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Whole 30 alumni

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34 days ago I woke up so tired of the pain I was in. It’s not life altering, but it was hard. I woke up with headaches, would regularly feel like lightening was striking me along the side of my face, sometimes so bad I would have to stop whatever I was doing and grab my face. Trigeminal Neuralgia is NO JOKE.

I decided that I wanted to try whole 30 again. It isn’t a “diet” but a lifestyle. The (super dumbed down) idea is you get rid of ALL things that cause silent inflammation in your body and see what happens. This includes

  • Soy
  • Dairy
  • Alcohol
  • Grains
  • Added sugars
  • Legumes
  • Sulfate, MSG etc
  • You may not think these things impact you, but I bet you’d be shocked if you gave it 30 days. Do you have breakouts, allergies, bloat, high blood pressure, high blood sugar or other simple things? Maybe it’s more significant like multiple sclerosis (🙋🏼‍♀️), trigeminal neuralgia (🙋🏼‍♀️), seizures, fibromyalgia etc? I bet you’d be surprised what food might have an impact on. For me, it turns out something causes my TN to act up, my MS to be symptomatic, and my body to swell and bloat. So I decided to stop taking my RX meds for TN (please note; I will never go without my MS treatment) and give it a go! What did I have to lose?
  • Day 1: just like any other day. I didn’t really feel much different or hungry. It was a busy day at work and I didn’t have much time to think about it.
  • Day 2-4: what the F am I doing? I was starving. I was angry. I had a headache. I was pretty sure this wasn’t worth it. But then I trusted it and kept going.
  • Day 5-7: I might have killed someone for an uncrustable. I was having serious cravings. This was probably my heaviest eating days. I ate BIG meals that didn’t ever satisfy me. I snacked throughout the day on compliant things, and made it! But I woke up on day 6ish without a headache. First time in a while!
  • Day 8-12: I felt so tired. I don’t think this is when this was supposed to happen. But I just felt drained. The weakness was always an issue on whole 30. I hated that I couldnt lift weights like I usually did, but I kept going. At the same time, I felt a lot better now and had less pain than I remembered in a loooong time. I couldn’t believe it. Is food really THAT important?!
  • Day 13-23: These days just kind of floated on. I was tired of talking about it, I knew things were physically happening. I could tell my pants fit better. I could tell my shorts were lose around my thick thighs. I was finally like, hmm. Maybe I do eat a lot of shit. I was still feeling great with my physical symptoms from TN and MS. I was slightly stronger than when I started W30. I was also getting a lot of energy. I didn’t feel tired all the time. Oh: but I am so tired of meal prepping all day Sunday!
  • Day 24: I caught some sort of cold. Oh my gosh! I just want panera soup! But no, I’m so close. And it would probably make me feel worse.
  • Day 25-26: still feeling sick, but sticking with it. I actually believe that it would have been worse if I were eating worse. I was still really energetic, but my throat was killing me. When I went to bed on day 26, my left leg was very numb. This happens a lot when I am sick, but this time it was more annoying than anything. Just a friendly little reminder that I have MS scars in this body.
  • Day 27: the hardest race of my life. I signed up for a warrior dash. And today was race day! I was so excited. I thought about cheating the day before to have more energy, but I didn’t. I was so close. As soon as I hit 1/2 mile, I knew this wasn’t good. I was hot, I was so tired, and I hadn’t even made it to obstacle number 1 yet! My main chick who runs every race with me, and who did whole 30 with me kept on running. So I did too, but I’ll admit I was running very slow! It was a lot of hills, and a lot of heat! I caught up with her before the first obstacle and we stuck together, and finished strong. I quickly realized that it was not a race, but a survive til the end kind of event. I felt awful after. I think I was dehydrated and didn’t have enough food in me. I thought I was going to puke the whole way home. After a solid lunch and a nap, I was better. I checked my blood sugar later to see if I was missing something, and it was in line. Just exhaustion. To be expected after a race…Er run/walk… like that.
  • Day 28-29: I am basically there. By this point it is easy. I know what I can eat. I have enough things I like and could eat again. I should just keep going. But this is also such a mind game. It is exhausting not being able to grab something quickly. Or eat out with friends. Or grab a drink after a long day. You don’t realize how much you snack or eat poorly until you have to think about it all the time!
  • Day 30: okay, all those cravings from the first week are gone. I don’t even want ice cream or pizza! I’m scared to eat anything else, and I feel SO good! My body is refreshed and energized. If I didn’t have a social life💃, I’d eat like this forever! Numbness has gone away again, face pain is gone, my complexion is almost flawless. In fact, all week I have been complimented on my makeup. I’m pretty sure it’s the same, just on whole 30! It is crazy!
  • Day 31: (today) I am still scared. I still feel great. But I feel free. But still, nothing sounds good. I don’t want I ruin my progress. But I don’t want to limit my life. What a situation to be in! The past 30 days have made me a believer that food is medicine. No, I don’t think I can cure my Ms with it, but I think I can help my MS. I think I’ll feel significantly better with a better diet, and that’s my plan…
  • So now what? I will carry what I have learned into the future. I will watch what I eat, and as I slowly introduce foods, I will watch their impact on my body. If I seem to not tolerate something well, I will work to eliminate it as much as possible. I want to live symptom free as often as possible. This is more important to me now than it ever has been.
  • What about your kids? My kids have not really been an issue. I am a single mom, so they have to eat what I eat a lot of times. But sometimes I’ll add Mac n cheese for them or something like that. If we went out for my paleo salmon, they’d get to enjoy a cheeseburger. My younger son, L2, thinks we’re all just eating. L1 loves to tell everyone I am on whole 30, please hold the butter!
  • So: now that you have a play by play, here is what everyone seems to want to know. Yes, I lost weight. It was NoT my goal, but of course I welcomed it. I lost a total of 15.5 lbs and 5.5 inches around my body. I am still not Sir Mix-Alots ideal girl, and I will always be curvy, but oh em gee. I couldn’t believe the measurements.
  • Should you try it?! Why not! You really can do anything for 30 days. I know that. Worst case, you mostly feel the same and you don’t lose much weight. Perfect! Food doesn’t impact you as much. Best case(and I believe most likely) you see that some food causes intolerance in your body and you learn what you need to cut out or limit moving forward. What do you have to lose! It is hard to find 30 days to do this, but plan ahead. And stick to it! You’ll be amazed what your body can do!
  • What did I eat: that is another blog, and requires more work. But it is coming!

    • Have a great night

    ❤ MS Andrea Jackson

    6 thoughts on “Whole 30 alumni”

    2. Pingback: Renea Mazique

    3. thank you so very much Andrea for this post. I also have a neurological disorder, along with some other junk, and I am debating on doing the whole 30 program…..I have tried other eating plans with major detox issues making it hard for me to function so I really appreciate your day by day descriptions. bless you!

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      1. You know, it’s only 30 days. It feels like a long time when you are in the middle, but I really truly believe it will help. My diabetic mom (type 2)just did 30 days, but is still sticking with it. She no longer needs her medicine and has really seen amazing results. I hope you’ll update me on your journey. I’m always happy to support you!

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