I never diet! Seriously though people, I have never in my life
actually dieted. No Atkins; no Weight Watchers; no vegetarian; no intentional
strategic picking of certain foods; not even avoiding one type of food all
together-other than Chinese of course, which I hate!
A little over two months ago, Meredith and I started talking
about potentially doing a diet. Meredy was looking to shed some
pounds and expedite her weight loss post-baby! I wasn’t really looking to do
anything in particular just interested in maybe cutting down my soda intake and
trying to potentially get some more discipline in my life.
Generally I’m not a fan of “diets” because of their lack of
sustainability. Most people I’ve known or observed who’ve “dieted,” tend to
just end up completely penduluming back into even worse eating habits then
pre-diet or quit part way through because the desired outcome wasn’t happening
at all or fast enough. I’m not typically interested in doing something that is
hard, just to say I did it. I’m more interested in doing something hard for a
season so that the process can change me for the long haul.
-Enter Whole30…..
I had heard a little bit about this diet, or program, or
thing called Whole30. I hadn’t known anyone to complete the program, but I was
intrigued and drawn to it over other diets because it seemed logical to me.
Plus, the Whole30 philosophy was about “changing your life in 30 days” by
“restoring your healthy metabolism, healing your digestive track, calming systematic
inflammation, and putting an end to unhealthy cravings, habits, and
relationships with food.” Wait!? I have a relationship with food? Go on…
So I read a lot about the program designed by Whole9 (a
company basically) and decided I wanted to do it. Several things about their
program resonated with my desires for my life as a whole, and I found the
rhetoric of the program’s description to be motivating, humorous, interesting,
challenging, and scary. I was in! I told Mere (who had also already heard about
the program from a variety of sources), lets do it! Let’s start now-just like
it recommends!!
Well, we didn’t start right away. Ultimately, we decided
that it would be better to do it together and Mere wasn’t quite ready because
of the craziness and difficulty surrounding her job of staying at home and
taking care of our 3 awesome kids (specifically, our little Bailiff!!). So, we
started on July 5. And, today is day 31! We finished! (please folks, hold the applause!)
The last 30 days of my life have probably changed me for
forever. I try not to make too many ultimate statements these days. I used to
say things like, “I am never going to…” or “I think that ________ always…”
Saying things like this has got me into a little trouble in the past! [J-La feels me] But, despite my natural
reluctance to promise change that is lasting only to find myself disappointed
with a short-lived experience, I am gonna say it again…the last 30 days of my
life have probably changed me forever.
It’s much more than the “diet” though. Whole30 served as a
catalyst for some significant progress in my life. Over the last 30 days, I cut
out social networking (Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter), sugar (at least added
ones), grains, legumes, dairy, and basically every drink you can possible
imagine except water, black coffee and regular tea. Instead of these things, I
prayed for my wife, read 4 books, spent less money going out, grilled out
(helping my awesome cook of a wife), and ate healthy foods such as meat, eggs,
veggies, fruit, coconut, avocado, and olive oil. Cutting out the “bad” and
replacing it with the “good” seems like a good rule of thumb to me.
Have you ever been reading a story and found yourself lost
in it? I heard a lot of stories growing up. I mostly heard stories from the
Bible. I can distinctly remember at one point getting lost in a story about a
guy named Jesus. Jesus was this amazing, kind, strong, and mysterious man that
had come down from heaven to join humankind and walk through life as a person.
I can remember stories about Jesus picking his disciples (an old fashioned word
for follower) by walking up to complete strangers and just telling them to
follow him. Fishermen, doctors, tax collector, and probably cable guys were
among the people Jesus picked.
As a kid, the idea that a grown man would just drop his
entire life and follow another grown man around and do whatever he tells him to
do was never confusing to me. Somehow in my adulthood, my mind and heart have
been convoluted so much that this story seems to take more and more explanation
for me to accept it as believable. But, as a kid, I remember thinking…of
course! Why wouldn’t they follow Jesus, he was AMAZING!
Well, as life continued to go on, these stories began to really impact me on a heart level (and I’m not talking about indigestion, I’m talking about emotional impact!). At a certain point in my life, the calling of Jesus made sense to me. I understood that he wanted me to follow him too. I can remember hearing this verse for probably the 175th time; but, this time, its words forever changed me.
In the book of Luke, Jesus is doin his thang. He’s feeding
thousands of people with one little boys lunch, he’s talking about his
impending death, and he’s getting his followers (disciples) to tell him what
they really think about him #truthtalk. It’s in this context that Jesus, in a
roundabout way, asks, “Who wants to follow me?”
