The (mostly) Whole30

I've been doing a ton of research on PCOS-friendly nutrition.  There is a ton of info out there on how we are at war with our food.  I won't get into all of that now, except that the thing I saw most often was Cysters keeping the weight off with Paleo type diets.  Which got me thinking...

When I was training for the MS150, I learned very quickly that my body does not respond to sugar.  That eating sugar while doing long bikes is a formula for my body to crash.  Before I learned that, it was taking me four days to recover from rides.  FOUR DAYS.  That's insane.  Since I learned that complex carbs were the  best way for me to sustain longer rides and quick recovery, I carbed (16 Fig Newtons, 2 GUs, 2 servings of Endurox, 2 Oranges, some trail mix, and lots of almond clusters were what got me to Austin).  I rode my bike 150 miles and gained 4 pounds doing it.  Now, I'm sure some of that was water retention, but it sure made me curious as to the toll that carbs are taking on my body.  

So, I decided to see what would happen if I gave up all carbs and all "added" sugar (again, I'm not giving up fruit.  EVER.) for awhile.  And the more I thought about it, the more I thought, I'll just go "all in" and give up dairy, too.  So, I set off to do some research, and kept coming back to the Whole30.  

My first intention was to do my own thing, with the Whole30 as a base, starting May 1.  I still have 13 meal replacement shakes to drink, so I thought, "well, I'll give up carbs, sugar, and dairy, try to give up legumes, but finish my shakes."  Then I decided that was ridiculous, and I might as well jump right in.  But, I didn't decide that until... oh, lunch time on May 1.  So,this week, I'm doing a "busy mom" type Whole 30.  I'll cover that in the next post.  For now, let's talk about what this Whole 30 thing is.

First, the program

That's it.  No carbs, no dairy, no sugar, no legumes.  30 days.  Goal weight, here I come.

Now, at the same time, I started a boot camp with Real EFX Fitness.  A few months ago, I bought a Living Social deal to try them out for a month.  So, I started on Tuesday, April 30th.  Surprisingly, the format is very similar to Stroller Strides (but without babies!).  In the two classes I've been to so far, he has the gym set up in 6 stations, and you rotate stations, breaking it up with short runs.  So far, it hasn't been the in "your face, carry your partner on your back while flipping this tire up a hill" angry, shouty experience that I was expecting.  He is all about you knowing your limits, and not hurting yourself, but still getting in a great workout.  And of course, it sure was nice to show him how far out my limits are!!  The first class, he had set up a station for reverse lunges with a barbell.  He told me that I could grab 10 pounds, and I thought he was talking about adding plates to the bar. When I realized that he meant hand weights, I laughed and told him I was good with the bar.  A few stations later, he came over to ask me what my normal routine is, I guess by that point he noticed that I'm fitter than I look!!  This morning, he asked me if I'd like to try his heavier weight class, instead of the cardio-intense one that I had been doing.  I think I will give it a shot, but I will probably stick with the group class.  I can lift heavy on my own!