I did it! I did it! I did it! I completed the Whole30!

This is my success story.

I first heard of the Whole30 from another wedding photographer, Lucy O Photo. I met her when I lived in Charlottesville and followed her journey on instagram. Then I put it out of my mind. Then a good friend Erica was telling me about it. She lost 12 pounds, and looked phenomenal. I’d gained about 15 pounds since getting married, and I wanted to get back to my newlywed weight, or at least to where my clothes fit! Last year, I started working out with a personal trainer. And I loved it! I felt strong, was slowwwwly loosing weight and gaining muscle and eating really small meals. But then I had the whole Sesamoiditis thing… I had to stop working out completely… and my eating completely took a turn for the worse.

So, when I finally thought… “Maybe I could do this Whole30 thing to jump start my health…” I called Erica. She explained that, sure it’s hard, but totally doable. [And probably cheaper than a personal trainer…] I bought, “It Starts with Food.” Read it. And was ready to begin. Halfway through, I blogged how thing were going and not much has changed since that. But a few things have changed, so I may as well document them, right?

• I do NOT have an allergy to bananas and have been enjoying them rash free. Not sure what gave me the rash on my stomach though…
• I just can’t stomach avocados anymore.
• I WILL continue eating like this, even though I don’t feel different. I AM different and that’s what matters.

So now that I’m finished, I have to say I’m really proud of myself. Although I didn’t have a perfect run at it, and therefore I probably can’t claim that I’ve actually completed a real Whole30, I accomplished my goal of weight loss and trying as hard as I can to discipline myself! The real Whole30 says that if you slip up, or as they say, “choose,” not to eat according to their guidelines, you have to start from Day 1. I broke the rules a few times – mainly at weddings where I ate the meals they provided. But, I calculated it, and out of 90 meals in 30 days, I choose to break diet 5 times. So, after a 94.5% successful Whole30, here are my quantitative  results!

When I started, I weighed: 137 lbs [omg, I just published that.]
Waist: 29.5
Hips: 36.5

Today, I weigh: 127 lbs [I LOST 10 POUNDS!]
Waist: 27.5, down 2 inches
Hips: 35.5, down 1 inch

Bam.

So, although I’m beyond excited about this, the real victory will be in maintenance. I thought when I started that this diet would not be sustainable. It really is, at least 95% of the time. Maybe 100% for others. I plan to eat like this as best I can and only “off road” when I reach that decision via this flow chart….Or when my vendor meal at a wedding is a sandwich.

Some people have asked for recipes, and I have to be honest, a lot of my meals didn’t consist of mixing or baking anything too fun. I don’t follow a lot of recipes in general, so I ate a lot of plain, whole foods…but I did have a few I really liked!

• My biggest surprise was how easy it is to make your own mayonnaise. And that it is actually delicious.
• I had one huge craving, and ate WAY TOO MUCH of this seriously amazing ceviche…and I don’t think I can eat it again. Ever. Chad said he actually thought I was pregnant. The rest of it is still in the fridge because I can’t bare to even look at it. But it was so delicious…
• I roasted cauliflower a few times with different spices, once with just salt and pepper, and once with curry. Yum to both.
• I made chicken salad with grapes [with the mayo]. No link to that, just boiled chicken, cut some grapes and mixed in the mayo. Perfection.
• Breakfasts were tough. I only like eggs over easy, scrambled, or hard boiled.
• Also for breakfast, I ate onion, apple and spinach stir fry A LOT toward the end. That was my own creation. Just chop up the onions and apples into tiny pieces, pop that junks in the pan and let it caramelize a little, then add the spinach until it wilts. Great with eggs.
• I ate a lot of marinated meats with lemon and rosemary. Or Lime and cilantro. And grilled veggies.
• ALMOND BUTTER, APPLES AND CINNAMON = my new ice cream. We host people a lot, and desert is always a part of that. So while others scoop ice cream or brownies, I had to have SOMETHING to get me by. This dish was a life saver.
• One pot of chicken vegetable soup. Again, no recipe. I boiled chicken in Organic chicken broth and threw in any and all vegetables I had. That got me through many lunches….
• If you’re interested, here is my ongoing pinterest board of Whole30 meals I’d like to try eventually…

So, today I’m celebrating with Sweet Frog [yes, I still plan to celebrate with food SOMETIMES], and then jumping right back into the Whole30 guidelines! Who’s with me?!

a. read this first!! b. let’s do this! c. meal 1, day 1
d. funny moment – I took regular communion! e. meal 2, day 30 f. DONE!!!