I remember hearing this question and almost jumping up and out
from inside of myself and shouting, “I DO!!!!” I mean who wouldn’t wanna follow
Jesus, he’s AMAZING!
Well, Jesus goes on to tell the people listening that they
can follow him. Then he says what it looks like to follow him.
You’re probably thinking, “I know what it takes to follow
someone! I got an E for Excellent in follow-the-leader back in the Kinder!”
Well, I’m guessing that following Jesus in life is probably a little more
complex than following your buddy David down the hallway to the bathroom.
Jesus said,
“If
anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily
and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses
his life for my sake will save it.” Luke 9:23-24
These words and the notions that the way to save my life is
to give it up and the way to find my life is to lose it have FOREVER changed
me. This Whole30 program has blatantly
reminded me that I have drifted from self-denial to self-indulgence; it’s
yelled at me saying, “You need __________!!!” (insert sugary or yummy food), when
in fact I don’t. Denying myself food and drink for 30 days has illuminated the
pathway to Jesus, showed me the cross that I must grab, and reminded me of the
toil I will most definitely experience in following him.
Denying yourself is super hard. There were plenty of moments
of weakness, anger, depression, frustration, impatience, woefulness, and
regret. At times, I said the things that I had heard others say that pushed me
away from “diets” in the first place. It was difficult! I feel bad that this is
true for me, but doing this diet, denying myself these easily accessible and
satisfying foods, was the one of the hardest things I’ve ever done.
But…I don’t regret these last 30 days in the slightest. I
have been kickstarted back into some super good disciplines. The gratification
that’s experienced when you deny yourself something that you want but don’t
really need (and actually might even be harmful), whether it’s a super sugary
carbonated drink or a five minute spy-session on the old Fbook, motivates you
to deny yourself of other things that are harder to resist. Self-control is a
difficult discipline that takes practice.
For some people, a little self-control will help them to
gain more and more and then eventually get to their goal. For me, this is not
true at all. I’ve been “trying” for years to get a few areas of my life back
into shape. I’ve told myself things like, “Maybe if you read the Hunger Games,
your desire to read will increase and then you can actually read something
life-altering like the book of John.” Tried it…didn’t work. I’ve said things
like, “Maybe if you cut out soda at home, then you’ll eventually stop ordering
4 refills of Dr Pepper at Red Robin.” Tried it…didn’t work. For me, I had to go
all in! Cold turkey! And that’s what Whole30 is designed for anyways, so it
worked perfectly.
RESULTS!
Well, it’s been 31 days and I’m sure if you’ve made it this
far through the blog you want to know what’s changed besides all these boring
things that I’ve mentioned. Well, since you listened to my spiel, I’ll tell ya
what happened with the diet!
At first I didn’t feel anything good. The first week and a
half was terrible! I was grumpy, tired, angry, dizzy, sick to my stomach, and
just plain mad! I had the carb flu real real bad! Then during week 2, I had
some stomach pain and a little digestive issues but still nothing good. Then…I
didn’t experience some drastic overnight change that just clicked and I was
never the same. Instead, I’ve experienced several changes gradually. I now am
sleeping better (both falling, staying, and waking), have more energy
(definitely no more mid-day slump), have huge clarity of mind (I haven’t been
able to read 2 books simultaneously and comprehend them in over 4 years let
alone 4 books), don’t have super rank farts (which for a Greer boy is a bloody
miracle!!), and have lost 25 pounds dropping from a 38 waist to a 34 (which I
haven’t worn since my wedding day!).
I now enjoy several veggies, crave frozen fruit or almonds instead of
Oreos and Cookout, love black coffee, prefer hot tea to dessert, and use
freakin coconut oil on just about anything ;) !
Don’t be fooled! None of these results are guaranteed. But,
if you are like me at all and you do this diet- cheat free (literally
absolutely not one exception-otherwise it’s not Whole30 its instead
Paleo/Half13/your created diet plan), I guarantee you, something will change!
For me the changes I hope and pray I can sustain don’t have
all that much to do with food. However, I do think that my eating habits will
be drastically improved from the last 30 days and that my overall health will
continue to improve (assuming I don’t choose to go right back into the
unhealthy habits from before).
I challenge you to dare all the more and experience the incredible
power of denial! Do whole30! And while you’re at it, get to know Jesus a little
more-cause ultimately that’s all that matters.
