The Good, The Bad and The Ugly - Whole30 and Cravings

We all have cravings, and I think that most of us have some emotional attachment to food to varying degrees. But after my first 30 days without pastries, that was all that I could think of in my last hours! It doesn't help that I am a supervisor at a cafe where I have to close the pastry case every night, or set it up in the morning!

As I child I was rewarded and conditioned with foods. It was an attempt to maintain order with three kids in the house, and I can't judge the choices. But it's something which is being processed as I take into account what I am eating. If I'm tired, stressed, or frustrated I tend to eat something fattening without even being hungry. I eat my emotions. I think that mentally, this is my biggest challenge on Whole30.

This is why controlling which foods are in your house BEFORE you start, is very important in my experience. Don't leave the marshmallows in the cupboard; the chocolate chips and the brownies need to leave the house! I've actually given away non-compliant gluten-free flours and almond milk with additives so that I don't cut corners which aren't worth it!

I wish I could say that it's easy to start Whole30. Well actually starting IS EASY because it is a momentary CHOICE. You can choose right now to stop eating all of the sugary, nutritionally poor, processed foods that surround us every day. Some of my friends are pretty set-up and would only have to make some small changes to do a Whole30. But as for me, I love cheese, pastries, pizza and other unhealthy and non-compliant foods. I have a crazy emotional attachment to sweets, and the Holiday Season has just ended so there's great sales plus all of the gifts which I was given. So there's a purging step that I have had to go through.

But completing a Whole30 is not easy. It takes perseverance, vision, and creativity. I've had to learn to batch cook, meal prep, and buy strategically so that I don't spend my whole day cooking or my whole paycheck on alternative foods. I've also had to learn how to make a breakfast which I can pack and consume within in 15 minutes while starting work at 6am. And I've had to learn how to work on overcoming my cravings.

My lunch at work during Whole30

Here are some bullet-point thoughts on dealing with and exposing cravings. As I write them, I realize that awareness is a great first step, and I need to continue to mature in my ways of dealing with cravings.

1. As with other forms of temptation, I find prayer and worship to be preeminent. What is important in life? Will this thing going to actually change anything? If I never experience this one thing, will I die or lack joy? I've realized that temptations are empty lies, with no real long-lasting relief to be experienced. But they still pull at me.
2. My emotions can sometimes be ignored, but rather than avoiding the real issue I should dig deeper and deal with what's really bothering me. I am still learning to step back and process my feelings, and to make the hard changes to fix things within my control. But If I can come to the simple realizations like I'm just tired and I need to take a nap, it's a lot more healthy. Or maybe I'm just angry, I need to forgive that person - then I can grab a glass of water and buckle down for the ride. This list also helps to normalize the stages within a Whole30 - Whole30 Timeline.
3. The restrictions given by Whole30, mean that I cannot just eat whatever I feel like or what has been offered, and it takes away some of my favourites. Yes, it feels personal. So I try to find other foods to enjoy - a new recipe which is Whole30 compliant, a new cuisine with compliant dishes (mmm mmm... Persian food!), a new fruit or vegetable that I have never tried (props to LufaFarms.com), or rediscovering old favourites (like pistachios). I also have compiled a list of activities which make me happy and that I want to accomplish this winter - like painting, hiking, and writing letters to friends! Not to mention sharing my thoughts through this blog.



Food from my Lufa Farm basket this fall

4. No one else has my body, with my health issues and needs. I cannot depend on others to eat healthy for me, and I cannot eat everything anyone else is eating. But this is true of other things - and it helps to keep it all in perspective. I cannot climb Mount Everest like some athletes (heck Mont Royal is a challenge even on a good day!), I cannot sleep less than 8 hours and function - like some of my coworkers, and I cannot live with a cat without having an asthma attack, as much as I'd love to have a furry friend! This is my life and I need to take care of my body. 
5. Which leads me to my final thought.. I have to keep my motivation front and center: You only have one life to live, and one body - and you're worth it! The Bible teaches me that my body is the temple of the living God, made holy by his residence there, but also to be honoured as a gift from God and under my stewardship. I can worship God by making healthful choices! There may be aspects to my body which I cannot control, but Whole30 is a tool of which I DO HAVE CONTROL. So let's do this!

Somethings I can do immediately when I have a craving:

• Think about something else, sing a song or turn my attention away from food
• Grab a glass of water, sometimes I'm just dehydrated
• Pull out some nuts instead of focusing on what I can't have
• Focus on a project or email I need to write, to keep my mind busy.
• Make my meal if it's an appropriate time (they say if chicken breast and broccoli sounds fulfilling you're probably just actually hungry!)

