Whole30 Week 2 Results & Recap | Traveling On Whole30

Whole30 Week 2 was a roller coaster compared to Whole30 Week 1!

Highlights of Whole30 Week2

Meals in the beginning of the week when I hadn’t prepped and was getting sick weren’t great, but things turned around! Meals for the rest of the week were delicious and I started to focus more on what I could have instead of what I was missing. I really enjoyed whipping up meals I could eat while passing on junk food.

Whole30 is really not about weighing yourself and they discourage it during the 30 days. It’s the final rule in what not to do on Whole30. However, if I was going to break the rules for something, this was it. I weighed myself at the end of week 2 just to see how it was going in that department. I’ve lost 9 pounds. Woah.

I’m not sure I’ve lost 9 lbs in a whole month before so doing it in two weeks is crazy. My face has also thinned out a bit and my clothes are all fitting better. Both of these things show how bloated and blah I was before and how much crap I was consuming daily. By the end of week2 when my cold was easing up I finally felt more energy as well.

In just two weeks those are pretty drastic results.

Traveling On Whole30

This past weekend we traveled to see family in Alabama. I was really nervous about it but decided I would prepare the best way I could and hope for the best. Luckily, I didn’t starve! Here are a few ways I made it work.

I brought my own snacks. I brought various fruits, nuts, larabars, and compliant turkey deli meat. I made sure I had snacks for the 6 hours on the road and for the outings planned with family in case there was nothing I could eat. These snacks came in very handy and totally saved me for a couple snacks and one lunch.

When eating with the family, I made my own meals out what I could use from their meals. For example, I took some plain coleslaw and made my own dressing since I couldn’t eat the one they had. And I used the taco meat from tacos they had to make my own salad with tomatoes, meat, and compliant salsa verde. Making my own meal using parts of the meal I could eat wasn’t that difficult and it allowed me to eat with the family without making a huge deal about my diet.

I also planned to eat out at least once and looked up compliant meal options at restaurants. Let me tell you, that’s an adventure in googling. “What can I eat at restaurants on Whole30?” “Is this restaurant ok for Whole30?” “Is any fast food Whole30 compliant?” I finally settled on Chipotle which had some compliant items. I settled on a salad bowl with double carnitas, pico, guacamole, and salsa.

Things I’m Changing For Next Week

After publishing this video I read the “can I have” section on Whole30’s website and won’t be doing smoothies for the remainder of the 30 days! Here’s why.

While technically it’s just fruit which is allowed, I totally understand the reason why they’d rather you not have smoothies. So those are out! Luckily I’ve only have a couple during the first two weeks. It’s also why I’m eating less larabars (tho they were so handy for the trip for an emergency option). I really want to stick with the intention of the program and slay the sugar dragon inside this sugar addict.

Obviously next week I’m not going to be sick so things should be easier! Not being able to have cough drops or cough syrup or any of the typical things I have during a cold was pretty sad, but this next week should be full of healthy feelings and energy.

Why I’m Doing Whole30

I decided to do Whole30 for a reset on my eating habits before the holidays and to find out if eliminating certain foods would make me feel better. This is week 2 of Whole30, which is an elimination diet designed to help you get back to basics and reset your eating. After the restrictive 30 days you add back in foods one at a time to see how they affect your body. This helps you create the perfect diet for you.

Here’s the intro to Whole30 from the rules page:

“Certain food groups (like sugar, grains, dairy and legumes) could be having a negative impact on your health and fitness without you even realizing it. Are your energy levels inconsistent or non-existent? Do you have aches and pains that can’t be explained by over-use or injury? Are you having a hard time losing weight no matter how hard you try? Do you have some sort of condition, like skin issues, digestive ailments, seasonal allergies, or chronic pain, that medication hasn’t helped? These symptoms are often directly related to the foods you eat—even the “healthy” stuff. So how do you know if (and how) these foods are affecting you?

Strip them from your diet completely. Eliminate the most common craving-inducing, blood sugar disrupting, gut-damaging, inflammatory food groups for a full 30 days. Let your body heal and recover from whatever effects those foods may be causing. Push the reset button with your health, habits, and relationship with food, and the downstream physical and psychological effects of the food choices you’ve been making. Learn how the foods you’ve been eating are actually affecting your day-to-day life, long term health, body composition, and feelings around food. The most important reason to keep reading?

This will change your life.”

The words this will change your life sold me. I’m not sure I’m completely changed yet but my eyes are being opened to a lot of things I had not previously considered or put much thought into! This reset on my eating is definitely what I needed personally after a rough pregnancy and postpartum period where I felt worse than ever before.