The Whole30 Day 0: Do I REALLY Want to Know How Much I Weigh?

Mark and I are about to embark on The Whole30 experience.  Tomorrow.  Gulp.  

What is this and why?

Well, our fitness trainer started gushing about this back in late June.  Ok, "gush" may not be the correct term since she was, admittedly, miserable when she first mentioned it to me; probably in response to my query, "Are you feeling ok?"  She told me she was on The Whole30 and was a little under a week into it and was "struggling", but was determined to continue because, after all, not being able to have creamer in your coffee is not life or death. Not imbibing in a glass of wine after work is not the end of the world (well, maybe for her, LOL!)  Because going without grains, dairy, legumes, added sugar, artificial sweeteners, any alcohol whatsoever, added sulfates, MSG or many other additives and preservatives was not as difficult as having a baby, losing a parent, or getting a divorce.

This is what she was spouting off to me, and I was like, "HUH? This sounds totally crazy and I don't want anything to do with it!"

Fast forward about two months and now I'm crazy, and I'm dragging Mark along for the ride. 

Have I mentioned lately how much I love this man?

Back to Michelle (our trainer) and The Whole30.  The next Friday she was looking decidedly better.  She said "Yeah, I miss my wine, but I've been amazed how great the food I've been eating tastes.  I'm not counting calories or weighing myself but my clothes fit like they should, I have a lot more energy, and I'm sleeping better."  At this, I felt the beginning tugs of interest since I can't remember that last time I've slept through the night.  So, I asked her to share some more, to which she replied by showing me a book called "The Whole30:  The 30-Day Guide to Total Health and Food Freedom."

You can eat more than you'd think on this plan (although maybe not what you think you want to eat!)

I glanced at it, and thought, "Well, the cover recipe looks decent."  I thumbed through it and checked out a few more of the recipes.  "Hmmm...this doesn't look too awful, I ventured." She jumped all over that opening, "No!  It's not.  What totally grabbed me and made me pull the plug and do it was the whole bit about how going without fill in the blank for 30 days is not hard compared to other things I've experienced in my life."  I was sufficiently intrigued that I went home that very afternoon and bought the book via Amazon Prime.  Ok, it basically sat in my kitchen for a month before I picked it up, but I DID buy it.  

The next week, now about two and a half weeks into her experience, Michelle was bouncing around and was positively glowing with good health.  Shoving down my misgivings about whether I could give up wine, Greek yogurt, beans, and chewing gum all at the same time, I went home and began in earnest to plant the seeds with Mark regarding our venturing into the world of The Whole30 "at some point".

I said, "We certainly won't start until after our vacation, because we'd never be able to do this on vacation.  We can start when we get back in mid-August!"  

Backtrack.  Mark and I have been down the "diet fad" path many times before in our 13 years together.  Most recently, as in two plus years ago, we went low-carb and have stuck with that relatively well.  Yet, the philosophy, research, and The Whole30 program rules pulled me in me because it all makes so much sense and is very difficult to argue with; and, not the least being, the mantra that most people who go on this repeat to themselves over and over again; "It's ONLY 30 days!"  

I could go on and on about the philosophy, research, and rules but I figure if you're interested in it, you can Google The Whole30 and read all about it.  My intent with blogging about it is to document my experience with it; the good, the bad, and the ugly.

We initially picked August 23rd as our Day 1 (August 22nd being Mark's birthday and he did NOT want to be deprived of scotch and cigars on his birthday (BTW smoking is also not allowed on The Whole30)).  The weekend before, we removed everything from the house that was not plan approved.  We went out shopping and bought only Whole30 approved items.  I even went on-line and bought some Whole30 approved bacon.  We planned out our initial three days of meals (9 in total:  breakfast, lunch, and dinner whereby you eat for each meal protein, a lot of vegetables, maybe some fruit, and some sort of healthy fat like avocado or olives).  In other words, we PREPARED; a integral key to success.  I also went on-line and found all sorts of resources with the most helpful being The Whole30 Forum where you can find out with a few keystrokes if, say, that ferrous gluconate in your canned black olives is plan approved (it is but they'd prefer you find ones that don't have it (and they do exist)) or if you need to ditch your carton of chicken broth because it has yeast extract in it (you do).  That same weekend, Mark made homemade sausage, pasta sauce (which we'll enjoy minus the pasta but Zoodles are great), and stock from two whole chickens (added bonus being we now have a ton of plan approved shredded chicken).  

So, we were all ready to go, but then I got seated on a jury Monday the 21st that was scheduled to go at least through Thursday (it went through Friday).  We postponed (wisely) until August 28th.  Tomorrow.  Gulp.

Seriously, I am ready for this challenge because I want to find out if there is something I am eating or drinking that is causing me not to feel as great as I should be feeling.  I mean, I'm 53 and in pretty decent health and shape; it seems I should feel better than I do.  Maybe I'll lose weight but that's not why I'm doing it.  I'd like to know if the Stevia I used in my coffee is making me gassy (I know, TMI, sorry, my Blog).  Or, are sulfates causing my eyes to swell.

Or, is dairy causing roiling stomach issues or beans causing me to bloat and puff up.  I already know giving up alcohol can only result in positive results; physical, mental, and emotional.  

So say I now, today, Day 0.

Oh, and I probably will weigh myself tonight, as well as take measurements (after tonight, the scale and tape is off limits until Day 31).  I'm drawing the line at the "before" and "after" pictures, though.  

Stay tuned for the journey.