My diet continued to get more wholesome and I’d never had a more varied or delicious diet in my life.
When I contracted a tummy bug early in the month, apart from the weight loss, I bounced right back, and (if it’s possible) felt even more energetic; cleansed even.
I started looking forward to the most simple things. There was not one food from my ‘past life’ that I missed, and I felt empowered knowing that eating real food was sustainable and far more enjoyable than generic muesli bars and wheat-based wholemeal-bread sandwiches. Life was sweet (literally, I ate many slices of raw cheesecakes and homemade coconut flour muffins this month).
A typical day in November looked like …
Breakfast: A slice of spelt bread with avocado and an poached egg
Morning Tea: berries with cinnamon and sometimes some almond butter too
Lunch: Another slice of spelt bread with more avocado (we are talking a whole 1/2 on 1 slice of bread here … it was a mountain) plus something else such as an apple or a dried fruit and nut energy bar
Afternoon Tea: Apple with natural peanut butter – couldn’t really stray away from my favourite
Dinner: Homemade meatballs with baked potato and steamed carrots, greens and cauliflower
Dessert: chia seed crackers with cashew butter – such an unbelievablely delicious dessert (and so satisfying; crunchy, creamy, slightly sweet, protein and fat-rich … ticking all my boxes)
The only challenge I faced this month was my emaciated frame (little did I know that despite my best efforts, my gut was so permeable that nothing was being absorbed). I’m a naturally thin person and I’m used to being tiny but not this small … it was confronting and I didn’t understand why I couldn’t put back on the weight I lost from my cold + gastro … I managed 1 kg but it clearly wasn’t enough.
I also seemed to be sensitive to dairy after that gastro bug – not quite sure why, but I guess each time the microbiome is disturbed there’s the chance for chaos to erupt?
Tip #11 for transitioning to a whole foods diet …
Just enjoy this time. Before you realise that maybe just whole foods isn’t enough, that maybe you need to tweak things a bit. Don’t get too fussed about how much sugar you’re eating (natural of course) or how many whole food desserts you’re experimenting with. This phase calms down and you get back to a more balanced approach. This is the honeymoon phase where you’re feeling elated and adventurous.
The number one most important thing once you’ve committed to 100% whole foods is setting it in stone and discovering new favourite foods and serving suggestions. Once you’ve proven to yourself that you can go several months without feeling deprived and enjoying food more than ever – this is when you might want to play around with things like dairy, legume, grain, starch, sugar (etc.) free lifestyles (if this is indicated … not just to “follow a trend”).