Whole30 - Weeks 3-4: My Thoughts

I've been posting after each week what we've been experiencing and thinking about with this program... so here we go! I'm actually combing weeks 3 and 4 because I'm behind on posting a little bit... I've gotten side tracked with my new Bible journaling hobby haha... which is a good side track, I'm not complaining... just sayin'...

How I felt during the week:

• Y'all... I'm SO tired of dishes!!! Waahhh!!! I'm thinking that after next week (week 4) I will do similar meals but almost double them and we will just have leftovers longer haha... 
• I have had the most bizarre dreams these two weeks... I had read in their time line that you start having vivid dreams about food or other things and it was so true! I had one dream that someone brought donuts to my house and I was hoarding them and didn't want ANYONE else to have them because I wanted to eat ALL OF THEM!!! And then I woke up and felt like I had eaten donuts and ruined my whole 3ish weeks of progress haha... For real I am not making this up!!! I had another food dream too but can't remember what it was about... donuts take precedence... duh...
• My energy is great. It's just plain great. Yes, I'm tired... because anyone who is a mom of two boys under two and getting up a few times at night is going to be tired. BUT, the neat part is that I don't feel like I'm about to die at the end of the day! It's been marvelous!
• I am not achy at the end of the day or at night... or the next day waking up. Before this month I would just hurt at the end of the day, and I noticed a few days ago that I don't anymore. It just seems like my body is able to recover better than before. I've also noticed that my wedding rings fit better, and my hands aren't swelling as much during the day.
• So one of the big things with whole30 is that they don't want you to weigh yourself during that month. They want you to focus on non-scale progress and how you are feeling. It was probably the longest I have gone in a long time without weighing myself, so it was kind of weird! But when we finished the 30 days, I weighed myself and I had lost 4 lbs! At this point I will take it, because anything I was doing prior to Whole30 wasn't working. I have definitely slimmed down a little, enough to wear my skinny jeans again! whoo hoo!! This is not me bragging, even though it may sound like it... this is me being impressed that just changing FOOD, and eating REAL FOOD, gives my body to opportunity to do what it was designed to do. By getting rid of the junk causing inflammation in my body, my immune system was able to focus on maintaining my body instead of trying to constantly sift through bad stuff and trying to keep it out. 

Thoughts on Food:

• I definitely needed to eat some form of carb for each meal. I found that when I didn't eat enough carbs I would be lightheaded and have drops in blood sugar from what it felt like. I definitely couldn't make it to the next meal, that is for sure! So I usually try to have sweet potatoes or plantains if possible, so some good veggies... and also load up on good fats like avocados. Some days I will eat one almost every meal and it really helps me not be hungry or feel bad later.
• Food tastes better y'all. It is more flavorful. It's been really strange, but I just feel like I can taste my food more and enjoy it more.
• I am more interested in trying new things and making new combinations with food... I feel more comfortable with cooking and kind of tweaking recipes here and there. I have also been trying to try out one new food a week. Something I haven't had before, or something I've had in the past that I didn't think I liked... I've been amazed at how things I didn't think I liked suddenly taste good! This week that food was mushrooms! I've never liked them but I diced them in a Califlower Fried Rice and it was great!
• I really thought at the end of Whole 30 I would feel like this...

• And be completely ready to jump back into old habits. But I haven't. At this point we are at Day 35 or something and I really have had no desire to reintroduce any of the old foods I used to eat. I am planning on testing out cheese though and non-gluten grains, but I am pretty sure everything else is what has been giving me problems and inflammation over the years. When you feel so much better, it really is motivating to keep doing what you are doing! I will be doing a reintroductions post soon, whenever I get to it haha...

Random Facts I learned: Like I said in my first post, I like information and organizing things I read about, so that is what this section is for. :)

• Legumes consist of beans, peas, lentils and peanuts and contain an extraordinary amount of carbohydrates and also contain phytates that bind minerals in our foods and make them unusable to our body. Beans are a great source of fiber but according to my food bible haha... there are other veggies you can consume that have the same fiber and less of the negative side effects...
• Some of the sugars in legumes cannot be absorbed by our small intestines, so those leftover sugars become food for bacteria living in your intestines causing bloating and gas. - pg. 118, It Starts With Food
• I've read about dairy some and it has been interesting... I think my whole life I kind of considered milk to be a main calcium source in my food, but one of the most profound things I got out of the dairy chapter is that there are other sources of calcium in other foods besides dairy... Vegetables are "more useful to the body" than what you get from milk... so basically your body can absorb calcium more efficiently from foods like spinach or kale than milk. On page 131, they state that "recent studies have shown that plant-sourced calcium in particular increases bone-mineral density and reduces the risk of osteoporosis. To quote their book "It Starts With Food" one more time... "The United States has one of the highest rates of osteoporosis in the world, despite having one of the highest calcium intakes." - pg. 130
• From what I read, the biggest concern with dairy is that it is a hormone driven drink, which is more appropriate for baby cows than humans. That's about as basic as I can put it. 
• The nutrient dense foods they list as good sources of calcium are vegetables like kale, spinach, collard greens, mustard greens, turnip greens, bok choy, meat and seafood like bone broth, sardines, anchovies, shrimp, oysters, canned salmon and nuts and seeds like almonds, hazelnuts and walnuts.
• When I was reading about grains, I also read how grains can inhibit the absorption of calcium... so reduce or eliminate grains and eat more of the foods above if you are looking for calcium or trying to build up those bones!
• Yogurt and knifer are some of the only dairy choices that have some benefits to our systems because of the bacteria you are consuming, so if you chose to consume this, look for pasteurized, unsweetened and organic. It is not whole30 approved so these would be items to add to your diet after you finish your 30 days.
• Best fruit and Veggie choices from "It Starts With Food."

Coming up next time will be my last week of meal plans!!