherhood may have given me the sleepy look permanently! #momlife
I wish I had the willpower to eat like this one hundred percent of the time because I really do feel my best, but I also want to enjoy life and finding a balance and being consistent is the most important thing. I think my favorite benefit this round would be how easy it is to wake up now. What I missed the most this round was most definitely my once a week almond milk latte. I will start another round the Monday after Thanksgiving because I will be indulging in my favorite (gluten-free) holiday foods next week and maybe a little popcorn and queso too! But I don’t want to crazy over the holidays so in between Thanksgiving and Christmas, I am going to stay focused with round 3.
Whole30 has changed my life, truly. It has changed my taste buds, my cravings, the way I view food and how I eat completely. Once you know how well you can sleep and how amazing you can feel when you’re fueling your body with the right foods, you want to feel that way all the time. I didn’t eat horribly before I started this journey, but I eat a lot better now and it doesn’t usually feel that hard. I am going to enjoy this little break, but I’ll be back after Thanksgiving with more motivation. Let me know if you’ll be joining me!
