Staff post by Heather B

See Heather’s earlier Whole30 posts here: Week 1  –  Week 2

I am feeling so optimistic about this way of eating. As I head into the home stretch, I know this is not a fad diet for me. Bloating and digestive issues have drastically improved. My energy continues to be stable, with no afternoon slumps at all. While I’m not (yet) at the point of jumping out of bed when the alarm goes off, I definitely hit the snooze button less!

My biggest challenge has been creating meals that are not meat-centric. Even though I was a vegetarian for 10 years, I found that the while the philosophy served me well, the diet did not. I ate too many carbs, became hypoglycemic and was always tired.

Since then I’ve added small amounts of meat back into my diet, being very mindful of where it comes from. Now I’m finding choosing carbs from vegetables, instead of grains, is very satisfying and doesn’t play havoc with my blood sugar. I would go so far to say that I’m eating more vegetables now than I was as a vegetarian!

One of the greatest gifts of the Whole30 eating plan that I’ve noticed is mental clarity. My daily outlook had been “sunny, partial clouds and a high chance of brain fog” most days for quite a while. When I was studying Traditional Chinese Medicine, I learned that these symptoms were related to “dampness invading the spleen” and come from a diet of “damp” foods, which include dairy, sugar and grains.

With these foods out of the picture, finally the fog has lifted!

Watch for next week’s final Whole30 post!