Life After the Whole30

So, all along I've been talking about my November Whole30 journey.  It's been a week since it ended and you're probably left wondering... whatever happened to that chick?  Post-Whole30, it was weird to see all the options that I was now allowed to eat. I followed the usual paleo diet, but admittedly had a few cheats with holiday parties, holiday outings, dining specials/deals, and not grocery shopping bc I'm flying home to NJ for winter break (I prefer an empty fridge).  The things I was craving during the Whole30: sushi, Indian food, & chocolate chip cookies.  I had sushi and it was AMAZING... Followed by bloating & lethargy, but it was super delicious.  Went to an Indian buffet and stuffed myself on chicken tikka masala (my absolute favorite Indian dish to date - been meaning to make my own paleo version but it will be a long, involved process that my lazy grad student self will have to plan in advance), a little naan (not that great), veggie samosas, & rice pudding... Mmmm! But again, followed by bloating, headaches, and lethargy.  Dang. I had a couple chocolate chip cookies at my department's holiday party plus a Starbucks gingerbread latte to keep my seat at the cafe while I graded 20 term papers. The cookies? Delicious, but very addictive and my body kept craving them even though I wasn't hungry. Scary!! And the gingerbread latte? GROSS!! The taste was awful, perhaps the barista did it wrong or - more likely - my tastebuds changed after the Whole30. The worst part was that I had some serious GI distress that left me feeling very uncomfortable for the next 4 hours (I won't go into detail). What was I thinking?? Suffice to say that I won't be getting another latte any time soon.

Was this banana-nut caramel french toast (with a friend after church) worth it?? Perhaps, for just a couple bites... after that it lost appeal. Then intense lethargy and a headache followed and I ended up napping in a gluten coma for a good 1.5 hours after.  Maaaaan, my body must have been wondering what the heck I did to it!! Hahaha...  

Now what?  Back to eating paleo, of course :) The cheats reminded me just how bad they are for me and how good I felt when I was eating paleo/whole30 foods. I joined the Paleo Pen Pals Group to meet other paleo folks and share some fun ingredients/recipes. Tis the season for cooking & eating :)

 

In other news, I've had some pain in my outside left knee (IT band) and I've had issues with it in the past, so I decided to take a week off to let it heal.  It's definitely feeling better, but has me a bit concerned so I'll probably wait a bit before I commit myself to doing an Ironman on top of my dissertation. I went swimming once this past week and that was fine.  Maybe I'll try the elliptical tomorrow. Bummer!! Interestingly enough, I've noticed that when I get injured and can't exercise, it's a lot easier for me to eat bad foods. Comfort food, maybe like a coping mechanism? Hmm....   

On a different note, the holidays are rolling around in case you haven't noticed (in that case get off the computer and go outside!! You need it). The holidays tend to bring out the best or worst in us.  I guess I've been reflecting and thinking a lot recently about the past year.  There were lots of changes this year and while I'm not sure what the future holds for me, both professionally and personally, but I have peace that everything happens for a reason and life will all work out in the end. After all, the journey is more important than the destination, right? I've also come to realize that I'm very different from other people/women my age and as my sister said, "we're not cut out for normal". So, the molds and measures that work for many people don't work for me. The only thing to do is trust in the Lord, Jehovah Jirah, Provider.

And I'll end this long, rambling post with one of my favorite verses for this time of year:
"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace".
 ~Isaiah 9:6