So far, at the end of my Whole30s I've had some particular craving which I just had to have first. It was a different food each time, but the craving was all-consuming. It's funny to think that as I began my Whole60 last week, I didn't even worry about eating one last this or that food I was craving. It kind of just began and I didn't make a big deal of it. But as I approach the finish line, in my experience, there is going to be a list of things that I JUST NEED TO HAVE. Actually, I want to pray that God would continue to break down the lies that certain foods will make my life better, or that I need something.

What are some of your ways of dealing with cravings in a healthy way?

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly - Whole30 in Community

Since starting the Whole 30 about a year ago, I have realized that there is a lot of stigma around dieting, eating restrictions and food allergies. It was mentioned in It Starts With Food that you automatically become an advocate for the program simply by not following the crowd during meals. But I didn't realize the extent of it. I thought, sure I'll tell other friends about the great benefits I have found since starting this lifestyle. I even wrote a couple of gal friends who mentioned health or weight loss in social media, because I had found Whole30 to be so extremely helpful. But I didn't realize how much I would have to defend my choices.

To be honest, when all but one of the girls in a circle of friends have some food restrictions due to allergies or intolerance, it starts to look like a fad. It's the center of jokes, and people have a hard time keeping track of who can't eat what foods. The comments are all in good humour, and it's hard not to see the irony, but it's not easy to be the but of the joke. Actually my friend, and roommate a few years ago got it much worse than I ever have. And I have to remember how extreme it felt to me then.

It is often asked, "if you can't eat all of [enter list], what CAN you eat?". Others state, "I could never do that for 30 days!" And I should be patient with these comments, because I thought them too, not so long ago. Instead, more often than not, I get my back up and remind them of all of the trash in our modern processed foods. Or how I actually have an intolerance to wheat and dairy, as was made evident when re-introducing them into my diet. But where does that get me? Whether or not the indignation comes through in my tone, I always regret becoming defensive and not answering in grace.

Sure, it's hard to go out for lunch and watch all your friends eat (something delicious), while you sip on a coffee, just because you'd rather maintain the fellowship than go home to eat alone. But at the same time, this is a personal choice to improve my quality of life, I can't be bitter at them for not getting it. I can help educate those who want to know more, but ultimately I can't change people's minds.


I think that more than anything, I just want to fit in. I don't want to have to make different choices, or miss out on enjoying the yummy food. I don't want to have my choices questioned or called to account. I don't want to miss out on the parties, the jokes, the feasts. That's been the hardest.

I don't have a family with whom I can enjoy my meals at home, and just go out once in a while with friends. Often, I have to eat food prepared by someone else if I want to participate in community - which means that I loose control over what is and how it is cooked. And that's very uncomfortable.

Thankfully, I have one group of friends who are more-or-less aware of the Whole30 program restrictions and we will enjoy a pot-luck meal with enough compliant foods for me to eat. I'll even bring a bottle of wine for them to enjoy without me, just to show my appreciation! This has been sweet, and I am thankful for their selflessness.

Other times, I will make myself a meal and enjoy it before joining my friends. That way if there is nothing, or very little, that I can consume at the restaurant/meal I am not sitting there writhing in hunger - hating everyone. Seems extreme, but I get hangry!

When I do go out to a restaurant, I have to judge how crazy (strict) I'm going to get. While not making excuses for having obvious cheats, I am not going to question the waitress on all of the ingredients in an entrée, and get the chef to come out and verify it. I try to make the best judgements and avoid dairy, grains, legumes, alcohol, sugar and preservatives. If I can make a good decision then I'll thank God that I am taking my health so much more seriously, and I'll tip the waiter just a little bit extra to show my appreciation for their patience with my many questions! But sometimes, even after trying to make a good choice, I still get a tummy ache afterwards.

I have found a few things which I have been able to enjoy on Whole30:
- a glass of cold water (haha!)
- a cup of tea or coffee (depending on the volume and the hour of day)
- a lamb shank with roasted vegetables (careful on the cooking oils)
- chicken brochette and roasted potatoes
- eggs and bacon and potatoes

I have invited friends over and cooked the whole meal for them so that I knew what I could and couldn't eat and to make enough for myself which was Whole30. This is another great way to encourage community while on a very limited diet. I've also brought food with me to friends' houses while hanging out so that they didn't feel the pressure to figure out my dietary restrictions and dream up a menu.

I think that I'll end it here, and write again soon about cravings and addictions which is another hard thing to overcome (let's be honest, by the end of it I can't think of anything else!) while on Whole30.

Thanks for reading!

Rebecca

How I got started: It's All About Food

The first time I heard about the Paleo Diet from a coworker, I was completely skeptical; eating like cave men made absolutely no sense to me! Just because foods were added into our diet through the centuries (like so many other things that have changed since their time) didn't mean that they were negative or less healthy. I dismissed it in an instant, and never thought twice.

Then a good friend of mine mentioned that she was starting another diet. Now diets had only a sliver more credibility in my mind since I had seen countless friends starve and neglect themselves for a few days in the name of 'health' only to binge on all of the worst food around as soon as their wills broke! There are so many fads and theories which contradict each other and accomplish little more than depression and will-breaking.

But this friend was smart, athletic and she was very confident that this was not just a fad or anything like other diets. Since I am undeniably unhealthy, and had a desire to treat my body like the temple that it actually is, I decided to find the book behind the diet - with all of the science-y stuff my Biology-head loves!

And then I opened, 'It Starts With Food'. Everything I knew about hormones and building-blocks was changed. It turns out that an unhealthy body doesn't respond to food the same way a healthy body would, and that our processed, sugary foods are creating chaos inside. Leptin Resistance is the one thing that surprised me the most -perhaps I should have pursued my Biology Degree a little further!

'Normally, when you've accumulated adequate body fat, your fat cells send a message (via leptin) to your brain that says, 'Hey, we've got enough energy stored, so you should eat less and move more.' But when receptors in the brain and other tissues become less sensitive to leptin, those messages don't get through. Your brain doesn't hear leptin say that you've got enough body fat stored" (pg. 46, 'It Starts with Food').

The program claims that 'By the time the program is over, you'll know in no uncertain terms which foods are improving the quality of your life and which are detracting from your health' (pg. 13, 'It Starts with Food'). Through the book, they, 'show you how to break free of unhealthy cravings, restore your body's natural hunger mechanism, eat to satiety while still loosing weight, and eliminate the symptoms of any number of lifestyle-related diseases and conditions - forever" (pg. 14, 'It Starts with Food').

So once I realized that just eating healthier, or more moderately wasn't going to work because my body and emotions were working against me, I decided to give this Whole30 a go! I am strong willed and stubborn, so it totally worked to my advantage that the first 30 days are black and white on what you can eat.

The book is so good, I could quote every word, but I found a 60 second summary about Nutrition and Whole30 on The Whole9 website: Nutrition in 60 seconds

WHOLE30 = Animal Protein + Lots of Vegetables + High-Quality Fat + Seasonings

The NEW Recipe Book with all of the Whole30 details!

It was actually 25 days before Easter last year that I began my first Whole30. I was so reluctant to not just wait the 25 days and enjoy Easter festivities whole-hog. But as I was reading through the book, I couldn't put my health off any longer. I managed to enjoy the feast, avoiding non-compliant foods and just appreciate the transformation that I was seeing in my body!

It's not easy, and everyone knows that. Here's the Timeline for what the average person experiences while on Whole30.



In my experience I never hit the energy boost most people see about half-way through. I did feel things changing, but much slower. I think that I have a lot of tings going on inside that need to heal and that my body wasn't there quite yet. Reluctantly, I am convinced that I need to do a Whole60 and see how things improve with a continued dedication to my health and wellness.

So after my first Whole30 I observed these non-scale victories:

- I was able to enjoy a meal with friends while passing over corn chips, pita bread, Bailey's, and cheesecake and it got easier the more often we got together!
- I discovered other foods which I loved, and healthier snacks for when spending time with friends - fallen in love with vegetables and learned to love kale
- actually did something for 30 days with no cheats
- I exposed cravings for just empty promises which were not worth pursuing
- plus I had lost 10 pounds!

My love for coffee was developed as dairy and alternatives were cut out

I shared this thought at the end of my Whole30:
"I find that I eat when I'm not hungry (like while playing [board] games, or watching a movie), I think that fulfilling my cravings will make my life better, and that i deserve a treat. All are proven false when you step away from the situation and think about it logically. And just reminding myself of the truth and finding my solutions in prayer and healthy relationships is so much better! Loosening the power of temptation and idolatry is NECESSARY and I am not sacrificing ANYTHING - really. But it's not easy!"

