What I learned from the Whole 30

You will not change a wrong pattern until you hate the result it brings. Let me explain. Over a year ago, a dear friend gave me the book, It Starts with Food. I flipped through the pages and quickly discovered this book is “The Whole 30”. You might have heard of it, it is the elimination diet where you give up virtually everything but meat and vegetables. As I read the list of can’t haves, most were not surprising. No bread, no sugar, and no dairy. As I continued reading it said no peanuts and no beans, for some reason this was completely unreasonable to me and I put the book on the shelf. I guess the idea of no peanut butter was a deal breaker.

The reality was, the friend that gave it to me knew that I had been struggling. Over the last couple of years, I had gained 22 pounds! Prior to that I had not gained a single pound in 10 years! I had tried everything. I was eating healthy and working out at least 3 times a week. I really wasn’t optimistic that anything would help.

I had heard all the usual things like “Your just getting older” and “its happy married weight.” There are too many happily married women that are older than me that look fabulous, I knew there had to be another answer.

In August of last year, a friend was sharing with me her struggle with Hashimotos, an auto immune disease that causes hypothyroid. I had all the symptoms, even the obscure ones. What was the suggested treatment? An elimination diet, like the Whole 30. Okay, it was time to dust off the book.

A little more than a week in and it was like a fog lifted! I had more energy, I could think more clearly, and I dropped a couple of pounds. I didn’t know how bad I had been feeling until I felt good. As a bonus, I have dropped 15 pounds in a few months. I have sense been to the doctor and discovered that my self-diagnosis was correct. I have added a natural thyroid medication and given up many foods I loved, for good. I am now living a paleo lifestyle.

What I learned is, when your “why” is big enough, the sacrifice and change is not that hard. I have found that with anything in our lives, you will change when you hate the results you get more than you love what you’re doing.

I realized it was the same principles that applied to my dating life. Richard and I dated Gods way, no sex outside of marriage. My desire to be obedient to God and lay a strong foundation for our marriage, was more important than momentary feelings. I believe this is true with any dream we have or goal we set, without a strong why we will return to our old patterns.

God is constantly refining us to be more like Him. Sometimes it is a much about what we are “Un-becoming” as what we become. We must let go of what is good to take hold of Gods best. For me with my diet I was reminded that Self-control is a fruit of the spirit. If you have received Christ you already have it, you just have to access it. Pray and ask God to show you what He wants to refine in you. It is always worth it!