I Did It!!

Well, the Whole 30 if finally over. It officially ended on Wednesday night. That's right, 30 days of no sugar, no grains, no legumes, no processed foods, and no dairy! No Sweat! Actually I was surprised at how easily this way of eating became over the course of the 30 days. The first few weeks brought about some serious Diet Coke cravings and I definitely missed the cream and sugar in my coffee but about halfway into the 3rd week, I came to a surprising realization that I didn't really miss those staples of my former diet anymore! In fact, I have yet to put cream or sugar back into my morning coffee and I haven't touched a Diet Coke or any other type of soda since it's been over...and I don't plan on doing it! I have come to appreciate the subtle differences in good coffee when you drink it black and I have no desire to put the high fructose corn syrup or processed psuedo-sugars back into my body. For anybody that doesn't know...Splenda was discovered while looking for a new pesticide...it's an organo-chloride. You know what else falls into the category of organo-chloride...DDT and Mustard Gas! The hardest thing I found while on the Whole 30 was that it is almost impossible to get good, clean sources of protein while eating out or picking something up from the store unless you live next to Whole Foods. Almost everybody cooks there meat in butter or some other kind of non-optimal oil and if you look at the packaging of most deli meat, you will find ingredients like sugar, tapioca starch, potato starch, all sorts of unwanted, unnecessary additions! The best quick and easy protein sources I was able to find were Applegate Farms Organic turkey breast or roast beef, simple canned tuna in olive oil, and sometimes I got lucky at Whole Foods and they had a protein source on their lunch buffet that didn't have any non-Whole 30 approved ingredients in it. I definitely wouldn't say that I was perfect on the Whole 30. I only ate what I was allowed to eat but there is much more to the Whole 30 than just food choice. It's supposed to change the way you think about food. When you're having a sweet craving, you are not supposed to give in and eat fruit to fight that craving. It is essentially the same thing as eating candy because, once digested, your body doesn't know the difference. Sugar is sugar is sugar! I must admit that I probably ate much more fruit than I was supposed to. I also did not always limit my coffee intake to 2 cups (before noon) as I was supposed to, but all in all I think it was a great success. I may try my hand at another Whole 30 someday and try to be a bit more strict with regards to fruit consumption, etc. My hope for the future of my diet centers around continuing with the basic principles of the Whole 30. I will limit my intake of non-Whole 30 foods to one meal a week if I really want one. This Fourth of July for instance, I am planning on having one slice of cake, but all the other party foods are Whole 30 approved! I am also going to begin experimenting with thinking about my food as it pertains to my workouts. We were taught at the Whole 30 workshop, the proper way to fuel your body pre and post workout and I have yet to really experiment with it. But perhaps a more detailed look at how I fuel myself for CrossFit will lead to bigger and better gains in the gym. I've got my bar set high for next years CrossFit Games season and it all starts with nutrition. This summer is my "off-season" as far as my intense training goes, but this is the perfect time to zero in my nutrition so I will be prepared to go hard and heavy come Fall! Anyway, I would really encourage anyone that is looking for a way to turn their health and life around to give the Whole 30 try. Your body will thank you for it! Here's a pic of me from my most recent CrossFit competition. I'm not quite where I want to be as far as leanness is concerned but I'm not doing too bad and I'm sure that the Whole 30 has helped shed some fat from my abs.