Actually, I felt things changing, but I knew that there was more health that would come if I were just to pursue it a bit longer. However, emotionally it was taxing and while observing excess weight leave and feeling more energy starting, I was getting a bit depressed and couldn't think about anything other than the new La Boulange pastries in our cafe! So, I decided to take a short break from my quest, and started up a Whole45 on April 22nd. These two consecutive Whole30 stints really changed my appetites, energy, weight, and determination. I couldn't wait to eliminate all of the problematic foods from my diet again in the fall and see how food affects my mood, allergies, and energy!

So beginning January 15th, I will embark on my 4th Whole30, for 60 days!

The naked truth: Whole30 and my health

I wrote this to a close friend, about a year ago to explain my rationale for Whole30 and the process I'd been on.

**

I have been overweight most of my pubescent and adult life. As a little girl, I was small and average never having excess weight or nutritional issues. Once I hit puberty I was packing on the pounds and called "big boned" although I had not changed any of my habits and we were eating healthy at home.

Ever since, I have resented the fact that others can eat anything they want, but I'm the one who has to suffer gaining extra pounds. I have felt defeated and un-beautiful, and unhealthy.

Many times I have gone on fasts or diets and lost some weight, but I was counting down the minutes until I could eat everything I'd cut out. Then all the weight came back, and over the years so much more!

When my healthy, beautiful friend suggested Whole30 to me, I was critical. I needed to know that I didn't need to buy all of my food from the company, or all of their recipes, and that it was actual science that backed up their claims. I had been receiving emails from 'nutritionists' who never say anything concrete until after they've convinced you to buy another thing from them or their affiliates, and I was sick of it!

One day I felt God's nudge to look into Whole30 so I bought the book and read the science and realized for the first time how my hormones and gut were contributing to my poor health. It wasn't the calories or the fat I was ingesting, but the things that turn into fat or cause fat to be stored that were making me unhealthy.

Whole30 cuts out all foods (for a minimum of 30 days) that cause any of the 4 major health issues: addiction, hormonal imbalance, gut permeability, and inflammation. Anything that is processed is eliminated because of it's unnatural addictive qualities, sugar and alcohol are also addictive. But rather than focusing on what you cannot eat, I found oodles of delicious recipes full of protein, fiber, good fats, and carbohydrates. I even made my friend and her family (3 children under 4 and her hubby) her birthday dinner (Whole30 compliant) and they all loved it! She even scooped up the leftovers and had it for lunch the next day!

But one thing that has really changed the game for me is realizing that:

- I am an adult and no one else can make decisions for me

- My life is worth more than not doing this

- I need to take myself seriously, cause God does

- None of the foods I crave actually fix my problems

- Enjoy things  because they are delicious, in an intentional manner 

Since finishing my Whole30, I have realized how much my brain lies to me about food, and how much I idolize it! Now, I am making more conscious decisions about what I eat, and I am really enjoying vegetables for the first time!

Anyways, if you want to talk more about my experience just let me know!

Lots of love and compassion,

Introduction to Montreal Whole30

Hello there, it's Rebecca here.

I am starting this blog to try to help people become acquainted with Whole30.org and to give some insights from Montreal, Canada. The Whole30 Network is already so big and gives such helpful hints and encouragement. However I find that the noise from Montreal is dim and I'd like to hear more hints as I attempt my 4th Whole30 (actually my second Whole45 of the four rounds).

About me: I am a single woman on a tight budget, trying to find new recipes and flavours, and to save my health from the downward slope it has been on for years. I work part-time at a coffee shop and part-time with childcare. My schedule is a bit unpredictable making meals harder to plan for.

Actually, I typically pack three meals into an industrial-sized lunch pail and head out for the day. I also host friends at my house almost weekly, and I need good crowd pleasing meals to deliver. I love creating things and sometimes a recipe fails! I am trying out the plantoeat.com meal planner to help me budget my groceries and meal prep time.

Nutritionally, I am interested in limiting my nightshade intake more than ever before (tomatoes, potatoes, peppers - including chilies - eggplant and more) but not strictly. I am also trying to limit my intake of eggs (it's so easy to whip up an omelet or boil some eggs), nuts, and caffeine (did I mention that I work at a cafe?).

I have been using a LufaFarms.com basket to gain access to local and organic products, and will focus on getting my proteins from there.  I live close to a farmer's market, but I love the convenience of a one-stop shop with comparable pricing. As much as possible, I will be buying organic produce whenever it's considered a dirty dozen.

Join me as I travel through my non-scale victories (#nsv) and discover a healthy lifestyle which is made to last!

Rebecca