Why I’m Doing This Whole Thing
Hi friends!
Thanks for joining me here! It’s been a while since I regularly posted recipes, shopping lists, etc. and I thought that my Whole30 would be a perfect way to hop back into that! Whether or not you’re doing a Whole30 or planning to do one, I hope you enjoy the resources created here.
This first post is more of a story and less of a resource — but I hope it resonates with you.
A Hell of a Year
Last year, after years of living with chronic migraines, eczema, anxiety, dental problems, and other random issues, I decided to start playing around with my diet to see if I could find any patterns in symptoms. For four months, I strictly followed the autoimmune paleo protocol, which transformed the way I thought about food and the body. During this process, I took meticulous notes about what I was eating and how it made me feel, which eventually helped me confirm with my doctor that my symptoms did, in fact, align with celiac disease.
I’ve been strictly gluten-free since March of 2017, and the vast majority of my symptoms have subsided. I have migraines only if I drink too much or don’t sleep well or stress out too much — but usually, I’m able to keep them from completely derailing my life like they did just a few short months ago.
ALL THAT SAID — learning to live gluten-free has, of course, been an adjustment. I’ll share a post soon about some of the changes I’ve had to make and how they’ve affected life as I knew it, but first let’s stick to the topic du jour: My reasons for doing this Whole30.
And here they are: I’ve been paleo-ish for years, but taking gluten out made me feel entitled to things like rice (and my bae, rice pasta), beans, legumes, etc. as well as greater offenders — namely, gluten-free sweets loaded with sugar. By Christmas, I got to a point where a few cookies a day was pretty standard. The headaches started to come back, and my stomach was perpetually unhappy. No matter how much ginger tea I seem to drink, I haven’t been able to get my body back to feeling right.
My Poopy Shoulder and Resulting Lack of Exercise
Meanwhile, my “poopy shoulder”, as I’ve been affectionately calling it, became a real issue: MRI results showed that my rotator cuff is basically holding on by a thread, and I’m going to need surgery to repair it. For years, I’ve been doing weightlifting and other whole-body workouts that are really difficult with one arm. I was trying to keep my exercise up as best as I could before I saw a doc about my shoulder, but when I figured out I needed surgery soon, I gave up entirely. Womp womp.
I haven’t gained some monstrous amount of weight, but I will say: I feel slower, and in that entirely mental sense of the phrase, I feel fat. My body just feels heavier than it wants to be. I run out of steam at the end of the day, and find myself feeling tired way more than I want to admit.
After the surgery, I’ll have 4–6 weeks of very limited mobility, and then after that, I’ll have several months of rehab until I’m back to normal. I don’t want to waste this time — I want to build my core and lower body strength so I can immediately get back to weightlifting, volleyball, and throwing ball with my pups!
Which brings us to why I’m doing this Whole30: To get my groove back!
#Whole30Goals
Here are my goals for this Whole30:
- To rediscover my love of cooking and eating beautiful plates of real, colorful food.
- To gain the momentum and motivation I’ll need to have a successful, healthy recovery after surgery.
- To reduce my dependency on sugar and regain balance in my diet.
- To eliminate the symptoms that have been creeping up again, for good!
- To have the energy to fuel my one-armed workouts.
You may be wondering: Wait, so when are you having surgery? You guessed it folks: During the Whole30 (Jan 19), because I guess I’m a little crazy. Instead of gorging on Cheetos and ice cream, as I always seem to want to do after any sort of medical procedure, my options will be limited to things made out of cauliflower and things made out of potato. YAY! On the plus side, I bet all the bone broth and vegetables I’ll be eating will help with recovery a little more than Cherry Garcia would.
Doing a Whole30?
Let’s connect plz. We can share recipes, talk about how much we miss chocolate, and keep each other inspired! Comment below or DM me on Instagram if you’d like to form a Whole30 circle with me. :)
