I Tried It: Whole30 {Part Two}

…and just like that, my Whole30 is a wrap!

In my last post I talked about what the Whole30 is all about and why I was doing it. Now I’m back to tell you more about my experience! So here’s a rundown on what I learned from my past month doing the Whole30 Challenge.

What I learned during my Whole30 experience

1) Planning ahead is KEY. You absolutely must have a plan before going into Whole30, otherwise you’re setting yourself up for failure. I highly recommend reading the Whole30 book, going through the Whole30 website, stocking up on Whole30 groceries, and meal planning.

2) So that’s what REAL hunger signals feel like! From doing the Whole30 I realized that I was previously guilty of eating (often) when I wasn’t actually hungry. Learning about my hunger cues is definitely one of the biggest things I’m going to carry over into life after Whole30.

3) I can live without snacking. On that same note, I’ve found that I actually like feeling truly hungry. While snacking isn’t always a bad thing, I want to make sure I do so only when I truly have to, and not just out of boredom/habit.

4) I can live without more foods than I thought. I was very surprised at what foods I didn’t miss during Whole30. For example, dairy/cheese was never a temptation for me. I barely even thought about it! Same goes for legumes. I also didn’t really have as much of a sweet tooth as I thought I would.

5) But I can’t live without a few things. What I found myself missing the most was bread. Pre-Whole30 I typically only ate gluten free bread anyway, so that may be something I (try to) integrate back into my diet here and there.

6) How I eat effects how I feel (physically, mentally, emotionally) more than I realized. This was a really huge realization for me, and the primary reason I am going to stick to Whole30 principles for good (more on that below). I’m especially excited about the mental/emotional effects – I found myself feeling much less anxious and with an overall clarity of mind over the past 30 days than I did before.

7) It’s not impossible to eat healthy while dining out. As someone who lives in NYC, dining out is pretty much unavoidable. Not to mention that it’s one of my favorite things to do! I was very pleased with how easy it was to eat Whole30 style (sometimes with a tweak here or there) at just about every restaurant.

8) I get sick of meat. This one is kind of a bummer and what made my last 2 weeks of Whole30 quite difficult. I’m not the biggest meat eater, so after a while I honestly just got sick of it (even eggs and fish).

9) Don’t rely on nuts, nut butters, or “Whole30 approved” bars. This is a really important tip. There were a few days during my Whole30 where I went a bit overboard on nuts and nut butters, so I quickly knew I had to get them out of the house. While they are Whole30 approved, they should be used as more of a garnish (or emergency snack) than a crutch when you have a sweet tooth.

10) I forgot how much I love cooking! There are SO many incredible Whole30 recipes out there, and I love experimenting with fun new ones. That’s another thing I definitely want to keep up with post-Whole30.

11) I found the last 2 weeks to be more difficult than the first. As I just mentioned, I think this has to do a lot with how I got sick of meat. The less I enjoyed filling up on protein, the more I craved grains and what not. A lot of people say the first 2 weeks are more difficult, so I think this really just depends on the individual.

12) It feels AWESOME to stick to something and see it through ’til the end. I’ll be honest – I don’t have the best self control in the world. So it felt really great to know that I could make a decision to do something to better myself and truly stick to it through the end. Even though it’s arguably “just food,” I feel like Whole30 really built my character in that sense.

13) The Whole30 community rocks. The Whole30 community, especially on Instagram, seriously rocks. I loved engaging with fellow Whole30-ers and getting recipe/meal inspiration from them!

14) Weight loss made easy. Oh yeah, there’s that whole weight loss part 😉 I’ll be honest – I didn’t really notice any results until about 20 days in (just from looking in the mirror – you’re not allowed to weigh yourself during the 30 days). Even though that wasn’t my primary reason for doing Whole30, it did feel really good when I started to notice a difference in my appearance. I did end up losing a total of 6 pounds, which is pretty awesome considering I feel like I ate A LOT of food on Whole30. No counting or measuring – just eating!

All in all, I’ve got to say that I had an incredible Whole30 experience. If it’s something you’ve been considering or think might be a good challenge for you, I couldn’t recommend it more! Like I said before, though, just make sure to really do your research and plan ahead.

I feel like now I’m really at the most difficult part of all – where do I go from here? I’m so torn between the amazing benefits of Whole30, but I’d be lying if I said I miss eating “whatever I want.”

At the end of the day, though, nothing tastes as good as feeling as awesome as I do right now (as cliche as that sounds, it’s true). So I will be sticking to the Whole30 way of eating as much as I can!

With that being said, I will be sneaking “treats” in here and there, but only when it is worth it. You can follow me along here on the blog and on the Hungry Blonde Instagram to see what my eats look like moving forward.

In the meantime, here’s another look at some of my delicious meals from the back end of my Whole30.

Potato “Toast” with Mashed Avocado, Pomegranate Seeds, Crushed Pistachios: