The Whole 30

This past Monday I started a detox program (for lack of a better term) for the next 30 days.  I promised I would give a progress report on how I'm doing.

Still sorta sucking, but I am seeing the benefits already.

I've cut out processed sugar, grains, dairy, beans and caffeine.  I guess caffeine wasn't required, but I figured, why not. I had a glass of green tea yesterday and rambled like a loon.  I think it impacts me more than most people.

Before you get all "Mama Bean you need to eat a balanced diet...."  trust me, I am.  I am eating fruits, vegetables, proteins-- all good.  I am getting fiber from the fruits and veggies.  This isn't a bacon-bacon- and more bacon diet (not that I wouldn't love that).  My breath doesn't stink.  I don't have gas.

I am, however, very tired, still.  I don't look radiant quite yet.  And I'm well, a little pissy.

I should have known that this would work.  I was very food-sensitive as a kid.  Not highly allergic to anything in particular, but I had reactions to chocolate and dairy a lot.  I thought I had "grown out of it."  It's not looking that way.

I have lost a LOT of water weight just this first week.  I can tell, if no one else can.  It's like I'm deflating.  I am peeing like I'm pregnant.  No, it's not fat loss, but that's really not what this is about.  It's about correcting my insulin levels in hopes that this is what my issue is.

My clothes are noticeably loose.  I had tightened up after Crossfit, but was hesistant to buy new clothes.  I can wear clothes a size too big-- no problem.  It makes me feel thin (regardless of the size, of course!)  I have a feeling in 3 weeks, that won't be an option.  Especially where the weight is coming off.

My hips, stomach and upper arms are shrinking.  Clothes that were tight or fit last Saturday are looser.  I have on a t-shirt and the arms are loose.  They were tight the last time I wore it. I  put on a t-shirt for my tap class on Thursday and it easily fell over my hips and butt.

I'm tracking what I'm eating in my food journal and here's the interesting part-- it's the same or more than the Weight Watchers points.  My fat is higher.  Yet, the weight is coming off-- again, I know it's mostly water weight at this point.

It's a bit freaky, honestly.  It's enough to keep me motivated to keep going.

This isn't something designed to keep doing.  At the end of the 30 days, I reintroduce foods back in, one at a time.  The ones I react to, I will avoid (not necessarily eliminate entirely, but know that there are consequences to eating it).  The ones I have no issue with, I will put back in in healthy portions.  If I had to guess, sugar and dairy are gone.  I don't think I have an issue with gluten.  I honestly don't eat enough bread and pasta to make it an issue.  I do love ice cream.  And yogurt.  And all things dairy.  But we'll see.  

I always joke that I'm the 2%-- no, not the wealthy folks, but the 2% that always have a reaction to medication.  When the studies say "2% of the population developed a rash from taking...." I will get a rash from holding the bottle.  Any time my doctor prescribes something I ask "What are the side effects?"  She'll go through them.  I plan for them.  And it's not suggestive illness, either.  I'll have a reaction, read the label and TADA--- "Less than 1% of people tested, suffered from intestinal gas...."

So it's not a surprise that I might be sensitive to food.  When I was a kid I was told that I had a sensitive system.  I was the baby who could projectile vomit across a room.  Apparently, not a lot has a changed.  I just turned the puke into belly fat, which caused more imbalance, etc, etc.

I should also point out that at no time have I ever tested negatively for any imbalance.  My blood sugar has crept up over the years- but I'm still normal.  When I was having "girl issues" a few years ago, my gyno tested me and said I was still in the normal range, but clearly something was going on. She also pointed out that normal is determined by quantifying 80% of a population.  Normal didn't necessarily equal healthy.  Additionally, I could have started out at the 20th percentile and moved to the 80th-- still normal, but not for me.  This is why I keep all my blood tests and compare year to year.

At this point you might be thinking "Mama Bean, it's calories in, calories out." 

And I will say, it's not looking like that.  It's looking like maybe it's the type of calories that my body types needs and uses is the issue.  Maybe it's the fact that staying in shape and losing weight are 2 very different things.  Maybe it's because I don't have a history of bad eating habits and not exercising that I can correct to see huge weight losses.  Maybe all that cardio I was doing was actually making it even harder for my body to drop weight.

I am focusing on building muscle by doing interval training.  I keep my heart rate up for 30 minutes while I do back to back reps at a fast pace, with some slow, heavy weights thrown in.  I get my cardio now my lifting with bursts of running.  I am burning almost the same amount (from my heart rate monitor) as I do about 45 minutes into a cardio class.  Per my monitor, my cardio health is improving.  I think it's the bursts.  When I can get back to Zumba schedule wise, I will go because it's fun.

I am hopeful that with building muscle and lowering my sugar intake I can reset my metabolism.  And then I can determine what the right balance is for me.