Week Three is complete which means we only have one week left of Whole30! It’s been a long journey already and I am so happy that it’s almost over. I think the most tiring part has been cooking every single meal, because on Whole30 there really is no such thing as a quick bite.
The restrictive nature of this diet can obviously cause cravings of everything you haven’t been able to eat. For me, I’ve missed sugar in my coffee and pizza the most, and I can’t even believe I haven’t had any bread or grains since January 2nd. I can’t wait to indulge when it’s all over.
Speaking of this being over, I think it’s just as important to plan for the end of a diet like this as it is to plan for the start. The guidelines of Whole30 suggest slowly reintroducing the foods and food groups that you’ve cut out to make sure that you don’t have any sensitivities to anything you weren’t aware of, such as gluten or dairy. While that sounds great in theory, I’m not sure how well that’s gonna go when I decide to eat pizza immediately after ending this diet. I’m going to try to take it as slow as I can, of course, but I feel like I’ve been deprived so long that I’m not going to be able to resist.
I also don’t want to fall back into my same unhealthy patterns as before the diet, either. I do have a trip to Mexico at the end of February after all. I want to stay healthy and stay somewhat strict about what I eat, but I'm also not going to keep cutting out grains and sugar completely. I’m planning on possibly doing intermittent fasting again, which might help keep me on track, and I’m going to save unhealthier junk foods for specific nights during the week, like weekends or “special occasions''. I’m hoping I’ll be able to continue to restrict myself once the 30 days are over. (To read more about intermittent fasting, click here).
There’s not much of an update to report this week, since it’s kind of just more of the same.We still love Blue Apron meals, especially the ones that are easy to prep and clean up. I really don’t mind most of the meals we eat because for me it’s not that hard to incorporate lots of veggies, but I do miss being able to throw some brown rice or quinoa into the mix. I was very sad to have to alter my SweetGreen order to have no quinoa or tortilla crisps (where are my fellow SweetGreen Fish Taco Bowl fans???), but alas, it still ended up being a yummy salad that I didn’t have to actually make myself.
One of the only things keeping me from caving this past weekend was the fact that I’m so close to the end. That’s another reason why I think Whole30 is effective: there’s a physical end date in sight which makes it more manageable than the thought of carrying on for an undetermined amount of time. I would never be able to go on a keto or paleo diet because I couldn’t bear the thought of cutting out some of my favorite foods for longer than a month. But Whole30 is a great reset, and it’s only a month which makes it so manageable.
So, with an end in sight, I’m positive I can make it through my final week and come out stronger on the other side. If nothing else, this diet has made me appreciate good food more than ever before and I vow to never take pizza for granted ever again.
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