Whole30 Wrap Up

I finished my Whole30 on Tuesday, and I'm just now getting around to blogging about it. You can read all about my reasons for doing it on this post. It's probably for the best that I'm writing today instead of right at the finish line, because now I can give you a before, an after, and an after the after.

The short version is that it was hard but worth it.

For me, here's what was hard:

1) Spending lots of time meal planning, shopping, cooking, and thinking about the new lifestyle. It took up a lot of space in my head at first.
2) Having bad breath. I think my stomach took way too long to get balanced out! Gum and mints were forbidden because of the fake sugars, so I just brought my toothbrush and toothpaste and mouthwash to work with me. I'm definitely back on gum and Altoids now.
3) Being tempted by no-no foods wasn't really that bad until about halfway through, strangely enough. But when I fell, I fell hard. What really helped was removing the temptation from the pantry and fridge. I kept all of the naughty foods upstairs in the guest room for Nathan to raid when he needed to.

Here's what made it worth it:

1) The best part was seeing immediate results with my diabetes. Unfortunately, the blood sugar meter that talks to my pump went kaputz about two weeks ago (I have a backup meter, but it doesn't communicate with the pump), so I don't have all of the information I'd like. However, here are some quick facts if you care to know. All of the numbers are before vs. after.

Average blood sugar reading: 170ish vs. 113
Average high/low: 110/210ish vs. 86/146
Average insulin intake per day: 18ish units vs. 10 units
Percentage of Basal vs. Bolus: 30% vs. 70%ish vs. 65% vs. 35%
Average grams of carbohydrates per day: 125ish vs. 40

2) I noticed that my skin looks really nice and healthy.
3) I slept soundly, although I had some craaaazy dreams for the first week. I woke up a few seconds before my alarm every morning (does that freak you out as much as it does me?) feeling fully charged. I was more awake and alert during the day. I stopped my usual perpetual yawning from 1-4 p.m.
4) I also lost some weight. For 30 days didn't feel guilty for overindulging (okay, once - blasted Magnum bar!) or suffer consequences of bloating, goopy-headedness (Nathan's word for when I have high blood sugar) and feeling generally pretty yucky.

Since Tuesday I've let some foods slide back in. On Thursday I went to a conference, and for lunch they served us almost exclusively things I could not allow two days before (little sandwiches, pizzas, sweet and savory pastries, cakes and cookies, etc.). I felt horrible all afternoon and came home with a blood sugar of 286, even though I thought I bolused enough to cover it.

Last night Nathan took me out to dinner for my birthday (more on that later!) and after I had a healthy entree, we each got a dessert to share. In addition to a blood sugar of 220 at bedtime, my stomach was so bloated afterwards I could have passed for six months pregnant. It was sooo tasty though - sticky toffee pudding and chocolate melting cake with mint sorbet. Mmmm...

These two experiences are telling me that my body just does not respond well to unhealthy food. DUH! But it makes me really sad. I love unhealthy food. But I love feeling good too. And the two just do not mix.

Okay... this is getting really long. I'm going to have to split up the results show. :)

Next time I'll pass along some of my favorite recipes and tips for doing a Whole30 yourself  if you want. Actually, I just have one tip. Get a good blender and/or food processor. Okay, the next post will just be recipes. Until then!

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