7 Unexpected Ways the Whole30 Diet Made Me Love My Body
For those of you keeping up with my sporadic posting, you may be wondering how my first stint went on the Whole30 diet back in June. I’ve been hesitant to post my original update, because I wanted to be honest with you guys (and myself, more realistically) about my reasons for doing the diet. In my mind, I never wanted to promote the diet for weigh loss, but I was having trouble articulating to my friends and family how my weight loss on the diet spurred my self love and craving for balance even after the plan. Ultimately, it is called the Whole30 “diet,” but it did have some profound effects on my day to day that really made me love my body more than I thought I could.
*Disclaimer* I did lose weight. The before and after pictures honestly show more of how my inflammation decreased back in June than the actual weight loss, but the result was exciting for me. That being said, I started the Whole30 Diet as a way to “reset” my body, and I didn’t want to persuade anyone to try it by posting my before and after pictures. Now on my second round of Whole30, I don’t think I’ve loved my body more but it wasn’t the actual diet as much as the way the diet made me think about my lifestyle choices.
Cutting Back on Sugar Put Me Face to Face with My Residual Issues Around Emotional Eating - Back in college, I could stay up until 4am to get an A on a paper and house a bag of family sized cassava chips as collateral. It was never an issue in my mind, it was just the “price to pay” for my good grades. I’ve been able to control the binging more now that I can rationalize myself out of a lot of the stress in my life, but cutting refined sugars cold turkey made me realize just how often (and more importantly, when) I reached for them. Every time I craved sugar, I forced myself to really think about why I needed the piece of chocolate and found that it was related more to stress and anxiety than wanting to treat myself.
Shifting My Daily Focus Away from Food Encouraged Me to Focus on More “Active” Activities - It’s not like my whole day centered around food, but it was definitely a consistent highlight. I’d get excited thinking about new recipes to try or fun ingredients I could get delivered, but eating on the Whole30 diet really limited my options to vegetables and proteins. Rather than getting bummed out about the lack of “fun” food, I tried to get excited about other things. Early morning strength training, afternoon yoga and even painting my nails became the new highlights of my day.
Waking Up Earlier Made Me Have More Positive Energy - If I had to attribute one factor to my major lifestyle changes in the past few months, it would be waking up earlier. Honestly, if you’re going to do anything to kickstart your mindset for change just set your alarm to 5:30am a few days in a row and stick to it. I trained myself to turn out the lights earlier (I went from being a 1am girl to a 10pm girl) and found that rather than spending those late night hours watching tv, I could used them in the morning to read, watch free classes online and take long walks to watch the sunrise. Sounds picturesque, right?
Avoiding Alcohol Taught Me True Self Care - You don’t really realize how much you drink until you’re forced to sigh “no, thanks” in every situation you’re offered one. I won’t lie, it was weird not experiencing the slightest headache in a month’s span as a mid-twenties millennial… But not being able to stay up and drink with friends made it easier to have an excuse to get to bed earlier. In some situations, I found drinking natural grape juice made me feel more included, in others, I opted to smoke or take an edible. I’ve heard a few friends mention that the best part about COVID has been feeling less FOMO and pressure to be at every party. I can’t say that I would’ve been as confident not drinking with my pre-COVID social schedule, but COVID Jacky is perfectly happy skipping the late nights out and reading in bed.
Losing inflammation Made Me Feel More Comfortable In My Body - So now for the obvious pluses… I finished out my first round of Whole30 and just felt so much lighter! My weight dipped a few pounds lower than it had for the last five years and I was able to wear certain items of clothing that (I’m slightly ashamed to say) I kept around for this exact moment. Prior to doing the Whole30 diet, I was active, ate well and practiced meditation regularly, so I definitely had lost all confidence that I could ever feel as connected and “in my body” as I had back as a student athlete in high school. But losing several inches around my stomach, I found that moving my body just came more easily. It didn’t feel like such a chore to get off the couch or to run upstairs and grab something. Losing that feeling of being “puffy” just made me feel like I could fit more into my day.
Honoring my Hunger Made Me Happier - Another reason I really enjoyed the Whole30 diet was because it didn’t limit my intake calorically. I hope I’m not overgeneralizing by saying I’m just like every other girl who has counted calories in the past, but I used to have it down to a science. Freshman year of college, I could look at any dining hall meal and estimate the calories with concerning accuracy. On the Whole30 Diet, I always carried snacks and made sure to eat whenever I felt hungry. I didn't get anxious thinking about whether I had eaten too much based on the food I saw (or lack thereof) on my plate, I just ate what I wanted. And you know what? It made me so damn happy.
Losing Weight Made me Realize Self Love Didn’t Come From Weight Loss - You might think that losing a few of those extra pounds reinvigorated my desire to get to my “goal” weight, but it actually shifted my focus away from weight loss. For the first time in a long time, I felt really good in my skin and I was excited to go back to having a bit more freedom when cooking. Now, as I’m half way through my second round of Whole30, I’m finding that I’m doing it to reset my sugar intake and to challenge my social norms behind what I eat, more than to test my body in hopes that my waistline shrinks.
For more on the Whole 30 Diet: