I got a big string of crazy thoughts early this month when I decided to do Whole30, plus working out for 30 days straight. I ate too much junk over the holidays and it was good to totally reset. But it wasn’t all that awesome. Whole30 took on a whole different meaning for me this time. I did it to drop a few pounds and to cut my sugar habit. I know what foods bother me, so I didn’t need to do it for elimination purposes. That left me feeling very irritated, when I knew that I would serve my body better with a cup of quinoa instead of a potato, but I wasn’t “allowed” to have it. On top of that, I didn’t lose the weight I wanted to. Hopefully I just turned some of it into muscle with all the working out, but I was still annoyed.
On day 21, we went out to dinner for restaurant week here in Charlotte and decided to do our own clean way of eating the rest of the time. I knew that if I “stopped” Whole30 then, that I had a good chance of carrying on with a modified, healthy diet instead of continuing and binging afterwards. So that’s what we did. Now, I’m back to my own way of eating, which is basically no sugar, no dairy, no gluten 80% of the time. For me, that is whole days of eating like that, then on the weekend, I let myself have a fun meal or two. It works well for me and I feel like my body responds to it. Eating is all about finding out what works for you! And Whole30 the first time really helped me learn that. (And if you haven’t done a full Whole30, I don’t recommend quitting or skipping the reintroduction period!)
On to the working out. Phew. 30 days straight is…well, not a great idea. My body is tired and sore. I craved days off during it and don’t feel like my muscles have really had much recovery time. That said, I impressed myself. I ran further, lifted heavier and pushed myself to go all in. I tried new workouts, like yoga, and some P90X stuff that I haven’t done in awhile. I didn’t quit and I’m proud of that! I feel stronger and I can see a difference in my body over the last 4 weeks. But, I’m really excited to rest tomorrow!
Top: Calia by Carrie | Leggings: Calia by Carrie | Sneakers
Overall, I’m happy with the decisions I made for January. I’m happy that I started the year off on a really healthy foot and believe I can keep it up with a good balance. Consistency is always the key and finding what works for your body, even though that might change from time to time!
Have you made any health commitments this year? Are you sticking to them?