Monthly Archives:

February 2018

Goals, Whole30

January Whole30 Results

I’m having a hard time believing that our January Whole30 is already over. It feels like I was just writing my thoughts and observations after Week 1, and obviously, the month went by so quickly that I didn’t find time write any more on the blog about the journey. And now, here we are in February, it’s time to share how my January Whole30 Results.

January Whole30 Results

While I certainly didn’t start Whole30 just to lose weight, I said all along that I wouldn’t complain if that happened along the way. So, let’s get some numbers out of the way:

Results By the Numbers

Pre-Whole30
  • Weight: 175 pounds
  • Waistline: 37.5 inches
  • Pant Size: 8, and they fit snugly
Post-Whole30
  • Weight: 161 pound
  • Waistline: 34 inches
  • Pant Size: 6, and I’m almost to the point sizing down

To say that I’m not pleased with the visual results of my January Whole30 would be a lie. I have a body confidence that I haven’t felt since my early 20s. It just feels good to like what I see in the mirror and to have other friends and family compliment my appearance. However, I have more wins from my first Whole30 to share.

[By the way, the Mister also lost 12 pounds by completing the January Whole30 with me.]

Results By How I’m Feeling

Feeling good in my skin is a huge win. Other non-scale victories include that my skin is clearer than it’s been in years. I feel a lot more energetic and just positive in general.

I’ve been trying to put my finger on the feeling, and the best expression is that I feel like I’m running on high-octane fuel. My life-energy just feels cleaner. My sensei said that he can simply tell from the way I’m moving on the mat what a difference these dietary changes have made.

I did notice that my sleep schedule seemed to be disrupted by the change in eating habits, and I don’t think that’s quite normalized, but since I feel more energetic throughout the day, I am finding that I can tolerate a little less sleep.

The Mister and I are still really enjoying eating at home together. I was a confident cook before we started this challenge, but I’d say that confidence has deepened.  We are still using Prep Dish as the core of our meal planning (I wouldn’t waste a year-long subscription), but I don’t have any hesitation about tweaking those meals to suit our taste or putting together a healthy and delicious meal from scratch.

Food Re-Introduction

One part of Whole30 that I’d like to be more deliberate about for the next time is our re-introduction period. I’d like to take it more slowly than we did with this first Whole30. Thus far, I have found that I can tolerate the following in moderation:

  • Wine and liquors
  • Limited dairy (I’ve really only tested cheese and half-n-half in coffee)
  • Limited sugar (mostly just want comes in having a cocktail)
  • Peanuts and green beans
  • White rice and white potatoes in moderation

What’s not working for me? Too much gluten or soy. I’m good with a hamburger bun, but I found that if I had gluten in multiple meals in a row, my skin broke out and my energy levels dipped. Soy seems to make me congested.

I expected to go back to cream in my coffee, but I’ve found that I prefer my coconut/almond milk. And while I didn’t have a huge sweet tooth before I did the Whole30, I am happy with how little I seem to want sugar now. Fruit salad is a perfectly sufficient dessert if we need to have one.

January Whole30 Results and Wrap-Up

What’s after Whole30?

I definitely want to try the Whole30 again at some point in the future, but I’d like to finish reading the original Whole30 book and Food Freedom Forever before embarking on the journey again. If you read my Week 1 post, you know that I used the Whole30 Day by Day handbook as our primary resource for January. There were a few references in the book that would have made more sense if I’d read Melissa Hartwig’s initial book before starting our journey.

For now, I’m following a Paleo diet about 85 percent of the time. The Mister has re-introduced more sugar and carbs than I have, but his metabolism is way more active than mine. We are definitely enjoying go out to our favorite restaurants now and then, but we’ll likely continue to eat the majority of our meals at home. Let’s face it; it’s expensive to eat out and really hard to be mindful of the ingredients and quantity when eating in a restaurant.

For my friends who completed the Whole30 last month, won’t you share your January Whole30 results in the comments? What were you surprised about during your food re-introduction? Would you join in another Whole30 challenge?

Goals

February goals

Am I the only who feels like we blinked straight into February? I don’t know how we flew through January so quickly, and here we are ready to set new goals for the month. I’m excited to share my February goals, but first I want to talk about January.

“It was when I found out I could make mistakes that I knew I was on to something.” ― Ornette Coleman

January Goals

I know that I didn’t get around to writing an actual January goals post, but I did set goals last month. Here’s a quick recap:

  • Turn in all business tax info to the accountant. – I actually ran everything over to the accountant’s office this morning, but I’m counting this as a success.
  • Set up Profit First accounts with the bank for February implementation. – This is almost complete. I have an appointment with the bank for tomorrow morning. [Related book: Profit First by Mike Michalowicz]
  • Complete the January Whole30 challenge with the Mister. – Success! Check out my thoughts after Week 1.
  • Earn $250 side hustle income to pay down debt. – In January, we earned $165 in side hustle income, but didn’t reach our goal of $250.
  • Have four date nights with the Mister. – Success!
  • Set up and attend two study group sessions for massage class. – Success! We’ve set up our tentative schedule for the remainder of the class.
  • Complete a minimum of four treatments outside of massage class. – Success! I completed six treatments.

Overall, I’m pretty pleased with how January turned out. Nearly every goal was accomplished, and the one that we fell short on is a work in progress toward one of our major goals for the year.

You increase the probability of accomplishing your goals if they are written down. Have you written out your February goals? Let's work together toward accomplishing them.

February Goals

Since I have two significant business goals for 2018, a number of my monthly goals will relate toward moving toward those. I know I don’t share a lot of my day job on the blog, but I need these written out for personal accountability.

  • Identify and contact at least five new life/disability prospects per week. [20 total for February]
  • Generate $1500 life/disability insurance income
  • Attend two massage study group sessions.
  • Give a minimum of four treatments outside of massage class.
  • List at least one new product in my Etsy shop. [Check out my shop: Chasing Blue Jays.]
  • Complete Love Yo’Self yoga challenge from Yoga with Adriene
  • Gather and turn in all personal income tax info to the accountant.

So, here’s the question of the day? Have you written out your goals for the month? I firmly believe that writing your goals down increases the likelihood that you’ll meet them. So, get them on paper. Then tell me in the comments about February goals and what you think of my goals.