We ROCKED the Whole30! Collectively, Dew It Fitness lost over 100 pounds, but more importantly, we replaced previous bad eating habits with a healthy attitude towards food, increased our daily energy, slept way better at night, and have gained life-long healthy habits that have led to us creating our healthiest selves!
PHEW! That’s a whole lot of benefits for a 30-day reset!
But now that the Whole30 is over, what’s next? We feel amazing and we don’t want that to end!
Which Whole30 habits are worth continuing?
- Label-reading: Knowing which foods makes up our food helps us become aware of what exactly we’re putting into our bodies. Are the ingredients of your marinara sauce actual food, or long chemical-sounding words that you can’t pronounce? If you can’t say it, you probably should not consume it. Our bodies only run as optimally as we allow them to.
- Mindful eating: Food is delicious. And speaking as a true Italian, eating is fun. We can enjoy the experience of a delicious meal by putting away our phones, laptops, and remotes, and just enjoying our food without distractions. How does the food actually taste? What’s it’s texture? These are questions that you may never be able to answer if you’re eating breakfast in the car on the way to work while listening to the radio and checking your emails on your phone (PS, if this explains your driving habits, please reconsider getting behind the wheel ever again).
We actually enjoy the taste of whole, clean foods better when eating with full awareness. The taste and texture of poor-quality, processed foods are actually pretty gross when you really focus on them. Take the extra ten minutes to sit at the kitchen table to enjoy your meal!
- Contribute: All Whole30ers dread social gatherings. We don’t want to have to explain ourselves to others when we turn down that piece of chocolate cake at Grammy’s 80th birthday or the boss’ retirement party. These are uncomfortable situations that we would like to avoid, and honestly, sometimes it’s easier to just eat the damn cake than to receive sideways glances of judgement. Instead of eating foods that you don’t actually want and will not enjoy, try bringing you own contribution to the party! Paleo cookies, fruit muffins, or a homemade trail mix can be a great way to continue working towards your health goals while still joining in on the food fun. It’s also a great conversation starter and can even help others to see that not all healthy food contains kale (if you’re anything like me, that’s the scariest four-letter word in the history of the English language).
And remember! Our “healthy” diet is always changing and varies from person to person. We’re going to stray from our nutrition plan every now and then, and that’s okay! Luckily, we have the tools from the Whole30 to complete a reset when that occurs. Since you’re eating healthier than you have in a while, you will not need an entire 30 days to return your body to optimal functioning, but instead, only a week or two. This is important to remember with the holidays coming up! The goal is not 100% compliance. The goal is to feel great!
And last but not least, treat yourself as you would treat a good friend. Compassion and understanding are just as important to provide to yourself as they are to provide to others. Do you want pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving? Go for it! Savor it! Food is not the enemy, and we all have a tendency to be hard on ourselves. Make a conscious decision to eat or skip the foods offered, and keep moving forward!
And as always, we are here to help 🙂
