Let me start by saying that the first time I did Whole30 I personally considered it a “success” for a few key reasons. First and foremost, it was my first-time diving into the crazy world of nutrition. I was finally ready to learn how foods impacted my life; mind, body, soul. Additionally, I discovered that…
- Corn and beans (especially processed, like bean chips) give me some terrible gas!
- Soy makes my brain feel warm – ya weird, I know.
- Too much dairy makes my knee joints hurt more than normal.
- Fat is an essential part of every meal and when I don’t have enough I just cannot get satiated.
- Food truly impacts my mood. Whoa! This one was a real shocker for me. I have been on anti-anxiety meds before and tried yoga and meditation and exercising to help my mood swings, but I never thought that the foods I put into my body could calm me down and stabilize my being.
- I became incredibly bloated the entire time I did the Whole30. Like, it looks like you’re about to have a baby bloated, but honestly because my moods were so stable, I kinda said, “oh well I guess this is the sacrifice I have to make”…well, I learned later in the Restart Program that the bloat came because I was binging on healthy nuts. In Whole30 you can eat as much as you want, so I downed handful upon handful of almonds and sunflower seeds because it was still within the guidelines of the program. Later, I learned that your body can handle only so many nuts/seeds otherwise things get “nutty”…oops.
I learned so much about myself and my eating habits from Whole30 the first time, so when Jenell asked if I wanted to do it again, I was like, “HELL YA, girl!” And so it began. With the confidence of a long-time Whole30 veteran (only having completed Whole30 once, mind you), I strolled into week 1 believing it would be a cakewalk. I had already done this. I knew exactly what to expect. I was gonna rock this next 30 days!
First few days were emotional, but nothing I couldn’t handle. Then towards the end of week 1 I learned that one of my jobs was coming to an end sooner than I had anticipated. And this was the job that paid most of my bills. The normal first week stress from Whole30 quickly jumped up a few notches because I didn’t have a backup job lined up yet. Ugh.
Strolling into week 2 I mustered my willpower and told myself to pull it together, only to realize that I had totally forgotten about committing to a training course and book club meetups that were going to take up the little free time I had. My calendar was piling up, I was starting to waver, but I muscled my way through.
As I dragged my way into week 3, I remembered it was my birthday (ya that’s how packed I was that I forgot my own damn birthday!) and then something just snapped. “I cannot do this right now and I need a break!” It was just not the time in my life for Whole30. And so, I quit. At first I was really disappointed in myself, but what I ultimately learned is that we really cannot do it all, all the time. And sometimes the best thing to do is to give ourselves a break.
“You can do anything, but not everything” – David Allen
I was so excited about all the new things I was going to learn to improve my nutrition. I was even more excited to get to do Whole30 with a friend. And in all the excitement, I forgot to see if the timing made sense for me. I forgot to ask myself if I was ready.
Ultimately, trying to jam in Whole30 on top of all the other things going on wasn’t allowing me to retain the benefits of the program. I wasn’t present at all; I was just muscling my way through it. The intention was there, but I also needed to make sure to ask myself if now was the right time for me to get everything I could out of the experience. It wasn’t. So, I forgave myself for taking on too much, and let it all go.
What are you taking on in your life that can be put on the back-burner for a better time? What projects just aren’t flowing and maybe deserve a break and a reboot later? Consider letting them go, just for now. You can always come back to them at a time when you have the space to truly appreciate the experience. For today, maybe just take a breather and enjoy yourself. It will all be there tomorrow.
Stay weird.