Whole30 Recap

You'll recall that after an unforeseen interruption, I rekicked off my whole30 on July 10. My last day was August 9 (July having 31 days and all).
On the whole, I'm glad to have done the experience. Here are some notes:

• I was good. In my 30 day stretch, the only potential issues were the trace amount of sugar in my uncured bacon and my liverwurst (still amounted to 0 g sugar per serving, and these both made whole30 doable for me), me cooking potatoes in the same pot as a beef pot roast (though my family ate them, not me except in negligible trace amounts from the broth), and me using an organic chicken broth that had potato starch in it (but still 0g carbs). I did very decently according to the rules.
  
  
• A few times I had neolithic analogues. Pancakes, my "Unbanana bread", and yes, sorbet. All technically whole30 legal ingredients, but they still violated the spirit of the whole30 injunction to avoid anything resembling neolithic foods.
  
  
• Without quality pastured dairy fats, I had a hard time eating enough fat to feel satisfied. Since quality pastured animal fats from other sources (tallow, derived from pastured meat, etc.) aren't a part of our lives yet, the whole30 made me realize how much I relied on pastured butter to keep me covered fat wise. Yes, I still consumed a lot of coconut oil and coconut milk during the whole30, but it's easy to get tired of the taste of coconut. That said, I found a dairy-free whole30 compliant coffee creamer that was a very workable substitute for heavy cream.
  
  
• I ate way more fruit than was necessary. Fruit was always readily available, technically legal, and as I said above, I was unusually hungry. (I'm still nursing, too, so that adds a whole 'nother level of hunger.) That said, too much fruit (lots of watermelon, raisins, and/or several pieces of other fruits per day, especially when staying with my parents on vacation) left my digestion out of whack and me feeling bloated. Ick.
  
  
• I did lose weight. I was down 3.8 lb. the morning of August 10. Not bad.
  
  
• My skin's state of nirvana did not last.  In my halfway-through post I mentioned that my skin was looking better than ever. Well, the last half of the challenge it did not do so well. There's a lot that plays into this: hormones, makeup, etc. But I guess that dairy-free didn't prove to be a cure-all.

So, what now? I'm not sure. In the few days since I've eaten a whole lot less fruit. I've added back in some dairy as well. My digestive issues are getting back on track, and while I don't know whether it was less fruit plus more dairy or both, I'll take the back on track!

Overall, I'm glad to have completed the whole30 - simply from the experience I've learned that yes, I can go 40 days without chocolate (eep!), and cheese (eep!), though I don't know if I ever will again! And yes, I do feel a whole lot better energy-wise without added sugar(s), natural or otherwise, in my diet.