I wanted to hate this diet. In fact, I hated it for the first 2-3 weeks. I didn’t want to give up pasta and bread forever. However week 3 into week 4 I started to notice some improvements.
I was sleeping better. I would fall asleep around 10:30 and when Desi woke me up at 5:30 I was ready to get up and start my day.
My energy level and mood stabilized. During the day I didn’t have energy crashes or mood swings. This is what I really wanted to achieve with the diet.
I feel healthier. I didn’t lose pounds, but I lost 2 inches around my hips and 1 inch around my waist. My percentage body fat dropped by 1%. When I started the diet I didn’t even know I had some “weight” to lose. I didn’t change my workout routine, but I did feel more excited to exercise (probably because of my improved energy level).
So now the big question is if I’m going to stick with it. I want to, perhaps a little more relaxed than the full Whole30. I might have a glass of wine with dinner a few nights a week. I think we will add aged cheeses back in (cheddar, parmesan), but hopefully less than we were eating before. I wanted to add milk back in, but I think I lost my lactose tolerance over the past 30 days. Now I need to decide if I want to build up a tolerance again. I want to wait to add grains back in. If I do it would be a minimal amount. We talked about doing Tim Ferris’ slow-carb diet with cheat day; one day a week we would allow ourselves to have dessert, pasta, etc. I fear that the cheat day would just make me miss those foods all over again. However, after eating milk and cookies one post-diet night, I can see that with a reminder of how some of these foods make you feel, you miss them a whole lot less.
The hardest part of this diet for me is eating with friends. I don’t want to be “that” friend who everyone has to make special cooking considerations for and has trouble finding something on the menu to eat (which is silly because it doesn’t bother me finding something that friends can eat who do have dietary restrictions). In general, it can be difficult for me to do something that I fear will inconvenience others in some way. I also don’t like feeling like the weird/different one (you’d think I’d be used to this by now :P), as though I standout somehow. However, eating right is really important to me so I think this is something I will just need to work on.
Momming in Tech 
My problem with the Paleo diet is that I don’t like to eat a lot of meat. For me, taking a life is very serious, and I can’t feel comfortable about doing that a lot. Plus, I’m not sure that Paleo is a sustainable diet for the world.
And without eating a lot of meat, I wouldn’t have much left to eat. So I’ve never considered it very seriously. But I am intrigued by the evening out of moods, higher energy, and losing inches. I also don’t have any weight to lose. But I’m fit and strong, and I think I’d look more like if a little body fat left.
I don’t know, but thanks for sharing your results!
That is a completely understandable stance. I “justify” my meat consumption by purchasing only local pasture raised meats. It is a little harder when I travel and eat out though. I have a mental debate between eating meat that I don’t know anything about or eating more grains (pasta, etc).
I would question exactly which items were the culprits – Grains and Dairy are entirely two differenct categories. Plus just eating / drinking milk once and having a problem is hardly definitive. what will you be adding to make up for the lack of calcium? Seriously you will have to consider that as a young woman who pounds the heck out of her bones and body. You need a higher level of calcium than me who sits……….. Just some more to think about.