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Whole30: My Why

I've been struggling with weight loss for years.  Decades, really.  My family health history is filled with hypertension, diabetes, and high cholesterol.  I'm "lucky" to only have high blood pressure, and it was brought on during pregnancy in the form of pre-eclampsia.  Unfortunately, it never returned to normal levels after having kids.

Over twenty years ago I was diagnosed with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome.  I've documented my struggles with this hormone disorder, and I've tried many things to keep my symptoms at bay.  When I began my fitness and nutrition journey almost 8 months ago, I was able to drop 30 pounds quickly.  The weight loss stalled.  My doctor ran numerous tests to check my hormone levels.  As expected, estrogen and progesterone were out of whack, my testosterone levels where a little higher.  Of course stress was a factor, my cortisol levels were extremely high. 

Then, my doctor mentioned trying something new.  An elimination diet could be helpful, she told me.  She recommended staying with my clean eating plan, but to stop eating dairy, whole grains and legumes.  Focusing on carbohydrates from vegetables like sweet potatoes and squash, and adding some fruit would help.

So, after doing my own research into meal planning, it seems that the Whole30 method could be the easiest to follow.  It's only 30 days and this could help me to "detox" from all the cheese and milk and higher carb things I was eating, like brown rice and quinoa.  I had given up bread and pasta ages ago because I always feel lethargic after eating it.  But still my hormone imbalance was wrecking my weight loss efforts.


So...  Here we go! Tomorrow is Day One of Whole30!  I'm ready.  I can do this.

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