January Whole30 results-
Total weight lost- 7lbs
Body fat lost- 4.4%
Total inches- 10
Pants size lost- 1
It might not be the most weight I have lost on a Whole 30, but it is the most body fat and total inches. Also the smallest size I have worn in years and smallest my waist and hips have measured. Proof the scale doesn’t always tell the truth.
I wish I had reached the point in my journey that I just didn’t care about the weight loss during Whole30, but I am just not there. So on the eve of completing this round of Whole30 I wanted to reflect on the Non Scale Victories (NSV) I have noticed this time instead of the weight loss and measurements.
The biggest NSV this round in my opinion has been completing these 30 days immediately following a break up. In some ways I think it made it easier to do Whole30 while healing from a broken heart, but in other ways it made it so much more difficult. In the first few days it gave me something to control, focus on and put all my energy into instead of thinking about or processing my feelings and emotions. As the days went on it became much, much harder as I knew I needed to process and “feel” again. At times I didn’t think at all about the food I was eating or not eating and other times all I wanted to do was comfort myself with that cupcake or cheese, or beer (yes—icing, cheese and beer are my comfort foods!) I guess the best thing that came out of this round and the timing of it would be the fact that I have rarely focused on weight loss at all. I just haven’t had the mental space to think about the fact that my body is changing and that I am probably losing weight and inches. To put it in perspective, the first time I did Whole30 I still had a scale and would weigh myself daily. Other rounds I didn’t weigh myself, but always had a “goal” of how much I wanted to lose. And I would constantly look in the mirror to see the changes and take a guess of how much I was losing.
As I near the end I am quite curious about this. I wonder if putting it out of my mind all together if it has made a difference on the results or if they will be similar to other rounds of Whole30. If I was a stronger person, or someone that had learned to never focus on numbers I would allow my trainer to weigh me blindly tomorrow, but I know I am just not there yet… and that’s okay! Maybe one day!
Other notable NSV this round include:
* Having a Whole30 New Year’s Eve
* Learning to use exercise as my stress release again
* Feeling strong!
*My asthma not getting in the way of cardio and my workouts anymore
* Staying Whole30 during the Women’s March on Washington
* Going on a series of first dates while doing Whole30 (**this point will be receiving its own blog post real soon! Dating is hard and weird but dating and doing Whole30 has been a brand new experience!!)
* Beginning to find my balance in life again
* Graciously accepting the compliment that coworkers have given me over the past week regarding how I look and my weight loss (This is a big one for me!!)
* Giving myself some grace and not trying a ton of new recipes. I stuck with what I know and made it easy.
* Fitting back into the pants that I bought in August and September and putting the pants that were bought in November in a bag to get altered!
* All my bra’s are too big!
* Crazy Tiger Blood levels of energy!
* Sleeping through the night
* My nails are strong and actually growing, which has never happened before!
This weekend in traveled to Washington, D.C. For the women’s march on Washington. This 24 hour bus trip took place in the final week of my whole30 which definitely presented me with some challenges.
The bus that I went on left at 3:30 am, with us meeting at 2:30 am Saturday morning. I got home at 2am Sunday morning. So basically I had to plan for a full day, without a kitchen, refrigerator or microwave. In addition we were limited to the size of our bag that we carried to the March so I was basically traveling by foot all day with a small cross shoulder bag.
So… I did a lot of hunting on Pinterest, Whole30 website and good old fashioned google and came up with a smorgasbord of portable snacks and meals to take with me.
Luckily I had recently discovered RX bars and had bought a case! I added to that some almond butter, trail mix, plantain chips, and a chicken sausage for breakfast on the ride up there.
My biggest concern was protein! I was concerned that I was just going to be hungry all day. I finally broke down and bought some Epic products and gave jerky a try. The concept grosses me out for some reason but honestly it wasn’t that bad! Add to that water throughout the day and cold brew coffee cans thanks to Trader Joe’s I was good to go.
Was I hungry? Heck yes! But all the adrenaline from the day kept me going. Was I excited to eat a proper meal Sunday? Absolutely!! Chipotle never tasted so good! But was I willing to break my whole30 on day 25? Hell no!
To anyone out there that faces a challenge during whole30, promise you can figure it out and make it through the 30 days without breaking! Only 2 more days left for me. I can’t wait for the results this time!
So apparently with the new year and it being “diet season” there are new studies out there rating the different diets and Whole30 has fallen at the bottom of the list and is being criticized saying, the only potential benefit is for short-term weight loss, not long-term weight maintenance, general health, or longevity. Well as someone that has tried about everything out there and lived my entire adult life and struggling with weight and body image I completely disagree! Whole30 changed my life a year and a half ago and here is how in one photo. 
19-year-old Kathryn vs. 30-year-old Kathryn vs. 34-year-old Kathryn
At nineteen I constantly thought about everything that I consumed and restricted calories all the time. I ate insanely unbalanced. I didn’t even think about the effects of eating fast food. I was able to run, and when I did I only thought about the effect that it had on me in terms of calories lost. My idea of eating vegetables was either a salad smothered in ranch or cooked with bacon or sugar. I sustained mostly on chicken tenders and honey mustard. I binge drank without eating (or eating much) to get drunk faster. I only knew how to deal with anxiety by being drunk. I was the skinniest I have ever been in my life, but couldn’t see it at all. I had zero self-confidence, no sense of what was healthy and was happily medicating my depression vs dealing with it.
Skip to thirty (or actually anytime between the ages of 27-30 honestly). I had completely given up on any sense of living a healthy lifestyle. I emotionally shut down and just went through the motions. I would yoyo between trying to lose weight to not caring. I tried weight watchers a dozen times, new fad diet, shakes, bars, you name it. But I couldn’t get my mind off food. Same as at the age of 19, I constantly thought about what I was going to eat, but way less concerned about the calories just more about how it was going to make me feel (emotionally). I couldn’t run, or even walk for extended periods of time without feeling the effects of my asthma. Again I had zero self-confidence, I was not happy and probably depressed, but eating my feelings vs dealing with them. I was hiding behind food.
And then there is today, the 34-year-old version. I never would say that I am perfect or where I need to be by any means, but I also am aware of how much of a happier and healthier person I am. I enjoy working out. I enjoy it not because of the calories that I lose by doing so, but because of the way that it makes me feel and the strength that I have while doing it. I, for the most part, look at food as something that fuels my body and not as a way to deal with my emotions. I have self confidence that isn’t related to the alcohol I drink. Although I am not done working, I don’t have a goal weight or goal size anymore. I don’t want to look like that 19-year-old anymore. I have a much healthier and stronger picture of what my end game looks like and Whole30 helped me get here.
Drastic changes took place in my brain the first time I did Whole30, and I continue to change every time I come back to this lifestyle. Each time I return to Whole30 it gets easier and easier. Currently I am on day 10 and I haven’t even thought about anything because it comes so natural and easy to me. Some of the biggest changes, and non-scale victories include throwing my scale away and living life without weighing myself daily or twice daily. Clear skin, crazy energy and not having the sleep issues I used to have. Other NSV include knowing how food affects me. What sugar, beans, bread and other foods do to my body and by mood. Having the freedom to decide if I want to feel that way and eat the food or not. I can look in the mirror and be happy with what is looking back at me, and if I am not happy I know exactly what to do to make myself happy again in no time at all. I can run intervals, even if I hate them, without completely having my asthma taken over. I have learned that strong is so much healthier and skinny. I can shop at regular stores and feel good in the clothes I wear vs constantly criticizing what I see looking back in the mirror. I don’t feel like I need to hide being people in group pictures and I actually like photos of myself again! In addition to the way I feel I have successfully lost weight and kept it off and resolved some medical concerns that I was having.
So to all the Whole30 critics thanks for your opinion, but no thanks! I plan to continue to embrace the Whole30 lifestyle and live my life with food freedom! I am going to continue to strive for strong instead of skinny and continue to gain self-confidence! I want to thank Melissa Hartwig for all information, research, resources and support that you give. You have helped change my life and I am proud to say I’m with Whole30!
In the middle of a fairly rocky start to the year I have actually been able to be quite reflective and I am using that to my advantage. Certain events over the past two weeks have caused this reflection and pulling of inner strength that I have apparently developed over the years without even knowing it. In light of that I have been really honest and raw with myself looking back on my past and seeing how far I have come, but also aware of how much further I need to go.
A dear friend of mine and I were talking and she said to me, “you know I read somewhere about the concept of having a defining word for the year vs. a resolution and I think that might be something that you should consider.” After thinking about it for a few days, and having a very “real” conversation last night, I decided that this was exactly what I wanted to do. So my word for this year is BALANCE. It is the one thing in my life that I need the most and probably the one thing that is the hardest for me to achieve.
I don’t know if it is being a woman, my personality, my profession, the way I was raised, being southern, or a combination of them all, but I am much more likely to give to others than to take care of myself. The concept of taking care of yourself in my mind has always been associated with the word selfish which has a negative connotation. But why?
Why can’t I look at taking care of myself, setting up boundaries and finding a balance in life as a good thing? Why do I constantly, without even knowing it put the needs of others before myself? Why do I lose sight of what is so important to me so easily, and just become comfortable doing what is convenient? Why am I willing to fight for other people but don’t fight just as hard or harder for myself? I have no clue, but my goal for this year is to figure out the WHY so I can make a change in this and learn to balance!
Spending the past few days with such uncertainty (something that I do not do well) and not having the control that I needed in my life forced me to focus on the areas that I can control. I could have gone about this is a destructive way, as I have in the past, or the way that I chose to handle the situation this time. I threw myself into Whole30, and getting myself back into my workout routine. Both of these were things that needed to take place and important areas of my life that I had lost sight of, but hyper focusing on them out of the blue just to have “control” isn’t balance either.
So with a lot of thought and self reflection I am going to continue with Whole30, since a January Whole30 has been the plan since November. And I am going to go back to my regular workout routine of an average of 5 times per a week but stop the excessive workout routine of the past two weeks! I also have a list of things that I am going to do for me in the month of January. Things that I want to do and focus on myself, my interest, what needs to take place in my word, and honestly be a little selfish, which is something I think I deserve a bit of!
So here it is—My selfish bucket list for the month of January– a little bit fun and honestly a little bit boring!
betty Gets Fit 