Whole30 banner I used to have.
Some of you may have noticed that I took the Whole30 challenge banner off of my blog. Honestly, when I first started the Whole30 challenge, I was super excited and fired up...I'm still using the cookbook! :)
I was making my own homemade "yummy" sauce, using homemade mayo... I was eating very strict paleo, and not touching ANY dairy, or ANY sugar, or ANY... well, much of anything... that wasn't just plain and straight vegetable or meat. I even finally got Melicious' Well Fed cookbook and rejoiced! I was so happy! (I won it in a Twitter giveaway contest!)But then came week 2, and I know for sure that I just wasn't mentally prepared for the Whole30 challenge. I am still fairly new-ish to Paleo, as I've been doing it for a little over 6 months off-and-on, and getting THIS strict... I just wasn't ready for it.
I was tired of being paranoid about my food, not being able to make my (dare I say "super?") healthy treats, just because they weren't Whole30 compliant, and not being able to use most condiments, and having to make most of them from scratch.
I love this whey. :)
Plus, school started again, and that added extra stress to my life. I don't want to stress and worry over my food. I want to live a mostly Paleo life, and not beat myself up and feel like an utter failure when I realize there's butter on my steak, or cheese in my lettuce-wrapped burger. I don't want to say no to beef jerky just because it was a little bit of sugar in it. And I want to be able to supplement with unflavored whey powder when I'm struggling financially, or in a huge hurry. I'd rather eat something healthy that is still Paleo, even though it's not Whole30 compliant... than starve. And honestly, trying to do Whole30, I found myself avoiding most foods, and not getting enough calories... especially when it came to snacks to bring to school. I can only eat so many boiled eggs days in a row before I start to really feel sick.And so... no more Whole30! I'm still eating Paleo, but I'm listening to my heart and to my body. Making low-carb, grain-free chocolate chip cookies makes me happy. Mixing up whey powder with full-fat coconut milk in the morning when I'm pressed for time and still need protein makes me happy (plus I hate having to constantly CHEW all the time... please tell me I'm not the only one!)...
Not doing Whole30 (for the time being) makes me happy. I just need balance right now! Sometime in the future when I've been eating Paleo for a while longer, and have more recipes under my belt, (and a stronger resolve), I'll try Whole30 again.
But for now, I'm back to my norm! Gluten-free, low-carb, low-sugar, Paleo eating! As close to 80/20 as possible. :) The 20% is mostly reserved for Korean comfort foods and sushi. :)
Have any of you finished/tried/ditched the Whole30 challenge? How was it for you? Had you been eating Paleo for a while before you started, and did you find it obsessively mind-consuming? Lol.