With the Whole30® over and my reintroduction phase begun, I want to share with you a recap of what I experienced throughout the program. Keeping in mind that my main reason for going through the program was to see if it impacted my pregnancy-induced Thoracic Outlet Syndrome, so many more insights came to light as I journeyed through the last 30 days which I am certainly grateful for.
Positive Effects
Symptoms of TOS are less; not completely gone, but fewer wakings most nights
My hands still often get tingly shortly after I wake throughout getting ready for work, but it usually goes away by the time I get to work and is not nearly as bad as was. It will be interesting to see if the addition of any foods or sugar (outside of fruit) back into my diet will change this. It could also be a mental thing as stress has lessened a bit for me and I have subconsciously given myself permission to let go of some anxieties. It makes me wonder what I would experience if I were to continue on with the program for 45 or even 60 days—would I see an even greater benefit. Honestly, because of the other byproducts of the program that I experienced, which you’ll read about below, for my own health & stress level, this is not something I am looking to actually pursue.
Adamantine® Yoga practice
Although pregnancy is constantly changing my practice and causing me to evaluate postures and what best suits my body from week to week, I did experience more ease in moving into some of postures that had previously been giving me more difficulty. However, I didn’t feel as though the program made drastic changes to my yoga practice most likely because of the changes I am also experience with pregnancy.
New way structure meals & new recipes to add into our meal rotation
I learned the importance of not being so protein-heavy during pregnancy, and eating more intentional veggies at breakfast, and intentional fat at meals not including cooking fat. It was sometimes hard to figure out how to get enough nutrient-dense veggies in at breakfast, but I can tell it definitely helped me stay fuller longer and re-train my body to use these and fat as energy.
We also found some new favorite ways to cook and recipes to begin using. And I know we’ll continue to try out more W30 recipes as we incorporate some of the concepts into our everyday lives.
Weight loss
Although weight loss was not one of my goals, I did actually lose 1 pound, but my baby continued to grow and actually gained enough to be right back on track with the number of weeks I am along in my pregnancy. I had a Dr. appointment the 2nd day of the program, then again on the last day of the program, so I have a fairly accurate idea of just exactly what my body did. At my first appointment, baby was measuring a bit small, but on day 30, baby was right back up to where he/she should be. So that pound I lost was not in any way affecting baby’s growth! My husband did have a noticeable amount of weight loss as well in just 14 days. He was impressed with it and wondering what it would have looked like had he been following the program to a “T” and working out even more. Although, if this was his primary focus, he may have missed the goal of the program to reset metabolism and heal the internal organs involved in digestion.
Easier to wake in the morning & didn’t have tiredness throughout day or urge to nap
My husband primarily pointed this out as the man loves to nap. I’ve never been much of a napper, but pregnancy would sometimes introduce the need/desire for this. I was pretty much over the tired phase, but would still have the occasional day that I would want to lay down and rest for 15 minutes or so. However, during the program, I do not recall 1 day after the first week that I had this urge. I had so much more energy and really accomplished a lot over the past 30 days. Projects that had been on my list of things to do for quite some time were getting done. It was a great feeling!
Food tastes so much better (as to be expected)
After the first week or so there was a noticeable change in the flavor of foods since my palate wasn’t being coated with added sugars from so many products. It’s amazing how difficult it is to find sugar- {and fake sweetener} free foods in our area though. Stay tuned to this blog for a list of what foods we used most frequently and where you can find them. I’m working with some of our local grocery stores to start carrying some of the products so hopefully this way of eating can be more accessible in our community.
Clearer skin.
I did notice that I had not as many breakouts over the past month. Blemishes were still present, which I’m blaming on pregnancy, but certainly not as great as before the program.
Challenges
So much more time to grocery shop
Because we live in an area that is not as saturated with health foods as larger markets, I found myself traveling to multiple stores, including stores 45-60 minutes away to find compliant foods. It also took so much more time to grocery shop because I found myself reading each ingredients label to make sure there was no soy, sugar or other product that was against W30 rules. Most products now advertise if they are gluten free, but there are so many other hidden ingredients that disqualify a product from being compliant. The time it took got very frustrating, which is why I am compiling a list of foods we used and where to get them to help you if you choose to take on this program and live in our area.
Grocery budget much larger because of all the special products we were purchasing
WOW, this one stands out as being one of the most negative side effects of the program. Unfortunately, because it is quite difficult to find products that are completely sugar-free and soy-free, we made multiple trips to Whole Foods, Costco & Trader Joes—all stores in which foods are either more expensive or you end up spending more because no matter what is on your list, you always find something else that is “needed” at home.
Generally our grocery & household supply (including paper products, soap, etc.) budget is around $400-500/month for our family of 3, but I’m guessing we spent closer to $1,000 or maybe even more just because of this program. I haven’t calculated it out exactly and don’t really want to. The good news is, I’m hoping that some of our local grocers will be able to stock many of the products we had to purchase in a larger market because the local stores already carry some of the brands. On top of that, buying specialty or “whole” foods is just simply more expensive, which is honestly a sad truth. And we rarely purchase junk or pre-packaged foods, so we are already regularly spending more probably than the average household because we don’t buy these types of foods.
Feeling resentful & a social disconnect
I found myself resenting my husband because he fully stopped the program after just 2 weeks and was eating everything I couldn’t. I’m not sure if this was worse because I am pregnant and wanting to be able to indulge if the mood strikes me, or if it was because he felt no remorse about eating whatever, and in fact, would often rub it in that he was enjoying even a piece of Halloween candy.
I also realized that it just wasn’t as fun to go out with my friends just to socialize as they were enjoying cocktails because I couldn’t also enjoy the pleasure of a fun N/A pregnancy beverage or even the food or snacks they were consuming. And this probably has a lot to do with my own insecurities & personality, but it was very isolating to not have that connection. Probably very beneficial to me as well as it goes to show how much we hide behind food & beverages during social situations. In fact that technique is encouraged and taught in the business world, so it’s no wonder people have such a need to be constantly consuming when they are around others.
More grouchy throughout middle of program than I expected
I’m not sure if this was a side effect of pregnancy or simply stress of not being able to enjoy foods I wanted to and having to think so much about food preparations. My husband certainly saw the effects of this, unfortunately.
Digestive irregularity
This could be due in part of pregnancy or the change in diet, but there have been definite changes in this department over the past 30 days. My husband found out it was not a good idea to reintroduce a large ice cream back into his diet the day after he finished his shortened version of the program. So indeed, he did have some gut cleansing going on even in that shortened amount of time.
Eating out
It was challenging to eat out, but definitely doable. We don’t eat out a ton, so it was easy to avoid this. And if we were traveling, we planned meals and packed them ahead of time or planned ahead and knew what and where we would be able to find restaurants that would serve compliant food. But if this is a regular part of your life because of work or personal preferences, it would certainly be more difficult to maintain program rules. You just really have to plan ahead and be prepared for asking for things differently from your servers.
I’m glad I am finished with the first 30 days and am now beginning the reintroduction phase, which is key to finding out what your body tolerates and what it doesn’t. It was honestly hard to tell if some of the side effects I experienced were because of the program itself or because of pregnancy. I never quite lost the desire to want a sweet, so I may just chalk that one up to being pregnant. I haven’t yet decided if I’ll do another W30 again after pregnancy. Now that I’ve experienced the program in its entirety for 30 days, I could potentially see myself doing a shortened W9 or W15 at some point to get back on track if need be, but the chances of doing all 30 days again at this point are slim.
It was a good experience, and I’m glad I did it. I know many of the habits will carry over as I reintroduce pretty much all foods back in, but my guess is I am still going to allow myself to indulge in pizza, ice cream, and dessert at times.