3 weeks in, and 2018 has been an absolute blur thus far. We're prepping to sell our house and are doing about 15 different projects at once trying to make this place look like a million bucks (or 200 grand. Same difference.) Our house is pretty much a disaster zone, and I'm spending every naptime and post-bedtime painting and spackling and hanging curtain rods and emailing landscapers on top of trying to keep up with normal chores.
We've had school delays for single digit temperatures, 8 inches of snow and 3 more days out of school, the stomach bug making its way through our entire household, doctors appointments and med changes, date night (and the boys got to go to parents night out), two Side by Side kickoffs for the new semester, birthday parties and call nights and meetings and playdates, quick trips to the gym and to babysit. I've been selling everything we don't plan to move on Facebook BST (and made over $200 so far!), and making phone calls to arrange Samuel's birthday and look into getting a storage unit and order checks, trying to keep our budget somewhere near practical, researching housing and schools in Asheville adn planning our trip there in March, spending time with friends, and trying to take time to be still, read, and meditate on the Word.
It's kind of amazing I'm not more exhausted.
On top of all that, we decided January would be a good time to try to eat clean/do a makeshift Whole 30. We didn't actually do Whole 30, nor did we intend to, but we did want to try to "reset" our super junked-out bodies post-holidays, and I think it was a great idea. We spent the better part of the month thus far (until we got the stomach bug) gluten free and sugar free, and I was also dairy-free. We tried to only eat whole foods, eat grains sparingly, and only use natural sweeteners if any (Eric has gotten pretty into hot tea with honey). We've eaten tons of protein and vegetables and fruits and healthy fats. Our tortillas got traded out for sweet potatoes and queso for guac. Coconut milk and sugar have become staples, and I think they will be sticking around. We've slowly been adding back in gluten and dairy and a little more sugar (though I think I'm going to be sticking to dairy free as much as possible fro here on out), but are still trying to be more cognizant of what's in our food, and focusing on eating unprocessed meals as much as possible.
At some point I will post some of my favorite recipes from this little experiment - maybe. Clearly I don't have the best track record of keeping up with my blog. But I did want to write down a few benefits, and, errrr, side effects for future reference, because I feel like we will do another week or two of this at some point when we need to "Reset" again.
1. My skin got SO CLEAR. I usually have acne - often cystic acne - that looms around my chin and neck, sometimes all over my face. Now, this could be coincidence because I did work out less during this time period, and therefore sweat less. It was extremely cold and my skin was drier. And I did start using a new face soap. But I literally did not have a single pimple for 2 weeks! And when I added back in gluten and some sugar - not even a ton! - I had a pimple two days later.
2. I slept so well! I was just telling Eric about some crazy dreams I had last night, but I had a good week to week and a half when I slept all night without waking or really even dreaming.
3. I lost 5 or 6 pounds. Now I was not trying to do this at all, but between eating well and the stomach bug (and starting off super bloated and up 2-3 pounds from normal due to eating poorly all Christmas vacation), I've seen a lower number on the scale than I have in a while. I"m pretty sure eating regular food will probably put me right back to my norm though.
4. I went to the bathroom. A lot. This was both good (see above - pretty sure it contributed to weight loss) and bad, as it was annoying to have to go multiple times a day. I guess that's what a cleanse is supposed to do, though, right?
5. I quit craving sugar. It took a while, but I really did get to the point where I quit craving crummy food and did (and still do) just want roasted veggies and bananas and larabars. Eric said he felt like his sandwiches and pizza didn't taste nearly as good to him after he reintroduced them either. However, that leads me to
6. I dreamed about food. A lot. I dreamed about burgers where I was supposed to eat them bun-less, but sneaked in a little bit of bread. I dreamed about pizza. I dreamed about Christmas mint m&ms. Keep in mind my dreams were few and far between too because of that awesome sleep. So this was literally the only dreaming I did. It was kind of intense, but also hilarious.
7. I had an angry day. Maybe it's just coincidence, but one of the categories on the Whole 30 Timeline is the "Kill all the things" period, and I feel like that was totally true about 5 days in for me. Everything made me so mad! Luckily it only lasted a day or so.
8. I had energy! To do all the aforementioned stuff. Well, except the stomach bug. That didn't require any energy. And working out was definitely harder for the first couple of weeks. Runners need carbs. But overall, I felt like my energy was much more stable throughout the day than when I load up on sugar and crash over and over.
There's probably more, but I need to get to sleep. I'm really glad we did this little experiment, and hope we'll continue eating healthy as we move forward in 2018. I'm really looking forward to pizza this weekend though. :-)
