I have just begun the beginning of my fourth week on the Whole30 Program. Here is what I have learned about myself and other people so far…
I have incredible will power once I set my mind to something. It’s not that I didn’t know this, I mean I am as stubborn as hell. I just didn’t think I had it in me to change a habit that I have had since I was about 15 years old. My Mom always raised us eating well, we never had crap in the house, and generally I have done the same, but over the years, the world and how we live has changed in ways that you just kind of roll with, not all of them good. And Chocolate. And Pie.
People won’t necessarily be as enthusiastic about your lifestyle changes as you think they will, they tend to get a glazed look on their face when you tell them what you are doing. It overwhelms I suppose. I just know that if you aren’t ready to make the change in your life, this will seem ridiculous to you. And that’s okay. But if you are ready…it will change absolutely everything.
I can have the same body I did when I was 30. Seriously… well okay, I can NEARLY have the same body I did when I was thirty, I will be 50 in a few months, that is reality and I have to come to terms with that. I have spent my whole life being too thin. When I was younger I cannot count the number of times people asked me if I was anorexic. I was not. I have always eaten tons and whatever I wanted my whole life, but when you hit 40 your metabolism changes and so does your body. I was never overweight, but my body was lumpy. I. Hated. That. Today after three weeks on this plan, it is not. I am 49 and can honestly say that I haven’t felt this good since I was in my early thirties.
Real food tastes AMAZING. Once you get past the Doritos cravings and the sugar is weaned from your system and taste buds, the real taste of food comes back, it is like the joy I experienced eating when I quit smoking all over again!!
This is a time consuming way to eat…there is no way around that. You have to prepare, and think and read the labels on pretty much everything. This too has changed everything for me. I am not eating to live anymore, I am eating because it is awesome and it powers my body. Most people look after their material STUFF better than they look after their own bodies, and dude…you can’t go buy a new one when you fuck it all up…
The thought of going back to the way I ate before, has zero and I mean zero appeal to me. It doesn’t mean that once this is over I won’t have a drink once and a while or never eat a piece of cheese or a huge slice of Blackberry Pie…I mean come on, life is too short to miss out on pie right? It just means how I make those things and how often they are eaten is going to be far different for me now.
This whole program has still not motivated me to work out harder than I did before, though I am still on the lookout for a decent treadmill…and the amount I run around at work and in the garden here has GOT to count for something.
One of the things I seem to miss the most is Gum. Which is bizarre, because I don’t really chew that much gum…but miss it I do. Surprisingly, I don’t really miss chocolate that much. What the hell is wrong with me?
So as I go through the last official week of the Whole30…I have made the choice that this will be a way of life for me now, I may do longer without adding the cheese back into my diet, I still feel like I am not quite ready to stop being this disciplined yet. I was like that when I quit smoking too, I stayed on the Zyban for about three months longer than I needed to, just to be sure that I would never fall back into my old ways. Structure is everything with me.
Turning 50 has sent me on a new path, I feel like I need it to be a smarter, healthier, positive second half of my life…I am pretty sure that you are supposed to actually have a clue what you are doing by the time you hit that milestone birthday, but I can honestly say that I am flying by the seat of my pants, going with the feelings, living in the moment and gratefully taking the challenges thrown at me.
It’s also the reason I just bought a 2010 Mustang…it just felt right, and some addictions are really hard to break…
More on that next week!! Happy Canada Day my friends xox
